Perhaps it was because he once again had his sword in his possession or maybe because she was showing just how much she really trusted him. But what ever the reason had been, when Nick had told Judy he was returning to the pond to try to find fish she hadn't accompanied him for once. So he trekked the way himself, letting his mind wander though not too much. Now that he was alone he had to remain vigilant. If some kind of creature happened upon him, he had to be ready to defend himself and take it down. But still, he couldn't quite stop thinking about what she'd said when she returned his katana to him. Nor could he get the sight of her tear filling eyes out of his mind.
"I told you, for this to work, trust is needed... Do not make me regret trusting you, Nick."
Even now, the memory made him pause as he knelt down and looked at his reflection in the still waters of the pond. She often said things that made it seem as if she knew what he was plotting. And yet if she did, she still stayed by him. Why was that? Before he had thought it was because she needed him to take down, Rogan. But if that were the only reason she could simply manipulate his mind and have him do her bidding. She was a strong vampire, she could do something like that easily. He had seen her do it when Rogan had been trying to lead that girl to him and she told her to run home. She'd kept that girl alive too he remembered, not just from saving her from Rogan, but also by not draining her of her blood. She'd even yelled at him after he'd fed her.
Everything he was seeing from her pointed to that she hated what she was. That she only fed herself because she had to and didn't even allow herself to take it all. He remembered in his hotel room she had claimed to have no soul too and had seemed sad because of it. And even from her own stories, she kept herself from running back home because she knew Rogan would look for her there and harm her family. She even carried the weight of the death of the Marin's. No one could fake that much hurt, not even him. She meant everything she had told him. And now she'd chosen to trust him to be her ally even though she quite possibly knew what his plans were.
It made him frown into his reflection, the confused and almost angry expression being mirrored right back at him. He really didn't know what to think about all of this anymore. He had been so sure she was a soulless and heartless monster just like the rest. But everything he was seeing and even feeling was telling him differently. He'd been taught that vampire's killed with no remorse and even enjoyed it the act. And yet she hated taking blood, she killed those that tried to kill their victims. She'd saved Renato's life when a vampire tried to make him walk over the cliff side. She'd saved that girl's life when Rogan would no doubt have killed her. She'd saved him countless times already and could have killed him when he threatened and tried to kill her. But she didn't, she simply took his weapons away even though if she were mortal she would have had the right to kill him for threatening her life.
She was opening herself and her past to him, which he knew she'd never done for anyone else before. And against her own warnings not to love her, she seemed to be falling for him.
Just like he'd planned.
It made him frown again and had his claws expanding before he struck at the water in anger. He hadn't been expecting to actually land a blow to anything, but the feeling of his claws sinking into skin was unmistakable. It snapped him out of his thoughts and had him bringing his paw back up from the water where he was surprised to find a fish. He didn't feel any kind of delight from getting one though and numbly set the unmoving fish beside him on the grass, carefully removing his claws.
He was reminded of when he had been so disgusted from nearly being a meal from the succubus. So disgusted that he'd vomited and then raced to the water to get the lingering lust and other feelings off of himself. He'd gone so far that he'd used his claws and opened up wounds on himself without really realizing it. Judy saw it though and went to stop him and he'd reacted without thinking, clawing her cheek. He remembered even now that she hadn't really reacted to what he'd done. There was no anger, no sadness, no expression at all. Instead she'd told him that she would keep the marks as a reminder to the both of them. And she did as she'd said, there were still places of fur that hadn't completely grown back yet and while the wounds had closed by then, scar tissue had been what covered it instead of unmarred skin and fur.
He could still smell the scent of her blood and feel the slice of her flesh with his claws. He could still practically see her blood there on his claws and fingers if he thought about it as he was now.
His teachings had been so wrong from all he had seen of her. Vampires can't cry, they lost the ability when they became monsters. Vampires feel nothing but the most unholy of emotions like rage and lust and most of all the desire to kill. Vampires are manipulators of the mind and will have you do as they wish, many times erasing the memory of the act so the victim never knows.
And yet Judy had been in tears. She felt real sorrow, guilt, and hatred. And she had never manipulated his mind.
There was a way to tell if one had been succumbed to that kind of trickery. Losing time that one couldn't remember. A big chunk of their day or night that they couldn't recall. If they tried, they were rewarded with a massive headache. Or there was what happened to Renato, who remembered everything, but knew something wasn't right as it was so far from what they would normally do. The only times Nick had done so was when his mind was arguing with itself and when that succubus came around.
She'd had him in a vulnerable place then, she could have killed both him and the succubus that night and he wouldn't have known. But she didn't. She'd killed the demon and then became angry with him because he'd fallen for the snare. She could have taken over his mind which had been vulnerable, but didn't. She could have drained him, but she didn't do that either. There were many things she could have done, but didn't do. There were many times throughout their time together she could have done to him but didn't too, she was stronger than him and it would have been nothing for her. She wouldn't even have broken a sweat as he'd seen that first night. Yet here he was, alive and out here to catch fish to fill his empty stomach.
The reminder of what he was there to do made his thoughts come to a stop for the time being so he could focus on his task. There were plenty of fish that he could see in there and he'd already caught one by accident. Now he had to focus and get more.
Nick returned to the church about an hour later and over his shoulder was a haul of fish ranging from big to medium sized. They were dangling in place from a long piece of cloth which he'd ripped from his shirt. A shirt he could now no longer wear with it in tatters which left his chest exposed and wet as was the rest of him thanks to a fall he took into the pond when he tried to catch a cheeky fish that kept swimming just out of reach. He'd finally caught the annoying thing, but was sopping wet when he got out of the water. Now his pants clung to his legs and his jacket hung dripping around him. Judy couldn't resist cracking a joke at his expense when she saw him.
