Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they and the world they live in, belong to the wonderful Kim Harrison. I just need an outlet for my Ivy/Rachel frustration.

I distinctly heard footsteps resonating in the hall, and my heart skipped a beat. Oh shit. Ivy was home. Hastily re-adjusting my posture, I closed the window I was browsing and slam the laptop shut—her laptop. Ivy would crucify me if she ever learned I had used her precious laptop without asking, but she had been on her run for over seven hours, and what the Turn had I been supposed to do?

"Rachel?"

"In the kitchen."

I leaped away from the computer once the words had left my lips and opened the fridge, pretending to be rummaging for something in particular. The vampire glided in, and leaned her hip against the wall, watching me. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and I could have sworn a smile begun to creep it's way onto her face. Staring directly into her russet gaze, I counted the heartbeats pass by as they boomed in my ears. One. Two. Three. Four...

"So..." I broke the silence a little too hastily, sticking my head inside the refrigerator to look for something I hadn't yet decided upon. "How did it go?"

She stayed silent until I gave up looking for something unknown, and peeped innocently over the top of the fridge door to see if she was still staring at me with that look that made my blood run cold. And she was.

"Good." Ivy's eves never left mine as she said the word, and they kept their firm hold of my attention as she walked smoothly to stand by my side. I could see the faint presence of a smile, and something told me I should leave the room. A vampire smiling like that can never be a good thing. She leaned in close to me, and my heart did a little flip. She stayed perfectly still, inches away from me, closing her eyes and scenting the air with a swift intake of breath. I felt my blood pounding in my neck, felt liquid heat pool between my legs. What the hell was she doing?

Her eyes burst open, and her smile came fully alive. She gently pushed passed me to reach into the fridge and grab a jug of orange juice, as if that had been her intention this entire time. Her hips sashayed hypnotically as she waltzed away from me to grab a glass from one of the cupboards.

"So what did you do while I was gone?" Her voice purred as she poured herself a glass.

Shit. She knew.

I cleared my throat and tried to sound nonchalant. "Nothing, really."

"Mhm," she acknowledged with soft sarcasm, trying to hide the smile that desperately wanted to burst into appearance. She chugged the glass and shuffled lightly where she was standing, mocking the impression that she was uncomfortable. But I knew she wasn't.

"Mhm." I repeated quickly, wanting to get away from her as soon as possible. I almost gasped aloud when I thought up the perfect excuse. "Well, I'm off to bed."

I expected her to laugh at me, object my departure so she could further tease me, or anything to prove that she was well aware of what I had done. But no. She nodded once, those eyes boring directly into mine. The smile was still vaguely apparent—it was evident she was trying to hide it.

I got to my room, pressing my back against the closed door and breathing slightly heavily for practically having jogged my way there. How had she known? It wasn't as if I hadn't been cautious: I made sure her laptop had been placed in the exact spot it had previously been in, and placing myself away from it to evade any suspicion when she had waltzed in. She couldn't have possibly known what I'd been doing before she arrived; there was absolutely no way she could have known!

I sighed and hung my head as I stepped away from the door to undress. One could tell the astonishingly organized type of person I was by the distinct way my shirt fell into a crumpled heap on the floor beside my bed. I slipped on my tank-top and stripped to my underwear, gliding under the covers and bringing the material up to my chin for warmth. Something in my head had screamed that is was a horrible idea as soon as the intent to use Ivy's laptop had popped into my mind. But, like I did for every other thing my gut told me to watch out for, I had simply pushed it into the back of my mind, completely forgetting about it. Well, now I had to live with the regret that my roommate and best friend knew of my whereabouts during her absence. Most people would probably say that it was nothing to be ashamed about, but I evidently thought otherwise.

I felt a faint blush creep it's way upon my face as I recalled going against every cell in my brain while utilizing Ivy's property—especially without her permission. I pushed my hand under the pillow, not allowing it to touch any other part of my body, as if it was the sole reason I had done what I did and now I was mad at it. I had a knack for blaming things on other things, especially inanimate objects or actual parts of my body that had solely done what I had instructed them to do. But hey, it was the only way I could calm down the raging guilt that was crawling under my flesh. I groaned aloud. Ivy knew what I had done.

It was then that I heard it.

The sounds that had become all too familiar to me in the previous several hour of being home alone—with nothing to do, and a throbbing curiosity eating away at my insides—were resonating within the church with booming ease. At first I had absolutely no idea what to do, I just lay there, listening to the hard pants and moans of an unknown, yet recognizable female as the memorized images flooded my mind. My mind arrogantly supplied the necessary images to accompany the sounds of the human girl being brought to her ends by the other fictional character who had been paid to do such atrocities on the internet.

Long seconds passed by before I'd had enough. I swear I hadn't even had enough time to fully register the humiliation of having to listen to the moans again before my groin began to throb—demanding I finish what I had had to end abruptly just minutes before Ivy had entered the kitchen. Either my mind had amplified the noises, or someone had cranked the volume up, and I had my mind set on the latter. I jumped out of bed and threw my jeans on, storming out of the room and back into the kitchen, trying to ignore the throbbing between my legs.

I can't say I was surprised to find Ivy sitting at the chair I had been at not that long ago, her eyes fixed on the screen and her eyebrows shooting up way passed her forehead. The vampire didn't even look up as I entered, didn't even seem to notice my presence as I patiently awaited her to get over the fact that there were boobies on the screen. Something interesting seemed to have happened on the monitor, because she jerked back slightly to rest her back against the chair, a smile forming on her delicate features as she crossed her arms in a strange kind of admiration. My heart squeezed as I fought back the urge to step over beside her and see what they were doing, now. Yes, okay, I hadn't been able to get this far in the video before being interrupted, and I didn't want to see what was happening because of my fascination with the badly-written plot.

