Stranger than Fiction

Author's note: To those of you who've been following this story, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. I have a new job, and up till now what little free time I've had has been spent sleeping, due to the weird schedule they've got me on.

I had just finished with chapter six of this story when I rented Beetleborgs Metallix and learned that after Vexor was defeated, the beetleborgs would lose their powers. That was something I didn't know about when I had started this story, so lets just assume that Flabber let them keep their powers this time around, kay? ^_^ By the way, this chapter is a little bit racy, so read at your own risk. I'm not trying to offend anyone, and even though there isn't sex in it, there almost is, so please forgive me. This website's really been cracking down on risqué material, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Believe me, I'm trying to be as tasteful as possible with such a sensitive subject, meaning no dirty slang, or graphic images, and few curse words. If you're easily offended, just skip this chapter and read the next one when it's posted. Please don't complain about it or report me, since I don't think it's very explicit and doesn't need reporting, and since I've given you fair warning. This story is rated R for a reason. Well, now that I'm finished my little bout of booty kissing, I guess that's about it. You've been warned! ;P

Chapter 7

Jo reluctantly broke the kiss, and scrubbed the tears from Fangula's cheeks with her thumbs. She lowered her eyes, and crossed her arms self-consciously over her breasts. Why had she done that?

"Jo?" Fang asked in a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"No." he said firmly, lifting her chin with his finger. "Don't be sorry, Jo. It was…the most wonderful thing I've ever experienced."

She shivered at that last whispered phrase, and as if they were crafted of magnet instead of flesh, their lips met again. The vampire growled softly, pulling her close as the kiss deepened, and parting her soft pink lips with his tongue. Jo felt something beginning to poke into her at waist level, and she blushed when she realized what it was. Instead of pushing him away, she grasped his buttocks and kissed him even more fervently. She wanted…needed…

How she ended up with her back against a tree she never figured out, but there she was, with the iron hardness of his sex pressing urgently against her lower abdomen. His hips gave an involuntary buck as her hands tightened their grip. She uttered a strange, catlike growl and pressed hard on his groin with her own, grinding herself against him. He felt the first real twinges of sexual pleasure, and he knew that soon it was going to be too late to walk away from this. She reached for his belt, and he grabbed her hands and shook his head no. "Jo!" he gasped, propping his chin on her shoulder and ignoring the roughness of tree bark on his forehead. "If we're going to stop, it has to be now!"

"Do…do you want to stop?" she asked, equally breathless.

"You know I don't," he told her, nuzzling her neck and resisting his urge to bite, "but…"

"What?" she asked.

"If we do this, you might conceive." He told her, trying to reason with her and himself.

"I don't…" she began, but she did care.

"We're not ourselves." He said as firmly as he could.

She sidestepped, and he was left leaning against the tree. It wasn't just the sex he wanted; he wanted her! He wanted her more than anything, wanted to have her as his wife, and he knew that he couldn't have her. Supposing he did give in, and she did conceive a child. A half-breed, vampire/human child that didn't belong anywhere. He knew stories that she didn't, stories that always ended in death or heartbreak. And she would blame him for it.

"Fang, what is it?" she asked. She had called him Fang, not Fangula.

"We can't." he whispered.

"What?"

"We can't!" he told her. "It's a spell, remember? Have you forgotten that if it's broken we'll have to live with everything we do right now?"

She sighed, and shook her head. "I…I almost did…forget. But I…damn it!" she kicked a stone, and he jumped at the sound and turned to look at her. She had her hands up, covering her face. Was she? Yes, she was crying. Almost silently, with the occasional chuff of a sob as she drew breath. He felt his heart being squeezed in his chest, and against his better judgment he took her in his arms.

"What…what did we almost do!" she sobbed, enjoying his embrace more than she should have. Instead of answering her, he focused his attentions on moving his hand up and down, stroking her back. He still wanted sex, as undoubtedly she did too, but the shame of his unnatural desire was enough to curb it. He would not get so close to giving in again. "Oh, God!" she cried, "What did we almost do!"

"Shhh," he kissed her head, "It's not your fault, my lo…Jo. It's not our fault. Whoever did this will regret it, I'll see to that." He held her until she had calmed down some, feeling ashamed of himself for letting it get this far. He had hurt her by pushing her away, but they both knew that he had just saved them from themselves.

"We will. We'll both make them pay." She sniffled, and looked up at him. "You know…I think I've never seen you before."

"Hmm?" he frowned in confusion.

"I knew, when I was a kid, that you had your good moments, but…You know, I think that even without the spell, I could have loved you."

"Jo?" he shook his head, not comprehending.

"Vampire or not, and I don't mean that in a bad way, you're a good person. I remember times when you were nice and didn't have to be. And what you did just now, stopping us from making what might have been a terrible mistake. I wouldn't have been able to."

He cleared his throat. "Well, I…You said so yourself, you're inexperienced. When you are, sometimes it is hard to stop, or to even know when to stop. If…if you don't mind…have you…"

She smiled. "No, I haven't." she stopped herself from saying 'yet.' "Have you?" she asked.

He snorted. "I was married once, Jo. Of course I have, though it wasn't by choice." He added quickly, seeing the hurt blossoming on her face like a bruise, "It was an arranged marriage that ended shortly after it began when my wife was staked."

