Warning: this segment contains lemons, oranges, and of course, the deadly apple.
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An hour later, Integra and Mouse walked through the doors of her home.
"Home again, home again, Jiggity jig." sang Mouse, as she hung up Integra's coat.
"Mouse, I'm going to the firing range." said Integra, heading towards the back grounds.
"Of course, you are." quipped Mouse, knowing that Integra wanted to play with her new toy. "Wouldn't you like to get some sleep first? It has been a long day."
"I'll sleep tomorrow." said Integra.
"Welcome home, master." greeted Alucard.
Integra looked for him. He was sitting on the stairs of the main hall, waiting for her. He stood as he greeted her.
"Did you enjoy the party?" he asked slyly.
"Yes, I did actually." smiled Integra wickedly, remembering the events of the evening. "Oh, by the way, thank you for my birthday present."
"You're welcome, master." he said with a princely bow.
Integra raised an eyebrow at him. He was up to something.
"I feel we should talk about this inscription though." she said, firmly.
"Oh, but of course. How about over dinner?" he asked, offering her his arm.
"Did you cook for me?" asked Integra, playfully.
"Heh, no. I have servants for that. Mouse's little Ricotans are very useful when properly motivated." said Alucard, with a toothy grin.
"You didn't hurt them, did you?" asked Mouse, more a warning than a question.
"No." said Alucard. "I didn't have to. I simply told them that I wanted to surprise Integra with a birthday dinner and they did the rest for me."
"And just what did you have them do?" asked Integra, curious, but worried.
Alucard smiled.
"Mouse, go play." he ordered. "Be back by sunup."
Mouse leered at him.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." chuckled Mouse.
Integra watched as Mouse transformed back into her street clothes and then disappear.
Alucard smiled.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"No." said Integra, with a suspicious grin.
"Close your eyes anyway."
Integra did so. Alucard took her by the hand and led her outside. Integra could feel the cold night air race over her skin. With her eyes closed, her other senses were trying to compensate. She could hear music playing in the distance, something by Enigma. She could smell fresh baked bread. She could almost taste the meat as her mouth watered in anticipation. She could feel Alucard's hand in hers. Just what is he up to?
Suddenly, Alucard stopped. Integra's curiosity was running wild as she could feel Alucard standing behind her. She could feel his hands on hers as he said…
"O.k. Open your eyes."
"Oh, my god." uttered Integra.
"Welcome to wonderland, Alice."
Integra's eyes went wide in awe. Her entire back yard had been made to look like the Mad Hatter's tea party. The passage walkway was lined with white Christmas lights, red and white rose bushes also dotted the path to the Mad Hatter's house. The tea party table had been set for dinner, for two. Integra smiled and shook her head.
"Some men make girls dreams come true. You, you make their nightmares come true."
Alucard chuckled. He knew Integra. She was not like other girls, not by a long shot. Alucard escorted Integra to her seat and Integra sat down. No sooner had Alucard sat down, than seven Ricotans dressed as black and red playing cards went around the table. They set plates of food and drink before both of them and then they left. Integra looked at her plate and raised an eyebrow.
"Tomato soup for you. O positive for me." he said, holding up his glass and toasting Integra.
"Happy Birthday, Integra Hellsing."
Alucard and Integra had indulged themselves with dinner and dancing. Alucard smiled inwardly. Integra was graceful, proud, strong, intelligent, beautiful, and willful. Everything his mate should be, and yet she had turned his offer down repeatedly. She was still clinging to that shallow, unfulfilling, mortal existence. He growled.
"How about a game?" he asked.
"What kind of game?" she asked warily.
Her father had always said vampires were very cunning enemies. So what kind of game (that didn't involve shooting) would Alucard play?
"A game of all or nothing." he challenged.
Alucard escorted her deeper into the maze garden. There, at the garden's center, laid a field of black and white marble tiles. Upon the outermost tiles sat the chess pieces. The black players were zombies, vampires, werewolves and vampires. The white players were Hellsing Organization soldiers. Each player was at least six feet tall and made of die cast metal.
"Mouse's toys?" asked Integra, stepping up and inspecting one of the Hellsing Organization pawns.
"You know Mouse. She loves to play." smiled Alucard.
"Come on, Alucard. Make a move." demanded Integra, impatiently.