The primary reason I had searched for the kind of thing I would have previously described as "repugnant and fake" was because of curiosity. Firstly, I hadn't gone looking for the regular heterosexual couples where the male's endowment was thrice as large as the average human male's—I already knew what a man and woman looked like having sex, I had seen it first person. So yes, I had gone looking for two females—mainly because of my wonder of what it would be like with Ivy; when you spend years with someone who continually expects you to understand their point of view on something, it's hard to comprehend when you've never actually seen it. Secondly, which I believe is the aspect of the video that had my roommate gaping at the screen as if her eyes were going to fall out of their sockets, the video portrayed a human with a vampire. I had to see what it looked like to share love and blood, and since the Turn, pornography had evolved to incorporate all species—though the ones involving vampires generally obtained much more ratings than the normal human on human because of the neurotoxins every living being—Inderlander or human—seemed to fantasize about. I believe what I had typed into the search bar had been something along the lines of "Lesbian vampire and. human, blood porn." And Ivy was now watching it. Great.

The gasps and pants coming from the integrated speakers became louder and much more enunciated, and I could tell one of the two females were coming close to climax. Ivy seemed to be enjoying herself, eyebrows once again nearly rising to her hairline as she watched the naked women writhe together on the screen with something I wanted to describe as satisfaction but couldn't quite pinpoint.

One of the women cried out and Ivy's face loomed closer to the picture, eyes narrowing intently. Her lips parted slightly as if she was just about to speak to the actors in the video; perhaps her intent on giving them critical advice? I cleared my throat lightly to indicate my existence, but she didn't look up. Chances were high that she was already aware of my presence but had chosen to ignore me for whatever reason. Ivy's eyes never flickered away from the screen as her thumb found it's way between her teeth. She begun lightly nipping the skin directly beneath her nail as she watched the screen, giving her an exquisitely provocative allure.

She leaned back on her chair once more and pointed accusingly at the screen. "She's faking it."

The words had been stated simply, but my eyes nearly popped out of my head and my jaw dropped to my feet. She looked calm and collected, hands on either side of the laptop and eyes still fixated upon the rolling video. Was this woman serious? Here I was, utterly humiliated about the fact that I had been caught watching pornography on my best friend's computer, willing to admit my faults and apologize for having been so stupid. She, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying herself a great deal, critiquing the orgasmic abilities of one of the nude actors.

For the first time since I had entered the kitchen, Ivy looked up at me. Her eyebrows furrowed, a smile quirking her lips, and she gave me a questioning allure. I immediately noticed the relieving silence that had settled itself within the room. Hell, I didn't care that it was probably one of the most uncomfortable dead silences I had ever experienced: the sounds had stopped. The video was finished. Finally. While I rejoiced the fact that I wouldn't have to endure any more of the embarrassing sounds, the woman sitting before me crossed her arms over her generous chest and awaited my explanation, as if I was a six-year-old child that needed to be scolded. My mind was still a pile of compost due to her utterly unexpected primary response to the video, so I posed the first question that popped into my mind.

"How did you find…" I trailed off, suddenly not so keen on asserting the topic of my horny-teenage-boy syndrome. She mockingly arched an eyebrow at me, evidently wishing me to ridicule myself even further. I made an unenthusiastic hand gesture towards the laptop where the video had been playing mere minutes ago, hoping it would satisfy her unquenchable need to make me suffer.

She shrugged indifferently as if this kind of thing happened every day. "Computer history."

I bit my lip and nodded, evading her gaze. I honestly didn't know what the vampire would say to me—because what had been depicted in the video was evidently what Ivy had been searching for from me all these years. I didn't know which emotions would explode from her. Sadness? Anger? Annoyance? Disappointment? Regret? I convinced myself that it didn't matter: that I was ready for anything, and that I deserved whatever words she'd throw at me. In these situations, the ones where I'd do something unbelievably stupid and inconsiderate, she was simply incapable of remaining apathetic and aloof. I didn't blame her this time. I clenched my teeth hard and awaited the volcanic eruption, ready to shield myself from the scorching lava.

She took in a deep breath and fisted her hands beside the laptop, seemingly restraining herself from something. But what? Her voice was soft and confident, surprising me immensely. "What did you think?"

My eyes widened and for a moment I think my heart and lungs ceased working. I half-expected her to burst out laughing, saying it was all a joke and allowing me to go back into my room so I could crawl under the covers and die, but she just sat there, staring at me with pupils that were rapidly dilating to consume the chocolate of her irises. Oh God, she was being serious.

"Well I, uhh…" I fiddled with my fingers, trying to decide what to say and desperately attempting to avoid her merciless gaze that made me want to throw myself at her feet and apologize over and over and over again. "I d-didn't exactly, uhh…I guess it just wasn't what I was—expecting?"

I couldn't tell if that answer had satisfied her until she slowly nodded. "In the good or bad way?"

I shrugged, not exactly wanting to tell Ivy that the video had had me so aroused I had needed to relieve myself before I exploded. That thought alone had me noticing the stickiness of my palm, and I unconsciously wiped it against my jeans before clasping my fingers behind my back sheepishly. I had to admit the women on screen definitely had some mad skills: the way their bodies moved so perfectly together, and the sight of ecstasy as the vampire lovingly ravaged the human's neck had had me writhing against the seat and pressing my thighs together. As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Ivy was unexpectedly before me, grasping my hips in the palms of her hands and holding me securely close.

