Jenna Caine stumbled slightly as she turned, holding her left arm. Eric Delko stopped in front of her. "There's no sign of the shooter, but we found a couple of .308 casings and a GSR cone. Calleigh's taking the casings to Firearms, Caine. How's your arm?" he asked, then took a quick step forward and caught her gently around the waist as she faltered. "Are you alright?" he demanded, then caught his breath. A strange hunger started gleaming in his dark eyes, and Jenna took a deep breath, then nodded. "Thanks, Delko. I'm alright now," she said with a slight smile.

Eric nodded, then pulled her back into a dark niche as the hunger in his eyes flared. "What-? Delko, what the hell are you doing??" Jenna demanded as he kept one arm around her waist and gripped her left wrist with his other hand, then lowered his head. She was lifting her right hand to try to push him away when she suddenly felt his breath on her left arm. His tongue flickered out and lapped up some of the blood from her wound, then he pressed his entire mouth over the wound, suckling lightly. She shivered, her breath starting to catch in her throat. "What… what are you doing, Delko…?" she stammered, and he lifted his head, licking a stray drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Eric…" he murmured, and she replied, "Huh?" He smiled, and her insides just about melted as her heart skipped a beat or two. How the hell have I never realized how hot he is…? she thought, almost missing it when he said, "Call me Eric." She swallowed, then nodded. "If you'll call me Jenna…" she responded, and he nodded slightly. He took a deep breath, and she saw his jaw clench.

"…Eric? What's wrong…?" she asked, and his arm around her waist tightened. "God, I'm sorry, Jenna… You just… You smell so good… And you taste… even better," he gritted, his eyes squeezed shut. Jenna watched him, a little confused. "Jenna… I'm so sorry…" he whispered, bending down once more and pressing his lips against the pulse point in her throat. "I just… I can't resist… any longer." He parted his lips, and Jenna felt a momentary stab of pain in her throat, then Eric was suckling gently at her flesh, and her muscles all but melted. "E-eric… what's happening…?" she breathed, and he removed his mouth, but then slid his tongue over the spot he had been suckling. "Jenna… I… I have to tell you something…" he muttered as he hesitantly met her vivid blue eyes. "I… I'm a… a vampire…"

Jenna smiled, somewhat shakily. "Oh, is that all…?" she whispered, resting her right hand against his chest. "You… you don't care??" he demanded, the corners of his mouth starting to curve upwards in a disbelieving smile. Jenna shook her head. "Besides, one thing I've heard about vampires is that the one they're destined to be with is the one whose scent they're unable to resist… That means that your partner…"

"…Is you, Jen…" he finished in a hoarse whisper, and she let her head fall back. "Eric… I'm not afraid, now that I know what's going on… Go ahead, take some more, if you want… As long as you don't hurt me…" He took a shuddering breath and rested his lips against her throat once more. "I… could never hurt you, Jen…" he breathed, then slid his fangs gently into her flesh, holding her close tenderly. His dark eyes closed in bliss as her sweet blood flowed over his tongue. Her right hand slid up his chest and her left hand clutched his shoulder. She buried the fingers of her right hand in his soft black hair, her own fine red hair rippling down her back.

"Oh, God… Do you have any idea… how utterly amazing that feels…?" she breathed, and he withdrew his fangs, licking up a few stray drops of blood before nuzzling her cheek. "Yeah… an idea…"

XxXxXxX

A few days later, Jenna was taking an evening walk when she was attacked. A gunshot echoed through the streets, and when it died away, a figure could be seen running away from another figure lying crumpled on the ground.

"…Eric… help me… Horatio… Someone…" Jenna breathed weakly, unable to catch her breath as she tried to put pressure on a bleeding hole in the middle of her chest. "…P-please…"

Eric seemed to materialize out of the shadows, and immediately knelt at her side. "Jen! Damn… Hang on, let me try to call an ambulance…" he muttered, holding her hand. "No... T-turn me… please, Eric… I… I'm already slipping…" she whispered breathlessly as her vivid blue eyes started to glaze over.

"Jen… Alright," he murmured, then let his fangs extend to their full length. Bringing his wrist up to his face, he sliced into his own flesh with a slight, pained grunt, then put his dripping wrist to Jenna's lips, gently lifting her with his other arm under her shoulders. "Drink, love… It's the only way I can save you…" he whispered tenderly, and her lips parted, allowing drops of his blood to fall onto her tongue. After a minute or so, she shuddered, and he wrapped his other hand around the gash in his wrist. When he opened his hand, the gash had all but healed. He gently scooped her up in his arms and stood. A moment later, there were only shadows where he had stood.

XxXxXxX

Horatio looked up from his book as Eric materialized in a shadowy corner of the living room, his small amount of vampire blood allowing him to sense the vampire's presence. "What happened?" he demanded when he saw his younger sister limp in the other's arms. Eric stepped forward. "I'm sorry… I had to Turn her, H… She was about to die, and she wanted me to…" he murmured, and Horatio's eyes widened, then he motioned to the couch. "Put her down there, Eric," he said. "How long does it take?"

