Tying the sash around the old and unwanted dressing gown her Grandmother had once given her, Elizabeth quickly ran the brush through her hair.
She had taken a shower before heading out to meet the guys so she wasn't worried about that and Dwayne had - sort of embarrassingly but very thoughtfully - stopped by a still open food place so she could use the facilities. She hadn't even thought of it but he was one step ahead; thanks to his consideration, she didn't have to worry about sneaking downstairs to use the toilet without waking anyone else up.
She still had to brush her teeth but she thought she could ninja through that easily enough.
He'd picked her up a burger, too, insisting that she should eat something since Paul had consumed all of the pizza by himself. She was now comfortably full from it but at the time she'd protested, told him that she didn't need to eat, that she wasn't hungry. Dwayne knew her better than she knew herself though because once she'd taken a bite, she'd devoured the whole thing in less than five. He hadn't even given her an, "I told you so" sort of glance, he'd just smiled, watching her eat.
Staying up late was wreaking havoc with her stomach and one dinner wasn't really cutting it anymore. She hoped all the movement and activity would balance out the extra calories but when she'd mentioned it to Dwayne, swallowing the last bite of food, he'd shut her down right away.
Told her she was perfect no matter what.
She figured she was lucky to have him and, looking up at the ceiling, she also figured she should stop keeping him waiting.
The sun would soon be coming to break them up, she didn't need to waste time they didn't have by standing there with her thoughts.
She was tired but not achingly so.
She assumed it was down to the adrenaline of such an eventful night. Dwayne had offered to hold her until she slept but she wanted to spend just a little more time with him, awake and alert and so she'd banished him to the roof. He really did seem to know what she needed and what was best for her and she was positive that if he did manage to get her on the bed, she'd be in a deep and needed sleep within seconds.
This was one of the times she was putting her wants first.
She knew that she'd pay for it later, when her family was awake and energetic and she was a zombie but she figured it was worth it.
Moving to her window, she smiled and awkwardly sat on the ledge with her feet facing inwards. The dressing gown was warm and cozy but she could still feel the cold of the night against her back. It was sort of scary, knowing that with just one little movement of her body she could fall backwards and plummet to the garden below but she knew her mate would never let that happen.
It made for an odd feeling, sort of exciting.
Freeing.
And more than a little compelling.
She was so very tempted to let go of the frame and let herself fall, let the wind rush by and wait for Dwayne's arms to wrap around her body before it could thud against the ground.
"Whatever you're thinking, stop it" he ordered dryly and Elizabeth tilted her head back, squinting up at him. He wasn't too far away, clearly kneeling on the edge of the roof, "how do you know what I was thinking? I thought you didn't read my mind?"
"I don't" he assured her, "but I'm pretty good at reading body language"
She smiled, feeling the strain in her neck before moving her eyes from his face back down to the hand hanging close to her head.
"I think being around you is making me a little reckless"
Well, she thought it was a mixture of him and Paul but she wasn't too inclined to talk about the peppy blonde right then.
"Scares the hell out of me"
"Really?" she leaned back a little, shifting so she was more out of the frame than in, keeping one hand on the chipped wood as she reached up and grasped his wrist with the other, "but I know I'm safe with you. You know I'm safe with you. It's not dangerously reckless"
He gripped her wrist tightly and Elizabeth knew that if she let go of him, there was no chance of falling.
"See?"
She released her grip just as he pulled her upwards.
He must have been expecting it because his reflexes were quicker than she could process: suddenly she was hanging in the air, a safe distance away from the house.
Had she been in a responsible mood, she would have used both of her hands to hold onto him, then grab his shoulders and help him pull her up but, frankly, she wasn't. She'd hoisted herself out into the night sky and so when she'd let go of the frame, he was left holding onto her with just one of his hands and she was at risk of thudding her body into the old, mismatched wooden planks that made the outside of the house.
At risk, but no real risk, of course.
In an instant, he was in the sky, flying - well, floating - above her and she was safe, just dangling there.
She allowed herself to close her eyes and just enjoy the feeling but it was over all too soon.
Her feet grazed the roof.
She bent her knees, feeling stubborn, "I was enjoying that"
"I'm holding you like a sack of potatoes. You're going to feel it in the morning" he told her and she couldn't help the little laugh that fell from her lips.
He was right.
