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Danny nodded. He knew he shouldn’t be engaging the dangerous vampire in conversation, but he couldn’t help his curiosity.

“We feel warm-blooded enough, if we’re kept…fed.” Lucien made the word sound salacious. “The only time we feel the elements is if we haven’t been getting our steady supply of blood.”

“I suppose saving on outerwear is one of the perks.” What was Danny even saying anymore?

Lucien’s black gaze narrowed. “And do you intend to explore these…perks…yourself?”

“Um…” Was the vampire asking what Danny thought he was asking?

“Will you turn for him?” Lucien’s voice was harsh now, all hint of teasing gone.

Knowing Lucien’s history, Danny felt that he was walking a very fine line, with death at this vampire’s hands on either side of him.

But he couldn’t tell which answer would set the vampire off. So Danny went with the honest one. “I don’t…I don’t know?”

“Don’t you though?”

Before Danny could respond, his attention was caught by muted yelling coming down the hall, from the direction of the ambulance bay.

The trauma patient had arrived. The young man with significant blood loss.

A sudden thought occurred to Danny. He turned his eyes back to Lucien’s. “Your work?”

The vampire gave Danny his first real smile, as far as Danny could tell. Not exactly a warm one but not mocking.

He really was devastatingly handsome, for a psychopathic monster.

“I’ll be seeing you around, Daniel.” He winked.

And then he was gone. Faster than Danny’s eyes could even process.

After Danny had taken a few moments to tear himself from the stupor his strange meeting with Lucien had left him in, he ran down the hall to help with their new patient.

A patient that was possibly hurt because of Danny—because Danny’s boyfriend was in Hyde Park, and that boyfriend’s stalker was a literal monster.

The young man was covered in blood from the neck down, but his face was clear enough.

He could have been Danny’s twin.

The TV in the background was set on some reality show or another, but Danny kept his eyes on the phone in his lap.

He was waiting in the staff break room for Roman to pick him up.

He wasn’t feeling brave enough to wait outside on his own, knowing Lucien could be around.

He was feeling decidedly unbrave, as a matter of fact.

And possibly a bit shell-shocked.

Danny’s doppelg?nger hadn’t made it. The man’s heart had stopped despite the rapid blood transfusion they had started, and after a full half hour of CPR, the trauma doctor had called it. The mood at work had been somber after that.

Although, not quite as somber as it could have been. Because the staff had all heard something about the man from the police officers that had followed the ambulance. Something that had gotten Danny thinking…

His phone dinged, interrupting his thoughts. Roman had arrived.

Danny hadn’t told Roman the reason he was waiting inside—hadn’t told him about Lucien’s visit yet. He’d been worried his vampire would barge into the hospital before Danny’s shift was over and drag him away—possibly lock him in some panic room somewhere.

Still, Danny wasn’t planning to keep it secret for long. He just wanted to be there in person to calm Roman down.

The vampire in question was outside, holding the door to the passenger seat open. Such a freaking gentleman, that one.

Danny gave him a hello and a quick kiss on the cheek and got into the car.

Roman didn’t immediately start the engine after rounding the car and settling in the driver’s seat.

Instead, he leaned over and kissed Danny thoroughly, leaving him breathless.

He then proceeded to press additional kisses along Danny’s jaw and down his neck. “I’ve missed you, little king.”

Danny gave a half laugh even as his cock twitched in his scrubs, tilting his head back to give Roman better access. “It’s only been twelve hours.”

“Mm. Twelve long hours,” Roman murmured, tugging the collar of Danny’s scrubs down to lick and nip his way along Danny’s collarbone. “Did you not miss me as well?”

The truth was Danny had , but that was a truth he might be afraid to admit even to himself, let alone to Roman.

How ridiculous was it to miss a man he’d only just met after twelve measly hours, fated mates or not?

He was feeling raw and anxious and overwhelmed. This couldn’t last, could it? How would Danny cope when Roman walked away and left him to his boring, lonely life?

Would you turn for him? Luc’s words echoed in Danny’s mind. Would he?

But Roman hadn’t asked him to, had very carefully not brought it up, even after discussing his past with Lucien and the woman Lucien had thought was his mate. The woman Lucien had desperately wanted to turn.

And now Danny was feeling jealous of a dead woman.

Roman noticed his sudden tenseness. “What’s wrong, mon petit roi?”

Danny couldn’t even begin to tell his vampire the whole jumble of anxieties filling up his brain at the moment, so he went with the most straightforward. “Lucien visited me at work tonight.”

Roman immediately went rigid, looking at Danny with rapidly darkening eyes. “ What ?” he ground out.

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Danny rushed to reassure him. “He just came to talk. To tease me a little, I think.”

“To…tease you.” Roman’s fingers dug into Danny’s upper arms.

Okay, maybe not the best choice of words. That sounded a little bad, actually.

This was not Danny’s night for superb communication skills, that was for sure.

“Yes? He didn’t hurt me. He’d already—already fed for the night, judging by the man who died in our trauma bay earlier.” Danny very deliberately did not mention what—or more accurately, who—that man had looked like. No need to set Roman off in a nuclear way.

Roman’s eyes softened slightly, and his fingers gentled. “Oh, mon pauvre petit, I am sorry. Sorry you had to bear witness to another of his victims.”

