The droning voice of the Ash was grating on Bo's nerves, and she was 2 seconds away from ripping his head off. She was tired and bored and very hungry, and she was going kill Dyson for making her do these 'goodwill' meetings with the leaders of the Light and Dark.

She felt her eyes flash, partly in irritation but mostly as a reminder that she hadn't fed in several days. Feeling Dyson elbow her in the side, she turned to find him glaring at her, his way of reminding her to behave herself. She sighed, closed her eyes and tried to bring her hunger under control. Twenty more minutes, she thought to herself, and then she could go feed. Knowing her eyes had receded back to their more mundane brown, she slowly opened them and gave a fake smile to Dyson, turning to nod knowingly at the new Ash, not even knowing what wonderful aspect of the Light Fae compound he was bragging about.

Just a few weeks removed from her city-wide chi suck and recognition as Queen of the Fae, Bo found herself being courted by both the Light and Dark. Each side wanted to show off their facilities, the strength of their clans and their unique place in society so as to curry favor with her. Neither side was subtle in their boasts, or in their put-downs of the other side. If it was up to Bo, she would have just ignored all of them and went about her life as before.

Unfortunately, she had let Dyson convince her otherwise. He knew how much both sides now feared her, and these meetings with the different factions were to make them more comfortable with her and show them she was not a threat to their way of life. The thing that even Dyson didn't understand though, was that Bo did want to change how they lived those lives – she didn't believe in having to choose a side, and she didn't like how they treated humans. Well, probably he did understand, but was trying to ignore it himself as he wasn't as progressive as he would like to think. But she had agreed to go along with Dyson's plans for now. She knew neither the Light nor the Dark would respond well to outright demands, so she was playing as nice as she could until she could figure out how to get her way.

Unfortunately, right now, playing nice was becoming difficult. She followed along as the Ash led them through yet another doorway in his maze of a compound, and stopped a few feet behind him as he finally paused in his tour. "And this is our research lab, the best in all the fae colonies, Light or Dark. We have all state of the art equipment and are leading the way in the prevention of disease and understanding the complex genetics of the fae. I would like to introduce you to Doctor Lewis, our brilliant research director."

Bo followed the gesture of the Ash, watching as a blonde woman looked up from her microscope and walked over to their trio. She had to quickly close her eyes to prevent them from flashing at the site she saw before her. The doctor was beautiful – straight blonde hair curtained a very angular face – strong cheekbones and honey amber eyes drawing her in immediately. She could see a pale blue button-up shirt with just a hint of cleavage peeking out, but it may have been the lab coat that truly did her in. She could see where people got their 'let's play doctor' fantasies from. Wow.

Looking back at the doctor, she caught the slightest of eye movements from the woman as she gazed at her, and could see her aura spike up a notch. Interesting, Bo though, she's into the ladies. She watched as she bowed her head demurely, greeting them each in turn, "Good morning Ash, Dyson, and nice to meet you my Queen." Bo shook her head, she hated when people called her Queen.

"Nice to meet you as well Doctor Lewis, but please call me Bo," and to help break some of the awkwardness she added "This is an amazing facility you have here."

The woman nodded and smiled at the comment. She really was beautiful.

"Thank you, I –"

Her response was cut off by the sound of an alarm ringing through the lab. Bo instantly went on alert, but didn't sense any sort of immediate threat. The Ash rolled his eyes as he turned towards Bo. "My apologies Queen, we have had some trouble with the alarm system lately. Let me just go check and ensure nothing is amiss. I will be back in a moment."

Dyson looked back between Bo and the Ash trying to decide what he should do. Bo knew he was torn, so nodded her head in the direction of the Ash and he smiled in understanding then followed the Ash out to lend his assistance if needed. Despite their past history, or maybe because of it, they were generally in synch with each other's thoughts and made a good team.

Turning back to the attractive doctor, Bo's smile faltered a bit as she realized that maybe being alone with her wasn't the best of ideas. Closing her eyes again, she took a deep breath and tried to think of the least sexy thing she could. The constantly blaring alarm wasn't doing her any help in trying to calm herself either.

Lauren watched the succubus with interest. She had heard a lot about the woman, but never had the pleasure of meeting her. And what a pleasure it was. She was a perfect specimen of her species – all hard muscle and feminine curves, a beautiful face with warm chocolate eyes and a dimple that came out when she smiled. The tight leather she was wearing didn't hurt either.

But she couldn't figure out why she looked pained all of a sudden. She had thought the succubus was tolerant of humans, she had a friend who was human she knew, but maybe that was false and she didn't want to be left alone with her? Or perhaps she was hurt?

"Are you okay my Q – I mean Bo?"

Bo looked at the blonde, the concern in her voice startling her for a second. "Yes, sorry, I am fine, just a bit of a headache is all and this alarm isn't helping. I was hoping to have wrapped up this tour by now, but your Ash is quite proud of his facility."

