A/N: Wow, I'm touched. Thank you to everyone, who already follows my little story after the first chapter and/or wrote a review. I hope you all like the second chapter as well.

And please keep in mind that the story is rated M for a reason...

Chapter 2 ~ Taking care

When she woke, Isabel turned on her side. She knew her lover was lying next to her, waiting for her to wake up from her day's sleep. Hugo had made it a habit, and Isabel enjoyed waking up next to him every night. She headed for the 500 quickly, but the last few years with Hugo had been the most intense in terms of love.

"Good morning, my dear," whispered Hugo, stealing a kiss from her. Oh, he always tasted so good. She praised this century and the hygiene that people have undergone in the meantime. It was so much more pleasant to feed on people without diseases, epidemics and skin diseases. Not only did the blood taste better and purer, she also did not have to disinfect herself afterwards to accidentally infect others.

Her Hugo ran his hand over her body and she moaned softly against his lips as she felt his arousal. As he rubbed himself against her, it sparked her hunger and she could not hold back her fangs. Hugo broke off his kiss and smiled cockily at her.

"Hungry, my dear?"

"You cannot imagine how hungry I am, my human..." Isabel countered and ripped off his clothes with vampire speed, while she pushed him on the bed in the same movement and leaned over him. She showed him her fangs and smiled mischievously.

"Do you offer to satisfy my hunger?"

"I love to satisfy all your needs, my dear..." purred Hugo and Isabel did not need more confirmation.

As she took in his member in a swift movement and he groaned in pleasure, she bit her favorite spot on his neck and sucked his life elixir. Automatically, she began to move with him and it was not long before Hugo headed for his climax. While she still feasted on his blood, she took Hugo's hands and brought them up to her breasts. As he began massaging this most sensitive zone on her body and moaned her name, Isabel reached her own climax just when he fell over the edge.

A little later, she scratched her tongue with one fang and licked over her bite marks. Hugo had a demanding job in his world and she did not want him to be considered a fangbanger. With an elegant movement Isabel rose from the bed then, while Hugo lay breathing heavily. Apparently, he needed a bit more time to come down from their blissful ride, and with a satisfied smile, Isabel took a shower alone.

Not even five minutes later, she stood dressed next to the bed again and looked at the clock.

"No second round today?" Hugo looked at her pleadingly, but she gave him only a gentle smile.

"Not this time, Hugo. I have an important appointment in a few minutes and you know that Godric does not like it when you're late. So..." She leaned towards him and kissed him again with fervor. "I see you later, my favorite human."

As always, Isabel did not need long before she reached her sheriff's nest. Actually, she also lived there, but for three weeks she had been residing with Hugo now, after the unknown girl had moved into her rooms. As she entered the secret code to the private section of the mansion and carefully closed the door behind her, she thought about the girl. Neither of them had thought that she would last so long. Even Dr. Ludwig had just shaken her head and told them to simply take her to the hospital and not burden themselves with her. But Godric had not wanted to hear about it. Still on the marketplace, he not only stopped the bleeding of her throat on the outside, but also instilled two drops of his blood into her to ensure the girl's survival.

Isabel could understand him; she, too, had been pleasantly surprised by the girl's persistence in trying to draw his attention to the attackers. What she did not know, of course, was that it had been a carefully crafted action to disarm the men who had been selling V and weakened vampires, not just in Dallas but in surrounding towns, for some time now. If these drained vampires were not found fast enough and brought to safety from the sun, very often only a pile of blood remained.

Normally, Stan and Isabel took care of such matters alone, but in this particular case, it had been beneficial for them that their sheriff had the ability to fly. Because that way they could make sure that all the drainers in the area saw him and would come to the central square. There had been surprisingly few, but after the questioning they knew that the men had been very well organized and had left nothing to chance.

When Isabel quietly opened the door to her own private rooms, she saw that both Godric and Dr. Ludwig were already present. She also quickly stood by their patient's bed and looked at the girl.

"How is she today, Dr. Ludwig?"

Isabel barely listened when Godric asked his everyday question, because she already knew the procedure. Now there would be a minute-long lecture with lots of medical terms that Isabel did not understand. What she did understand, however, was that the nasogastric tube that had fed the girl for the last three weeks had been removed. So she decided to listen to the doctor's explanation too.

"She should wake up soon..." Dr. Ludwig said at this moment. "Her body functions have improved tremendously and she has gained a lot of weight so she shouldn't break anymore when she is moving. How long it takes, however, until she wakes up, I cannot predict. I'm still surprised, that she survived the transport here at all. How she could keep warm only with skin and bones and that thin rags is a mystery to me."

Isabel watched from the corner of her eye as Godric nodded in agreement and automatically pulled the girl's blanket up even further, although it was pleasantly warm in the room. This case had left everyone speechless. The girl was young! Too young to live alone on the street, which must have been the case for some time given her condition. Neither could they understand why no one had helped the girl, or why she had not sought help herself. Besides, they had no idea who she was, for under the rags she had worn they had found nothing except an old guitar. No wallet, no ID card, nothing! Until the girl woke up from the artificial coma, in which Dr. Ludwig had put her, they had no chance to find out who she was. Isabel had even gone so far as to compare her fingerprints and photograph with the national wanted and missing person lists. But that, too, had been a dead end. It was almost as if this girl did not actually exist.

