Honeythief
Chapter Five

"Still, I hold my breath each time you go, out in the world that's beyond my control." – Honeythief, Halou

)O(

Raven was convinced her dream couldn't get any stranger. She knew it had to be a dream, because she was wearing a dress. And not just any dress, oh no, Raven was wearing a frilly, pink dress with a full skirt and matching apron. Her plum-colored hair was pulled up into a fancy French twist, and she was humming the theme from "I Dream of Jeanie" as she took a pie out of the oven. White high heels clicked on the black-and-white tiled floor as she set it on the window sill to cool.

What kind of weird dream was this?

"Honey, I'm home."

Raven turned and smiled brightly as Robin sauntered through the kitchen door, looking very debonair in a well-tailored suit. She rushed up and greeted him with a peck on the cheek. "Oh, darling, it's so good to have you home! How was work?"

"Busy." Robin hung his coat and hat on the hooks next to the door. He took a long whiff of the smells in the kitchen and smiled at Raven. "Well, gosh, is that pie I smell?"

"Of course!" Raven grinned again and batted her eyelashes in pride. "It's strawberry, your favorite."

"You know me so well, Dear." He walked to the window sill to grab it, but Raven lightly smacked his hand. He pulled his hand away and stared at her.

"It's not done yet, Silly. We need time for it to cool or it won't set right."

"Well, that just stinks." Robin frowned, but reached out and kissed her cheek. "Alright, I'll wait…" He paused and looked around that kitchen, as if expecting someone to come in. "Say, where is little Timmy? And Sally? They're usually right next to your ankles when you cook pie."

"Don't you remember, Dear?" Raven's head cocked to one side in question, her face blank with surprise. "Kory and Garfield picked them up to play with Bobby and Cindy this weekend. They're going to go camping down by Eagle Lake."

There was a long pause as Robin's eyes darkened. He bent his head down so that his forehead touched Raven's. "Really? Is that so?" Raven had the strange sensation of being thrown out of her body, forced to watch the scene from across the room. She watched as Robin reached out and grabbed her waist, bringing their bodies closer. "So, for the whole weekend we're alone?"

"That's right dear." Raven blinked and smiled, her teeth suddenly shimmered like sharp fangs in the soft light overhead. "Is that going to be a problem? I thought you wanted some time alone?"

"It shouldn't be a problem at all, at least not that I'm aware of…" Robin's voice had grown husky and he took a step closer to Raven, forcing her back to the kitchen table. It made a strange scraping sound against the tile, but neither one seemed to notice. Robin's hand smoothed down her dress from hip to her knee, before disappearing underneath the skirt. "I think everything should be just fine. Do you see any problems with it?"

Raven's head tilted back and a soft whimper escaped her lips. "No."

"Good." Robin's other arm snaked back around her waist and picked her up, planting her squarely on the kitchen table with a heavy 'thud'. There was the strange clank of his buckle as he made busy work of undoing his pants and hitching up Raven's skirt. The lacy tops of her black stockings peeked out from under the hem, but nothing else. Robin leaned forward and placed his lips on Raven's ear. "I plan on making this weekend one you'll not soon forget."

Robin thrust forward as his fangs exploded into her neck.

Raven screamed a moan of pleasure…

And woke herself up. Thank the Goddess.

Silence surrounded her as Raven lay in bed, staring at the clock. It was nearly one in the morning, and she had a very good feeling that she wasn't going to bed any time soon. Or, more precisely, she didn't want to go to bed any time soon. She wasn't sure what scared her more, seeing herself in a dress, or an erotic fantasy with Robin as her… mate? Isn't that what he called it? She rubbed her forehead and sat up, pushing the heavy covers off her.

"Raven?"

Robin's thick voice called to her through the door, and she felt her heart skip a small beat. She couldn't let him see her like this: ruffled and in a state of arousal. She'd never forget it, and he wouldn't let her, if she knew anything about him. She cleared her throat, trying to calm herself down. "Yes? What is it, Robin?"

"Alright?"

She sighed. Of course he would know, in fact, her scream had probably been loud enough to wake the whole building. "I'm fine. It was… a bad dream." Well, that was one word for it. There was a darker part of Raven that wanted to call it a very good dream. A fantastic dream that, if she had stayed asleep, would have had a fantastic ending. She needed to get her head out of the gutter, or she was going to be discovered very soon.

"In?"

"Sure. The door is unlocked." Raven pulled the covers closer to herself, hoping to hide from his eyes. She had a good feeling that he could see in the dark quite clearly, which meant he could see all kinds of things she didn't want him to. Including the frazzled look she had in her eyes.

She saw the outline of him against the gray light from the living room. He stood there for a long moment before he took a step into her room. Raven watched as he picked his way around her books, and took a seat on her desk chair. She sighed and raised an eyebrow in his direction. "So… what brings you to my room at one o'clock in the morning?"

