The Detective's Mate

By Alexa Piper

Orrin and Gordon come from different worlds: Orrin is a werewolf with the New Amsterdam Police, and Gordon is a vampire who likes the quiet of his morgue. Yet, they decided to be with one another even though Orrin’s vampire was at first afraid to commit.

Now, new complications come barreling at the two when Orrin realizes he will have to step up to become a parent to an orphan shifter, while New Amsterdam has become the haunt of a serial killer who targets mixed supernatural and human couples.

Gordon was slow to realize he loves his werewolf mate, but it takes him even longer to figure out he still has his own demons to deal with. A past hurt has left a scar on his soul. Gordon’s werewolf detective might just be what Gordon needs to heal the scars from his past. The only question is whether geeky Gordon is enough for serious and seriously handsome Orrin.

Together with Maxim, New Amsterdam’s bardic vampire hunter, Orrin and Gordon are on the case to save the city from sinking into fear and panic as more murders challenge the peace. Through turmoil and death, Orrin and Gordon must find a way forward.

NOTE: This book contains scenes of assault and kidnapping that may be triggers for some readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Apr 2, 2021

Book preview

Introduction

Hundreds of years ago, Werewolves, Fae, and Vampires collectively decided to step out of the murky depths of myth and fairy tale and reveal themselves to human society, preferring to live next to, rather than apart from, humans. Yet, while supernaturals might seem united to those outside their cultures, the reality of coexisting is not as peaceful, and the supernaturals themselves are not as united as they may appear.

Chapter One

New Amsterdam Police Station was a nice neoclassical building, and all things considered, it wasn’t a bad place to work. Most of the time, the coffee was even decent.

Orrin had not usually been one to leave the station early, but Bachman, his protégée, was more than capable and didn’t need him holding her hand while she finished her paperwork. Also, Orrin had a hot date at the morgue. He checked the time on his computer, finished one more email, then logged out. Bachman briefly looked up from what she was doing.

You always look cheery when you are going to see the boyfriend, she commented, then did a double take and looked straight at him. Or should I be saying mate?

Orrin grabbed his bag and stuffed his work tablet into it. Boyfriend is fine, Orrin said, because it was, and it also was easier around the station, since most of Orrin’s colleagues weren’t werewolves but were human like Bachman herself. Also, are you saying I’m usually grumpy-looking, Bachman?

Just very, very serious, sir. She went back to typing. I think cheery suits you. And I think the mate-slash-boyfriend does as well.

Orrin couldn’t do anything about the wide grin that threatened to make his cheeks ache. Well, thanks. I’ll tell Gordon you said hi.

Hmm-mmh. Bachman winked at him as Orrin walked toward the elevators, and even he noticed the spring in his step.

* * *

The worst thing about any morgue was the smell of lingering death. Orrin sniffed the air when he got to the basement hallway in the Forum that housed the forensic labs, though he was hoping to pick up a whiff of Gordon’s dusty rose scent rather than eau de corpse. Yet all he got was vinegar and bleach cleaning solution. Gordon had probably received a fresh batch of New Amsterdam University interns and had set them to cleaning every nook and cranny so they could familiarize themselves with the place.

On the bland-looking wall on the left, a framed, vintage Dracula movie poster added a dose of vampiric cheer in bold print and even bolder colors to the basement labs, and opposite it, Gordon’s office door stood ajar. Orrin peeked around the doorframe to see if Gordon was in there.

What a nice view, Orrin thought, watching Gordon hanging a framed piece of artwork, his nimble surgeon’s fingers adjusting the frame this way and that. The view was much helped by the skinny jeans Gordon was wearing. The jeans were a silvery gray, clashing with the raspberry surgical top, but nicely bringing out Gordon’s latest hair color, electric blue that shifted to icy white at the ends. I am very fortunate to have found a mate who looks great in skinny jeans and likes wearing them.

Orrin indulged in a quick fantasy centered on removing said pair of skinny jeans, and in the fantasy, that task was easy, and Orrin’s mate had decided to go commando. Orrin imagined Gordon hard and ready, imagined touching, tasting…

He smothered that fantasy quickly when he felt his own aching physical reaction. Instead, he refocused back on the present: Gordon, tinkering with the frame.

