A/N: This chapter is the one responsible for the rating. If you are underage, don't say I didn't warn you. If you don't like it, this chapter is the only reason it's rated M so just skip this chapter.

A/N #2: Please R&R: Don't be nice; just be honest.

Mayerling had found out his bride's name was Charlotte and, throughout their travels, said it constantly. She always smiled at him as he did this, which made him do it more and more. Her smiles were what he lived for now, so much so that if she had asked him to stop drinking blood out of the stocked fridge in their carriage, he would have if only to see the smile restored to her face. So the more she smiled, even if he knew her smiles were ones of amused love at his saying her name so often, the more he said it.

Finally, one day, she kissed him. The action so startled him that he held her back until he could get his bearings, wondering if she knew what she was doing. It was not often that a vampire and a human fell in love as they now were. It was even rarer that they kissed as passionately as Charlotte had just kissed him. He knew what she wanted of him and this was extremely rare between human and vampire. He had never done it with a human before. But then she had never done it at all.

Slowly, cautiously, he tugged her back to sit on his lap and returned the kiss. She turned to straddle him and returned his passionate kisses. He felt his fangs lengthen and his member stand up and moaned, hugging her against him and sliding his hands up inside her dress, one around the small of her back, the other moving up to undo her corset. She moaned too, leaning against his body to grant him better access to the garment.

"Are you sure you want this, Charlotte?" he asked once the corset was off.

"Yes, Mayerling," she answered, kissing his hand and unbuttoning his coat at the same time. When her hand danced across his skin, he picked her up, easing her down into his fine coffin, holding her light form with the fingertips of one hand while unlacing her dress with his other. By the time he had unlaced her dress, she had him miraculously out of his shirt. He laughed, eyes dancing with mischief as he kissed her again then let a soft, possessive growl escape his lips. He was pleased to see that his growl this time did not scare her the same way it had done the last time he had attempted to joke with her. Instead, her laughed told him she found it funny, too.

He let his fingers explore her bank, while his lips explored her neckline. She did not scream as she had the last time his lip had been there – he felt his pulse speed just remembering it – nor did she even flinch; that is, until his lip found the sensual point just under her ear. She shivered then, though her smile informed him she liked it, and put her arms around his neck to pull him close. He nibbled her neck with his lips, and she gasped, pulling him onto her and seeking his own lips with hers.

They fell to kissing each other, and she began to nibble-kiss his neck and ears. He found it incredible and was soon trembling himself. When he was sure he could bear it no longer, her hands began dancing through his hair. He moaned, hunger warring with sexual desire so strongly that he must satisfy one or the other. He pulled himself away to shed his pants.

"My love?" she asked, as he unbuttoned them.

He reached back across to pet her hair. "My Charlotte; I am here." He pulled his legs out one at a time so he could maintain contact with her. Then, he climbed back into his coffin and pulled her towards him. "Are you nervous?" he asked, remembering that humans sometimes were.

"No, Mayerling," was her answer. She put her hand behind his head and peered at him again to prove it. Her wide eyes made him smile as he bent to kiss her shoulder. She wrapped a leg around his back, and he laid her back into the coffin…

Afterwards, he gazed into the pre-dawn light as she slept against his chest. "Charlotte," he whispered, still playing with her hair. "Charlotte." He bent to kiss her forehead, still holding her close in her shocking human fragility. "Charlotte, my sweet, I love you."

In her sleep, she traced the outline of his face, smiling.