A/N: Wha-a-a-a-at? A second update within a reasonable delay? What is this, I don't even... Check outside your windows for flying pigs, guys! In all seriousness, enjoy. As an anon aptly put it, Ivy's baaaaaack!
Chapter 25
"Hey, you're here?" I said to the gorgeous vampire as I stepped into the doorway of the study and leaned on its frame, smiling at the heart-warming picture the sisters made. "Where did you come from? I could have sworn you were gone after that scene in the cemetery."
"Hmm, I was." Ivy answered quietly in deference to the sleeping Erica, her fingers combing through her sister's baby soft hair never missing a beat as she reclined in her seat to stretch and stare pensively at the high ceiling. "I got a call to come back before I even got a chance to change, though. Mom had a gr-e-e-e-at sense of timing tonight." She drawled tiredly, but I still felt a little bit of giddiness that she'd called her mother 'Mom' for once, no matter how terrified I was of the woman. "I've been in a meeting with her and dad all night. We just called it quits about a half hour ago."
"I thought she was a bit of an absentee hostess tonight." I remembered; Seth's mom had been the one seeing to everything tonight. Mrs Tamwood had mostly just loaned her the use of her house. "You were with her all this time? What did she want to talk to you about? Kissing and making up?" I dropped wistfully, not really believing it even after Mrs Tamwood threatened to kill me if I hurt her daughter, so I was taken by surprise by Ivy's reply.
"I wouldn't go that far, but... yeah, we all sat down at the proverbial table, actually. I guess between, you, Erica and Dad, Mom and I were bound to get a measure of sense pounded into us. The four of us have been trying to come up with a peace agreement all night."
"Ivy, that's great!" I said enthusiastically, profoundly relieved for both sisters and proud of Ivy for agreeing to sit down and talk, knowing how hard it was for her and her mom to see eye-to-eye.
"Hmm. Don't get too excited just yet. We didn't get very far. Mom's not used to being reasonable where I'm concerned." Ivy chuckled derisively at the ceiling. "What's that they say? The pot's calling the kettle black? Yeah, that's me. I suppose I'm not all that reasonable where she's concerned either. We'll pick it up and try again tomorrow night. I just needed to take a breather before bed... so to speak." She smirked at her own pleasantry, bringing her wineglass to her lips and taking a sip. The bottle, I noticed, was sitting right in front of her, mostly full.
"You planned to drink a whole bottle of wine by yourself?" I asked, a bit discomfited by the news, my eyebrows high; Ivy never drank that much in a month, let alone all at once. It made me wonder how bad the meeting had to have gone for her to need that much alcohol afterwards, never mind that she couldn't technically get drunk anymore. "Your 'breather' looks more like a 'drinker' from where I'm standing." I joked lamely, making Ivy snort.
"God, that's terrible." Ivy groaned and shook her head, prompting me to pull out my tongue at her despite the small smile softening the blow. "I didn't plan to drink it, actually. Erica snuck the bottle out of the wine cellar. I caught her just as she popped the cork. It's not that I exactly blame her after watching mom and I butt head for the past four hours, but she's still only turning eighteen next month. So I offered her the alternative to getting drunk that doesn't involve underage drinking or snorting six week's allowance's worth of brimstone." Depending on who you are, that could mean a whole lot of Brimstone or none at all. In Erica's case, it would translate to a trip to the ER for most grown men and a strong buzz for the young woman. Seriously. You need to see her tiny diminutive self wolfing down pancakes to believe her metabolism...
And yes, it is hilarious that just like her dad, Ivy would frown upon underage drinking less than a month away from Erica's eighteenth birthday, but not on Brimstone use. Vampires and their drugs... I don't care what anybody says, they're weird. These particular ones might be ridiculously cute, but they were still weird.
"You got her completely sugared?" I guessed; it was pretty obvious judging by the way Erica was now using her sister's lap as a pillow that she was deeply under the influence of vampire pheromones.
"Com-pletely." Ivy acknowledged with a look at the vampire acting like a big kitten on her lap. Affectionately, the older sister traced the shell of her younger sibling's ear, making her sigh and snuggle closer. "She deserves it, after the week she's had. Are you heading out? Were you looking for her?"
"I was. Wanted to know if she was coming back with me to the church." I said as I pushed away from the door frame, entering the study proper, breathing in the comforting scent of old books and vampire incense. I liked this room a lot, better than any other I'd visited in the sterile, coldly beautiful house, and seeing the sisters in their current position, I had a feeling I had stumbled upon some kind of sanctuary.
"No, I don't think she is." Ivy answered in her sister's stead. "The worst is over now. I think she can handle moving back in here. You can go ahead if you want. We'll arrange for someone to get Erica's stuff back from the church. It's getting late, and God knows it wasn't an easy day for you either."
"Oh, you're right about that, but since you're here, I guess I can hang around for a bit longer. Care for some company?"
"I wouldn't mind yours. As long as you don't mind the pheromone bath, that is." Ivy gave me her trademark arched eyebrow look and gestured for me to come closer with one hand, the other one setting her glass down on the small table close to her and reaching for the bottle. Without ever breaking eye contact with me, she poured another glass.
"Should I mind the pheromone bath?" I asked, feeling a familiar thrill crawl across my skin.
"Only if relaxing and letting go worries you. Or you don't want to stop being afraid and judgmental of me for a while." She tilted her head and smiled sardonically at me, a dangerously sexy vampiric smile that made the pit of my stomach drop in a dizzyingly pleasant way. "It's white. You don't have trouble with white, right?"
"No, I don't." I chewed on my lip for a second before taking the glass from her. "Thanks." I brought the crystal glass to my lip to take a quick sniff of the golden-hued wine, even though I would have been hard pressed to read any information from the scent. I'll be the first to admit I'm an ignoramus when it comes to wine, but I like it a lot, despite the strict limits my intolerance to sulphur put on what I could and couldn't drink. "I'm not really afraid of you anymore, you know." I stated, sitting a comfortable distance away beside her, comfortable only in the sense that she might need a little space, being stressed out and all. I was more than a little tired, and even more envious of Erica's current position, as cute as the two of them were; Ivy was looking cuddlier by the minute, and I wouldn't have minded a little TLC.
"I'm only making sure you know the score. You did accuse me of not playing fair the last time we were alone together..." Ivy reminded me a bit coolly.