"By you?" Jo asked.

"Of course not! It was another Nussbaum incident. I had…relations…with her because it was expected. It's as simple as that."

"You didn't love her?" Jo asked, feeling the slightest bit bitchy for being glad of it.

"I didn't even like her. She was a spoiled rich woman who always got what she wanted. She didn't like me either, but I was her piece of…her husband." He corrected himself, and actually colored a bit in his embarrassment. "I know it's a terrible thing to say, but there it is. I don't blame you if you think I'm a jerk for saying it. Sometimes I think so."

"Why?" she asked, though she didn't agree with the way he spoke of his dead wife.

"Well, a man ought to love his wife, don't you think?"

"Yes." She nodded, "But if you didn't want to marry her in the first place, how could you be expected to? If she was killed so quickly after you married her, you didn't even have the time to get to love her."

"No…though, it would have taken a looong time!" he smirked weakly.

"Was she really that bad?"

"She slapped my face on a regular basis." He replied. Without knowing why, Jo reached up to caress that face, and he closed his eyes and breathed deep. Her scent was intoxicating. He felt himself stirring again, and he mentally willed it to go down, but it seemed to have a mind of its own. "Jo…" he warned, but she only had to look into his eyes and he was a goner. He found himself kissing her again, and before he could stop her, she brushed his most sensitive place with the back of her hand. "Nng!" he groaned, his eyes glowing like fire. He nuzzled her neck again, and he couldn't stop himself this time. "Mine." He growled softly, sinking the tips of his fangs into her neck. It was not a deep, feeding bite; those were always aimed at a major artery. He had merely marked her. Marked her as his own. His mate. His wife to be. He found that he no longer cared…until she whimpered quietly.

"Ow…Fang, you…promised…"

He had promised, but it was too late. The bite wouldn't turn her into a vampire, but she would be linked to him forever. She fainted in his arms, and he lowered her to the ground, frantically trying to wake her.

"Jo? Jo! What have I done? Jo! Josephine! Jooooooo!"

That was how Drew found them, her out cold, and him sobbing in panic and shame as he tried to bring her around.

Drew shoved the vampire back so that he fell in a heap, and knelt beside his sister. "Jo!" he shook her, and her head lolled to one side. Then he saw the marks. Two tiny puncture wounds that bled very little but were none the less noticeable. His eyes widened, and he checked her for a pulse, sighing in relief when he found it to be not only present, but strong.

Fangula, meanwhile, had gotten to his feet and was trying to stifle his sobs with his hand. Through his haze of tears he was able to see a vague watery shape rushing at him a second before a fist connected with his gut.

"You son of a bitch, you bastard! You…" blow after blow landed as the vampire tumbled to the ground, hardly making an effort to protect himself.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he sobbed incoherently, curling into a ball and tucking his head in.

"Not as sorry as you'll be when I'm through, you fucker!" Drew snarled, wishing that he had his sister's super strength a he delivered blow after blow.

"Stop it!" shouted a feminine voice, and the next thing Drew knew he was rolling in the dirt with the breath knocked out of him. "Fang! You okay? You all right?"

Jo put her arms around Fangula, and he gratefully sat up and returned the embrace. He wept bitterly, keeping his hand over his mouth as if to keep himself from biting her again.

"It's okay, don't cry…" she cooed, rocking him. This wasn't because Drew had just beaten the tar out of him; this was because he had bitten her. They were only little wounds, but he had broken his promise in making them; not only that, but a vampire's mark meant no straying. If the spell was ever broken, she would still be bound to him whether or not she wanted to be. He had, in essence, committed the vile sin of rape.

Drew couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Jo, what are you doing? The bastard bit you!"

Jo curbed her anger. Drew had only tried to protect her, and he didn't know what was going on. She couldn't blame him for attacking Fangula. "It's not his fault, Drew. Someone cast a love spell on us. He couldn't help it, and if it's anyone's fault it's mine. I let him get close to me, and…I guess I didn't do much to stop him. In fact, if it weren't for him, things really could have gotten out of hand. Please, don't blame him. It's not his fault."

"But…but…" Drew searched for the words, but they wouldn't come, and he found himself beginning to feel like a heel. Fangula really was upset over what he had done, and since meeting Flabber and seeing what the phasm could do, Drew found that it wasn't hard to believe in love spells. But Flabber wouldn't do that…would he?

Fangula was still crying. Those tears had to be real. Jo couldn't make him stop; in fact, it had only gotten worse when she had embraced him. He kept insisting that it was his fault, that she didn't know what it meant, and that he never should have come. Drew approached them, and put a hand on his shoulder. "No!" the vampire cried, leaning away from the other man's hand.

"Easy, I'm not gonna hit you again. Calm down. If my sister says it isn't your fault, then I believe her." Fangula stared at him in disbelief, and Jo smiled. "Now quit crying, it won't help. Suck it up, and let's go see Flabber. He'll know what to do about this." Drew's voice was firm and commanding, and Fangula was shocked into silence. The vampire allowed Drew to help him to his feet.

"I'm sorry." he said again.

Drew nodded, and replied, "I'm sorry too."