Desperate Times (closed)

[The_gladiator]

He didn’t comment on the pain the brand must have caused; he was more worried about her being part of his special flock. Then she answered and he frowned. He didn’t believe her. Her words stank of lies.

His eyes met hers, and he tried to sooth her with his gaze. He didn’t do it so much deliberately as naturally; it was just a part of him. He didn’t even have to tell her to tell the truth, she opened her mouth and the truth came tumbling out.

“I am not sure why striking back against a pervert intent on raping you, probably yet again, knowing him, makes you a bad person. Just a shame that I’m sure a steal blade did him very little damage. Though it did seem to allow you to escape.”

He reached for her, the panic was overwhelming his touch and his eyes. She needed more. He pulled her upper body into his lap, careful not to jostle her lower legs too much, so her head was on his shoulder, her hip on the bed beside him, so she crossed his body, would be close to his presence. There he just held her for long moments. “I am sorry that you went through that. I have long thought Sampson was in need of a good killing.” He said softly. “Too bad you didn’t have an ash wood stake, or better yet a shotgun with silver shot.” He rocked her gently. He didn’t know what else to say to her. He hoped his touch could say things he couldn’t with words.

 

[sweetheart97]

"I took his eyes," Cassandra told him, feeling rather dizzy as she spoke. She didn't even fight him as he pulled her close. She leaned her head against him, calming and blinking. A vampire was calming her. That should be scary. Why wasn't it scary?

She calmed in his arms as he rocked her. "I wanted the marks off. I got away, there was a guy...he gave me the map...little...but kind. 's why it's silly to you." She closed her eyes, calm now. Her heartbeat was no longer racing like a hummingbird's would.

"What happens to me now? If anybody found out what I did, I..." She looked up at him, and frowned. "I don't like hurting people. Even if they deserve it but I'd be lucky if they killed me for what I did." She leaned against him again. "There were rules in both flocks. That's why I keep asking." She looked up at him again, drawing breath to ask another question when her stomach rumbled loudly.

Did it occur to her to ask the vampire to get her something to eat? No. She thought about the soup, but it was not appetizing an hour ago. She looked over where he had laid out her things. Granola bars were still there. She didn't know if she was allowed to move off his lap, and his touch felt good. She didn't want to move just yet. As she leaned back against his chest, she frowned at it. "You're not as warm as you were yesterday."

His touch didn't keep her from blushing. "I'm not saying you're not hot, I mean..." She hid her eyes in her hand. "Can you pretend you didn't hear any of that? Please?"

 

[The_gladiator]

He stroked her back and hair as she murmured things. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that Sampson’s eyes were most likely just fine. A normal knife would never do a vampire permanent harm. “I am glad someone helped you,” he soothed softly.

“I have told you Cassandra,” he used her name for the first time, “I would not tell anyone your secrets and had no intention of turning you over to either of your former masters.”

As she started to stumble over her words he smirked, “I will blame it on your severe hunger dear one,” he reached for a granola bar, “These look aweful, but they clearly haven’t killed you yet, so eat one. Though, I do not allow eating of food in my bed. However, I think I can make an exception this once for your injury.”

Deft hands tore open the wrapper and handed it to her. “As to my temperature…” he considered her a moment waiting until he saw her take a bite before he spoke, “Yesterday I had fed, I have not fed today, and though I can still function without blood this rising, my body is sacrificing things that make me appear more human that my body can no longer afford to waste energy on, like having the temperature of a human. Without feeding in a few days I will be quite cold to the touch indeed, my heart rate will reduce, and even cease if necessary.” He shrugged as if all those things were normal, and in his world they were.

 

[sweetheart97]

She was surprised that he used her name. She blushed, happy for the excuse, and took the granola bar. She paused when he said there was no eating on the bed, but resumed when he made the exception. "They're not horrible. There's much worse to eat some times."

She nodded, finishing the bar in what was likely record time. "It can't be that simple as that...just no eating on the bed? That's doable for a few days."

