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If anyone had asked Luo Wenzhou at any given moment of the year whether he loved his mother, he would have answered “yes” without hesitation.
Except for this moment.
Really.
Maybe it had been his miscalculation, maybe his mistake entirely, but when he told her that he wasn’t interested in women, that he liked men, he had hoped that would also mark the end of her interference in his private life. He had even hoped she might feel slightly disgusted and leave the topic of his “future girlfriend,” now corrected to “future boyfriend,” in peace.
He hadn’t expected that it would barely make an impression on her. When he told her he preferred men, he saw her lip twitch and watched her swallow a curse, but the effect lasted all of five seconds. It seemed as though she simply put away the folder labeled Available Women that she’d prepared for him, took out another marked Eligible Men, and without the slightest disruption to his schedule started setting him up on dates with men instead.
Luo Wenzhou would have been touched by how understanding, accepting, and loving she was… if it didn’t irritate him so damn much.
He was physically tired of elegant, restrained first dates that ended with a polite handshake and the empty promise of “we’ll be in touch.” Luo Wenzhou had been on thirty-nine first dates in his life, and today, heading to the fortieth, he knew it wouldn’t be any better than the last. His mother didn’t even know what kind of men he liked… He himself didn’t know what kind of men he liked. He only knew there had to be something that sparked that caught his eye, made his heart beat faster, and made his cock harden with interest.
So far, all he had found were fleeting fascinations that died before the evening was over, just like his sex life.
He sat in an elegant restaurant at an equally elegant table, his expression twisted in obvious distaste as he waited for yet another of his mother’s handpicked candidates. He didn’t fit into this place; his work clothes from earlier that day clashed with the atmosphere like a loose thread on an expensive suit. He could feel the eyes on him, could feel people pointing, whispering. He felt simply wrong there. He hated these overpolished dates, the fake smiles, the half-true life stories.
He hadn’t wanted to come, but of course, he couldn’t refuse.
Every time his mother learned that yet another date had failed, she would burst into tears, lamenting that she would never rest in peace after death unless her only son had someone by his side to take care of him. Luo Wenzhou had long grown tired of the emotional blackmail, but he couldn’t force himself to fall in love or live with someone he didn’t love just to calm her down.
He sighed and brushed his hair back from his forehead.
When he lifted his gaze, his eyes landed on the man who had just walked into the restaurant. In a word, beautiful. Black hair brushed his shoulders; thin metal frames rested on a perfectly straight nose, concealing eyes as dark as his hair. From his seat, Luo Wenzhou watched the man remove his coat with casual elegance and hand it, along with his scarf, to the same waiter who had checked Luo Wenzhou’s ID three times before letting him in and then led him to his reserved table with the kind of cold, watchful stare that suggested he half-expected Luo Wenzhou to steal the silverware.
Standing before the handsome stranger, however, the waiter bowed deeply, accepted the coat, and, without so much as asking for ID, gestured toward the restaurant’s interior, as if the place belonged to the newcomer. The contrast in treatment was so glaring that Luo Wenzhou felt an unpleasant twist in his gut. Still, considering the difference in their clothes and demeanor, he couldn’t exactly blame the waiter for recognizing who smelled like money and who smelled like hard work.
The waiter exchanged a few quiet words with the stranger before the man’s gaze shifted toward Luo Wenzhou’s table and then locked onto him.
Suddenly, Luo’s mouth went dry as those dark eyes studied him. His heart seemed to forget its purpose the moment the stranger smiled slightly, nodded to the waiter, and began walking toward him.
Luo Wenzhou’s breath caught when the beautiful man smiled at him softly, with an air of effortless, mysterious grace that reminded Luo of all the actresses and models he’d once watched in the years when he’d doubted his attraction to men. He had studied their movements carefully, searching for something that might stir a reaction in him. Now, seeing that same grace performed by a man, he felt a faint tingle on his lips. He wanted to kiss him. That was his first, instinctive thought.
His hair was neatly styled, his glasses so fine they were almost invisible, just a thin layer of glass that added a mystical gleam to his gaze. His lips were a soft pink, alluring against the pale smoothness of his skin.
The man looked almost inhuman.
In a single word: beautiful.
When he took the seat across from Luo Wenzhou, his head tilted slightly to the side, amusement flickering in his eyes. He extended a hand across the table.
“My name is Fei Du. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Luo,” he said calmly.
His voice snapped Luo Wenzhou out of his daze, but instead of grounding him, it shoved him straight into another pit of unclean thoughts. The voice was low, melodic, hypnotic. It made Luo want to listen, to follow, to obey. He wanted to hear it in the morning, rough with sleep. He wanted to hear it singing in the shower because with a voice like that, Fei Du had to sing. He wanted to hear it trembling with pleasure, unraveling in a moan.