"The good way?" She offered hopefully.

My thoughts were suddenly clouded with pheromones, the scars on my neck pulsing with vigorous life. Ivy pulled me closer and I felt her hands at my side begin to tremble with delicacy, as if she was afraid to break me; as if I was the most precious thing in the world. I couldn't even see anymore, my vision was blurred and colors burst into existence with too much force—the contrast too bright. My groin throbbed desperately, matching the heartbeat I could feel through the scars in my neck; pleasure coursing through my veins with every pulse.

I couldn't do this.

Frantically, I placed my hands against her chest and pushed Ivy away from me, trying to make sense of my surroundings. And as soon as she wasn't touching me anymore, the throbbing in my neck dulled to a numbness I had never felt before. I breathed a sigh of relief as the color spectrum returned to it's natural state and I could breathe with ease once again. I looked at the vampire, who had turned her visage away from me, her hair a shield of black to hide herself from my gaze. Her posture was hunched, as if I'd slapped her.

"The bad way, then." Her words were barely a whisper, and my heart clenched at the wrenching sadness in her tone. Once again, I, Rachel Morgan, had managed to hurt Ivy beyond any other individual's capacity, and all because I held a large portion of the vampire's heart. It wasn't fair to either of us.

"No," I said hastily, and then tried to redeem myself at the hope in her eyes as she looked up at me. "I mean…I expected it to be horrifying, disgusting. I thought there'd be blood everywhere and possibly even crying. But then the vampire bit the girl and I…" I paused, blushing fiercely as I remembered my own explicit reaction. "Combined with the way they were already sharing their bodies, it was beautiful."

I wasn't exactly certain if I loved Ivy that way—wasn't even sure if I liked girls that way—but I had enough pride to spare to be able to admit that the way their bodies united in every way possible was absolutely beautiful. The bite had even seemed to accentuate the pleasure the human was already experiencing, and even though Ivy hadn't been in the room at the time, my scars had tingled with promise as I watched the two women share bodies and blood.

"It's just…when you touch me," I continued, trying to decipher the situation myself, "I can't think anymore. I need to be able to think, Ivy. It's all too much"

She nodded and took a cautious step in my direction, eyes locked with mine. The tingling in my scars stopped completely, and I breathed a sigh of relief, glad I could think clearly once again. Ivy took another step towards me and took my waist in her hands once again, holding me tight when I tried to pull away.

"No pheromones. I understand."

She was staring at my lips, and my tongue darted out to moisten them without my permission, making Ivy inhale sharply. Stupid tongue. Her head tilted slightly and begun to descend toward mine. I took in a deep breath and turned my head to the side and away from her. "Ivy…"

This time, her voice was gentle, annoyance eluding her tone entirely. She didn't want to rush me—even after all these years, she was compassionate enough to care about what I felt. "What is it?"

"I c-can't." I wanted to rip my heart out and place it in the palm of her hand after seeing the look that she gave me. She had misunderstood. "I don't know how."

One of the hands gripping my waist tightened, but no hint of possession was detectable. "Then let me help you. Please, Rachel. I can smell it all over you—I know what that video did to you. I know what you'd been doing before I came into the kitchen, and I know that feeling still consumes your thoughts when you're close to me. Like right now. I also know it's hard to follow me sometimes: the way I close myself up and then suddenly burst into existence without warning. We both have our faults, and I ask that you cope with mine as I do with yours."

Her eyes were now black as sin, and she momentarily let go of my hip to grab my right wrist and hold my hand up to her nose. She inhaled deeply, and it was only then that I realized that the hand she was holding was the one that I'd been using moments before to relieve the building tension as I intently watched the video.

"I know your smell," her eyes were closed, and her voice was soft. "It's addictive."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. How was I supposed to respond to that?

"I don't know why you hide from me." I jumped as her tongue darted out to flick across my palm without notice. "Let me show what I can be—what we can make. It'll be beautiful, Rachel. Just like you said. But nothing can progress if you just hide in your corner and refuse to face me; refuse to face yourself. I can't do this without you, honey."

Ivy had never used that pet name for me before, and yet it seemed to fit the situation flawlessly. It matched the tone of her voice, soothing the gaping wounds that I didn't know could be sealed.

Her gaze never left mine as she spoke, and I didn't want to look away either. Her eyes were engulfed in black, but I wasn't afraid. The vampire in the video had had completely black eyes as well, and they had been beautiful together. Ivy let my wrist drop to my side and her hand went to the small of my back, pulling me even closer to the warmth of her figure. I complied hesitantly, awaiting the burst of pleasure to come from my scars. It never came. I didn't believe that Ivy could control her pheromones like flicking a switch on and off—it was going to be hard for her to restrain the vampire aspect of herself just so she could be with me. I couldn't do that to her. I didn't want to be the one to tell her she couldn't be loved because of her bloodlust. But it honestly scared me beyond words.

Ivy's hand begun tracing unseen patterns on my back, sending shivers up my spine. I wanted to get away from the potential danger of the situation, and yet I wanted to stay right here in her arms. It was utterly confusing, and I wanted to cry out in frustration. My own arms were at my sides, my brain completely dumbfounded and incapable of finding a suitable position to send them to.

"Tell me what you want." Ivy's irises shimmered into view for a brief moment before once again being completely consumed by the black of her pupils. She was fighting herself. For me. The simple thought that she cared about me enough to do something that went against everything that was etched within her genes made my heart clench with love.

My eyebrows furrowed softly at the situation and how much I wanted everything to be so much less complicated than it currently was. "I want to try."

She gave me a small, close-lipped smile and her eyes twinkled with life. "I know, honey. Now, what do you want."

