Chapter Thirteen

W hy had he agreed to this? Yes, he’d asked, but here he was now, sitting in a restaurant full of humans. His mate glowed, no doubt from the sex, and Gray couldn’t help but watch the vein on Henry’s neck pulse with every beat his heart made.

He should have fed when they fucked, but he hadn’t, and now he wanted nothing more than to sink his fangs into Henry’s vein, taste his blood as they fucked. He’d do it now, right on the table, but somehow he didn’t think anyone else would appreciate it. Well, who knew? There were some kinky people out there who got off on voyeurism.

Clenching his hands, Gray took several deep breaths, watching Henry as he smiled at their waiter. The waiter smiled back and Gray gritted his teeth at the obvious look of attraction the waiter was giving Henry. Henry ignored it or was unaware, but Gray wasn’t and he wanted to jump over the table and smack the shit out of the guy.

“Beer?”

Gray smiled and glared at the waiter, who swallowed and stepped back. Good. “Yeah.”

The waiter nodded and shot off, which Gray enjoyed until he felt a kick under the table. He glanced at Henry, who was frowning at him. “Was it necessary to scare five years off his life?”

“Yes.” Henry continued to frown, and Gray shrugged. Did he need to say more?

“He was being friendly because he wants a tip.”

“He wants more than a tip.” Gray waggled his eyebrows, causing Henry to snort. “He wants the length, too.”

“And you had to glare him out of it.”

“You’re mine,” Gray growled. “No one touches you but me, which reminds me, have you told him that he’s single?” Oh yeah. The boyfriend Henry was in an open relationship with, the one he’d cheated on Gray with. He was purposely ignoring the fact they were in a relationship before Gray mated him and the fact Gray hadn’t told Henry he’d mated him.

“I can’t remember if I have or haven’t spoken to Jess about us. I mean, is there an ‘us’ or is this a fuck and run relationship? Yeah, you seem more open-minded about it all, but how long before the fact you’re mated to me makes you insane with anger and you leave?”

“Such a high opinion of me,” Gray muttered darkly.

“I’m speaking the truth,” Henry spoke quietly as he fiddled with his cutlery. “I’m the one who feels the loss when you’re not around. I have to take care of my health and we’re stuck. It doesn’t matter whether we like it or not, but we’re tied together for life now and I want a good, healthy life. I don’t want to be walking on eggshells around you and I don’t want to be…” Henry paused. “Stuck. I don’t want to be the one waiting around until you decide to turn up when the need becomes too much for you. I might be human, but I’m a man and I have needs, and wants, and desires.”

Gray straightened in his chair and leaned on the table. “I can give them to you. Why do you have to force me to answer? Why can’t you let me go at my pace?”

“Because I’m the one who ends up sick.” Henry’s quietly spoken words had Gray sitting back in his chair. He rubbed his hand over his chin, watching Henry watch him. “I don’t want to be in this yo-yo situation where I’m sick and then you turn up and we fuck, then you disappear again until I’m sick and round and round we go. We need to find common ground where we can build something from this. This is for life, isn’t it? Neither one of us can walk away.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Gray snapped out louder than he meant to going by the number of heads that turned in their direction. He inhaled swiftly and slowly exhaled.

“Two beers?”

“Thank you,” Henry responded before Gray could open his mouth, and he watched Henry take a large mouthful of beer. “I’m ready to order, are you?”

Gray grunted and picked up the menu, then put it down without looking at it. He wanted to leave, and he knew Henry could pick that up from the way he was behaving. “Burger and fries.”

“Hmm. I’ll have the same.”

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

Gray glanced around the restaurant, ignoring Henry, and wondered what the fuck he was doing. When Kelvin had suggested a meal out, he’d agreed, thinking it was a good place to start to get to know his mate, and now that he was here, he was so over it. He wanted out. He wanted to be at home on his own and away from humans.

“You don’t want to be here. Too many H people?”

“H people?” What the fuck was Henry talking about?

“Humans,” Henry whispered. “Too much too soon?”

“Huh?” Maybe Henry had a point. Maybe this was why he felt like scratching his skin off. Too many humans. It felt like Gray had jumped straight in at the deep end and he couldn’t swim.

“We can get our food to go.”

“No,” Gray snapped, then winced.

“Okay,” Henry drew out the word. “I’m so excited.”

That was it. He was done. Gray stood and stormed out, leaving Henry at the table, and paced outside the restaurant. Several minutes later, Henry came out and walked past him. “Hey!”

“Fuck you.” Gray jogged to catch up to Henry, grabbing his arm and spinning him around. Henry snatched his arm away and jabbed Gray in the chest. “Fuck. You.”

“No chance. I do the fucking between us.”

