His Stoic Mask, Her Bleeding Heart

I turned my eyes from the book spread open upon my lap at the sound of a low groan from Elyria. The girl stirred on the couch, twisting her way awkwardly onto her side as a hand went to the side of her head, conveniently right where I'd hit her.

"What did you do?" she asked in another soft groan, her eyes opening for only a moment before she squeezed them shut again, cringing.

"How do you know I did anything?" I asked innocently, flipping the book shut with a soft thump. Twilight, the cover read, and I certainly wasn't proud of it.

"Because I vaguely remember talking to you," she answered as she slowly sat up, eyes open, though she still massaged her head. "Maybe. I think."

"Oh, so out of everything that happens when you change, all you can ever remember is the bad things I do?" My tone was empty, emotionless, but the words were bitter enough to get the point across. "How convenient for you."

She scowled. "Have you ever stopped to consider that I might remember all of the bad things you do because you do a lot of bad things? Or maybe even that I remember the bad things you do because I can only remember you in general?" She let her elbows rest on her knees, hanging her head and gently rubbing her temples. "You should be flattered, really."

I shook my head but decided not to pursue the subject. "Is your head really hurting that badly?"

"Yes," she answered in an aggravated sigh, "but I don't think it's just from your medicinal punch to the skull."

"I didn't punch you," I said, tossing that piece-of-shit book onto the table as I rose to my feet. "I...well..." Yeah, I'd punched her. "What I actually did doesn't really matter, does it? It worked. You're all right now." I lowered myself onto the couch cushion beside her, moving gingerly so as not to upset her own seat. I studied her for a moment, and a grimace seeped through my empty mask to curl my lips as I hesitantly asked, "You are all right, aren't you?"

"What's happening to me, Eli?" she asked in lieu of answering my question. She raised her head from her hands and looked at me with amethyst eyes full of pain and fear. "Why do I keep changing?"

"Part of the Shadow is still there," I murmured, sliding my arm around her shoulders and gently pulling her to me. Her body tipped over, her head falling to rest on my chest, and she didn't fight it. "You're not a normal necromancer anymore."

"Do you think we can get it out?" she asked, though the hopelessness in her tone was the answer to her own question. "Maybe with the same spell you and Kyrianna tried the first time?"

My eyes fell on the black screen of the television, empty and unfocused, and I lay my head gingerly atop her own. "If it didn't work the first time, why would it work the second?"

"Maybe it just wasn't strong enough to remove the entire thing. Maybe it could finish the job now that there's only a fraction of it left." But I could see her reflection in the black screen across from us, and I could tell from her expression that even she didn't believe those words.

"Maybe," I whispered, but said nothing more.

She paused for a moment, and I swore I could hear the beating of her heart in the silence – the steady thumping as it pumped blood through her veins. Warm, sticky, delicious blood...

I felt saliva begin to pool in my mouth, and I swallowed, hoping she hadn't noticed.

"Where's Kyrianna?" she asked, and I felt that my hopes had been achieved. "And what time is it?"

"She's asleep in the bedroom," I answered. "I don't think she even noticed that we were gone. And it's almost six in the morning."

"That early already?" she asked, turning her face toward mine, her chin now resting on my shoulder. My fingertips traced a small figure-eight pattern on her bare upper arm, and I did everything in my power to keep my eyes on her face and not on her neck. Thump-thump – I swore I heard it – Thump-thump. My pattern ceased, and my fingers began to tap the slow rhythm against her skin. "Eli?" she prompted, and I realized that my eyes had become distant, on her eyes but nowhere near them. I stilled my fingers.

"Yeah," I answered. "It's insane how quickly time can pass when you're unconscious." And there it was again – Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. My eyes drifted to her neck, and I swallowed again, hard.

Her head tilted slowly to the side, her blood-red hair sliding away from it one loosely curled strand at a time. I could see the vein twitching there to the rhythm of her pulse, the silent promise of blood, of my addiction. I began to salivate again, my lips parting slightly as I prepared for the bite I knew I wouldn't take. It was so close, but I was in no position to take from her.

"If you want it, take it," she whispered, and the words were gentle, charming, nothing like the seductive purr she normally would've used. "All you have to do is ask."

"Can I...?" I breathed, too excited to voice the full question as my eyes flicked to hers. There was still pain there, still fear, and I began to wonder if this was right. Was she even well enough to offer? Was I stable enough to accept?

