There was a little more then an hour of darkness left. The ink black of the dead of night had already lightened but the chill that remained in the air matched the chill in Ruby's heart. She lay on her side on the bed, staring absently at the blanket that covered the window, the thin sheets and comforter pulled up over her body. Her hair was still damp from the shower she'd taken after they'd returned to the motel, her skin cleansed of the makeup she'd worn to play the make believe game of looking alive.
David's feet padded lightly on the threadbare carpet as he walked around the bed, having just returned. Ruby could hear the blood coursing freshly in his veins; he'd dropped her off and gone for a kill, picking off a drifter to sustain him another night. The rain had cleansed him of the traces of his kill, his hair so very white in the darkness.
He stood with his back to her, stripping off the black t-shirt he practically lived in, worn thin in places and the traces of years of kills beaten so deeply into the fabric they'd literally bonded to the threads. Ruby flicked her gaze to watch him; he always asked her why she liked watching him undress, but she never had an answer in words. David tossed the shirt onto the chair by the door. Ruby heard the soft clink of metal as he undid the belt, sliding it free and dropping that over the arm of the same chair. The soft zipping sound, followed by the light rustle as he pushed down his jeans. The shock of all his skin bare, glowing as brightly as his hair, never failed to stir the feelings deep down inside her.
Ruby's eyes found the back of his legs while he folded the jeans. There, faintly, was the mark of a wound. The back of his right calf did betray he had once been human. She'd honestly never noticed; now she wondered if there was also a mark on his shoulder. Ruby made a mental note to check, her eyes drifting up his bare body, along the backs of his thighs, his bare backside, along the spine. David was a perfect machine, made for killing. He was not overly buff but toned, his muscles molding his flesh over themselves perfectly. David turned then, tossing his jeans into the chair. Ruby looked away, returning her gaze to the covered window. She'd seen him naked from the front many times.
David wasn't like Marko who had six-pack abs, but the muscles of his stomach and abs were taught and hard, with a faint line of dirty blond hair that trailed under his navel, over his abs, and continued on down. Ruby kept her eyes adverted. With a not so gentle tug, David caught the edge of the covers and pulled them away, exposing her to the cold open air of the room. She was as naked as he, half curled on her side, knees together and drawn up. David rumbled an approval deep in his chest, his hand catching her foot.
The blond vampire tugged teasingly on the redhead's ankle, pulling one leg down. With one knee on the bed, he looked up and grinned at her, his palm sliding up over her calf to her knee, pushing it away from the other. The mattress springs groaned as David settled between her legs, his weight against her. He nipped her chin, drawing her attention to him, catching her mouth with his. David could be awesome with foreplay, when he chose, but with so little night remaining his mind was on one thing. The fresh blood he had feasted on had kept the desire Ruby had stoked in him earlier burning hot.
Ruby's eyes fluttered briefly as David slid within her, his hand under her thigh as he pulled her leg up. She complied a little, her leg low around him, the back of her calf resting on the back of his thigh. He rocked against her, other hand in her damp hair, growling his pleasure. Ruby shuddered inside failing to fight against the rush she always felt when they were intimate.
David's mouth slid against her neck, down the side and came to rest at the juncture between her neck and shoulder. Ruby's nails bit into his skin, her hands splayed against his back and shoulder blade, now moving with him. Her gaze moved to the front of his left shoulder and she saw the dim traces of a bullet wound. It was a brighter white then his skin; faded somehow with age but still there. She slid her thumb over it, David reacting by digging his hips harder against hers. Ruby wondered if he knew what she was looking at, or if he was over the edge into carnal lust once more.
She gasped softly as his fangs trailed the vein in her neck, causing her to lay her forehead against the strong line of his shoulder. He wouldn't bite; she hadn't fed and what blood remained in her would have to suffice through the day. David just liked to leave marks sometimes. It was when his head bowed and he thrust hard into her, his mouth closed on her flesh in a bite above her left breast that something inside Ruby snapped.
At first she cried out softly, then again as his teeth remained tight as a vice on her skin. She beat the side of her fist into his shoulder, then again. David didn't respond, still moving in and against her. Ruby socked his upper arm harder, crying out louder. His teeth released their grip. Ruby cried out harder, louder, beating his shoulders and arms harder with her fists, hard enough now to get his attention.
"Ruby!" he growled, her fist just missing his nose as it socked into the front of his shoulder hard. "Ruby!"
Ruby howled against him, the sound of anger and pain welling up from her heart into her throat. She continued to hit David, hard enough to sting his skin and cause pain the more she continued. He'd stopped now, trying to grab her wrists and pin them down, still calling her name in a vain attempt to get her attention.
"Goddamn it!" he snarled, his eyes flashing red and his fangs descended in anger as he caught both her thin wrists with one hand and pinned them above her head. Ruby thrashed still beneath him, alternately crying and howling, tears streaking her pale cheeks. "Ruby!" David roared once more.
Ruby stopped short, coming to her senses and realizing what she'd done. She subsided into wracking sobs now, her head laid back and her neck arched, howling through her pain.
"Childer!" David was worried now. His hand released her wrists and he was instantly up on his hands and knees over her, looking her over for physical trauma.
"I want to go home!" Ruby choked out the words, her eyes squeezed shut. "Back to Santa Cruz! I don't belong here!"
"Ruby…" David gathered her close against him, letting her face burrow in against his chest. Her tears were cold against his heated skin. "We'll go back home. Tomorrow night, I promise. We can't go now. There's not enough time to make it." His hand raked through her hair, in a weak attempt to calm her.
"I shouldn't have come back." Ruby's voice was harsh, choked from the anguished howling.
"Shhh. It's ok." David pulled her up with ease, sitting with his back against the wooden headboard. He pulled her into his lap, gathering the sheets and blanket up around her.
"I don't want to ever come back." She whispered, her arms wedged between her body and his, the side of her face pressed hard against his chest.
"You never have to."
For a long time they were silent. Ruby's tears eased and stopped, and she finally dropped into sleep as the first rays of the sun poked over the horizon line. David watched for a few more moments, fighting the tug on his mind. He cradled his childer as he slid down to lay stretched out on the mattress, keeping his arms tightly around Ruby as he lost the battle once more and fell to sleep.