"Touché. I wouldn't say I was judgmental today, though." I added mildly, remembering the scene she and her mom made in the cemetery. "You screwed up for a moment back there, Ivy. I think you know it."
"I know." Ivy admitted after a few seconds defiantly holding my gaze, her eyes lowering in shame, her demeanour turning as meek as a creature like her, born and raised to lead and dominate her surroundings, could manage. "I'm sorry. I couldn't keep my instincts in check." Mirthlessly, she chuckled, shaking her head slowly as a sad smile took over her mouth. "You know, I have absolutely no clue how Piscary planned to make things work between us once he killed me. Unless they're living, I can barely stand to be around another vampire anymore. Add to that the bad blood between Mom and me and, well... you were there. Never stood a chance. If it wasn't for you and Erica... no 'if's' or 'maybe's', we would have killed each other then and there." Ivy's regrets looked heart-wrenchingly sincere, probably because they were. Her tight control was always a big concern, and often a bigger issue, for her, and losing it always slugged her in the gut. I doubted death had changed that.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up too bad." I told her softly, reaching for a bang of long raven-wing hair that fell before her face, my finger running gently along her scalp to tuck it behind her ear. "You slipped up, no question there, but you did the right thing in the end. Judging by the way she's acting, I'm guessing Erica forgave you too. Hard to stay mad when the injured party let it slide."
"We had words. She was a little angry with what I had to do since... well, like I said, you were there, you heard her reproaches in the cemetery. She was upset about that too, about what I had... what I thought I had to keep from her."
"I did hear, but I also recall her begging you not to go." I pointed out, gently gripping her shoulder in an offer of support. It was taut and tense, even considering her muscles' preternatural powers. With a sudden surge of inspiration, brought about by her more tame body language, I put down my glass and wiggled part of my body between the vampire and the couch, placing both my hands on her shoulders, firmly squeezing and releasing with a slow, regular rhythm. I knew when Ivy groaned in relief that I had gauged what she needed just fine. Vamp strength muscles right there, and with all that power came a lot of tension whenever their owner was stressed out. She wasn't hard like marble, of course, that would make no sense. It was more like warm, very tough rubber, still flexible but unyielding... not that touching a tire felt anything close to caressing that divine body of hers... you know, I'm just gonna kill that analogy right here before I dig myself deeper. She was stressed, and it felt good to help her relax a bit. There.
"Oh, God, you really are magical..." Ivy quietly breathed out after a few second, before stopping me with a small, apologetic smile, taking my hand to bring it up to her soft cool lips and pressing them lightly to my skin. "I appreciate the thought, but you'll give yourself cramps long before you manage to loosen me up. I need to sleep. I'm way too young to stay awake for a whole month at a time..."
"Aw, you're up past your bedtime, Fang Girl?" I teased her breathily as a shiver ran through me, but turned serious with mild worry as I remembered the importance of her respecting said 'bedtime' if she didn't want to sleep forever. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be heading home and underground soon?" I asked with a glance at a nearby grandfather clock. Dawn was still some time away, but Ivy would be cutting it pretty close if she didn't get on her way soon. Then again, her lair could be next door for all I knew. That wasn't information she shared with me, and I hadn't thought to ask Erica where Ivy's daylight resting place was.
"I'm staying here today as a show of goodwill." She answered with a shrug. "There's a sun-proof guest room downstairs, so unless the sun catches me between here and there, I'll be fine. If you want to stay, you're welcome to bunk here with me..."
"Tempting..." I quietly swallowed when her sinful smile showed me a peak of pearly white fang, telegraphing exactly what she had in mind by 'bunking'. "That's real tempting, Ivy."
"But?"
"No 'but'. I'm... considering." I replied
"Considering... what?" Ivy's intrigued eyes narrowed a bit.
"Just considering." I replied vaguely, and scooted a little closer into the vampire's space to reassure her I was working on the last physical hang-ups I still had. "Let's enjoy this first, and then we'll see."
Ivy rumbled inarticulately. She looked skeptical, or perhaps she wasn't too happy the prospect of a day with her didn't fill me with a panty-ruining urge to tear our clothes off. Odd, considering I probably smelled and sounded excited enough for her vamp senses to pick up on it. "You know you're ruining a lot of vamp stereotypes by drinking white wine instead of red, right?" I teased to distract her as I curled up on the couch close to her and breathed in deep, taking her wonderful vampire incense within me and feeling a lot of tension pour out of me on my exhale. Oh yeah. Wine and vamp pheromones. Just what the doctor ordered after a day like today. I know, I'd abstained from drinking alcohol all evening long for exactly the same reasons, but a last drink with Ivy? I could make an exception.
"I'll be sure to let Erica know you don't approve of her choice of intoxicant when she wakes up." Ivy replied dryly. "Really, she should be more conscious the next time she's stressed out of her mind. She shouldn't blindly go for the white, but grab the first redhead she can reach..."
If it wasn't for Erica's light snoring, you could have cut the following silence with a knife.
"Huh... Ivy?" Whoa, Freudian slip much? I thought, the tension in my neck and shoulders coming right back, with interest. "Are we still talking about wine here?" I stared uncomfortably at the vampire, suddenly more than a little unsure how much she knew about what I'd let her sister do to me. Instinctively, I hid my wrist against my left thigh, even if I had covered the mark Erica's fangs had left there behind my broad metal bracelet.
"Relax, she spilled the beans to me. Not that she needed to, considering I could feel her bites on you. I figured it out the second I held you in my arms at the funeral home." Ivy said tightly without looking at me, her body language betraying how very uncomfortable she was about the whole subject matter despite her dismissive tone. "I know she's been taking blood from you recently."
That's it, I'm screwed. She so gonna put me through that window.
"Ivy, I can... It wasn't like... us, you know? I just... she was..." I stammered wildly, going from one excuse and defence to the other without even taking the time to finish one
"Don't. Please, just don't. I can imagine what happened. Under the circumstances, I understand why you did it." Ivy reluctantly muttered, the last addressed to her sister sleeping on her lap as well as me. Slowly, she brought her hand to my neck, her fingers deftly untying the scarf I still wore to hide the bite marks. Without a hitch, the fabric slipped off my neck in a delicate caress that trapped my breath in my lungs. Sorrowfully, my lover brought the scarf to her face and inhaled deeply of my scent clinging to it, before she deftly folded it and handed it back to me. "If you're not ashamed of what happened, don't hide them. It might be misunderstood, and anyone who looks at you can sense them anyway. It makes you look silly, and some people might think you're cheating on me."