Lauren chuckled and it sounded like music to Bo's ears. "Yes, he is. He has never passed up an opportunity to show it off."

And then she added. "I am sure he and Dyson will be right back. We have had a few of these false alarms this week."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the alarm stopped and she smiled. "See, it will just be a few more minutes."

And with that a loud boom rattled the room, the force of it sending both women to the floor. Seconds later the alarm started up again, only this time it was accompanied by metal walls dropping down over all of the windows and doors, effectively trapping them in the lab. Luckily the alarm lasted only a few seconds before Bo got to her feet, bending down to help up her companion. "Are you okay Doctor Lewis?"

Lauren nodded, brushing a bit of dust of her pants. "Yes, thank you. And please call me Lauren."

"Well, Lauren, has this happened before? Because I don't get the impression we will be out of here in a few minutes."

Shaking her head, Lauren looked around the lab to make sure nothing was seriously damaged. "No, this has never happened before. It sounded like there was an explosion somewhere in the compound so they must have activated the lockdown procedures."

"Great," Bo mumbled to herself. Her hunger was about two minutes away from consuming her right now, and despite her reluctance she was going to have to feed from the doctor. Not that she didn't find her attractive and wasn't looking forward to tasting her, she just had this feeling there was something special about her and she didn't want to ruin it with a quick feed.

"So um," she started, suddenly shy about her issue. She knew most other fae would have just taken what they wanted, but that wasn't her style and the doctor did seem very nice. She wondered what type of fae she was.

At Bo's words, Lauren turned her attention to her and looked at her expectantly. The hunger was pretty strong now, and controlling her flashing eyes wasn't possible any longer. Staring at the doctor, Lauren's eyes widened at Bo's, and she could tell the doctor was processing what she saw.

It was as if a light bulb went off. "You're hungry," she said, with no trace of judgement in her voice. If anything, Bo thought she heard curiosity and sympathy and nodded her response.

"I'm sorry, I really was planning on getting out of here an hour ago, but that didn't happen and now here we are," she smiled wryly.

"And you want to feed from me….." Lauren said, not so much a question as a statement.

Bo nodded, taking a small step forward, her succubus delighted at the thought of tasting the woman before her. Lauren watched her carefully, but didn't make any move to retreat. Bo took this as a good sign and took another step forward, bringing her within inches of the woman. She was pleased to see her aura had shot up another few levels and was glowing very brightly. Bo found herself aroused as well and was glad she wouldn't have to sway her into anything. For some reason, that would have felt wrong.

"Just a bit to take the edge off," she whispered, her hand coming up to cup Lauren's jaw as she leaned in even closer. The smell of lavender and clean cotton filled her nostrils and she knew her eyes were glowing brightly right now. Not wanting any surprises once she started to feed, she caressed Lauren's jaw as she asked "what kind of fae are you?" The answer didn't matter much as there were very few fae who reacted badly to a succubus feed, but Bo wanted to know. If she was honest, she wanted to know a lot more than that about the doctor, but that was a good place to start.

Lauren was mesmerized by Bo's beautiful eyes and her close proximity, and she felt her arousal stirring between her legs. Her lips were even more kissable this close to her, and she was so focused on what they would feel like that she almost missed Bo's question. Not breaking eye contact, she replied truthfully – "the insatiably curious human doctor kind."

The words hit Bo like an ice bath. Human?

"Fuck! No!" she said as she tore herself away from Lauren, panting as she struggled to regain her control. Turning her back to her, she worked on the breathing exercises she and Kenzi had read about. After a few seconds she felt calm enough to at least turn around and look at the doctor. And what she saw nearly broke her heart.

Lauren was standing there with a look of hurt and embarrassment as Bo realized she must have thought Bo didn't want to feed on her because she was human. And while that was true, it probably wasn't for the reason she thought.

"I'm sorry, please don't take that personally," she started but was cut off before she could finish her thought.

"It's okay my Queen, I understand and it's nothing new. Not very many fae tolerate humans."

"No, no. it's not because you are human. Well, yes it is, but it's not that I don't like them. You. I. Fuck."

"It's okay really, you don't need to explain."

"No, I want to. It's just, I don't trust my control and I don't want to hurt you. The only humans I have ever fed on were years ago and I killed them all because I couldn't stop."

Lauren looked at her curiously. "But you are a Queen."

"Yes, a Queen raised by humans who didn't learn what she was until she had left a path of destruction behind her. Finding the fae was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I could now feed without killing, but a curse to have to deal with all this Queen shit."

Lauren nodded, still processing what Bo had just revealed. "So you have never fed on a human without killing them? Even after your dawning? I thought you had a close friend who was human."

Bo nodded. "I never really needed to learn since I was around the fae all the time. And honestly, even if I wasn't I still don't think I would trust myself. As for Kenzi, yes she is human and yes she is my bestie, but ewww, we just don't go there."

