Well this is a longer one guys and gals. Somewhere in the 4000 range. O.O But I had fun writing it, so I hope you enjoy.

We're nearly to the changing point in this story where things will become...a bit more complicated.

Oooo...I can't wait for you all to meet Him.

Leave me some feedback for this one, plz

We'd returned to the club like nothing was wrong and Isaac left me at the bar with a whispered threat should I try anything again. Being sanctioned by Colette didn't mean I would be a permanent fixture in his life, he said, and he was more then happy with draining two women tonight.

I grudgingly sat back at my place at the bar with a promise to find myself a drunken idiot by the time we left, though I really had no intention of doing so. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten the man from the dance floor.

"So I'm a bit confused." The guy said, voice a bit slurred from exertion and alcohol. "Usually when a chick grinds you on the dance floor it doesn't mean she's going to ditch you for some street punk in an alley.

I hailed the bartender, completely intent on getting hammer-smash-faced before this horrible night was over. "So you followed me outside? Gotta say, that's really not going in your favor, buddy."

The guy lost his smile a moment and leaned in close enough that I could smell the rankness of his breath. "Listen, you little bitch. Maybe your mommy never taught you about the world of men, but you can't just go flashing your shit and expect us not to take the bait. Unless you're some sort of big tease, you look the type."

I swiveled my chair to face him, grabbing the front of his shirt before he knew what was happening. The bartender paused, glancing between us as if not knowing what he should do. How often was it tiny women that were doing the violence in bars? I'm sure this was a knew one.

"Listen asshole, I having a pretty bad day, not that it matters to you, I'm sure, and it's nothing compared to some of the days I've had lately; but if you don't leave me alone, I'm going to reach over this bar, steal the knife he has stashed under the counter and shove it up your ass. How's that for getting some action?"

The drunk's mouth bobbed a few times before I shoved him back, watching him stumble and nearly fall. Flushing deeply, he made a show of straitening his shirt and tried to saunter away, though it came off sloppy and ridicules looking.

"I can see why he likes you." The bartender laughed, handing over my drink and I frowned.

"I don't think that guy wants anything to do with me."

"No, darlin', Isaac." He chuckled, "Sorry, Mason, tonight."

I opened my mouth to question him, but didn't really know how to respond. He knew Isaac's name? Did he also know what he was? Was I missing something here? The bartender shrugged and waved his towel dismissively toward the dance floor.

"I'm sure he'll find worse then you gave him, 'he keeps acting like he was."

"Isaac?"

He laughed, "That asshole." He corrected, then started wiping down his counter. "Anyway, there are far worse beasties in this place than your boy."

My boy, could hear us. Did the tender know that too, I wondered. Would he be talking like this, so openly, if he did? What kind of place was this? I found myself taking a closer look at the occupants of the club. What other monsters were lurking in the booths and other obscured places in this bar? Was I in danger here?

The bartender kept me supplied with frosty beverages while Isaac played pick-up with the skanky Candy back in their booth. No one had found her while we'd been out, so it seemed I was off the hook for the feeding thing.

Hopefully.

I spent the next hour or so blowing off every guy who hit on me, sometimes being downright mean. The bartender seemed to get a kick out of it, but I'm pretty sure he thought I was going this out of some sort of fidelity toward Isaac. Despite him necking with some bitch in the back.

Evetually, I think the vampire noticed my lack of interest in the guys, and decided to send some my way. I'm not sure how he was doing it, whether he was telling them I was a big slut or simply planting in them the urge to bed me, but they came.

I'd realized the bastard's game after the first two, so when the next drunken fuck sauntered over to spit his game, I was ready.

"This is from the guy in the red." The bartender said, pushing over some fruity thing, its rim coated in sugar. He motioned half-heartedly at the one in question and walked off to tend other customers. I spun the stem and inspected the liquid, expecting to find bubbling something inside, but there was nothing. (Which could mean it had already settled.)

"Something sweet." The guy said, leaning up against the bar with a lazy grin. The expresson seemed almost predatory with his sharp hazel eyes roaming brazenly over me. Once again, I cursed Isaac for my outfit and turned toward the guy with a tight smile.

"You know, I don't think I'd ever have the guts to buy drinks for random men." He raised both brows slightly. "I mean, I could be a sociopath, out trolling for victims and here you are just doing the job for me."

"You don't look the type." He shrugged, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

"Sociopaths never do. That's what makes them so dangerous."

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "You're a feisty little thing. I can see why he likes you."

"Excuse me?" I gaped. Did I have the words Isaac's bitch written across my forehead?

"Your vampire."

For a moment, I couldn't move, then my eyes snapped to Isaac in his booth with Candy. She was merrily chatting away while his eyes slid to me and this man and narrowed.

He'd heard him.

"It's ok," the guy chuckled, following my gaze, "I'm no threat."