Didn't I screw up like that once already? I thought, shivering, when Ivy brushed her thumb against the healing skin, her eyes hooded and haunted, like she was genuinely hurt these weren't her marks.
"I'm not gonna blow a fuse." She added to me, noticing I was now sitting about as far away from her as the couch would allow and she had to stretch her arm to its full length to touch me.
"Could've fooled me." I squeaked, my voice sounding embarrassingly thin and reedy. I'm a big badass runner, yes. Don't I look the part, sitting here, next to my homicidally jealous girlfriend? Or in the company of her mother whose intentions in my regard probably still were just as murderous?
"If you want me to get up and dance for joy about it, you're wasting your time. I'm a big enough girl to let it go and try not to care about it. Leave it at that and don't push your luck, because I swear, Rica's the only one who gets a free pass." Ivy warned me as she topped off her glass and swallowed a healthy gulp of wine. "Anyone else makes a pass at your blood, I'll tell them the joke about the number of vampires needed to paint a wall red."
"I didn't plan on giving my blood to anyone else..." I spoke tentatively once I was convinced Ivy really meant she wouldn't go berserk, but the vampire didn't reply beyond a vague non-committal sound in her throat. She looked as grumpy as could be, and to tell you the truth, I found it utterly adorable. This is such a bad, bad, baaaaad idea... I love it! I thought as a light bulb lit up over my head. "So-o-o, it doesn't bother you?" I gripped my courage and asked after a few seconds of silence, the corner of my mouth lifting in an evil smirk at the bristling look on Ivy's face. The way she shook her head after downing the contents of her glass and reaching for the bottle again made the smirk bloom into a full blown grin. I bet she heartily regretted her species' immunity to intoxicants right this second. Undead vamps can't be poisoned, but the flipside of that coin is that they can't get drunk or high either. Good luck drowning it... "You don't care at all that your sister's been giving me fang all week long?" I needled her. It was poetic justice, really. She'd done so much of that to me in the past week that I felt she had some payback coming her way. Who was I to let such a grand opportunity to annoy her pass by?
"I told you, no." She replied much too quickly to be honest, still not looking at me and still drinking wine at a breakneck pace. Oh yeah, she was totally fine with it... and by that I mean she was turning green, of course.
"I'm just making sure here. That's all." I stated innocently. "So, for the record...?"
"I also told you not to push your luck, witch..." Ivy growled, sucking threateningly on her teeth. "That's shoving it, and then some."
"You're always telling me to be more thorough. I'm being thorough right here, right now. Are you sure? Really sure? Re-e-e-eally sure? Really, really, re-e-e-eally sure?" I ignored her and kept poking over and over in my best obnoxious-cartoon character simile, until Ivy turned to glower at me, hissing low and menacingly like an angry cat. Her very white fangs peeked through her lovely parted lips, the sight of the long and sharp teeth making a flood of danger and adrenaline jolt deliciously through me. Teasing a vampire truly was the ultimate thrill, but I knew that the way Erica was cuddling up to her would keep Ivy right where she was better than any set of restraints.
"Aw, poor puppy. The wicked witch is being so mean to you..." I cooed at my favourite vampire, the chagrined look she put on when she followed my gaze to realise how, with Erica where she was, it was impossible for her to pin me and teach me some respect much too cute for my heart to take. After putting my glass down and getting my knees under me, I scooted closer to her side to stroke her cheek, leaning in close to brush my lips against hers in apology. "There. All better now?"
"First you poke me with a sharp stick, now you're kissing me..." Ivy grumbled grouchily, her jaw barely moving. I could tell she was trying hard not to respond, and so I ran a slow fingertip down her taut neck, just to make it even harder to stay mad at me. "You really are a mean, mean witch." She breathed out in a shudder of pleasure.
"Mmm. I'm a wicked witch, and you know you love it." I moaned quietly when her lips inevitably parted, letting me deepen the kiss and explore the velveteen depths of her mouth. "The poking was my personal payback for, oh let's see... your dressing advice, your constant teasing on the phone, and for making me feel like such a shameless slut last week. You totally deserved it, Fang Girl."
"And the kissing?" She asked warily, probably expecting me to respond like a smartass once more.
"That's because you did good today and you earned it." I answered sultrily, kissing her some more before cheekily adding, "And because it was wicked when you made me feel like a shameless slut last week. Oh, and also, you're my girl, so I can kiss you whenever I damn well feel like it." I finished on a note of possessiveness, moving my hands to her raven-wing locks and entangling them into their heavy lusciousness for extra leverage. I chuckled briefly when she started purring at my attentions. "Mm, I love when you do that." I told her before redoubling my efforts to get her to let me in.
"Mm-hmm. What can I say? Making out with you works for me." She whispered, apparently decided she finally forgave me and let her hair down. Our tongues tangoed deliciously together for a few seconds before I decided she deserved a little something more. Breaking away from hers, my tongue ran over the smooth curve of one of her fangs, making the vampire's eyes flutter close as a shudder of pleasure ran through her. "God, you kiss like a vampire hussy..." Ivy moaned, and I tensed. "I meant that as a compliment to your kissing, Dear Heart. Honest. You're a divine hussy, truly." She added mockingly before I could snap at her.
"Ri-i-ight..." I muttered, still feeling the sting of Ivy's less than dignified 'compliment' anyway. "You mean you like when I do this?" I growled intrepidly, and, determined to show her, let my tongue dart around to trace familiar patterns on Ivy's fangs, patterns that had once driven another vamp lover of mine mad with desire. I wasn't a vampire hussy, but Ivy was right that I knew how to kiss a vamp like a damn good one. Ivy's response to my skilful ministrations was instantaneous. Without any deference to my more fragile frame, her arms wrapped around me to roughly pull our bodies close, the sudden discomfort and the flare of her passion combining to send streaks of molten sensations through my vamp scars, setting them ablaze even without her laying a finger on them. She'd been putting out a great deal of pheromones, so much that the actual skin-to-skin contact wasn't even necessary to fill me with wanton, aching desire for her to give me a wholly different kind of kiss.
