Wow. So I blinked and a month has gone by since I last updated this story. Gah! How time flies. If I could just type it into Word initially, so much time would be saved but, alas, I found out the hard way that I'm a pen and paper type of girl and must grit my teeth and type it all in after the fact. Hey, the method works for me so I can't complain but when I start to procrastinate typing and keep writing, that just compounds the matter. Anyway, here's the next chapter and be sure to vote in the poll in my profile!

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The night faded fast as did Detta's pleas for Marko to come to her. With the rising sun came the sleep she didn't want to partake in. She wanted Marko, not to shut her eyes. She feared that if she did, she'd see nothing but David, a vision that would torment her. Her slumber was filled with restless half dreams, images that she couldn't remember, not clearly, and she was thankful for that. Detta has a feeling that they were visions that were better left unremembered.

The sun set on her day once again as Detta lay still curled in her blanket on the floor of her living room. Her eyes fluttered open and she felt nothing but disgust and revulsion at the thought of whose blood was running through her. She wanted nothing more than to scrub her body of the filth that now encompassed it.

An anxious pounding echoed from her front door but Detta had no desire to get up. She no longer wanted to function. She just wanted Marko. She whispered his name, her voice hoarse from a night of screaming. She was surprised that the neighbors hadn't stirred. It seemed that everyone did look out for just themselves. She clutched the blanket tighter to her body, drawing her knees closer to her chest as the pounding continued. But it wasn't long before she heard the doorknob click and felt the rushing wind of the opening door on her body. Her eyes rolled to the side and saw the man she had been screaming all night for. Marko looked down at her, a look of pity, disgust and anger riddling his face. He knew it was within David's right to punish as he deemed fit but Marko couldn't help but feel betrayed by his brother. Max wouldn't see it as such; it was just a punishment to him but to Marko, David had broken the bond that he and Detta had.

Once her eyes had touched his face, Detta started to weep, overcome by emotion at the sight of her savior. He knelt down next to her and picked her up like an injured child, holding her body close to his as she sobbed on his shoulder. As he sat on the floor, his legs outstretched underneath her, she wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles behind his back and wrapping her arms around his neck, afraid to let go.

"He told us what he did," Marko spoke into Detta's neck as she cried harder, placing a hand on the back of her head. "But I already knew. He usurped our connection."

Detta was crying too hard to manage any audible words from her mouth but, being this close, Marko could feel her questions. David might have saturated the bond but it was still there, stronger than Paul's and Dwayne's and he knew there was still some hope. He could feel her, wanting to know about vengeance, payback.

"Let that thought go now. Punishment is punishment, regardless of what it is. Max doesn't put weight on the severity of one method over another. As long as death doesn't happen, he doesn't care."

Her tears had started to subside, her breathing became slightly less erratic and through her rapid gasps, she was able to form some choppy sentences. "Am I . . . lost to . . . him?"

Marko's face saddened but his eyes still had hope. "No, I don't think so."

She sniffed and wiped her cheeks. "Help me . . ."

His brow furrowed. "Help you how?"

"Reverse this."

His mouth opened, slack-jawed, like a fish out of water, before Marko found his words. "I don't know—"

"Yes you do!" The force with which Detta said this last statement made Marko forget that mere moments before she was inconsolable. "Think about it, Marko," she said as she climbed off his lap. "The first time, you drained me and then filled me with your blood and our connection was there. David did the same thing and it overrode our connection with his own. Who's to say it won't work a third time?"

Marko stood up to face her, a half-worried look on his face. "I don't know if that's—"

"What, acceptable?" Detta's eyes, bloodshot from crying, were getting oddly maniacal in their swollen state. "Are there terms and conditions to a punishment, Marko, huh? Is there a law stating somewhere that I can't put a band-aid on my wound?"

He searched his brain for the answer but came across nothing. "Not that I know of. Then again, I don't think we've ever had this happen before."

"Then that's it! We've found a loophole! Help me, Marko! We can't be punished for it." Detta marched into the kitchen and rummaged around in a drawer before walking back with a knife similar to the one used at her initiation. "We can't be punished if there's no law forbidding it. Help me, please."

A look of deep contemplation came over Marko's face. There was no defiance here, not that he could think of but there would have to be an explanation to Max. Detta saw this look and became agitated.

"What's there to think about, Marko? You have two choices—help me or I walk into the sunrise because I cannot live with this connection to David!" Her voice faltered and tears began to well in her eyes.

