Chapter Fifteen

I turned, gawping at the boy now stood in front of me. I barely recognised him in his attire. Smart black shoes, pinstripe trousers and blazer, a shirt that matched my dress, finished with a black tie, his hair swept from underneath a rather smart trilby.

"Hi." My mouth ran dry as I reached up, my finger tip tracing his jaw line delicately as he grinned, placing his hand over mine as it reached his lips. "I like the hat."

"I knew you would. I didn't know if it would go well with dad's suit." He smiled, his fingers now entwined in my own, the pair of us turning to Harry who looked on at us a little puzzled.

"Are we ready?" He asked.

"Yes." We replied simultaneously.

"Dougie, do you understand that by committing yourself to this woman, you must not seek pleasure with another?" Harry read from the torn papers in his still trembling hands.

"I do." I could almost hear him grinning.

"And you, Claire?" Harry turned to me.

"Yes." I replied.

"Then, repeat." Harry drew a deep breathe, pursing his lips before continuing, and taking hold of a glass that had been sitting on the table beside him. "As I drink from this cup, I understand that I will…" Dougie watched as I obeyed my brothers instructions almost religiously.

"…honour my partner, only drink from him, and honour his genitals." We both giggled, trying out best to keep a straight face as I said the words, Dougie following suit immediately afterwards.

"…And that the fruit of our lives together will be carried within her." Dougie gave my hand a squeeze.

"The fruit of our lives together will be born from me." I looked up at my brother who was smiling, although still looking awfully baffled. Probably because I wasn't putting up much of a fight. In fact, no fight at all. I wonder why.

"And now you kiss." He said. "That's if you feel comfortable enough to…"

I smiled, licking my lips a tiny amount before pressing them to Dougie's, his hands on my hips, drawing me closer to him as my hands travelled up his chest, around and locking at the back of his neck.

"I love you." He murmered before parting lips, granting me all the access I wanted, needed, anxiously awaited. For those few moments I was lost. Lost in this most bizarre tingle at the pit of my stomach that merely made me smile more. It was only when we heard the door open, close, then lock, that we pulled apart.

"Why's he gone? Why are we locked in?" I gabbled, pulling away from Dougie abruptly, leaving him to kiss the air momentarily.

"You know how Tom said that particular type of mating was traditionally for after being bound?" Dougie smirked.

"Oh." I blushed furiously as he swept stray strands of hair from my face, tucking them neatly behind my ear.

"You look beautiful by the way." He fingered the straps of my dress absent-mindedly as he kissed up and down my neck slowly. "Perfect. Amazing. Gorgeous…"

"Less talk, Doug." I laughed. "That suit is hot on you, but you look better when you wear nothing at all."

"Do you think Harry knows?" Dougie asked, allowing me to relieve him of his clothes, discarding them to the floor below.

"Even if he does, he can't do anything about it now." I unbuttoned his shirt, fingertips trailing gently over the brand on his chest. The same brand that I had terrible difficulty tearing my eyes away from. "Doug, it just hit me."

"What this all means." I replied. "yesterday I did nothing but worry, and now everything's going to be fine. And I know that for a fact."

"I like the positive Claire." Dougie smiled, walking me to the sofa before pulling me down on to his lap, straddling him as I hitched my dress up for comfort.

"Don't you like all of me?" I felt my lips form in to a moody pout.

"No." he grinned, hands on my hips as he massaged his lips against my own, murmering against them. "I love all of you. Every single bit."

The thin straps of my dress were lifted away from my shoulders. I allowed them to fall, exposing my naked torso to Dougie, who smirked in a menacing way. I giggled, a hidden girly nature shining through as I blushed. A side of me that only he could bring out in me. A side of me I never knew existed until I'd come in to contact with him.

In fact, I was beginning to accept that I could be pleasant when I wanted to be. I didn't always have to be the bitter little orphan. I could be me. Claire. Vampire Princess. Okay, so that oversteps the marker. Cut me some slack here! I'm the moody abandoned kid after all, and nothing will ever make me grow tiresome of sarcasm.

Urgent thuds on the door to the club signalled the end of my private time with Dougie. I knew the hour and a half we'd spent alone was too long without interruption. The door was hastily unlocked, and Natalie burst through in to the room, breathless and tearful.

"What's wrong?" Dougie stood up, pulling me up with him by the grip he had on my hand. The pair of us watched Natalie closely, her eyes bloodshot, full with yet to be cried tears, her breathing still irregular. She's been running. Running fast. Running for a while.

"Hunters." She wheezed. "They attacked your house, Doug." He stood still for a moment, taking in the shocking, appalling nature of the information just given. "I was sent down here by Harry. To check you were okay." Natalie's speech improved as her breathing regained a regular pattern. "They wanted the two of you."

"Why would they want us?" I asked, looking at Dougie who seemed just as curious as I was.

"Can we.." Nat still seemed terribly on edge, eager for us to go with her. "They.. Patricia and Jessi were still inside." She hesitated, looking torn between trying to harden the blow, or telling it how it was. "It's not looking good."

"What do you mean?" he demanded, his snappy tone of voice startling me slightly as it cut through us like a knife. "Hunters don't harm humans."

"Humans don't usually harbour vampires in their home." Natalie replied, we were on the move now, Dougie's hand still firmly in mine as he pulled me along, picking up the pace along the tunnel.

"When did this happen?" He asked, all of us nearly running by now.

"We think it might be a few hours. Jessi rang us when she realised something was wrong." Natalie said bluntly. "When I left she'd locked herself in a bedroom, and Danny was climbing up the drainpipe."

"And the others, what are they doing?" I asked.

"Gabrielle's taken Tene somewhere safe until this all dies down. Tom, Sheena and Harry went in to fight." She spoke solemnly. There was nothing I could say that could lift spirits. Natalie's expressionless face said it all. They'd never faced this before.

"Where was Patty when you left there?" Dougie didn't sound like he truly wanted the answer to this. His gaze remained fixed on the light at the end of the long tunnel we were still trying to get out of, whilst me and Nat shared a glance, a look, an understanding.

"Shall we just get to the house.." Nat said, her tone falsely chirpy as she tried desperately to avoid the subject just brought up. She didn't want to say it.

"Where was she?" Dougie stopped moving, his tone demanding, verging on threatening.

"She was Dead, Doug." Natalie whimpered. "She was dead."