My heart pounded against my rib cage as I suddenly understood what she was implying. "I want to take things slow—I need to. I don't want to use you and then find out that this isn't where I want to go in the future. I want to give you everything you've given me, I want to show you how much you mean to me."

She nodded, moisture glistening in her eyes. Without hesitation, Ivy brought me close and clutched me to herself in a hug. Her fingers sprawled out on the material of my tank-top, taking in as much of me as she possibly could. My own hands finally found a reason to be, and wrapped themselves around her neck during our embrace. My face buried itself in her shoulder, and she gently rested her chin on my head. We stood there, holding the other in our arms as if our lives depended upon it, for an undetermined length of time. It felt so nice to be able to get this close to Ivy without having her out of control—and yet something inside of my mind was accusing me of making her the way she currently was: pliant and leashed. It was true, this was not who she was. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears from falling as I grasped the fact that Ivy would give up anything and everything for me; that all I had to do was ask.

"Baby steps," she whispered as she reluctantly released me and stood back to gaze lovingly into my eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I saw how strikingly gorgeous Ivy Tamwood was with tears rolling softly down her unblemished cheeks. Her every feature was accentuated as the tears glistened beautifully, making their way to her chin. Tears destroyed my face, making my eyes and nose red and puffy—but they made Ivy look even more stunning.

I felt tears stinging the back of my own eyes as I wiped away the salt water flowing down her cheeks. "You're crying."

She sniffled and let out a choked laugh as she dismissively wiped away the tears with the back of her own hand. Ivy smiled with genuine emotion before speaking, the black of her pupils dissipating. "It's just that you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that."

"Yeah, well," I let out a little stifled laugh of my own, "I'm stupid like that."

I don't know if those were the magic words, or something along those lines, but as soon as I ended my sentence, Ivy's smile disappeared and her mouth locked with mine. This time, unlike in the sanctuary, no pheromones were present to cloud my judgment and ability to think. There was me. There was Ivy. That was it.

Her lips were soft atop mine, and without thinking, I pulled her lower lip into my mouth and suckled softly. She moaned into me and pulled my body into another embrace, wrapping her arms around me completely, so that I hardly had any more room to breathe. Not that I really minded, however—if I had to pick between breathing and kissing Ivy, I'd definitely go with the latter. My heart rate increased as her thigh rose the length of mine, and her leg wrapped itself around my waist. My lungs wheezed for air, but my mind was perfectly content with being enveloped with everything that was purely Ivy as I pressed further into her figure. Her balance was impeccable, no one would have been able to tell she was standing perfectly tall and stable with one leg wrapped around someone's waist.

She was the one to break the kiss, slightly pulling away from me as if she had done something wrong. My eyes opened slowly, my breathing heavy. Her pupils were slightly bigger than usual, but other than that, the chocolate in her gaze was present. Her lips were swollen and red, begging to be taken once more. My heart thundered harder in my chest as I saw the faint blush that crept it's way upon her features when she noticed I was watching her. She was so adorable I almost died.

"Baby steps," I panted sarcastically as I turned the vampire and pushed her onto the kitchen table, jumping on top of her. My lips claimed hers this time, and I was the one to deny her breathing as I pressed my body harder onto hers. I can't say I wasn't delighted when both of her legs rose to wrap around me, and her hands pushed under the material of my tank-top so that she could feel the flawless flesh that lay beneath it.

"You think…" Ivy breathed heavily against my lips, "…the table…will break?"

I pretended not to hear her, not wanting to stop kissing her—let alone getting up off of the table and severing the perfect position we had managed to acquire. Her legs had dropped to the back of my knees, ankles still locked tightly together. Now that the opportunity had arisen, her hands descended to cup my bottom, fingers digging pleasurably into the ass of my jeans. I moaned into her mouth and slipped my hands behind her back to arch her body into mine, desperately needing the contact. No freaking way was I giving this up.

"Rachel…" Ivy tried to get my attention, panting for air beneath me. She had always been a control freak, and even in this situation where her lust and desire was utterly overwhelming did she feel the need to care about the precious table instead of fully indulging herself.

I groaned and rolled my eyes, clutching the front of her shirt and pulling her backwards with me so that we collapsed onto the ground together, with her weight atop me. Yes, it had hurt my back to smack against the floor with the vampire on top of me, but it was totally worth it to see the look of pure surprise plastered upon Ivy's features. Before she could say anything else, I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her lips down to mine, loving the feel of her mouth and already irrationally addicted to her taste. Ivy didn't seem to mind my interruption.

Because of the way we were now positioned, I had the advantage of being able to grasp her bottom in the palms of my hands, astonished about how aroused a woman could make me. Sure, I'd had sex with guys. And sure, it had been good. But I never got this stirred up in such little time. And no, I couldn't blame it on the pheromones, because Ivy had specifically agreed to my terms and hadn't been releasing any. This time, I didn't take any shame in admitting that Ivy, a woman, was making me wetter than any other individual had made me in a long time. Before all of this, I'd had a hard time admitting that she even had the slightest bit of impact upon my system. But now it was fairly safe to say that Ivy Tamwood could probably drive me to the brink of insanity with nothing but a flash of her boobs.

Oh. That was quite an interesting thought.

"I want to see you. I want to touch you." The words exited my mouth as soon as I had enough willpower gathered inside of me to break our kiss—which was quite a freaking lot. I was afraid that if she didn't respond to me in any way, I'd be pulling her back down towards me in less than a matter of seconds.

