Instinct overtook me. In one, swift downward movement, the arm I controlled snapped. Mason's jaws released with a pained yelp like a kicked animal. And I snatched my wrist away. A few steps back created space between us.
The six pin pricks in my arm, four deep ones from the feeding-fangs and two shallower ones directly below from the holding-set, healed up in two heartbeats. Mason uttered a low oath, collapsing back against the counter and cradling his arm.
"Your healing will be slower now that you're consumed my blood," I explained, and glanced toward the kitchen fridge curiously, "You may start feeling thirstier too."
I licked away the last traces of my own blood from my arm to eliminate the scent. Then, I paced quickly over and opened the fridge. A chill-air wafted out, but I set eyes on what I was looking for. The blood bags were labeled by type, date collected, expiration date, and amount. I snatched one at random, twisting off the stopper and handing it to him.
"Are you alright?" I murmured, backing off and watching closely.
He set the tube of the blood-bag to his lips and drank greedily, sucking the plastic container dry in under a minute.
"Hah~" he panted, sliding down from the counter to the floor, landing heavily on his sit-bones. He set the plastic aside and shook out his arm with a wince.
"Don't push it, you're still healing. Just a few extra seconds."
"That was unpleasant," he mumbled, his deep bass rumbling and slow, "But I'm fiiine~"
I giggled, taking a few tentative steps in and kneeling before him, "You're buzzed."
"That's fast," he noted, licking his lips and leaning back until the crest of his head bumped against the cabinets behind him. Green eyes sparkling, glistening fangs still half-extended, he grinned crookedly. "You taste much better than I imagined. Like a tart and rich white-wine. Zesty. How strange."
I simply admired the relaxed amusement on his features, a faint smile still on my own lips. He rocked forward, approaching a tad haltingly even on all fours.
"I want you," he begged, his breath fanning across my face.
The tangy scent of blood from his lips failed to deter me. I wasn't a stranger to raw meat and blood given my own occult. His closeness, on the other hand, made me a little wary.
"No more today."
"That's fine," he reached a hand and ghosted his fingertips along my cheekbone. They traced back and wound into my hair, "But you realize how much of a tease this is, right?"
I blinked and bit my lower lip contemplatively. I'd considered the privacy more than I'd considered immediate implications.
"We are acclimating you with sex as our end goal," I reminded him.
He leaned in, cupping my waist instead and tugging me closer. My stomach dropped and my eyes flew open-wide.
Wait! Not yet! I thought, frantic.
The dress I wore started to slide up my thighs as he pulled me in, exposing my skin to the cool hardwood beneath.
"Stop-!" I squeaked, feeling the familiar freezing sensation throughout my body.
He blinked, inspecting me, but warily leaned back and plopped onto his butt. I panted as my joints unlocked.
"Sorry," he mumbled, "I thought the lower-lip bite was... anyway, sorry..."
I took a deep breath, then another, and another.
"Are you al-right?"
"Yes, I'm alright now," I said, glancing over at him, "You're better at this type of consent."
"I'm not a complete heathen."
"Even while drunk. It's impressive."
"I'm a compliant drunk," he shrugged, cocking up a knee and resting his chin on it.
His face, so relaxed and open, had a gentle glow to it in tipsiness. Those brows of his no longer held that slight but thoughtful downward furrow and the half-smile I loved was a permanent fixture in this state.
"You're really attractive, you know that?" I muttered in spite of myself.
He rolled his eyes and ducked his head, but the deep blush rose up behind his freckles only a few moments later.
"I can handle your vampiric urges, but your sexual ones..." I trailed off and dropped my chin in shame.
"I'll always stop when you tell me to."
"You didn't earlier."
"With sexual stuff, I mean. I'll work on controlling the vampire-stuff better."
I contemplated him for a moment and that new awareness returned. The one that seared, pooling between my hips and thighs.
"Say that again," I ordered, rolling onto my hands and knees.
"I'll stop when you tell me to stop," he repeated, lifting his chin curiously to watch my approach.
"Promise?"
He nodded, "Promise."
I pulled close, noticing the irregular pattern of freckles over his nose; how they'd overlap with one another. His green-eyes sparkled. His lips, flush, parted and I took the opportunity.
My open-mouth burned his as I pressed against him, moving my lips against his. His mouth gave way immediately under my ministrations. The iron-flavor still lingered, but the spice of his scent was far more overpowering, like cloves and cinnamon. I reveled in his taste, seasoning my own mouth with it and laving his tongue with my own.
My arms looped securely around his neck and I pushed onto him until he yielded, sitting back for me to settle atop his lap. I felt his excitement beneath me, swelling against my inner thigh in spite of his jeans.
