You Don't Deny Me

"You know the deal

You don't deny me

Your sinful nature"

- Sinful Nature by Bear in Heaven

After Mindy took it upon herself to come over to the Parker-Nichols house and offered her neck and her blood to Drake, irritation and spite set in for him. Sunday evening he realizes that she's trying to take control of their situation; that the other night she was in control. He missed the smell and taste of her trepidation. Her blood was still rich and flavorful and stimulated his taste buds but it she tasted different. It didn't change the fact that her blood is still the best he's tasted, she's still his favorite thing to eat, after all these months.

That night he's in her room before he knows it and she's sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting for him, her hair back off her shoulders, her robe draped over her desk chair. The most recent set of healing bite marks are still quite noticeable on Mindy's neck and a smug sense of pride flares inside of Drake because whether she's turned the tables on him or not, he'll always have a tad bit more control over her than she can ever have over him.

Drake leans back, perching on the windowsill as his eyes rake over her. He hears it then, her heart rate increasing a little in anticipation. If she's no longer afraid, then at least he can have some fun by making her wait.

The thrill of the chase will become the torturous wait.

"Well?" she snaps.

Mindy has perfected this stone-faced look, her cool dark eyes giving away nothing, not the slightest hint of what she's thinking or feeling but that doesn't matter when he can hear exactly what's on her mind if he just listens.

He folds his arms across his chest. "Well what?"

"What are you waiting for? An Invitation?"

He shrugs. "Dinner bell."

She rolls her eyes and rises. "We both know why you're here, so let's just get this over with, shall we?"

She walks over to him and holds her arm out. Drake wrinkles his nose. This is... odd. He likes the effect of having to take the wrapper off his food: rolling up her sleeve, undoing a button or two of her top and pulling her collar aside, brushing her hair out of the way. She's taken that away. He wants to have fun with her.

There's a low growl rumbling inside of him and he sees Mindy's chest heaving as she takes another step closer to him so that they're toe to toe, extending her arm so that her hand hovers just over his shoulder, her wrist a couple of inches from his mouth.

He grabs her arm as he stands and she jumps, not expecting the sudden movement of him jerking her, spinning her around as he moves past her, backwards, pulling her with him until he sits down on her bed. She stumbles a bit but gets her feet back underneath her quickly.

Drake loosely holds her wrist with one hand and, using the other, draws his finger from the crook of her elbow down to her wrist then back up, stopping at her forearm and circling around the nearly imperceptible scars. He brings her arm to his mouth, letting his fangs dig into her flesh without piercing the skin. He draws back and grins at the beginning of a frown marring her face.

"I'm not a toy, so stop playing with me, Drake."

He lowers her arm, letting it go. "Why should I?"

Her nostrils flare. "You really get off on messing with my head, don't you?"

"You have no idea, Mindy."

She glares at him before crossing to her desk and grabbing her robe. She slides her arms into the sleeves. "If you're not here to feed, you can go." She loops the sash and pulls, adding emphatically, "Now."

He smirks then bares his fangs and crooks his finger, beckoning her over.

Shoulders back, chest out, she holds her head high. "No."

Drake cocks an eyebrow. Growling, "Come. Here."

Her eyes are hard. She's impatient and annoyed but she wants this fix, she needs it, so she goes to him. She extends her arm once again. He looks up at her from under his eyelashes and he tugs at the sash holding her robe closed. She doesn't even realize that she's holding her breath until she hears him snicker as he reaches up, pushes her robe off her shoulders and down her arms.

Mindy takes a deep breath and releases it slowly, closing her eyes in wanton anticipation. His fingers close around her wrist and she can feel his cool breath against her skin. She inhales sharply as she feels the pinch of his fangs breaking through her skin.

She welcomes the euphoria, letting it wash over her, and sways forward, placing her free hand on Drake's shoulder to brace herself. His arm comes around her, pulling her against him so that she falls onto his lap as he drinks from her. In her daze, she doesn't fight and she doesn't care, she relaxes against his chest, fisting the hem of his shirt in her hand.

Drake pulls his mouth from her arm and licks the blood from his lips and his fangs before his canines return to normal size. Mindy's fingers uncurl from his shirt, and she sighs contently; she stretches her back before settling against Drake again. He runs a finger along the neckline of her nightgown before sliding her off his lap and onto her comforter then rising.

Mindy leans back, her arms behind her, propping herself up, and blinks up at him several times before she shifts, drawing her legs up and lying down, letting her eyelids fall closed as she begins to drift off to sleep and to dreams in black and white with bursts of crimson. She's startled awake by a dream of Drake draining her while he fills her.

Drake dreams of Mindy, reborn, ravenous, blood dripping from her lips. It is a fantastical nightmare.