Holier Than Thou

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's physical voice was gone, drowned by the pressure of her skin, but his mental voice was stronger and clearer than it had ever been between them, as if there were two totally separate joinings going on at the same time between them. His groans were carnal and absolutely turned on beyond belief as he expressed mentally the ecstasy that his physical body had no way to show her. He could sense both lust and fear from her, and that cocktail drove him crazy.

Orgasm poured through him, transferring to and amplified by her. He cried out against her skin and screamed deeply in her mind, spasming deeper into her while he rode wave after wave of sensation.

He wanted to take her, to suck and drain her until all of this was his, always his.

That was about when it occurred to him that he was pushing it. If he didn't find a handhold now, he'd never bother to climb his way out. His thoughts scrambled, too wild with predatory bliss to even be worried, but just vaguely aware enough that he'd gone a bit past where he'd planned to be. It was almost impossible to care about anything but the heat washing down his throat and through his cold veins.

[Emora Deen]

Vlad's thoughts poured into her, showing her a side that she knew existed, but had never born witness too in such away. Even as she got insight into how much his darker half really wanted to drain her dry at the moment, she felt his pleasure and need pour into her and drag her higher than she'd ever gone before. She crested on oblivion, threatening to be swept away.

His thoughts became her thoughts, his pleasure was her pleasure. She screamed his name, and it was unclear whether it was out of pleasure or a warning not to kill her.

She was in heaven, and terrified all at once. Afraid he wouldn't draw away, that she'd pushed to far. There was little she could do to hold him back or stop him, her slender, fragile, mortal body was possessed by him completely at the moment, with no hope of escape.

As she fell over the edge all Tenele could do was hold onto him for dear life and scream.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad tuned in to the sensations of his prey, looking instinctively for the terror that should be there. What he found was a bit different. Nervous, excited acceptance. Acceptance of everything he was, even of his dominance over her. It was tolerance, and love.

I love you, he thought as he tightened his arms around her, feeling her inside and out, embracing every sensation she could give him.

I love you. That thought was the handhold he needed. He grasped onto it and pulled himself upward, enraptured and finally sated. He withdrew his sharp grip in her vein. Embracing her tightly, he took a step back from the hard wall and turned to lay her across the bed. He knelt down into the sheets with her, following her body down to the mattress. There he lay close over her, propped on his elbows to avoid crushing her. Feeling territorial and content, he swathed his tongue tenderly over the punctures on her neck.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele panted to regain her breath. Her bound arms relaxed there hold on him to one that was less intense. Her whole body went slack, and she was glad he'd laid her on the bed because there was no hope her legs could hold her now. She was dizzy with sensation, and wanted to return his words but her lungs couldn't find the strength to voice them.

'I love you,' she thought back, even her mind sounded breathless.

She dipped her face to the crook of his neck and rested there, breathless and spent. Exhausted. Content. Her body buzzed with that strange warmth that comes after being sated. She barely felt the pain in her leg, and how it was quietly scolding her for what they'd done.

He had definitely been rougher with her than he ever had before, and her body would surely be protesting against it tomorrow. However, for now, she felt completely perfect.

She nuzzled his skin lovingly, not wanting anything to part them. She wanted to stay like this forever.

And then a harsh knock came to the door.

"Are you done yet?" someone slurred. "Its ma turnz." He mumbled some other things that Tenele's human ears couldn't discern.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's gaze barely lifted from Tenele. He wasn't tired - completely the opposite. But he was entranced with his lover and had absolutely zero interest in sharing his attention at the moment. "Later," he called to the man outside, a dark threat looming behind the words. His voice had a kind of glow to it, as did his eyes.

[Emora Deen]

"Bah!" the drunken Arken cursed and she heard his feet stomp down the hall with little more protest. Rather surprising to her. Tenele squeezed her arms around Vlad and kissed his shoulder lovingly. She felt oddly submissive and vulnerable in the wake of his dominance, though she supposed it wasn't entirely too surprising given just how much dominance he'd asserted. It wasn't a fearful feeling, but an overwhelming desire to be held and protected. A silent relinquishing of her strength and fire to him. She could show Vlad what no man saw. That, despite how brave and strong she was, she was also truly delicate.