Luo Wenzhou had fallen completely, utterly like a plum dropped into syrup.
The man laughed softly, a short, quiet sound, and somehow, that sound made Luo Wenzhou’s heart both leap and settle all at once.
He cleared his throat, forcing himself to seize that brief moment of calm with both hands and hold on to it at least until the end of the meal, long enough not to make a complete fool of himself in front of the beautiful stranger.
“Please, privately, it’s just Luo Wenzhou,” he said, though even to his own ears his voice sounded unnaturally high. He cleared his throat again, coughed, then reached out and grasped the other man’s hand firmly, perhaps too firmly, because Fei Du’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.
Luo Wenzhou noticed it. It was like a fleeting disturbance in the perfect symmetry of Fei Du’s face, and somewhere in the back of his mind, a spark of panic ignited. Had he done something wrong? Should he have been gentler, softer? The man didn’t look delicate or frail, but maybe he had expected a lighter touch? Luo Wenzhou had no idea. Despite the dozens of blind dates he had been on, no one had ever taken the time to teach him or even explain how one was supposed to behave properly on a first date.
When the handshake ended by mutual surrender, Luo reached for his glass of water, hoping the cool liquid might calm him down. Even the water in this restaurant wasn’t ordinary; there was a hint of mint on his tongue, followed by the subtle tartness of lemon that lingered long after he swallowed.
They talked.
Just a conversation, the kind that always happened at this stage of a date, but this time it actually interested him. It wasn’t stiff or polite. It wasn’t forced. It was so natural that Luo Wenzhou wanted to take part in it. He wanted to tell Fei Du about himself. He wanted to know everything about him.
Fei Du was intelligent, effortlessly keeping up with jokes, shifting from topic to topic with fluid ease, following Luo’s words as if the two of them were tiny paper boats caught in the same stream. The current carried them forward together, same direction, same pace, as if it were fate.
He was interested in criminal psychology, which fit perfectly with Luo Wenzhou’s position as captain of an investigative unit. They discussed the high-profile cases Luo had worked on. They talked and talked until the waiter arrived, until their food was served. They talked through dinner, though Luo still couldn’t tear his eyes away from Fei Du’s effortless, almost born elegance.
He couldn’t understand how it was possible. How could he meet someone who fit him so well, so perfectly that his detective’s instinct was almost ready to wake up and start analyzing, searching for flaws, for evidence that Fei Du was real and not a figment of his imagination.
The man dabbed his lips with a napkin and looked up. His eyes were dark, deep, and full of something hungry, desire so intense that Luo Wenzhou could do nothing but swallow hard.
His hand clenched on his knee as Fei Du rose from his chair, leaned in slightly, and spoke in that low, enticing voice:
“How about dessert at my place? Or yours, I don’t mind either way,” Fei Du asked.
Luo Wenzhou wouldn’t have been himself if he’d turned down such a tempting offer. He wanted Fei Du. The man was the embodiment of all his dirtiest thoughts, and the mere fact that he’d suggested continuing the evening somewhere out of sight made Luo ready to propose on the spot.
All his previous dates had been stiff, dull, and painfully restrained as if the very fact of being set up on a blind date had robbed them of the courage to take things further. As if they had to stick to a rigid, socially approved script. More than once, Luo had wondered whether the person his mother sent to meet him was even gay or if they were just interested in the social leverage that came with his family name.
Luo Wenzhou wasn’t rich, but with a father holding a high position at the central police bureau… it could matter to some people.
In any case, thoughts of past dates were thrown right out the window once they got into Fei Du’s car. The driver pulled away without hesitation as Fei Du and Luo crowded together in the back seat.
Luo cursed softly when Fei Du’s mouth found his, their tongues tangling, hands roaming, gripping his thighs, touching his stomach through layers of fabric. Luo didn’t resist; the feel of those lips against his was almost unreal, inhuman. Fei Du kissed with skill and with something more, something Luo’s rational mind labeled lust, need, a kind of primal hunger.
It wasn’t until Luo threw his head back, bumping it against the seat while Fei Du climbed into his lap, and they broke apart for air that he managed to drag in a shaky breath. Fei Du leaned in again, this time trailing kisses down Luo’s neck.
The captain of the investigative unit groaned, tilting his head back as Fei Du’s teeth sank into his skin. The bite was firm, just the right amount of pressure to send a wild spark of pleasure straight to Luo’s cock, pooling heat low in his stomach. Fei Du froze for a moment, then pulled back to glance at Luo’s face before burying his nose against his neck again, biting once more. A low, frustrated whimper left him as he stopped biting and instead began nipping lightly, sucking at Luo’s skin.
