Heirot

Tenele's face scrunched. "No," she muttered. "It's not you. You haven't hurt me." She rubbed her arms. "I thought you would be with him and realize that I wasn't what you wanted anymore. I wanted you to know I was okay if you desired to leave to be with him. But, mostly I am upset that I forgot you... That I forgot your love and his love. That I forgot everything that made me who I am. I want to be myself again, Vlad. I want to love you like I did, like you deserve."

"I will find a way to return your memories to you," Vlad said. "If it exists. Until then, you can just be Tenele. There is no pressure to feel what you cannot. I know Atul is a stranger to you. Believe it or not, you fell for him long before I did, and he was a rival. He was with you when I couldn't be. I wasn't myself, and he took my place at your side. I loved him much later. But you should know, when you spoke earlier, you made one mistake about him." He met Tenele's eyes. "He is broken. Every bit as much as you. He is ready to shatter. He is marrying someone he does not love, and it will separate him from us in ways that matter deeply to him. He's not as handsome and charming as me, of course, but please be gentle with him." He smirked gently.

The last part made Tenele smile. "You are so cocky," she sighed.

The young woman thought about Vlad's words and tried to imagine the way she would have been with the King. She wondered what sort of scenario had brought them together. It intruiged her.

But, she also felt very sorry for him... To marry someone he didn't love felt a lot like waking up to find you were already married to someone you didn't love. Though, that was different now that she had come to care for him. "I will be gentle with him," she confirmed.

"So, what do we do now that he can be with, eh, us? I guess I should get to know him too?"

"A few days ago, he never expected us to talk to him again. I'd say any level of civility or friendship you'd like to offer him would be an upgrade. He's not so demanding as I." The vampire thought about earlier. "I'd like to spend some time with him, for my own part, each day. Would you mind it?"

Tenele shook her head. "Not at all." She tried not to smile at his request. She swayed her foot idly across the floor, watching it intently. "Just save some energy for me..." Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she felt too shy to look up.

Vlad perked up, eyes flashing like rubies. "Right...I was in poor shape on the island, so it may be hard to picture it." He leaned over her shoulder, lips beside her ear, cool cheek against the flushed heat of hers. "I have lots of energy," he purred with pleasure at her request.

Tenele shivered. She closed her eyes and pressed her warmth into the coolness of his skin. Just think about how good it felt last night... "What sort of lover was I?" she murmured. "What did I like? What did you like?" She wanted to please him, especially if she was to compete with the man he visited.

Vlad grinned. "Spoilers," he teased. "Though I suppose this much wouldn't hurt." Without moving from beside her ear, he touched her cheek and directed her lips down to the smooth skin of his neck.

Tenele pressed her lips into his cool skin. She let her mouth explore there for a little while, uncertain by his suggestion. It was tantalizing and slow, seductive in it's own accidentle way. She kissed up to his ear, where she nibbled lightly along the flesh. Her hands hooked along his hips.

Vlad closed his eyes and savored the contact, so torturously soft. Her gentle nibbling left him quietly breathless, and yet more in need of that firm, decisive contact than ever. "Bite me. Tenele..." he huffed.

Bite? Tenele kissed him harder, pressing her lips in firm. What kind of bite? She thought about the vampire and his pain tolerance. She contemplated it... And bit him. She bit him hard. He could handle it, that much she was sure of.

The bold strength of the bite took Vlad off guard. His breath caught in his throat as he tried not to make a scene in the middle of the hallway. His composure was as thin as the walls. He pressed in against her and moaned, his whole body rigid with the sensation.

Tenele took that as fuel, and she bit him harder, her hands needing into his sides. He liked that? It made her feel gidd that she could please him. She drew away slowly, biting up to nibble at his ear lobe.

"Woo," a voice hooted, and the sailors tilted their caps to them as they passed. It was then that Tenele remembered they were still in the hall. She giggled burrowing her face into his neck.

Vlad failed to stifle another breathless groan. He leaned into the wall behind her for support. "Gods," he muttered, his bedroom voice leaking out. "Maiden Girl..." He couldn't care less about the sailor at the end of the hall. She was his. He wanted her to himself. Her merciful release of his neck saved him from the danger of demanding she claim him right there in the hallway.

She was giggling into his neck, up to no good with him, like when they're first come to know each other in the castle. When he was sure it wouldn't come out as a moan, the vampire laughed too, eyes alight with possessive amusement as he rested his chin on her head. "I'll get a reputation," he teased her. "People will think I'm easy."

Tenele smiled into his skin. "You have two choices... prove how easy you are, or act harder to get." She reached down for his hand. "Let's go somewhere else with less of an audience? I have more questions." She tugged him down the hall. When she was sure he was going to follow she let go and ran from him, skipping down the steps further below deck. She wasn't sure where she was going, but the uncertainty of it with Vlad made it exciting, rather than frightening.