A smile curved her grayish lips, and all of my doubts melted away. "Take as much as you need," she murmured, and I needed no more than that. With the arm I had about her shoulders, I pulled her closer to me, my other hand resting on her hip. I placed a featherlight kiss upon the side of her neck she'd so graciously bared to me, then slid my fangs into her flesh just as gently.

I felt her tense against me as I began to pull from her vein, each tug just as slow and careful as the one before. My eyes drifted shut as the flavor began to soothe my craving; my fingers loosened on her hip and shoulder as the mere intimacy of this act forced away my worries. One of her hands found the side of my face as the other found my hair, both stroking languidly, comfortingly. I moaned softly against her throat in approval, the hand on her hip sliding beneath her corset to begin a gentle caress of her skin. I felt goosebumps rise beneath my fingers, and I chuckled to myself between pulls at her neck, low and throaty.

On a sudden whim, I pulled my fangs from her throat and tugged her backward onto my lap, exposing the other side of her throat to me. Surprise rocked the serenity in her face, and I smirked at her with half-lidded eyes before sinking my fangs into the unmarred side of her neck. It was just as careful as the first, but my pulls were much harder, my tongue darting out to lick at the blood every now and again. She shivered, and I once again felt goosebumps springing up where my hand had slid to rest beneath her corset. One hand lay on her bare thigh, fingers brushing the edge of her short skirt, and the other slid from her side to her back, beginning to work at the hooks that kept her corset closed.

"Eli?" she murmured, nothing in her tone but a hint of buried surprise.

I said nothing and continued on, tossing her corset to the side the moment the last hook was undone. Her breasts bounced freely, and I cupped one of them as I took another rough pull from her vein. My fangs slid suddenly from her throat, and with one hand on her chest and another on the small of her back, I forced her body to arch backward, bringing her breasts to my face. I bit into the one closest to me, fangs piercing the tender flesh just above her nipple. My mouth closed around it, my tongue darting out to lick it and catch the falling blood, and she let out a soft groan of pleasure. Her fingers rested on the back of my neck, and the welcome feeling of her fingernails digging into my skin sent a chill rippling through me.

I moved my hand from her chest to her thigh, trailing my fingertips lightly across her blood-smeared skin all the way down. She was nothing but gooseflesh by the time my fingers began to slip slowly up her skirt, my tongue and my teeth still working away at her breast. I slipped a finger around her underwear, and she instantly spread her legs to let it delve deep into her.

She was wet, wetter than I'd ever felt before, and the needy cry she let loose as I began to tease her with my slow, in-and-out movements would have driven me wild if I hadn't already been there. My finger was slick as it took a path out and upward, sliding along her clit with the same teasing motions as everything else I'd done between her legs. She whined, gripping the arm of the couch behind her and holding herself up as she ground her ass against the bulge in my pants and rubbed herself along my waiting finger.

My fangs left her breast in a hurry, though my tongue took the time to flick against her hard nipple one more time before I fully pulled back. She was on me in a heartbeat, straddling my thighs, her lips against mine cold in comparison to the blood that coated them. The kiss was passionate, hungry; her tongue darted out to meet mine, and they danced together in slick, bloody bliss as her fingers worked frantically at the fly of my pants. My hands rested on either side of her neck, then slid slowly downward, trailing blood across her breasts and stomach until they came to rest on her hips. She finally managed to undo my pants, and I helped her shove them down my thighs and off of my legs, sinking my fangs into her lower lip as her tongue withdrew. She whined again, desperate, and pulled my erection through the slit in my boxers, sliding her hand up and down my shaft teasingly. She tugged her underwear to one side beneath her skirt and moved her hand, but I thrust myself into her before she had the chance to gently guide me in.

She began to ride me without hesitation, moving harder and faster than I'd expected her to. I let out a moan of satisfaction, but it was soon smothered by her breast against my lips. I targeted the opposite one this time, though my fangs sank into the same spot just above her nipple, and she let out a loud cry. Her motions become rougher, faster, more frenzied, and her hands clutched the back of the couch to either side of my head to help her along, her head tipping back as she let loose another cry of pleasure. I groaned against her nipple, the combination of so many sounds and tastes and sensations nearly bringing me to the brink of orgasm already.

I pulled my fangs from her breast and tore her from where she sat astride me, placing her beside me on the couch. She was panting, looking angry and confused, but I was soon on top of her, pinning her to the sofa cushions as I kissed her hungrily. I pushed myself into her without warning, and she moaned into my mouth when I hit a point much deeper than what she ever could've reached while riding me. Her legs spread wider; her arms sprawled across the cushion above her head. She arched her back and moaned again, eyes at half mast and begging for more.