Cassandra frowned when he mentioned blood. "And I'm over here with a bleeding leg." She wrapped her arms around herself. "Why does it hurt so much when you feed? With the vampires when I was with...you know...they never said who they were or even let us see them. Not before, during or after. Is it always like that?" She was quiet. "And when my leg is better? What are your intentions with me?" She stifled a giggle.

"I sound so old phrasing it like that. It does feel better. I'm sorry I was rude before. I was just scared."

 

[The_gladiator]

He watched her eat pleased that she seemed to be pleased by something so simple as eating. Though he felt that way when he got to feed. He handed her another granola bar. A silent request to eat. “I am sure there are other house rules. Try not to piss on the carpets. Once your mobile, put things back where you found them, basic things like that.” He grinned at her, hoping she knew he was joking about the piss on the carpets comment.

“I am not going to start licking your leg like a dog, I do have some class and manners young lady.” He said pretending to stick up his nose at her.

He sobered at her question about feeding. “Ugh,” he said making a yuck noise, “What you received is like giving birth without medication, yeah you can do it, but why when the experience can hurt so much less. With the addition of a vampire’s gaze our pray—I mean the blood donor—feels no pain and depending on which vampire line the hunter is from; it may even be an orgasmic experience for them.” He shrugged, “It was like that for me. I would go out dancing and take a turn with a woman, take her into a corner, and leave her feeling like she’d just done something sexually explicit on the dance floor, but not harmed in any way.”

In the process of his explanation he did not answer her other question about his intensions for her. He wasn’t exactly sure at this point. He would value having a blood donor, perhaps a human servant, so many options.

 

[sweetheart97]

She rolled her eyes. "I'm housebroken. Just because they kept us in barns doesn't mean I don't have manners...most of the time." She took the granola bar without thinking, eating it fairly quickly too. Cassandra looked up at the vampire. "What's your name?"

When she listened to his explanation, she raised an eyebrow. "No way. Every time I have been fed on, or somebody came back from one, they could barely walk, let alone dance." Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe this guy just wasn't a vampire.

Cassie thought back to the he was dead an hour ago thing. Yup. Vampire.

She finished the bar, and huffed, adjusting so he could examine her legs. "Well, in the spirit of cooperation, I'll do as you ask. Once my leg is healed, I can get out of your way, and it'll be fine." Yup. That's how things work. Vampires let people go everyday.

 

[The_gladiator]

“Good to know your house broken. I don’t do paper training.” He teased. “Speaking of which after I check your legs, I will help you to the bathroom.”

He then turned his attention to her “To render someone as incapacitated as you speak of is characteristic of a vampire taking too much, of not being respectful. There were nights I would have to take a turn with more than a couple women to get all that I needed, so as to not take too much from any one host, but that was typically if I had not fed in some time. Just like I imagine you eat more after you have gone hungry.”

As she readjusted, he began to unwrap the right leg. There had been some bleeding and he tutted at the sight that she’d popped a stitch. “Foolish child,” he murmured disapprovingly. “I think enough of the rest is still in place and the bleeding has stopped I do not think I would need to redo the stitch, unless you’d prefer I do so?” he asked as reaching to the table beside her he used antiseptic wipes to clean away the dried blood from her earlier actions.

 

[sweetheart97]

She frowned at him, looking down at her legs. "This was the norm. How could they be that hungry night after night?"

Cassandra had enough. He would joke with her and be demanding but he wouldn't answer her questions, and mostly asked her few questions. She huffed, trying to pull away. "No, I don't think so. Besides, you'd have to be insane to think I could handle stitches while being awake." She tried to pull her legs away. "I'm not as old as you, but I..." She shrugged this way and that, and finally made contact. She didn't hurt him, it was more of a patty cake motion. "I am not a child!" Her actions did little to help her case.

"Ow...ow...ok, ok, I'm holding still." She grumbled, pouting when the antiseptic stung. "Please, if you're going to keep me in the dark about everything, just tell me your name." She looked at her leg once more. "Please don't stitch any part of me while I can still tell you to fuck off." It was a murmur, one she hoped he wouldn't catch.

