D broke the surface of the water as silently as he entered. The swim relieved most of the energy burning through him, the cold water doing wonders curing the desire that thrummed through him almost constantly. He'd keep them close to the river from now on, if just to give himself some relief.

She should have rebound her wounds by now, he mused, keeping his hand submerged. He was still in no mood for its taunts. An image of Leila flashed through his mind, the soft curve of her breasts as he bound her wounds, the smell of her blood as it pulsed beneath his hands. He could see her beneath him, writhing as he thrust into her, his fangs teasing the delicate skin of her breast, screaming his name in the night. It would be so sweet to take her, to feel those warm, well-muscled thighs at his waist, to pin her hands above her head as he pushed into her harder, faster.

A dull, warm pleasure/pain in his gums brought D out of his thoughts. His fangs were fully distended, upper and lower. He was hard despite the cold of the river, his flesh straining. The dhampir forced himself to calm down, willed his fangs to retract. Perhaps he would stay here longer, until he had himself under control again.

A sound at the river bank made him turn. Leila was standing there, her knife gleaming at her feet. She was looking directly at him, but seemed to be far away; her large, emerald eyes dilated so that only the barest sliver of blue showed at the edges. The wind shifted and he could smell her arousal, felt it claw at him. His gums ached, the sharp tips of his fangs digging into his tongue.

There was something…wrong… with her. She didn't move, didn't speak, only stared at him with that far away expression. His own scent was near palpable, swirling over the water and wrapping itself around his prey.

This isn't her, he told himself. It's a response to the pheromones pouring off you in waves. She doesn't even know what she's doing. As he watched she smiled, a soft, sweet smile, and the blanket she wore dropped to the ground, followed by her gun belt. Her scent increased, drowning him as she stepped into the pool, not even flinching from the cold.

D was frozen. A small part of him remembered the tales his mother told him, of wood nymphs and water sprites that could entrance with their very presence. Leila was in front of him; the water lapping at her stomach, her wound an angry slash across her porcelain skin. She reached up, hand caressing his cheek as she leaned into him.

He moved without thinking. D's hand closed around hers, pulling it away from his face. He focused on not breathing, on pushing her away, even as his body called out for hers. Slowly, her look of dazed rapture began to ebb, replaced by confusion. Her pupils constricted, from large orbs to sharp points almost lost in the blue of her eyes.

Leila didn't know what happened. The last thing she remembered was standing on the bank, realizing that the fish she was hunting was actually her dhampir companion. Now she was standing in the middle of the pool, a cold, unyielding pressure wrapped around one hand. Her eyes followed the odd hills and hollows of the wall in front of her up to a face, a familiar face. D was staring down at her, eyes glowing in the darkness. The tips of his fangs glimmered. "Wha-"

He stepped away from her and dropped her hand.

"I'm sorry." That's all the dhampir said before he was gone.

Leila's hands flew to her throat, but she could feel no punctures there, nothing to indicate that she'd been bitten.

"Now that was almost entertaining."

"Shut up."

"Oh, come on. There she was, naked, shining, a fluorescent beacon that just screamed 'take me, please take me!' And what do you do? You walk away. Your father-"

"Silence, or I'll cut you off and keep you in my saddlebag until we reach Harbor Bridge."

D had done it before, when the symbiote teased him for being unable to finish a contract. The vampire the town was threatened by was actually a half-breed teen going through the Change: a period in which the bloodlust was painful, the need to hunt undeniable. The girl's mother tried as hard as she could to keep her daughter from hunting, allowing the girl to draw from her until she was near death, but it wasn't enough. In the end, he'd given them money - a portion of the bounty on the girl's head - and told them to leave. The symbiote had had a field day until he was removed.

"Now, no need to be hasty," the normally snide voice was chastised. "I'm just pointing out the fact that you were ready, willing, and able, as was she, and you turned her away. It's not like you can't enjoy a woman without turning her. And you can't tell me you don't want her."

The dhampir didn't stop until he was standing in their small camp. Nothing was disturbed. As he stared into the darkness D scrubbed the water off his skin. After the ice of the pool the cloth was abrasive, leaving a cold burn in its wake. "That has nothing to do with it."

