Chapter Fifteen

H enry woke alone, in a room he didn’t recognize. The scent told him he was in a hospital of some sort, but not one he’d ever been in before. It looked like one of those expensive ones that only the rich could afford. The sheets on the bed felt so soft and smooth, the furniture appeared to be solid oak.

It was a nice place to recover after being shot, which made him think about Gray.

Hearing a sound in the corner of the room, Henry glanced over, seeing his so-called mate asleep in a chair. Gray had come for him and brought him to this place, and now he was here in the room with him. Kinda made Henry feel warm inside. If only that feeling would last.

When Gray stirred, Henry closed his eyes, ignoring the sounds Gray made as he sat up. “Henry.”

He should have known Gray would know he was awake. The difference in breathing in his heartbeat would have been picked up by Gray. “Yeah.”

“How do you feel?”

“Like I got shot.”

A scrape of a chair, then footsteps approached the bed. Henry kept his eyes shut, as the pain made itself known. “Here’s the button to the morphine if you need it.”

Opening his eyes, Henry stared up at Gray, seeing the fatigue on his face. The lines bracketing his mouth and eyes, the dark circles beneath them. “How long have you been here?”

“I haven’t left.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “You were here all this time? How long have I been here?”

“You had to have surgery, so twenty-four hours.”

“And you stayed here the whole time?” Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Henry tried to sit, but hissed.

Gray leaned over him and put his hands under the uninjured arm and helped him upright. “Where else would I be?” he asked softly.

“Do people know?”

“About us being mated?” Henry nodded. “Yeah. I’m in trouble and have to speak to the council. We have a rule that we can’t mate with humans unless the council agrees.”

“Really?” Henry grimaced and reached for the button, pressing it once.

“It used to be that we couldn’t mate with humans at all, but it’s changed since. It’s protecting us and humans. You don’t know we exist and if humans did find out and wanted to cause us harm, they could reveal our existence to the world. We’d be fucked.”

“Some humans wouldn’t care.” Even as Henry spoke the words, he knew some humans would hunt vampires down for fun and some would experiment on them. He wasn’t blind to the faults of his fellow humans.

“And you know not all humans are like that.”

“I know.” Swallowing, Henry searched the room for water and then gasped in surprise when Gray held a cup of water for him. “Thank you.”

“I’ve been a shitty mate.”

“Have you now? I wouldn’t have guessed.”

Wincing, Gray nodded. “I want to try. I know I’ll fuck up. I’ll say the wrong thing and hurt you, but I want to try.”

“I should have been shot sooner.”

Wincing again, Gray looked away. “It shouldn’t take you being shot for me to realize I’ve been a bastard. No, I knew I was being a bastard, and I didn’t care or I did and didn’t act on it. Fuck, I don’t know what I mean.”

Watching Gray struggle made Henry happy, but not too happy. He could see what Gray was trying to do. “We can start again.” He smiled, then giggled.

“And the morphine’s kicked in.”

“It’s nice and you look nice, but rough. And you smell.” Henry giggled again and hummed. Everything was so good right then. Lifting his hand, he giggled again. He was flouting on a cloud of happiness.

“So you’re one of those who get all giggly and shit on morphine.”

“Not you?”

“I throw up. Every time I have it, I’m sick.”

“It’s sucks to be you!” Henry sang the words and giggled again when Gray frowned at him.

There was a knock on the door and a nurse came in, smiling at Henry. “It’s nice to see you awake.”

“I’ve had morphine!” Henry grinned. “I feel so good!”

The nurse nodded and checked the machine, pressing a few buttons. “That’s good to know. Any pain?”

“Nope! None! I feel good!” He giggled again. “I need this at home for when I deal with my mate. He has a stick up his ass.”

The nurse sucked her lips in and nodded. “I’m sure your mate is pleased to hear that.”

“The mate is sitting right here.”

“Yes, he is, and he’s a keeper… not!” Henry giggled again. “I might keep him, though. He’s a good fuck.”

“And it’s time for you to leave.” Gray stood and tried to usher the nurse out of the room, but she batted his hands away. “I’m sure you’ve taken all the measurements you need to.”

“I’ve heard far worse.” The nurse wrote down numbers and asked a few more questions, but Henry giggled instead of answering them. “Okay. I’ll come back in a couple of hours when the morphine has had time to wear off.”

Henry’s stomach churned and his mouth flooded with saliva. “I don’t feel so good.” Gray grabbed a bucket and shoved it under Henry’s face just as he vomited. Henry groaned and vomited again. “I don’t like drugs now.”

Closing his eyes, Henry sighed and lay back. He really didn’t like being shot.

***

Gray held the bucket at arm’s length and watched his mate succumb to sleep, ignoring the stench of vomit. The nurse took the bucket from him and walked out of the room, saying, “let him sleep.”

Gray pulled a chair closer to the bed and watched his mate. His gorgeous and sexy mate. He was an idiot, but he knew that and he would do everything he could to change the way he saw humans. It wouldn’t happen overnight, but he would make the effort because Henry deserved a mate who could be there for him. Not a mate who turned up when he had to.

When the door opened behind him, Gray saw Kelvin and nodded. Standing, he kissed Henry’s forehead and followed Kelvin out of the room.

“Alma understands, but you’ll be in trouble.”

“I know. I should have gone to them straight away when we’d mated. Kinda like how you should have.”

Kelvin shrugged. “Hope they don’t give you sanitation duty.”

“I run our security, so I imagine it’ll be something else.”

Kelvin shrugged and disappeared, Gray quickly following. They stood outside the council chambers and Gray pushed open the door, walking to stand in front of the council members.

“How is your mate?” Council woman Alma asked.

“He’s recovering well, though his reaction to morphine is interesting.”

“You know why you’re here?”

“I broke our law regarding mating. It was accidental.” Wincing, Gray shook his head. “I didn’t realize until after and then I denied it.”

“We’re aware of your…fondness for humans.”

“Well, I guess I have to work on that now.”

“Hmm. We’ve been discussing your punishment, and we’ve come to the agreement that you being mated to a human is your punishment.”

Gray glared at the councilman who’d spoken. “I’m honored to have Henry as my mate.”

“So honored you almost lost him.” The councilman moved on his chair. “You’re mated to the very species you hate, and you have to adapt. You have to face those emotions you have and learn to overcome them or your mating is doomed. You know this because you’ve been dealing with it. Unsatisfactorily, I would guess, as well.”

Gray nodded. “I haven’t treated my mate well, but I intend to do so from now on.”

“Good. An addition to your punishment is to help in the community outreach.”

The community outreach. A place where vampires worked with humans who knew about them and helped the local area. He would be around humans. “I see.”

“We’re lucky to have those humans who work with us in improving the standards of those living in the area. All they want is to make everyone’s lives better. You’ll still have to work in security, but you have community service as well. You’re going to be busy.”

“I’m sure that will give your mate time to recover and adjust to his new life with us,” Councilwoman Alma smiled.

“I’ll help him in any way I can.”

“You start at the center tomorrow.”

Gray nodded and left the chambers, standing outside. “Shit.”

“Could have been worse.” Kelvin nodded then left.

“Yeah.” It could have been, as in him dying. Shit. How the fuck was he going to work with a bunch of humans?