Page 20 of Siren in Love (In Love #1)

Mike

~ Mike

Mike’s song filled the air. He’d made the loup-garou jump farther than he needed to. The beast had gone through the window behind him and John, soaring over them without so much as nicking them.

Glass shards were still falling to the floor below, the sounds of impact not enough to break Mike’s concentration. He didn’t wait to hear a thud from outside, instead he wove his song into a rope to catch the other two and drag them toward him.

One after the other, they too jumped and didn’t care how far away the ground was. Only when the last of the remaining three was outside did Mike get back to his feet. He let the melody of his song fade away and leaned to look outside while John was still flattened to the walkway.

“Wow,” the werewolf said, his voice trembling with true awe. His eyes were wide, haunted, but there was relief in his voice.

Mike snorted. “Don’t mess with a siren, John.”

Outside, one loup-garou had broken his neck when he hit the ground. His body was human once more, death taking his vicious shifted form away from him. The other two were still alive, if not unharmed. Mike relaxed fully when he saw Peter’s icy blond hair and glacial eyes staring up at him.

“I see you had an interesting night,” the vampire said. Then, he walked toward the two loups-garous who still lived. He snapped their necks, evading their teeth with minimal effort.

Peter gave no indication that he was upset by his task, looking much the same as he might stapling paper. It should have disturbed Mike, but then again, he’d heard John’s fear and the evil desires in the loups-garous’ voices. The dead loups-garous turned back into humans, naked and bloody.

“There should be four?” the vampire said, not bothering to raise his voice.

“One’s out cold on the stairs leading up from the first floor,” Mike said.

Peter nodded and headed into the building. The echo of another snapped neck sounded moments later, like the final note of a song.

“I can smell your Corvin.” Peter still spoke quietly, knowing Mike would be able to pick it up.

“I had to bring him along. Don’t let him see the bodies, okay?”

“Let him see…what?” John was scrambling back to his feet.

Mike pointed. “Peter is here. Let’s go say hi.”

John looked startled, confused. Then, he went to the window.

“Oh, fuck. Are they…”

Mike was already heading back to the offices, to Corvin. He wanted Corvin, wanted to make sure he was all right.

“They are. Come on.”

John caught up with Mike. “They’re…they’re gone. I can’t—they’re dead now.” And they can never get to me again, the echo of his voice said. Mike had no idea what the werewolf had gone through exactly, but whatever it was, it made Mike not regret at all that he’d helped put down the loups-garous.

As the two of them descended the stairs, Mike picked up the noises of Peter dragging the dead loup-garou off the other staircase. Should it concern me that my boss is really good at disposing of bodies? If only he were as good at mediations as he is at corpse cleanup.

Mike headed back to the office he’d left Corvin in and pushed the creaking door open.

“Corvin? It’s okay, you can come out now.”

Corvin peeked up from under an abandoned desk. “I think I have a fucking spider in my hair. Did you call the cops? Is John okay? I don’t hear any sirens.”

You heard one siren, my love, but not the kind you’re thinking.

Mike hated lying to Corvin, but he wasn’t going to tell him about the four bodies or how they’d died.

Or what they’d really been. Having used his song on Corvin, even briefly, would make it so Corvin wouldn’t question most if not all of the events of the night, but a pile of bodies might change that.

“Peter is handling that. He just got here. The people that are after John got away.”

Corvin scrambled to his feet and brushed dust and cobwebs off himself, to little noticeable effect. “Shit, Mike, this was—”

Mike closed the distance between them and pulled Corvin against his chest. “I know, honey. And I’m sorry. I didn’t think anything like this would happen. Are you okay?”

There was indeed a small spider in Corvin’s hair. Mike plucked it off the strands and tossed it away.

“Yeah. You? And John?”

“I’m okay.”

“I’m peachy too,” the werewolf said from outside the office.

“Wonderful.” Peter, ever adept at sneaking up on people, was almost right behind John, making the werewolf jump.

Mike reluctantly let go of Corvin, though he reached for his hand and held it tightly. They joined the other two outside the mildewy office.

“Corvin, what a joy to see you again, although the locale and occasion leave much to be desired.” Peter’s smile probably wasn’t meant to look menacing, but it did.

“It’s… Yeah. They should find another cleaning person for this place, am I right?” Corvin huddled against Mike. Mike relaxed at the contact.

“Lovely sense of humor, Corvin. Humor is the light in the darkness. Well, regardless, Michael, I think you should take Corvin back home now. I’ll wait here for the authorities.

” Peter made the lie sound smooth, and even as a siren, Mike barely picked up on it.