"Then what does?" The creature's face bulged out of his palm again, a sign he was truly annoyed with the half-breed. "You know, you can be happy, if just for a little while. Say, thirty minutes? It wouldn't hurt you, and it wouldn't hurt her. Besides, it's not like you've never-"

Silver flashed through the night, stopping a hair's breadth above his wrist.

"He-hey! Fine! I'm just telling you what you don't want to hear. You know, like a friend would? You want quiet, I'll give you quiet. Just don't think I'll be up to doing anything for a while." With that the face disappeared.

D finished dressing in peace. His sharp ears listening out for Leila. He shouldn't have left her alone, partially dazed and vulnerable, but it was all he could think of. He had to get away before he ended up doing something they would both regret, like throwing her onto the bank and taking what he so desperately wanted. He'd rather not spend the next days wondering if the woman was planning on staking him the moment his back was turned.

His symbiote did have a point though, and that made him rankle more than the creature's never-ending ability to point out his short comings. In a way this was his own fault. When he had to expend his passion he usually used one of the whores common in the larger cities; men and women who knew what they were getting in to, men and women he paid handsomely. Of late, the pleasure he received in their arms had been more fleeting than it was worth, so he stayed away. Unfortunately, that didn't mean his urges went along with them.

You know, you should just hang a sign around your neck that says 'don't even try it, I'm not interested.' It would save us a lot of trouble. The symbiote had told him that on their last job, when no less than ten of the village women, and several of the men, had thought to sneak into his rooms, or corner him in dark alleyways. It was part of his heritage, the ability to incite desire in those around him. Desire that would keep prey coming back for more, even as their bodies failed. Full blooded vampires could control the ability, but as a half-breed his control was imperfect at best, completely lacking at worst. His beauty didn't help matters, either.

The dhampir heard the crunch of foliage as Leila approached and schooled his expression to neutrality. He had apologized to her, left her before anything happened. She could survive her embarrassment.

He kept his eyes down as she entered the camp. The blanket was wrapped around her, the loose material gathered and thrown over her shoulder so her arms were free. Her red outfit was tossed over one shoulder. In her hands she carried a fish as long as her forearm.

Leila didn't say a word as she walked back into camp. What could she say? 'Sorry I threw myself at you, it won't happen again'? Even if she could bring herself to say the words, how would he take them? For all she knew, he might be insulted that she didn't find him attractive.

At least it wasn't a total waste. The fish grazed her leg while she was standing in the pool. Without thinking she reached out and caught it, something she hadn't done since girlhood.

She set about cleaning the fish with single-minded determination, grateful that it gave her something to do. The animal was scaled, gutted, and staked in record time.

Now all she had to do was survive the rest of the night.

Leila moaned as a long, cool tongue trailed its way down her torso, stopping to give each of her nipples a swift lick before continuing on its journey. She couldn't move, couldn't think of anything other than the burning pleasure coursing through her. She tried to look at her lover, but he was obscured, as if a sheer material covered her eyes. What felt like the same material held her hands over her head, and she groaned. She was helpless, laid out before him.

The tongue dipped into her navel before teasing the blond curls just below. Her breath caught, and the man laughed, a deep, throaty sound that made her stomach clench. Rough, long-fingered hands trailed over her breasts, massaging the flesh there before going to her hips, splaying across her stomach.

She arched when the tongue lapped at her core, the sensation taking her breath away. The blond panted as the licks turned to kisses, sharp teeth nipping at her clit. The hands went beneath her thighs, lifting her, holding her open for his assault. She was gasping, crying, pleading, but he wouldn't stop. She screamed when his mouth covered her, his tongue piercing her…

Leila sat up. The camp was quiet, D's mecha-horse standing silent vigil over its owner. The dhampir was asleep, or as asleep as she'd seen him. Hopefully, he didn't know that she'd just had one of the most erotic dreams of her life a few feet away, or that he'd played a central role in that dream.

Not for the first time she wondered how he would react if she insisted they travel during the night. As a hunter, she was used to sleeping the day away when tracking, or watching out for vampire activity. It would be easier on both of them.

She sank back into her bedroll, turning away from the sleeping dhampir. No more dreams, she said to herself, especially if they were like that. If she had just a little less self control, she would go jump on the half-breed and tear his clothes off.