"I'm thinking." said Alucard, as he stared at the board.
"Think faster. I could sit here and rot at the pace your moving." taunted Integra.
"I can remedy that." said Alucard, still looking at the board. "All you have to do it say yes to me. Then we can sit here and play chess until the end of time."
"Don't change the subject. Just move."
Alucard smiled as he moved his piece closer to her queen. Integra studied the board. Alucard was as proud vampire, and he also hated to lose. However, he also had a one track mind. Could she distract him with her queen? That is want he wants. Integra smiled inwardly, but her "poker face" remained. She made her move.
"Sacrificing your Queen? Is that wise?" asked Alucard.
"As long as I take your king, her sacrifice will not be in vein."
"Don't be so reckless, Sir." said Alucard, as her took her queen. "Now you are mine."
"Concern for the lives of my men, I'm touched. However, as I have said, as long as I can take your king…Check." beamed Integra, sitting back in her chair and waiting for his next move.
Alucard looked the board over. He had her queen, but a mere pawn was threatening his king. He could take the pawn, but then her knight would take him. Alucard smiled, his fangs showing.
"Clever, very clever."
Alucard studied the field. To be trapped twice by a Hellsing was a great blow to his ego. But unlike last time, this trap he would escape.
"Surrender, Alucard. I have you."
"No. I'm not dead yet."
"Yes, you are; and have been for at least 500 years. Now, yield to me." she demanded.
"No!"
Integra jumped out of her chair, walked onto the playing field, took a sword from one of her knights, and started walking towards Alucard's king.
"You'd better stop me." she challenged, with an evil grin. "Because I'm coming for you."
Alucard smiled and relished this new challenge. First, he sent his zombies (pawns) after her. One by one, she cut them down. Their broken limbs scattered across the field. Having destroyed all his pawns, she continued on. Alucard then sent his knights and bishops to stop her. They fought harder. Two against one was unfair, yes; but he was testing her. However, Integra was not one to be stopped so easily once she was set on a course of action. Not having the strength to beat them both, she used her cunning to get them to fight each other. The knight and bishop destroyed each other and again, Integra advanced.
"Marvelous, simple marvelous." snarled Alucard.
Knights, bishops, rookes, and pawns, all destroyed. Only Alucard's king and queen remained. The broken pieces of her opponents lay scattered across the field of war.
"You know, Mouse is going to be mad that you broke all her toys." teased Alucard.
He then sent his queen to face Integra. Integra stopped when she saw Mouse's face. She remembered her promise and hesitated. A mistake that almost cost her the match. Mouse swung her blade at Integra's head. Integra's reflexes were truly fast. She moved more out of physical training than conscious thought. She blocked Mouse's blow. Integra glanced at Alucard. That rotten bastard was laughing at her. He was counting on the fact that she wouldn't be able to fight Mouse. Not after what had happened eight months ago. But this was not Mouse. This was just one of her toys.
"You will not stop me." said Integra, with intent and purpose in her eyes.
"And I will not let you kill my father." said the Toy Mouse.
"Oh, he's good." commented Integra
Alucard was trying to psyche her out.
"But I will win." swore Integra.
Alucard laughed with delight at the thrill of the fight between Integra and Mouse. His blood raged within him as he had watched Integra destroy all who stood before her to reach this point. Never before had a human given his so much …amusement. Unfortunately, for him this toy imitation of Mouse could not compare with the real Mouse and Integra soon defeated it. Alucard frowned his king was in danger. He was in danger. He disappeared from his chair and reappeared in front of Integra, as she swung to kill his king. Integra stopped, the blade mere inches from Alucard's throat. She smiled.
"Yield to me." she commanded.
"No. Join me." he countered.
"Never."
Alucard grabbed Integra's wrist and forced her to turn around. He now held Integra tight against him; her sword touching her throat. He held her tighter as she struggled to get free.
"Let me go, Alucard."
"Yield to me. Say yes to my offer. Just think of what we could do. Just think of what our child could do." he whispered, in her ear.
Integra stopped struggling.
"Our child?"
"The last child I sired became Mouse. Mouse is a warrior and a leader of warriors. Look at her Ricotans, her clan and loyal subjects. She is queen of her people." said Alucard.
