Vampire love story

Tracy studied Vachon while she ate her dinner. He'd picked her up some dinner before she arrived, and after making love once more, she was starving. She was used to silences, but she could tell something was worrying him.

"Are you okay, Vachon? You're just a little too quiet." He smiled at her, contented, yet just a little preoccupied. Even though the sex was great, Tracy knew something was different.

When he offered no other response, she went to the couch and knelt in front of him. "Javier, can I ask you something? Were you okay when we made love? Did I pleasure you?"

He leaned forward and kissed her softly, barely brushing his lips over hers, then worried her lower lip with his teeth, never breaking the delicate skin. Releasing the tender bite, he licked at her lips. "It was wonderful, Trace, you know that. Some things can't be faked."

"You didn't drink." She'd wondered why, and missed that particular intimacy they shared. She loved knowing it was her blood he was living on, making him strong. "You could, you know. I love it."

Javier sat quietly, studying the small cut that still hadn't healed. He remembered Natalie's words, that what they were doing could turn him mortal. He didn't know what he felt anymore.

"I just have some thinking to do, Trace. Do we have to talk all the time?" he joked, but the words still stung.

"No, we don't have to talk at all." She got up and started gathering her things. "You want 'space', space you get." She turned to leave, only to find Vachon blocking her way. "And vampire speed is a cheap trick in an argument."

He realized he HAD used vampire speed. He was relieved to find that he wasn't changed, at least not completely. "Tracy, don't go. There are things going on you may not understand. Hell, I don't understand them. What we're doing is not supposed to be done. And things can happen."

"What are you talking about? Just tell me," she asked, exasperated. "I'm tired of wondering if you've changed your mind about me, if you still want me, if you're tired of me..." Her words dropped off as she saw the look of amusement on his face. "What?" she snapped.

"Tracy, you're such a girl. I mean, you're 'tired of wondering', and wasn't that you in my bed twenty minutes ago?" Images of their last coupling filled her mind, causing a sudden twinge in her depths. "So twenty minutes is the limit of your patience, hmm?"

She saw the humor in her actions, but wasn't ready to give in yet. She was being ridiculous, but she didn't want him pulling away without understanding why. "I just have a lot of questions, and I don't want you laughing at me for wondering things. You're the most important thing in the world to me. I don't want to lose you."

"You're not losing me, Tracy. I just need to think."

"About what?"

"God, you're pushy." He ran his hands through his hair, and she noticed the small cut.

"What happened?" She grabbed his hand and looked at the small cut, realizing she had never seen him with such an inconseqential injury. Sure, she'd seen him with a stake hole through his chest, and gunshot wounds, but they always healed. Why was this little cut still here?

Tracy's detective mind was spinning through the facts, trying to find the pattern. She was good at that, and it was never more necessary. She remembered after their first night together, Vachon mentioned something about drinking the same mortal's blood over and over again. Did she do this to him?

"Vachon, is my blood hurting you?" The thought horrified her, that their most intimate, erotic moments were hurting him, poisoning him.

"Hurting me? I don't know. Changing me? Yes." He tried to sift through the changes he was feeling. "Natalie doesn't know if all the changes are from your blood. She thinks..." his voiced faded.

"What does Natalie think?" Tracy demanded, needing the truth of their situation.

"She thinks the man in me is protecting you from the vampire in me, or some such rot." He tried to understand what that meant, but right now it was beyond him. "It surprised her, though. She said she didn't think I was that noble."

"How dare she!" Tracy snapped, angry that anyone would demean her beautiful vampire. "That just goes to show how little she knows you. She had no right to say that. When I think of all the things you've done for me, I just want to slap her. " Anger flushed Tracy's face.

She would fight for him, that was obvious. She wanted to protect him. He would laugh, but he found he treasured this about her. He never wanted that to change.

"No need to go slapping the good coroner. She meant no offense, Trace. But thank you for offering." He stepped nearer to her, insinuating his body closer and closer. Sliding his arms around her, he kissed her with all the passion he'd felt in his near-500 years. He felt that all that had come before was practice for this woman, this time.

"I was thinking about why I didn't drink from you," finally answering her first question. "I was trying to figure out if I didn't bite you to protect you, thinking maybe you've lost enough blood lately. Or maybe I was protecting myself, not wanting to change anymore. Or maybe I just didn't need to bite. That's never happened to me, Tracy. Sex and the bite are one and the same to me. This was the first time since I was brought across that I didn't. So I was thinking about it."

"But was it any good for you if you didn't drink?" She hated the thought of not satisfying him.

He looked at her, and remembered the moments he spent in her arms, shuddering, shaking, pouring himself into her. He stared in her eyes as the tinge of gold appeared in his own, brought on by their remembered passion. "Yes, Tracy, it was good." It was better than good, he thought. He knew in a flash of knowledge that Tracy was the woman he was meant to find, the one made for him. But there was no way in hell he was going to tell her that!

He was a man, after all.

"Will you stay?" His hands stroked her hair, fingertips caressing her neck. He felt the hunger returning, and relief flooded through him. His life may have been one of irresponsibility, but he didn't lie to himself. He didn't want to be mortal. Knowing the need for Tracy's blood was still there eased his concern about changing, and the relief fueled his passion.

Maneuvering Tracy backwards towards the bed, stripping her clothes as they went, he fell to her breasts and drank from her, needing this sustenance as much as her blood. Their coupling was slow, easy, and Tracy felt she were moving in a dream. Looking into each other's eyes, legs wrapped around his hips as he sat against the headboard of his bed, their movements slow waves against the flow of their passions.

Riding his power and strength, Tracy reveled in their love and heat, and felt the urgency stealing through her, still slow, still easy, until finally she threw back her head, baring her neck for his delectation. Even the bite was slow, drawing out her pleasure, sipping from her hot hot blood. She felt him shudder, heard his low growl, and felt her body respond again, making her blood flow faster.

Holding one another, their love strengthened them for the battles outside. "I think I'm going to talk to Nat tomorrow at work, if that's ok with you." Tracy had so many questions, and if Nat's been involved with this for six years, maybe she had some answers.

"I'm pretty sure she's going to want to talk with you. She had a LOT of questions for me earlier." He was quiet for a moment, then said, "You might want to tell her about this cut." They looked at each other, and felt their world shifting.