D opened his eyes to slits when he heard Leila turn away from him. For a moment, he feared she would try and come to him, then relaxed when her breathing and heart rate slowed down in sleep. He had as tight a hold on his powers at the moment as he ever did, but she couldn't control her own scent, and it slithered around the camp, around him, touching him with ghostly tendrils. He could taste her, and it made his instincts call out to him, made the beast within pant with longing.

The dhampir turned over. It was going to be a long night.

Leila didn't need much to tell her something was wrong.

D had been up before her, his side of camp already packed, mecha-horse unhitched and waiting. The half-breed looked tense. Not that he ever looked relaxed, but there was something else now, a stiffness to his movements, a glittering in his eyes, that made the blond jump up and gather her supplies as quickly as possible. They struck out before the sun was up, D leading the horse while she pretended not to fall asleep in the saddle.

Now it was nearing noon. The dhampir had slowed their pace, his steps just this side of sluggish. His normally straight shoulders were stooped, and the hand that held the mecha-horse's brindle was trembling.

"Stop." The word was out of Leila's mouth before she jumped off the horse.

The dhampir halted. "What?"

Leila turned to him, eyes wide. He couldn't be serious. "You need rest," she told him matter of factly, pulling open her saddle bag. She jumped back when the mecha-horse started forward again, this time faster. "Hey!"

"I'm fine," D said, even though he wasn't. He didn't need his symbiote to tell him he was in the first stages of heat syndrome. Moving further inland meant hotter temperatures, and the clothing he wore to protect his skin from the sun was taking its toll. His body was burning, his sight was wavering, but he couldn't afford to stop. "We'll stop at nightfall."

"We're stopping now." Leila stormed over to the dhampir, standing in front of him so he had two choices: stop, or run her over. "I don't know much about dhampirs, but I do know what heat exhaustion is. You need rest, and if you don't stop now, I won't bury you later when you fall out."

There was a moment when the vampire hunter was sure D would toss her saddle bags down and leave her in the middle of nowhere. Then, with what she would have sworn was a sigh, the dhampir lead his horse into the foliage lining the road. The oaks gave ample coverage from the sun, and he fought the moan of relief that rose in his chest.

"Good to know one of you has sense."

He knew the symbiote wouldn't be able to keep his silence for long.

"I'm glad she opened her mouth before I had to. Honestly, D, you need to take better care of yourself. Maybe on the way back down we can stop at that resting house for a few days. I'm sure Meyer kept a good supply-"

"No."

"It's not like he'd have virgins in cryosleep. Some real blood held in stasis would do you more good than those pills, which you're almost out of, need I remind you?"

Leila ignored the conversation ahead of her. She didn't know what was talking, but it wasn't D. There were times that, if she listened, she could hear one talking over the other. It was a relief when she did, because for about a day she feared her companion was not only a dhampir, but crazy as well.

D lead them through the trees until they were well hidden from the road. "An hour," he said as he settled beneath a tree, the wide brim of his hat pulled low. "That's all I need."

"An hour," Leila repeated, digging for her small bag of jerky and hard cheese. What she would give for some roast mutton fresh off the rack and a loaf of crusty bread slathered with butter. Eating dried rations got very old, very fast. Even faster when you had them, or a variation of them, three meals a day.

Thinking of which, eating like that would cost money. "I don't suppose you're willing to split the bounty fifty-fifty?" she called.

The hat tilted, and she thought she saw the ghost of a smile on those pale lips.

"Not that I expect you to, but we did deal with some of the Barbaroi. That viney bitch would have got you for sure if I hadn't taken care of her." She tore off a hunk of jerky and chewed it thoughtfully. "That at least calls for thirty percent."

When he didn't answer, she continued. "And I also buried your ass when you were suffering from heat syndrome. That's worth another ten percent."

"And I'm making sure you get back from the Frontier without becoming food for mutants," D said suddenly. "Consider us even." He tilted his head up until one gray eye was focused on her. "I'm sure Elborn gave you a generous down payment on the job."

"Borgoth didn't take down payments," Leila said, staring at the jerky in her hands, her voice low. "He always said we'd take the money when the job was done, not before." Which meant they were out 10 million, a tidy sum when split five ways, enough to fatten up the bank account she held in Hepereol even if they didn't get the rest.

The hunter was silent, and she considered the subject dropped. She was just fishing, anyway. He made the kill, and got the Countess on top of that.

