The Value of a Life

Chapter 2: Into the Night

Tracy/Vachon, post Ashes to Ashes, takes the story a whole new direction from there.

Usual Disclaimers: Not mine, blah blah blah. Like I would treat something of mine like they did!

Rated M

This is a rewrite of a story I wrote write after Season 3 ended. I've dug it out of the dust and sharpened some things up, I hope you enjoy. Reviews appreciated, thanks.

Tracy chased Vachon up the stairs, laughing and crying and filled with the joy of what was happening to them. They get a second chance. This time she wasn't going to blow it. And tonight... She shivered as she faced what was in front of her Tonight she wouldn't run away, and tonight she would finally know what it meant to be Vachon's lover. She remembered the moment of his bite, the incredible sucking and drawing of her blood into him, and the pulsating waves washing over her. The memory took her breath away.

She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around, but Vachon was nowhere to be seen. She smiled, because she could feel his presence. She figured she was going to have to put up with a lot of his "Look At Me I'm Such A Cute Little Vampire" tricks before finally doing the deed. Tracy was feeling more than a little sassy herself. She stood there and crossed her arms. This time she'd wait for him to come to her.

So she waited. And waited. What seemed like hours passed, even though it was just a few minutes. Just as her doubts and fears were about to break loose, she felt something brush past her. "Vachon, where the hell are you?" she yelled out, on the verge of being really pissed off. She looked down the street, but saw nothing. She looked behind her, but there was nothing there either. She looked down. A single red rose lay at her feet.

She stared, breath held. The rose was tied with a ribbon and placed at her feet, a solitary sign of what awaited her. She bent to pick it up, and felt the brushing breeze again. Ten feet away, another rose waited. Tracy felt a spell weaving about her, and gave herself up to the enchantment. Walking slowly she picked up the second rose. Feeling Vachon's presence once more, she felt her body changing as the enchantment grew. She was melting, becoming someone she was not, someone she had never been before. She breathed deeply and felt the shine in her eyes.

She saw the next rose up ahead, and spun a little pirouette before picking up the next one. Dancing alone for her silent mysterious partner, she followed the trail of appearing roses to her apartment.

Entering the building, the stairs held a rose on each step. She breathed in their fragrance, the enchantment complete. She was no longer Tracy of the many fears and awkward moments. She was Tracy, she who was in love with the Enchanter, the Vampire who weaves the spells of roses and wine and makes anything possible.

Thickly lashed eyes that had seduced more women than could be counted watched his golden girl with an almost suffocating feeling of love. He was scared - God he was scared - but the spell Tracy had cast on him left him no choice. He remembered her words when she pleaded with the angel for him. Her love kept him hanging on, when his body wanted to give in to the stake. Her tears and the smell of her blood and her need were like golden coils around his heart, protecting him from death. When he finally opened his eyes, the hunger overwhelming him, the need for blood almost beyond control, she offered herself to him with one simple request: Don't kill me.

The first taste of her blood nearly overwhelmed him. Sweeter, hotter than he imagined, and laced with the rhythms of her heart, he wanted to drown in her, to drink to the last, but her unique vulnerability was there, too. He tasted her fears, her self-doubts. The urge to protect her welled up with his desire, and he knew he was lost.

He thought of all that Tracy was, the devoted cop that genuinely believes she can make a difference, the beautiful woman who can't see what is right in front of her mirror, the aggravating friend who is more headstrong than she has any right to be. She tries so hard to be brave. She thinks she's so tough. Vachon wondered if she truly knew how fragile she was? Yet despite her human frailties, she loved desperately. He tasted that as the first drops of her blood crossed his tongue. How can she love so strongly when she fears so much?

The courage of her love humbled him, and chained his heart forever.

Watching her walk up the stairs, he inhaled as deeply as he could, wanting to smell her again. He'd never get enough of the smell of her.

As she bent to pick up the last rose at her door, he suddenly appeared and lifted her in his arms. She wasn't startled.

"It's about time." Vachon blinked at the sound of her voice. He'd never heard her voice like this, so breathless, deep, and hungry. He looked in her eyes, and gently placed his lips to hers, trying to rein in the vampire as long as possible. He wanted to relish being a man as long as possible, to explore and taste and savor every moment before the vampire took over.

Opening the door, he carried Tracy through the living room, already lit with candles, and into the bedroom. She looked around, and decided this vampire speed thing came in handy for completely spontaneous yet well-prepared for trysts. She laughed, ready to burst with love and desire, and enjoying every nuance of the night. "Look at this! Here I am dying to do the deed, and you're Mr. Romance!"

Vachon turned serious. "You're not dying, Tracy. I swear by all I know. You're not dying."