 

[The_gladiator]

He looked at her slowly as she struck out at him, “Was that supposed to hurt?” he asked. “If you do not want me to call you a child then stop throwing a tantrum. In fact, all you seemingly have done is throw tantrums since you got here.” Turning his head to the side he spat a feather out of his mouth, as if to prove his point.

When she muttered something about telling him to fuck off, he looked up, there was a slow dangerous light in his eyes. “The only fucking I do is with beautiful women such as yourself. Though contrary to popular belief, I don’t rape my partners. I “fuck,” he made quote marks in the air, “Only partners who are willing and desire my touch, and since you seem to want to pull away every time, I touch you, you are most likely safe from my tender mercies.”

He began to rewrap the wound. “Forgive me for not answering all of your questions, you do have quite a lot of them, you do ask them all at once, and I was just a bit busy saving you from becoming a cripple, and wading through your ungrateful shrewish ways. However, since you asked, my name is Darius. You may have heard of me. Neither of your former masters are fond of me, especially the first, you may have heard my name attached to much swearing.” He almost seemed to be mocking himself a bit with that last bit.

 

[sweetheart97]

Cassandra looked at him, meeting that dangerous light in his eyes as she met his eyes. "You know what I've been through. It's scary, even though you say you wouldn't hurt me. You won't tell me the rules, aside from being sarcastic about it, and before, with different masters, they were very specific about that with harsh punishment for violating the rules." She blushed when he called her beautiful. "It's hard not to pull away because I expect it to hurt or something bad to happen. You drink blood, and you say it doesn't have to hurt, but every time I've been fed on it...it's like having surgery without pain meds. It's worse..." She closed her eyes, breathing for a moment before she opened them again.

She was about to tell him where he could put his tender mercies when he told her his name and she froze. "No fucking way," she said, eyes wide as he rewrapped the wound. Cassandra's voice was barely above a whisper. "You're Darius?" she asked, watching as he rewrapped the wound.

Cassandra looked down, blinking, truly stunned by everything right now. She was on Darius' bed. In Darius' house. And he had cared for her, and even called her beautiful when he had seen her covered in mud and the gods only knew what else. But the stories she had heard about him...her lips, which seemed to have a bit more color in them today, parted as her brain took a little bit of time to sort out things. More importantly, she had stopped fighting him.

"There was this one time, I'm not sure how long ago, when I was in Dominic's flock. It was probably the fourth...maybe third time he fed on me in particular, he said I had a sweet taste like candy so I was a favorite." She looked down at her hands. "So they did the usual, you know, blindfold, drag up, throw me at his feet, and Dominic grabs me and...well, someone came in while he was feeding and I don't remember what they said to him, I was in a lot of pain, but he dropped me."

Cassandra looked at Darius. "He dropped me like a rock and punched his own chair, then screamed and started tearing at these papers he had on his desk. He even picked up a knife and stabbed the desk. I thought he was saying 'There he is' but he must have been saying 'Darius'." Cassandra smiled with a little laugh. "It happened twice. With Sampson, he...he actually got scared at the mention of your name before he got mad." She covered her lips with a hand.

"I shouldn't laugh, but every time you pissed them off, even if they took it out on me, I did laugh." She watched as he finished rewrapping the wound. "You look close to what I thought, but you're definitely not how I thought you'd be. With as angry as Dominic and Sampson got, I thought you'd be, I don't know, like a monster, or some sort of uncontrollable force." Cassandra smiled at him. "It was easier to take the feedings when your name came up. Maybe because they were shorter, but maybe because someone out there was fighting them too."

The smile disappeared, and she tilted her head. "Okay, I'll make a deal with you, Darius. I'll stop fighting you, on everything, while I'm healing if you at least answer my questions. If you don't know the answer yet you can say so. Deal?" She held out her hand to shake, looking at him. A deal with a vampire.

 

[The_gladiator]

He listened as she described how it felt to be fed on in the camps, in the pens. He could only frown as he listened, hands stilling for a moment in their rewrapping. He wasn’t sure what to tell her about the rules so again didn’t mention more about that at that time.