While we had been on the floor, kissing without thought, the vampire had somehow managed to straddle my hips. She kissed me one last time before rising so that she was sitting atop me, her back straight, and her eyes staring down at me from above. I didn't have to ask her again, Ivy pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on the table where she'd been sitting moments ago. Her bra was next. Except I received the privilege of being able to remove the annoying piece of material. "Honored" is the word I'd use to describe my state.

Ivy threw her head back as I slowly made my way from her muscular abdomen to the heavy weight of her breasts. I circled the hard peaks with the tips of my fingers—as I'd seen the women do in the video I'd previously watched. But it just wasn't enough. I simply couldn't sit there beneath her, having the woman I loved exposed to me, and do such a seemingly insufficient action. No, me being me, instead I decided to grab her shoulders and hoist myself on top of her, so that her naked back was on the cold floor, and I could get a better look at her. The sight of her chest heaving, breasts rising and falling, almost sent me over the edge. I gently passed my palms and fingers up and down her upper-body, trying to soak up the most of Ivy Tamwood I possibly could. It was killing me. I needed more.

"Rachel," she gasped my name as I squeezed the generous mounds of flesh, unconcerned with using my nails for amplified effect. Hey, at least it was working. Her voice was hoarse with emotion as she begged me, "I c-can't. I need more. We need to stop."

She didn't need to elaborate; I was perfectly aware of what she meant. Ivy wasn't certain she could keep her bloodlust in check for much longer. The only alternation from moments before when I'd asked her to do so, was that I wasn't sure if I wanted her to keep her instincts leashed anymore. One of the major parts that made Ivy utterly irresistible was the kinds of reactions she could pull from me when we shared blood. Of course, the portions of the video I'd watched hadn't exactly depicted two women that were in love—no, they were merely actors. But if the idea of sharing blood with love revolted me as much as I really thought it had, then why would I be fantasizing about the previous video I'd watched when I could experience it first hand? My mind was weird like that, most times.

"No."

I pinned her shoulders to the ground when she tried to get up, and she looked at me with sadness in her gaze. "You'll leave if we keep going. I'll do something you don't want me to do and then you'll leave me. I can't handle it. I'm sorry, Rachel, I thought it could work—but it can't."

There was verity in her words, even now I could begin to feel the beginnings of pheromones flitting through the air. Her instincts were stronger than her willpower, and the sole confession of that fact ripped her pride apart. Pride had always been the one thing Ivy clutched to herself like oxygen, and it wasn't a coincidence that ever since she'd begun living with me, it had repeatedly been beaten down to a heap. Generally for my sake. The vampire tried to get up again, but I pushed her down, unwilling to recede.

"No," I repeated sternly. "It's all or nothing, right?"

She softly bit her lip, and nodded. Not so long ago Ivy had tried to scare me away with those words, wanting me to think twice before I came at her again with a request to share blood. Even now, I could see the tears burning behind her eyes and my heart squeezed with emotion—she thought I was going to say no. Silly vampire.

I gave her a sheepish grin and shrugged, "I'm ready for it all."

It took her a few seconds to grasp the fact that I had just given her complete permission to rip my throat out as well as make love to me. Basically, I had probably made her day. She narrowed her eyes and gave me a devilish grin. "You're going to regret you ever said that."

Uh-oh.

My mind didn't even have enough time to fully register those two syllables before she picked me up in the strength of her arms, darting across the church to the hallway where the doors to our bedrooms were held. On the way, she had somehow managed to rip my tank-top off, leaving me topless in her arms. Can't say it was that bad a feeling, actually. She stopped midway between each of our doors, looking down at me with thirst and hunger in her pupil-black gaze. One word: hot.

"Yours or mine."

Huh? Oh, she meant which room. My mind was functioning at it's lowest capacity, hence the reason it took me a few seconds to comprehend the direction of her thoughts. Before answering, I looked down to see that my eyes were in perfect line with her breasts—so I did the logical thing and giggled.

"Yours."

She nodded, heading in the opposite direction, an evil smirk plastered upon her features. "Yours it is."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "No, I meant your mine, not my yours."

"Mhm," she said dismissively, not even listening to my incoherent mumbles, kicking open the door to my room, taking a swift intake of breath as if her life depended upon it. Oh, so that was why she was so keen on doing it in my room. It smelled like me. Interesting.

Next thing I knew, I was on my bed. I let out a small sound of astonishment instead of trying to process the reason I was suddenly aware of being on my back, soft sheets under my skin and a growing heat pooling between my thighs, which is what I would have done if I weren't on a one-track mind. Ivy seemed to have a knack for turning my coherent and clearly formulated thoughts into an immense pile of compost. Right now, the only thing my brain was capable of calculating was the following: Boobies equals good.

Yes, okay, I know. I need to work on my self-control.

Her hands came up to unbutton my jeans and she slid them down my waist with a deliberate, excruciating slowness. In response, my hips swished from side to side as she pulled my underwear down along with my pants, indicating that I was very much willing to go with the course that was already clear. She let them fall somewhere—anywhere—on the floor of my room. It really didn't matter to me at this point, anything that didn't involve Ivy's body was utterly irrelevant as far as I was concerned. Speaking of…she had slid her own bottoms down to her ankles and gracefully stepped out of them to stand at the foot of my bed.

So there I was, sprawled out on the sheets. Naked. Wet. Quivering. Blushing slightly. There was a fine sheen of sweat covering my body, and it merely added to the wild sensation of being here, now, with her. Everything inside of me was screaming out that I stand up, grab her waist, and throw the vampire onto the sheets so I didn't have to live through the agonizing slowness of her actions. She took small steps toward the bed, literally inch by inch.

When she reached the border, she stopped. "Will you give me this?"

