Blood Ties - Passion : there's nothing else worth living for – Chapter 4

"Hey guys," said Coreen,"I don't know about you but I am getting hungry... Want to grab a bite?" she added, looking round at each of them expectantly, then realized she'd just goofed. "Oops, sorry, Henry, really!"

Henry laughed out loud. "Hey, don't worry, ok? I know it was just a way of speaking. But yeah, I forgot you guys might need to refuel. Let's find a cosy place, shall we?"

They spent the evening in the Bar Liverpool on South Wellington St and played pool until the bar closed at 3:00 a.m. Then they decided it was high time everybody got some rest. Henry dropped Mike and Coreen at the hotel and got his bag, then he and Vicki headed back to the university campus where she'd been given accomodation – a small apartment with a view on the main building. They agreed Mike and Coreen would take a taxi in the morning and have breakfast with Vicki around 10, time for her to settle the problem of her missed evening class.

When they got in the apartment, Henry dropped his bag near the entrance and went to sit on the sofa, took a deep breath and dropped his head in his hands. Vicki suddenly felt concerned. She got nearer, sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

"Hey, what is it, Henry?" she whispered, brushing one hand through his hair.

"Nothing. I'm good. Don't worry. I'll be okay. Just give me a second."

Then it dawned on her. "Henry, when was the last time you fed?"

He didn't raise his head and mumbled: "Two days ago. But I'm fine."

"No, you're not. I can see it. Look at me... Please?" she pleaded, worrisome.

He lifted his head, dark circles under his eyes, his jaw tense.

"Here," she said, cocking her head to one side so he could have access to her neck. "Take my blood."

"No, Vicki, no. I'll see to it tomorrow."

"No, you won't. We're not leaving Sherbrooke right now and I know it's someone else's turf. So, except he's a good friend of yours and is ready to share, you won't be able to feed until you get back to your own territory without causing trouble. By the way, how did you manage in Toronto?"

"I asked for a favor from the new landlord!" he replied sarcastically.

"Henry, please..." she insisted. "I'm worried..."

He looked at her intently then inhaled slowly. She came to sit on his lap, as she'd done in the bar a couple of hours before, suddenly realizing how hard it must have been to nuzzle her neck and not bite at it. He held her close and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then bent his head and bit into her fair skin. She gasped and held him closer to her, closing her eyes first from the pain and then from the delicious impression she had of feeling suddenly weightless.

Holding her like this after so much time thinking it was over, he'd never ever see her, feel her again, was intoxicating. He had to school himself to stop from drawing too much blood. He drew back and looked at her. She opened her eyes slowly, dreamily and sighed: "Better?" she said, looking suddenly very tired.

"Yes, thank you. Now, let me return the favor."

"No, Henry, don't. It's ok, I'll be fine in a minute."

"Doesn't that line feel like déjà vu?" he teased her, biting in his wrist and holding out his arm to her. She relented. He insisted, his eyes pleading. She took a deep breath and ducked her head, pressing her lips to his skin, sucking from the fresh wound. Then she pulled from it and let her head drop on his shoulder.

"You're drained, my love. Sleep..." he whispered.

"Henry, I don't want to sleep. If I do, you'll be sleeping yourself when I wake up and I've got so many things to tell you..."

"That can wait until tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere. Are you?", he asked, suddenly worried she might leave him again.

"No, I'm not, of course, no. But it feels so good being in your arms... See, I've been thinking about it all night, how much I needed more..." she added, suddenly self-conscious, ducking her head so he would not see her embarassment. Maybe this was not what he wanted. Maybe she was too forward. After all, she could remember conversations they'd had about how men did not treat women the right way, how hurried they were now, how nice it was to court a woman...

He tucked one finger under her chin and gently lifted it to look into her eyes. "Vicki," he said, laughing. "Are you asking me to make love to you?"

She nodded. "And you think I'm going to think badly of you for that?" He laughed more.

"Well, I don't know... Maybe you think we should wait?" she asked, wincing.

"Now, that's a sight to behold! Vicki Nelson, ashamed of confessing her desires!" She swatted him.

"Ouch! You're strong!", he teased her. "Vicki, if you fear I might be old-fashioned, you're damn right. Now, my brain is... but I'm afraid my body feels very modern! I've been wanting you ever since the moment I set my eyes on you. Besides, don't you think two years of foreplay followed by one year of abstinence are quite enough?" he added, lifting both eyebrows expectantly.

She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him hard. It was not a gentle kiss - it was a demanding, hungry, starving one. When he could breathe again, he laughed: "I take it it's a yes, Victoria!", lifting her in his arms, and swiftly taking her to the bedroom.

Dawn found them wrapped in each other's arms, Henry's face in her hair, breathing in her fragrance, enjoying the moment, not thinking about what next. But of course, early morning was creeping in so he got up and shut the curtains.

"Vicki, it's time...", he whispered in her ear as he got back in bed beside her. "Time for the beast to get his beauty sleep," he bantered.

"Shut up, Henry, you're not a beast!" She was shocked to hear him say that. He'd probably spent too much time with Mike lately, she reflected.

"Well, I thought you'd think that, after the night we've had, lover!" He teased her, nuzzling her shoulder, making her blush at the memory of their first night together.

"Lover? Like in "I shouldn't be seeing you because this is forbidden love"?" she asked.

"No, stupid, like in "I love you and hope you love me too", that kind of lover – the one who'll write sonnets to declare his love and who'll fight till death to protect you," he replied, carressing her arm, then turned on his back. "Night, love," he said before drifting into sleep.

She slept a couple of hours then got prepared to meet up with Mike and Coreen. She dropped a light, tender kiss on his bare chest and left, locking the door. He'd be sleeping all day. She didn't want anybody to drop on him unawares.