Lauren smiled and looked hesitantly back at Bo. She didn't know this woman at all and yes she was feared by most of the fae world, yet she felt deep down that she could trust her and that she wouldn't hurt her. But based on Bo's reaction, Bo didn't trust herself very much and wouldn't take Lauren up on her offer of chi. "This is going to sound crazy since we just met, but I trust you and I don't believe you would hurt me. You are welcome to take my chi."

Bo's eyes flashed again as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just can't risk it. Hopefully this lockdown only lasts a short while. If not, is there a room or someplace you can lock me up in so you can protect yourself?"

Staring, Lauren could not believe what Bo was saying. In her five years as a slave to the fae, not once had any of them so much as offered Lauren a thank you, and here was possibly the most powerful fae in the world offering to lock herself up to protect Lauren. She was even more in awe of the beautiful woman. But she also didn't want to lock her up so she thought back to when she first started working for the fae and had treated an incubus with control issues as well. His serum with a few quick tweaks could probably work to calm Bo's hunger. Hopefully Bo would trust her and they could more patiently wait out the lockdown.

"Will you give me a moment, I think I have something that might help you."

Before she had a chance to answer, the lab phone rang, startling both women. Reluctantly, Lauren moved over to the closest desk to answer it while Bo watched her every movement, entranced with her natural grace. Frowning, Lauren looked over at Bo and held out the phone, "Dyson would like to speak with you."

Walking over to where Lauren was leaning against the desk, she smiled as she took the phone from her and watched her walk away to give her some privacy. "Dyson, what the fuck is going on out there?" She had no patience for pleasantries. "Bo, calm down, there was an incident with a suicide bomber. They think he acted alone and that the incident is over, but they are doing a search of the compound, just to be sure. It shouldn't be that much longer."

"Great, I need to get out of here," she said. Her hunger was barely in check, and she was still wary of putting Lauren in a position where she could get hurt.

"I know Bo, we are working on it as quickly as we can. I told the Ash of your hunger and he sympathizes and has offered Dr. Lewis to you if you should have to feed."

"He WHAT?" she whispered, looking to make sure Lauren could not hear this conversation. "You told him that I would most likely kill her if I did that, didn't you?"

"I did, and hopefully you wouldn't kill her, but essentially he didn't care either way."

"Dyson, I am going to hang up now so I don't get so angry that I rip this phone out and strangle both you and the Ash with it when I see you. We will talk about this later." And with that she slammed the phone down and stormed off to the sink to find a glass of water.

The fucking fae. Why did she need to be one of these cretins? Even Dyson, whom she generally thought well of, harbored the old-school beliefs that humans were just for food. What the actual fuck, the gall of the Ash to offer up his doctor as a sacrificial lamb for Bo's hunger.

Finding what she hoped was a clean glass, she filled it up and drank it in 4 gulps. The simple action helped to soothe her a little, but she was still on edge. She watched keenly as Lauren puttered around her lab, measuring and mixing, checking a notebook every once in a while, Bo wondered how a human came to head up the Light Fae labs. She wondered if the Ash payed her a lot - doctors made a lot of money in general and a human having to deal with all the fae crap would need some hazard pay on top of that.

A few moments later Lauren returned with a syringe, and Bo eyed her warily.

"A few years ago I treated an incubus who had impulse control issues. I came up with this serum for him to help him learn to control his urges. It doesn't take away the need to feed, but it tamps down the cravings, so to speak. I adjusted it a little for your gender and weight, and if you are willing, I think this will help you. It's a small dose, should only last an hour or so, but hopefully that is enough time before the lockdown ends and you are able to leave and feed freely."

"There's no chance anything in there will hurt me?"

"Absolutely none. It is basically vitamins and a gherlin inhibitor, everything is all natural and already found in your body."

Looking into the doctor's eyes, Bo saw only compassion and trust there and that caused butterflies to erupt in her stomach. Nodding, Bo took off her leather jacket and offered up her arm to Lauren.

Lauren was momentarily distracted by the tight bodice and muscular arms now on display to her, and had to catch herself from staring. She mentally kicked herself for being so unprofessional, but there was just something so alluring about this woman. And then she mentally kicked herself again, because she was a Queen succubus and would have little interest in a weak human like herself. Forcing herself to focus, she opened an alcohol swab and cleaned off the injection site before giving Bo the serum. Once the needle was extracted, she cleaned it off and put a small band-aid on before stepping away and watching Bo as the serum took effect.

After a few moments, Bo's eyes stopped flickering blue and returned to their natural honey chestnut color, and Lauren could see Bo visibly relax, as if she was no longer making such a physical effort to hold herself back. Smiling she asked, "feel better?"