Ivy was afraid. That's what this was all about: her fear. She didn't want to get caught up in everything, merely to be rejected by arrogant Rachel. I finally understood, and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes. Now get your ass over here before I grab it myself."

Okay, that probably wasn't the menace I should have used to get her to comply with my demand. The vampire arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me in challenge, and cocked her hip. A small grin made it's way upon her features, as if once again she had won whatever game we had been playing. She didn't move after that. All she did was stare at me with laughter in her eyes, daring me to pursue my threat. Damn it, Ivy always won. So be it.

Without warning, I jumped up and grabbed her butt, pulling her onto the bed with me. We both hit the covers laughing in hysterics. Never would I allow her to leave me; I'd offer Ivy anything I possibly could, because there was absolutely no way I was going to let moments like these slip away from me ever again. Pure bliss. Ivy was the first to sober up, and she locked lips with me—effectively shutting me up, as well. Her hand snaked it's way down my spine and I shuddered, loving the feel of her skin against mine. My own hands found their way around her body, and I traced unseen patterns on her skin, happily receiving the same reaction from her as she had pulled from me. We were definitely meant to be.

It was then that I felt it.

The pheromones burst into existence and my scars pulsated with life. The ecstasy burned through my body, harder than it ever had before, and I gasped aloud. My hands shot out into the open air, searching for something to clutch onto; Ivy was there immediately, allowing my hands to harshly grasp onto her flesh and pull her down towards me. My pants and gasps resonated within the room, and Ivy stroked my neck softly, amplifying the pleasurable feeling. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe. It was all too much, I was afraid I was going to freaking explode; my muscles locked into place and all I could feel was the absolutely ecstatic sensations Ivy's hands were creating. I tried to call out her name, but all that my throat would emit would be a breathy moan. Lucky for me, Ivy seemed to take that as a green light, and went ahead to kiss and lick my neck. If I had previously thought I knew the meaning of pleasure, it had been completely erased and was replaced with what Ivy Tamwood was currently doing to me. Unbelievable. As soon as her hand came up between my legs so that her open palm pushed into me, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Ivy!" I cried her name out, thankful I had been able make my larynx function properly. "T-too…oh God, too much."

Immediately, everything stopped, and I think I died. Sound, vision, and the ability to speak all came back slowly. My body was pleasurably numb, and I couldn't help the smile that made it's way onto my face as I registered the voice that I'd recognize anywhere, going hysterical because of my semi-comatose state.

"…rry. I'm so sorry. Rachel? Oh Jesus, I didn't mean to—" Her voice reminded me of a lost puppy, and my smile grew wider. "I'm sorry. Can you hear me? Wake up, Rachel. I'm taking you to the hospital. I'm so sorry, I never thought it would be this bad. Please wake up. I'm—"

"Sorry," I croaked weakly. "Ye-e-e-eah I get it. No hospital, please."

"God, Rachel, are you okay? Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry. Tell me what to do."

I gave her a small smile and an apologetic look. "Baby steps?"

The vampire bobbed her head up and down overenthusiastically, apologizing once more for her head start. We laid there for a couple of minutes—Ivy staring too intently at me, looking for any signs of damage, and me just staring at the ceiling, trying to dissipate the numbness in my body with willpower alone. It wasn't working. As soon as that disappointed notion flickered through my mind, Ivy let out a small sound and began circling my bellybutton with the tips of her fingers.

That sure as hell brought my body back to life. I let out a small sound of content as my body flared with heat, my heart pounding for attention as that single touch of hers sent it racing into jackhammer mode. Ivy noticed my heavy breathing, and propped her head up on one elbow, staring at me with the most sexy smile I'd ever seen. "Ready to try again?"

It took my mind a few seconds to register her words and pull a concrete meaning from them, but as soon as it successfully clicked, I felt my groin tighten and my body tremble in anticipation. "Hell yes."

Ivy didn't need any further encouragement from me. The fingers circling my navel dipped lower to lightly graze my folds, making me gasp. It wasn't as intense as it had been when the vampire had been playing upon my scars, and for that I was grateful. There was most definitely a limit as to how much pleasure a living being could withstand—and either my limit was extremely low, or Ivy was extremely good at this. She kissed my neck softly, igniting the scars without sending an explosion of fireworks go off in my head, and begun making her way down to teasingly lick at my breasts. I fisted my hands in her hair, clutching the vampire to my chest as if my life depended upon our contact.

I expected her to bite me right then, awaited the feeling of absolute ecstasy to rip through me. But Ivy slid lower, nestling herself between my thighs and taking in my scent while closing her eyes. The sight of her there, between my legs, eyes closed, features peaceful, and inhaling deeply, drove me insane with arousal. My lady parts emitted an embarrassing sloshing noise, and she opened her eyes to look up at me with a glint of amusement present in her gaze. Well, I believe I just gave an entire new meaning to the term "ruining a moment."

Blushing, I leaned over to grab Ivy's chin with the tips of my fingers and I guided her back up to my lips. I was grateful when she didn't say or do anything to hint at the humiliating way my body had responded to hers. She complied willingly to my demand, grasping my hips as her mouth worked wonders on mine. Her tongue flicked out to lightly graze mine—which was patiently awaiting it at the entry of my mouth—and darted into my mouth as soon as I moaned. Quickly and without the slightest hesitation, her lips and tongue took possession of my own, claiming the interior of my mouth as hers and refusing to let me take the lead. Oh well, I was cool with it.