“I think it would be best if John stayed with me until all this is resolved.”

John nodded in agreement.

“Are you sure?” Corvin looked at John. “He’s welcome at our place. Right?”

In the darkness, Corvin’s eyes looked more gray than green, but Mike saw the plea in them, heard it in Corvin’s voice.

He nodded. “Of course he is.” The things I do and say for my lover.

John shook his head. “Thanks, but I should stay with Peter. Maybe we can hang out for a movie soon though? That’d be fun.”

Corvin nodded. “You know where to find us.”

Mike held Corvin tighter. “Well, we should leave.”

“Go straight to the car,” Peter whispered as Mike maneuvered Corvin toward the stairs.

Mike nodded to his boss. The corpses weren’t far out of sight then.

The building was still dark, and without humming, Mike had to mind his step just as much as Corvin did. At the bottom level, Corvin’s arm circled Mike’s waist.

“That was…quite a night. Did you do all that singing again because you heard trained dogs like it? Like with that cat?”

“Well, yes. And I was nervous. You know I like to sing when I’m nervous.” Mike felt stupid, because he was fully aware that Peter could hear them, even if they were on the bottom level.

Corvin play-punched Mike’s chest. “Mike, I swear, you and wild animals need to go your separate ways. But…you didn’t look nervous, not even a little bit.

Not when you realized John was in danger, not when you started singing to bloodhounds like some kennel opera star.

” There was no suspicion in Corvin’s voice, just admiration, which pleased Mike to no end.

He planted a kiss on Corvin’s dusty hair.

“You know I’m good under pressure. But I’m not good when you… Hey, listen.”

Light from outside caught Corvin’s eyes when he turned to look at Mike, made them shimmer like pale jade. “Hmm?”

“Marry me. You don’t have to give me an answer now, and I have a proper proposal planned for Valentine’s Day, in case you want to wait. But marry me. I want to. I don’t ever want to be without you.”

Corvin’s face grew paler in the faint light. “What?”

“Marry me?”

“ What? ”

“Uh, marriage, hon. You and me, for the rest of our days.”

Corvin blinked. The next moment, his mouth was on Mike’s, the attack at least as fierce as that of a loup-garou.

“Yes. Yes, yes. Yes!” He sighed, chased Mike’s mouth for another kiss, and tried his utmost to squeeze the breath from Mike’s lungs.

“Yeah?” Mike said when he finally managed to detach.

“Hell yeah!”

“I am sorry about proposing here.”

Corvin grinned. “Don’t be. It’s memorable. Anyone could propose at some fancy restaurant, but this? Fucking unique. Except for the spiders, which are gross. Promise me, no more spiders.”

“No more spiders.”

“Memorable,” Peter whispered into the darkness from above. Judging by the way his voice rang through the building, he was leaning over the railing and watching them. Damn vampire.

“Let’s go home. Less spiders.” And less other people .

Corvin nodded, giddy and bubbly now, happiness wrapped in blond curls and gorgeous green eyes under kohl-dark lashes.

When they got to the car, the sky had lightened on the horizon. Mike was glad they hadn’t lingered, because he had no idea where precisely Peter had hidden the bodies or whether the pre-dawn light might have revealed them. He certainly didn’t want Corvin to find them.

Corvin got in the front this time, and if he noticed that the windows were still down, he didn’t say anything. Mike closed them as soon as the car was running and drove them home at a more reasonable speed than he had used to get them to the cotton mill.

By the time they closed the front door behind them, the sky was on fire with orange, pink, and golden light.

“You promised me something,” Corvin said. His hand was on the banister, one foot on the bottom stair.

“No more spiders?”

“Yes, that. But last night. You said you’d come down my throat in the morning. It’s morning, Pineapple Mike.” He grinned, his face glowing like the dawn outside. “And we’re engaged.” He started up the stairs. “Come on. We’re celebrating. By staying in bed.”

The way Corvin’s voice echoed in Mike’s head told him there was a need there, a need for closeness, love, but also lust, lust that would never belong to another man. I love him. I love him more than I ever imagined you could love anyone. It’s not sirens who are magic, it’s people like Corvin.

Mike hurried up the stairs, lured instead of doing the luring. It wasn’t so much about the sex but about the intimacy, and about giving Corvin everything he desired.

Corvin was in their bedroom already, busy getting naked. His hair was still slightly messy, but they could shower later. Mike hugged Corvin from behind, pressing his ass close to his hardening cock.

“Oh, get out of those filthy clothes first. Everything’s dusty.”