Bo was floored by how much better she felt and nodded quickly. "Wow, that serum is amazing. I wish I had met you five years ago."

Chuckling as she answered, "not sure how much good it would have done, the Ash at that time was a stickler for protocol and would have frowned upon my helping someone who was unaligned."

Bo grinned mischievously. "Oh, I am sure we would have found a way to work around that."

Blushing, Lauren added "You know, it isn't too late. I can help you learn to control your hunger so you can safely feed on humans. The serum with some practice is probably all you need."

Still grinning, Bo asked "Are you offering to practice with me?"

She didn't think she could blush any deeper, but Bo was super sexy and now that she wasn't concerned with killing her, she was letting her flirtatious nature out a little more. But Lauren could give a good as she got, so she replied in her own sexy voice "I'm a doctor, I can help out with whatever you need."

"Mmmm Doctor, I might need a lot of attention, house calls, private appointments, the works."

"Well, once we get out of here, why don't you come back in later in the week and we can work something out."

"How about dinner, tonight?"

Lauren almost dropped the empty syringe at Bo's question. "Dinner? You want to have dinner with me?"

"Duh, that's usually what one means when they ask someone to dinner. And here I thought doctors were smart."

"I am, I mean doctors ARE smart. Why do you want to have dinner with me?"

Bo smiled at Lauren's awkwardness. Did she really have no idea how adorable she was? Stepping closer to her, she once again reached up and gently tilted Lauren's chin so that she was forced to make eye contact. "Lauren, I think you are a very beautiful and kind woman, and I would very much like to get to know you better. So would you please accept my offer of dinner?"

Lauren watched Bo's eyes, looking for any trace of dishonesty or maliciousness, but found only sincerity and wonder. Nodding, she agreed, "I would love too."

Bo's smile lit up the entire lab as she reluctantly took a slight step back to put some space between them. The serum was working great but she was drawn to Lauren and really wanted to kiss her. That would have to wait, hopefully until after dinner, both her chi meal and the quiet romantic one she was planning with the doctor.

xxx

For the next 45 minutes, Bo and Lauren sat on the floor and got to know one another. To Bo, it felt like their date had already started – sharing stories about their childhoods, favorite foods and musical preferences. Both women were so engrossed in each other and their conversation, they barely paid attention to the fact that they were sitting on a cold hard floor during a lockdown, sharing a protein bar Lauren had found in her office. Finally, Bo had the courage to ask the question she was dying to know the answer to. "So how did you come to be with the fae?"

Lauren looked sad at the question and Bo wondered if what she had said was wrong. "Lauren, I am sorry if that is too personal, you don't need to answer."

Lauren shook her head, "No it's okay Bo. It's not a story with a happy ending though."

And then she proceeded to tell her about her trip to the Congo with Nadia, her finding the cure for the fae flu but losing Nadia to a mysterious coma, her deal with the Ash, Nadia's death at the hands of the Garuda and her continuing enslavement.

"So, while I do head up this lab, I am not an employee nor am I paid. I am owned by the Light. And while I am usually treated reasonable well, I am still basically a slave."

Bo was speechless. And angry. Her succubus was very angry. How dare anyone think they could own such a beautiful creature. She had heard that the fae had human slaves, but she had basically stayed away from politics and the Light and Dark so that she had never been confronted by it. And now that she had she wasn't going to tolerate it. Her eyes flashed blue as her anger swirled and despite not knowing where this protectiveness came from, she was not going to hold it in check. She would free Lauren from the Ash and she would kill him if she tried to stop her.

Lauren watched with trepidation as Bo's eyes flashed and she became agitated. She didn't know what had triggered this sudden shift, but Bo was clearly angry, though it did not seem directed at her. She didn't have more than a few seconds to ponder though, since suddenly the bright overhead lights kicked on and the metal gates began to rise from the doors and windows. As soon as they were open, two figures and entered and she watched as Bo stormed over to the Ash, grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall.

Lauren moved closer to Dyson who had followed the Ash in and was watching the scene clearly surprised at Bo's actions and unsure of what to do.

The Ash was sputtering and trying to talk despite Bo's tight grasp impacting his windpipe. "I am sorry my Queen, we had to institute measures for your safety. It was not an attempt at locking you up."

"I don't care what your motives were, I should kill you myself. But I won't. Instead I am taking your doctor. Since she clearly means so little to you that you offered her up to me to suck dry, you shouldn't even notice her gone. And if you are not happy with that arrangement, I am more than happy to take your life instead."

Shaking his head, the Ash looked relieved. "No, we are good, you can have her."

Snarling, Bo released the Ash who sunk to the floor grabbing at his neck and trying to suck in all the air he had been denied. She turned to Dyson next, her eyes a brilliant cobalt blue. Dyson knew not to mess with her when she was like this. "Get her things and move her to an apartment on my floor. I will back as soon as I have fed." And with that, she was gone.