“Vampires?” Still blinking at me, Dorian’s brain was either going too fast or too slow. “Really?”
Still no help.
“They’re generally polite but ridiculously territorial, so there’s usually only one in an area. Ours is Treymane and he’s like the definition of old-school European snobbery.” At least hewasn’t causing chaos around town, though. “He’s not dangerous and donated a large amount of the funds to help renovate the stage at the school.”
“Oh.” Coming back to life, Dorian’s blink that time seemed to reset his brain. “That was nice.”
So we were good to keep going?
I wasn’t in trouble for forgetting to mention something cool?
Glancing around, he took a deep breath. “Which way are we going?”
I pointed down the street and on the other side of the road. “Over there, just past that ghost who looks like he wants to lecture you about finding God. He probably won’t but he died frustrated and on the way to church and he just can’t let that go.”
It’d taken ten years to get him to stop trying to save everyone’s souls, but lately he mostly just grumbled and stomped around the area where he’d died.
He blinked out of view as someone came out of the coffee shop, but Dorian’s quick inhale said he’d guessed who the couple was. “I can see why everyone is calling them combustible…and I’m confused.”
Me too…Treymane wasn’t that hot no matter what the women in town said.
“Would it be accurate to tell my mother they look like they just walked out of a dirty romance novel?” That much barely restrained passion was not Hallmark appropriate, so we weren’t even going to try to describe them as a made-for-TV movie.
Dorian made a cute thinking sound that said he was taking the whole thing seriously but shrugged after a few moments.“I think that would be very accurate…but they’re not doing anything.”
Pressing against me, Dorian was at least trying to look subtle as we watched the men slowly walk down the other sidewalk. “Is it a vampire thing? They’re just walking together but it’s like the temperature went up a few degrees.”
It might be a vampire thing, honestly.
Oh, had anyone said what the other guy was?
“How is them walking together making me want to lecture them about being inappropriate in public?” Dorian seemed very confused but he had good questions. “I lived in California for a while. I can keep my thoughts on behavior to myself.”
He’d lived in weird places.
“Um, I think it’s a vampire thing.” I’d seen a lot of mates finding each other but they’d never looked like the start to a gay porn.
Maybe it was just two guys being repressed for too long?
“Most of the couples I’ve heard that met through the matchmaker are laid-back and content kind of matches—not the combustible kind—so I don’t think that’s an issue.” I’d kind of thought that was her focus, so this was a surprise. “One of the Bigfoots was matched through her and they seem like a sweet couple based on what I’ve heard. Daddy-boy with age play, but they don’t play in public, so we don’t have to talk about how to socialize appropriately with them.”
We might have to figure out how to ignore the steam coming off Treymane, though.
And his desperate-looking…human?
“How do you get any work done if all you do is get gossip from everyone?” The curious tone in his voice made it funny and not insulting. “They need to let you get your work done. This is ridiculous.”
He was so cute.
“Okay, technically I don’t discourage it because it’s useful to know what’s going on. Most of the time it’s silly stuff like this, but once in a while it’s important information that affects the overall magic in the community.” Like realtors who…well…no point in dwelling on that on my date. “But yes, I do probably need to slow them down a bit.”
It wasn’t easy to stop, though.
People were always so excited to talk about what they’d learned and I didn’t like disappointing them. It seemed to be a side effect of being the Alpha, but I might’ve let it get a bit out of control.
Maybe Dorian could get it under control?
He was the Alpha Mate after all.