Eric gently laid Jenna down on the couch, then turned back to Horatio. "A few hours, at the most… H, when she wakes up, she's gonna be really hungry… I can let her take some of my blood, but she's gonna need some human blood, too…" Horatio swallowed hard, then looked Eric in the eyes. "She can feed from me," he said, and Eric hesitated, then nodded. "I'll stay here with her. I'll tell her when she wakes up…"

XxXxXxX

Jenna stirred, then struggled into a sitting position, holding her head. "Ugh… Aah, so hungry…" she rasped, and Eric knelt next to the couch. "Jen, that's normal. Relax… You need to feed, and you can feed from me, a little. Horatio said that he'd let you have some of his blood, too, since you need some human blood…"

Jenna looked over at him, the lamplight gleaming on her fangs, completely extended with her hunger. "Eric… I-I don't know what to do…" she whispered, and he smiled, chuckling quietly. "Well then, it's a good thing I do, isn't it?" he murmured, pulling himself up onto the couch, then gently pulling her over onto his lap. "Just… press your lips against my neck… You should know what to do from there…" he whispered softly. Jenna swallowed hard, then pressed her lips against the side of his neck as he tilted his head to the side to help her out. She took a deep breath, then sank her fangs into his throat. Her tense muscles almost immediately relaxed as his blood flowed down her throat. "Nnnh…" She moaned quietly, deep in her throat. So good… she thought.

When Eric tapped her cheek lightly, Jenna reluctantly withdrew her fangs, licking the blood away. "Oh, Eric… I… I never knew… how intense it would be…" she breathed, and he grinned. "Isn't it, though? Now, go on. Go find H. Otherwise, you'll never be able to satisfy your hunger…" She nodded and stood up.

XxXxXxX

Horatio stood up from the easy chair in his bedroom when he saw Jenna standing just outside his door. "Hey, Jen. How are you feeling?" he said with a smile. Jenna took a hesitant step forward, then whispered, "…Horatio, I'm still… so hungry…" Horatio walked over to her and gave her a hug. "I know. Eric told me what would happen. Jen, I want you to feed from me."

Jenna swallowed hard as she returned the hug. "If you're sure, Horatio…" she whispered. When he nodded, she took a deep breath and slid her fangs carefully into her brother's throat. His arms tightened around her waist, and she slid one hand up to cradle the back of his neck as she drank. When his knees buckled slightly, she held him up surprisingly easily. A moment or two later, she gently withdrew her fangs, and Horatio shook his head briefly. "Whew… Just, uhm… help me to bed, will you, Jen…?" he murmured, and she nodded, her fangs retracting completely now that her hunger was satisfied.

XxXxXxX

"Jen…" Jenna looked over at Eric, still sitting on the couch. "What?" she asked. He took a ragged breath as she walked over to stand in front of him. He reached up and gripped her wrist, pulling her down to his level. "…You still haven't changed your shirt…" he rasped, then drew her swiftly to him, easily pushing the lapels of her shirt aside to reveal what had been a gaping, bleeding hole, but was now smooth, creamy flesh, still covered in blood. Before she could even move, he had leaned forward slightly and started licking the blood away. As he started suckling lightly at her flesh, the fingers of her right hand, already buried in his hair, clenched reflexively, and her left clutched his shoulder. Her head fell back as her eyes closed halfway. "Nnh… Eric…" she breathed as his fangs just barely grazed her chest.

"Hmm…?" He lifted his head with a sexy smirk, made all the sexier to her newly-vampirized mind and senses by the blood that coated his full lips—her blood. When Jenna lifted her head and opened her mouth to say something, he stopped her by pressing his lips over hers. Tilting his head to one side, he swiftly deepened the kiss. She tasted an intoxicating blend of his unique taste mixed with her own blood. The exotic flavor made her head spin and her heart pound. As desire coursed through her veins, a faint moan escaped her throat, only to be trapped in Eric's mouth.

When he finally pulled away, Jenna shivered slightly, then slowly stood. "L-let me go change already, Delko!" she joked in a ragged voice, and he grinned and released her.

XxXxXxX

Several nights later, Jenna silently materialized in the middle of Eric's living room, wearing jeans and a black tank top. Moving as silently as a shadow, she crept through the doorway into his bedroom. As she approached his bed, she moved even more slowly, carefully. She stopped, then leapt onto the bed with a wicked grin, hoping to surprise him.

With a yelp, she was tossed over onto her back, though, and trapped against the bed by a hard, muscular body. "Eric! Damn, I wanted to surprise you!" she gasped, staring up at his face and trying to ignore his bare chest. He smirked, raising one hand to gently cup her cheek. "Darling, you'll never be able to startle me…" he breathed, his hand drifting downward to push the left strap of her tank top to the side, revealing a small red pentagram directly below her left collarbone. "Mmm… The mark of vampirism has already shown up…" he murmured, lightly tapping the matching mark below his own left collarbone.

