Wiping the blood from his chin, Dean let his victim slip from his grip as the man's knees gave way and he pooled at the vampire's feet. The sweet taste of crimson liquid burning through him as he reveled in the warmth a feeding could bring. With his bloodlust satisfied and his strength renewed he resumed searching. The scent was still out there, he just had to find it again.

Hunting wasn't just a means to survive, it was an art form; one that Dean had perfected over time. Choosing his donor was most important, he watched people every chance he got. He would wait for the right person in the right moment, a man who hit his wife after a few drinks, had made for the right flavour tonight, but he had waited too long to feed and things got messy in his frenzied thirst. He had been too distracted this time to go on unnoticed.

The trail was cold now, his mate hidden from him still.

Once he caught it, the scent would remain hanging in the air, the draw impossible to ignore. He knew he would find the that night; there was a hum in him that would not be silenced with a meal or two. Following that odor would lead him to his other half. There was a new hunger in him, stronger than any he had suffered. Stronger than his first night of thirst. He had to find the one or he would go mad.

Crouching low and sniffing as he stepped back out into the open he breathed deeply and found the sweet and spicy aroma hinted at his nostrils. He ran to it, his heart pounding, his body aching with need. The scent over powered his better judgement as he hurdled past the humans in his way until he found the source.

Dean bounded up the fire escape to the window. He realized why he couldn't push the urge away. Pulling the frame apart and leaping through the hole where the window was moments before. The vampire moved slowly to the man's side.

There was so much blood, his fangs began to descend. There was also a pulse though, and shallow breathing. Lifting the dark haired head into his lap, cradling him to his chest, Dean raised the man's arms to slow the bleeding.

Tears came to his eyes as he bit down into his cheek, the temptation to feed was so strong. There was a note next to the bloody blade reading simply, I'm Sorry.

"Hey!" He shouted as he shook the body. "What are you sorry for? It wasn't your fault!"

Eyes fluttered.

"Answer me." He smacked the dying man's face.

"I deserve this."

"No. You belong to me."

Dean had never made another, but there was no way to let this feeling pass. He knew if this man died in his arms he would never make another. There was a connection he didn't understand, a bond he couldn't break. Looking into this face made him feel whole.

As he bit down to release his lifeblood the man pleaded with him.

"I don't deserve to be saved."

"Trust me." Dean whispered as he fed the cure to the one person he knew he could never live without.

*****

Castiel awoke with a scorching throat and teary eyes. He felt a panic rise as he tried to remember what had happened. He wasn't in a hospital, but he found it hard to imagine either heaven or hell as a warehouse with blacked out windows.

"Hello?" He called out, still unable to move more than an inch or two at a time.

"Hello." Thee gruff voice answered from the darkness. Somehow he could see as though it were day. The man seemed so familiar to him, but everything was so fuzzy.

"Where am I?"

"Somewhere safe." The voice answered as the figure became clearer.

"Dean? I thought you were dead. They told me you were dead."

His eyes began to prickle as tears threatened to pool behind them.

"I am, just not the way they said. You need to feed."

The vampire stepped closer, fully visible in the dim light. His lip pulled into a sneer as he leaned forward to show off his second set of teeth.

Castiel could feel the bumps in his jaw as they moved with the thought. He was so thirsty.

"Dean, you shouldn't have saved me… the things I have done…"

"Cas, I need you. If nothing else, do this for me. Stay here for me. No crime can be erased completely, but I've spent too long looking for you to lose you again. Please, drink."

The vampire opened his vein again, offering up his neck as a way to kill the hunger pangs. Kneeling before his new charge; he tilted his head to allow access to his flesh before the wound closed up.

Unable to resist, Castiel leaned closer, latching himself on to the smooth skin of his lover's neck. The flow was sluggish as he pulled in the blood. A wave of euphoria took him. Lapping at the wound between moans was all he could do to express his gratefulness.

"Cas, you need human blood to survive. Mine will only keep the pain away so long."

Turning his head, Dean broke the seal the new vampire had on him. Their lips locked briefly as Castiel tried to maintain his high.

Dean retrieved a blood bag as Castiel waited in agony for his thirst to be quenched.

Tearing open the plastic and drinking deeply all the pain melted away and a new sensation took him.

Dean didn't wait for him to ask, before handing him a second and third bag of blood.

"Is it always like this?"

"No, as you get used to it, you can be more in control."

"Are you in control?"

"Not with you here."

Tossing aside his empty, Cas pulled the older vampire into a kiss; his face still tinted from his recent feed; the lingering taste of life on his tongue. Dean could feel it, the hum of Cas's body, as the blood worked through it. The tension in his muscles as he keyed up. There on his thigh he could feel Cas's excitement.

Nipping at his mate, Dean snaked his hand between them. "Can you feel it, Cas?"

Unable to speak, the freshly made vampire nodded in reply. His body was more powerful than ever before, his senses heightened, his desires stronger.

Dean found himself pinned under the weight of his lover. The vampire's mouth was at his ear lobe, then neck, moving south. Dean made no effort to move his wrists, bound together under the grip of Castiel. The kisses turned to nips, which turned to bites as his mate sucked and licked at the wounds that made him grind into his maker's lap.

Cas's moan came with a price. The distraction afforded Dean the chance to free himself, flipping the smaller man over and pulling his leg up over his own leg as he circled his hips into his writhing subject. Throwing his head back in ecstasy, Cas pressed harder into his partner.

Clothes were torn; removed in pieces as they came away from the seams. A sleeve, popped buttons on the plaid shirt, a zipper yanked free…

Friction built until Cas couldn't ignore the urge to have Dean inside him. Biting down hard on his chest, and sucking at the exposed nipple he knew the meaning of joy. The combination of blood on his tongue and Dean in his hand made his body convulse. Flipping the older vampire onto his back Cas pinned Dean's shoulders as he rubbed his tight opening over the vampire's hardness.

The pre-cum glistened on his head, providing a way to make himself slick. But he didn't want to do things slow and easy as they had always done, so he smeared the lubricant between his cheeks and pressed into the pain. Both so far gone that nothing could hold them back.

Bouncing and groaning, red liquid dripping from his fangs, Cas offered himself to his maker. Pressing the meaty part of his palm, just below his thumb, to his lover's mouth. Dean's lips parted, fangs visible, he bit down as they rode each other to completion. The sweetness of one another's life force on their lips.

They lay, joined together still, in a pile of limbs, occasional kisses the only noise to break the stillness of the dwindling daylight.

"Tonight I'll teach you to hunt."

"No, Dean. I won't be hunting."

The vampire untangled himself from Cas's embrace, sat up, and stared at him with stone like expression.

"Cas…"

He sighed after a significant pause.

"Dean, I can't. You know I can't. I want to, God, do I want to. But I have taken too much already. The damage I did, the lives lost because of me…"

"Cas, you need to stop blaming yourself. Accidents happen. You can't save everybody."

"No, but you try."

"I won't lose you again. Not after all this."

"I am stronger than you think. I will resist."

"I've never underestimated you, and I'm not about to start now. I hear there is a nest somewhere that lives off of animal blood. I promise we will find them, just give me some time. You can use the blood bags till then. Please. We can get through this, Cas. Just, don't ever talk of leaving me again. Rest now. I'll watch over you."

"I know."