I let my body go limp as she took control, freely exploring my exposed figure with her fingers. My hands circled her neck, and she grasped the opportunity to run her hands up and down my sides, purposely avoiding my aching breasts in her attempt to drive me crazy. I bucked into her body, needing the contact and release—the tension in my body was rising to an almost unbelievable level. Pheromones had begun to claim the air around us as their own, and my scars throbbed and pounded, demanding attention.

As soon as Ivy began to once again descend to my nether lips, I grasped her hair and pulled her back up to my face. Surprised when she emitted a pleasurable hiss at my aggressive behavior, it took me a couple of seconds to be able to speak with a clear articulation. I would definitely be using this new information in the future. Ivy had waited for years for what we were currently doing, and I was prepared to wait a few more hours before receiving what I had been waiting for, for less than a day. What was going to occur over the course of the next few hours was going to be all about Ivy Tamwood.

"Where are you going?" I asked the question in my most sultry voice, though it was still garbage compared to the silkiness of Ivy's. "This is supposed to be my initiation, remember? Or do I need to remind you?"

"Mhm?" She questioned in challenge. "Dearheart, you can't take me on."

"You haven't even seen what I can do, yet." This time, I didn't even try, and my voice came out throaty and provocative. It was even enough to make Ivy suck in a deep breath and hold it. "Fifty bucks says I can take on Big Bad Tamwood."

Her devilish smile lit up the room. "It's on."

Okay, so maybe I knew that fifty dollars was absolutely nothing for a high-blood living vampire like Ivy, and that if I lost I'd literally be in the red for my rent, but in the heat of the moment, I was sure I'd win. This once. I was going to win something against Ivy. I flipped the vampire onto her back and leaned heavily against her shoulders with my forearms. She tried to get up, and I pushed down harder onto her small, seemingly breakable figure. This was going to be fun.

"My game, my rules."

She raised and eyebrow and stopped struggling, flashing me a glimpse of her canines. "Bring it."

I tried to resist the urge to shudder at the sight of the sharpened teeth, but because of all the pheromones oh-so-innocently flitting around in the air, it was difficult. That was going to be my biggest obstacle: trying to fight the compulsion to submit that the pheromones were pushing at me.

Immediately, my head dipped down into the crevice between her shoulder and neck, and my tongue found one of her old scars. Fine, call me a cheater. Ivy nearly screamed as my teeth nipped at the slightly elevated flesh, my tongue teasing the sealed wounds with everything I had. It wasn't as if I hadn't learned a few tricks from the enlightening video I'd watched, which I managed to assure myself was solely for educational purposes. My nails dug into her ribs, leaving angry purple marks and they raked their way across her previously unblemished flesh. Ivy gasped my name and bucked her hips into me, hands clutching at my back for support. See? I knew that small piece of information would be useful.

My lips, teeth and tongue didn't cease their aggressive roaming of her neck as I found her breasts, holding their weights possessively in the palms of my hands. Ivy was whimpering, now, her hips wildly pushing into my figure and demanding I acknowledge the aching need that lay within their center. So, I decided to grant her this one compliance, moving my hands down toward her heated core, and starting by slowly passing my middle finger through her slit. She moaned. I smiled. I was fairly certain this would go much better than I had previously planned.

Without slowly accommodating Ivy to an appropriate size, I pushed three fingers inside of her, curling them upwards. All the while my palm pushed into her sensitized area, making slow, circular movements as my fingers moved relentlessly within her feminine sheath. I obtained the desired effect, with Ivy panting and swearing beneath me as if there was no tomorrow while I dug my nails into the scars on one side of her neck, my mouth still moving provocatively on the other. Her body flailed like that of a wild animal, bucking inexorably into mine and clearly indicating that I could make her do anything I desired by simply cutting off or intensifying her pleasure. But I wasn't finished.

Without warning, my teeth dug deep into one of her old scars, successfully breaking the skin as my free hand curled possessively around the nape of her neck to hold her securely stable. So what if I was precisely mirroring the actions of the human girl in the video, it had the desirable effect, and I had fruitfully managed to get Ivy Tamwood under my thumb.

"Jesus fuck, Rachel." Her nails dug into the flesh of my ass and she was rewarded with another profitable curl of my fingers inside her. "What the hell did…Oh God, right there. How the…fuck are you—"

Her shattered sentence fragments ended in a cry of pleasure as I bit deeper into her neck. I had to admit, the blood was slightly disgusting, and I tried to get the least bit possible down my throat. But oh God, when I pulled on the blood intentionally, the taste was absolutely worth it to hear that sound coming from Ivy. The only way I thought of to accurately describe it, was half-way between a hiss and a growl. Nevertheless, it was extremely sexy. If it had been possible, her breathing increased to an inhuman pace, and I could tell she was nearing her climax. Due to the disappointing fact that my saliva contained no anti-coagulants, the flow of blood had already begun to slow down, and it was getting harder to pull the same pleasurable effect from Ivy as before. My saliva didn't have any neurotoxins either, but one vampire was enough to create the desirable results. In my last attempt to send her toppling over the edge, I combined the tightening of my hand at the nape of her neck to the additional fourth finger slipped inside of her, and I bit down hard on Ivy's neck, sucking fiercely to pull the most blood possible.

Orgasm ripped through her system, and I felt the walls of her velvet interior pulse with life as they closed around me. She cried out, curling into a fetal position and wrapping her arms around my neck as her body shook violently with the tremors I had gladly caused. Keeping my fingers curled inside her while she shook, I tried to prolong her climax as much I could. Finally, I slipped my digits from her feminine sheath and brought them to my mouth so that I could clean them off one by one. Yet another sexy trick I had learned from the video.