"Buddy, you've had too much to drink." I moved to get up, but he leaned forward and took my hand. "Hey!"

Without a word, he turned it over and ran his thumb across the thin scar Isaac had given me tonight. I froze and watched as he pulled aside his own collar to flash similar scars. Many of them.

"They stop scarring once you've taken enough of their blood." He fixed his shirt and released my wrist, giving me a devilish grin that almost rivaled Isaac's. "You're a new familiar, I can tell. I know the whole things a little rocky to begin with but trust me, it gets better."

I didn't know how to respond besides rubbing my wrist and drawing it under the bar top. He leaned back against the bar again and looked out in the crowded club.

"My name's Ryan, by the way."

"M..Mira." I muttered, glancing back to Isaac. He arched a brow my way then dropped the expression before Candy could see it.

"Listen, I'm not looking to score with you, Mira-interesting name by the way- I just thought you might rather someone you could actually talk to instead of one of these idiots."

"How do you figure that?" I asked, anger replacing the slight fear that Isaac would be displeased.

Ryan sighed, looking down at me. "He's hunting right?" Asked you to tag along, but with a date so as not to freak the kine?"

"The what?" I frowned.

"Cattle, food."

For some reason that irritated me. "You're cattle too."

Ryan only laughed, "I'm claimed, sweety. Anyone who tries deals with my mistress." Here he paused, "Does that ever sound a little dungeony to you?"

Despite myself, I smiled. "A bit."

The shadow smiled again, lighting up his handsome face. "so what do you say, Mira? Can I play your date, I promise to keep my hands to myself. I doubt you'll get the same deal from anyone else."

I glanced over at Isaac again. He was pressed closer to Candy, whispering something to her that made the girl giggle and blush. Truthfully, the chance to talk to another human shadow was tempting. What did he know about vampires? Would he tell me how live this way? While I never expected to enjoy this forced lifestyle, perhaps he could show me how to make it at least bearable.

"I guess it cold be interesting." I shrugged trying at cavalier, but smiling.

"I'll try my best." He said the straitened. Candy's obnoxious giggle sounded behind me and I turned to find Isaac, arm draped around her shoulders and moving like a drunk. They swayed together and he flashed a frivolous grin.

"You ready to go? Candy here tells she's got a hot tub back at her apartments."

Forcing a smile, I stood, "Sure."

Candy pulled away with a smile and glanced back at the booth. "I left my purse." She slurred and hurried off to fetch it. The moment she'd gone, Isaac lost his smile and sobered completely eyeing Ryan.

"We won't be long." He said, his eyes darker than usual, evidence of his hunger. I nodded, trying not to think about it and Ryan remained quiet, eyes on the floor. He no longer seemed commanding or dangerous. Just subservient. Before I could say anything, however, Candy stumbled over, clutching a small black thing.

"Come on," She urged, taking Isaac's arm, "let's not waste anymore time."

"Sure," Isaac smiled, looking at me over her shoulder, "We wouldn't want that."

Our group moved toward the door en masse, Isaac and his diner stumbling about like idiots. His ability to play these roles was somewhat unnerving, but he'd had years of practice. As we made it to the parking lot, Ryan's arm went around my shoulder. Immediately, I tried to pull away, but he held me close.

"I thought you said no hands."

"don't you think it'd look suspicious if you didn't even touch your date?" he gave me a light squeeze. "Chill, sweety, I won't kiss you unless you ask."

Blushing slightly I wnet quiet and followed my vampire to the car. (Ryan seemed fine as long as the vampire wasn't close, which seemed odd) He had a point, but seemed to be enjoying it a bit too much for my taste.

It's better than a frat boy. I told myself, hoping it was true.

xXx

"They can make it feel…good, can't they?" I asked, knees drawn up in my pool chair. Ryan and I had decided to keep a bit of distance from Isaac and his and his meal while they fondled in the hot tub. The girl had lost her clothes at some point, now clad in a dark red bra and hopefully something else. (that was questionable though seeing as she was currently straddling Isaac)

Ryan leaned back in his chair and looked up at the stars. "It depends on the vampire really. Some of them get off on the pain of the experience, but all of them can make it wonderful if they really want to. Hell, if they want, they can make it into one giant orgasm. Makes for great foreplay at least." He chuckled at my flustered look and shoo his head. "I take it you haven't gotten to that yet?"

I shook my head, fiddling with the torn edge of my dress. "We're not really like that." I said, "Well, I'm not."

Ryan nodded, though he didn't seem convinced, "Well when you are…"

I feigned a smile and tried not to look completely uncomfortable. So far I'd learned that Ryan had been a familiar since he was 19. Now 24, he and his vampire mistress, Audrie, were still together. The way he spoke of her, said he loved the creature very much very much, though the idea seemed odd to me. I couldn't see myself loving a vampire. Not ever. But this man was unashamed and completely at ease with her eating habits. Enjoyed them even.

