Chapter 2
Ryder
Ryder stood in the middle of his new living room, trying to unclench his fists. It would probably help if he stopped thinking about someone dating Gideon. Someone touching Gideon. Someone holding him, making him laugh, making him moan with pleasure.
A flickering reel of a faceless man giving Gideon everything he wanted was on repeat in his brain, driving him insane.
He needed to give up on the dream of ever being worthy of someone as precious and perfect as Gideon.
He didn’t know how much time passed before he dragged in a deep breath and exhaled it, along with his festering anger. Lifting his gaze to the empty room, he frowned. If he needed any more proof that he wasn’t Gideon’s type, he needed to search no farther than his own place.
Whereas Gideon had decorated his condo in cheery pastels, Ryder’s was in shades of pale-gray, black, and dark green.
The floors in Gideon’s place were a warm honey oak; Ryder’s were a dark mahogany.
Rafe had asked him what he wanted his place to look like, and he’d only shrugged.
It had been over a century since he’d had his own place, and even then, he hadn’t been the one to decorate it.
When Rafe had continued to pester him, he’d blurted out dark and peaceful.
Maybe Rafe had taken him a bit too literally, because the apartment was as dark and peaceful as a mausoleum.
To make matters worse, he had no things.
He’d spent his existence as a vampire being shuffled from one place to the next.
He’d lived with Lola, Rafe’s trusted right hand in all things, for several years.
Next, he’d moved into the Varik house with Gideon for a bit.
There were times he’d lived with the other nightclub bouncers.
Because of the temporariness of his living conditions, he never accumulated things.
He shuffled into the bedroom, where a brand-new mattress rested on the floor. In one corner was a box of books, and leaning against the wall was the old, battered duffel bag he’d picked up at a thrift store about forty years ago.
Even if he wanted to have Gideon over to his place, there were no soft things for him to cuddle, no comfy places for him to sit.
Gideon loved soft things. He loved squishy things.
He loved to hold and pet silky things. Gideon would be miserable here.
The vampire would take one look at his place and run away.
But how could Ryder fix it?
Sighing, he sat on the mattress and scrubbed a hand through his hair, shoving it from his eyes. Caroline would have known how to fix this.
Ryder closed his eyes, a ghost of a smile passing over his lips. It had been decades since he’d last thought of his wife. His human wife.
She’d done an amazing job of creating a home for their family. The place had always felt warm and inviting, a relief when he returned at the end of a long day at work. He didn’t know how she’d done it with the colors and the curtains and the pretty China tea set, but it was home.
He missed her.
But she was gone and never coming back. He’d made his peace with that years ago.
It was just…why couldn’t she be here now to explain to him how anyone could walk into a store with millions of options and know how to pick out the right thing?
With a groan, Ryder flopped onto the mattress and stared up at the dark ceiling. He wasn’t asking Rafe for help. The man would start laughing and wouldn’t stop until the end of time. Lola wasn’t any better. Philippe would help, but Ryder wasn’t comfortable asking him for something so personal.
Gideon enjoyed this stuff, but if he asked him, wouldn’t Gideon think he was a total loser? That wasn’t helpful in the least.
Unless Gideon did love decorating and shopping. Then, if Gideon helped him decorate his place, Ryder could make sure that he got things that Gideon enjoyed. Soft, comfy things that would make him want to be in Ryder’s apartment. Plus, if they went shopping, they could spend more time together.
Yes, this could be an excellent plan.
And if it was just the two of them, maybe he’d get more comfortable talking to Gideon.
Wait. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
But it was a good start to a plan.
Ryder was attempting to formulate how he would broach the topic with Gideon when a smoke alarm began blaring…in Gideon’s condo.
He was on his feet in a second and up the private back stairs that connected their places.
He burst through the door, expecting to see flames.
Not Gideon frantically waving his T-shirt in front of the smoke detector.