"Oh my... Fuck, Ivy!" I swore half deliriously, finding the tables suddenly turned. In a blink, Ivy had taken charge. I was no longer kissing her; she was the one doing all the work now while I hung on for one bumpy ride, the reversal happening so fast it left my head spinning. Her mouth on mine became ravenous and domineering, smothering me to the point I soon began to feel light-headed, but I didn't care at all. I craved everything Ivy Tamwood, and even more, the feel of her fangs breaking my skin, barely caring that she was an undead anymore, and as Ivy pulled away to hypnotically entrap my eyes with hers, I could tell that she absolutely knew it.
"Just a taste, Dear Heart." She murmured seductively, hunger naked and raw in her eyes, burning and pure in its innocence. "Let me have just a tiny taste." She cajoled me, her fingers slowly running from my ear to skim my jaw and trace my jugular, setting off scar after scar with unerring accuracy until I couldn't think of anything at all but her fangs in my throat. I didn't remotely care l about the possible ramifications and consequences of sharing blood with her, I just wanted that impossible ecstasy she could bring, so desperately I could have cried for it. Jerkily, I nodded my consent, letting my eyes flutter close and the last of my clarity slip through my fingers. I was all hers.
Gently Ivy's mouth traced the strong line of my jaw, strangely uninterested by the pulse beating against the skin of my neck inches away. Going completely the other way, she angled her mouth higher for mine, claiming it with a moan of anticipation, her hand slipping behind my head to hold me immobile. Carefully, she captured my lower lip in between her teeth, tugging lightly on it. There was a sliver of pain for a brief second, precisely in the middle of it, starting halfway from my gums and reaching the plump, sensitive part. She had used the sharp tip of her fang to cut my lip open, and it hurt badly for that first moment, but once Ivy sealed her lips around mine, it transmuted into unparalleled bliss in a blink. Pleasure exploded from the small wound, radiating outward and echoing in my other marks, making the following kiss much, much more than meeting lips and twirling tongues. I turned feverish, instinctively clutching Ivy's face so she wouldn't pull away and take the intoxicating feeling with her. I really needn't have bothered; Ivy was suckling me like she was a fat kid and my bloody lip was made out of freaking candy.
(Arguably) unfortunately, the cut was not that deep, and filled with her healing saliva, so it didn't take long for it to stop bleeding. With a growl of displeasure, Ivy released my lower lip, her tongue running greedily more than affectionately down my chin to capture every last trace of blood she could get before planting her gaze firmly into mine. One of her hands was still resting on my collarbone, her long fingers gently threading the sensations she summoned from my scar so it coursed through my entire body, promising to flood me with pleasure my mind could scarcely fathom if I just tilted my head in surrender. The other tangled in my hair, holding me firmly so I couldn't avert my eyes, so I couldn't hide how curious I was if size actually mattered when it came to vamp fangs, and Ivy once again could perfectly tell. She knew I wouldn't protest at all if she took more, that I might actually thank her for it. All she had to do was to lean forward, dip her mouth into the hollow of my neck, let it find my jugular and press her fangs to it, oh so gently-
"Eww. Is that blood? Gross... Would you two get a room? Some of us are trying to sleep." A groggy voice, heavy and slurring with sleep, muttered below us, snapping the thick sexual tension like a twig under an elephant's heels. Ivy gave my dishevelled self a displeased and frustrated look, her lips moving almost soundlessly as she muttered something low and menacing towards the teenager our shenanigans had just woken up.
"Sorry, Rica." Ivy apologised tightly to the grimacing teenager. I would have too, except that I couldn't, seeing as I was too busy blubbering and blushing furiously to follow suit. "We didn't mean to wake you."
"Yech. That doesn't make it better, you horndog. Thanks for the nightmare material. God, I swear I'm never getting that image out of my head." The younger vampire rambled, making me reach for my wineglass so I could hide behind it, and wash down the lingering metallic taste of my own blood with really expensive grape juice; I regretted it pretty quick, since the alcohol stung like hell. What? It sounds weird that she was this grossed out by catching us in the act like that after she and I shared blood? Well, I told you it didn't mean the same thing with either sister. Neither of us was sexually worked up when Erica bit me, so it was akin to a very private hug. On the other hand, what I'd just done with Ivy was profoundly sexual, like letting the undead vampire reach third base. Same bodily fluids, different meaning, just like I said.
"Are you purring? My God, you are... What are you, eight? 'Cause that's about the age I stopped doing that..." Erica almost sounded appalled by the sound coming from Ivy's chest; apparently she didn't think it was as cute as I did when Ivy purred like a big cat. "This is so gross. Do you practice your blowing skills by sucking your thumb too?"
"If you don't like what I'm doing, feel free to stop using me as a pillow, girl. I've got someone else I'd love to give your seat to." Ivy shot back with a side glance at me, not sounding embarrassed in the slightest even though my blush deepened and Erica groaned loudly in disgust. "It's late, and you had a long day. You'd sleep better in your own bed." The older sister added more softly, going all Responsible on the younger vamp. Erica sleepily grumbled something that didn't sound very acknowledging, instead cuddling up closer to her sister, reminding me again of a big kitten curling up on someone's lap to nap, paying no heed to the desires of the owner of said lap. Smiling tightly, her exasperation starting to show, Ivy cajoled her, the young vampire refusing to budge until she broke out the big guns, namely the threat of taking me right there on the couch if she didn't hop into bed and/or leave us alone.
"And where exactly do I fit into that plan, Ivy?" I coughed up at that, my cheeks blazing red from embarrassment.
"I don't know where you fit, but I've got a few ideas where I do..." Ivy replied with a sly wink to me, making me groan and her baby sister gag overly dramatically.
"Grossgrossgrossgrossgross! I love you, V, but you're so gross. Scientifically proven fact. You deserve the Gross award for the grossest gross that ever grossed."
"Proven? But I haven't even begun experimenting yet... Feeling curious, my dearly annoying little sister? I'm sure I can teach you a thing or two about the pleasures of Sapphic love." Ivy asked her sister sweetly, her trademark arched eyebrow look daring Erica to call her in on it. "Bedtime, now."