Tracy looked into Vachon's eyes, and her heart tumbled over. She saw his pain, his fear that despite drinking from her earlier, he could still lose control, still kill her. "You never have to tell me that. Javier, you won't kill me. I know that as deeply as I know anything. You WON'T kill me."

"How can you be so sure, Trace?" Vachon wasn't agitated, but genuinely curious. Tracy's faith was something beyond his understanding.

"Because you love me. Because I love you. Because I just know, okay?" Such silly words, so inadequate, yet perfect in his need.

Vachon looked into her eyes, and his arms tightened around her as he spun her around the room. They landed on the bed, his weight pressing her down into the soft perfectly made bed. "Oh, Tracy, are you ever going to forgive me for messing up your perfect bed?" He started nuzzling her throat, making her shriek with laughter. He suddenly thought of her alphabetized refrigerator and laughed again.

"Don't start teasing me about being neat, or I'll cut your hair in your sleep!" She buried her fingers deep in his long dark hair, the silky feel tantalizing her fingers, thrilling her that she had this right. How many nights had she dreamed of doing just this?

"Now that's going too far...I may have to suck the life out of you yet," he growled, scraping his teeth threateningly over her neck and collarbone.

The teasing and laughter subsided as they looked in each other's eyes. The heat started to swirl around them, licking at their bodies, causing them to press closer together without thought or notion. A tinge of gold started to ring his magnificent brown eyes. "Will you drink again?" Tracy asked him, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

"Yes." He looked at her, trying to gauge her fear. He didn't want to scare her, but he needed her blood like she needed oxygen. His passion alone would demand that he drink. "Does that scare you, Tracy?"

Her eyes opened, and a jolt went through Vachon. They were burning with hunger that rivaled his own blood hunger. "It wasn't a question, it was an invitation."

The silence thickened. Long moments passed. "In a hurry, hmm? Well, you aren't even close to wanting me bad enough."

Now she was scared. He was going to make her wait. He was going to tease her. "Please, Javier, don't make me wait." She looked up at him leaning over her, idly toying with the buttons of her blouse. "Javier, don't," she demanded, fearing he could make her beg.

"Don't worry, Tracy. I won't make you wait forever. I won't even make you wait long enough to say my name right. But you will wait..." Bending down to her face, he moved his lips over her cheeks, her forehead, her chin. She shook in his arms as she desperately reached for his lips, but he was far too strong. Reaching out with just the tip of his tongue, he traced her lips, always teasing, never giving her the final taking her mouth craved. Turning his head slightly, he left her face and moved to her neck. Hoping the sound of her pulse racing would speed things up, she offered her neck willingly.

He obliged by gently licking patterns over the pierce marks of his last penetration. Imagining his fangs sinking into her now, they descended and he had to fight to control the vampire. Tracy's moans urged him on, but he maintained his iron control, and continued down to her blouse buttons. He craved more than the ecstasy of her blood. He hungered for the release of his body in hers. The thought inflamed him, and his tight grip on control began to slip.

Tracy could feel the bonds slipping. She felt the urgency taking over, and the strength in his hands increasing. As he held her, even hurting her, she reveled in his passion. She felt her blouse tearing as Vachon ripped it from her body, and gasped as she felt his fangs on her breasts. Shaking from need and wanting, she urged him to hurry, to fill her, to drink. She felt his body, strong and naked and exquisite, and wondered when he removed his clothes.

Finally, finally, unable to wait a moment longer, Vachon tore the rest of her clothes off, and she was never more glad for his strength. Her beautiful vampire loomed over her a moment, staring at her body with golden eyes ablaze, his fangs showing and thrilling Tracy beyond any mortal cravings. In a single motion, Vachon filled Tracy and penetrated her neck, sucking with a strength that would have scared Tracy if she weren't so lost in the feelings he created.

She'd never known such possession, such a complete filling of her emptiness, of her heart. Feeling his throbbing desire, she left herself to fly with her beautiful vampire, never knowing if she cried out or gasped or fainted, only knowing the purest joy she'd ever felt.

Images of them through his eyes flashed through her mind as he sucked, and she spun round at the beauty of their coupling. Having him inside her, and now she inside him, thrust her to a new level, and she fell, drenched with their passions, to a deep healing sleep.

Javier pulled away from his Sleeping Beauty, and closed the puncture wounds. He was glad she slept, because he knew he wouldn't be able to speak for a long time. Thoughts of tomorrow, when Knight looked at Tracy and would know, and the hell there would be to pay for that, were quickly dismissed. Dawn was nearly here, and he needed to make sure no light would come into the room. Normally he would have been looking for the door. Today, though, held only one goal. Today would be spent in Tracy's arms, bed and body.

Continued...

Mistress Rose