So sorry that this took so long getting up. Recient foot injury didn't let me get to the basement and my computer. Not to mention the last section of this part took me a while... You'll see why.
The Relationship
Dracula watched her from across the table, a wine glass in his hand. Of course, it wasn't filled with wine, but it gave a bit of normalcy to the whole thing. He found that he quite enjoyed her conversation, which was a pleasant change from his usual picks; more about looks, not brains. But there was more to Tina than met the eye, and the eye certainly did not go wanting that night. The Count, who had seen hundreds of beautiful women over the centuries, could hardly take his eyes off her. She had worn her hair down, and a strapless red dress hugged her figure. Among the many changes humanity had made in lifestyles, he was very thankful that long skirts and high collars had gone out of fashion.
"The chicken was delicious," Tina said with a smile as she pushed her plate away, prompting him to stand and take it from in front of her.
"I'm glad it was to your liking. You look lovely," he whispered, his lips hovering a little away from her ear. Her heart beat sped up a little, making him pull away to put her dish in the kitchen. He would draw it out, make her want him. If he did it right, she'd be his by the end of the night. When Dracula turned back toward her, she'd stood and pulled a camera from her bag.
"I'd like to take your picture," she said sheepishly, stepping closer. "Since you don't show up in mirrors, I thought you might like to see what you look like now." He stepped toward her, running his fingertip down the arc of her neck lightly, smiling as he felt goose bumps forming on her skin.
"Where would you like me?" he asked, clasping his hands behind his back. Tina blinked for a moment, and then motioned to the living room. The Count stood and faced her, holding still for the camera. After taking several shots, she lowered the camera.
"How about smiling? You have a nice smile," she offered before putting it up to her eye level once more. He did as she asked, though he had a bit of a hard time thinking of what to smile about; until he looked at her. Then, the smile came quite naturally. Count Dracula, one responsible for countless deaths and much torture over the course of five centuries, was love struck. It had happened before, of course, but it never lasted. The affair would be heated, passionate, and then fizzle after about two hundred years. Eternal love hadn't ever actually lived up to eternity, in his experience, but it was good for a while.
He was pulled from his thoughts as Tina moved to connect wires to the television he had purchased, using it to view the photographs. Once she found a good picture of him, he stood before the screen and looked at himself for the first time in half a millennia. He was far younger than he had previously been, which suited him. His face was fuller than he'd read in the diaries that made up his novel, as it had been in his living youth, with a light beard and mustache, as though he hadn't shaved in a day or so. The dark hair was short and a little messy, with lighter shades in it than he had remembered, though he recalled that it had been that way when he had been a child. His eyes were a stormy grey, and looked thoughtful, with rather arched eyebrows completing his face. His form was less thin than before as well, allowing for youthful muscles. She flipped through the pictures, coming up to the ones where he was smiling. He had to agree, it wasn't bad; it was a little mischievous, and fit well with his sensuous mouth.
"Hang on…" Tina whispered, moving up to look closer at the screen. "You had fangs the other night, and now you don't… What happened?"
"I can alter my appearance to be a little less… animalistic. I thought it might make you more comfortable. Unless you prefer a little danger?" he asked, stepping closer and winding his fingers through her hair, tilting her head up to look at him. His eyes flashed with red for a moment, his eye teeth lengthening. Dracula watched her face, listened to her heart, to see if she would be afraid or if she would still want him. When he didn't feel any signs of fear coming from her, he let his fangs fade and his eyes to turn back to grey. He smirked a little and bent to kiss her, a little taken aback by the enthusiastic response. Tina was all too willing as he backed her onto the couch, half kneeling on it next to her as his lips moved down to her throat. One of his hands rested on her knee and began to make its way up higher, tracing lazy circles on her inner thigh; he could tell from the almost frantic beating of her heart and her rising body heat that she was putty in his hands, and all he had to do now was bite her, securing his hold on her. As his fangs lengthened, something broke through his listening to her heart; the sound of her whispering his assumed name of 'Drake', telling him not to stop, that she wanted him. Of course, he had known as much, but to hear her say it made him stop and look at her.
Her head was tilted back against the couch, eyes shut. A bruise was forming on her neck from where he had been kissing and biting; searching for a good vein. Her face was peaceful, purely happy, something he had never seen before in a lover. Her breathing was heavy, and judging from it all, she was nearing the point where she would likely jump on him if he stopped what he was doing. Tina raised a hand to her throat, feeling the bruise, a lazy smile spreading over her face.
