"Gold", Loi

"Have you seen Aidan?" I asked Anna.

"I think he's in the alley," she shouted, filling a tray with empty glasses.

I thanked her and got out of the club through the backdoor. The air was still chilly, and I shuddered.

I saw him, crouched on the pavement, holding something. "Aidan?"

He turned carefully towards me. There was a puppy in his arms, so small and so deeply buried in his shirt, I could barely see the animal.

"I found this dog in a box," Aidan said. "Someone abandoned him."

"Oh poor little thing."

The golden dachshund, who was not much bigger than Aidan's hand and must have been born a week ago or so, sounded terrified, but he seemed to trust Aidan since he did not try to get away from him. On the contrary, he was hiding his head against his chest.

"Can we go back inside to find something to keep him warm?" Aidan asked, and I nodded. "And then I'll bring him to a veterinarian," he added.

"Do you think he is hurt?"

"I don't think so. But it's better to check if everything's fine."

I smiled. "Of course. I'll come with you, my love."

We went to my office, and I gave Aidan a scarf to use as a blanket. But the moment I took a step towards him, the puppy whined, curling up even more onto Aidan's chest. He was so small and beautiful and so scared. It broke my heart.

"Don't be afraid," Aidan said softly, petting the dog. "This is Elise, the love of my life. She will never hurt you."

"Oh. My. God," James interrupted, leaning against the threshold. "Could you be sweeter? All this coldness is frankly hard to stand."

Aidan didn't even pick up on the remark, focused as he was on the little animal nestled against him.

"I don't think he's in pain, but he's so scared," he told me, concerned.

"I can help him with that." 

I extended my hand towards the shivering puppy who tried desperately to escape. "Shhh. It is alright," I said in the most soothing voice I could manage. "You have nothing to fear. And my Aidan is protecting you. You are safe."

I heard James snort, and without even seeing him, I could picture him rolling his eyes. I grinned, knowing perfectly that, despite the scoffing, James would fall in love with the animal the minute he would hold him in his arms.

When I touched the puppy, a soft white light irradiated from my hand and wrapped him up. He calmed down and relaxed enough into Aidan's arms for me to stroke gently his soft head. The puppy closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Aidan relaxed too, now reassured the animal was feeling better. I kissed my vampire on the lips and he looked at me, rising his eyebrows quizzically.

"You are the cutest, my love," I said.

He blushed, and I smiled, stroking his arm.

"Aww, a puppy," Amaury said, joining us. Then, looking at Aidan, he added with a laugh: "I think we found The Pearl's next calendar theme. Vampires and baby animals. It's going to be a hit, for sure."

James growled. "Are you ogling my best friend?"

"The man has a puppy in his arms, hubbie. I'm only human. I mean, sort of."

"Uh uh," James answered, crossing his arms.

Aidan shoved James and look at Amaury with daggers in his eyes. But he held the puppy even tighter, readjusting the scarf on him, and never stopped petting him.