His thin, pale chest seemed to glow in the bright overhead light.
Blond hair stood up in every direction as if he’d pulled at it.
The young vampire turned wide eyes on him and his expression said, Oh, shit!
“It’s okay! Everything is okay! Nothing is on fire!
” Gideon claimed, words pouring out of him in a rush as he continued to wildly wave his shirt in the air.
He’d barely finished speaking when the smoke detector stopped screaming, leaving them in an almost deafening silence broken only by Gideon’s panting.
Clutching his shirt to his chest, Gideon winced as he stared up at Ryder. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to bother you.”
“What happened?”
Gideon sighed, and his expression became even more pained.
“When Fox and River were here earlier, they ordered pizza. Fox said you can’t move without pizza.
It’s like a human rule, but I don’t remember that one.
Anyway, they left me some, and I wanted to heat it up to eat while I unpack boxes.
And well…that happened.” He waved toward the singed, slightly smoking cardboard box on the stovetop.
First, Ryder was stunned there were leftovers. He’d seen the werewolf eat; he was a bottomless pit. And the witch wasn’t much better. Maybe it was something like a weird housewarming gift?
He stepped closer to Gideon, fighting the urge to wrap him up in a tight hug.
That bare chest and slumped shoulders demanded he cuddle the little vampire.
He made do with a hand on the top of his head, gently stroking his hair.
“I think it might be best to put the pizza on one of those metal cooking pans instead of heating cardboard.”
Gideon tipped his head up, giving Ryder some serious side-eye. “Yeah. Kinda figured that one out after it started smoking.”
Ryder pressed his lips together to stop his grin. Gideon wouldn’t appreciate that. “I think there’s something about pizza stones that helps with cooking them, but I don’t know if these are special stones or just any old rocks.”
Gideon’s eyes immediately widened. “Oooh! I’ll have to look that up and get some!”
Pinching some of his hair between his thumb and forefinger, Ryder gave it a small tug. “Gideon, if you’re feeling hungry, I’m here for you. I’m happy to provide for you.”
Happy was the understatement of this and the next century.
Giving Gideon blood was the best thing in his entire world.
It was the one way he felt truly close to him as he listened to the soft noises of pleasure he made or got lost in the feel of his fingers holding him so tightly, as if he were afraid Ryder would push him away.
The younger vampire twisted and jumped away from him, waving his hands at Ryder.
“No! I’m not that kind of hungry. I wanted something to nibble on while I worked.
To make the moving feel more official.” He clutched his shirt in both hands.
“Besides, I don’t want you to be a crutch for me.
It’s important that I’m comfortable hunting on my own, or Rafe will take this away. ”
Ryder fisted his hands at his sides and nodded, his eyes dropping to the floor. Gideon was right. As much as he wanted to be the one who always supplied Gideon with blood, there might be times when he wasn’t around, and Gideon needed to be strong enough to take care of himself.
“Mn. You’re right,” he mumbled.
A hand reached out and gripped his fist, squeezing until he loosened his fingers. Ryder lifted his eyes to find Gideon smiling at him. “But I appreciate the offer. Really.”
That helped a little.
He turned to stare into the open doorway from the kitchen through the small dining room to the living room. Gideon had emptied some boxes. There were more colors and soft things, as if a rainbow had exploded across Gideon’s living room. He was making some progress.
“You like…shopping and decorating, right?” Ryder asked softly.
Gideon released him and tugged his shirt on over his head.
He shoved both hands through his hair, smoothing it into place as if nothing had happened.
A bright smile spread across his lips and his eyes shone.
“Well, yeah. It’s fun! There’s checking out all the different styles and fabrics.
Making your place reflect your personality.
And then just the adventure of finding fun stuff. ”
Ryder was good at precisely none of those things. The idea of buying furnishings and decorations was overwhelming.
“I’m bad at that. Would you be willing to help me with my place?”