"Now that's trust," she breathed, chuckling at his puzzled look. "Letting a vampire give me a hickie." Drake chuckled and shifted, scooping her up in his arms.
"I heard a joke like that once. Only the punch line involved two cannibals…" he said with a smile, laughing as she slapped his shoulder.
"That's dirty," she said with a pointed grin, winding her arms around his neck.
"I know." He moved through the hallway to his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.
Dracula propped himself up on an elbow, massaging Tina's back and shoulders with his other hand. It had been almost two months from that first night, and he still hadn't gone forward with his plan. He knew now that he wouldn't be able to at all. Even though his plans had been challenged, for the first time in his life, either living or dead, he wasn't angry. If anything, he was glad to finally find something he cared about. He had been lonely for a long time; it had made him make mistakes in the past, of course, but he could hardly call a real relationship a mistake.
"You're the nicest vampire I've ever met," Tina murmured sleepily, shifting a little to look at him. His smile failed a little, making him slow his movements.
"I'm afraid you've had a very poor sampling," he whispered, turning to lie on his back in the bed they shared.
"Why do you say things like that? You've been nothing but sweet to me, but you keep acting like you're this terrible person. You're a good man, Drake," she insisted, sitting up to look at him.
"I'm really not," he said, sitting up and beginning to get dressed, to go find something for his dinner.
"Who are you? And don't give me your name, that's nothing! We've been sleeping together for two months, and all I know is that you died five hundred years ago!" Tina threw on her clothing as well, moving to block his exit.
"I can't tell you… I don't want to lose you," he answered quietly, moving back to the bed and sitting on the edge, his face in his hands.
"If you don't start trusting me, you definitely will." She turned to go; he didn't need to hear her heart pounding to know he was breaking it. Before she could move much, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back closer to him. He stood, looking down at her for a moment before sitting her back down on the bed.
"You want to know me? Fine." He let her go and moved to his bookcase, pulling down a book. He tossed it on the sheets next to her and turned to the window. "That book will tell you everything you want to know." He shrunk down into his bat form, leaving her in peace with the novel of his downfall; let her decide what she would do before he came back.
When he returned, Drake half thought that she would be gone, and that he would never see the woman who had thawed his heart again. But to his surprise, she was still sitting on the bed, holding the book.
"You're Dracula," she stated bluntly, not even turning to look at him. He walked silently to stand next to her, waiting for her true reaction. "In this, you were conniving, manipulative, seductive, cruel, violent… But you've never been anything like that to me… Well, seductive… but that's beside the point."
"That's true. You brought out something in me I thought was long dead. I assumed my humanity had perished long ago, and yet here I am sharing the room with the most beautiful woman I have ever known." He sat next to her, resting his hand tentatively on her leg. When she didn't flinch away, he continued. "Before you, I felt nothing, no love, sorrow, joy, fear … I was a shell of a man. Now… now I feel too much. When I'm with you, you fog things up, spin me about so I hardly know which way's up." He looked down at her, found her looking back at him with tears in her eyes. "I love you… I never thought I would say that again after so long, but I do. And I know now that I can't go back to the way it was before, I can't be hollow again." He bent to kiss her, surprised as usual at her enthusiasm.
"I love you, too… I'll never leave you." Drake pulled away, cupping her face in his hands. He kissed her again and began the task of removing her clothing once more, smiling as he felt her doing the same for him.
He looked up at her through the veil of her hair, watching her chest rise and fall as she caught her breath. She collapsed on his chest, laughing softly. The Count looked down at her, knowing that holding her in his arms like this would be the closest he would ever get to heaven. He simply laid back, as he did almost every night, and listened to her heart calm itself down from the frenzied pace it had been in for the last several minutes.
"We should talk," she whispered, shifting a little to look up at him. She slid off him to lie next to him, propping herself up on her elbow. "Where do we go from here?" He raised an eyebrow, shifting to look at her better.
"What do you mean? Aren't you happy with me?" he asked, a little concerned.
"Of course I'm happy, but… What about kids, marriage? The kinds of things my mother will bring up when you meet her." Drake grimaced; meeting her parents was something he'd hoped to avoid as long as possible.