"Yelling." Raven couldn't read his expression through the darkness, but she had a good feeling he was frowning at her. He frowned at her a lot lately, in spite of the fact she was working so hard to protect him. That was just Robin's personality though. She choked down another sigh as his pause continued. "Worried."

"Well, I appreciate the fact you were concerned. But, I'm fine." She smoothed down the covers across her legs, looking for something normal to keep her hands busy. Her heart was still skipping beats, and her eyes wandered across his shapely silhouette. Regardless of what he was, he was still… fantastic looking. She turned away as he continued.

"No." He shook his head. "Yelling."

"It was just a dream."

"Scared."

This made Rave pause, and she titled her head to the side in question. "Who did I scare? You or me?"

"Me." He stood up from the chair and sat on the edge of her bed. "Attack."

"You thought I was being attacked? From the fiftieth story of a building?" Raven couldn't keep the chuckle off her lips. The idea was ridiculous, of course. He would have known the minute someone came in the front door, regardless of whether or not he was a vampire. "Thank you for considering my safety."

Robin frowned, and Raven instantly felt the room change. She had insulted him, and now he was going to retort any way he could. There was another pause and he leaned closer to her, his nose almost touching her cheek. She felt his eyes search hers, even though she couldn't find gaze. "Scent."

"What… scent?" Raven's voice seemed to disappear into her throat as soon as he got close to her. Unfortunately, Cyborg's words from earlier kept playing in her mind: You two have a lot in common. Like what? Like the fact that they both wanted to pounce one another this very minute? She tried to push him away, but Robin took another deep breath. Even in the dim light filtering in from the living room, Raven could see the dark shade of red glinting in his eyes.

He knew.

"Arousal." Yes, he knew the truth. He could smell it on her, and he was upset that she wasn't telling him the truth. Raven's heart sank into her stomach and she turned away, trying to hide her expression, as he continued. "Dream?"

Raven tried to shove at him again, but he didn't move. Instead he pulled both of his legs onto the bed and inched closer, as if he were going to show her what arousal really was. For a brief moment Raven wondered: was it really all that bad? But, she knew the truth. She couldn't feel like that; she was Robin's protector. She turned her head away and frowned. "Back off, Robin. I am not telling you my personal dreams, oh great and fearless leader, so go somewhere else and poke fun."

"No." He shook his head, severity lining his face. "Curious."

Raven frowned and scooted a few inches away from him, desperate for any kind of distance between them. "I'm serious, Robin, this isn't funny. I-" She didn't have a chance to finish, there was a loud bang from the hallway. She stared at her door, and saw the flowers in the vase tremble from the vibration. What was that?

She and Robin stared at each other for a minute before he jumped up from the edge of the bed and looked over at the open bedroom door. There was another loud bang, but this time it was closer to their own suite door. He glanced back at Raven before he headed out into the living room. Raven frowned, wondering if they should be concerned or if it was just a loud noise. She followed him out into the living room, catching the vase before it shook to the floor. They couldn't afford to break another piece of pottery.

BANG.

The noise came again, only this time it came from their door. Robin and Raven stared at the door, before Robin reached forward and unlocked the deadbolt. There was a pause as they both watched, wondering what could have been on the other side.

BOOM

The door swung open and three beautiful, scantily-clad girls stood on the other side. Raven let her eyes adjust to the light, and she watched as they sauntered into the living room and plopped down on the sofa. They smiled coquettishly at him and batted their eyes. The red-head was the first to speak. "I knew I smelled an unclaimed vampire."

"Unclaimed?" Raven stared at the girls, and then at Robin, who looked like he was two steps away from pouncing on one of them. She pushed at his arm, trying to get him to sober up. It didn't help. "Excuse me, what gives you the right to just barge in on our hotel suite? Does he know you?"

"Awe, but he's super young…" This time, the blonde spoke, and chose to ignore Raven. She took a deep breath, savored it, and let it out slowly. A frown touched her plump, pink lips and she whined. "Only a few days old. That's old enough, right Beatrice?"

"Well, we'd be pushing propriety…" The red-head chewed her lower lips and thought for a minute. "But desperate times call for desperate measures. There hasn't been a single male vampire around here since… well gosh, I can't remember when."

"Since the 1960's, and Madame Carol snatched him up in an instant." The brunette pouted, obviously hurt by this "Madame Carol" person. She crossed her legs and her skirt shifted higher up her thigh. Raven heard a low rumble from Robin's throat and she briefly considered punching him a little lower than his chest.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're obviously not friends of mine and I'm not sure if I like having you around my… friend." Raven couldn't find it in her to call him something else.

"I'm Beatrice." The red-head spoke, a slow grin peeling across her lips. She could obviously pick-up on Raven's emotions, and it irritated the demon princess all the more because of it. Beatrice continued. "The brunette over there is Christine, and our blond friend is Ester. We're here investigating reports of an unclaimed male. I see the rumors were true." Her condescending gaze ran up and down Raven's body. "As is the rumor of him traveling with a half-demon."

