Disclaimer: Characters are property of Kim Harrison. I own nothing; not even this story is legally mine.
Ivy woke up to a pain in her back in an uncomfortable bed, the cause of her pain apparent. She didn't sleep in an comfortable bed, she had slept on the couch. Her guest last night had commandeered Rachel's bed and Ivy felt the need to offer her own bed.
While the couch was fine for laying, sleeping was another matter. She was used to sprawling on her wide bed. From the small amount of bright light she could see behind the curtains, Ivy guessed it was around noon. Definitely too early to be up, but she was awake now. Besides, the birds outside were making far too much racket, so she might as well get an early start on her day.
A shower was first on her list of activities for the day. While coffee would have been preferred, she needed to get the dirt and sweat from last night's run off her. Mentally going through her clothing selection, she frowned when she remembered her room mate sleeping in her bed.
She would just have to sneak in and not wake her then. Stretching to get some of the kinks out, she made her way towards her bedroom.
She stood outside the door, accessing Rachel's current situation. Both her heart rate and breathing were accelerated, but it was quiet. She was mostly likely dreaming. The door opened slowly as Ivy quickly made her way towards her closet. She would not be distracted by the sight of Rachel in her bed, tangled up in her sheets, practically panting into her pillow. Note to self: Wash sheets.
Picking out a blood red silk top and her favorite pair of leather pants, she walked over to her lingerie drawer when Rachel's voice stopped her dead.
"Ivy…don't…." Her earlier conclusion that Rachel was dreaming was wrong, she was having a nightmare. Starring Ivy. A wave of self disgust hit her as the implication of the nightmare hit her. She said she had forgiven Ivy for biting and nearly killing her, but her subconscious said differently.
"Please…stop…" Rachel was begging her to stop. Ivy could feel her heart breaking, knowing she had ruined this one good thing in her life. This innocent and beautiful soul that she had now tainted because she was weak and couldn't control herself. The hunger and blood lust she thought she had mastered crumbled when faced with its first true challenge.
The friendship and platonic love Rachel offered her had not been enough and because she had separated her love from the equation. She had turned into the blood thirsty monster she hated.
By this point Ivy's breaths were shallow and fast, her eyes blinking rapidly trying to impede the tears from falling. She now knew what she had to do. Despite what Rachel had told her, she didn't really feel safe with her.
For now she could stay at her parent's house. Enduring her mother was nothing compared to the knowledge she was causing Rachel pain.
At this thought a few tears managed to escape her eyes. She didn't bother to wiping them, she pulled open the drawer in front of her and pulled out the first pair of underwear she touched. Not wanting to prologue this torture further, she closed the drawer quickly and yanked open her bedroom door.
Apparently she was not as careful as when she first entered because Rachel shot up in bed. Ivy turned to look at her, instantly wishing she had not.
Rachel gasped, taking in large breaths to calm her erratic heart rate. Beads of sweat collected at her forehead and ran down her face. Ivy followed one particular bead's path from check, down her neck, until finally disappearing under her shirt. Even now, despite learning what she had, Ivy could not contain her attraction for the red headed witch.
More than anything else, at that moment Ivy wanted to retrace the bead's path with her tongue. She could feel her hunger emerging and rapidly reigned in her emotions. Keep it together dammit! Rachel's eyes focused on her surrounding and then on Ivy.
"Uhh, hi Ivy. What are you doing here? Well this is your room, so I'd expect you to be here, but I'm here now so," Rachel was nervous, mostly people tending to babble when nervous.
"I was going to shower and came in here to get some clothes. Sorry I woke you up," Ivy quickly explained. The last thing Ivy wanted was to have any conversation with Rachel. She just wanted to get away from her. Her façade of cool aloofness was beginning to crack again, a look of panic and fear replacing it.
"Are you ok?" Ivy cursed her inability to maintain her mask for another few minutes.
"I'm fine. Go back to sleep." Rachel did exactly the opposite of that, and got up to take a closer look at Ivy.
"You've been crying! What's wrong?" She had forgotten about those few tears she had not wiped off. Knowing she would have this conversation eventually, she'd rather get it out of the way now.
"I heard you talking in your sleep." A blank look came over Rachel's features.
"What do you mean, you heard me?" she asks quietly.
"You were having a nightmare. I was hurting you. You begged me to stop." Ivy bitterly snapped out before she turned around and walked out the door. Before going into the bathroom, Ivy turns her head slightly to the side.
"I'm sorry Rachel. About everything. I'll be gone by tonight," Ivy softly added. She closed the door behind her and walked to the shower. Her movements were mechanical, the only thing going through her mind was the sound of Rachel's voice begging her to stop.
She took off her clothes and stepped into the spray, unaware if the water was cold or hot. The water washed away any residual dirt from last night and it also served to wash away the tear tracts. Crying in the shower, how pathetic.
The door to the bathroom suddenly opens and an angry witch storms in.
"Rachel what-"
"No, you listen. My turn to talk to now," she cut off Ivy. Seeing there wasn't going to be an interruption she continued.
"You're not leaving. I won't let you. Whatever asinine reason you think you have is bullshit, alright? I don't know what you're sorry for, I already forgave you for the biting incident." Ivy saw the anger in Rachel's eyes; thinking it was directed at her.
"Don't lie to me Rachel, your nightmare made your feelings for me perfectly clear." Rachel mumbled something that even Ivy's vampire hearing could not discern.
"What are mumbling now? More lies to appease me? I'm not a child, I don't need to be coddled."
"I said, I wasn't having a nightmare!" she yelled, looking straight into Ivy's eyes. Her eyes widened, as if just now realizing she had been having this conversation while Ivy was in the shower. Naked.