Hey, Orrin said.

Gordon jumped, dropped the frame, and cursed as he turned around. Fucking hell, he said, his stance relaxing as he saw Orrin. Make some noise every now and then, will you?

Orrin chuckled. Thought I was a living corpse, Doctor?

Never, Gordon said, picking up the frame once more and putting it on its hook with much less fumbling than before. Those shamble, noisily. He turned to Orrin again. And you are sneaky, like a true predator, Detective.

Orrin walked into Gordon’s office, which smelled of roses, Gordon’s scent. It still had an undertone of morgue, of course. The Lord Helmet cookie jar added the herby flavor of good weed cookies, and all the mint-in-box collectibles came with their own aroma of high-end plastic, but Orrin focused on Gordon. Two more steps, and he was pulling the vampire into his arms and pressing his lips to Gordon’s.

Gordon yielded to being held after a moment, turning fully to Orrin and allowing the werewolf to fuse their mouths and run hands over Gordon’s body, all the way down to his ass.

Hi, Orrin said when they broke their kiss.

Hello, handsome, Gordon said, and while the vampire wasn’t one to give pet names, Orrin still enjoyed being called handsome, not least because it came out of his mate’s mouth. Are you here to cuff me and take me away?

Orrin chuckled. I think you’ll come willingly, won’t you? He punctuated that with another, more chaste kiss.

Gordon tilted his head. Aren’t you going to make me show you where I put the bodies, Detective? he teased with a husky voice, and looked up at Orrin with his very pretty blue eyes.

Orrin growled. If we keep this up, you’ll force me to, ah, interrogate you right on that gaming couch. So let’s first focus on getting home, okay, sweetheart? Orrin reached for Gordon’s hand, ready to pull him along with him, then almost cursed himself. Or did you want to eat here? But of course, you are welcome to have some of my blood, he said. It was still a little awkward, keeping track of Gordon’s blood drinking while Orrin himself ate normal meals.

Gordon ran a finger down Orrin’s neck. Tempting. But I ate. The donor was a bit chatty for my taste, and I might be open to some werewolf for dessert.

Orrin flashed him a grin. He’d grown to like it when Gordon bit him and took his blood. It mirrored Orrin’s own desire to mark the vampire with his teeth, even if the marks never stayed where he put them for long, given that vampires healed so fast and flawlessly. Yet, the urge to bury his teeth in Gordon’s skin was near constant when Gordon was underneath Orrin or riding Orrin’s cock. In that case, let’s leave your charming morgue. He placed his hand on Gordon’s chest. Or do you want to change out of the scrubs first? Again, if you make me watch, this predator will not guarantee to behave.

Gordon rolled his eyes and walked over to his desk to collect his laptop and charger. You are horny a lot lately. Is the full moon coming up again?

Orrin laughed. Yeah, same as every month. Sometimes even twice a month, you know. I’m just trying to help you keep track of when you’ll have a big wolf in your bed.

And here I was, thinking you were trying to help me get my pants off, Gordon said. Which we can go and do now.

Oh, yes. A mate who wants to give himself to me just as much as I want to give myself to him. I must be the luckiest werewolf in existence, Orrin thought.

* * *

They went back to Orrin’s apartment. They spent time at Gordon’s place as well, but most days, Orrin had to get up earlier than nocturnal Gordon, and so Orrin’s place seemed the natural choice. And of course, I can show my vampire around to the other wolves, Orrin thought as they walked, hand in hand, through the courtyard connecting the building complex. It was mostly wolves who lived here, some Fae as well, and the odd human. Not all wolves approved of dating a vampire -- let alone choosing one as a mate -- but Orrin was the alpha’s second-in-command, and Willa for her part had no trouble with vampires. She had even encouraged her second in his efforts to win Gordon over.

You got new interns, Orrin said. They hadn’t spoken much on the way over, but had simply enjoyed each other’s company. Orrin found Gordon’s nearness generally soothing and didn’t need words on top of that. But he knew Gordon also needed the opportunity to talk, so Orrin had been working on doing that.

His vampire grinned. Yes. I’m breaking them in. Smelled the bleach, did you?