"I'll give you the down payment you should have taken for the job."

Leila looked up sharply. D hadn't moved, he may as well have never spoken, but he did. 10 million dallas, more than enough to get her a place of her own. A little farm in the western mountains, far away from the Frontier and vampires, where she could start the rest of her life.

You guys were supposed to be with me. They'd all promised each other that if one retired, all of them did. They were supposed to all live in the same town, marry, and have children like a real family would. I wish I had your bodies, she thought, her hand going to the bundle tucked in her suit. The three necklaces and one bracelet were all she had left of the men who'd been brothers to her for the better part of thirteen years.

D's eyes snapped open. It was night, a fire was crackling next to him, and he could smell Leila, ever enticing, as she moved about the camp. She was making stew again, the smell heavy on the air. "I said one hour," he told her without moving.

He heard her pause, then continue cooking. "You needed rest." She told him. "Your friend said you've been going the whole time without stopping and barely eating. I don't need a dead dhampir on my hands." Another pause. "Then again, it would make it easier to collect the bounty."

The dhampir held up his hand, the palm conspicuously smooth. "Show yourself," he commanded.

It took a good handful of seconds before his hand began to distort into the face he knew, a face that, at the moment, was the paradigm of innocence. "You did need the rest, whether you want to admit it or not," the symbiote said defensively. "She was going to wake you, but I talked her out of it."

D gave the creature a hard look, one that said in no uncertain terms that it was a hairsbreadth away from spending the rest of the trip tucked in a saddle bag.

"I'm glad we took an afternoon off, actually," Leila admitted. "My ass was starting to grow itself to your saddle. A few hours won't matter too much when we still have days to go."

The dhampir stood and walked into the trees, cloak flaring.

"She was watching you in your sleep," the creature said when they were outside the small clearing. "Like a kid just waiting for the word to unwrap a Nameday gift. I'm telling you D, you're lucky I opened my mouth, or you might've been raped before you knew it." It chuckled then. "I wasn't sure if she was going to jump on you or wake you up."

Need, want, desire, that's what she'd smelled of, what drove him away. It was getting stronger as the peak of her cycle drew closer. He was hard, damn near constantly, and it was driving him insane.

The half-breed closed his eyes and listened. Leila was still in camp, there were a few small animals currently getting as far away from him as possible. Nothing that would be a threat. That settled, he turned to his palm. It was smooth, the creature having read his mood and retreated to give him some privacy.

D chided himself. He should be stronger than this, but millennia of control were crumbling in the face of blue eyes and porcelain skin. He swallowed a groan when, at last, he was free. He stroked himself hard and imagined Leila beneath him, her eyes wide with fear-tinged desire. Her skin was surprisingly smooth, pale were the sun had touched less often. The image grew, embellished itself, until he could see them, see what he would do to her, feel it.

He kissed her, ravaging her mouth, nipping at her lips until he brought forth the barest hint of blood. Her hips thrust up into his, begging, but he lifted away, teasing her with his hardness. She was so warm, blood thundering just beneath her skin. He ran his hands over her, tongue following the shallow cuts his nails left on her arms, the blood making him harder.

Without warning he flipped her onto her stomach and pressed himself against her, his cock nestled between the globes of her ass. She moaned, rolling her hips against his as his fingers found her nipples, pinching them hard, almost cruelly. She gasped his name when he pushed into her, her fingers scrabbling at the blanket beneath them. He rode her hard, fingers skating down her body to tease the delicate folds where they were joined.

The dhampir leaned against a tree and stroked himself faster, eyes closed.

Leila's heat surrounded him, pulling him in further with each thrust, her cries and sobs of ecstasy echoing through the forest. When she was at the peak, about to tumble over, he buried his fangs in her nape, the combination of pleasure and pain wrenching a scream from her lips, lips still swollen from his kisses. She clenched around him and he thrust once, twice, and emptied himself into her. Growling, he drank the very essence of her, marked her as his as she shuddered beneath him.

D opened his eyes slowly as his breathing calmed. Some of the tension that had pooled in his stomach for days was gone. He glanced at the sticky mess of his hand and set about cleaning himself. He was almost done when he felt it, a slither beneath his skin as the wind changed. Something was moving fast towards their camp.

Thanks for reading! Special thanks goes out to Popples and pheonix521 for their reviews!

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