Title: BECAUSE I SAY SO
Author: charmingsyrai
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Series: Envenom
Timeline: post Chosen
direct sequel to FOREVER IN A WORD
Characters: original characters
Prompt: #004 blood
Rating: NC-17ish
Warnings: bad, bad language and sexual stuff. Not smut per se, but close.
Word count: about 3870
Status: -fin as in finished
Table of prompts here
Summary: "Now, Rhian," he says finally staring at the ceiling, "there's something we have to talk about."

Author's Notes: Eep. I love Teagan. I want him in my bed... although there's nothing wrong with Finnegan either. I'm a pathetic little being.

Tenses again keep changing - most of the changes are thought-out, some are not. Me not English, dammit.

It's not as long as it was supposed to be, but... oh well. This particular piece doesn't really seem to go anywhere with the plot, meh, but hopefully it's still a good read Shrugs It does tell a lot about the characters, though.

Written Installments:
broken (broken) . some day the dream will end (torture) . prologue (writer's choice) . you're made of my sin (coffin/buried) . forever in a word (masterpiece) . because i say so (blood) . the gypsy king (feral) . time to be what you need me to be (weapon) . the noose (fixation)

BECAUSE I SAY SO

Finnegan always chose a blonde human girl. Preferably a petite kind, but with a flaming temper. The lethargic ones just didn't do it for him. Nuh huh, they were cold, boring and never challenged him physically. Intellectually it was impossible for a human to challenge him, he was sure of that, but if he kept his vampire strength in check, it was very possible for a human girl to actually raise a decent struggle.

Yes, of course he could've simply hunted one down just for the fun of it, but it was too much trouble; he was too lazy. Besides, he hunted enough as it was during his work hours so it was actually nice to be able to just pick a willing girl to play with and pay. This way the game didn't get too old - the rules kept changing and he didn't have to listen to them scream and cry all the time.

Although, occasionally, he did pay for that too. Was there anything more arousing than a small, blonde girl crying and weeping at his feet, completely under his mercy? Completely his to be used? No, he didn't think there was.

Maybe he was being stupid. There were plenty of girls around that would've shared his bed for free, but things with those always got so complicated - vampire girls were proud, not all of them played his games. And then there were the idiots that actually thought that sex act meant something more. So, instead of having to explain the rules of the game each time, he came here where there was no need for him to explain anything at all... no need to pretend anything. The girls here wanted nothing but money - no promises, no sweet whispers. Just money.

The world needed more girls like that. More blonde companions. The thought amused him - ah yes, companions. These girls didn't allow themselves to be called prostitutes, never. Those were the kinds that stood in street corners, they said, the kinds that were filled with all kind of horrible diseases. These girls, they thought they outranked them. In many ways, they did.

The girl on top of him, riding him as some would've said, was moaning out of shared pleasure. He was trying to think of something else, just to keep the act on longer, but it was proving to be very difficult when a pair of two beautifully plumb breasts with his teeth marks all over them kept bouncing above his face.

They had started the game with her running around, screaming and yelling, but as the minutes had turned into hours, the game had finally been played and he had been satisfied the way he wanted to.

But Finnegan, he was a gentleman. At least, he tried to be.

So, lying on the floor next to the heavily breathing girl and her ripped clothes, he had suddenly realized something.

"You didn't come," he said calmly.

It didn't sound like a question, but neither did it seem like a simple statement either. The girl turned to look at him, astonished. She didn't know whether she was expected to deny it or admit it and so, she could only frown.

"Am I right?" He asked looking for a simple confirmation.

Now the girl nodded shyly. The gesture amused him - how could she suddenly look so shy, after everything that they had just done together? Maybe that was why he had kissed her gently, careful not to cut her lips with his teeth like he had done before. His tongue licked the cuts, erupting a flinch from her. Still, this time she responded differently and he, as weird as it seemed, liked it. It was the girl who deepened the kiss, pushing her body as close to his as possible. He wasn't sure how they had ended up into the bed, but they had.

Bending backwards, the girl moaned again, obviously closer to her climax. Returning to the moment on hand, he let out a low, husky growl. His finger nails dig deep into her hips, but she was too wrapped around her own desire to notice it... or then she liked it. He had noticed how the girls always seemed to deny the fact they loved to be hurt, but from his experience, he could tell it was a lie. As long as he didn't cross a certain limit, bringing them a little pain usually just deepened their pleasure. It seemed to do the trick again, for he could feel how the girl suddenly trembled and stopped breathing...

There, now.

After it was over, she collapsed against his body. Normally he wouldn't have allowed that - he would've removed her instantly and told her to get dressed, the game was played. Now, however, for a reason he couldn't quite understand, the next five minutes he just lay there underneath her, arms around her as if to protect her from the cold.