Her reaction to his name was instantaneous and surprising. “Aye, that’s me,” he said softly focused on his work.

He listened to her story nodding along, “O negative blood type is sweeter, it lacks the spices of the antigens,” he commented as she spoke. He wrinkled his face at the description of how she had been treated. “Tell me little one how did you know that Dominic stabbed his desk with a knife if you were blindfolded?” He was suddenly very curious about that, had she taken off her blindfold, had she seen Dominic’s face? Surely, she wouldn’t be sitting there calmly with him if she had.

He suddenly needed his question answered so he agreed to her deal readily. His hand covering her small one. His hands were long fingered and strong. Cooler than last night. “I will tell you what I can,” he said softly, “Having you fight less would be a big help, considering I am just trying to help you.”

 

[sweetheart97]

"You're going to get wrinkles if you keep making faces." She actually smiled at him after she finished her story. His hands had stilled for a moment, or slowed, which she tilted her head at. Did he feel bad for her? This was Darius we were talking about, the vampire who made Dominic stab a table. Surely he didn't care about humans. They were just food, right?

She took a breath to chastise him for calling her 'little one', and let it out. "It will make your face wrinkle if I tell you," she said, looking down. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you."

"They didn't always secure the blindfold well, so I got a tiny peek. Also, sometimes while Dominic would feed, they'd cut you and put it somewhere for later. Kind of a gross thing, really. At least that's what they told me but it sounded like a joke. Anyway, that was the only time I wasn't cut because Dominic took it and then I heard a thunk noise and when I looked up I saw him bent over the desk. Didn't see a face. His hair looked kinda shaggy. Almost like a dog." She bit her lip. "And now I'm just rambling like an idiot."

 

[The_gladiator]

He snorted a laugh at her comments about his face. He didn’t bother to remind her that he would look in his 30s for the rest of time. “I am not sure why they would have cut you; cold blood does not truly nourish. Perhaps to do testing of some sort. I cannot speak to that one’s current motives, or who all he surrounds himself with.”

He couldn’t help lifting an eyebrow at the description of Dominic. “That one must have been truly having a bad day if you saw him at anything less than his well kept best. That man would brush his hair before he went to hell.” He frowned. “That might have been back when I actively raided his lands, and stole his flock to set them free.” He suddenly looked a bit surprised. “You were the little one who got away from me, weren’t you? This incident with Dominic happened not long before you were rescued.” That sentence more statement than question, “On that final raid during that time, I was freeing some of the flock, helping set them up in new lives. The others helped funnel one out to me. Some of the long-term sheep feared that Dominic would harm this person just by overfeeding on them alone. I helped them get out, well some friends did, but they lost the person in the struggle with Scragg’s pack. It was you, wasn’t it?” His eyes were intense, searching, demanding answers.

 

[sweetheart97]

She backed up a little bit, away from him, but since he had her leg very recently. There wasn't anywhere to go. She could barely walk. She was as trapped then as she was now. "You were behind those? You were trying to get us out?" she asked. "I..."

It took her a bit to think of what to say that wouldn't anger him. "I ran. The second I could, I ran. I didn't know it was real, I didn't know that it was really help, I thought it was a trick and I just ran, okay?" It came pouring out, and she couldn't stop it. "I was afraid, and I thought the people were just taking us because we were food."

Cassandra started to shake. "I got away from the pack the first time, probably because your people were struggling with the pack and it kept them distracted, but then..." She trailed off.

"I climbed a tree. I didn't know that there would be a vampire waiting for me in that tree. They put a hood over my head and ran with me, which felt like being luggage, looking back. When Sampson tasted my blood, realized I was O neg, he put me in his special pack right away." She swallowed, and looked down. "I thought that was a good thing at the time."

There was a silence that fell. She couldn't very well run from Darius right now. Cassandra ran her fingers over the ends of her hair, smoothing it down.

 

[The_gladiator]

As she pulled away, he lifted his hands palm out. He wanted her to calm, to not react so poorly to him.

