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Alexei

F oolish, ridiculous, obsessive Alexei.

Even knowing Jay wouldn’t be working that morning—that he had the day off and would in fact be at Alexei’s apartment later that day—couldn’t seem to stop Alexei’s new habit of stalking the coffee shop.

He associated it with his little vampire barista, and that seemed like enough to keep him in its thrall.

On top of that, not seeing Jay the day before had been torture.

Alexei had already been obsessed; he knew that. But now that he’d heard the desperate, eager sounds Jay made when touched? The lost, blissed-out look, the frantic movement of his hips when chasing his release?

Alexei was a fucking goner.

And it wasn’t just the revelation of sex with Jay that had him spiraling. It was the mind-blowing realization that Jay was so much more than he had seemed (and what he’d seemed to be had already been captivating enough).

Jay may have looked like a literal doll, but he wasn’t delicate; he was strong—vastly stronger than Alexei.

Jay may have looked more than a decade younger than Alexei, but he had multiple centuries of life experience.

And Jay may have been good and kind and the type of person who made everyone around him smile, but he also had a quite literal thirst for blood.

The contradictions only made him that much more alluring. Alexei couldn’t think of anything else.

A smirking Alicia greeted Alexei at the counter. “You know he isn’t here,” she immediately felt the need to point out, flicking the ends of her ponytail over her shoulder.

“Pardon?” Alexei feigned ignorance, scanning the café menu like he hadn’t been coming there daily for almost two weeks.

The redhead didn’t cut him any slack. “Our young Jay,” she drawled. “The one you watch oh so carefully every single day. He’s not here today.”

How fucking marvelous to realize Alexei had been about as subtle as a hand grenade in his obsession. His father would have murdered him for his carelessness. Never let them know your thoughts or emotions. Best not to have the latter at all.

And Alexei’s father never had. Let him know, that was—Alexei had no idea to this day if his father had ever even loved him. He’d never said, and he had most certainly never shown.

Alexei pulled his wallet out of his pocket to give himself something to do, keeping his face carefully blank. “I already know he’s not.”

Alicia’s smirk deepened, a dimple appearing on her left cheek. “Oh, you know , do you?”

He tapped his card on the counter. “Americano. Please.”

Alicia blew out a breath, clearly frustrated with his reticence, but rang him up anyway. “Be careful with him,” she warned, the smirk dropping from her face as she handed him back his card.

“Hm?” Alexei didn’t usually enjoy playing coy, but he also wasn’t in the habit of discussing his love life with local baristas.

Only local Jay baristas.

“He watches you just as much” was all Alicia said, winking as she set off to make his drink.

An uncomfortable amount of warmth bloomed in Alexei’s chest at her words. Fucking hell. How pathetic he was, to be that desperate for any sign he was special to Jay.

He waited for his coffee before settling in at his usual table. He wouldn’t stay at the café for hours this time—he had a date to set up, after all—but he could linger for a minute.

He wasn’t really all that surprised when a black cloud of scowling café manager sat down at Alexei’s table.

He sipped his espresso calmly while Colin tried to murder him with his eyes alone. Alexei had been in the presence of mobsters since he’d been toddling age; he wasn’t going to be intimidated by six feet something of malnourished Colorado punk.

Intimidation tactic clearly failing, Colin leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know his secret.”

It sounded like an accusation. Alexei inclined his head. “I do.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” Colin warned, his fingers tapping against his bicep.

“I would never.”

Colin nodded sharply before giving Alexei a sidelong look. “Did he bite you?”

Alexei cocked a brow. “Is that any of your business?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Colin muttered. “Feels good, huh?”

Alexei just raised his brow again, not giving an inch.

With a sigh, Colin slouched down in his seat. “I just worry about him is all. It takes a lot of control, to be bitten and not…you know. And that’s with him not even being my type.”

To be drunk from and not fuck Jay into total oblivion was what Alexei assumed Colin was getting at. “And why wouldn’t I… you know ?” Alexei taunted.

Maybe if he pissed Colin off enough, the guy would leave the table and let him drink his coffee in peace.

He was given a new, deepened glare in return, but Colin made no move to shove off. Unfortunate.