"I was here fi-i-rst! Besides, I don't feel like walki-i-ing." Erica whined, her obvious sass getting turned on its head when Ivy, in one fell swoop, scooped her up in her arms and tossed her over her shoulder like she weighed as much as an empty pillowcase.
"Try and hold that thought, I'll be right back." My lover told me in a soft and hopeful grey voice, not even blinking that her little sister was pounding her back, outraged at getting treated like a potato sack. "I just have to get rid of this nuisance. There's a big trash can down in the kitchen. Won't be but a minute."
"Hey! You promised! You promised never to do that again!" Erica yelled.
"Try and stop me, little girl. You want gross, I'll give you really gross..."
The vamp sisters' voices blended into one and faded away as Ivy dragged Erica away into the hallway, though I was fairly certain she wouldn't dump anyone in the garbage. Alone pretty much for the first time tonight, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling the blush on my warm cheeks recede. Self-consciously, I wiped my slightly swollen lip with the tip of my fingers, a mild frown scrunching up my eyebrows when they came away red with a thin sheen of blood I thoughtfully smeared against my thumb before sucking away. That... that had been entirely too close, too fast. Sharing blood with Ivy, even if it was only a tiny drop of it, had been positively orgasmic, but I knew I wasn't ready for it yet. I was glad the vampire had been a gentleman and only taken a tiny amount from me, though, and the fact she had started by taking a lick of frosting rather than eating the whole cake like she could have gave me a measure of comfort. She was certainly nudging me more insistently now that she used to when she first started hunting me, but she refrained from pushing too hard, and I appreciated she was going along with my uncharacteristic "take it slow" approach to the two of us, even if she wouldn't let me forget she wanted everything a sex life with a vampire should entail.
Huh... she cut me right on that other scar. I realised as I ran my tongue inside my lip, over the inside of the tiny cut, tasting a hint of redwood and copper. The mark Kisten and Seth's killer had left on my lower lip had been very neatly covered by a new, much more tolerable one. It was probably a possessive gesture on her part, but I still smiled a bit, unexpectedly relieved she had claimed a mark of violation and changed it into one that could eventually mean as much to me as the one she had left on my neck during her last day alive.
It took an unexpectedly long time for Ivy to come back, so long in fact that I began to wonder whether I should get up and go look for her by the time she finally showed back up, a pleasantly exasperated look on her face.
"She will never know how close she came to getting tossed in the trash..." Ivy sighed as she walked in, her eyes brightening as she got me back in her sight. "Or how happy I am she can annoy me enough to consider dumping her in there again."
"You really did that once?" I asked, giving her a semi-reproachful look. Despite myself, I did find their sisterly antics kinda funny.
"Don't give me that look. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing, it was a carefully planned revenge. It's not like I tossed her down a garbage chute, and I made sure there was something soft enough to pad her in first. I'm not sure she saw it as a real kindness, though. I still remember the smell. God, mom wanted my ass on a plate when we fished her out. It would have been interesting to see if she still fits, though. I think she really was five the last time." She added with a nostalgic smile.
"Oh, God, and here I thought Robbie and I were bad..." I chuckled quietly. "The two of you are terrible."
"I know. What can I say, I didn't take kindly to my lipstick being used as crayons back in those days."
"As opposed to now? Are you going to toss me headfirst in the nearest trash container if I use your makeup to draw?"
"It's all a matter of context. If you absolutely need it to, I don't know, lay down a circle to save our hides, of course I won't mind. If you use my lipstick eleven times in a row, to draw stick figures on the back of a cereal box like she did, though, I think I'll have other things on my mind than throwing you in the trash... like backing out of the room slowly." She smirked at me and sashayed closer, but as the space between us lessened so did the swaying of her perfect hips and the intensity of her sexual aura. She was cool as a cucumber by the time she sat down next to me, at the other end of the couch, her efforts to keep space between us and keep her hands (and fangs) to herself obvious. Her eyes were still roaming my body, though, and her eyes showed enough black to betray how ravenous what she saw made her. Swell...
"You didn't hold the thought, did you?" She framed it as a question, but it was really more of an observation.
"No, I didn't." I confirmed apologetically after a moment of chewing my lip. "It's not that I'm blaming you our anything because I pretty much asked for it, but... I wasn't really ready to go there, Ivy. Not yet."
"I figured as much." She sighed, looking a little disappointed about it as she reached for the wine to console herself. "Well, the little taste was fun at least. It would be wiser if I kept a little distance for now, though." She added when I reached for her to stroke her back.
"I didn't want to lead you on like that. And yes, it was." I grinned wickedly, because I it had been and she deserved to know I enjoyed it. My answer to her offer of a blood tryst was 'not yet', and I meant 'not yet', not 'never in a million years'. If things between us kept progressing, I knew sooner or later Ivy would get to taste my blood again. "I still don't see why it should mean you have to stay all the way over there, you know." I invited her, crooking my finger at her with obvious enticement. Perking up, the vampire shimmied over to my side of the large couch, looking like sex personified even if she moved like some kind of invertebrate, and straddled my lap with boneless grace, her long legs settling on either side of me and her arms slinking around my neck. I inhaled sharply at my new helplessness, but the feeling of unease was mixed with more than a little excitement. Okay, so I was used to being the one doing what she was doing, and from this angle Ivy didn't exactly look harmless, but the very nice view of her cleavage and the way her whole body was within easy reach convinced me I should try and work the position.
"You want to 'keep me company' some more, don't you?" Ivy tilted her head curiously and asked in a smouldering tone, her eyes going black and smoky. Feeling smarmy, I thoughtfully lifted my gaze to the ceiling, as if I had to ponder my answer, smirking mischievously.
"Bah, not you in particular. I'll be happy with just your mouth, actually." I sassed her, grinning from ear to ear when a cute pout bent her lips, making her plump lower one look eminently kissable.
"I'm afraid they only come in a package deal, Dear Heart." Ivy pulled back when I tried to go for her scrumptious mouth again, keeping it ju-u-ust out of my reach. "You need to buy the whole thing."