“You don’t need to justify yourself to me. I found your actions quite foolish, and still do. They were the actions of a scared child, not a woman, but I think you have been punished plenty by your choice to not trust my compatriots and myself. I will not ad insult to your injuries.” He said softly, his hand resting on her ankle, gently shackling it, stroking his fingertips over her pulse.

“Being Sampson’s special pack is not a good thing,” he said softly, his voice cold and filled with pain for her, anger at what that vampire did to his special flock. His eyes met hers and in them she could read his pain. He did not ask her how many times Sampson had raped her. And looking into her eyes he drew his hand from her. Even if his touch was calming her, he would not touch her when she so clearly did not trust or want his touch, she had been through too much.

“I killed Sampson’s lieutenant. That’s why he feared me. I dragged the bastard off the woman he was raping and sliced his throat until his blood ran down my hands and I ripped his head off his spine, even as his seed spirted out onto the poor woman he had used so cruelly.” His eyes were hard and cold. “I mounted the head to a spike, after I burned the heart, and left it to burn in the morning sun. I was kind enough to send Sampson video of the man’s head risking sunrise just to give him the image of the head and body burning to ash.” His smile was wicked, heartless. He rose to his feet. “I will leave you. I have imposed myself enough on you already.”

Then he sighed, "I forgot I had said I would help you to the bathroom," He gave her a look, "Looks like you can't be rid of me quite yet."

 

[sweetheart97]

She calmed a small bit while his hand was on her, especially when he didn't get upset, or growl at her, or tell her what to do. Her eyes widened when he told her what he did to Sampson's lieutenant. Yes, it was one thing to just kill a guy, but that seemed, excessive.

He wasn't touching her anymore. She hadn't realized that he had pulled away too. Her heart felt like it was beating a million miles a minute and the memories were there. Right there. She tried to breathe, why was it so hard?

Then he said he was imposing on her. She had to breathe to talk. "I'm in your bed. I wouldn't call that imposing on me. If anything I'm imposing, and maybe putting you in danger too." She remembered that description and shook her head. "Or not so much. Dumb thing to say." The prospect of being left alone was a bit scary. "If you want me to nap while you do vampire stuff, can you please help me nap?" The last question was barely a whisper.

 

[The_gladiator]

“I have no duties to attend to at this time,” he said softly, “I was just offering to give you privacy, I can sense your discomfort at my presence.” Even as he spoke, he scooped her up and carried her back towards the bathroom.

“Lower your panties, I will not look,” he ordered, holding her seemingly without effort, just over the toilet so her feet could touch the ground but he held her wait around her waist. When she complied, he helped her to sit?

He then stepped respectfully away. “Give me a yell when you are finished and want help back to the bed.” He handed her a wash cloth, the sink was right next to the toilet, “Encase you wish to wash your face while you’re in here,” he offered before he left the bathroom to give her privacy.

He had gathered the wet clothing and quick feet carried him into a very utilitarian laundry room. Yes, even vampires needed clean clothing. He thought of getting dressed, but decided that for the moment he was content with the black flannel pajamas he had put on prior to laying down.

As he puttered around, he waited for her to call for him to let him know she was ready to return to the bed. He poured out the soup which she seemed disinterested in eating. He examined his refrigerator, finding that his milk was expired. He did not get many visitors. “Milk is kind of gross,” he commented to himself as he let it flow down the drain, making a face at the smell. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen spoiled milk before, it was just so long since Darius had been human that sometimes he forgot simple things like that.

 

[sweetheart97]

She squeaked when he picked her up. It was more that she had no warning than fear. A second later, she was hovering over the toilet. She blushed, but in the interest of not wanting to hover over a toilet all day, did as she was told. Then he left.

She relieved herself, then washed her face. Her hair was a wild mess around her face, soft, and it fell to her mid back. Cassandra sighed, pulling her light hair away from her face. What would a vampire do for fun? Did he have hobbies?

Why do I care if vampires have hobbies, I should be trying to get out of here, right? she thought to herself. She shook her head. She had to wait until she was healed. That was the deal.