Integra thought about Mouse. She and her Ricotans ran England, financially as well as physically, like a well organized Mafia. There wasn't anything that Mouse couldn't find out, buy, or have happen. If Mouse had ever set her mind to it, Integra did not doubt for one second, that she could take England.
"Your child rules England. But our child could rule the world." spoke Integra, as if she could actually see it happening.
"He or She would rule and rule well. There would be nothing that could stop them." he said.
Suddenly, Integra saw a vision of the vampire child she and Alucard would create. With the Ricotans behind him, he set his Army against England and took it. He ruled England with an iron hand as Alucard had done Romania. All major crimes were punishable by death, minor crimes by public flogging. If you did not work, you did not eat. If you could not gain employment, you worked back breaking blue collar jobs. England prospered and grew under his rule, but it was a dark existence. People lived not in hope, but in fear. Those that rebelled paid with not only their lives, but the lives of their families.
There were no vampires, no vampires, no werewolves, no creatures that went bump in the night, but there was also no joy, no love, no hope and no future. Furthermore, their son was not content on just ruling England. He soon turned his attention toward Europe and then Asia. Like so many before him, Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great; their son ruled the known world. Integra broke from Alucard's embrace.
"No. I can't. I will not become your queen." said Integra.
"WHY! Why do you still cling to your humanity? They sacrifice you like a pawn. They bid you fight and you fight. They bid you marry and they choose your mate. They take all and give you nothing! And yet you still refuse me! I only want to keep them from ever hurting you again." growled Alucard, in anger.
"This is not about you!" yelled Integra. "This is about me. I have thought about your offer; long and hard, over these many years. But I can not in good conscious just abandon my faith, nor my father's memory. I was raised a Hellsing. I inherited this duty. Now I must fulfill it. As an heir to the legacy of light, I can not cross the boundary into your world. I must fulfill my duty to my God and my country."
"You and your damned sensibility! You hide behind your family and your duty because it is easier to do so than to face it!" he shouted.
"Face what?" she asked softy, knowing full well that there was little about her that he did not know.
"Your own desires." he said.
Integra steeped back, away from him and turned. She did not want to face him. She did not want him to be right.
"For once in your life, admit it. What do you want?" he asked.
It was 30 minutes before Integra spoke again.
"Alucard. I've decided." said Integra, tuning to face him.
Alucard waited.
"Tomorrow, I will become James Wellington's fiancé. But tonight, I am still free chose the man I want."
"And what do you want?" pressed Alucard.
"I know what you want because it is what I want. I have given you my blood, now I offer you my body. But you must not take my life." answered Integra.
Alucard raised an eyebrow. Was she really serious?
"I am serious. Will you accept my terms of surrender?"
"No." said Alucard, folding his arms. "You are doing this just to spite them. You will regret this in the morning."
"I am not and I will not." said Integra, standing strong. "You asked me to admit it and I have. You asked me what I wanted and I have told you. Will you do this for me? "
Just then the moon appeared from behind the clouds and shone down on her. Alucard was hypnotized by her angelic grace and beauty. He took her in his arms, lifted her chin, and looked into her eyes. A man could drown within her eyes. He had known and respected her strength of character, but this was a new found admiration. In the end, it was he that had surrendered to her
"Yes." he answered.
Alucard lifted her chin, looked into her eyes, and kissed her. His cool lips were like placing an ice cube to your lips. The chilling tingle only fired her desire, a desire that she had long ignored. She returned his kiss and made demands of his lips, as if trying to steal his strength from him. He sat down in a chair, facing the table, and placed Integra in his lap, so that she was straddling him. Integra entangled her right hand in his jet black hair as she kissed him. Alucard's hands coursed over her back and unzipped her dress. He slipped her dress down over her shoulders. Integra looked into Alucard's eyes. They were red as blood red rubies, but held an unusual and ghostly luster. Everything about him was so dark and mysterious. Maybe that's why she was so drawn to him. He was a forbidden adventure, and she couldn't wait to explore him. Alucard moved her thickblonde hair, which simmered in this light, from her shoulders and exposed her neck. Integra's neck was strong and shapely. In it he could see her blood flowing through her veins. Oh, to drink from her neck again. Integra could never know the delight that she had given to him, by allowing him to feed from her. But tonight, he hoped to repay her one hundred fold.