"What happened? Did you forget you are supposed to catch them from the bank?"
Nick rolled his eyes as he pulled the string of fish from his shoulder and shook himself out after setting them down and getting on all fours. Some of the water must have hit Judy going by her sounds of complaint from where she sat. As he was lifting himself up to sit up and start gutting the fish she was right beside him and took one of his paws in her inquisitively. He knew what she was looking at before she even had to say anything.
"Fish blood," he assured her and showed her the fish he'd accidentally sank his claws into before. The tears in it's body were easily longer and deeper than any of the others he'd caught with his claws.
He watched as she relaxed and it became clear she'd become worried by the scent of blood. He continued to watch as she lifted that paw higher and licked the blood off though she made a face as she did. He wanted to make a joke about whether or not it tasted fishy to her, but he refrained when he thought beyond his snark. She'd just licked fish blood off his paw. It was then he remembered she hadn't fed herself for a bit.
"You are hungry."
It wasn't a question, it was a statement. And because of the barrier she couldn't leave to feed herself. That left one other option, the only warm blooded mammal in her company.
"Nick.."
She looked up, meeting his eyes and again he saw reluctance shining through. She didn't protest besides speaking his name, but that was because she knew she had to do it just like he did. Past that reluctance he also saw a deeply rooted sadness, a sadness that made him wonder what else she had gone through. He knew that she hadn't told him everything about her past yet. And he also knew that, that much sadness wasn't because she didn't want to take from him.
"Judy, you can not leave the barrier and you need to feed yourself."
They both knew he made a good point. But when she sighed in defeat, he knew he gotten through to her. When she lowered his paw and released it, he thought that she was going to refuse and made to say something about it. But then she moved around him and placed her paws on his shoulders and he knew what she was doing. She was choosing to take what she needed from his neck. That made sense, since it made for a stronger blood flow. He tilted his head to the side to give her easier access to his neck, focusing his eyes on one of the ruined walls of the church.
"I really do not want to do this.." she said even as he felt more pressure as she started to lean down.
"I know, but you have to," he replied.
And because they both knew that to be the truth he felt her sigh once again, making his cheek fur rustle a bit. He felt a nuzzle against his shoulder then the press of her lips on his neck and closed his eyes to prepare himself. Unlike before when he had opened a wound himself on his paw to feed her, she would be biting him. It made his instincts as a priest and as a predator want to throw her away from him. Letting his neck be exposed to another, more powerful predator was foolish to his instincts, but he held still and waited. He didn't have to wait long before he felt her lips part against his neck and felt the prick of fangs that just barely touched his skin beneath his fur. But still no bite, in fact she pulled back. He was going to protest again but then he felt her brush his fur apart until finally she moved in and there was a sharp pain when his skin was punctured.
He hadn't even had time to wince or even whimper from it before the pain was gone and the feeling of his blood leaving him was no where to be found. Instead pleasure hit him, the likes of which he'd never known. Fiery hot sensation assaulted him sending tingling warmth all through him starting from his neck. It seemed to caress him from the inside, igniting feelings and sensations he didn't know he could feel. It stroked all over him, his neck, shoulders, arms, and even his head. All of the tingling and tickling with none of the annoyance. Only the craving for more. Lust.
He didn't even realize when his paws moved from his sides to grip her hips. But when they did he pulled her down onto his lap with a soft moan as he pressed his neck closer to her mouth and the pleasure made it's way south. She seemed to start a little from his actions and probably from the emerging tent coming up between them but didn't seem to mind beyond that. Instead a moan of her own escaped and was muffled again his neck while the vibrations of the sound went all through him. In response his claws dug into her hips just enough to go through her dress and barely prick against her skin. It made him want to bite her back and arch into her.
He was about to do just that too, but then pleasure the started to come to a stop. He still got jolts when he felt the wet press of her tongue on his neck, making him jump in pleasure each time. But soon all that was left was a haze of what had been and a dazed state of mind. He didn't really know she was trying to get his attention until she yelled at him.
"Nick snap out of it!"
The daze was still there, but in spite of that his eyes focused onto her and her concerned expression. What was sure worried about? She'd just made him feel incredible. Like nothing he had ever felt before. Not even the succubus had-
His eyes got wide at that and the last of the daze was gone in a flash. That sensation.. He had let himself get lost in it again, had allowed his lust to rise up and all while he was feeding a vampire with his own blood! How and why had he enjoyed that? Had he really started to think that she was different? Clearly she wasn't. She was just as vile as all the rest, the evidence was right in front of him. Never would he feel like that on his own, she had caused it and all through her unholy means of feeding herself.
"You need to eat, Nick. I should have had you eat before I did that in fact."
He knew that she was vile, every last one of his teachings had said the same thing. What he had just experienced had proven that. Hadn't Renato said he'd felt something similar when he was bitten? And he knew that the succubus had done that to him. But the difference there was that the demon had taken control of him while he was asleep. Judy had fed on him and caused an even more powerful reaction when he was awake. But she hadn't wanted to do it, he had talked her into feeding from him. She was surely trying to confuse him.
AC: That's all for this chapter folks~ Sorry it's short. This chapter just felt complete to me where it is. I hope the preview for the next one makes up for it. Happy reading~ I'll see you next time~!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and OC's. T^T
PREVIEW:
"Why should I trust a fox, how do I know you did not sic it on me?!"
What the mammal said made Nick frown. Even now after all this time he was still seen as lesser just because he was a fox. He didn't look very priest like without a shirt and while wearing damp boots, pants, and a coat. But the insignia on said coat should have been more than enough to show the truth to him. Still, the vulpine said nothing. But then, he didn't have to.
"If you are wary of a fox saving you then how would you feel about about another vampire assisting you?"