"Darius? I'm finished." She stood, holding the sink for balance. Her leg was starting to hurt again. Darius had been trying to rescue her this whole time. She could barely believe it, but it made sense. She just needed to get a straight answer as to what happens now.

A tiny voice in the back of her mind questioned this. Did she really? She knew what would happen for the rest of her stay. She would do as the vampire said and rest. She didn't have to know all the plans right now. Plus, if she had to share a bed with someone, there were worse looking people than Darius. Cassandra's mind tried to ignore the little voice, but it was insistent. Cassandra blushed when Darius picked her up again.

 

[The_gladiator]

He was finishing up in the kitchen realizing that he would need to find her food soon, when he heard her request for assistance. Her voice was pretty, it wasn’t as scared sounding as he would have expected in one so small as she, and when she wasn’t having a tantrum, he thought he quite liked her voice.

He lifted her in his arms. “I have placed your undamaged clothing in my dryer. I will need to help you find more clothes, and probably food soon.” he said as he lay her back in the bed, tucking the blanket around her once again.

He began to gather her items back into her backpack setting it beside her on the floor when he was finished. “We should charge your batteries,” he commented, as if that were something that were common to offer a guest.

“Was there more you needed to help make you more comfortable my lady?” he asked flashing her a slight smile, hoping she would relax soon.

 

[sweetheart97]

She raised an eyebrow. "I can fix the pants. They weren't that ripped. And it would give me something to do while sitting in bed." She didn't protest this time when he lifted her and put her back in bed. Cassandra seemed lost in thought, and she was.

She had two brands now, and was in the house of the third vampire she'd met, who was connected to the first two.

Her concentration broke when he said that they should charge her batteries. Her heart leapt. Charging her batteries meant she was going to be allowed to leave. She sat up in bed, nodding. "Yes please."


She was going to be allowed to leave. It felt as though all the air had been sucked from the room. So he wasn't her enemy. She even managed a small smile back at him, then shrugged.

"You have a bed. And pillows with blankets." She tossed one at him playfully. "Do you know the last time I was on a bed like this? Because I don't." She smiled at him, laying back on the bed, arching her back as she snuggled into the blankets.

 

[The_gladiator]

He caught the pillow, “Not so easy to harm when I’m not unconscious,” he said, “Speaking of which I didn’t know vampires got headaches, thank you so kindly for that.” He said with a chuckle to tell her he wasn’t really mad at her.

He looked at his bed as if he were trying to see it the way she had, “I suppose it is pretty fine for a bed, I mean I don’t get to enjoy it much, considering I’m dead and all that, and most other enjoyment of it requires you know, a willing partner. If I only had less scruples,” he said and flashed her another smile, this time flashing fangs, though not much. His control was superb. It was characteristic of his age that he almost never showed them unless he meant to. He moved to the closet and considered his clothing.

“I should go out to find you food. I hadn’t planned on returning to the fae so soon after yesterday. Bargaining with them for anything is quite exhausting. Though bargaining for food to feed you will certainly be far less expensive than bargain for my own meals. Especially as power drunk as their blood makes my kind.” He became aware that he was half speaking to her and half to himself, though he figured he was giving her pertinent information in a round about way so figured she would not mind.

He pulled a dress shirt out of the closet, the purple of the shirt going well with his green eyes. “Not sure I’m feeling it,” he muttered, “Perhaps just black but the fae don’t tend to like somber colors.”

 

[sweetheart97]

She was about to laugh when he said he had a headache. Vampires can get headaches? she thought to herself. "I'm sorry about that."

Cassandra shook her head when he said 'for a bed'. "That's like saying, it's pretty fine for the Mona Lisa or..." She blushed when he commented, but when he flashed fang, she swallowed, and Darius would feel three flashes of emotion. First fear, a quick jolt but intense followed by embarrassment followed by curiosity. It was the curiosity that lingered the longest, but he got up before she could really say a thing.

She sat back up in the bed, wrapping her arms around her knees before she flinched, remembering that she was stitched up and therefore had limits on movement. "Why?" she asked simply. "Why is bargaining with them so hard? I would think that if their blood is like alcohol, and mine is like, I don't know, juice, it would be in their best interests to help you keep me alive, right?" Cassandra shook her head at his shirt choice.

