Through the Storm

They had been waiting for her when she left the school after finishing her exam, standing on the stone steps in their suits and expensive clothes. Azura felt her heart sink at the sight and knew that something was wrong. Her feet carried her toward where a woman had just noticed her approaching, taking off her unneeded sunglasses on the cloudy day.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as soon as she was standing before the people from the agency. "Is it Mrs. Cross?" she asked as her eyes widened with worry. Her foster mother hadn't returned the night before, Azura waking up to the woman's bedroom as empty and silent as a tomb.

"I'm afraid so," she woman answered first, before her fellow workers could even open their mouths to speak. "She's not doing so well and with her health we don't think it's very good for you to remain in her care; she can't even take care of herself right now." Azura's heart felt like it hit the cement at her feet with that the woman was implying.

"You're moving me again, aren't you?" she asked meekly.

The look of pity that the social worker gave her only made her feel worse; she hated the pity that people gave her. It was disgusting, having to see people look at you as though you're a wounded animal. That was the one thing that she could never stand when someone found out about her past—the looks always made her way to draw away from people and she had many times. She'd lost the few friends she had over the years because they felt the need to treat her differently all because she didn't have an 'average' home life.

"We're terribly sorry, Miss. Bellerose," one of the male workers broke into the conversation, "We're here to take you back to Mrs. Cross's to pack up. You'll be spending a night at the agency, but then you'll be heading out come morning."

"That soon?" Azura demanded in a loud voice before she could stop herself, drawing the gazes of a couple of other people. She looked at them briefly before ducking her head and glancing back at the strangers before her. She had never met these people before, they all wore the same outfit as every other agent she had worked with, but none of these workers had been the ones to relocate her in the past. She briefly found herself missing the last woman that had helped her to find Mrs. Cross.

"We're very sorry, Azura."

"You already said that," she mumbled to herself, looking away from them. Before any of them had a chance to say something else, she began to descend the steps in front of the school, not caring that she didn't know where the vehicle they had taken was but simply wanting to get away from them before she ended up saying something that got her into trouble. She's move around so much that she didn't entirely understand why she was so upset about it at that moment, but there were different variables this time. She had never had to worry over Godric before. She didn't even get to tell him she was leaving because she wouldn't see him until nightfall, and she would be at the agency by then.

She stumbled her way along until one of the female agents placed a hand on her shoulder and motioned toward a black car that was parked a couple of yards away.

Almost two hours later, Azura knew that she could not stall any longer. Slipping the last of her sketchbooks into a box, she left behind the one that she knew Mrs. Cross liked the best as a good-bye present and found her heart sinking into her chest. She wasn't going to be able to tell Godric where she was, she didn't have the time to linger when the agency wanted her moved by that night.

"May I just have a moment," Azura requested the female social worker as she stood in the doorway to the room that she had slept in only the night before. It hurt to think that she was leaving—again—when she had finally found a place that she liked. The woman left her alone with a sad smile, closing the door behind her.

Looking around the room, her chest constricted with sadness and grief before she took a deep breath and reached for her bag. A thought suddenly struck her and she quickly snatched her sketchbook, ripped a clean page from the confines of the covers and pried one of her pencils free from her bag. Scrawling a quick message on the paper for Godric to find, she felt herself become excited over knowing that she would see him again.

Hesitating a moment, she pulled out the knife that she used to sharpen her charcoal and used the sharp pointed end to prick her finger, wincing at the unpleasant feeling. Deep red blood welled up around the silver blade and over her pale skin. She smeared some of the blood onto the page before stowing it away between her mattresses on the side of the bed that Godric always sat on. Leaving it out in the open was stupid because there was a very high chance that someone would find it while collecting the rest of her things; the blood would allow him to know exactly where it was.

Pulling her bag over her shoulder, she glanced back into the room one last time before she opened the door and called to the agent. One of the men came up and collected her suitcase, closing her bedroom door behind him. Azura felt like he was shutting her out of her own life, blocking her out and forcing her to abandon all that she knew.

"Come on, we should get you to the agency; it looks like it's going to storm tonight," he said as he placed a gentle hand on Azura's shoulder, guiding her forward and away from her bedroom. She reluctantly allowed him to move her away, down the stairs and out the front door. He was right about the storm, it looked like it was hours later than it actually was because of the dark, ominous clouds that were beginning to cover the sky.

"I know you don't like the agency building, but it's only for the night," the woman assured as she opened the back door of the car for the younger woman, allowing her to slip in before she followed suit, her colleagues taking their own seats in the drivers' and passenger.

Azura didn't even look at them on the way to the agency, but instead looked out the window at the buildings that they were passing by. People were collecting things from the balconies of their apartments, making sure that nothing was left out in the rain that could be damaged. A boy younger than her was on his bike, trying to get home as fast as he could so that he wasn't caught in the downpour that was looming above him.

She found herself thinking back to when Godric had saved her from running all the way home in the rain, offering her his umbrella and walking with her. He was so cold as he stood at her side, but there was something so welcoming to the chill of his skin that drew her in. Never before had Azura enjoyed the cold so much as she did when he had pulled her against him to prevent her from stepping into the sinkhole and end up drenching herself, also probably tripping and injuring herself.

