A/N: This story was co-written by CSD1 and me, and as usual, all disclaimers stand we don't own Vicki, Henry, Mike or any characters that the great Tanya Huff came up with. The O.C.s are ours, though and we love them in spite of their weird character flaws.
Chapter 1
A slight chill filled the dark Toronto night. as Vicki and Henry walked along a sidewalk in a old neighborhood that had more than one abandoned building. Henry was walking backwards facing Vicki pleading with her.
"Come on Vic. One date. Just one. I'll be a perfect gentleman I swear." He took his forefinger and made a cross sign over his heart. A small laugh escaped from Vicki. "We can do whatever you want. Dinner in a five star restaurant. Ballroom dancing."
Vicki looked at him over the top of her glasses, one eyebrow raised. Henry rolled his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Fine. How about pizza and a movie? Beer and bowling?"
Vicki laughed at the image that came in her head. "I can just see you bowling." She shook her head from side to side. "Henry, we have been over this a dozen times in the last year. I don't think it's a good idea for us to date. What if something went wrong? How would we continue to work together? I went through this with Mike and it wasn't fun. I have no wish to do it again."
Henry gave her a sexy grin, a small dimple appearing in one cheek. "Who says anything will go wrong? I promise you won't regret it." He leaned closer to her, his voice dropped to just a whisper. "Say yes Vicki. I know you want to."
This time both of Vicki's eyebrows rose. "I wasn't aware that vampires could read minds. You really do learn something new every day." She put one hand on his chest and pushed him to the side to walk around him. "Could we just focus on our case please? We should be thinking about a missing college student right now. Her mother isn't paying us to talk about our relationship."
Henry looked around him seeing the houses with broken windows and rotten wood steps. The grass and shrubbery had been neglected for quite awhile. "Why is it everytime a kid goes missing it's in some rundown place?"
"Because there isn't anything fun to do in the upscale suburbs." Vicki looked at the piece of paper with the address written on it. She looked to the old house on her right.
"Well this is it. The last place Lisa Jackson was seen." Vicki took out her high powered flashlight and walked around the yard, the light shining in all the dark spaces. Other than some cockroaches and trash the yard was empty, no sign that anyone, even Lisa, had been there. Vicki turned toward the front door. "Let's see what we can find inside."
Side by side Vicki and Henry walked up the creaking steps toward the door. Vicki had just put her hand on the knob when Henry put his own hand on top of it to stop her. "What? What's wrong?"
Henry frowned and tried to identify what he was feeling. "I'm not sure. Something isn't right." He pushed her away from the door. "Stay here while I check it out." Carefully he opened the door and stepped inside the dark house.
The interior of the house was empty, cobwebs and dust bunnies in every corner. Henry moved into the large family room on his right. He turned to look behind him and saw Vicki. "I told you to wait outside."
Vicki put her hands on her hips. "Since when do I ever listen to you?" Not waiting for him to answer Vicki ran the flashlight over the room. "It doesn't look like we'll find anything here."
Henry walked to the center of the room. "I don't know about that Vic. Something is here, I'm just not sure what." He turned in a circle, he used his senses to try and pinpoint the energy he could feel in the room. His gaze went to an old chandelier, he looked up toward it. Just then a wave of dizziness came over him, his eyes closed and he felt himself falling.
Henry sat up, his heart beating fast and gasping for breath. He shook his head to clear the confusion from his brain, as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was in his bedroom, in his bed, naked. Henry ran one hand over his face trying to remember how he had gotten here. Had Vicki brought him home? And what had happened in the first place? The last memory he had was feeling lightheaded in the old house, after that he recalled nothing.
Henry flung back the sheets and put his feet on the floor. He needed to call Vicki and find out what happened. He moved to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants. As he was pulling them on he noticed Vicki's ring and necklace on the smooth surface. Henry frowned. Why would Vic leave them here? Beside the jewerly was also a woman's watch, but not Vicki's. Because of her bad eyesight Vicki used a digital watch with a large face and bright numbers. This watch was very small and h knew Vicki would never be able to read the time on it. Henry looked around the room and saw more things that he didn't remember being there. A Steven King book that he knew Vicki was reading. In one corner he saw her favorite boots and one of her old t-shirts. Once more confusion went through him. What was going on?
He was just reaching for the phone to call Vicki when he heard a familiar sound.
A heartbeat.
Vicki's heartbeat.
He turned toward the bathroom door where the sound had come from. Before he reached it the door opened and out stepped Vicki. Her hair was wet and small drops of water dripped across her chest inside the robe she was wearing. His robe.
She smiled at him. "I thought it was about time for you to wake up." Then she did the last thing he expected. She put both hands on his cheeks and pulled him forward to kiss him. Shock had his mouth opening giving her tounge access. A growl emerged from his chest, his arms wrapped tight around her. Her tounge danced lazily around his, her body rubbing against his own. Softly she broke the kiss and leaned back, her hands still on his face. "Are you alright? You look funny."
Henry was anything but alright. He had no clue what was going on and he wasn't able to think straight with his body turning rock hard against her. Then he noticed two things that weren't right. He looked deep into her eyes and he knew that her vision was a perfect 20/20. If that wasn't strange enough he looked down at her wrists near his face. The demon tattoos that she had for the last year were gone. Everything in him told him that this was Vicki, he would know her anywhere. Something had changed, he just wasn't sure how.
Vicki's look turned to one of concern. "Henry?"
Henry decided not to say anything just yet. Until he was sure what was going on he would keep his thoughts to himself. "I'm fine. I guess I'm having trouble waking up."
Once more a smile crossed her face. "I don't have to be at work for a couple of hours. Maybe I can help you." She then untied the red silk belt and let the robe fall to the floor. She pressed her naked body against him, her skin hot. Henry closed his eyes, a wave of desire filled his body. He didn't know what happened or how, but his greatest wish had come true.
He was with Vicki and she wanted him.
tbc