“No chance,” Henry smirked, “because there’ll be no more fucking between us. I would rather be dead than have you touch me again. We are done. Time after time, I’ve let you treat me like shit, but no more. I have far too much self-respect to put up with your stupid speciesist shit any more. Or whatever the fucking word is to describe how you despise my species, which includes me. You’re either in or you’re out, but this stops now because I’m done.”

Henry spun and stormed away, and Gray let him go. What was the point? Kelvin and Key worked, but he and Henry didn’t, and they never would. He needed to work out how many days he could go before he had to be close to Henry. He’d push to the max, too.

Disappearing, he appeared in his apartment and opened the fridge, grabbing a can of beer. Fuck it, he needed a drink, and he didn’t get the one he wanted at the restaurant. He cracked it open and took a long drink before sighing and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Shutting the fridge door, Gray walked into his bedroom, placed the can on the floor, and stripped. Staring at his limp dick had him scowling over the shitty situation he was stuck in. One he had not long ago decided to make the best of, yet here he was, pissed off over his human mate.

A vampire mate would be so much easier to deal with, and Gray would be able to tolerate being in their presence for longer than it took to fuck.

Dropping onto his bed, Gray sighed and ran a hand over his head. He’d fucked up again. He knew he had, but he hated having to admit it. If he didn’t sort his fucking head out, he would have a mate who would rather wither away and die than be with him, which meant Gray was approaching a flatline where their relationship was concerned.

He had to find a way past his fucked up emotions where humans were involved, or at least where one particular human was involved. He kinda liked Henry. More than liked, if he was being honest.

Here he was again, going over and over the same old thoughts, all leading him to the same place.

He had to make it work with Henry. He had no choice. Neither of them did, and Gray wanted to live a long life. If he could make it work with Henry, then it would be a long and happy life. He didn’t have to like humans in general, but he had to make an effort where his mate was concerned.

He should message him and arrange another date but somewhere less crowded, or maybe bring Henry back to his place and cook. Now he was being all domesticated and shit, but he was mated. His life had changed. Forever.

Grabbing his phone, he called Kelvin. As soon as he answered, Gray asked, “What’s a good meal to cook for your mate?”

Kelvin didn’t answer at first. All Gray heard was Kelvin panting softly and realized he might have interrupted something. “Steak and something.” Kelvin hung up and Gray was left staring at his phone. Oh yeah. He had interrupted something. He’d have to apologize later, once he’d finished laughing his ass off. He could only imagine the look on Key’s face.

First, he had to go in to work and dig deep for information on Maxim and his alleged son. If he could get a name for the kid, then Gray knew they would have an easier time locating him. That they could use to their advantage.

The kid was a weakness, and Gray was willing to exploit any and every weakness he found. Maxim and his bunch of merry fuckwits needed to be found and dealt with as soon as possible. Preying on humans and potentially revealing their existence was something the council had ordered a stop to.

Minho was dealing with it in his own unique way. That was going out and smiling and flashing fangs at all the women who swooned at his feet. Helped that he was a good-looking bastard who would use those looks any way he could, except to entice people to his bed.

Gray couldn’t recall a time Minho had mentioned a partner, but Gray knew the vampire wouldn’t be sleeping alone. No one that good looking slept alone. Turning his mind away from Minho, Gray concentrated and appeared in his office and sat, staring at the blank monitor.

Sighing heavily, he switched it on and began the program that would search CCTV for Maxim and hopefully capture an image of his son. A couple of hours into the search, Key entered and coughed.

“You have the best timing.”

“Yep.” Gray smirked and carried on staring at his monitor.

“We were busy.”

“I know.”

Key muttered something under his breath and sat at his station. “Message next time, unless it’s an emergency.”

“Will do.” Grinning, Gray carried on working, ignoring Key.

“I hope he makes your life hell.”

“He’s already doing that.”

“Most of that is because you’re an idiot and you’re treating him like a piece of shit. He can’t change the fact he’s human, just like you can’t change the fact you’re a vampire, so try harder with him.”

Gray swiveled on his chair and stared at Key. “When I need your advice—”

“You called for Kelvin’s advice while we were fucking, so deal with any shit I send your way.”

“Key,” Gray murmured.

“Yes? Got something to say? Should I have my mate here so he can hear it too?” Key arched an eyebrow at Gray and he sucked in a lungful of air and slowly released.

“I apologize.”

“Wow. Really? That must have been hard for you to say.”

“Now you sound like Henry.”

“And you’re the common denominator. Wonder what that says?”

Grunting, Gray turned away. “I’m trying.”

“Try harder.”

Ignoring Key, because the fucker was right, Gray got back to work. He had a son to find and a weakness to exploit.