Phew I'm glad some of you like the story so far! I was nervous about posting it but now I'm having fun. *evil cackle* This chapter is longer than the other one's I've written and I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 9

Oh god these sheets are soft, Nix rolled herself into a ball and pulled the blankets all around her, cuddling into the comforter that faintly smelled of Eric. Inhaling the scent she unknowingly smiled to herself and then groaned loudly once she'd realized what she'd been doing. "Get a hold of yourself!" she burst out of her sheets in a huff and then slapped her cheeks hard enough to snap her out of her sleepy daze. "You will not, I repeat, WILL NOT, think about Eric as anything more than a friend!" She pointed down at her light blue blankets and glared, pretending she was staring down at her own reflection. "But he's so good looking…and dreamy…and…" the words of protest had slipped out of her mouth and she immediately clasped her hand around her mouth to prevent any further protests. Taking deep breaths though her nostrils she uncovered her mouth. "Okay, I'll agree, he's like a walking porno," she thought about his bare chest and drool began to pool at the corner of her lips. "He's more than walking porno…" her alternate ego challenged. Rolling her eyes Nix stood up, her bladder was screaming at her so she continued her inner debate as she walked to the bathroom.

"Walking porno and that's it." She chastised herself as she went to the sink to wash her hands. "Why? Amelia wasn't married to him and she obviously gave you her blessing!" This time in front of the mirror she gave herself a good long look, "stop arguing with me! I've got a busy day; I don't have time to—oh my god." She was mortified with what she saw, "Where the fuck are my clothes!"

Nix suffered through the same range emotions that any female would have endured once they realized they had spent the previous night talking to a man who they had deemed as walking porno. First she buried her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment, screamed a little bit, then she blushed, called herself an idiot, and then she got pissed off. Not at herself of course, the cause of her 'pissed off' state was due to the fact that Eric had failed to mention her state of undress while they had their conversation. "Oh good to see you up Nix! By the way you're naked! No, no it's only common courtesy that I notify you on your current clothing situation!" She mocked his voice and stomped back into her bedroom relieving some of her aggravation on the bed she had spent the night in.

Fixing the sheets and blankets allowed her to mull over all the different ways she'd have liked to torture Eric. "First I'll lace his boxers with silver thread," grinning to herself she tucked in the sheets, "and then I'll…I'LL…" She began cackling manically as the thoughts drifted through her mind. The only thing that drew her out of her current state of mind was the fact that she smelled. Her senses were getting sharper each day and the fact that she had taken some of Eric's blood the night before only enhanced them further. Running her fingers through her hair she brushed through the tangles and stepped into the shower, letting the water run hot until she couldn't take any more.

The steam felt wonderful and as she lathered up her hands and ran them over her body, where she expected scars she found none, only smooth skin, instantly a thread of worry she hadn't realized she'd been harboring was released. She'd be lying if she said she didn't mind scars when in fact every scar on her body made her self-conscious. The memories that were laced with each of her scars were painful ones she'd wished she didn't have the pleasure of remembering, memories of times she wished she didn't have to endure. Shaking her head and continuing to wash herself she realized that last night she had been extremely injured, Eric had probably cleaned her wounds and left her naked so she could heal properly. A slight blush ran up her neck and into her face when she thought of his hands running over her torso, sure she was still pissed, but in the recesses of her mind she was celebrating the fact that someone of Eric's caliber had put their hands on her body. That wasn't whorish was it?

After washing her hair two times and conditioning it, she checked her arm pits for smells once more. For once she was glad she had suffered through the pain that is waxing because her underarms were still smooth as a baby's butt with not a single trace of stubble. Confident that the nauseating smells were long since washed away she dried herself and began searching the bathroom for the so called clothes Eric had left her. The clothes were folded neatly and placed in a corner of the bathroom perched on top of a small makeup stand. Taking the clothes into her hand she noted how the makeup seemed to belong to the same brand that Amelia shopped for. Looking at the shades of lipstick and the subtle earthy colors that layered the makeup stand Nix realized that they must have been Amelia's. She recognized the hideous dark purple lipstick that Amelia had bought, "It's for Halloween!" she argued. Nix chuckled and turned away to dress herself, impressing upon herself to remember to get her amulet when she returned home and to contact Max.