Alexei sighed, pushing his coffee to the side and crossing his own arms, giving Colin a level stare. Apparently this conversation was happening whether he wanted it to or not. “Why is everyone acting like he’s a babe in the woods and I’m the big, bad wolf? He’s my elder by hundreds of years.”

Alexei hissed as he received a sharp kick to his shin, Colin looking around the room as if KGB spies were clocking their conversation. “Lower your voice, dude. It’s because he’s—”

“Inexperienced. Yes, I know. So were we all at some point.”

Colin shot him a withering look. The guy certainly knew a hundred different ways to glower. “No. It’s because he’s sweet and kind and lovely and himself in a way very few people are.”

Alexei shifted in his seat. That was actually a point he couldn’t argue. So he folded instead. “I know all that. Why do you think I’m so obsessed with him?”

Colin gave a mirthless laugh. “You are, aren’t you? Here every day…” But Alexei’s declaration seemed to ease something in him, the tension slowly leaving his lanky frame. “Are you going to let him keep biting me?” he asked, voice deceptively light.

Not on your fucking life. But rather than start another fight, Alexei shrugged. “It’s not up to me. But I’m not going to lie. I’d be…discouraging, if he asked.”

Colin nodded glumly, pinching at his lip. “Need to find myself another vampire,” he muttered, more to himself than to Alexei.

“Jay told me you’re…asexual. Is that right?” Alexei wasn’t sure why he pried, other than a desire to know more about the relationship between Colin and Jay. To assess the potential threat to his own budding connection.

Colin’s brows rose. “And why would you think that’s an okay question to ask someone you barely know?”

Because I’m entranced and obsessive and I need to know the exact nature of your relationship or I’ll simply pass the fuck away. “Because I want to understand.”

For such a moody fuck, Colin seemed to take that at face value. “Jay actually used that term?”

“Not quite.”

“I’m not, exactly. Or maybe…somewhere on the spectrum.

I just have trouble getting out of my own head, in the moment.

And I don’t like most people. You included, by the way.

It wasn’t about sex with him. It’s just…

” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Monsters are real . How could I not want to experiment a bit, knowing that?” He shrugged. “Plus, Jay needed a friend.”

I’ll be his friend , Alexei thought, the possessive yearning hot and liquid in his chest. Maybe Colin was right to be concerned. “Jay said he has people of a kind. Here in town.”

Colin nodded. “Yeah, he has a few friends he’s close to, I guess. But you’d have to be blind not to see he’s lonely as hell, even so. The more people around him, the better, I think.”

There was a long moment of silence as they both processed that thought. Eventually, Alexei cleared his throat, offering his own version of a cease-fire. “I won’t hurt him, you know. Just because I’m attracted to him doesn’t mean I’m some dastardly villain.”

“And when he falls in love with you because he’s affection-deprived, touch-starved, and you’re his fucking first?”

That answered the question of whether Colin knew Jay was a virgin.

It also sounded like the perfect fucking outcome to Alexei.

But to say so would be giving away more cards than he was willing.

So he only shrugged, aware Colin still probably thought he was a complete asshole.

“We’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it. ”

Colin still didn’t leave the table.

“This is the most I’ve ever heard you speak,” Alexei said a bit pointedly.

“I could say the same for you. I speak when it’s important.”

Alexei nodded in understanding. “He’s important.”

“He is.”

On that they could agree.

Alexei’s impatience knew no bounds, waiting on Jay’s arrival. He’d already cleaned his little one-bedroom—he was renting from a man who took cash over checking a credit report and didn’t look too closely at government ID—like a madman earlier that morning.

Jay’s place had been neat and tidy, and Alexei wanted the little vampire to feel comfortable in his space.

He took a last look around to try to assess for any flaws. Alexei’s kitchen was definitely nothing special, but it had a working gas stove and good natural light, and with the counters practically gleaming and all the ingredients laid out, it didn’t look so bad.

Even with his expecting it, the doorbell ringing had Alexei’s heart in his throat. Jesus, what the fuck was wrong with him?

His nerves were hard to reconcile with the adorable vision that greeted him at the door: Jay in baby-blue fleece pants with little snowflake patterns, the legs of which were just peeking out from under a truly massive orange down coat.

Alexei quirked a brow at the sight. “You’ve got your own unique style, did you know that?”

“Thank you,” Jay answered with full sincerity, clearly taking it as a compliment. “I like to be cozy.”