"Aw, you mean I absolutely have to get this too?" I clucked my tongue and asked, putting my arms around her and taking her godly butt in hand. Firmly, I kneaded it through her soft dress pants, then trailed my fingers upward over her sides, until my hands were on her ribcage and I could brush my thumbs against the underside of her breast, making the vampire hiss in pleasure all throughout. "And this? What a bummer." I nuzzled her cleavage and sighed dramatically, moving one hand a little higher and to the side, to trace the contour of her small, perfectly shaped boob. "Okay, then. I think I can work this, if I really have to." I sighed dramatically. Keeping the farce going was getting more difficult by the second (godly butt and chest, I tell you), especially with the vampire's face so close to mine, her every reaction so raw and clear it almost felt like I was touching myself. Unable to resist, I squarely palmed the sinful weight of her breast and fervently captured her lips, kissing my favourite vampire deeply, wisely keeping my tongue away from her fangs this time around. I was not getting entangled that way again tonight, but that precaution didn't stop me from singing "Rachel and Ivy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" in my head with goofy giddiness, a mood my gorgeous vamp hottie quickly picked up on.
"I'm glad you're looking so much better, let me tell you." Ivy purred in my ear during the brief pause she granted me between two kisses to gulp in some much needed air. "As fun as it was to play doctor with you, I like you a lot better healthy and naughty. Sick and depressed was not a good look for you."
"I'm not, most of the time." I panted in reply, smiling wryly as the vampire's suckling lips delightfully sealed around my earlobe. "Give the sun a few hours to rise, though, and you'll feel like you're making out with roadkill again."
"I never... What?" Ivy frowned in concern at my self-derisive joke, the grip of her hands framing my face becoming firmer and gently pulling me away so she could take a closer look at me. "What do you mean?"
Shit, I forgot poor health turns her off... I mentally kicked myself at the sight of the thickening rim of brown surrounding her fiery black pupils, a small part of me unable to believe we'd reached a point where that was a phenomenon I'd be unhappy to see.
"I'm not even sure, to tell you the truth. Ever since... that day..." I paused with a shudder, remembering the fateful night Ivy died and Nathalie bit me, my body rebelling against the memory of the vampire's venom flooding my veins, of my every sensations becoming one of torturous agony, my every emotions turning into despair so deep even death would offer no refuge from it...
"Sorry. It's nothing, I shouldn't have mentioned it." I apologised as I shuddered hard and snapped out of it. The moment had passed, but it was too late. The naughty mood had broken just as surely as when Erica woke up. Ivy's look of concern deepened as she dismounted me, and a little bird told me I wouldn't get to keep her mouth company again, if at all, until I gave mother hen the rundown of my condition. "I've been getting sick in the morning ever since Nathalie bit me." I admitted, grumpily letting go of her, the cut on my pouting lips pulsing mildly painfully in protest at being separated from Ivy's.
"How sick?" Ivy inquired in a voice that suffered no question, her eyes focused so sharply on me it felt like she was using her gaze like a scalpel to dissect me. "Your body temperature's normal, your heart and breathing sound fine, your blood tastes the same as I remember and I can't smell anything off about you. I don't understand. What's wrong, what are your symptoms?"
"Nausea, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, soreness. I need shades whenever I go outside during the day, too, or my eyes water too much to let me see anything." I enumerated them dully, staring into my wineglass. I had pushed them out of my mind while we were making out, and in the wake of that lovely experience, being reminded of what would hail my body in a few short hours was doubly unpleasant. "Feels like the flu, I'd say, just with a day-night cycle that turns it on and off. It's peachy, I tell you, but I doubt it'll kill me. There. Can you get back here now?" I finished dismissively in a single, hurried breath, took a small gulp of wine and turned my body back towards the vampire while fidgeting with the high collar of my shirt, hopefully sending the clear message I wanted to go back to our earlier activities rather than dwell on my strange affliction.
"So it's actual daylight that's causing the problem? No symptoms during the night?" Ivy reasoned, not taking the hint I wanted her mouth back on mine, not moving wordlessly as she ran down hypothesises in her head. "Huh."
"'Huh', what? Does that sound familiar?" I asked. Somehow I got the feeling she'd done more than just rule out afternoon sickness as a possible cause of my mysterious ailments, as much of a relief as it was to know I wasn't pregnant with Marshall's baby. He was the last guy I had sex with after all, but I could've told you that wasn't the case myself. I'd worn a contraception amulet that night, along with other protections. I'm ditzy, and I'll be the first to admit it, but not when it comes to that aspect of safe sex. My sex life will leave me bleeding out on the floor or extra-crispy from a surge of ley line energy long before it knocks me up, and now that I think about it, that's a blessing in disguise. I mean, God help the child stuck with me as a mom...
"It might if you could... No. You can't be..." Ivy muttered, obviously confused by whatever new idea had cropped up in her usually incredible mind.
"What's impossible?" I pressed her worriedly, the air on her face making me uneasy. Ivy was the vampire, and a vamp had afflicted me with... whatever this was; she had some clue what was wrong with me, and it freaked her out, despite her usual placid demeanour.
"Well, off the top of my head, there's something other than the flu those are symptoms of. It would beg the question how you could be suffering from light sickness, though."
"Light sickness?" I exclaimed in a strangled voice. "But that..."
"Only affects undead vampires?" Ivy completed for me. "I know. It's undeniable how well it fits, though."
"No way! I mean, don't you think I'd notice if I suddenly turned into a vamp? I'm a witch... well, mostly a witch, anyway... That's not even possible!" I blurted out, the ludicrous idea that my strange affliction was the same that affected vampires suffering from less-than-lethal exposure to sunlight stealing away what eloquence I had.
"That's what baffles me. If witches could be turned vampire, well you wouldn't have needed Nathalie's intervention. I would have been teaching you to drink blood a few days after your demon attacked you two years ago." I must admit that the way she said that mildly crept me out, and not strictly because I really didn't want to be a vampire; under the concern and puzzlement, I could tell that the thought of little old me as her personal lily-white red-headed blood-drinker shall we say, intrigued Ivy.
"Not to mention that if that if you truly suffered from light sickness, unless you slept in my room for the past weeks, it would have been fatal rather than unpleasant. Your flimsy little curtains wouldn't block out enough sunlight to let you survive the day..." The vampire thought out loud.
"So you have no idea how that's possible?" I asked, completely dismayed. "But... you're the vamp. You gotta have some clue. I mean, don't you have all the same parts as Nathalie?"