Her right arm was straight up in the air, being held at the wrist but otherwise she was just dangling there.
All her weight was going to that one arm.
Unbending her knees, she caught her balance for a moment as he lowered her a little bit more.
When he let her go, she rolled her shoulder and shook the arm out.
"...Dwayne...I think that was the least romantic thing we've ever done"
His lips grazed her cheek as he joined her, "no 'we'. That was all on you"
She smiled fondly at him, watching as he sat down.
He looked happy, his lips curled into a small grin and his eyes bright.
"I love you" she told him, sitting beside him.
"You've recovered, then?"
"No"
This time he laughed.
"You're in a good mood though"
"Still mortified" she smiled, "the experience is just...easier to deal with now that it's just us"
He hitched his knee up, resting his arm over it, "I think you handled it well"
"...I mean, I was literally laughed out of the cave, but OK..."
His free arm gently roamed her back, "it's rare when someone isn't laughed out"
She groaned, "so that's it? It wasn't a joke?"
He said nothing.
"I thought..." she sighed, "I really thought that maybe, you know...David's so serious, he would never get involved with something like that..."
Again, silence.
"Dwayne, tell me they were joking. Tell me the pranks are over"
A gust of wind blew, ruffling both of their hair and she stared sideways at her mate.
"Give me something"
He fixed his stare on her, "I'd never lie to you"
"Oh God" she dropped her head, letting it thud on the back of his hand, the one resting against his knee.
So that was that.
He wouldn't lie to her or offer her false hope and comfort.
Paul and Marko were going to tease her and prank her and laugh riotously at her embarrassment and David was going to laugh right along with them.
"Forever is a long time to be the butt of a joke"
His hand resumed the gentle rubbing of her back.
"It won't be forever"
"...Dwayne, I've seen Paul tease you. It sure looks like a forever deal"
"Yeah, he's a little shit" he replied and Elizabeth laughed, shaking her head and looking up again. He'd spoken so matter-of-factly but so fondly, it was hard not to react, "he loves pushing buttons"
She groaned.
"You just have to push them back"
"I'm not as quick, funny or smart as them. I mean, come on. They rehashed the plot of the Temple of Doom and I-"
She stopped as he laughed.
"Really?"
"I'm sorry. Sorry" the apology was sincere but he was still grinning, "it's just-it's pretty funny"
She laughed once, nodding, "I'm so stupid"
"As long as you can laugh about it, you'll be fine. I swear. Paul's been torturing me since even before he turned but he's never crossed the line"
"Bet he's toed it a few times though"
"A few"
She laughed again and shook her head, "I'm a dead girl"
"You'll learn to get them back, don't worry"
"Hmmm" she murmured, unconvinced.
"And you get to watch when their attention turns"
"What do you mean?"
His hand rubbed her shoulder, "like you said, forever is a long time. Things can get stale if you don't mix them up" there was a lightness in his voice, "David's been the butt of a few pranks more than once"
"No way!" she laughed.
"And you've got to be creative to get him, so they're pretty enjoyable to watch"
"Who got him?"
"Marko"
"No way!" she laughed, repeating herself. They had been sitting side by side and she turned her body so that she was now facing him directly. Their thighs were still touching and as he moved his hand, she popped her elbow on his knee instead, putting her chin in her hand, "Marko?"
"Not as sweet as he seems"
"After tonight, I can believe it!"
"Paul was helping David work on some payback but Marko had bought Paul and-"
"-Paul double-crossed David?"
Dwayne laughed, nodding, "yeah it was a clusterfuck. You'll be fine. When you're together as long as we've been, some bullshit games and pranks keep things lively, you know?"
"You swore twice" she told him warmly, smiling up at him.
"Happens sometimes" he grinned back at her.
She loved him so much.
"Promise me you'll be on my team?"
"Always"
"...but?"
He was still grinning, "but they'll be expecting it"
"That's fine" she said, "as long as I don't have to go up against them alone"
"I'm your protection?"
"Yeah"
"You know you're dragging me into the line of fire, right?"
She did.
She was dragging him into the line of fire big time but, she reasoned, he was used to it. He was used to their jokes, their banter, their pranks. He was well suited to guide her through it and hey, he was also stronger than her.
Mentally, physically.
He could take the heat.