Wondering how long it would be until sunset Nix began searching the house for a clock since the sun was still shining brightly outside. She got the idea in her head that somehow her footsteps would wake Eric from his slumber, so she tiptoed around the house 007 style. Ignoring rooms that had their doors closed she walked down the hallway and made her way down the two flights of stairs, taking careful note of how beautiful the furnishing of the house were. The cream colored carpet felt warm and fluffy under her toes and they matched the dark hardwood floor of the foyer which led into what she could see as the living room and the kitchen.

Everything in the house was so 'Eric'. One look at the living room spoke volumes for Eric. The furniture looked comfortable and classy at the same time, Nix was tempted to plop herself down in one of the living room chairs but refrained against her impulses to do so. The walls were lined with book shelves which were completely filled with books written in a wide array of languages. She took one of the books and flipped through it, the words looked foreign to her but she smiled. There was much she didn't know about Eric but it seemed that he liked to read; at least they had that much in common. Putting the book back where she found it she continued on her hunt for a clock, to her dismay she couldn't find one. Combing her hair back with her fingers she pulled her hair into a pony tail that sat high on her head and made her way to the kitchen.

She was hopeful as she walked to the kitchen, after all kitchens nowadays had built in microwaves and they always had the time programmed right into them. The kitchen was small. It had all the necessities of a functioning kitchen but it lacked any decoration that made the kitchen warm and comforting. The cabinets were a shade lighter than the brown of the hardwood floors, the color of light chocolate, and they had stainless steel handles. The refrigerator was large and silver, Nix was getting hungry so she decided to take a quick peek after she looked at the time. The microwave was simple, nothing extraordinarily fancy, and it was hanging over the kitchen stove. The current time read four thirty-eight p.m. Sunset these days was in between six and seven so that meant she had a good hour and a half before Eric would wake up. She sighed and trudged back to the fridge opening it to look for food.

There was a container of food with a note on top. It read, thought you'd be hungry when you woke, help yourself. –Eric. With her keener sense of smell she noticed that it smelled like Chinese food. Her mouth watered at the prospect of getting some food in her system, so she took the container and put it in the microwave and carefully folded Eric's note and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans. The two minutes it took for the food to eat up to the temperature she liked felt like an eternity to Nix. By now her stomach as growling loudly enough that she was sure if Eric had roommates they would have been awoken by the odd sounds. Nix devoured the food in record time, eating every single bite and then downing two glasses of water. With her hunger satisfied she cleaned up her mess and began looking around for a phone. She wasn't comfortable using things without permission but she needed to call Max and make sure he was fine. After a bit of prying here and there Nix located the phone in what appeared to be Eric's work room. There were papers strewn everywhere over a desk, no doubt information about his business ventures, and a computer that had sticky notes plastered all over the screen. Taking the cordless phone in hand she jotted out of the room and relaxed herself into the comforts of one of the sofas in the living room.

She wasn't waiting long until a female voice answered the phone. "Hello?" the female's voice sounded hoarse and strained with worry.

"Melissa?"

"NIX?" she shouted into the phone so loudly that Nix had to pull the phone away from her head a good two inches before the screaming wasn't a pain on her ear drums.

"Yeah it's me, you sound worried, what's wrong?" Nix was no longer relaxing into the sofa, she was sitting up now with her elbows perched on her knees and her eyes wide open as if suddenly anything could jump out and attack her.

"Oh God Nix, have you heard from Max? He didn't come home last night and he told me he was going to meet with you after you gave him that phone call-" if Nix wasn't already paying attention that would have been the icing on the cake.

"Wait, wait, wait. What phone call?"

"You called him last night, said it was an emergency and that he had to meet you, oh god Nix! That wasn't you was it!" Melissa was sobbing again, Nix wanted to reach through the phone and offer her support but seeing as how she was unable to do so she was completely helpless. The most useful thing she could do at this point was to gather as much information about last night as she could and hopefully piece together the puzzle.

"No it wasn't me that called last night Melissa," Nix took a deep breath to steady her nerves, "I know this is a really difficult situation for you but I promise I will find him and bring him back to you. For now I need all the details, don't skip anything. Do you understand?" There was a silence and then Melissa's voice broke through the silence with her understanding. "Good, ok, now start at the beginning." There wasn't a notebook or pen in sight and she want to rummage through Eric's office to find them so she prayed that her memory would be enough to remember the details.

Melissa began speaking at a two hundred words a second, Nix had to ask her several times to slow down so she could understand her, and the whole thing just made Nix's insides churn. They had been eating dinner when all of the sudden they got a call. Melissa could tell something was wrong because Max didn't finish his dinner and just said Nix was in an emergency and he had to leave.