My attention went to Isaac and Candy when she moaned, more out of reflex than any pressing urge to know what they were up to. He'd pinned her against the side of the hot tub, kissing her hard enough to make me pause. His right hand was hidden by the bubbled beneath the water, but that was fine. I didn't need to see.

Then Candy jerked and he clamped his free hand over her mouth to muffle a shriek. Ryan looked as well, his brows furrowed. Was he as open o this as he claimed? It didn't seem that way. Isaac smiled down at the terrified girl, shifting his hand beneath the water, and she cried out again in pain. Whatever he was doing down there wasn't pleasant anymore.

The vampire forced her head to the side, exposing her throat and murmured something in her ear that made tears gather in her big blue eyes. She tried to push him away, but it was useless. When he bit into her throat, she began to sob beneath his palm. I watched him jerk at her, tearing at the flesh of her throat to make her scream and biting harder when she did.

"He's playful." Ryan muttered while I swallowed my bile. The bastard was sick. Sadistic. He cold have made it easy for her. Ryan had even told me vampires could feed without killing, but Isaac wanted to toy with his food. He'd wanted the girl to suffer.

When her struggling had died to slight jerks, the vampire pulled away. He ran his finger across her gaping wound, gathering the excess blood and drawing it across his tongue when he did. Isaac moved to sit back beside her, letting the girl slump to the side, breathing shallow and then suddenly not at all. The monster touched the corner of his mouth and sighed contentedly, then his patchwork eyes slid to me.

"Come here." He said soft enough that I had to strain to hear it. Before I could even consider it, however, I was standing and walking across the pool area to him and the corpse. I don't know why I did it; perhaps he was just forcing me.

The ease with which he slipped suggestion into my mind was terrifying. How could I know what actions were my own anymore?

He smiled amiably, despite the fact that I just watched him eat someone, and motioned toward his folded jacket a few feet from the jacuzzi. "Could you hand me my cigarettes, love?"

"I'm not your love." I grumbled even as I knelt to dig through the pockets of his jacket.

"Pet, then." He titled his head, watching me. I didn't like the hunger in his eyes. For that matter, I didn't like the way the sight of his sleek, wet chest was catching my eyes. He really was a fit guy, for someone who'd died. Rippled and…I stopped myself before I could get too impressed.

I handed over the pack of Marlboro reds and flipped open his brass Zippo, lighting it for him. The vampire stared up at me as he leaned forward and lit the cigarette, amusement flicking in his eyes. He was starting to make me nervous, though I kept telling myself that his eyes weren't black, so it couldn't be that bad.

"Ask your friend if he's good with a shovel."

Ryan cleared his throat from the pool chairs and nodded, "I'm familiar to the concept of digging."

Isaac chuckled, leaning back in the Jacuzzi and letting a thick curl of smoke dance out of his smile. "Why don't you make yourself useful then while I talk to Mira."

The Shadow stood without another word and hurried toward us while Isaac swept me with his eyes as if curious. I watched in horror as he bent to drag the paling Candy from the water. My eyes fell on the dark bruising around her ribs. Apparently, she'd been screaming because the vampire was breaking them, one by one. The thought made my stomach turn.

While I was distracted, however, Isaac snatched up my hand and drug me into the water, dress and all, and settled me across his lap. I'd just started complaining when he took my wrist and brush his lips across my scar. The blood seemed to rush eagerly to the sensitive area, making it throb. Against my will, the sexual ache spread through me.

"Don't." I said between grit teeth. He only smiled and nipped the flesh, shooting electric tingles down my arm and making me groan. Ryan was blushing above us while he hefted the dead girl up over his shoulder and began heading for the gate, Isaac's car keys jingling at his hip. I wanted to beg that he not leave me alone, but Isaac wouldn't stop even with an audience. I knew better.

By the time the shadow had left the gate, Isaac had taken hold of my legs and moved me to straddle him. Thankfully, he was still wearing his pants, but it didn't stop my horror at the bulge there. Just like my first night with him, I was appalled that he got off to violence and pain. I wanted no part in his after-feeding ritual, if that's what this was, but unfortunately my body disagreed.

"So tell me." He murmured across my wrist, holding it again. "Are you angry that I killed her, or simply jealous that I wasn't touching you?"

"You're an idiot." I said, closing my eyes. As if it could stop this heat under my skin.

You don't want to sleep with him.

I repeated it over and over in my head.

Are you sure?

The thought came from nowhere and I looked back at him. His teeth were still lengthened and threatening, skimming over my scar. My breath came in shallow pants, face burning in my embarrassment.

He killed everyone who loved you. Everyone you had left.

He also spared your life. How long do you think that will last if you don't give him what he wants?