"We're mates" she said diplomatically, "we have to stick together"
"Feels like you're using me as a body guard"
She laughed once.
Of course he knew exactly what she was thinking.
No point playing shy or feigning ignorance.
"Nah, think surlier. More, 'touch this girl and I'll kill you'. Scare 'em off"
"Hired thug?"
"Bingo!" she laughed, leaning forward and taking her chin out of her hand, "hey that could work! If I feel a prank or teasing moment coming on, you can just beat them all up for me"
"Deal"
She bit her lip, smiling widely up at him.
He took her hand, playing with her knuckles as it dangled off his knee, "you don't need me though, baby. You did pretty well back there"
She liked the hint of pride in his voice.
She loved it, actually.
"...but I still lost"
"You have two fierce, brutal vampires doing your homework"
She grinned, "when you say it like that..."
"Pretty impressive"
She laughed, "yeah until they slip in stuff about robots and nipple tweaking in an essay about Jane Austen"
"You'll have to proof read" he told her, eyes bright, "but they'll keep their word. You're almost guaranteed an easy year"
"Excellent"
"Where did it come from, though?"
"Huh?"
"On our first date you talked to me about school-"
"-on the carousel. God, you must have thought I was so lame"
"Not at all. It was very...endearing..." his fingers squeezed her knuckle gently, "..but I was under the impression you did well in school?"
"I do" she conceded, "but I want this year to be like, crazy awesome for me. I want to ace everything and that'll be hard to do, since I'm also balancing my new nocturnal lifestyle"
"Why?"
"Well, because any time less than I spend with you now just won't cut it. I won't be OK if we just see each other on the weekends. I need you; I need to see you and I think it'll be hard, balancing being up all night with actual real life"
"So, you think the homework will help?"
"Yeah, for sure. Plus, the tests, if you could actually do something about them? I'd love to pass math with a high B..."
"We've never tried but I still don't understand why?"
"I'm terrible at math, I already told you that. If I can pass that and pass it well, my mom will be thrilled"
He nodded but there was a hint of confusion on his face.
"Oh, did you mean the tears? I didn't know I had it in me to cry like that but now I've done it once I don't think they'll fall for it again"
"Paul hates women crying, that's the one time he feels powerless but I meant that you didn't seem to care about math before. What changed? Why do you want to make her proud so badly, what happened?"
"I dunno" she murmured, still processing her own thoughts regarding the situation, "just...you haven't actually met her, she's...she's really wonderful. She's the most amazing woman but she's so damn selfless...when I die, she's going to pick herself apart, she's gonna find fault with every little thing she ever did for me and this divorce was the one time she's really done something for herself. I mean, I'm serious" she looked up at her mate, shaking her head pursed lips, "this divorce was the one time she's put her needs first and...I just, I feel it in my gut. She's going to pick everything apart; she's going to think of all the ways she failed by bringing me here only to have me die and I just...if she sees that I thrived in Santa Carla, that I was happy and doing great in school and that I had a bright future, it'll...I dunno, give her some comfort? Make her realize that she did the right thing for me in doing the right thing for herself"
She sighed.
The whole situation was foreign for her, these were thoughts she had only really began to process recently herself and she didn't know where she stood.
Dwayne was silent and she wondered if she'd bombarded him with too much too fast.
Or was he silent because she was cheating?
The thought, like many others, suddenly popped up in her head.
If the boys helped her, it wasn't something she was doing through her own efforts.
"OK, I do know it's cheating a bit. And a bit selfish..." she frowned at his collarbone, thinking, "...I mean, I want to make her proud and I intend to but I love you so much, I can't imagine not getting to spend time with you. If you guys can help me, then it's like...the best of both worlds..."
She looked up at him.
"Right?"
He said nothing but he was frowning deeply.
It looked almost harsh.
"Dwayne?"
They'd gone from a light-hearted chat to him staring at her so deeply it was if he wasn't even focused on her.
"It's not a big deal, I'll figure it out" she assured him, "I've just been thinking about it a bit recently so when Marko-Paul?" she couldn't even remember who instigated it, "when they were going on about grammar and doing it so casually, I think it all clicked in my head. They're smart, I can use them and boom. Tears!"
She laughed, smiling up at him.
The fingers he'd been holding her hand with, the thumb he'd been grazing her knuckles with were still and so she squeezed his hand, "hello?"