Luo laughed quietly, threading his fingers through Fei Du’s hair and tugging him upward to kiss him again. The kiss was rougher, more primal, filled with teeth and instinct rather than tenderness. Fei Du caught Luo’s lower lip between his teeth and bit down hard before releasing it with a soft, frustrated growl that only deepened Luo’s amusement.
“What are you trying to do, beautiful?” Luo finally asked, watching as Fei Du refocused on his neck, kissing and biting every patch of exposed skin, those soft, frustrated sounds spilling from his throat.
When Fei Du finally pulled back, Luo suspected he’d look in the mirror tomorrow and see a neck covered in the marks of a teething animal. A faint shadow of irritation crossed Fei Du’s face, but then he softened, leaned in again, and kissed Luo Wenzhou’s already bruised, overused lips.
Luo Wenzhou smiled into the kiss as a brief, sensible clarity settled into his mind. He pushed Fei Du back slightly, hands pressing on his shoulders to keep him at bay out of reach of his skin, but in the perfect spot to watch his reaction.
“Want something to drink, darling?” he asked calmly.
Fei Du’s eyes widened in panic. For a second, his dark eyes flashed with a red gleam. He thrashed against Luo Wenzhou’s hold, and when he couldn’t break free, his hand slammed into the black panel that separated the front of the car from the back.
“Do Jia?!” he cried, and Luo Wenzhou felt his stomach twist at the tone of fear and pleading so unlike the restrained, elegant man he’d met just hours ago in the restaurant.
The black divider dropped quickly, and through the windshield, Luo Wenzhou saw a short traffic jam ahead of them, but his gaze stayed fixed on the driver’s profile as the man turned toward them.
“Young Master Fei?” the driver asked quickly, taking in Fei Du’s posture. He shot Luo Wenzhou a glance but did not move, did nothing to help Fei Du or to restrain him for Luo’s sake. He did nothing without an order from his master.
“Take him…” Fei Du said in a low, almost painful voice. “Take him to his home.” He pulled again against Luo’s grip.
At the last second, Luo caught him again, preventing him from lunging for the door; he wrapped his arms around Fei Du, pressing him to his chest, burying Fei Du’s nose in his skin. Fei Du groaned in pain, his mouth clamped down on Luo Wenzhou’s skin again.
“You picked the wrong target, darling…” Luo Wenzhou said, feeling as if some information was still missing.
The car moved smoothly with the flow of traffic.
“All officers receive the ‘diamond skin’ charm every year vampires can’t get through it unless they’re at the height of their power or they’re feral, and you…” Luo combed his fingers through Fei Du’s hair, letting him nibble his skin as if he were only a child playing with a teether. Well, apparently tomorrow he’d be wearing a turtleneck to work. “When was the last time you drank?” he asked the driver, who had not raised the black divider again, so Luo could keep watching his profile.
The man was silent for a long moment. Finally, he cleared his throat as he stopped the car in front of Luo Wenzhou’s apartment block.
“I haven’t witnessed Young Master Fei feeding for… a month,” he said at last, climbing out of the car. He circled the vehicle and stood before Luo Wenzhou’s door, opening it with a smooth, practiced motion.
Luo frowned at the man in his arms. Fei Du seemed almost lost in desire, following the summons of his blood. He didn’t look like someone who could answer questions just then.
At last, Luo Wenzhou sighed. He moved awkwardly, reaching into his trouser pocket. His hand brushed the inside of Fei Du’s thigh, where the vampire shuddered and whimpered softly into Luo’s skin.
He fished a bunch of keys from his pocket and pushed them into the driver’s hand.
“There are a few bags of blood in the fridge. Bring us one,” he ordered, and the driver moved quickly to obey.
It took less than five minutes for the man to return with a bag in one hand and a glass in the other.
Following Luo Wenzhou’s instructions, the driver sliced the bag open and poured its contents into the glass. Fei Du pulled away from Luo’s neck, but when his eyes fell on the glass in Do Jia’s hand, he did not lunge for it and drain it in seconds as Luo had expected. Instead, Luo felt his body freeze; his thighs clenched tighter against Luo’s. He was hit by a dry gag reflex, and his body trembled.
He choked as Do Jia stepped closer.
“Stop,” Luo Wenzhou said, noting the reaction. “Is the blood a problem?” he wondered aloud, watching the glass in Do Jia’s hand. “Are you a fledgling? Why would you shift if you can’t stand blood?” he asked when Fei Du lowered his gaze, struggling to control his breathing.
Do Jia stepped back a few paces, unsure what to do. The glass of blood was still in his hand.
A few tense minutes passed before Fei Du managed to regain enough control to actually answer.
“I didn’t want this,” he said in a composed, almost cold tone. “My father is a vampire. It’s…” he touched his throat and the tiny teeth that protruded slightly above his otherwise straight, white teeth, he growled low, not finishing the thought, shaking his head in frustration.
