Chapter 10

It was the middle of the night when she came to him, her touch icy. It sent a shiver through his entire body and Scorpius' initial reaction was to fight, his heart racing, but he forced himself to calm. Feeding her was worth it; it removed her claws and also kept the chill out of the air. In some sense, it was pathetic that he was feeding a vengeful spirit just to keep his apartments comfortable, but Lucius had always tried to teach him to pick his battles.

Iciness moved near him as he lay on the bed, floating closer. He'd know this was coming; it just felt more confrontational being dragged out of sleep for it—but then, were there any cordial ways of doing this?

He closed his eyes and felt her move above him. There was no currents of wind with her movement, just cold as she crept closer, her mouth honing in on his neck. Her bite wasn't as painful as the anticipation made it, but she took her time. What was she thinking in this moment, approaching the hated enemy for nourishment? Was this animalistic, depravedly blood seeking? Did she resent that she was dependent on him for her … existence?

The bite made him gasp as the sting came, spreading iciness into his flesh, but he didn't fight—perhaps out of curiosity more than anything. He felt her lips—felt them warm as his blood started flowing into her mouth. The iciness receded immediately and now he felt her, leaning over him, straddling him thighs, her body along his as she fed. He felt her lips and her tongue to his tender injury. She was warm; she felt solid. Her hand was on his upper arm, clasping him to her, and the tips of her breasts lightly rubbed across his bare chest.

Reaching out, he placed a hand on her thigh where she straddled him and her flesh felt warm and solid. It was like she was really there. Unbid, heat rushed down his body, making him tighten. She didn't seem to notice his touch, or mind if she did. As much as she hated him, he couldn't imagine her wanting him to touch her. Maybe she didn't feel it—but he did.

Her hair lay by his cheek and he felt an urge to draw her scent in, but there was none. He could feel her, but he couldn't smell her. In a way, he felt cheated, stuck in what can only be described as an intimate embrace, but robbed of the scent of her. It wasn't even something he'd known he sought until this moment. Perhaps an unconscious desire, like taste. He couldn't taste her either, not that he tried, but the urge was there, sitting deep in his brain. Perhaps it was just the intimacy of the act, drawing out his instincts to taste and touch.

His hand stayed on her thigh, feeling her smooth skin, before running up to her side. The material of her dress slid under his hand, over the firmness of her body, which was a mere inch above his. He felt her warmth radiating to his body, but not the weight of her coming down on him.

Then she released her bite and her form faded under his hand. He didn't feel her warmth either, but the ambient temperature of the room had lifted, as if her rage had sated—even if he knew that wasn't true.

"You were solid," he said in rush. Searching for her, he found her form in a corner of the room, looking more solid, but still milky white. "When you were feeding, you were solid. I could feel you."

She gave him a dismissive look, which would have pissed him off if it wasn't for that fact that he was still getting over the feeling her up part. His fingers still vibrated with the touch.

Getting out of bed, he walked toward her. She didn't move, only stared at him with the familiar hatred on her eyes. His fingers slipped through her waist like it wasn't there. No remnants of her solid state remained now. "Did you feel me touch you?"

She only stared at him, which made him wonder if she had. "Did you feel me?" he repeated more firmly.

"Not that I recall," she finally said. Her voice wasn't quite as distant as when she was icy.

"I bring you closer to life," he said. Suddenly he wondered if she could feed off others, and for some reason, he didn't want that. He wanted to be the only one who could feed her, who could make her solid, as if she existed on this plane, though his doing.

"I am not alive. I am dead."

"But feeding makes you more than just the blood itself." He wondered what that meant. For a moment, he wanted to do it again, just to see if it happened again, just out of curiosity, but she was fed now and wouldn't feed until she had grown cold again. Perhaps he could seek out the woman in Iceland to answer, but wasn't in the mood for her riddles.

If her teeth were in him, she was solid. This was an interesting development. This was a two sided issue now. She needed to be near him and when she was, he could touch her. The thought that he could hurt her crept through his mind, but he knew full well that hurting her had not be the prevalent instinct in the heat of the moment.

He also wasn't sure she had been truthful when she'd said she didn't feel it. Everyone knew that for most parasitic creatures, taking blood was pleasurable. "What does it feel like, sinking your teeth into me?" He'd felt her tongue lapping at his neck, her grip on his arm.

She floated backward, into a wall. "Coward," he said with a grin. "Running away when we were having such an interesting discussion."

With a smile, he returned to his bed and saw two drops of blood on the white sheet, looking black in the darkness of the room. Just like a virgin, he though with a snort. The bite of his neck was warm and stinging as he lay down and closed his eyes, feeling energy running through his blood—energy she needed, energy the feeding had created.

-0-

The sun was bright when he woke. His neck still ached and his fingers felt the tender wounds. Immediately he sought her out, but couldn't see her in the bright sunlight in the room. Instinctively, he knew she was there. He could feel her—fed and contented.

Leaning back on the headboard, he placed his arm behind his head. "Well, that was an interesting development last night," he said. "So fully feeling you straddling me, solid and firm. Some would go so far as to say I was ravished last night." He grinned, unable to see her, but instinctively feeling her bristle. He remembered the feeling of her breasts rubbing against his chest, and he really did feel a bit ravished by the experience—a state he never expected this whole debacle to turn out.

"Hello, darling," he heard brightly from the door. "Thinking of me?"

"Claudine?" Scorpius said, almost choking on the words. "What are you doing here?"

Claudine walked into the room and sat down on the rumpled bed. "I love seeing you like this." She wore a duck blue short dress with white sleeves. She almost looked girlish, and his skin bristled when she reached out for his bare chest. He moved off the bed, suddenly feeling self-conscious—not that he could really manage feeling self-conscious, less alone guilty that he'd been having dirty thoughts about the vengeful spirit tormenting him—but the tormenting part had become infinitely more interesting last night. "I've hardly seen you lately. You've been hiding away at home for weeks. I am starting to feel neglected."

Striding over to the wardrobe, he dressed quickly, knowing she was in full pout mode behind him. Claudine bursting into his apartments usually annoyed him, but right now he hated it, because there was someone else watching this.

Pulling on his black jacket, he turned, to his shock finding Claudine naked across his bed. Mortification ran up him, partially because he really didn't want to touch her, and more, he didn't want to do it with Lucy watching.

"I'll take you out to breakfast," he said, watching her mouth tighten. "I am ravished." His cheeks even managed to blush at the statement, which was highly unusual, but he really was extremely hungry. Must be the blood loss.

He knew she should go over and make it better as Claudine dressed, but he just couldn't, reticent to show any intimacy in front of the silently watching eyes that Claudine couldn't see. Maybe he would explain to her that his apartments weren't exactly private at the moment, but then he couldn't bare being intimate with Claudine anywhere else at the moment either.

"It has been a very stressful time," he said as Claudine joined him at the door. He knew she was confused and embarrassed, but there wasn't much he could bring himself to do to rectify that at the moment. He would get her some jewelry. That would quell her concerns quick enough. Claudine had no expectations he was loyal, but they hadn't really been in a position when he'd denied her, and that was creating worry across her brow. "It is a trying time, and I need you to just let me deal with this."

She looked a little mollified and with a tight smile, she took the crook of his arm as he led her downstairs. He still didn't relish the touch, but this was a reaction he would have to get over. Likely it was a fleeting issue that would pass once this thing was all sorted.