"Well… Children, I can't help you with. I can't have children, since I'm actually… well… dead. But we can always adopt. I hear that's the latest rage in Hollywood," he half-teased, smiling down at her. "As to marriage, I don't see why not. Just not a church wedding, and don't have the minister bless anything."
"You mean you want to marry me? Make me your bride…" Tina raised one eyebrow challengingly, being quite obvious in her words.
"If you're talking about making you like me, that's the furthest thing from my mind. I love you too much to let you die forever. I'll keep you as long as I can… I'm perfectly content in growing old with you over one lifetime." He smiled, kissing her forehead.
"Just don't get any more wives. I don't swing that way," she teased, raising up a little to look at him with a smile.
"I wouldn't dream of it. Though the sex was amazing…" he said, making sure his tone was wistful. He laughed as she hit him with her pillow, prompting him to pin her down, easing himself over her again.
As the sun rose and flooded the room with light, Dracula turned on his side, propping his head up to watch her sleep. He did that quite often; he enjoyed seeing her so peaceful. It was a change from her usual playful grins or the brooding looks when she would be lost in thought.
With a yawn, Tina's eyes opened, a smile appearing as she saw him, but it was immediately replaced with a frown. "There's gray in your hair…" she mumbled sleepily, shifting a bit to look closer. Drake's face went paler as he realized he hadn't eaten in quite a while; too long. He was beginning to age.
"I need blood… I'll be an old man by tomorrow…" He looked out the window, realizing that he'd never be able to find anything, since he was almost powerless in the daytime. "It's impossible… I just won't go out until tonight."
"I'm not making out with someone who looks like my grandfather… Take me." Tina looked quite insistent, silencing his protests. "You can stop before you kill me, you don't need that much. I trust you."
The Count sighed. He hadn't wanted this, not since that first night, before he'd truly fallen for her. But he could see there would be no arguing with her. "Lie back. I'm going to make sure you feel no pain, but it will make you weak." He watched her lay back down, pulling her hair to one side of her throat.
He moved over her again, his eyes going red as his fangs lengthened. His eyes met hers, a connection forming between their minds, allowing him to take control of her. Her eyelids fluttered a little, a soft moan escaping her lips as he deadened her senses, only allowing a euphoric feeling to go through her. Her back arched slightly, allowing him to move one hand under her back, lifting her up a little more to make her tilt her head back. Dracula moved in closer, listening to her blood rushing just under the skin. He paused for a moment, whispering to her. "I'm so sorry for this…" Then, he bit.
Drake's eyes closed as her blood filled his mouth, so much richer than his usual diet. He felt her arms around him, holding on to him desperately, her heart pounding in his ears as he'd only ever heard it while they were in the throes of passion. He felt powerful again, a strength that could only be found in taking an innocent; it was so much more potent than the criminals he'd been forced to feed off of. Drake growled softly and held her closer, wincing as she gasped when he bit down harder. He knew she felt pleasure at that, not pain, but it halted his descent into his old darkness; it kept him from losing himself in the sensations. Underneath the cloud of ecstasy he'd placed her in, buried deep, was a vague terror that had been present in all of his victims. He'd enjoyed it before, but now it broke his heart.
He almost pulled back, but she held fast, holding him to her. It was only when she weakened that he was able to pull back without hurting her. He hadn't taken much more than if she'd donated blood at a blood bank; still too much in his eyes. Drake kissed her throat on the wounds, closing them and leaving only small scars. He eased her back, releasing her from his hold. Tina blinked, looking up at him. "The gray is gone…" She closed her eyes, one hand resting on her forehead, a little dizzy from her blood loss. "I want you to promise me that you will go out enough so this doesn't happen again." He nodded, lying back down next to her, gathering her in his arms.
"Go to sleep. Rest for a little while longer… You don't have to be anywhere today," he whispered, kissing her shoulder. She smiled and nodded, soon drifting back to sleep. He watched her, still torn from what he'd done, and soon fell into an uneasy sleep as well, the memory of her blood rushing through her veins and over his lips playing itself over and over in his mind. He could still hear her heart at that frenzied pace, and it made him remember his former strength, from before his conscience had awoken. A nagging thought, silent for almost a year now, returned; humanity was still to blame for his being the last of his kind, and he would be quite justified in wanting revenge.