Closing her eyes, Azura pictured his face as placed her hand over her mouth to hide her smile from the other three people in the vehicle. The image of him in her mind that was the strongest was when they had been in the shower, both drenched to the bone and smiling at one another. Her mind conjured up the feel of his hands on her as his fingers traced her ribs, over her hips and along the underside of her bra.

She missed him.

"We're here," the man behind the wheel called back, glancing at Azura in the rear-view mirror. She repressed the urge to glare at him and immediately released her seatbelt and popped open the door as soon as the car had come to a full stop. The woman called after her, but Azura wasn't going to stay in that car any longer. It would only cause the 'this is for your own good' and 'you'll love your new home' lectures that followed every removal and placement.

"Azura!" the woman called, but the teenager was walking up the steps quite quickly.

The sooner that night came, the sooner she could see Godric.

As dark claimed the city, Azura sat on the single bed in one of the few single rooms in the agency, looking down at the red dot that made up the cut on her finger from the knife she had pricked herself with. It didn't hurt anymore, aside from when she pressed down on it, and she was glad that she hadn't bled a lot and drawn attention to herself. Leaning back against the headboard of her bed, she closed her eyes to the dark room and tried to push aside the troubling, sinking feeling in her stomach.

They probably thought that she was asleep, having closed herself off in that room hours before. The silence was beginning to choke her, though, and Azura was beginning to wish that she hadn't left the adults so soon. At least they were a distraction from her depressing fate and she wasn't left alone with her thoughts on what she might have to endure between that night and when she turned eighteen and could finally escape the system.

The room illuminated with lightning for a moment, causing Azura to jump at the sudden appearance of it. Her eyes stung briefly from the blinding light, forcing her to close them to try and force away the beating in her head that had appeared. She was so focused on the burning in her retinas that she forgot about the thunder the followed and jumped at the resounding boom that seemed to shake the foundations of the building.

"Mon Dieu," she gasped out as she placed a hand over her heart, trying to calm the erratic beating. She was supposed to like storms, why was she so panicky about this one?

"Are you scared?"

Jolting, the voice startled her back against the headboard again before she realized who was standing beside the single bed and a smile broke out on her face. She jumped up before she realized what she was doing and wrapped her arms around Godric's neck, the water that had soaked his clothes from the storm transferring to her own night clothes. She didn't have a single care toward his state, however, because he there finally there.

It was her anxieties about Godric finding her that had her so jumpy.

"I feared that you would not come," she answered, keeping her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she pressed her cheek against the cold, wet strands of his hair. "You found my note?" she asked as she pulled away from him, looking him in the eye. His face was shadowed, the lights coming in from the street only brightening half of his face and leaving the other darkened by the night.

"I did," he answered back, his voice stiff. "Azura…your blood-" His arm tightened around her waist as he drew her in close, inhaling deeply and causing Azura to fight to keep her heart calm in her chest. She didn't want to show that she was nervous or even slightly scarred over his actions, knowing that the vampire side of him was present. "I crave to taste it," he finally finished, his fingers digging into her sides as he, if possible, pressed her even closer to his body. It was as though he was trying to steal the very heat from her body.

"Then bite me," she whispered, her voice trembling as she spoke. "It's alright," she assured when she felt his body tense ever so slightly against her. His breathing deepened as he turned them around and pressed her tightly against the wall. It was different than when they had kissed, when he had held her in the past. She knew exactly what he was going to do and there were so many things that it made her feel.

"Not here," Godric growled against the skin of her throat, making her tremble as though she was being denied pleasure. "Eric will cover for you being gone," he added on before the room was rushed from Azura's view. She gasped as the cold rain assaulted her when he vaulted them out the still open window, her eyes immediately closing as she tried to hide her face in his neck. She expected the trip to be longer, but before she knew it they were encased in warmth as Godric stopped running in a beautifully furnished hotel suit.

"This is where you've been staying?" Azura asked as she dropped her legs from where they were hooked on his hips, his arms still holding her tightly. Her entire body was shivering from the split moment of ice-cold contact she had been through when he was running from the agency to his room. Godric's own body was cold to the touch, emitting no body heat what-so-ever. Even though Godric was incredibly fast, he couldn't stop the icy rain from hitting her while he was flying.

"Your skin is as cold as mine," Godric jested slightly morbidly as he reached up to touch her cheek. The one that had been pressed to his neck wasn't as chilled, but the other was exposed to the cold and felt like ice beneath his fingers. "Come, I'll turn on a warm shower." Godric turned to head toward the bathroom door, but Azura wrapped chilled fingers around his wrist and pulled herself against him, almost as though she was seeking warmth that wasn't there.

She didn't say anything at first, but she found herself thinking back to her dream.

"The night that I had that dream, and woke up because of that…vision; you bit me in my dream-but it was not on my neck…" she trailed off, her cheeks warming rapidly as all of the blood rushed up to them, making her flush a warm pink. Even with her mind being able to conjure up something like that, she was still so shy and embarrassed over the thought of it actually happening. "Is that where you'll bite me?"