Alucard ran his tongue down her neck, to her shoulder's edge, and back again. Integra sighed under his touch. He ran his hands over her back and down her spine. The deep scars had been completely healed now for years, but they still spoke of her trial by fire in combat. She arched towards him and laid her head upon his shoulder, as he softly stroked each wound.
Alucard caressed her skin. He firmly held her with his left hand as he gently glided the index finger of his right hand over her old wounds. Memories, so many memories were stored in each one.
"He has such strong hands." thought Integra.
Integra's skin savored the attention that Alucard gave it. Integra leaned back, giving Alucard room to work. He was very careful of his fangs and would not let them touch her. Sensations of lust and desire, long dormant and forgotten, rose to the surface like ebbing lava seeking escape from the center of the earth. Integra moaned with contentment and passion each time his tongue touched her.
Integra sat up and looked at Alucard, his intense eyes and his wicked smile. She kissed his lips and took off his top coat. Alucard watched with anticipation as Integra undressed him. Next, she removed his tie and then his vest. Alucard lifted her chin and kissed her. Integra smiled and undid one button of his white dress shirt. This game of a kiss for a button continued until his shirt lay on the ground next to his vest and coat. They resumed kissing, stroking, and exploring each other.
Unlike her skin, Alucard's skin was soft and smooth to the touch. One of the benefits of being a vampire was the ability to regenerate. Though he too had fought many, many battles, he had none of the scars. His skin showed no signs of ever having known war. Integra ran her hands over his shoulders, down his chest and around his waist. His well defined body was cool to the touch. She could hear his sighs of desire as she caressed him. Integra moved closer to Alucard, allowing their bodies to touch. Integra gasped as she could feel the difference in temperature between their bodies. Alucard could feel Integra's beating heart, as if it was his, faster and faster. He could sense her warm blood rushing through her veins. This stirred something within him that had lain sleeping for over 300 years. His own bloodlust was beginning to stir, starting to awaken.
"Do you want continue?" he whispered, seductively in her ear.
"Oh, yes." she answered.
"Then I think we should move this to your bedroom."
Alucard, took her in his arms, and disappeared.
"Everything you are. Everything you'll be. Touches the current of love, So deep in me. Every sigh in the night. Every tear that you cry. Seduces me. All that I am and All that I'll be; Means nothing at all, If you can't be with me. Your most innocent kiss. Or your sweetest caress,
Seduces me. I don't care about tomorrow. I've given up on yesterday. Here and now is all that matters. Right here with you is where I'll stay. Everything in this world. Every voice in the night. Every little thing of beauty, Comes shining thru in your eyes. And all that is you becomes part of me too, 'Cause all you do seduces me. And if I should die tomorrow, I'd go down with a smile on my face. I thank God I've ever known you, I fall down on my knees, For all the love we've made.
Every sigh in the night. Every tear that you cry. Seduces me seduces me. All that you do , .. Seduces me."
Integra said nothing, because she had passed out. Alucard smiled as Integra lay exhausted, from her sensuous rapture. The blissful smile on her face his reward. Integra was indeed as strong woman. She had survived his bloodlust. He gently kissed her lips as she slept.
Suddenly, Alucard's skin began to burn. He looked towards the window and growled his annoyance. The sun had risen and was now seeking to destroy him for what he had done. Alucard went to the window, keeping to the shadows, and closed the huge drapes.
"No, not today. Not even you will drive me from her side today."
Now protected from the sun, Alucard returned to Integra's side. He slid into her bed and took her into his arms. He held her close to him, her exceedingly warm body felt so good to him. He had been so cold for so long. He didn't know why he said it, but he did. It was just something that had to be voiced to be real.
"I love you, Integra Hellsing. And I promise, I will never leave you."
Pleasantly tired and exhausted, Alucard let sleep claim him.
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Note: the song "Seduces Me" by Celine Dion.
to Amry: Mouse is a singer. Its what she loves most. But I will tone them down. Also, i use songs to cover up "R" rated stuff. Like the last scene with Alucard and Integra. What i wrote between them was completely unsuitable for FANFICTION audiences, so you get a song instead. And thanks for reviewing me. Reviews give me ideas and tell me how well, or how poorly i'm doing. And if you make a GOOD point, I will change.
to All My Reviewers: Thanks.