She laid with him for a short while, hovering on the edge of content sleep and buzzy excitement.

"I'm sorry if I pushed to hard," she whispered to him, her bound hands tracing circles in the hair at the back of his head. "I'm not sure what came over me." She smiled against his skin. Her eyes glazed and heavy.

"Hey! It ma turnz now!" A hard solid form struck the door. Tenele jumped, shifting more completely beneath her husband's protective and broad form. The drunk struck the door again with a loud 'wham'.

"Yeah, you've been in there forever!" Another crooned.

"You can't hog her! She's all of ours, you know!" Tenele winced, that likely wasn't going to go over very well. "Hurry up will you? I want her." He went on about what he planned to do once inside.

WHAM! The door rattled. Tenele tensed, waiting for another one that would send it from the hinges.

"Maybe he ate her on accident?"

"Hey! You better not 'ave ate 'er! Or I'm gonna- I'm gonna, eh... I'm gonna tell the capt'n you spoiled our reward!"

"I don't hear her makin' anymore noise," another muttered. "Oh pretty thing, if you're in there and alive, make a little squeak for us! We're coming in to play with you!" Tenele's eyes flickered hesitantly to Vlad. She knew she had no need to worry with him around. There was no way in hell any of them would get in a foot radius of her. He'd break them into little bits of nothing and feed them to Stalker outside.

It didn't stop her from being the smallest bit disturbed by them, or what they wanted from her.

Wham!

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad turned his gaze toward the door, a sleepy, feral look in his eyes. "You may want to try to sleep through this," he whispered to Tenele as he rose reluctantly away from her warm body. He pulled the comforter over her nude form, modest all the way up to her chin. He had a strong sense of belonging over her instead of the blanket, and it was an unwanted distraction to have to cross the room to get the door. "Come in," he muttered as he opened the door. The men immediately spotted Tenele in the bed and were about to make a beeline for her, but something about Vlad's aura made them pause. They glanced at him, as if they could sense the strong possessive instinct that was superceding all other priorities in the vampire's mind. Mine. The message was written all over his very presence in the room.

"Uh, like you said, private is best," one of them flubbered, hoping the vampire would take the cue and leave them alone with the girl.

"Yes," Vlad said idly. "Too many people in here. Let's take care of that." His ruby gaze settled on the men carnivorously as he shut the door behind them. "In here with me, if you'd be so kind," he muttered, taking both men by the collar and dragging them into the washroom. They wrestled against his grip, but Vlad simply hauled them and kicked the door shut behind him.

Tenele couldn't see what happened next, but she definitely felt it through Vlad's mind. There was a satisfying thrill of passion, almost like what he shared with Tenele earlier but much harsher and less personal, as he sucked the men dry and then broke their necks. He was neat with his food, heaping the bodies into the bathtub before washing his face in the mirror.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele rolled onto her side and closed her eyes, tucking her bound hands beneath her chin and pulling the covers tighter. She took an even breath to curve the bit of nausea that bubbled up as Vlad had his meal. Her human stomach didn't like the thought of it for some reason. It seemed perfectly fine when Vlad was drinking her blood, or maybe it was only in that instance of ecstasy when she was too distracted to notice the feeling of warm blood draining down a throat. There was no possible way she could sleep through what just washed through her mind. But, even as she thought it her mind grew fuzzy with weariness.

She patiently waited for her husband to return. Her desire to have him holding her travelled through their link, and he probably also sensed her nausea. She knew it was going to be a long night when it came to trying to keep her stomach in line, because Vlad was going to be eating a lot of people. There was a whole room full downstairs that had signed up for his "room service".

She blinked her eyes closed. The buzzy sensation her body felt began to wear off, and Vlad's presence in her mind settled into a stronger hold. It felt stronger, at least, than it normally did. She wondered if that was because of how thoroughly he'd taken her, if it was stronger the more he was... himself.

Tenele listened to the running water as he washed his face, feeling herself begin to doze off. She didn't want to sleep, but her whole being begged her to.

