Vacation over, but that's fine with me. 4 weeks of forced vacation can be boring. So I used the time to do a deep cleaning in my apartment, throw stuff out I don't use anymore, visit family and relaxed. I also managed to write some chapters on the next story and got ideas for others (one my sister challenge me to write, so that's what I'm going to do later). And I'm helping my sister to translate her D. Gray-Man story to English and later I'm going to work on the translating of her OP story. As soon as we're finished, she'll upload those. I'll give you a link, as soon as she has uploaded them.

Enough of my (hot) summer vacation. I hope you enjoy the story ;)

He hurried towards the forest and found her, leaning against a tree. She was still conscious, but he wasn't sure for how long. He hurried over to her and made her face him.

"Lu…" he whispered in concern.

"Marco… Go. It's not safe for you to be with me now," she rasped.

"I won't let you down. As I said the first time I saw you drink, you are free to drink my blood," he said and took off his shirt.

I was tempting, since he already had blood on his body. Most of it dried now, but she could still smell it and it drove her crazy. She almost lost control.

"I … I won't be able to control how much I drink. I'll drink until I have what I need," she said.

"Remember what I am Lu," he said and leaned towards her, so his neck was near her lips, as he whispered in her ears. "I'm a phoenix. My blood will regenerate fast and so you can drink until you're satisfied."

She couldn't control herself any longer and after whispering I'm sorry, she buried her fangs into his neck and started to suck his blood. He moaned lightly as her fangs dogged into his neck, but then he concentrated on regenerate his blood, so she had enough. It didn't hurt him at all. He felt slight aroused by it and somehow it turned him on. Closing his eyes, he let her drink.

He tasted as sweet as he smelt. Lucinda tasted for the first time in her life, as a vampire, human blood. She was desperate to heal, not wanting to leave Marco behind. Finally to find a man to love again, just to leave him, just as she once were left behind, was cruel. And she was happy it was him that came to her and told her to drink his blood. That he wanted her to do so.

It took her some minutes, before she let go of him. Her fangs disappeared as her white hair too. She could hear Marco breathe heavily against her shoulder, telling her that he was still alive. She felt relief to hear it. After few more minutes he moved and looked into her eyes.

"I'm going to remove the bullet, so you can heal properly -yoi," he said.

She nodded. He sat next to her and made her turn her back towards him. Carefully he lifted her shirt and looked at the wound, before slowly pulling the bullet out. He threw it away in disgust, before he made her lean against him. She closed her eyes and concentrated on healing her wound. He caressed her arm as he held her in the other arm.

"Marco… Don't tell anyone," she said.

"I won't -yoi."

"I love you so much. Thanks for saving my life," she said and turned to him.

"I would do it again and again. As long as I can save you, I will. I love you so much," he said, before kissing her.

Lucinda let herself get lost in the kiss. She was still tired after the battle and her healing. She was still longing for blood, though she could hold it in awe for now. It was hard, since she only wanted to taste his blood again. However she couldn't do it. Not again. This had been an exception. It had been to save her life. She had thought so many times than when she was about to die, she would gladly accept her fate and die, but now … Things had changed. She had changed.

Marco forced her down on him, still kissing her. He let his hand wander over her wound. It hadn't healed perfectly. He held his hand over it and thought he might as well try this out. It was something he had thought of after the war of the best. Lucinda lied on him, with her head resting on his shoulder. He concentrated and let his flames emerge from his hand he held over her wound.

"Marco…" she whispered lightly shocked.

"Shhh," he said.

She didn't say anything. She trusted him and she let him do what he was doing. It was warm, yet it felt good and just like when she healed herself. She wondered what he was doing, but waited until he had finished. After some minutes he once more let his fingers wander over her wound, which was now almost gone.

"It worked," he smirked.

"What worked love?" she asked.

"I used my ability to heal you wound more. It's hard, but I did help it -yoi," he said.

She sat up and looked at him with mild surprised. She had guessed it was something like that he tried, but that it actually worked, did indeed surprise her. Then she leaned down and kissed him.

"Now you can heal Ace, when I've been to rough," she teased.

"I could use him to practice this -yoi," he grinned.

Lucinda smiled and kissed him again. "Thanks once more love," she said.

He just kissed her back and forced her onto his chest once more. He liked lying with her on top. Just feeling her in his arms, her weight on him, assured him it wasn't a dream. That he did save her.

"Let's head back to the ship. They won't need us anymore. I can hear the battle cries a dying out -yoi," said Marco after a while.

"No. I still need more blood. I used yours to heal and now I need more to become balanced," she said.

He looked at her and saw that her hair still was white on her top and her eyes still slightly red. A sign of her needing fresh blood. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"I'll get you some animals to drink," he said and gently put her back against the tree.

"You know me too well. Thanks love," she said.

Marco just nodded and hurried into the forest. It didn't take him long to find some animals and drag them to her. She drank eagerly and after half an hour and several animals later, she was fit to go. She stood up and pulled Marco into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer.

"The battle seems to be over," she said.

"Sounds so. Let's head back, before they come to check on you -yoi," said Marco.

Lucinda nodded and together they went back to the ship. They walked in silence. There was no need for talking. Marco knew she was ashamed of her drinking his blood, but he would do it over and over again. Maybe it was selfish, but he couldn't yet bear the thought of losing her. He loved her too much. Letting her have sex with others he could live with, but her death? That he couldn't deal with.

So Lucinda got to taste human blood for the first time in her life as a vampire and she survived. And Marco learnt how to heal others.