It was the human girl that moved first. Lifting her head up to observe his face, she smiled. "Thank you."

The words surprised him just like his question had managed to surprise the girl earlier.

"My pleasure," he said offering her a small smile and a wink. When the girl unexpectedly pulled away, sliding him carefully out of her folds, he felt disappointed. He should've probably been horrified and kill the girl, but the option didn't really please him. No, there was something else, however, that would... Grabbing her shoulders, he pulled her back down on his chest. The naked, sweaty skin against his erased the unwanted disappointment, leaving nothing but peaceful harmony behind.

"Stay," he whispered, but they both knew it was a command, not a request.

And she stayed... because she wanted to.

0000

The waiting room was quieter than usually. Normally Rhian didn't mind the soothing silence, but this time it actually bothered her a little. The receptionist, a young and skittish blonde vampire, had gone through the door to the main lounge and even when the door had been open for a passing moment, no voices had reached her ears from the other room. It was actually pretty disturbing and if she hadn't known how popular and respected the safe house was, she probably would've left by now.

The place had changed. The waiting room had been painted light brown, a color she was actually very fond of, and numerous paintings she hadn't seen before, had now appeared on the walls to bring a little color. The sofa on which she was sitting, Teagan firmly by her side, was also new and therefore, heavenly soft. She was especially glad for that one, since the old sofa had started to feel lumpy and her delicate little bottom had not really liked it. Rhian didn't consider herself as a snob, but with Teagan around and always paying for everything, she had learnt to appreciate certain things. Luxury and class, among other things.

The changes in the house had not, however, stopped there. No, the receptionist was obviously new too, for Rhian had never seen her before. Plus, if she hadn't been new, they would've already been allowed to enter the lounge instead of being forced to sit in the waiting room while the receptionist had gone to check their papers to make sure they were allowed to enter. The Grey Triad was strict when it came to its own rules and especially in the New York area. No wait, she backed in her mind, it wasn't called New York anymore.

Truthfully, it hadn't been called New York for a long time - the city that had once been controlled by humans had perished alongside with the smaller cities nearby. The Grey Triad had changed the old borders and named the born sector as Neopolis, a city of the vampires. Later it had grown to be the Triad's main area where everything, absolutely everything, was controlled by the Triad. No old human laws existed there and well, there really weren't that many humans either as there once had been. The ones that stayed had been either slaughtered or enslaved. Well, except for the ones that had chosen to work for the Triad on their own free will; surprisingly many had. Those lucky bastards with one strong survival instinct actually lived pretty luxurious and dare to say, protected life in their own homes and had their own companies and shops. Their lives really hadn't changed that much at all, if you thought about it. Or at least, it was pretty damn similar to the life they had had. Besides, the Triad had managed to keep the order much better than the human law forces ever. The amount of crimes performed against the Triad's rules by both humans and vampires only got lower and lower every month, which was something the humans actually valued highly. As said, nothing compared to the survival instinct of a human being or at least, that's how she saw it. The demons were much more troublesome; she wondered if they had ever even heard of such thing. They only wanted to conquer. Stupid animals.

Rhian smothered a yawn against her palm and closed her eyes for a second. Where the hell was that stupid girl? She was tired, but then again, after being pulled out from the warm bed in the middle of the night after a fight accompanied by some intense love-making, it was probably expected. Although -she snorted in her mind somewhat cynically- she wasn't sure if their little session could have been called love-making. No, in all honesty, it had been more like her punishment for disagreeing with her lover. Yes, their sex was always rough to a certain level, they were vampires after all with animalistic instincts that came with the package and so it was how they liked it, but this time… this time Teagan had ignored her needs completely. She had been left cold and dry without any real satisfaction. It wasn't like him, but she couldn't really blame him... she knew who to blame. Herself.

Rhian wasn't sure why she had even kept arguing. In the end Teagan always won and after all those fights, she should've known better. Why hadn't she listened to herself? Even during the fight, her mind had kept yelling at her, telling her to forget about it and just let it go. He had been in a weird, weird mood and she had known it, dammit - the way his temper had flared, the way he had demanded for her submission. Always yours, Teagan.

Still, she had refused to stop fighting, knowing very well it would only stir more trouble. Knowing it wouldn't change a damn thing. It was obvious right from the beginning that after the fight she would still end up here.

The Triad's number 1 safe house in that particular area.

She knew this was the only safe house Teagan really appreciated, not to mention accepted. She was very well aware of the fact that before they had met, he had often visited the place, but never for the blood... she tried to extinguish the faint feeling of jealousy somewhere in the core of her soul, but it wasn't that easy. She hated jealousy, it made people act funny and she always told Teagan off for that same reason and yet, there it was. Inside her.