"...when you die?"
His voice was flat, emotionless and for a fleeting moment, she was confused before she gasped, snatching her hand away from his and sitting up straight.
She'd been so comfortable and lulled into the conversation that'd she just spoken her thoughts, unfiltered and honest.
How could she have been so stupid?
So, so stupid!
She wanted to tell him her plans in a romantic setting; it was a monumental decision, a huge, huge deal. She had chosen to turn after graduation. It felt like the most perfect time and she was positive in her heart that it was supposed to happen then. She'd mentioned it to Paul and Marko but that was it.
She hadn't even thought of when to actually tell her mate.
She'd wanted it to be meaningful, special.
Not the two of them on the roof, her clad in mismatched pajamas and a God-dammed giant stupid dressing down.
"I just meant-"
She tried to save it, to take it back but he took her hand back and pinned her with a stare so raw, so harsh but vulnerable that every shred of panic and disappointment left her.
She had dangled hope right there in front of him.
So desperate for his mate, longing for the time she would be truly his...she couldn't torture him.
"I'm going to turn after graduation"
"When did you decide-" he snapped his mouth shut, still frowning.
She shifted forward.
"I don't even know" she murmured, cupping his cheek, "but I decided. A week? More? I'm sorry I told you like this" his jaw was twitching, "I wanted it to be special. I wanted to make it special for you...I messed up the first time you told me what you are, the first time you bit me was a hot mess and now-"
His lips crashed against hers.
She couldn't even kiss him back, not really.
She couldn't move, such was the speed with which he'd pulled her to him.
One arm in her hair, pressing against the back of her head, the other firmly around her waist. Tugging her close, pulling her into his body. She gasped, yelped, feeling herself collapse into him. She braced one arm down on his thigh, one against his shoulder but they were an odd, uncomfortable tangle of limbs.
The only thing she could feel, could focus on was the passion, the joy, the relief in his kiss.
Gasping, she pulled herself away and he allowed it but barely.
She was breathing heavily, he'd taken her aback.
He was still holding her close to him, so close that their noses were touching.
"I-I wanted it to be special" she whispered between breaths.
"Special? Elizabeth, you're going to be mine"
There was reverence, almost, in his voice and she felt the way her heart skipped a beat. He sounded disbelieving, too, as if he couldn't even fathom that she wouldn't tell him straight away.
"I haven't-there's still so much I need to think about..." her mother, her family, her death, the very concept of killing to survive. So much to work through, so many things she wasn't even sure she could do...but everything she could figure out with him, "...it's not so far away"
He kissed her again, slowly, softly.
"Not far away at all"
She nodded, feeling something stir in his jeans, against the side of her hand.
"I just wish I told you in a-"
"-say 'special way' again and I'm going to do some very bad things to you" he promised, "this is everything I've waited for"
She smiled against his lips, letting her eyes flutter close for a moment.
The way he spoke was so sincere.
"I love you so much" she told him, wishing that just once she could do something special for him and take his breath away in the same way he did hers but, as he kissed her again, she found herself thinking more about the hardness grazing her hand.
The need in his voice, the way he was pulling her close...she was beginning to realize that with her mate it, he cared about her words, her actions far more than the setting.
"Graduation?"
"It's going to be one hell of a party..." she whispered, nodding.
She kissed him again, moving her hand over the now very prominent hardness. They were still sat awkwardly together but it was his arm around her back that was stopping her from losing her balance. Thought of the pack, of her humiliating encounter just hours before, thoughts of the not-so-distant future were all put out of her head.
Everything else ceased to exist to her.
It was just the two of them.
Knowing without a doubt where their kiss was going to lead, she murmured a tentative, unsure question, "will you bite me again?"
She could feel herself blush, thinking of the pleasure his bite brought, surprised that she had the confidence to ask for it but sunrise wasn't far off.
She opened her eyes hesitantly.
Would he say no? Would it be too difficult for him to control? Had she been wrong to ask it of him?
She opened her mouth, ready to apologize for her question or to just kiss him again but he released her and she jerked, losing her balance. Grabbing onto the black tee he was wearing, she gasped but his lips were on hers.
Gentle, soft, teasing.
Using his body, he slowly lowered her to the tiles. His arm was trapped underneath her back and she arched it gently, still losing herself in the kiss.