I let out a soft sound of surprise when his teeth sank into my wrist fro the second time tonight. The jolt of pain was enough to shake me from my unwilling arousal and replace it with fear. He chuckled when I tried shoving at his chest, but released my arm, licking his lips. His eyes darkened until the pupil consumed all color.

"What the hell do you think-"

"You taste…different." He interrupted, searching my eyes. I frowned confused. "I couldn't say anything before, lest Colette decide to take an interest in you but…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your blood," he brushed the hair from my face and over my shoulder, skimming his finger down the column of my throat. "It doesn't taste like hers."

"You mean I don't have syphilis?" Ok, so that was rude, but I hadn't liked Candy. The vampire smiled, shaking his head, eyes following the tiny blue lines that lay beneath the pale flesh of my arm.

"No, not just her. All of them. Your different." Suddenly, he slipped his arm around my lower back and pulled me closer, breathing in the scent of my hair. "What is it, I wonder that makes you taste and smell the way you do?"

"Isaac…" I warned, but his fingers had already tangled in my hair, forcing it to the side. Fear choked my scream when he kissed the curve of my throat, where it met my shoulder. I went rigid, drawing a shaky breath, praying that he was only trying to scare me. His tongue flicked out across the skin, tasting it, before he murmured, "This is going to hurt, love."

My mouth fell open in a silent scream as he sank his teeth into my throat. Right into the cluster of nerves beneath the skin. For an endless moment, I couldn't move or breathe from the pain, it was blinding. Like fire spreading through me, burning me alive. Then, the fire became something different. The pain changed and suddenly I couldn't tell whether I liked it or not.

I don't know how to properly put into words what it felt like to be fed from by a vampire. Really fed from. It was terrible and wonderful. I could feel him inside of me, his presence and something else there was no word for. At the same time it felt as if he were scraping out my insides, stinking his fingers into my heart and squeezing until the muscle oozed out from between his fingers in a red mess. There was pain here, make no mistake, but this was…incredible. Which frightened me.

The sound of Ryan clearing his throat made me open my eyes again (though I don't remember closing them, or taking such a firm hold on Isaac's upper arms.) The Shadow kept his gaze everywhere but on us, though he was fighting a smile, probably under the impression that we were playing.

"If you want her buried before sunrise, we should go."

Isaac cut him a look of pure irritation, still cradling the back of my head then sighed. "Start the car."

Ryan hurried away again, leaving me to pant, alone with my vampire. He turned his eyes on me again, still black as oil, and smiled in the way he knew made me blush. His thumb traced this new forming scar, still pulsing from his bite. The skin around it seemed to tingle. I was momentarily distracted by the way his biceps rippled beneath his skin where I held him.

"What is it about you?" he asked, almost to himself. I watched him nip the end of his tongue and lean forward. When his blood hit the wound, the tingling grew to a hot pound before vanishing completely. A brief discomfort and now I knew it would be healed, save the thin scar.

"Now then, we have work to do."

"Mhmm." I replied and we hoped out of the Jacuzzi to follow the familiar. Though I was still feeling a little dazed.

xx

Isaac and Ryan had been working on a hole out in the middle of nowhere for the last two hours. I knew it had taken that long only because the human was slowing Isaac down, but he didn't seem to mind. The drive out here had been long as well, so much so that I'd fallen asleep in the back seat trying not to think of Candy in the trunk. Now she was in the ground, so deep she wouldn't been seen in a long time.

"Is this what you do with every corpse?" I asked, honestly curious. Isaac glanced up at me, perched on the hood of his car and smiled.

"When I'm feeling considerate."

"Would Colette send people to clean it for you?" I asked and the vampire paused. His eyes went to Ryan who was trying his best not to show any reaction at all, something I'm sure Isaac noticed. After a moment, he sighed.

"Yes, but this is less of a hassle."

I nodded, chewing on my lip, my fingers were twirling in my hair, though every once and a while they'd brush the scar on my throat. Isaac had caught me doing this and smirked, which somehow made both marks tingle. Would this be a power he had over me, I wondered? Unfortunately, with the way I had reacted, I suspected so. This was not good.

"Ya know, now I know where the body's buried, Isaac. How can you trust that I won't tell?"

"I had a PI that asked me the same question back in the 50's." he replied heaving earth onto the grave.

"And what did you tell him?" I smiled, kicking my feet as I sat on the car hood. He chuckled, pausing in his work to smile wistfully.

"I found his home and suffocated him with his 6-year-old's intestines."

My smile vanished and I went very still. As did Ryan, though he covered it better. Well, that answered that question. The vampire's eyes cut sideways to me, taking in my reaction. I had no doubt he was telling the truth. To cover some of my alarm I forced a smile.

"Glad I don't have kids then."

"No," he shoveled in the last bit of earth over Candy's body, "but you have entrails."

Right then. Point taken.