"I asked him where he was going and he wouldn't tell me!" Nix heard the tremors in her voice as she spoke again. "I asked him again and blocked the door so he couldn't leave without telling me. He scared me, his eyes were so dark…" her words trailed off as if she was reliving the event.

"What happened next Melissa?" Nix urged the woman on.

"He told me he was headed to your house, said you forgot something and it was an emergency. I wanted to stop him but I was so scared! He wasn't the Max I knew, he was different, it was almost as if something had taken the life right out of his eyes and replaced it with something dark. You have to get him back for me please! I don't know what I'll do without him, I'm so lost and I'm worried every second he's gone!" Melissa began rambling incessantly, after gathering all the information she could from her Nix told Melissa to get some rest and that she'd call with any news.

Nix had no doubts in her mind that somehow Max was procured to search her property, possibly for the amulet Amelia had gotten for her. Whether or not Max was a willing participant in all of this was something she was unsure of, but regardless of the facts, Melissa wanted him home safe and sound, and that's what Nix would try to do. Taking the slight chance that Max was actually at her home she dialed her home phone number.

It rang a couple times before her answering machine would chime in. Hanging up before the beep went off she redialed her number several times. "Third time's a charm," she whispered to herself as she dialed one more time. This time instead of being greeted by her all too cheery voice she was welcomed with a faint click on the other end of the line. Someone was in her house. She dialed one more time but the line went dead. Her heart was beating wildly inside her chest, worried that Max had gotten into trouble and was being held against his will or something entirely worse was happening right beneath her nose she got up and began pacing. Max had known about the amulet but she'd never told him where she'd hidden it. That brought her some small measure of relief, though she still felt pressured to return home and secure the amulet herself. Dashing to the kitchen she noted that the time was now five fifty-two. The sun had set a bit but it was still clearly hanging over the horizon. If she thought she wanted to see Eric earlier then by now her desire had increased by tenfold.

Nix was worried and she needed to get home, but something about leaving Eric without getting the chance to say goodbye unsettled something in her bones. Plus something about being next to Eric soothed her and anything that could help her think through this situation rationally was probably a good idea. Vampires can't be out in the sunlight so that eliminated her choices of the first floor and second floor and only left her choices of a basement of some sort. Eric didn't seem to be the type that lived in terrible clichés so she decided against searching for any trap doors or rotating book cases. She ran down the hallways looking for staircases that she might have missed, after running around like a chicken with her head cut off she decided to use her nose. Literally.

Stopping in her tracks she tried to recall Eric's scent, the way his aroma wrapped around his form and elicited images of warm evenings by a camp fire. She was also searching for that clearly unique scent that belonged to Eric. Sniffing around corners like a dog she recognized his scent and followed the trail and was led to a door that had been shut. Opening the door she was amazed at the sight of a spiraling staircase that led straight down into a dark room, closing the door behind her she descended the stairs and flipped on the light switch. There was no mistaking it, as she made her descent down the stairs Eric's scent became more pronounced and no longer was her heart beating for the sake of worry, but for the anticipation of seeing him again. The room was fitted with even more bookshelves, couches, and even a large flat screen TV. To her amusement sitting in the corner of the room was a small bowl with a beta fish in it, in front was a note card that read, I named it Eric after you. Don't kill it this time. ~Pam. Pam could have been Eric's girlfriend for all she knew, but for some reason the gesture seemed friendlier than anything.

The room led to two hallways opposite of one another, with Eric's scent being so prevalent in the room it was difficult for Nix to distinguish between places Eric had been and the place of his resting. Some scents smelled fresher or more strongly of Eric so she decided to trust her instincts and followed those trails first. The first took her down the hallway to her left. There was an open room that had a pool table and a small bar, his game room she deduced. Two more rooms showed themselves to be a conference room and his second office which had his clothes strewn all about. Not wanting to venture any further than she already had she closed the doors and made her way down the opposite hall.

There were three doors on each side of the hallway, most of them lacked any smell of Eric, which explained why she didn't smell him as strongly in this section, but she also noticed that they were probably guest bedrooms for vampires. Following the faint smell of Eric she ended up at another door. Instantly her heart rate picked up and her palms began to perspire and dampen with her nervousness. The thought of entering Eric's resting room made her blood heat with lust, but she also wondered who else had been lucky enough to journey this far into his home. Pushing the thoughts of sex away from her mind she clasped the door handle and pulled down. There was a small click but the door didn't open, the door was unexpectedly heavy for its appearance. Even with her body weight aiding her attempts to open the door it still wouldn't budge.