Jenna sucked in a breath. "Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, and Eric chuckled lightly. "Vampires in my—no, our bloodline, the Querido, can be distinguished from other vampires by this mark, the red pentagram directly below the left collarbone," he explained softly, and her lips curved in a slight smile. "Querido… That's Spanish… It means 'beloved,' doesn't it?" she whispered, and he smirked before resting his lips against her temple. "Sí, mi amor…" he whispered softly, the feeling of his lips brushing lightly against her skin combining with the sound of his sultry voice caressing the Spanish words to send shivers of pure desire racing up and down her spine.

XxXxXxX

A few hours later, Eric propped himself up on one elbow to gaze at the redheaded beauty laying beside him. Jenna's rusty red hair, which had always matched her brother's, looked a bit darker, and he frowned slightly, reaching down to lift a lock of it, looking at it more closely. He chuckled and let the lock of hair fall as Jenna stirred and opened her eyes. When she had stretched and looked up at him, their eyes met—his dark brown, almost black, with hazel highlights, hers an even brighter, more vivid blue than before her Turning.

"God, Jen… I don't know how it's even possible, but you look even more beautiful now than you did when you were human…" he breathed, kissing her softly on the lips and sitting up.

XxXxXxX

Jenna crept slowly forward, followed closely by Eric, Horatio, Tripp, and SWAT. Each officer had their gun drawn, and their badges were in plain sight. Jenna adjusted her grip slightly and pulled her sunglasses off her face with one hand, then they all burst into the warehouse. "Miami-Dade PD! Everybody freeze!" the leader of the SWAT team yelled, and most of the people obeyed after grumbling briefly. Jenna had approached one of the men and holstered her gun to pat him down when she heard the faint click of a gun safety being removed. She looked around and saw a man standing off to her left, aiming a gun at Horatio, who was focused on one of the other men.

Everything seemed to start moving in slow-motion, and Jenna saw the man's finger tighten on the trigger. She set her jaw and leaped for him, seemingly moving at normal speed. She slammed the heel of her hand into the side of his arm with a sickening snap, knocking the gun from his hand.

Everything sped up again, and the man grunted and clutched his arm, which was bent at a weird angle. Horatio's head whipped around, and Eric grinned slightly over at Jenna, who back away from her victim, her eyes wide. A couple of SWAT members hustled over to take control of him, and Eric walked over and rested a hand on Jenna's shoulder. "That was pretty good, Jenna… You used vampiric speed, you know."

He stiffened slightly for a moment, surprised, when she flung her arms around him, her eyes squeezed shut. "God, I was so afraid he going to hurt Horatio!" she rasped, pressing her face against Eric's chest. He slid his arms around her waist, then looked over at Horatio, his eyebrows raised questioningly. Horatio raised one of his own eyebrows, then nodded. Eric offered a half-grin and a slight shrug, then gently pulled Jenna into a more shadowy spot. When she looked up at him, he gave her a full smile, and they vanished.

XxXxXxX

The two of them reappeared in Eric's living room. Eric's arm around her waist tightened slightly, drawing her even closer to him. When Jenna rested a hand on his chest and raised a questioning eyebrow at him, he smirked, revealing fangs that had fully extended with lust and desire, before nipping lightly at her bottom lip. "I think congratulations are in order, Jen…" he whispered seductively, and she caught her breath, leaning into him. "R-really…?" she breathed. "And… what would these congratulations entail…?"

Eric chuckled quietly and scooped her up in his arms. "How about I just show you…" he murmured as he carried her into his bedroom. When he dumped her onto his bed, she pulled him down with her, making him land on top of her. His lips crashed down onto hers, and his tongue lightly grazed her bottom lip, begging entrance. She parted her lips, allowing his tongue to explore her mouth. A moment later, he tilted his head to the side, giving him better access to her mouth. She pulled away slightly and kissed along his jawline before pressing parted lips to the pulse point below his ear. He shivered slightly with a faint groan, then pulled her back to him and kissed her deeply, flipping her over so she was beneath him, and he was in control. He straddled her, pinning her to the bed with his muscular body, then kissed her neck as she started tugging at the collar of his button-down shirt.

As Eric's lips continued to glide over Jenna's neck and throat, the very tips of his fangs just barely grazing her flesh, she willed her fingers to stop trembling long enough to start unbuttoning his shirt. Once that was done, she shoved it down off his shoulders, then ran her slightly shaking hands down his chest, reveling in the shiver that shot down her spine as her fingers explored the contours of the muscles in his chest, then lower, to his toned abs. The muscles in his stomach quivered and jerked slightly as her fingertips danced over them, and a low groan trembled deep in his throat. "God, Jen… I love you so much…" he rasped as he cupped her cheek with trembling fingers. Jenna smiled slightly, the tips of her fangs showing between her lips, then slid her hands back up and buried her fingers in his soft, thick black hair, dragging his lips back to hers as he let his hands glide over the curves of her body…