I kissed her again, thrusting harder and harder, faster and faster, until she screamed my name and came, throbbing around me, still inside of her. The sound, the look of pure ecstasy on her blood-streaked face, sent me over the edge only a second later, and a satisfied groan escaped me.

That was how we sat for a moment – her panting and staring up at me, me smirking and looking down at her. She was covered in a mixture of sticky blood and slick sweat, crimson simply covering her torso, and her skirt was stained with wetness. She smiled.

"Ew," a voice gagged, and they both turned to find Kyrianna cringing at them from the end of the hallway. "It's like walking in on your parents having sex!"

"If we're your parents, there's way more wrong with this scenario than that," I pointed out, and she shuddered before turning and hurrying down the hall, hands flailing as she tried to erase the incident from her mind.

When I turned back to Elyria, she gripped the back of my head and pulled my face down to hers, kissing me gently. I could still taste the blood on her lips, but I didn't linger for long.

"I love you, Elyria," I whispered to her, hovering over her, our noses nearly touching.

She smiled teasingly. "I love you, too. I guess."

It wasn't quite what I'd wanted, but I'd accept it as long as she said the words. I placed a light kiss on her lips, then pushed myself upright. "Shower?" I asked, taking in her bloody body as well as my own.

"Sure," she agreed, and together, we went to the bathroom.

"You guys are perverts!" Kyrianna called from the bedroom, but she went ignored. Elyria and I only smiled to each other as we stripped off what remained of our blood-stained clothing.

She stepped into the tub ahead of me, and I followed her once she had the shower on and the water at an acceptable temperature. I sat back and watched as she ran her delicate hands down her bloodied frame, trying to rid her skin of the more caked-in blood. In a way, it was erotic, but I was much too sated to be interested again so soon.

"So, what do you intend to do about Matthias and his unseemly demands?" I asked as she turned from the water, opening her eyes to look at me.

"I don't know," she said, tipping her head to one side to allow the water to cleanse one of her bite wounds. "What did I say to him when I changed?"

"Something that will never happen," I responded flatly, my lips tightening into a thin line.

"What was it?" She tilted her head to the other side, scrubbing at the other bite wound now.

"You said that you would be the only one taking part in his blood trade," I answered reluctantly, crossing my arms over my chest, "and that you would rule his empire alongside him."

"Yeah," she said, leaning back and beginning to wipe at the marks on her breasts. "That sounds like a good plan."

"No. No, it doesn't." Did she not understand the dangers of such a scheme? He didn't seem like the type to share power; he would probably just have her killed the first time she offered her blood to someone. Oh, and the blood trade. My qualms with that one were much less reasonable, based in jealousy as they were, but there's no way she possibly could've thought that that would end well, with or without my possessive nature.

"What other choice do I have?" she asked, stepping aside to let me slide past her and into the stream of lukewarm water. "I can't possibly kill him off. His minions would end me, you, and Kyrianna before another alpha vamp could rise to power."

I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing my long bangs flat against my scalp. "We can kill them all at once," I told her. "Full-frontal assault. Me, you, and Hale's pack."

"Hale just signed a treaty with this man," she said with a shake of her head. Something flashed at the back of her purple eyes – amusement? "And Matthias' men far outnumber his pack. We wouldn't make it out alive, and I would never want to cause Hale such trouble."

"He owes you," I argued, frustrated but trying to keep it from my voice and face. I was half succeeding.

"No, I owe him." She leaned against the shower wall, arms crossed, and shrugged her small shoulders. "I'm going to pay him back by keeping his pack uninvolved and the vampires as peaceful as possible."

"How peaceful do you think you can keep them?" I snapped, arms flailing angrily. "You're going to try to take over Matthias' rule. You don't think that's going to stir up some controversy?"

She held a hand up to silence me, and I glared at her, allowing my arms to fall back to my sides. "Eli, I've got everything under control. Please stop worrying about it."

"You've got everything under control?" I said disbelievingly, little inflection to my cold tone.

"Yes, I've got everything under control." She didn't quite smile, but I saw a flicker of mischievousness in her eyes that was just the same. "I've been placating kings for years, you know."

"By bouncing up and down on their dicks, right?" I sneered, crossing my arms.

"Yes, much like what I just did to you," she said simply, giving me a shove backward, then she stepped out of the shower.

I let out a soft growl, turning the shower off with an unnecessarily rough turn of the handle. "You can't keep doing this," I nearly screamed at her, hurriedly stepping out of the tub after her. "You can't keep fucking and feeding men to make them do what you want."