Deciding that this was a matter better left to the demonic aspect of her nature she braced herself against the door and began pushing while one of her hands pulled down the door handle. Inch by inch the door began to move, by the time she was able to slip inside the room with the allotted space the door had slammed shut behind her. She was completely immersed in the darkness of the room but she was comforted knowing that she was in fact in Eric's room.

Nix's eyesight wasn't completely up to demonic standards so she was still having trouble seeing in the darkness and accompanied by the fact that she had opted to leave her glasses off she was basically blind. Squinting her eyes to let them adjust to the darkness she was able to make out some darker shapes, most obvious was the enormous bed in front of her. Holding both her arms out in front of her and moving slowly and carefully around the bed she was able to catch herself a couple times before she tripped and landed face first into whatever she was facing. When her foot hit the corner of something hard she yelped and then immediately stubbed her knee on the nightstand she had stubbed her toe on.

"MOTHER FUCKER!" she yelled as she fell over holding her knee to her chest and wrapping one of her fingers around her aching toes. She sucked in a breath and held it until the pain subsided enough for her to get her bearings. Getting back up to her feet she found the edge of the bed and used it to guide her hands to Eric. She assumed she was at the head of the bed but when her arms were completely outstretched before her feeling around for Eric they found nothing but empty sheets. Grunting she hauled herself onto the bed, cursing the height of the bed frame as she went up. Once she was on his bed she started getting annoyed, "Eric?" she was yelling as she whispered. "ERIC?" she repeated with a bit more bite than necessary. Aggravated and needing to go places she flung herself all around the bed, hoping one of her flailing limbs would strike gold. After thirty seconds of flailing her hand struck something hard as it made an audible slapping sound. "FINALLY!" She dragged herself over to the sleeping form and straddled it so she should have easier access to Eric. She strained to fit his broad shoulders into her small hands but once she had a strong grip she shook him back and forth like a rag doll all the while screaming into his ears hoping he'd wake up.

She'd known that he had showered before going to bed because the smell of his shampoo was invading her senses as she shook him rabidly. As time went on she forgot what she wanted to do and instead allowed her hands to begin exploring the expanse of his chest, which was shirtless to her enjoyment. Giggling and giddy with the excitement of doing something so promiscuous she let her head drift down to lay next to his as she began whispering in his ear. The whispering certainly roused him because she could feel his hardness underneath her. She was tempted to rub herself over the growing bulge but she thought it would be crossing the boarders of 'creepy ville' into 'rape-ville' that and she wasn't so far gone as to have lost all her sensibility, yet.

Forcing herself to slide off his body Nix decided to lie beside him and continue whispering into his ear. "Eric if you don't wake up I'm going to have to torture you," she said ominously. No response. Huffing she began to try her old tactics of shaking and screaming in his ear but he was still giving her no sign of waking. "Is sex the only way I'm going to wake you up?" She pounded on his chest and ignored her own throbbing at the center of her core. "I'm not having sex with you," she warned, "but you've left me no choice."

Taking one of her fingers she let it travel down the length of his body. She refused to venture any further than his shorts so when she made her route she repeated it over and over. He roused slightly but the most active part of his body was still his cock. When the teasing wasn't doing anything she decided to mix pain with what she hoped he considered pleasure. She began pinching his nipples and nibbling on his ears, chewing her way up and down his neck. "Mmmn," a throaty voice groaned. SUCCESS!

With a little more frenzy than before she began to drag her fingers down his chest, twisting his nipples and tugging a bit at his ears. "What are you doing," Eric's voice was gravely and still sounded sluggish so Nix continued her escapades. With a bit more clarity Eric repeated his question, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to wake you up you big oaf, you sleep like the dead." Suddenly her fingers weren't making their way up and down his chest anymore, they were now locked behind her back and Eric was rolling on top of her. He growled as he bent his head down to her neck as he began to return the favor. "Eric," she protested, she began to struggle but to no avail. Demons were strong but versus a horny vampire and locked in this position she was basically powerless against him.

"You like playing with fire?" He questioned her as he bit down on the sensitive part of her neck, leaving goose bumps in his wake. Nix struggled for the right words as Eric began to tease her already taught nipples through her silk shirt, when she felt his cock pressed up against her she nearly whimpered. "Hmmm?" he pressured her for an answer as he kept nibbling his way down her neck.