Isabel sighed softly as she gently stroked the girl's forehead and unconsciously registered her temperature. But it was like Dr. Ludwig had said; her body had visibly regenerated during the three weeks of constant food intake and hydration, and hopefully, when she woke up, they would be able to get some answers as to what had happened to her.

"What you should be aware of is that your young stranger here will most likely suffer from muscle atrophy."

"Why?" Isabel wanted to know. She was highly educated in many fields, but she had never really been interested in the vast field of medicine. But this girl fascinated her somehow, not to mention her little secret that Godric and Isabel had kept to themselves. To her astonishment not Dr. Ludwig answered her but Godric.

"She was lying in bed all these days, Isabel. Add to that the damage already caused by the cold and extreme malnutrition."

Fascinated, Isabel watched her sheriff as he took the girl's right hand into his and gently slid his fingers over her skin up to the girl's elbow.

"When she wakes up, I want you to be here all the time, Isabel, to assist her in everything. Stan will take over your duties during this time. For the daytime, I have already organized someone who can take care of her and do physiotherapy with her."

"Of course, Godric," Isabel confirmed her new task and saw that Dr. Ludwig contentedly nodded.

"Well, then, I say goodbye for now. Let me know when she wakes up and further medical examinations should be needed."

Both Isabel and Godric bid farewell to the doctor with due respect. "Thank you for your constant help, Doctor. We appreciate it very much." Isabel nodded to her, and Dr. Ludwig replied with one of her wiping hand gestures.

"Yeah, yeah, vampire, that's my job." When the doctor turned around to leave, she paused again and looked again thoughtfully at the girl and then addressed Isabel's sheriff.

"That little girl was really lucky to be found by you at the last minute. I've rarely seen a vampire perform such a selfless act of mercy."

Her sheriff was silent to this, but his eyes took on a thoughtful expression. Isabel accompanied Dr. Ludwig out of the nest and then joined Godric again. He had now sat down in the large wingback chair, which Isabel had once brought as a family heirloom into the nest, and was reading a book. When she entered, however, he looked up and nodded to her.

"Isabel, I will take a little break for today and keep watch here. Please do the administrative work during this time. As soon as she wakes up, I will let you know so you can take care of her physical condition."

Externally, Isabel remained calm, but internally she was very happy that Godric finally took a break, even if it was only for a short time. Her sheriff took his job very seriously and was always there for everyone from sunset to sunrise – and has been for decades now. Every human would have suffered from burnout on several occasions by now and probably become insane because of the many jobs that the sheriff post here in Dallas brought with it. Because not only were the Texas vampires not easy to handle because of their mentality, but also their king was a thing of its own... So she hurried to agree to his plan.

"Of course, Godric. Should you need anything from the kitchen for the girl or yourself, just let me know, then I will get it brought."

"Isabel..." Godric sighed quietly and turned his head to look at her.

Her breath caught for a moment, as her sheriff gave her one of his very very rare smiles. And this time it even reached his eyes!

"I appreciate your constant attention, but I assure you that I am still able to walk on my own and carry things for myself."

The right corner of his mouth twisted into a grin and he looked playfully angry. "Or do you think I am that old?"

With that, he raised his eyebrows questioningly and did not even look remotely like the always-working, stern and now pale sheriff, whom he at all times displayed to the outside world.

Now it was up to Isabel to look at him questioningly. Where did this change of behavior come from so suddenly? Disbelieving, her gaze wandered to the still soundly sleeping girl, and she wondered if it was just a coincidence or if her sheriff had begun to feel something for this girl in those three weeks, beyond the initial caring feelings. If that was the case, she would quickly notice when the mysterious girl woke up.

Thinking about it she could not blame Godric for his reaction; after all, he was still a man and although the little one's body had looked noticeably battered when they brought her here, by now it was clear that she was also a natural beauty with her long black hair that even shimmered a little blue when the light fell on it at the right angle, the delicate cheekbones and elegantly curved lips. Her body measurements were also not to be despised and let Isabel suspect that the girl was closer to being an adult than to her childhood days.

Furthermore, she had amazingly healthy teeth and nails for her condition, and Isabel had wondered if this had anything to do with the unnatural gift the girl apparently possessed. Godric had postponed the clarification of that question to the point at which he would talk to her after waking up. But Isabel's curiosity had been too great and she had tried on her own to find out what she could be. For besides the fact of apparent telepathy, the girl also had a seductive scent that had remained hidden because of all the old and partly evil-smelling clothes she had worn against the cold until Isabel had subjected her to a makeshift clean-up. But her research had unfortunately been a dead-end.

Godric had consistently left this task of regular cleaning to Isabel; after all, they had not put the girl back into new clothes afterwards, but simply made sure that the room was warm and she was always covered with her blanket. This had also made Dr. Ludwig's examinations much less difficult, and it had also been easy to see how her body had recovered through the food supply.

"Understood," she finally answered and did not elaborate any further. The next few days, however, would be interesting and she decided to watch the two meticulously.

"Then I will get to work for now."

With a respectful nod, she excused herself and after Godric returned her respect, she quickly left the room. As she quietly closed the door behind her and headed for the sheriff's office, a contented smile stole itself onto her lips.