His hands moved to the sash of the dressing gown and he nipped her lip as he tugged it open.
It made her gasp again, a breathy, lustful and short jerk of her chest.
There was power in that little bite, in the pull of his hand.
She slipped her arms out of the material with little difficulty. Beneath it she was wearing an old, silk cami top and a pair of underwear and while she felt the cold of the night straight away, it had no effect on her.
All of a sudden, she was hot, boiling, roasting and as his body covered hers, she wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding against the promising hardness.
"Mhmm..." he chastised, shaking his head and lifting his crotch away from hers, "you made me wait...I think this is only fair"
He was stronger than her but she wasn't letting him get away, she kept her legs wrapped around him and so she was partly lifted off the roof.
"Don't play" she ordered, tugging her back to him with a fistful of his shirt.
She wanted him and she didn't want to wait.
"I'm not playing" he replied, easily swiping her hand and arm away from his body, pinning it gently above her head, "I'm going to bite you and I'm going to make you work for it"
His kiss, his actions and his smile were gentle and soft but the rumble of his words were anything but and she closed her eyes, her hips working against his as he softly pinned her other arm above her.
"Keep your hands there" he whispered, his kiss tender as it moved from her swollen lips down to her neck.
He was peppering her with kisses now, bites, little nibbles and she couldn't stop the movement of her hips though the friction was doing little to help her.
She wanted to hold him, to clutch his body and it took all of her power not to do so.
"Dwayne!" she gasped, jerking at a particularly hard, torturous nip but it was just that; a nip, a nibble, a graze of teeth.
Her hand had snapped down of its own accord and he smoothly pinned it back up, tutting playfully.
It was torturous, knowing the pleasure that was waiting for her.
It was hell waiting for that first flash of pain.
It was unforgiveable, feeling him press against her through his jeans.
His hand trailed down her raised arm, brushed over her nipple.
She moaned, hating that he didn't linger there.
"Shhhhh" he teased, "who knows who's sleeping with their window open"
She could feel his breath against her neck and then, suddenly, she could feel the material of her cami fall loosely open against her breasts. Confused for just a moment, her back arched and her nails scraped against the tile as his mouth pressed against her nipple.
He'd sliced it open, straight down the middle.
The action was so erotic, she furrowed her eyebrows and closed her eyes in bliss.
"Oh-" she had to bite her lip to keep quiet; he'd bitten her, firmly but without breaking the skin and she shuddered, feeling the brush of his fangs.
Fangs.
He'd turned and there she was helpless beneath his body, completely exposed and wanting and he still hadn't bitten her, he still hadn't given her the relief she was begging for.
"Dwayne-" but it was no use.
He was moving.
His tongue darted out, suckling and drawing the skin of her stomach into his mouth.
Lower, to her hips, his fingers dancing over the hem of her underwear.
"You're so wet" he breathed and she arched her back, feeling his nose brush against her core as he moved to kiss the inside of her thigh. He stilled and she whimpered, wanting the pain of the bite or the relief of his mouth, "and so bad at following orders..."
"Wh-" she breathed heavily, panting.
He pulled away from her and she whimpered in protest, closing her eyes as she felt him move up against her body, as she felt him kiss her.
No fangs.
It was disorienting, confusing, wanting and waiting for the bite.
She moved one hand from her breast, pushing it through his hair and against his head but he scooped it away, pinning it back up beside her head. She wrapped her legs around his waist once more but he corrected her, using the gentle pressure of his knee to pin her down before moving, shifting his body so that her legs were open to him.
She trembled as he kissed her, as his fingers danced across her thighs, over her underwear and then back up towards her breast. Her free hand was still cupping it, her thumb working over her nipple and his hand joined it. She understood, then. He'd told her to keep her hands up but, in the pleasure, the cloud of torturous kisses and bites, she'd began to touch herself, to caress and tease her nipples.
"If you're so insistent on helping..." he murmured, nose brushing hers as he moved back to her neck.
His hand covered hers, he linked their fingers.
Taking control, he slowly moved both of their hands down the length of her body and she didn't resist when her own fingers, guided by his, slipped down into her underwear.
"I want to see you cum" he whispered, his breath hot against her ear. He bit the lobe gently, his hand slipping out from her underwear, leaving hers alone, "touch yourself, Elizabeth"
With one hand still pinned above her head and with his body flush against hers, she took a shuddering, shallow breath.