"It's too muted. You should go with something green. Maybe green and brown." She thought as she watched him, biting back a thousand retorts, little snippy things to say. "Wait, you're going now? If you're going, why don't you let me borrow some pants, and then you could just take me with you! I was trying to get there this whole time. And..." She paused, unsure. Darius had tried to rescue her. What did that mean for now?

 

[The_gladiator]

Darius considered the shirt. “You think I should wear something to bring out my eyes?” he asked and made the change she requested. He stripped off the shirt and pulled on the dress shirt, his pale chest disappearing behind the emerald green fabric.

Turning his back to her he stripped off the bottoms and then slid on the tight black jeans, giving her a brief flash of his butt, showing that he did not seem to believe in underwear.

He turned to face her and he looked like a businessman on his day off. “Sure, I can take you. Do you propose I carry you the whole way, or find a little red wagon to pull you in?” he asked. “I’d love for you to witness what I must give up just to take care of you, not even considering nourishment for myself. Afterall, understand is always greater when it's whitnessed firsthand rather than just described.” His tone had been joking at first but that last sounded a tad harsh, scathing, like she had no idea what she was asking for.

He stepped over to the bed, “Are these fine? Or should I add clothing for you in my negotiations as well?” he asked her as he practically slapped a pair of sweatpants into her hands. "I wonder though should I tell you the price I paid last night to be fed myself, before we go?"

 

[sweetheart97]

She blushed brightly and turned away when she got a flash of rather nice ass. At first looked back at him with a smile but then it was clear he was joking. Except for the last part. That was confusing. "If you leave me there, you don't have to trade anything away. You don't have to take care of me!" She bit her lip. "That was harsh. I'm sorry."

She jumped when the sweatpants landed on the bed. "I don't understand why you insist on not telling me anything! I ask you about the Fae, nothing except apparently there's a dress code and they aren't nice at all. And if they're not nice at all, then I was right the whole time not to tr--" Cassandra stopped, cutting herself off. He was already angry. No need to make him angrier. She looked at the sweatpants, and then at him. She didn't throw a fit. Her heart raced.

"No. I know I owe you, for more than just stitching up my leg. And carrying me around all stitched up is probably like walking around with a steak." She did reach out and pull the pants closer. "If bargaining for your own food is that hard, you shouldn't have to bargain for mine. I should have to bargain for my own." She was quiet for a moment, then tried to meet Darius' gaze on purpose.

"If you tell me how long you plan to keep me here and you promise you can make it not hurt, just to make your bargaining for my food even, you can bite me." A blush colored her cheeks. "One time offer!" Cassie held up a finger.

 

[The_gladiator]

“You were right not to what?” he asked his eyes on hers. He was not trying to capture her so much as just meet her gaze.

He snorted at her offer, “You’re a crap negotiator, you know that, right?” he stepped closer and lifted her chin on his fingertips, “You did not specify when I had to tell you how long I would keep you, you did not tell me I had to keep you a certain amount of time, you seemingly said I could feed on you as long as I was bargaining to feed you, so I could keep you indefinitely and as long as I fed you I could share your blood. You did say one time offer but did not specify that that one feeding is all I could have, or if I passed this offer, I would never get the chance again. Such careless mistakes are why the fae would eat you for lunch,” he said softly.

He considered her as he took back his hand. “He began to unbutton his shirt, peeling it slowly off of his arms and away from his muscled chest. He was not overly buff, but very well sculpted like a runner or swimmer. “I will show you something, and then you will see why I sought to protect you from the Fae.”

He turned his back to her and where his chest had been flawless, his back was a myriad of whip marks. For something to leave a lasting mark on a vampire, it had to have done significant damage. “Their magic is such that I feel them like a human would and they heal human slow. Fresh blood would help, but they were sure to inflict them just before I fed and did not give me enough to heal the wounds.” He shrugged, back to her. “Do you better understand?” he asked as he turned back to face her reaching for the shirt again.