Ivy pulled away from Rachel just far enough to truly study her witch. Rachel's red hair was a mess, the lips that she wanted nothing more than to feel against her own were parted and the woman's cheeks were flushed pink. She was stunning, but it wasn't right. When this happened Ivy had wanted it to be Rachel's choice. She wanted to see those green eyes staring back at her, showing her that Rachel felt the same away about her as she did for the witch. Instead, those eyes hide from her search, with Rachel sealing them away as if the slightest glimpse of their entanglement would turn her to salt.
She was moments away from destroying the woman's life and if she didn't stop now there wouldn't be a force powerful enough to make her stop. Ivy lowered Rachel back to the ground as quickly as she dared before releasing her grip on the woman and slowly pulling away until there was several feet between them. After a final glance to make sure the woman wasn't hurt, a dangerous action considering how incredible Rachel looked, Ivy headed straight for her room.
The first thing Rachel noticed was the sudden chill on the wet spots Ivy had left on her skin. Where in a heartbeat before there hadn't been enough room for the air to slip between them, suddenly she had all the space in the world. Her eyes opened to only the harmless shadows without her roommate anywhere in sight.
Following the familiar path from the entryway of the church to the bedrooms Rachel did her best to keep her steps light and her heart rate low. Chasing after Ivy after she ran off was never considered a good idea, but then again, according to most people, living with a vampire, leaving the I.S. and practicing demon magic wasn't a good idea so what did they know.
Reaching the hallway she wasn't surprised to see Ivy's door shut and a complete lack of light escaping from behind it. Either Ivy was seriously worried about their electric bill, doubtful, or she had been so wrapped up in worrying about a stupid witch that couldn't call home to check in that she had forgotten to turn on the lights. Out of the two Rachel figured it wasn't the exorbitant wattage per hour rate that trigged the living vamp's instincts.
"Ivy, you okay?" Her plan had gotten her as far as Ivy's door, but didn't have anything in it about how to actually deal with the situation. When there wasn't a response Rachel moved closer to the door. If Ivy had left the church, she wouldn't ever forgive herself. "Ivy, please talk to me."
Ivy had heard Rachel approaching with what the witch would consider quiet steps. Even if the redhead figured out how to become invisible and levitate, Ivy would know where she was in the church. It was when Rachel left the church that Ivy worried as the world didn't creek like the old floors and Rachel's scent was muttered by hordes of people, fumes and the very air itself. Still, the last thing she needed was her witch refusing to let the incident drop.
"I'm fine, just go to bed." Bracing for the fallout so soon after the fight wasn't ever an easy task and not helping matters was that Rachel was between her and any way out if things got out of hand.
"You sure?" In an odd sort of way, Rachel understood the distinction vampires made for the sick and injured. She could very well push her roommate into pushing her against something and finishing what they started, but that would be taking advantage of someone that was completely defenseless - an act of cruelty so previse only the undead, demons and lawyers were willing to inflict upon the world.
"Yes." She hadn't bitten Rachel so no harm, no foul. How long it would remain that way with Rachel filling the hall on the other side of the door with her scent was a different matter. Taking several steps back would probably help with that as well, but Ivy found her feet stuck in place as her head rested against the door. Everything she wanted from Rachel was waiting for her, within arm's reach, but she had to remind herself to admire it from afar.
"Maybe I should go out for a while." Where she would exactly drag her sorry ass off to Rachel didn't have the slightest idea, but she hoped Ivy wouldn't let it come to that. She just needed to see the woman, to explain why she was late and maybe apologize for not being more considerate. Using Ivy's concern that she might leave was playing with fire, which probably wasn't a good mix with vampire instinct, but it wasn't like Ivy was going to open the door for anything else.
"No. Don't leave." Ivy felt her breathing becoming sporadic and it had nothing to do with forcefully opening the wooden door to her room. She wasn't going to let Rachel leave the church, not when she was just as likely to buy a one way ticket to the West Coast as she was to come back in time for breakfast with pricey bottle of wine and an armful of groceries for dinner.
Rachel found her brain suddenly busy with other things than forming intelligent thought patterns to explain to Ivy what exactly happened between leaving the church and coming back. Ivy's robe wasn't tied and without it the nightie was far from hindering her view of Ivy. Mere moments ago she only had sensations and memories to work with. Seeing Ivy standing there made it rather difficult not to regret the vampire putting a stop to things. She hadn't exactly gone celibate in recent months, but it suddenly felt like Ivy's kiss was the last contact anyone had with her body before the vampire pushed her against the door.
"Rachel, stop it." Ivy slowly pulled her robe closed, careful not to scare Rachel and really make things worse. All that was keeping them apart was Ivy's years of practice at backing away when Rachel dragged her to the edge, Rachel triggering her hunger on top of everything else would be too much and something would have to give. It was tempting to cross the line and figure that the witch would be happy with the results. It was only the fear Rachel would run off once the thrill disappeared had kept her from following the witch to bed, with no intention of either of them getting some sleep, in the past and it stopped her again.
"Sorry." She had lost count of the number of times Ivy had to snap her out of a trance, which was an incredibly embarrassing realization. It is one thing for a situation to spin out of control, but failing to remember how many times her female roommate had to tell her to stop leering at her wasn't as easy to explain away.
"Just go to bed. It has been a long day." Certain Rachel would do as she was told by the way the she was scuffling her right foot and fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, Ivy left her witch standing in the hall and closed the door. Compared to the hall the room seemed lifeless, but at least it was safe.
"Good night Ivy." Feeling a lot like the idiot Ivy probably thought of her as, Rachel found her way to her room a minute later. Changing into shorts and a camisole before collapsing onto the bed, the witch pulled the blanket over herself and tried to sort out the crushing depression, anger and less-than platonic feelings Ivy had managed to set off in her. Exhaustion put a stop to her efforts within a matter of minutes.
So there it is. Chapter 2. I just want to take a moment and ramble about how great it has been to see all the support from those of you that have left reviews, requested alerts and added this to your favorites has been. I never figured the first chapter would be of interest to anyone, let alone get such a wonderful response from so many. The next few chapters already have some writing done and I hope to have the updates coming in more frequently, particularly the 3rd chapter.