Marko walked slowly towards her, ready to embrace her, tell her that they were going to work it out together when she raised the knife to her throat and tore it across her skin from ear to ear, covering the fading mark made by David the previous night still etched faintly into her neck. She then moved the blade to each wrist, slashing the veins both vertically and horizontally in order to get the greatest blood flow. She could feel the warmth draining from her body as she dropped the knife and Marko ran to catch her before she fell. He slumped to the ground with her resting gently on the floor as her life poured from her. He wanted to drink from her but knew it would be counter-productive. That was David's blood, too much that had been put into Detta.

When the steady flow subsided, the color gone from Detta's body, and the stream nothing more than a mere trickle, Marko threw off his gloves and jacket and lay at Detta's side, his body as close to hers as he could get it. He bit into his own wrist, letting the blood flow forth from his veins, and brought the wound to Detta's pale lips, something that, this time, she did not fight. She wanted his blood, his taste in her mouth.

She greedily sucked at the wound until she sunk her fangs in, gulping down Marko's blood in torrents. The beast in her did not rise this time; at least, not the same beast as did with David. She had been drained again, yes, but she was conscious of her feed and nowhere near as desperate for blood. No, this beast was different, one that had arisen in her before when in such close contact with Marko. The connection was coming back and with it her re-found animal lust that while had been absent for such a short time, felt like it had been born again.

She rolled her eyes closed and moaned in the ecstasy that was Marko's blood. She brought her hand up to his and entwined her fingers with those that rested on her cheek. The sucking became methodic, sexual. She felt his head dip down the side of her face and to her neck, nipping lightly at her healing skin, careful not to draw more blood from her. He wanted nothing more than to drink from her but knew she had to feed first. His blood in her was too precious to take just yet.

She stopped her feed on his wrist and licked away the blood that remained before he moved his hand down her cheek, onto her neck and to the blanket that was still wrapped firmly around her bare body. His face rose from the crook of her neck and his eyes bore into hers. She needed more blood but she was screaming his name behind her eyes, wanting all of him. She teased his lips with her tongue, a playful grin skirting across her face. One hand brushed his cheek while the other rested atop his on the blanket, urging it down and out, away from her body. He tossed the feeble covering aside and stared at her naked form as if for the first time.

She sat up, slightly weakened, her eyes embedded firmly in his and she straddled him while he remained seated on the blood-laden carpet. Her vampire form was full fledged, her body wanted more blood. Detta lifted Marko's shirt from his body and tossed it aside, pressing her bare breasts to his exposed chest. She ran her fingers through his hair, his curls soft as she tilted his head back and allowed her tongue to dance along his neck. She flicked at the vein, hearing him moan under her body. The more she teased, the tighter he held her. Detta started nipping at the skin and his hands wove their way into her hair, gripping it tightly as she liked so much.

Her temptation, in her weakened state, didn't hold out long. She sank her fangs into Marko's neck and felt him wail with pleasure. His blood allowed her to regain her strength while her feed on him allowed him to become fully aroused. She reveled in the feeling of him and it only made her drink more greedily. She could feel him reaching down for his pants and unbuttoning them. Uninterrupted, he kicked his boots off and shimmied out of his jeans, all while Detta fed off him, his lust for her led by her mouth.

She mounted him and her mouth broke from his neck, the pleasure of him inside her was too great to ignore. A smile spread across her face as she rode him, his hands guiding her hips. His nails raked across her back, causing her the greatest pleasure. She brought her mouth down to his, enveloping him and he her. They never could get enough of each other. Without a moment's notice, he flipped her off of him and on to her hands and knees like the animal she had burning inside her. He entered her from behind, wrapping her hair around his hand and pulling it back. He thrust hard into her, her mouth echoing with wails of pleasure as he grunted and moaned his might into her.

Before she knew it, her back was against the wall, her legs wrapped around Marko's body as he thrust even harder into her. But she could never get enough. She always wanted more of him. Their climax was sensational, like it has been their first night. What little moisture their bodies could create lay glistening on their skin, their chests heaving, their breathing rushed. Marko slumped them to the floor, Detta's back still to the wall, her legs still wrapped around him. He, in turn, wrapped his legs around her and rested his head on her chest, reveling in the newly revived connection that had seemingly been lost for eons.

He'll admit he took that connection for granted. He had forgotten what it was like without it and when Detta lost it, when David had taken it away, Marko, in turn, felt lost, empty. What he had found after subconsciously searching for all those years was wrenched away from him for that day. The pain of that was deafening and he could feel that loss and pain in her as well. She screamed for him, her lost boy, and he returned to her, never to leave her again.

Marko took a deep breath, his fingertips stroking Detta's skin. "He knows."

Detta, her eyes closed, reveling in the moment, replied, "I know and I don't care. We're safe and there's nothing he can do about it."

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