Trying to ignore it, she returned to her previous train of thoughts. Teagan. To him the hunt was always as important as the actual kill and she had never tried to change that. But it was exactly why he had never understood, and she suspected he never would either, why she any given time chose "an alternative feeding resource" as the humans had come to call it. She loved the taste of blood as any other vampire in his right mind, but for some reason she strongly disliked feeding from a human. Teagan had suspected it had something to do with the fact she was a slayer now, meant to protect the humans, not to kill them. Unlike Rhian, he was determined to change that, though.

Because of that simple feeling of dislike, she usually looked for a blood bank ran by Illuminati and so, she didn't visit the safe houses often. But of course, when Teagan was around and following her every move like now, she had no choice. Last time she had come alone, yes, but only because she hadn't wanted to anger him more... and because Teagan had stood outside the building from the minute she had entered the house all the way to the minute she had stepped out. He hadn't shown himself, of course, but she had known he was there.

The link between them, the link of a sire and his creation gave his presence away. It usually did.

Glancing the clock on the wall, she realized it had already been over 20 minutes. What the fuck could possibly take so long? Unless she was making calls, checking up on her background... There was nothing vague about Teagan's, so, it had to be hers. She sighed, ashamed. Whenever her past came up, she couldn't help but feel deep shame - especially when her background was compared to Teagan's. The man had such a stainless, perfect background that at times, she found it almost irritating. Well, at least he had had. When the Triad had found out about them, they had been horrified; their precious little vampire was sleeping with a slayer. Turning the slayer into a vampire they all considered to be a good thing; it showed how useless and powerless she was. But to be sleeping with one... to protect one... that was the greatest insult a vampire could face. Well, Rhian thought bitterly, try being one. Weirdly so, if she had to choose what to tell people about herself, she rather told she had been a prostitute. At least people could get past that one... but no matter what, she'd always be a slayer. They said Teagan should've been ashamed of himself, but the truth was he had no need for it; she was ashamed enough for the both of them.

If only he hadn't forced her to come... During their fight, Rhian had pointed out that it was stupid for them to fight about the same subject time after time. Her feeding habits had been their fights' main subject for weeks now... it was getting exhausting. Then why didn't she let it go? She had no idea.

"I don't see why we have to fight about this every fucking time," she had said glancing at the figure next to her body, "Illuminati has blood banks everywhere; why can't I just-"

Of course, that was the furthest she had gotten with that particular sentence.

"Because Illuminati is a fucking enemy, Rhian," he had spat eyes flaring, "Rhys has made it very clear that it will not allow its members to feed in those places." He couldn't understand how she didn't get it. Illuminati and everything related to them was an enemy of theirs and still, after he had repeatedly ordered her to stop associating with those shitheads, she just didn't obey.

"But I'm not a member of the Triad," she had protested, "You are, Teagan, you are."

True enough, but Teagan didn't quite see it the same way she did, though. From his point of view just because he was, she should've respected that and obeyed the same rules... and thus the fight had only continued. Only, not in words...

The sound of a opening door woke Rhian up from her thoughts, but the figure stepping through the door wasn't the one she had anticipated. It was almost weird how she could sense Teagan's change of mood as the familiar figure materialized.

Before neither of the two could speak, the newcomer had already sat down on the arm chair, face to face with the sofa, and spoke with his usual outgoing style, "Cain, mate, what ya doin' here?"

Yep, that was Finnegan for sure - the only vampire in the world that had earned the rights to call Teagan by his last name. Rhian had known the vampire for almost a year now, but she still had not figured out whether Finnegan was his first name or last or just some silly nickname his friends had come up with.

Teagan, however, didn't say anything, but only nodded towards his companion with a meaningful sigh that told his friend whole story.

"Ah, Rhian, ya dirty lil thing," Finnegan continued, winking an eye and flashing his trademark grin, "Been 'causing trouble as always, have ya?"

Rhian responded with a casual shrug, amused. She had always liked the assassin, even though he obviously lacked in manners. He had been among the first to find out about Rhian, but had never really treated her differently because of it. In fact, he had always been rather nice to her, if you didn't count his playful habit of teasing her about her slayer genes, that was.

Teagan's hand suddenly moved and landed on her thigh, petting it softly. "That's my Rhian. Never a moment of peace."

"As if I was the only to blame," she snorted, not really offended by the comment. Teagan only smiled at her teasingly, before turning his attention to Finnegan. Obviously Finnegan's sudden appearing had managed to sooth his anger, which was only good. She was relieved and if things went well, he would probably stay in his good mood for the rest of the day and that was good too.