"Not really. Rachel, you have to understand how different Nathalie is from most vampires out there. The woman is in a league of her own. Her master was created by one of the last Firstborns. In case you don't know, they're the monstrous original vampires everyone who knows of their existence pray went extinct long ago. There may be a few of us more ancient than she is, but out of all vampires living in the open, she's the closest to them, only two steps removed from those monsters. She gave me a nice boost when she helped me cross over, but I'm nowhere near as strong as she is."
"Crap on toast..." I muttered, staring into my wineglass and cursing the impending drive home. Don't drink and drive, kids... only I sure felt like drowning my worries all of a sudden. Crippling diseases and I have a history, a none too pleasant one at that. Light sickness could quickly turn debilitating.
"I know someone who might be able to help." Ivy offered with an appeasing brush of the back of her hand against my cheek. "Someone who's been with Nathalie long enough to make sense of what she did to you."
"You mean Angel?" It didn't take me long to figure out whom she meant, but I clearly surprised her by saying the elven scion's name. "I know Nathalie loaned her to you."
"Ah. So you've met my new magical friend. That sneaky little elf..." Ivy said, referring to that locator charm that allowed her to track down Erica. I knew she hadn't gone to someone reputable for that grey charm... but it was the fondness she displayed that made my eyebrows scrunch up. "What? Can you blame me for taking advantage of such a gift? She helped me gain a lot of ground, and to do so much more smoothly than I would have managed otherwise." Ivy defended herself, (perhaps wilfully) mistaking the reason why I was looking at her sideways.
"You sound... fond of her." I asked, my voice nearly a growl. Angel was gorgeous, powerful and had centuries of experience on me, no doubt with both genders (what, you don't think a few hundred years is a long time to grow curious?). Maybe I was jumping to conclusions, but half the time I had no clue why Ivy lusted after me so; I sure as hell didn't need that kind of competition.
"Well, a beautiful elf with a list of deadly skills longer than your arm and a willingness to do whatever I ask of her without question... why wouldn't I be fond of her?" Okay, she has to be leading me on. Not even I'm that oblivious... I thought as I nearly started foaming at the mouth from her admiring observations and that airy question.
"Aww, that's so sweet. Are you jealous by any chance, Dear Heart?" She asked me, her voice all petulance and sugary sweetness. My scowl deepened and I grunted something inarticulate but somewhat affirmative in response, which made the vampire giggle and reach for me despite the impersonation of a rabid dog whose favourite bones got stolen I was pulling. "So very poetic, that you're the one getting worked up over someone looking at me for once... Oh, Rachel, there's no need for that. I didn't sleep with Angel, I never even gave the idea serious thought. You know I only have eyes for you, my lovely little witch. At any rate..." she continued good-naturedly while I slouched away from an attempted kiss. I kept trying to pout but I was unable to stop my lips from quirking a bit at the tender attraction in Ivy's eyes, which she had no qualm backing up with a pacifying hand on my knee despite my averting the kiss, inching it up just enough towards my thigh to make my heart rate pick up. "I'm hoping she can tell us more about Nathalie's abilities, and the effects of that venom of hers. If she can provide you with treatment, I'll have her tell me what's needed, and you'll be fine."
"With my luck, I've got some kind of vampire cancer no one's ever even heard of." I scoffed. "I'm so screwed, aren't I? I'm going to spend the rest of my life pale as white linen because I want to puke my guts out whenever it's sunny out. Huh, n-no offense, I gu-guess you're even more diurnally challenged than I am nowadays... please stop looking at me like that." The vampire's mood flipped right on its head. Glowering, she gave me a dark look and a slight bemused smile that made me shiver. Sheepishly, I righted myself to plant a little apologetic kiss on the barely quirked corner of her mouth. "Sorry." I mouthed almost wordlessly, yelping when Ivy's hand snaked around to the back of my neck and crushed my mouth back to hers for a hungrier and much deeper kiss. I melted into her, happily letting the peeved vamp take the slight out of my hide, at least until I gasped in surprise when her hand none too delicately found its way beneath my shirt.
"What are you- whoa!" I protested breathlessly and clutched at her cool exploring hand through the fabric of my clothes, purely out of reflex and embarrassment because even though it was a bit rough, her sudden assertiveness turned me on. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool off there! Not that this isn't sorta nice, but what do you think you're doing? I don't mind if you look, but I don't remember saying you could touch."
"It's the rule, honey." Ivy purred at me, for now indulging my meagre defence. We both knew what would happen if she wanted that boob-grab bad enough. "You burn me about my intolerance to sunlight, I get to touch your breasts." I almost snorted at the silliness of that statement, but the dead seriousness with which Ivy said it gave me pause. Her hair wasn't the only thing she could grow fast; her perfectly manicured fingernails were now wickedly long and sharp, and if she took offence, well, I doubted she would hesitate to use them on those pink little buds they were closing in on...
"I don't remember agreeing to that particular rule. When did that come to pass? I think I missed the meeting." I played along, partly because of that, partly because very few things that resulted in Ivy touching me were bad in my book.
"It's been in effect ever since we started sleeping together and you've decided to be tactless. I do happen to miss the sun, you know." She stated, not sounding all that hurt to tell you the truth. Impatiently, the vampire wiggled her hand in my grasp, forcing me to tighten it to keep her from proceeding further.
"And what about the flipside of that arrangement? Under which circumstances do I get to cop a feel, worry free?"
"If I ever happen to be tactless about your demon heritage, of course." Ivy responded like that was the most obvious thing in the world. "You can feel free to grope me wherever you want, if I ever burn you about children or demon smut."
"So basically never?" I panted whiningly, Ivy having decided she wanted to enforce her silly rule now. Her hand slipped beneath my bra, covering one of my small, unimpressive breasts and giving it a nice, firm squeeze. "Like you'd ever slip up about that..."
"Your problem, not mine." Ivy shot back before roughly shifting our bodies to the side and trapping me between her and the back of the couch. "Now be pretty, be quiet and let me get my reparations."
"That was so demean- ah!" I gasped, instantly forgetting to be offended when she gave my stiffening nipple a hard tweak with the nail of her thumb.
"Pretty and quiet." She admonished me strictly. "You're only doing one of those right."
