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Alexei was close on his heels, enough so that Jay could feel how cold the human was from the frozen night air. He seemed to stiffen even further at Jay’s question. “What? No. I just—I forgot to eat dinner.”

“You need to eat?” Jay turned to ask the question, and whoa, Alexei’s face was very close to his. The human’s nose was a little red at the tip from the chill. Jay hummed in thought. “You need to eat, and you’re cold.”

Jay’s absent humming turned into a full tune as he thought it over.

He could definitely work with that. He didn’t need to be nervous at all.

He was very good at making people comfortable—it had, after all, been his sole purpose for over two centuries.

Well, not to make humans comfortable, exactly, but it couldn’t be that different with vampires, could it?

He grabbed hold of Alexei’s hand, taking a second to enjoy the way the human’s large palm swallowed his so easily. He was so much larger than Jay, and Jay had to admit he liked that about his regular. He could easily imagine being held, possibly hugged, maybe even pressed down onto a mattress…

But no. This wasn’t the time. The human needed food and warmth, not Jay’s lustful thoughts. Jay shook them right out of his head.

He pulled Alexei to the couch in the living room before rising to his tiptoes to press down on the big human’s shoulders, gently guiding him into a seated position. Alexei folded himself down easily, his wide, dazed eyes focused on Jay all the while.

Jay patted Alexei’s chest (so nice and firm) and went off to collect all the blankets from around the room—good thing he’d bought so many in his time here.

He started layering them onto Alexei, unsure how many the human needed to warm himself.

But after the fifth blanket, Alexei halted his movement by placing his large hand—he really had such nice hands, tan and slightly calloused—onto Jay’s arm.

“Show me again,” Alexei requested. “In the light.”

Jay let out a little sigh. He had things to attend to just now, but he supposed it was the polite thing to do, to cede to a guest’s request. “One more time,” he said, making his voice as stern as he could, which probably wasn’t very stern at all. “Then we need to feed you.”

Jay pushed his beastie forward again. It came easily at his call, preening a little at the attention Alexei showered it with, those pretty eyes tracking Jay’s newly black pair.

Alexei released Jay’s arm and lifted his hand, pressing against the front of Jay’s fang with one finger. Jay shivered, a tingle going down his spine. No one had ever touched his fangs like that before. Were fangs an erogenous zone? Or was it just that it was Alexei touching him?

He’d have to ask Soren later. That sounded like something he would know.

When Alexei moved to press his finger against the pointed tip, Jay stopped him with a hand to his wrist. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. If I cut you— Well, um, it’s just you smell really, really good,” he tried to explain, not sure if he was getting through to the dazed human or not.

Alexei only stared.

Jay pushed his beastie back, ignoring its grumbling protests. Time to get back to business. “I’m going to make you some miniature pizza bagels,” he said, stepping back from the couch. “But don’t worry, they come from a box.”

“Why would I be worried?” Alexei twisted his torso, tracking Jay’s entry into the kitchen.

The duplex had an open floor plan, without a wall between the two rooms, so really, he could watch as much as he wanted while Jay prepared his food. Jay was fine with an audience because he was going to follow the directions perfectly . Maybe Alexei would even be impressed.

“I can’t cook because everything I make comes out terrible and inedible, and also, I started a small fire once, and that upset my friends,” Jay explained, pushing the buttons to preheat the oven.

Alexei took a moment with that information. “Has anyone ever tried to teach you?” he asked eventually.

“Well, no, but I’ve followed recipes from the internet.”

“It’s different having someone to show you in person. Cooking is an art. It’s hard to learn just from reading. It helps to have someone to direct you.”

Jay turned from the oven, smiling at the thought. “Oh! I’m very good at following directions.”

“I bet you are, kotyonok.” Alexei’s voice came out kind of throaty and husky and weirdly sexy. Maybe from being in the cold too long? Jay had to turn back around to hide his blush.

He hummed to cover his embarrassment, pulling the little box out of the freezer. “It doesn’t seem quite fair though. Roman’s such a good cook, and he’s a vampire, so it’s not like we can’t have a knack for cooking. It’s not a species thing, I don’t think.”

There was a weighty silence from behind him.

Oh, shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Jay hadn’t meant to mention anything about the others. He’d been so good until now. He’d never even once told Colin there were more of his kind in town.

But there was something about the careful, close way Alexei always watched him that had Jay just wanting to talk all day long.

People rarely paid attention to him, not like this.

Sure, they’d be amused when he said something unintentionally funny, maybe even momentarily charmed by his admittedly weird ways.

But then they would just pat his head—metaphorically or sometimes literally—and move on.

But Alexei… He watched. Stared, even.

And Jay liked it.

“There are more of you here?” Alexei finally asked. “Vampires?”

“Um…” Jay dithered over answering, filling a water glass and bringing it over to the couch while he thought it over. (Ferdy always needed water after a run, and Alexei had just had a walk, so that was probably a good idea for him too.)

He was pleased when Alexei gulped it down easily. He also felt a surprisingly warm tingling in his belly, watching Alexei’s Adam’s apple bob.

Alexei looked good doing anything and everything, it seemed.

“There are others,” Jay admitted quietly, watching the human drink.

Alexei set the glass down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Very uncivilized of him. Jay liked it. “I’m not much of a cook, but I can teach you to make syrniki. They’re like Russian pancakes.” He stared down at his glass. “My grandmother taught me.”