"So," I said lazily, already pressing my pillow to her neck in order to stop the flow of blood, and using my free hand to languidly stroke my fingers from her throat, through the valley between her breasts, down to her navel, and up again, "how did I do? Good? Bad?"

Her eyes were wide as she stared blankly at the ceiling, waiting a few heartbeats before turning her head to me with that same, vacant stare. "I think you killed me."

"Yes!" I cheered triumphantly, smiling like an utter dumbass. Finally, I had won something. It was a glorious day for Rachel Morgan. Ivy owed me fifty dollars. I felt proud; I felt victorious; I felt dominant; I felt—like a hooker. Damn it, why did Ivy always have to win. "Great. Now I feel like a prostitute."

I felt the need to tell her, just to show her how much she always got the best out of every situation. I crossed my arms over my chest and harrumphed grumpily. She once again propped herself up on one elbow and stared at me lovingly before planting a soft kiss on my lips. I whimpered pathetically when she pulled away too fast, furrowing my eyebrows childishly and pouting when she refused to kiss me again. Her laugh was like wind chimes, ringing through the room and turning my frown into a goofy grin.

"We can reformulate the contract if that is your desire?" She spoke with the same professional tone she'd utilize when discussing with a client, and I almost would have fallen for it if it weren't for her nude and sweaty state. Mmm.

Before I had the chance to answer, her lips had already begun tracing an invisible pattern on my shoulder, slowly moving toward my neck. My breath hitched audibly, and I felt her smile against my flushed skin. Okay, this was an adequately suitable substitute for our previous agreement, I had to admit. I awaited the pure rush of ecstasy of her fangs inside me, but it never came. Ivy licked my unseen, throbbing scar, and I shuddered. God, it felt so good.

"It's time to play my game." She sensually whispered the words into my ear before lightly nipping at my lobe without breaking the skin—just enough to drive me insane with arousal.

Ahh, shit. It was payback time. "Ivy…"

She pressed a finger to my lips, successfully shushing me. "No, dearheart. Let me explain the rules. My rules." Her voice oozed with sex, a ribbon of silk enveloping me with promise. "If you want to be bitten, you do exactly as I say. In the event that you do something—anything—to provoke me into biting you, I will make sure you won't be able to walk for a week. Understand?"

The sensuality of her voice and the choice of her words—and threat—had me breathing harder, my heart beating faster. I moaned and writhed suggestively, immediately drawing her eyes to my moving figure. I saw her pupils expand in less than a second to their maximum capacity, and they roamed slowly over my naked body. Squeezing my thighs together, I tried to relieve the tension that had accumulated drastically between my legs within the past…oh…three seconds. Yeah, Ivy did that to me. I know. It's pathetic. But oh God, was it worth it.

Her head had slipped lower, and she was slowly kissing her way down toward my bellybutton. Every brush of her lips left a fiery trail behind them, and I was scorching by the time she dipped her tongue into my navel. Her voice was strained as she spoke to me softly. "Tell me how much you want this."

She planted another kiss directly below my bellybutton, sending a sliver of anticipation racing through my bloodstream. "More than you can imagine."

"Hmm," the answer seemed to satisfy her, and her kisses dropped even lower until she was staring directly at my heated core. Her voice was pure seduction, engulfing me in it's sensuality as she spoke. "I think I have a pretty good idea."

The first rush of ecstasy was felt when she leaned in and kissed my nether lips experimentally. I jerked slightly at the intensity of the feeling, and that was all it took for her to delve her tongue into my feminine passage, her teeth nipping at the sensitize bundle of nerves that was now engorged and throbbing. I cried her name out, and she grabbed the insides of my thighs, parting them further so that she could have an easier access to my core. I complied willingly, desperate to feel the ecstasy only a vampire could deliver.

As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Ivy retracted her tongue from my depths, and kissed her way around the sensitized bud. She stopped for a split second before looking up at me, hope filling her eyes. "You give me this?"

I felt pathetic being unable to look at her because of the thrilling pleasure coursing it's way through my veins. Throwing my head back against the blood-soaked pillows, I enthusiastically bobbed my head up and down, squeezing my eyes shut. "God, Ivy, yes."

I didn't have to repeat myself. Ivy slid her fangs deep into the inside of my thigh, dreadfully close to the bundle of nerves she had been focusing on mere moments before. A series of mumbles, gasps, profanities, and cries of her name escaped my lips as I tried to make sense of my surroundings—though was incapable of doing so when Ivy would pull on the blood just when I thought I could formulate clear thoughts. My hands fisted the material of my sheets as I desperately searched for something to anchor my wildly bucking body as the vampire created one of the best sensations I had ever experienced.

It was then that I felt our auras merging, our souls joining as one. Her beautifully colored aura shielding mine with it's purity. How could I possibly have denied both of us this for so long? I felt secure wrapped in Ivy's arms, blood leaking from my neck where the vampire's mouth was latched upon me and juices still pouring from my center, both of us lying entwined on a blood-soaked, sweat-covered bed—that I would have to change. The fact that lying in all that mess made me feel safe definitely said something concrete.

I loved Ivy.

No matter how else I would try to phrase it, that was the underline meaning of everything I was currently feeling. She had given everything up to be with me, even if all I offered her was my friendship. Well now I could give her more, I could offer Ivy everything she deserved. Finally, after all these years, I could settle down in a relationship with the woman of my dreams—and it frustrated me to think that I had somehow always known she was the woman of my dreams. I had always been simply too stubborn to admit it. Since the first time I'd moved in with her, she'd waited for me to get over my stupidity. And to think that none of this was as likely to occur if Ivy hadn't walked in on me and caught me red-handed, with my hand down my pants.

End.