"Would it kill you to pay me a compliment that's not freaking backw-OW!" I asked rhetorically, only for Ivy to respond with another hard tweak. "Goddamnit, Ivy, those are attached! If they're starting to peel off, you're doing it wrong! Watch it or let go!" I warned her and instantly Ivy's rough insistence died down... or rather, she focused it elsewhere, her thumb twirling on the stiff peak of my breast becoming smooth and at least careful enough to make my head spin. Forcefully, the vampire pressed her lips to mine to swallow my pleasured cry, and swung one of her legs over mine, pressing herself closer to leave me nowhere to pull away... not that I'm sure I would have if I could. All of a sudden, I wasn't sure just how far Ivy was intending to go, but part of me sure felt curious to find out since it was clearly my body she was zeroing in on, and not the blood in my veins. My skirt was hiked up so high I was pretty sure the rational part of my brain would die of embarrassment if someone walked in on us now...
Crap, where does she think she's going with that leg? I thought deliriously as it slipped between both of mine, nearing very sensitive parts of my anatomy. I have to admit I liked the idea, but if we were going there, I wanted a door that locked and a real bed, at the very least. Couches are great in a pinch, but having sex on them twice in a row was getting ridiculous.
"Maybe we should follow Erica's suggestion and take this to your room?" I managed to pull my mouth away long enough to suggest breathlessly, quivering for mutual nakedness, to feel the vampire's heavenly skin on mine again. I yearned for her mouth to have more to explore than my face and the patch of skin she could reach on my neck, for her fingers to touch me directly, not through the material of my shirt. I wanted... I needed to have her again (well, maybe 'be had by her' would be more accurate), now, today, and I didn't care if we did it in her parents' house. They'd sure given me a show earlier, and besides, vamps are supposed to be open about sexuality, yes? We were just going to be VERY open, is all.
"So you do want to spend the day, Dear Heart?" Ivy thoughtfully ran a long tapered finger down the bridge of my nose, over my kiss-swollen lips and my chin then back up along the line of my jaw to the back of my ear. Using her fingernail she then traced a delicious path to my collarbone over the side of my neck that was free of vamp scars, murmuring with sultry curiosity. "Are you sure that's wise?"
Seeing as I'll probably give myself carpal tunnel syndrome if I have to sleep alone, I'd say so, yeah... I could only think it, having no breath to spare for the sardonic reply; my actual reply was a jerky, ridiculously eager nod.
"All day, all alone with me, naked, locked in a dark room, at my complete mercy? Or lack thereof." Ivy kept breathing in my ear, her hand on me stilling to let my complete focus go to the sensual grey silk of her voice, overflowing with vampy aural tricks that nearly made my eyes roll back into my head. God, I have no idea if it's possible to talk someone into an orgasm, but Ivy sure was coming close... no pun intended. "You're not a little worried I'll try to sneak a taste? That I'll wake up at sunset feeling peckish and see you lying there next to me, warm, relaxed, sated, deliciously... defenceless?" She moaned the last of her words before taking my earlobe between the tip of her upper and lower fangs, giving it the gentlest of nips while I trembled, lost in lust that made all rational thoughts impossible. She could have described the manner in which she planned to disembowel a hundred newborn kittens in all the gory details with that voice, and I still would have moaned and writhed for more beneath her.
"Yes... no... what was the question again?" I panted, lost and pleasantly dizzied in a haze of desire and vampire pheromones, only vaguely aware that what she was saying should have at least given me a second's pause. It didn't, not really.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Ivy chuckled, mocking my state and obviously pleased with herself she could get me this worked up with nothing but her voice and a teensy bit of touching. "Shall we retire for the day, then?" She asked as she got off me and the couch, her hand offered.
"You were just trying to get off on my fear again, right?" I asked as, with a little distance between us, I was able to think somewhat clearly again (and get my skirt back down to a height that didn't flash my panties to the whole wide world). Her hand felt warm and dry as it enveloped mine. Ivy gently tugged me close, one of her arm coming around my waist, the other lifting my wrist that wasn't covered by my metal bracelet to her mouth so she could plant a little kiss on it. Never letting go of it, she made twirl around like we were dancing, letting it slip away from her grasp as I exited the spin with a little giggle.
"You would make a lovely breakfast in bed." Ivy studiously arched a brow and answered cryptically, leaving it at that.
"Oh, that's nice... In your dreams, Tamwood."
"That goes without saying, doesn't it? You've starred in the nicest of my dreams for longer than you know." She replied as she turned around to sashay out of the room, her tone stoking the fire she had started in the pit of my stomach. I was still throbbing for her touch, though, so I let the vamp's idea of a pleasantry slide and followed her downstairs to the basement (the actual one, not her mom's lair, thank goodness), my eyes bolted to her seductively swaying hips. Mr Randall and Mrs Tamwood had already retired for the day, and Erica was fast asleep in her second floor bedroom, so the house was still and quiet, lit for the most part only with what little light could make it from the street through the windows. My steps sounded loud as we made our way to a door in the kitchen that led to Mrs Tamwood's lair and the estate's undead living quarters, the basement lacking that raw and unfinished quality most would associate with a traditional basement. Instead, everything was done in the same style as the rest of the mansion, the same polished woods, the same brass doorknobs and the same colours and tones adorned the walls. There was secondary living space living space down here, kind of a complete apartment minus the kitchen, really. Several couches surrounded a colossal TV plugged with a state-of-the-art sound system. Several doors connected this space with other side rooms, one of which I suspected was a bathroom, if the whiff of soap and other beauty product I caught was any indication. It was a lot nicer than any apartment I'd ever rented, that's for sure, but honestly, I was too focused on the vampire before me to really care about my surroundings.
"Through here." Ivy directed me to one door in particular she held open for me, a beautiful one made of massive tooled wood and adorned with a shiny brass handle. With one deep, steadying breath and a tip of my head at her gentlemanly gesture, I walked into our room.
A/N: Yep, I'm being a jerk and ending it here. As I'm sure you're aware, there's a bit of an inquisition going on in , with admins hunting down and poofing fics that don't correspond to their rating guidelines. Since you've just read this chapter, you can most likely guess the next one will most definitely NOT respect those guidelines. Since I don't want to provoke them until this insanity blows over, I won't be posting it here, but only at my LJ account where I at least enjoy the full measure of my creative freedom. Don't worry, however; I will post an update on to give you a heads-up once it's done, including a link so you can easily find it. I still reply to everyone who comments, so don't worry if you don't have an account, I'll get back to you as usual, even if you leave an anonymous message.