[Soran Nightblade]

The morning sun was orange as it glowed between the trees at the outskirts of the town. Vlad watched it with ruby eyes. His pale skin held a supernatural vibrance, full of the energy he'd taken on the night before. The no-life king sat back against a tree on the snowy ground, his wife wrapped warmly in a blanket across his lap. Just thinking about the night before with her was still enough to bring a grin to his lips. He'd been himself with her, and she'd accepted it. He was hers, and he didn't mind it in the least. He looked down at the top of her head, which was leaning against his chest. He could feel the quiet weight of her mind in his as she slept. The link was a little stronger than usual between them, either because of how much blood he'd taken from her or simply because his powers were much more potent after the meal he'd had the night before. He blew a stream of cool air down across her nose playfully.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's face twitched at the cold air, and she tilted to burrow against the fabric of his shirt. After a minute longer she exhaled softly against the fabric, her green eyes blinking open. At first she glanced around, not quite sure where she was. The last thing she remembered was falling a sleep in bed, everything after that was hazy and dream like. But, now she sat outside, wrapped warm in blankets and furs. She gave a groggy lazy groan before tilting her face up to Vlad.

"We're outside," she muttered, stating the obvious. She rested the side of her face against his chest again, most unwilling to move. The more awake she grew, the more she felt the toll of what that sort of strenuous love-making could do on a mortal body. She felt stiff, maybe sore, and she supposed that was partly the stress she'd put on her leg wound, but at the same time she couldn't say she regretted any of it. In fact, the thought made her pulse speed up.

All of her was bleeding through the link, just as she could feel him. She knew that could feel her slight discomfort, and the weariness in her limbs, but also the excitement and love she felt. He could sense her joy at just sitting here with him, at the forest edge, at sunrise, and not needing to say any words.

Her hand wormed through the blankets to the punctures at her neck, cupping the healing wound there. "Do I taste different?" she asked after a moment, her voice fuzzy and laced with drowsiness. "I mean, different from most people." She didn't have to voice why she thought she might, her unvoiced reference lingered in her mind. Did she taste different because her mother was Attara?

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled at her, the pleasure radiating to his core. There was something about holding her when she was weak like this. Maybe it was the absolute trust she had to place in him to sit calmly in the arms of a predator. A satisfied protectiveness buzzed through him as his arms curled her in a little closer to him. "Drinking is not really a taste, the way you experience it. For me, it is like drinking an emotion. When I prey upon a human, it tastes like terror and respect and power. When I drink cold blood, it tastes like nothing at all. And when I drink from you," he leaned down and licked the side of her cheek lightly, "It tastes sweet. You taste like love and heat, and bold confidence." He licked her again lovingly. "A little brave, a little scared. Joyous, and a bit sad. Stubborn and excited and curious and seductive. You taste like you."

[Emora Deen]

A smile spread across Tenele's face, bright and lit with happiness. She soaked up the safety of his tight embrace. She felt happy, alive, whole. Tenele reached up and cupped his cheek, her hand hot from being burrowed in blankets and surrounded by the temperature of her body. She leaned up in his arms and pressed her lips to his, drinking him in.

"I should get dressed," she commented reluctantly, running her other hand along hot naked skin beneath the blanket.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Why dress?" Vlad smirked, standing up with her bundled against him. "After all, we're still on our honeymoon." He smirked as a startled scream echoed across the landscape from the town. Looks like they found the bodies. "I take you to the classiest places."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele glanced at the town and then back to her husband. "Can't carry me all the way home like this," she whispered to him. For a moment his reference to their honeymoon made her want to do nothing but stay wrapped warm and naked with him, tangled in sheets on some strangers cottage bed. That sounded a lot worst in her head than she thought about. But, the word "home" made another thought come to her mind. One that soured any idea of lounging or relaxing. One that made her heart ache.

For a moment her throat closed to tight to speak, so she stayed very quiet, her hands tightening in the fabric of his shirt.

"I should get dressed," she finally managed out, lifting her gaze to his.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad didn't miss her sudden shift in mood. He lowered her legs to the ground, but didn't release her. He didn't think she'd be in good shape to stand alone, between her wounded leg and her anemic state. "If going straight home is your priority, then I can take us there," Vlad tapped the side of his head with his free hand. "I'm strong right now, and we're within a reasonable distance."