"That depends," Godric purred, turning until his face was buried in the crook of her neck, pressing a cool kiss against the steadily warming flesh. "Did I bite you…here?" he asked, rising the hand that was grasping his wrist and pressing a kiss over her pulsing vein. His green eyes darted to look up at her one more. Shakily, she denied his question and Godric smirked faintly. Turning his body to face hers fully, he released her hand and dipped down to ever so softly stroke along the inside of her thigh. "Here?"

She gasped as the muscles in her thigh jumped from the feeling, tensing and relaxing from the sensation.

"Ah, found it," he breathed out, feeling her tremble against his body. "Perhaps getting out of these wet clothes will help you feel better?" he offered, his other hand sliding around her back and beginning to hike up her soaked shirt. Her back arched, forcing the front of her body up against Godric's. "Allow me to assist."

Before Azura could even blink Godric had torn a rip up the back of her shirt and had made a clean line that allowed him to pull it off of her without much more than a simple tug at the front. She was wearing a black bra, identical to the one she had worn in the shower, and he could see the bumps that had risen along her sensitive flesh. Her heart was beginning to beat faster and the pace of her breathing was quickening as well. Godric sighed pleasantly as he leaned down to press his ear over her chest, listening to the loud, wet sound of her heart pumping the blood through her body.

Slipping his hands beneath her thighs, Godric lifted her up into his arms, allowing her to squeeze her thighs at his waist to keep herself up. The elevation allowed Godric to keep his ear pressed against her chest, over her heart. Her hands slipped into his hair, gliding through it until she got to the nape of his neck and her nails scratched the skin as she sighed, feeling his unneeded breath against her chest.

She didn't even notice that he was walking until he dropped her onto the bed that had appeared without her knowing, the mattress so comfortable beneath her and the duvet soft and pleasant against her bared skin. Godric's fingers glided over her sides so quickly that it wasn't even human speed, Azura's body trembling in reaction. Godric inhaled, open mouthed, over her chest as his fingers skimmed along the edge of her bra.

Azura shuddered strongly when she felt his tongue glide over the soft skin between her breasts, the cool feeling drawing her attention to the fact that she was no longer cold. She felt like her entire body was slowly being consumed by flames, Godric's touch the only thing to cool her, protect her from the burn. Simultaneously, she felt like screaming and sobbing, her hands clutching at Godric's shoulder as he carefully began to slide her bra straps lower, not yet removing the material.

In a bold move that shocked Godric and left Azura feeling empowered, she pushed the willing vampire onto his back with one hand on his defined chest as the other slipped behind her and unclasped the bra. She was left straddling Godric's waist, his stomach cool beneath her burning thighs. He looked up at her with clear blue eyes, his pupils constricted to tiny dots. Allowing the garment to drop, she immediately tossed it aside and out of the way.

Cool fingers began to trace over her now burning skin, sending quaking shivers all up her spine and causing goose-bumps to break out over her flesh. Godric's cool digits played over her skin like a pianist glides over the ivory keys of a piano, her back arching in answer to each caress. When she straightened her back once more after Godric's teasing touches disappeared, she looked down to see that he was now just as shirtless as she.

"Tu es glorieux," she whispered as she bent down to press a kiss against his chest, over the ancient ink that was permanently scarred into his skin for the rest of eternity. Curious of his reaction, she dipped her own tongue into the hollow at the base of his throat, one quick lick and she found herself on her back, looking up into Godric's eyes as his fingers played with the material at the hem of her sleep shorts.

"Non," he whispered against her lips, holding her dazed eyes. "Je suis un monstre," he corrected as he dipped his head down into her neck. Azura made a choking sound of shock when she felt his fangs glide along her throat, the pointed lateral incisors scraping just light enough to leave no trace in their wake. Shuddering heavily beneath the vampire, she arched her neck to bare more of her throat to him. "Mon ange," he purred, his fingers once more beginning to dance over her flesh. "Mon ciel."

"Please," Azura begged softly, her legs beginning to tremble against his as he laid his body out along hers, the cool touch of his skin only seeming to increase the intense burn that was slowly being awakened within her. "Please, do not deny me…"

"I would give you the world should you ask it, mon amour," he hushed into her ear, brushing wet strands of hair back and out of the way.

She smiled against his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed a sweet kiss to the end of his collar tattoo. "Just you, Godric. Only you."

Coming together once more, they sealed their promise with a kiss.

This isn't the end of their private moment together, I promise that it will be continued in chapter 10. Sorry that I haven't been able to update in a while, I know that you all are wonderful for following the story and I truly wish that I could give you the chapters that you all so wonderfully deserve. Alas, times waits for no man and I must continue on with my life. However, I made sure to put some time aside and update this! Hope that you liked it and I will do my utmost BEST to have the next one out in a shorter time than this chapter took.

French to English Translations:

Vous êtes glorieux – You are glorious

Non – No

Je suis un monstre – I am a monster

Mon ange, mon ciel – My angel, my sky

Mon amour – my love

Mon Dieu – My God or my goodness