A/N: Again, Tawni co-wrote Deacon's POV~ This took a different turn than I expected, but enjoy.

As eyes slowly opened to find a pillow under his face, he shifted his body. The first thing he noticed was how sore he felt. And not just in one or two spots – all over. Everything was throbbing and awakening with dull pain. Scud groaned into the pillow and noticed the second thing about how he felt for the morning. His throat hurt; it felt raw from what he could only assume screaming at previous night.

Everything swam back to him in that moment. Deacon, basically offering himself, kissing him, getting told to scream, and… The rest of the night was one giant blur. The only notations to what happened were the pains and vague memories. And judging from all that, Scud figured he probably blacked before Deacon was finished with him. That thought was semi-grim though, causing the human to sit up with a small wince and check himself over. No cuts, no bite marks. Scud breathed a sigh of relief at this. At least that was one good thing about Deacon. He was true to his word.

Carefully, he got himself up and swung his legs to prepare to get out of bed. Already Scud was dreading it. His everything hurt and he could tell that Deacon took the definition of rough sex to a new level the previous night. He took in a sharp breath and forced himself up, face wrinkling with pain all over again. "Fuck," Scud said under his breath. Maybe it was a good thing that he was alone to suffer silently and slowly walk to the door where he stopped to listen.

Nothing. It didn't sound like a single soul was in the place. Which was good.

He let out the breath he'd been holding and moved out of the bedroom. Scud made his way to the bathroom, wanting to clean himself up. As he passed Deacon's office, he noticed the door was open halfway and glanced in. Apparently, he'd caught the vampire's attention because he heard him ask a question in his usual cold, sarcastic tone. "Sore, pet?"

Unmoving from where he stood and not turning his head to directly look at Deacon, Scud answered, "Not really. Why, you wanna go again?" The words came out quicker than he could stop them. He hadn't really meant it. A repeat performance wouldn't be something he thought he could handle.

"Keep using that tone and I'll make sure you can't walk next time."

Scud shivered a little at this threat, eyes lowering and immediately regretting opening his mouth. Mostly for not thinking things through before speaking. This was the human's biggest downfall. He sighed and took a step forward towards his destination, saying, "I'm just…going to take a bath."

Another step and he thought he heard Deacon hum, as if he was questioning something. But nothing else followed and Scud continued the short walk to the bathroom, shutting the door carefully before readying the tub and filling it. He stripped out of the little bit of clothing he still had on, stepped into the water and sat down carefully, his body immediately relaxing as he sank down into a laying position. It was comforting, soothing even. Between having a bit of alone time and the water soothing his aches, Scud didn't think things could turn south as he let his eyes slip shut.

Until he heard the door open.

xxxxx

Scud's backtalk wasn't something that the vampire found amusing. But it was expected from the little whore, after all. As Scud waddled off towards the bathroom, Deacon watched with a curious glance. Humming a questioning tone, Deacon slipped out of his shirt and left it in his office before he traveled to the bathroom after the pet. He hinted towards the fact that he wanted to do it again, and Deacon was all about giving his pet what he needed. Right now, though, that was between a punishment and a good time. Scud kept talking back, and Deacon couldn't stress just how badly that bothered him enough to the other.

Slipping inside and shutting the door behind himself, Deacon shed the rest of his clothing before he climbed into the tub as well. This sent water over the edges, which was no big deal to the vampire as he settled down. "You're not going to sleep in here. You could drown." He sneered, reaching for the other to stroke his cheek rather roughly.

"Climb into my lap, Scud. It's time for round two since you don't know how to shut your mouth. I warned you about talking back; you're going to learn the hard way." Deacon pointed out as he waited only a second for Scud to move. When the other didn't move fast enough, Deacon grabbed him, yanking him into his lap and sending more water out of the tub.

"This time, you're going to scream until you're voice stops working. Then, maybe you'll learn how to hold your tongue in front of me." He finished as he pulled the other down onto himself.

xxxxx

The words of Deacon didn't unnerve him, just simply moved too slowly for the vampire's liking apparently. Which lead to him getting yanked close to him, some more words, and the familiar feeling from the night before – Deacon thrusting into him all too roughly. It was a little better, he supposed, with the water adding some soothing quality to the situation. He didn't scream though. Instead, Scud clamped down on his lower lip, teeth digging in painfully hard as hands found the side of the tub.

His eyes that had fluttered shut opened to see Deacon watching him, a dangerous smirk across his features. "Aren't you going to scream for me, Scud?" He was taunting him, the sadist. Scud let out a shaky breath and gave a small shake of his head, which apparently didn't appease the relentless vampire. Scud felt hands come to his hips; the nails followed after, digging into his skin painfully hard.

"Deac," he choked out, feeling his throat tighten up. It was painful and on top of that – the sensory overload was flashing him back to worse times. The scars he had on his stomach and arms weren't just from everyday accidents. No, they were from vampires. The arm ones were the most recent that Deacon helped mend; the stomach ones from two female vampires that got too carried away. His previous master had laughed while Scud was passing out and then screamed at him when he woke up about being a filthy human.

The sounds were echoing in his head when Deacon made a sound – something crossed between a laugh and a groan. And it scared Scud. All too aware of the situation and the pain in his sides, Scud couldn't help it when he started to feel his breath going in smaller gasps. "Stop," he whispered. There was something wet on his face, trailing down his cheeks and he silently cursed himself for being so weak, so human. "Stop, please." His voice caught and he found himself sobbing, trying to push himself out of Deacon's grip.

He felt like an idiot in that moment when he opened his eyes to see Deacon watching him with confusion. The confusion quickly melted into anger and he left go of Scud, pulling out of him and grumbling. Scud inched backwards, attempting to breath and calm himself down while he scrubbed at his eyes. He caught sight of Deacon taking hold of himself for a few quick jerks and figured he was in for a terrible wrath from the vampire.

But it didn't come.

There was a little bit of movement and Deacon was getting out of the bathtub, grabbing a towel to wrap around himself. "Don't drown," he said, a bite to his tone as he walked out of the room.

Scud was hiccupping, stifling back any wants to continue crying. Sometimes, he wondered why he chose to stay human. His last master gave him the choice and he'd said no. God, if he had just said yes… But humanity suited him better. Wasn't that what he'd been told when he said no?

Another scrub of the back of his hand across his eyes and Scud took a slow breath. He couldn't quite read Deacon's reaction, which worried him. Was he angry with him? Was he angry that he hurt Scud when he said he would keep him safe? Or was he just pissed off he didn't get to finish?

Done thinking and done trying to figure Deacon out, Scud sunk into the water with closed eyes in an attempt to wash his troubles away. …And ignore the traces of his blood floating in the water.