"That's Princess Half-Demon to you." Raven blew out irritated breath and glared at them. How dare they insult her! Stupid vampires. "And if you don't mind, I would appreciate you vacating our suite." She walked to the door and opened it, gesturing to the empty hall as she did so. "The door is right here, please be sure it doesn't hit you when you leave."

"I'm sorry." Christine frowned and blinked up at Raven. "But, we don't plan on leaving until one of us has claimed him for our own."

Emotions of lust seeped into the room and made Raven nearly sick with the power of it. Robin was in danger, and she needed to protect him. Raven then did the only thing she could think of at the moment. "I'm sorry, you're too late ladies. My friend has already consented to be my mate."

She jumped forward and stood in front of Robin, trying to shield him from their eyes. Even though her powers hadn't returned yet, she could still feel all the emotions radiating off of him. The need to mate, the desire to create a clan, the want to engage in… well, Raven wasn't quite sure what to call it. It sure wasn't as sweet and innocent as "making love". She growled and held up her hand, needing to put and end to this right away. They we're not going to take him from her. "Sorry, girls. He's mine."

"Pfft." Ester rolled her eyes. "You're just a silly half-demon, what would he want with you when he could have us?" She gave a little half-shrug and one of the straps of her tank-top slid off her shoulder, exposing creamy pale skin. Robin whimpered from behind Raven and she elbowed him in the chest. He was not helping.

"Back off, girls." Raven used what little power she had felt and made her eyes glow red, hopefully getting her point across. "He's mine."

"He's unclaimed." Beatrice said, frowning. "That means he's anyone's right now."

"Wrong." Raven knew that voice, and her heart turned to lead at the sound of it. She felt rage cloud her vision, and she barely had energy to turn around and face the voice. "He's mine. I turned him, I have first claim to him. So, back off, Beatrice." Jinx pushed the door open and stepped into the living room. She glanced around at the occupants until her eyes finally landed on Raven. "Ah… so he called the silly half-demon to help him? Not the super-strong alien? How unusual."

Raven growled and took a step forward, suddenly feeling very defensive. This stupid whore had nearly killed her friend, and turned him into a vampire because of it. She couldn't think of one good reason to keep her alive and the shreds of her father's rage were starting to bubble to the surface. "Jinx, how nice of you to join us. I was just thinking how I am going to rip those stupid pig-tails from your head and watch you bleed to death because of it."

"Jinx? You turned him!" Ester jumped up and stared at the pink-headed bimbo with shock. "You know that's against the rules! We're not supposed to turn males! It's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Raven looked from Jinx to Robin and back to Ester. This had gotten a whole lot more complicated. "Ester, why is it dangerous?"

"Humans are… unstable." Beatrice spoke softly, standing up. Her hands were trembling, and her face was pale. Raven got the distinct impression she had just opened a can of worms. "Their emotions make them unstable, sometimes a male can survive a female vampire's turning, but it's unlikely. And even after that… their make-up is weird. Vampires are stable: no sun, no food, near immortality, and special gifts. Turned-vampires are… different. Some can go into the sun, some can eat food, some even get special powers." Her lips turned down in a frown. "It's a crap-shoot of what you'll get."

"Emotions clash though." Christine whispered, her glare directed at Jinx. "Vampires are loyal, passionate creatures… humans can be fickle, confused, disconnected from their emotions. They can tell you one thing, but mean another. Some go crazy with power, others turn into creatures of lust, and some simply feel nothing. Turning is dangerous, it destroys humans and taints vampiric lines."

"We're leaving, Jinx." Ester said, heading for the door. "You clean up this mess you made." The other two followed her, shaking their heads. The silence that filled the room was eerie and both Jinx and Raven knew that each other was on the brink of a homicidal rampage. Raven, however, was the first to react.

"What did you do?" Raven reached out and slapped Jinx across the face. "You're a stupid, selfish, silly girl and I swear I am going to hurt you in ways you never thought imaginable."

She frowned and glared at her, touching the red mark Raven had made. "I was desperate! You try living for a hundred years and see how you feel about being lover-less! I couldn't find a mate no matter how hard I tried!" Jinx pushed at Raven, but she reached out and slapped her again.

"Well, the other vampire girls seemed to be getting along just fine, you seem to be the only one having issues with being alone." Raven slapped her again, red lining her vision. "You're stupid and I'm going to kill you!"

"Well, you better do it after we find your precious Robin, because he started after Beatrice's clan."

)O( )O( )O(

DUN DUN DUN

So, there is Chapter Five. I hope everyone is enjoying it and where it's doing. Don't forget to leave a review! Also, if you're into Speedy/Raven I have a new one called "Static". It really doesn't have a plot, but it's kinda hot.