"Can't I?" she asked with a challenging arc of her eyebrows, pulling a white towel from the rack and throwing it around her shoulders. She strode from the room, water still dripping from her long hair and rolling down her silvery body, and I sighed to myself, aggravated.

"No, you can't," I said, following her across the hall, into her bedroom. Kyrianna lay sprawled on the bed, not moving though her eyes followed us. I considered covering myself, but I didn't particularly care what she saw.

"And why not?" Elyria asked emotionlessly, pulling open a dresser drawer and beginning to rummage through it. "Because you genuinely think something bad may come of it or because you're a jealous, possessive asshole who wants to change me to make yourself feel better?"

I was behind her suddenly, almost surprising myself with my quickness. She spun when she felt my presence, and I took a forceful step forward, roughly pinning her against the dresser. The pair of black panties she'd just retrieved from the drawer slipped from her fingers and fell silently to the floor. Her damp body was cold against mine, but I had my rage to warm me.

"To be completely honest, Elyria," I started in a low, threatening growl, "it's a mixture of both. You're bound to be overcome by one male, and who's to say that male won't be Matthias?" Her body pressed against mine, rigid and still, and I dropped my face to her neck, gently nuzzling the spot where I'd bitten her only minutes ago. "And so what if I'm jealous?" I said, my voice a gentle murmur now. I didn't want to be angry with her any longer. "What we just did...Does that not mean anything to you?" I leaned back to take in her face, so close that my nose brushed hers. "Does it not matter that I love you?"

For the most part, her expression was flat, empty. She was like a zombie with no emotion to give. But there, in the back of her eyes, I could see the faintest flicker of guilt. She must have realized it, because she dropped her gaze a moment later. "Eli," she murmured uneasily, her body giving a light squirm against mine. "I can't honestly say that what we did means anything to me. If every act of blood-giving and sex had to mean something, I would be in love with more than a dozen men and women." I felt my hope begin to die, the feeling like my heart was withering in my chest. "But your love..." She paused, her eyes wandering around the room to either side of me as if she were bound to find the words she needed dangling in the air, just waiting for her to read them. I looked at her, and I hoped against hope that she would have something more gratifying to say on this particular subject. "Your love means something," she whispered, her eyes finally meeting mine, and there was emotion to her voice now – not love, but something close. "If you want me to stop feeding other men on the side, I will," she said, then swallowed, and I understood what a feat this must be for her. "But I have to do what Matthias wants in order to keep you and Kyrianna safe." I tensed. My heart didn't wither, but I could feel a small crack worming its way down the middle.

"Let me handle it, Elyria." I wanted to scream it, wanted to take her face in my hands, wanted to shake her, but I only whispered the words, unmoving. "I can fix this. There's no need for you to keep objectifying yourself this way." My hands finally left their posts on the dresser's edge, and I gently took her face in them as I'd been longing to do. "Please," I whispered.

She looked up at me, and the faintest smile played across her pale lips. "It's sweet of you to offer, Eli," she said, wrapping her fingers around my forearms, "but there's really no need for it. This is my nature; this is how I've been surviving for years. Don't you think I'd be a little lost without it?" She pulled my arms away, my fingers slipping from her smooth cheeks, then she turned to put her back to me, beginning to search through her underwear drawer though a perfectly good pair still lay on the floor at her feet. "Now, please, will you leave me alone for a while? And you, too, Kyrianna? I need to think...and to sleep..."

I reached out to touch her shoulders, but my hands only hovered over them for a moment before I turned and left the room. I heard the bed creak, and then the sounds of Kyrianna's light steps on the carpeted floor behind me. The door closed with a soft click.

Stopping in the living room, I looked back at Kyrianna, and the girl returned my frown of dismay with a heavy, halfhearted smile. "Do you have any idea what you're asking her to do?" she whispered, but her solemn eyes asked, "Do you have any idea what you both just did to me?"

I stared at her for a moment, mulling it all over. "I don't think I care," I finally said, my honest answer to both questions. And then, I turned from her, fetching my pants from beside the couch and putting them on before flopping down on the cushions. Kyrianna stayed where she was for a moment, but she began to move soon enough, and I watched her back as she exited the front door in the pair of old shorts and the tank top she'd slept in. I vaguely wondered where she was going, but I wasn't sure I really cared.

My gaze on the ceiling, I thought about the one thing that mattered: Elyria.

Now, how did I go about solving the problem that was Matthias?