Luo Wenzhou froze, then nodded in understanding. Born vampires were far rarer than those turned later, but it wasn’t impossible for a parent to pass the gene to a child. Even if a vampire had stayed hidden and inactive for years, in a moment of danger or tragedy that might have ended someone’s life, the vampire gene could awaken. Apparently, that had happened to Fei Du.
“You need to drink, or you’ll go feral and attack someone. Even if you hate blood, it’s what’s keeping you alive right now,” he said in a patient, steady voice.
Fei Du moaned again, collapsing against Luo and burying his nose in his skin.
“I know…” he said finally, his voice tired.
Luo Wenzhou swallowed and made a mental decision.
“Close the door,” Luo Wenzhou said, and the driver obeyed without hesitation.
Luo unbuttoned his shirt with one hand while the other settled at the back of Fei Du’s neck. His fingers undid the buttons until he revealed a pale white mark, glowing faintly like a tattoo just above his navel. He sighed, realizing what it would cost him so many forms, so much paperwork to file.
Another sigh, and then he pressed his palm against the mark. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then warmth spread across his skin, followed by an icy chill. And just like that, it was done.
Luo tightened his hold on Fei Du’s neck, guiding the vampire’s lips to his jugular.
“Drink,” he said, voice low and steady.
Fei Du flinched, pulling back as if the very idea terrified him.
“I’ll hurt you,” he whispered, shaking his head.
Luo smiled softly, almost tenderly. All the calm, all the elegance and hypnotic charm that Fei Du had carried in the restaurant were gone, replaced by a trembling, frightened, starving creature who, even aware of his own condition, even faced with a willing man offering to feed him, still fought against his nature.
Now Luo Wenzhou was certain: all the earlier biting and nipping hadn’t been intentional. Fei Du’s mind, lost in pleasure, had simply let instinct take over. He understood now that the moment Fei Du realized what was happening to him, he’d tried to run to save Luo Wenzhou, not hurt him. But Luo was far stronger than Fei Du realized, especially now, when the vampire was weakened. Luo could easily restrain him.
He tightened his hand on the back of Fei Du’s neck and drew him closer to his throat.
“Don’t worry, Fei Du. I’m in control,” he murmured, fingers combing through Fei Du’s hair. “If I feel something’s wrong, I’ll stop you.”
In the end, Fei Du gave in. His fangs sank into the already abused skin, piercing it this time like a knife through warm butter. He pulled back slightly, then began to suck.
When the first taste of blood filled Fei Du’s mouth, a sound rose from his throat, a sob. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if staring at a monster in the dark, as if seeing himself reflected and realizing he was the worst of them all.
Luo stroked his hair in a calm, soothing rhythm and began to hum softly the same quiet, steady sound he always used to calm Luo Yiguo during thunderstorms, the same one small children loved.
Fei Du swallowed with difficulty. The first gulp was the hardest. The second went down easier, almost desperate to get it over with. The third filled his mouth, and then Fei Du stopped sucking altogether. His tongue swept over Luo Wenzhou’s skin, sealing the wound before a single stray drop could stain his shirt.
Fei Du pulled back, panting as though he’d just run ten kilometers without a break. His limbs suddenly went slack; he collapsed against Luo, his head falling onto Luo’s shoulder, forehead pressed under Luo’s chin, nose buried against his skin.
“I’m sorry…” he whispered, his voice filled with genuine anguish at the thought of drinking Luo’s blood. No matter how sweet the taste, Fei Du couldn’t seem to bear it. If even human blood repulsed him this much, Luo Wenzhou didn’t know how he was supposed to survive.
He slipped an arm beneath Fei Du’s thighs, lifted him easily, and stepped out of the car with the vampire in his arms.
He had a strange feeling like he couldn’t take his eyes off Fei Du, not until he was sure the man was safe, fed, and learning to manage his hunger. He still wanted to fuck Fei Du God, he still did, but probably not tonight. Not when the vampire looked so utterly spent from such a brief, insufficient feeding.
They’d have to find a way for Fei Du to live with it, and Luo Wenzhou wanted to help him do exactly that.
When they reached his apartment, Fei Du’s nose brushed softly against his skin, his breath warm where it touched. Luo lay him down in the bedroom, grabbed his laptop, and settled beside him. Fei Du was already asleep, breathing in the scent of Luo’s skin, while the officer scrolled through online archives, searching for guidance, advice for born vampires, anything that might help Fei Du adapt to his new life.
And if they spent the next month together in Luo Wenzhou’s apartment, Fei Du learning to feed, regaining his strength, their instincts slowly awakening alongside a blossoming sex life, and if Luo’s mother started planning a wedding for them…
Well, no one needed to know.
It was their life, the one they wanted to build together.
All thanks to a single blind date.