He didn’t think it was possible, but Gideon’s eyes got even wider. He gripped Ryder’s forearm with both of his hands. “Are you serious? You’d let me help you?”
“Please.”
Gideon squeezed and started pushing him toward the door that led to the secret stairs. “Let’s go! Let’s go! I need to see your place!”
Ryder smiled, caught up in Gideon’s enthusiasm as he let Gideon nudge him toward the stairs. “We don’t have to do this now. You still have boxes to unpack and your own place to get settled. I can wait.”
“No, we need to do this now. I’m dying to see how you and Rafe designed your place. It’ll give me an idea of what I’m working with.”
Keeping the rest of his very skeptical thoughts to himself, Ryder opened the door and led Gideon into a kitchen with black appliances, charcoal gray countertops, and black cabinets on dove-gray walls.
The same color continued through the rest of the place.
The living room and dining room had deep-green accents.
“Whoa,” Gideon exhaled in a whisper. Ryder didn’t know how to take that sound. “It’s like living inside a Japanese rock garden. It’s so peaceful.”
Ryder followed him into the living room, where he watched Gideon turn slowly in place. “You…like it? But your place is colorful.”
The vampire grinned at him. “Yeah, but that’s me. I’ve always wanted all the colors and bright things. But this condo is so you.”
“You don’t think it’s cold?”
Gideon twisted to face him, his mouth gaping open. “Cold? No! It’s calming. Relaxing. Everything about it is peaceful, like you could fall into this meditative state. Just like you.”
There were no words. Gideon thought he was peaceful. Calming.
He was insane.
Gideon cackled and leaned his shoulder into Ryder’s chest, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Yes, I think you’re relaxing. You’re very relaxing to be with.”
Before Ryder could soak in that touch, Gideon was pulling away to search the empty room. He looked at Ryder, confusion cutting lines through his forehead.
“I thought Rafe said he had your stuff delivered?”
Ryder led him to the bedroom, where he waved at the box of books, mattress, and duffel bag.
“What? That’s it?” Gideon screeched.
“I’m used to traveling light.”
“But-but-but you don’t have furniture! Or blankets! Do you even have towels?”
“I think I have one.”
Gideon stormed out of the bedroom, moving toward the living room. Ryder followed behind him, picking out Gideon muttering, “This won’t do,” under his breath.
“I’m not good at decorating. I don’t know what to get or how to make things match,” Ryder said to his back.
The shorter man waved a hand at him as he stopped in the middle of the living room and glared at the emptiness. “I will help you fix this. I know some good online stores that have stuff that would work well with your colors and style. We can make this look awesome.”
“But comfortable too, right? I want my space to be comfortable like yours.”
The smile Gideon gifted him with made his heart skip. He was going to die a second time, but this time of joy. Gideon had the best smile, the way his happiness shone through his bright-blue eyes.
“We can totally do that. I got you. When can we start?” Gideon had barely asked when his hands jumped to his hair and gripped it. “Wait! Work. We’ve gotta work. When do we have off again?”
“Few days, I think.”
“But you can’t wait that long for stuff.”
Ryder closed the distance between them and gently pried Gideon’s fingers from his hair so he couldn’t hurt himself.
“I have a mattress and blanket for sleeping during the day. I have supplies for showering. At night, we’ll be at work.
And I doubt I’ll use my kitchen. The only time I eat food is with the Variks. It can wait.”
Gideon frowned at him. “I guess, but the times we’re off shift and you want to relax somewhere other than on your mattress, you can always come up to my place and chill.”
“Won’t I be in the way of your new dating life?” Ryder grumbled.
The little vampire huffed at him and pulled his hands free. “You’re so annoying.” Gideon marched to the stairs, Ryder trailing him. “If you don’t watch it, I’ll load this place up with pink and glitter. You’ll never get that shit out.”
That was fine with Ryder. He’d accept it with a smile on his face so long as he got to spend more time with Gideon.