“Oh,” Jay breathed. What an incredibly nice offer from a new friend. Because that was what they were becoming, right? That was what happened when one person came to another person’s home and shared food and secrets? “Oh yes, I’d like that very much.”

Twenty minutes later and Alexei had wolfed down an entire box of the little pizza bagels. He’d assured Jay one box would be enough. “Just needed to soak up some of the rum.”

The human did look a little more alert now.

His eyes were sharper, that glazed look gone.

He was fiddling with his empty plate, turning it round and round on the coffee table.

He’d been more or less silent, eating his food, but now he seemed ready to ask some questions.

“How long have you been…feeding…on Colin? And what did you mean that bites are pleasurable?”

Jay, seated next to him on the couch now, folded his hands on his lap, considering how to answer. Technically, Colin had given him permission to share, as long as he wasn’t present to be embarrassed by it all. So Jay did his best to lay it all out carefully and concisely.

“I’ve been feeding on Colin since shortly after he hired me.

Once every two weeks.” Which honestly left Jay pretty hungry a lot of the time, but he didn’t want to overfeed on his singular food source.

“Vampire bites can be very…arousing, for the human involved. And Colin… Well, um, as he put it to me: he likes the idea of sex in theory but doesn’t always feel…

into it…in real life. He was intrigued by the bite’s arousal effects.

We made an arrangement, with full knowledge and full consent from both parties.

” Jay liked adding that last part. He was proud of how he’d handled the task of feeding in Hyde Park.

“So why aren’t you two fucking?” Alexei asked, shocking Jay a little with his bluntness. “Are bites not arousing for vampires as well?”

Jay shifted on the couch. He was honestly a little surprised Alexei was so much more interested in the sex part than the drinking-blood-from-a-coworker part.

But maybe that was just how human brains worked.

It had been so long since Jay had been one himself; perhaps he was out of touch.

“Well…yes, they are. But Colin doesn’t actually want sex from me—we’re really not each other’s type—and also I-I’m sort of lacking in experience anyway.

I wouldn’t be a good guide for all that. ”

Alexei’s eyes on him were very intense, his pupils looking larger than before. “How lacking?” he asked, his voice husky again. Maybe it wasn’t from the cold after all.

“I’m a virgin,” Jay admitted, making sure he kept his chin held high as he said it. He refused to be embarrassed by his inexperience. Well, he refused to show his embarrassment, at least.

He watched in fascination as Alexei’s pupils dilated even further. Alexei swayed a little toward Jay—maybe he hadn’t sobered up as much as they’d thought—then seemed to catch himself, clearing his throat and rubbing at the back of his neck. “You don’t have any interest in sex?”

“Oh!” Jay almost giggled at the thought. “No, I do. Very much. But I had some strange circumstances for my first two centuries, and then, well…it’s hard to know where to start when you’ve been…sheltered, like I have.”

Alexei took his time processing that information. Jay liked the way he did that, always considering the things Jay said very carefully. When he eventually spoke, he switched directions once again. “Are you still hungry? I interrupted you.”

Oh God. There went Jay’s fangs.

Alexei’s lips twitched. “Do you want to bite me, kotyonok?”

Jay covered his mouth with one hand, embarrassed. It was just…the human kept offering himself up. What was Jay supposed to do? Or maybe Alexei was only curious? Jay studied his face for a moment, trying to gauge how genuine the offer was. He really was hungry.

But then Alexei cheated. He tilted his head, displaying that strong, tanned neck. God, why did he have to look so good? And smell so good? Alexei’s pretty eyes were half-lidded, almost taunting. Like he knew exactly how much he was tempting Jay.

How did one know when a human was too tipsy for a feeding?

“What day is it today?” Jay asked through the hand covering his mouth. He’d pushed his fangs back again, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

“February 4,” Alexei answered promptly.

“And where are we right now?”

“Your house. In Hyde Park.” Alexei’s eyes lit up, and he huffed a short laugh as he seemed to realize what Jay was doing. “You know I had a few rum and cokes, not a concussion, right?”

Jay flapped his free hand in the air, strangely embarrassed. “Well, I don’t know!”

Alexei shifted closer on the couch. “I know what I’m offering.”

Jay cocked his head, too tempted for words. Still. “But what are you offering?”

“Feed from me. I like the idea of giving you something you need, kotyonok. Let me be of use to you. Please.”

Well, wasn’t Alexei turning out to be the nicest human ever?

Jay didn’t know what to do with the warmth filling his chest. It was so rare anyone asked how they could be of use to Jay without wanting something in return.

He couldn’t resist it. He let the beastie out again, fangs popping down.

“I’m going to come closer,” he warned, finally lowering his hand from his mouth.

But Alexei didn’t seem even the least bit frightened. “Yes,” he purred.

It was almost like he was the hunter here, not Jay. But that was a silly thought.

Jay climbed up into Alexei’s lap. He supposed he could have shuffled closer to him on the couch instead—maybe that would have been more polite?—but he couldn’t resist this golden opportunity for further physical connection.

And maybe Jay just really wanted to be held. The human looked so strong and smelled so good. Was it so horrible that Jay wanted to be as close as possible?

Alexei tilted his head to the side, baring his neck again.

Jay bit in.