Rachel averted her eyes and turned her back, but not before Ivy could see the blush staining her checks. The vamp's mind went into over drive, if it wasn't a nightmare, why had she been begging Ivy to stop? What other reason could there be for the flushed state she woke up in, the rapid heart rate, the lack of breath?
"Rachel, what did you dream?" Ivy asked in a whisper, almost afraid for the answer and its implications.
"Please tell me," she begged.
"I'm afraid," the witch whispered.
Ivy sucked in a breath, feeling sucker punched. "So you are afraid of me."
"No!" At the scoff of disbelief from the vampire, she added, "Ok well sometimes you scare me. But that's not what I'm afraid of."
"What then?"
"I'm scared of what my dream could mean. Things are changing. God knows I love you, but I'm afraid that I could be falling in love with you."
Rachel turned and whispered the last part to Ivy's face. For a few moments, the only sound is that of the shower still running. Ivy unsure how to process what Rachel had told her.
"Would that really be so bad?" she finally manages to ask.
" I don't know, I'm not sure." All this time Rachel had, for the most part, been either too angry or distracted to fully process the fact that Ivy was indeed naked.
"Look could we have this conversation sometime when you aren't showering?" Thinking she would have some time to get her muddled thoughts in order, she was surprised when Ivy turned the shower off, wrapped a towel around herself and directed Rachel to sit on the edge of her bathtub.
Rachel could hardly think with the tall, thin beautiful vampire pacing in front of her. She was fairly distracting. Ivy ran her right hand through her hair a few times before turning and crouching down to look at Rachel in the eye.
Said witch however, was not looking at her in the eye, but at the small amount of cleavage the towel failed to cover. Why is she more distracting now than fully naked? She didn't get the chance to fully process that thought before Ivy began speaking.
"Rachel, by now you must know how I feel about you. I told you before that I've been waiting. That hasn't changed. I'll continue to wait, and hope," Ivy began.
"So take your time, figure things out. I'll be here when your ready," Ivy finished.
"Sorry, what?" her previous blush returned full force. Rachel hadn't heard a word of what Ivy had said, staring alternately at those moving lips and down the front of the towel that had come slightly loose.
The ghost of a smile appeared on the vampire's lips at seeing the effect she was had on the witch. That brought Rachel's attention back to Ivy's lips.
Ivy recognized the expression on the witches' face, she was thinking of doing something stupid. "Whatever it is you're thinking right now, stop."
Looking into her eyes, Rachel appeared to have reached a decision on something. "Ivy, close your eyes, I want to try something."
"No." The first thread of fear entering her voice.
"Please Ivy. I need to know if I can do this. You said before, that I had to come to you. Well, before I dive into the deep end, I'd at least like to get my feet wet." Ivy took in a few breaths, calming her nerves and easing away some of her fear.
Rachel was making an effort, so she would also make an effort and not turn this into more than it was. Just a kiss. Taking another look into her determined eyes, Ivy closed her own eyes.
Rachel took in a deep breath, and cautiously makes her way closer to Ivy's lips. Making sure one last time that her eyes are indeed closed, she tentatively brushes her lips against Ivy's. Ivy gives no immediate reaction, her body doing a good impression of a statue.
Adding a bit more pressure, Rachel thought back to Ivy's kiss. How unprepared she was, no time to understand what she was feeling. Well this time, she was the kisser, not the kissee, and there was plenty to process. There were Ivy's lips for once, softer than any she had every felt before.
A warm feeling that began in her abdomen was slowly spreading. Also, this was perhaps the only time in her life when she kissed someone and there was no response. Not liking that last bit, Rachel attempted to coax a response from her vampire. My vampire?
Bringing up her right hand on placing it on Ivy's cheek for better leverage, she applies more pressure to the kiss until a small shudder escapes Ivy's lips. Since her lips were already parted, Rachel decided this was the perfect opportunity to deepen the kiss.
Rachel first ran her tongue lightly over the inside of Ivy's bottom lip to ensure that there were no protests. Quite the opposite. A small encouraging moan gave her the courage necessary to fully proceed. A jolt of arousal hit her as her tongue touched Ivy's for the first time.
This time, they shuddered at the pleasurable sensations. At some point during the kiss, Ivy's arms had wrapped around Rachel's waist, hands coming to rest on her lower back. Her hands were now fully entangled in Ivy's short locks.
Knowing that this kiss was moving into dangerous territory and not particularly caring, Rachel continued to kiss a fully responsive Ivy. Wanting to get closer to her, Rachel pushes forward into Ivy not realizing how precariously balanced the other is.
Ivy lets herself softly fall onto her back, determined to extend the kiss for as long as possible. As they are falling, Rachel places her hands in front of her, bracing herself on her eyes on either side of Ivy's head. Despite Ivy's best attempts, their lips do become dislodged.
Rachel let out a small whimper of pain while trying to get her breathing back under control.
However, hovering inches above an equally gasping vampire made that difficult. The small drop of blood that landed on the corner of Ivy's lips made it impossible.
Rachel is transfixed by that small splatter of blood, even more so when a pink tongue came out to wipe it away. This time the visible and not so visible scars on her skin flared to life. Looking up slightly, she stared into a pair of black eyes, the brown having since long disappeared.
"If you kiss me again, I won't be able to stop Rachel."
"Then don't. Don't ever stop."
A.N.- Probably should have added a warning at the beginning: Beware plot holes. Originally I had placed this scene in a large Rachel Morgan cross over I'm working on, but was ultimately unsatisfied with the progression of Ivy and Rachel's relationship. I apologize for any mistakes, ran through spell check and gave it a quick over view, but no real editing went into this.