Shyly, slowly, she danced her fingers against her heat.
It was electric.
She had never before been this wet, this utterly wanting when she touched herself and never could she have imagined having such a powerful, dominant man guiding her through it.
"Show me how much you want me" he whispered, kisses peppering her neck, hand dancing past her underwear and back up to the breast they had both neglected. As he softly rolled her nipple, she slipped a finger into her warmth and sighed in bliss, turning her head to the side.
He wasted no time, covering the taught skin with bites.
She whimpered, she could feel his gaze, she could feel the lustful intensity of his eyes and she found her fingers moving faster. Crying out, she writhed beneath him, feeling the material of the disregarded dressing gown rumple and catch beneath her.
"Harder, Elizabeth"
Dwayne was drinking the sight of her, she knew it, and the movement of his lips, the pressure of his body was almost suffocating.
She moaned as her orgasm began to build, as her hips began to work in a frantic rhythm as her fingers moved faster, harder as he'd commanded.
She heard his zipper but she paid it little mind.
She was close, on the edge, the very edge of what was going to be a shattering, shuddering, shaking orgasm.
"I-I-" she gasped, whimpered into the night but before she could cum, before she could speak, before she could take a breath, his hand clamped down on hers, stilling it through the soaked material.
Her eyes snapped open and she whimpered, blinking in dazed confusion at his denial but she found her breath catching instead.
She had felt the fangs before, felt them disappear but now.
Now there was no question, no teasing, no games.
He had changed.
Fiery red eyes, fangs that promised pleasure and pain and everything in-between.
"You're so beautiful" he told her, his voice husky with need.
His hand moved, ripping the seam of her underwear with a clawed finger.
Feeling the sharp nail trail against her skin had her squirming one more, writhing.
Her hand was still, still pinned above her head and when she felt him push against her entrance, her fingers flexed. She gripped onto him with her other hand, clutching the fabric of his tee, desperately trying to pull him into her, desperate to feel his hardness, to reach the peak that had been so cruelly taken away from her.
"So, fucking beautiful" his moaned.
She kissed him, releasing his shirt and pulling his face close to hers.
His eyes were pure fire.
Hearing his praise, the way it sounded like both a curse and a prayer was too much. She tugged her arm down and he released it, allowing her to pull him towards her in a kiss that was almost searing.
He paused for only a second as she turned her body, as she tried to roll from beneath him and again, he allowed it.
As he lied down on the crumpled fabric she had been writhing against only seconds before, she straddled him, feeling his length against her core, straining against her wetness.
He took in the sight of her before him, eyes roaming her breasts, stomach.
"And I'm yours" she told him, fingers clawing at his chest, coming to rest on his shoulders as she moved against him, slick and wet.
He moaned, hands coming to settle against her hips.
"Forever" she ground against him and he hissed, clutching her as she moved along his length.
It was torturous for her but it was for him, too.
She could feel the pressure of his fingers, the way they were cutting into her.
He thrust, trying to find her heat and she gasped, biting her lip at the jolt of pleasure.
They had both reached their limit.
As Dwayne sat up, one arm cradling her back and the other securing her hip, she threw her arms around him, holding him close. Her breasts pressed against his chest, the friction making her moan and, as she finally slid down onto him, bringing him into her, she threw her head back in longing and relief.
Riding him gently, rocking and panting to a rhythm they seemed to set together, Elizabeth found her moans were mixing with his.
His hand left her hip, travelling upwards until it settled at the back of her neck.
She tilted her head, still moving against him, still meeting his thrusts.
The only sound in the dark, early night was the meeting of skin and their panting, gasping moans.
As his lips met her neck, this time in a meeting she knew would not leave her wanting, she clenched, tightening around him.
He fangs broke the skin and they both cried out, clutching each other as pleasure exploded.
Stilling for just a moment as bliss washed over them, Elizabeth felt her whole-body shiver and tremble. As she struggled to find her breath, she began rocking once again with frantic desperation, clinging to her mate as she fought to find her second release. Holding her tightly, Dwayne panted into the searing bite, drinking his fill, thrusting harder and faster, unheeding of anything beside her.
The world around them truly had ceased to exist.
It was just a mortal, her mate and the pleasure they had created together.