Danny shrugged. “Not to be callous, but I’ve seen worse. And from what I heard, this guy wasn’t such a nice guy. Not saying he deserved to die, but—it could have been worse is all.”

“Yes. It could have been much worse.” Roman’s voice was low and harsh.

“I should have known he would try to approach you in my absence. I thought the hospital would deter him. Luc may be relatively careless with his violence, but I still didn’t believe he would risk anything with the security cameras.

Getting caught on film can make life very tricky for someone who doesn’t age or change appearance.

I underestimated him. I should not have left you alone. ”

Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He understood the sentiment, but he couldn’t have an escort every hour of every day. It wasn’t realistic. “I can’t just not work , Roman.”

“You can though, actually,” Roman insisted, eyes intent on Danny’s. “Like Soren said. I can provide for you. Be your…vampire sugar daddy, was it?” He tilted his head in question.

Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh.

“No, you can’t,” Danny said firmly. “I won’t stop what I do just because of one deranged loose cannon. We don’t even know he wants to hurt me.” Although, the dead doppelg?nger might be a bit of a giveaway, but Danny wasn’t about to tell Roman about that.

Not with him already all grr-y about a single visit with his old friend.

Roman just sighed, releasing Danny’s arms to gently grab his hand, kissing Danny’s knuckles lightly.

Oh. Well, that was sweet.

“Let me take you home, then, lovely.”

Back at the house, Roman herded Danny over to the couch and wrapped him in a blanket, ordering him not to move. Like I’m some sort of invalid . But really, Danny wasn’t complaining. It was kind of nice, being constantly pampered.

More than kind of nice, if he was being honest.

He looked up as a steaming mug was placed on the coffee table in front of him. “What is with you and tea?” he asked Roman with a grin.

Roman gave him an indignant look. “It is comforting to drink something warm, is it not? And I cannot give you coffee—humans cannot have caffeine too late, or they will not be able to sleep.” He sounded oddly like he was quoting from something.

“How and why do you even know that? Aren’t caffeine-related sleep studies a bit modern?” Danny questioned, taking a sip of his tea. Mm. Chamomile with honey.

“I read is how,” Roman retorted, adjusting Danny’s blanket. “And the why is obvious.”

Did he mean because of Danny? To take care of Danny? Should Danny be flattered or offended thinking of Roman looking up tips on human habits?

How to Best Care for Your Human by Some Vamp Dude.

“You know, technically it’s not late ; it’s the morning,” Danny felt the need to say.

“Splitting hairs, little king. It is bedtime for you. Drink your tea.”

Danny didn’t obey right away, fingering the handle of the mug as Roman sat next to him on the couch.

“You know, I’ve always been the caretaker.

I mean, I guess not always . I remember Gabe taking care of me when I was a kid, after my dad died.

When my mom was still grieving. But by the time I was in junior high, I felt like I was on my own.

My mom was there, but we were less mother and son and more of a team, I guess? And then she…you know.”

Roman wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling Danny into him. “I know, lovely.”

There was a moment of silence, both of them in their thoughts.

“Do you not like it, then? My taking care of you?” Roman was clearly trying to keep his tone light, but Danny could sense the tension underneath.

Was his vampire afraid of rejection?

“No,” Danny reassured. “I like it very much. Very, very much. Too much, maybe? I didn’t even really know I had this side of me, this part of me that wants to be coddled like this. And now I feel like I’m getting addicted…”

Danny felt a lump forming in his throat, making it hard to bring the words up, but they had to be said. He was getting in too deep, standing out on a ledge, and he had to make sure he wasn’t in it alone.

He made himself say it. “What happens when you leave? When I’ve become dependent on this and you walk away?”

“Walk away?” Roman sounded genuinely perplexed, but Danny couldn’t bring himself to look into his vampire’s eyes, to see what expression was on his face. “Why would I ever walk away?”

“Well, that’s what people do, isn’t it? They leave. One way or another. My dad, my mom, Gabe. It’s just how life works. The people you lo—” Danny bit his lip. “—people leave.”

Roman’s fingers were on his chin then, pulling Danny’s head gently to look him in the eyes.

“And that is what you think I will do one day? Leave you? Inevitably?”

Danny nodded ever so slightly.

Unexpectedly, Roman smiled then. Tender and a little sad, but genuine nonetheless.

“Ohh, mon Dieu. My lovely mate. Life has not been fair to you.” He gripped Danny’s chin a little tighter.

Not hard enough to hurt but enough to make sure Danny was paying attention.

“Listen to me, Danny. I am not leaving. Not ever. Not unless you want me to, and even then, I can make no promises. You are mine. I am yours.”

Danny swallowed hard. “But—”

“No buts, little king. I am realizing I have made an error. I have underestimated the trauma you hold. But if you need me to tell you every single day that I am staying, I will tell you. Gladly. Often. Always. That I am yours. Forever, if you will have me.”

And then Danny was crying, and he wasn’t even sure why. But it was as if the weight of the last decade of his life was crashing in on him, the loneliness and the stress and the worry. As if now that there was someone by his side to help shoulder the burden, he could finally process it.

He cried until there was nothing left, until he’d purged some of the doubt out of his system.

They didn’t make it to Danny’s room to sleep. Roman just covered them both with the blanket, tucking Danny to his side on the couch.

“You make me feel loved,” Danny whispered right before sleep overtook him.

“You are.” The words were whispered, but Danny could hear them clearly.