"So, what brings you here then, Finn?"

Hmph, what a silly question to ask, especially from Finnegan - Rhian knew exactly what the answer they'd hear would be and when he finally said it, she couldn't help but smile. The same old Finnegan.

"The ladies, of course," he replied with the smirk all over his face. Even his dark blue eyes seemed to be laughing. It really was no surprise to Rhian that the female population found him so attractive. He was tall, muscular and so sure of himself that it only added to his charm. The smirk revealed white teeth and two perfect fangs that couldn't go unnoticed. Usually his black hair was in a ponytail, at least when he was working, but now his black shoulder length locks were messily resting against his neck.

"You still haven't found the love of your life, then?" Rhian teased cocking her head.

"Nope. Seems it's not so easy for all of us," he replied sighing heavily before his eyes lit again, "If only Summers would-"

"She's a slayer," Teagan interrupted coldly. He knew, like Rhian, that the vampire had only been joking... or at least half-joking and that, she assumed, was the problem. Finnegan's growing obsession with Buffy Summers seemed to worry Teagan more and more.

"And what's that then?" Finnegan retorted pointing a finger at Rhian.

"Hey, I'm not a that!" She barked not missing a beat whereas Teagan said nothing. He had made his point known and there was no need for him to explain it further.

Finnegan sighed. "Sorry, Rhian, didn't mean it like that, ya know?" To her big surprise, he actually looked apologizing as the words came out. Rhian smiled faintly. Who could possibly stay angry at a face like that, huh?

"Yeah, yeah..." She dismissed the words telling in her own way that it was already forgiven although not forgotten, "Still, you really should get over this obsession of yours. The slayer will never-"

"Haven't you heard the rumors?" Finnegan cut her off, "They said Angelus got a piece of her."

Ah yes, Rhian indeed hard heard the stories about Angelus and his I'm-a-vamp-with-a-soul-phase, but that was all it had been. A phase. A phase that had just extended itself... and it hadn't even been Angelus, it had been Angel! Ah, that's right, Angel! "Yes, but at the time Angelus was-"

"They also said William the Bloody got his share," Teagan pointed out suddenly. Rhian frowned cursing in her mind. He was supposed to be on her side, not his, dammit.

Spike? Well. Too bad. "I don't believe that for a second," she claimed, lifting her chin proudly. In her mind, though, she hesitated a bit. The two male vampires knew so much more about the vampire world than she did... "And even if he did... he switched sides so what does it matter? He was fighting with them and..." she paused, "well, you aren't."

"Yeah, true," Finnegan agreed smirking, "But I have something those two didn't have."

Of course. "Bigger ego," Teagan chimed in chuckling. Rhian then again was more annoyed, than amused. She couldn't help but feel annoyed whenever the vampires brought up Buffy Summers. For the weirdest reason they all seemed to have such high respect towards the girl who had managed to kill pretty much every single vampire and demon sent to destroy her... if they respected her because of her skills, why couldn't they respect a slayer that was actually one of them and fought on their side? Why? Wasn't she good enough?

"Yes, that too. Plus, I have the looks, lady." Finnegan didn't seem to sense her uneasiness, but Teagan did. Through the sire-link, as usual. He squeezed her thigh again, to let her know he was right there in case she needed him. Her growing bad mood dissolved, just because of that single touch and just like that, she was back in the game.

"Just keep dreaming, Finn," she mused, "keep dreaming."

"Oh I will."

"You know," Rhian drawled in after a moment, "it's actually quite funny, especially since you've never even seen Summers."

He snarled, busted. It was true, the vampire had never actually met the said slayer, but... that didn't mean he had never seen her... "I've seen her..." he shot back, "...in pictures. She looks hot."

What? Did not! "She does not," Rhian put in immediately. How could he even say that?

Finnegan caught the wind, as usually, and couldn't help but add: "She looks a little like you. Blonde 'n' all."

As expected, that blazed up her temper like nothing else could. It was a close call she didn't jump on her feet and attack him right there and then. "She does not!" She shrieked, sounding very much like a little child to Teagan's ears, "That's an insult! Teagan! Tell him!"

Having his name being pulled in, Teagan figured it was time to put an end to the whole damned show. "Okay, that's enough," he said with a voice that told the other two he was more than serious, "You do not look like the slayer. You're beautiful," he continued simply and then turned his gaze back to Finnegan. "Finnegan, don't tease her. That subject is off-limits. There." With that said, he suddenly rose to his feet. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna go see what the hell is taking so long."

When Teagan disappeared through the door into the lounge, Rhian turned to look at the present vampire with a poisonous death glare. "Ass."

"Slayer," he snarled back.

-fin