Nix struggled against herself, she wanted to keep going, to explore the depths of their sexuality with one another, to kiss her way up his chest and then take his lips into her own, but she knew she couldn't. Grasping onto that thin line of responsibility that she still had she spoke. "Maybe I like to prod the fire," she searched Eric's face but was instead met with the top of his head as he bent down to take one of her nipples into his mouth. "But!" She moaned loudly when his teeth clamped down on her sensitive nerves, "we've gotta go." She was breathless by the time Eric had made his way back up to her face to look her in the eyes. He cocked a questioning eyebrow at her but she kept her eyes steady. "I need to go home, trouble's brewin'."

"What kind of trouble?" He asked his voice firm and steady.

"The kind of trouble that screams 'oh shit'," Eric wanted more details because he held her arms a little tighter behind her back. "My partner, Max, he's gone missing and I think he's at my house looking for the amulet Amelia sealed herself in." If there was any question as to whether or not Eric was going to believe her or not the sudden release of her arms gave her all the answers she needed. With a huff of hair Eric disappeared from her side. Fuck, did I piss him off? Taking her chances Nix called out, "Eric?" when there was no answer she threw herself out of the bed and landed on her feet. She didn't know where he was but if she walked around and called out to him he was sure to answer her or make some sort of noise, right?

Nix heard a rustle in the corner of the room and strove towards it, only to walk into a wall, not Eric's lovely chest, but an actual wall. "Ow! Fuck!" She began rubbing her nose to quell the pain when suddenly the room was filled with light. The quick transition between light and dark stunned her eyes and caused her to recoil from the light source. When she was able to open her eyes without any pain she was met with Eric's gorgeous smile as he threw on a shirt.

"Can't see too well in the dark can you?" he asked with the teasing grin.

"Haw-haw make fun of the weakling while you can you big bully. When I fully mature I'm gonna make you regret it." Nix rolled her eyes playfully and took a look around the room. She couldn't help but laugh out loud as she took in the state the room was in. His bedroom was just like his office, clothes everywhere, jeans were thrown over his bed post and shirts were tossed on the ground. "Where's your laundry hamper?" she found herself asking the thousand year old nightwalker, who had room habits like a teenager.

"Laundry hamper? Oh yes, that thing. Got rid of it." The sudden popping of Nix's eyes from her head caused Eric to roar with laughter, "just a joke," he laughed even more. Sliding open a closet next to him, Eric pulled out an empty laundry hamper. "Ta-da," he showcased the item as if it was one of the big prizes of The Price Is Right game show. She could imagine Bob Barker standing next to Eric and congratulating him on his fine prize, she couldn't hold it in anymore so she snorted and howled with laughter.

When she stopped laughing she noticed that Eric had dropped the shorts he was wearing and he was now bearing his ass to her as he pulled on a pair of jeans. Covering her face and just barely opening her fingers to allow her eyes to secretly roam over his chiseled ass she kept silent. Seeing his ass bare of any underwear reminded her of the ideas she had in the morning. Guess I can't line his underwear with silver thread; she mentally sighed at the idea and then recalled her anger. Coughing to get his attention, Eric turned around pulled up his zipper. "Uhm," there was no easy way to say this so she decided to just blurt it out, "whydidn'tyoutellmeIwasnakedlastnight?"

Eric took a few seconds to decipher her message and then he flashed a devilish grin and sauntered over to her. He folded back a lose strand of her hair just as he did the night before and looked in her eyes. "I left you naked because I didn't want you to wake up in that filth." It was Nix's turn to raise an eyebrow because she was lost. "Your clothes were shredded and you were bleeding all over. So I cleaned your wounds," she nodded and blushed, "and left you naked so your wounds could heal."

"And leaving me naked when we were talking to each other last night?" she questioned him.

"I just liked seeing your titties flopping around while you talked." And he shrugged.

"Oh," Nix said in understanding.

"Oh," Eric mocked her with childish wonderment and walked past her to the door. "Shall we get going now?"

"Uh yeah," Nix jogged past him glad that they hadn't dwelled much on her previous antics and that her issue of never being notified that she was naked while conversing with him last night was all due to the fact that he liked watching floppy titties. Great, I'm just one big fuckin' joke to him. Fan-fucking-tastic. She didn't know why it pissed her off so badly but it did. She didn't want to be seen as a child or weak in any manner, but his attitude just seemed to belittle her at every turn. It saddened her and annoyed her a great deal that he wasn't nearly as perplexed about her nakedness as she was about his."Fucking vampires," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that," Eric said from behind her. Nix shot him the middle finger and raced up the staircase, which only earned her another hearty chuckle.