She first went to the dean's office to apologize for feeling unwell the night before and arrange for a new session for her class then joined her friends in the park. Mike was looking forlorn but she disregarded his attitude: he needed time to adjust and she was too happy to fight with him over this that morning. They spent the day catching up when she was not teaching but when they were sitting for lunch after grabbing some takeaway from a sandwich place nearby, she sensed that Coreen had something on her mind but didn't know how to broach the subject. "Spit it out, Coreen!"

"What? What do you mean?" her friend said, embarrassed at the blunt question.

"Come on, I know something is bugging you!"

"Ok, ok..., " she licked her lips, forming the words in her mind, trying to put it diplomatically. "I was wondering if you and Henry had already decided on something. I mean, is he staying with you or are you leaving with him?"

"Well, Coreen, to tell the truth, we didn't exactly have the time to talk last night..." she replied, her voice trailing off, making Coreen blush from the innuendo.

Mike coughed, clearing his voice. "So you don't know what you're gonna do...yet?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't. He said he loved me, was ready to die for me, so I take it he's not leaving me, if that's what you want to know. Frankly speaking, the place where we live is quite irrelevant for me. Is that all you wanted to know?"

"Humm, Vicki", he started, glancing uneasily at Coreen. "What we really want to know is, is he going to turn you?"

"I... I, we didn't talk about that either." The conversation was really not going the way she'd imagined.

"He drew your blood, right?" he insisted.

"Yes, he did, but only because I told him – actually, I begged him – to do so. He would never have done it if I had not insisted."

"Oh, yeah, right: good vampire! As if, Vicki..."

She sensed Mike was getting on edge – again – and she didn't want that to happen. "Why can't you see the good in him?" she accused him.

"Because he's a vampire! He's no good, that's all. It's in his nature to hurt people."

"No, Mike! You're unfair with him. He actually gave me blood right after so I wouldn't feel weak."

"Oh, great! Now you've exchanged blood ! Ain't that cute!" he replied in a disgusted tone.

"Hey! Can I put my two cents in?! I feel kind of left out here!" They both turned to see Coreen's angry look. Mike opened his mouth but Coreen shushed him and raising her hand, she added: "Shut up, Mike! This is important. Vicki, how are you feeling?"

"As a matter of fact, Coreen, thank you for asking, I'm feeling great?3 she said, taking off her glasses and looking at both of them, for the first time in months not squinting as if she couldn't distinguish the people right in front of her. "I put these on this morning out of a habit, but really, I don't need them. I can even read what's written on the board over there, on the other side of the street," she added.

"Ok, that's weird..." Mike said.

"No, it's not. It actually happened before, when he was still in Toronto."

"So, tell me, Vicki," Mike started, "you're going to let him turn you just so you don't get blind?!"

"Well, you know, now you talk about it, that's an idea !", she replied, really pissed at his antics.

"Vicki, we're worried, that's all. We want to make sure you'll be ok before we head back to Toronto," Coreen said, trying to thaw the atmosphere.

"You're talking life-decisions, so to speak!" Vicki snorted. "How do you want me to make them so fast?"

"You and Henry must speak about all that asap, though," Coreen replied. "I'm just stating a simple fact, not trying to piss you off or push you in one direction or another." She held her finger at Mike as a warning, seeing he was not happy with what she'd just said. "He can't stay here. You could both return to Niagara Falls, to his new territory, but you need to organize your lives and as we all know, you don't have much time left before you get blind permanently." She winced at the thought but plodded on. "I'm sure he knows that too. Talk to him. We won't be in your way. I even think it would be wiser if we left now. You can always call us back if you need our help. I don't know about Mike but you can be sure of one thing – I'll support you, whatever the decision." She hugged her friend and looked at Mike expectantly, prompting him with a nod.

"Ok, Vicki, goth girl is probably right. I can't tell you I'll be happy if you become a bloodsucker but I could understand. Is that what you wanted to hear?" He asked Coreen, like a schoolboy waiting to know if he'd gotten the right answer. She beamed at him and Vicki gave him a poor smile, seeing how hard it had been for him to accept the situation.

Parting was not easy. There was lots of crying from Coreen, Vicki had a lump in her throat and Mike was trying to act like a man but he was feeling really low.

She got back to the apartment as the sun was setting. Good that she was not teaching that night because they definitely had a lot of talking to do.

She went to sit on the edge of the bed next to him and waited for him to wake up. He suddenly gasped as if coming back to life and looked around. When he saw her, his features relaxed, he grabbed her wrist and made her fall on top of him. "Hello, love," he said giving her his drop dead smile and a kiss. "How was your day?"

No point in beating around the bush here! "Mike and Coreen have left. They think it's better for us to be left alone to sort things out."

"They think ?" He look at her doubtfully.

"Well, Coreen does and Mike had to agree..." She admitted.

He laughed out loud. "Good girl!"

"So," he said, rolling her on the bed and sitting, "What shall we talk about?"

"You tell me!"

"Ok, I'll shoot first. I can't stay here. Are you coming with me?"

"Henry! This is quite blunt!"

"Sorry, love, but we don't have much time before the local vampire comes banging at this door, demanding that I get the hell out of here..."

"Ok, you want an answer? I like it here. It would have been good staying but I won't stay here without you so... so be it! I'm gonna send my apologies and resignation to the dean, 's all!"

He grinned. "Don't get yourself an attitude, mister! I'm in deep trouble now I don't have a job!"

"It's not as if you needed to make a living, Vicki. I've got enough for both of us," he stated.

"Come on, Honey," she mockingly drawled. "You know me, I'm not the housewife type."

"House-wife? Now, that's interesting! What part of that word don't you agree with? Because if you don't mind the wife part, husband material here!" he said, pointing at himself, giving her a broad, inviting smile.

TBC