Orrin wrinkled his nose. And the vinegar. I bet they didn’t expect to scrub floor tiles when they signed up for the program.

No, they didn’t. Some are just there to see a supernatural corpse up close and personal, and those are also the ones that really, really mind the scrubbing. Gordon looked up to the dusky sky thoughtfully. And it’s easy to make them quit.

Ah. So you thin the herd with bleach.

Gordon bashed his eyes. Well, I am sorry for each person leaving the program, of course. But a little bit of humility is nice around the lab, and you know I reward that with cookies. Positive reinforcement is really important to me. He managed to look completely serious, and the dusk light made his sapphire ear studs shimmer, rousing in Orrin the desire to touch them.

So talking to your corpses is humble? And about the cookies, I feel like that warrants additional surveillance. He pulled Gordon close, pressed a kiss to the side of the vampire’s mouth and brushed his thumb over Gordon’s earring tenderly. Very close surveillance. He inhaled, savoring Gordon’s rose scent.

Is that so? Mmh, I don’t know, Detective. It sounds like you are abusing your power here just to get into my cookie jar. He dipped his head forward so the blue and white hair partly hid his eyes. I’m not sure you should be allowed all that much positive reinforcement.

Orrin opened the door to his building and pulled Gordon inside, a little roughly so the vampire slammed into his chest. And I’m not sure there is anything you could do to stop me, Doctor. He sniffed Gordon’s hair. Yeah, I smell the weed on you. Probably need to search you. Thoroughly.

Gordon chuckled. I love your liberal use of euphemism.

Orrin wanted to wind his arms around Gordon and press him closer, but first he needed to get his vampire into his apartment, because the hallway was just not a good place for this. Do you? He reached for Gordon’s hand and closed the distance to his apartment door in long strides, turned his key in the lock, dropped his bag by the door, and pulled Gordon across the threshold with him. Then he closed the door by pushing Gordon up against it and pinning him there with his larger frame. Do you, Doctor? He bit Gordon’s lower lip, and at the contact, the vampire let his own work bag fall to the floor. "Because I love your use of Greek and Latin words when all you really want is beg me to confess how much I like being balls-deep inside you. Or when you want to beg me to be balls-deep inside you."

Gordon’s eyes glazed over, and he licked his lips where Orrin’s teeth had closed around the flesh. Some Lovers Try Positions That They Cannot Handle.

Orrin’s eyebrows went up. Are you daring me, sweetheart?

Gordon shook his head. Just a mnemonic for the bones in the wrist. He reached for Orrin’s right hand with his left, his fine surgeon’s fingers tracing feather soft across the skin. Scaphoid, Lunatum, Triquetrum, Pisiforme, Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate. He said each one slowly, marking out the corresponding bone in Orrin’s right wrist with his touch. It was strangely seductive, not what Orrin would have ever thought an anatomy lesson to be like.

Orrin’s nostrils flared as he breathed in his mate’s scent. Is this your way of asking me to tie you up a bit? Orrin liked ropes mostly for the aesthetic, but there were so many more things to be gotten out of them. The slow build of laying them and tying them, the trust of his mate, his mate’s pleasure, brought high before it exploded.

Gordon had agreed to some experimenting to see what worked for them both, and that had excited Orrin. What Orrin hadn’t expected was his own overwhelming need to make sure Gordon was okay with whatever Orrin did -- make sure the vampire liked it -- before and during. And then after, the need to take care of Gordon, hold and soothe him. It was not something Orrin had ever felt with anyone else. It had taken him by surprise that very first time, and all he’d done then had been a double-column tie to brace Gordon’s wrists while he fucked him on the living room floor.

Maybe, Gordon said and leaned forward to steal a kiss from Orrin.

Orrin pulled back. It’s got to be either yes or no, sweetheart, he said. I’m not putting a rope on you for ‘maybe.’

Orrin looked into Gordon’s beautiful blue eyes as dusk made the color fade to gray. The werewolf part of him wanted his lover to look down, but when the vampire didn’t, it made a shiver run down Orrin’s spine. Oh, he wanted Gordon, wanted him in so many ways that transcended the purely physical.

Tie me up, Detective, Gordon said after a small pause. "I’ve been thinking about it since last time, you know, and