Anxiety fluttered alive again in my belly and I did my best to squash it. It was a residual feeling. A twittering, annoying reminder of unpleasant memories that sought to hold me back. But this was bigger and more pressing than that. I wanted this.
Something sharp needled my tongue, causing a pop of iron to explode in my mouth.
With a low, feral growl, my arms became vice-like and I threw my weight sideways off his lap. In moments, I grappled Mason onto his back, holding him from behind in a headlock. His hands scrabbled weakly, confusedly at my restraining arms.
A knock at the door caused the both of us to freeze.
"Is everything okay in there?" Leo's voice called in reluctantly.
"A few of my visions went very dark so we got nervous," Kira supplied, her voice high and anxious.
"I think I need help," I admitted, my cheeks growing pink.
"No~ don't let them in," Mason complained, his tone uncharacteristically petulant.
The door creaked open to reveal Leo's bulk in the doorway. He'd pushed it open with a few fingers like it was biohazardous material. He loosed a low whistle.
"Enjoying yourself there, baby-brother?"
"Shuddit," Mason growled, the sound a bit on the guttural side.
I squeezed him instinctively and he let out a low, needy whine.
"Found out a few things about yourself, huh," Kira laughed, entering the house, apparently unperturbed by the display, "You can let go of him now."
I obeyed, unraveling my grip and sitting up as I did so, pushing Mason up into a seated position by proxy.
"Why does he sound drunk?" a third voice asked and I finally saw Anne peering out from behind Leo, a rather wide smirk on her lips, "What happened to him?"
"He ingested some of my blood."
"I thought that stuff was poisonous," Leo said, alarmed.
Kira grabbed Mason's face to inspect his reaction-time with a snapping of her fingers. He bared his teeth at her.
"It is in large doses," I explained, rolling my legs under myself and sitting upright, "But he's only had about a shot's worth, I'd say, which causes effects similar to drunkenness."
"He attacked you?" Anne asked, her voice low and predatory.
She stalked into the house toward Mason. He glared up at her defiantly, swaying slightly on the spot as he did so.
"Er, no. He didn't."
Three sets of raised eyebrows turned my way. I began to inspect the floor, suddenly, the blush in my cheeks redoubling.
Anne looked pointedly to the others, "That counts."
"Does not," Leo and Kira argued immediately.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"They took bets on whether or not we'd get up to anything," Mason mumbled.
He rested a cheek on one crooked knee, regarding me a little reproachfully from beside Kira.
"What exactly did you bet-?"
"Kira had no faith in me, Leo said we'd make-out, and Anne thought you'd let me finger you."
My mouth dropped open.
"Mason!" Kira chirped, wide-eyed.
"None of you would tell her," Mason argued, reaching up to grab at the edge of the counter top and missing, "Never-mind. Leo would've."
"Yeah, I would," he snorted.
The three of them watched Mason struggle, amusement dancing in their eyes as he failed to grasp the countertop yet again. I sighed, moving to him and ducking underneath his flailing arm so that it wound around my shoulders.
"So much for the help I requested," I muttered pointedly.
"Leo, stop singing Boyz II Men in your brain, please, it's the worst- No don't sing it louder! Just leave me out here if he's going to be this grating."
"Oh I bet you'd like some alone time right about now," Leo teased.
"Don't be gross," Anne demanded.
"They're the ones who got gross- so, Mason, what's it taste like-?"
"I'm not telling you. No, I'm not playing mental twenty-questions with you either."
"I'll bleach the place," Kira said as I made for the door with Mason, "But you two owe me one."
"There shouldn't be any cleanup," I said quickly.
"Didn't you bleed?"
"She healed," Mason growled, glaring over his shoulder at Kira, "There's nothing for you to lick off the floor."
"Damn, brother, expose the lot of us, will you?" Leo snorted.
"I was just curious!" Kira whined, trailing after the group.
Mason's head lolled onto my shoulder and I felt his lips brush my collarbone.
"Watch it," I warned him sharply.
He straightened obediently, then, "I don't know why you'd think that, Anne."
Anne responded aloud, her tone scathing, "I had faith in her and I was optimistic for your sake."
"That's a lie. You like seeing me suffer."
"Look, this healing presents itself in many ways," Anne said simply, "This struck me as her method."
I glanced from one to the other, confused, but neither Leo nor Kira seemed to question the interaction at all. Either they already knew what the pair was referencing, or this out-of-context discussion just wasn't anything to blink at.
Mason growled.
"So I might be wrong," Anne sneered, "No need to be dramatic. Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder, after all."
"For the love of- Leo, stop! For heaven's sake."
"Just setting the mood."
"What mood? The one you barged in on?"
"To be fair, you kinda blew that one yourself," I reminded him gently, "Going at human speeds isn't getting us anywhere. Leo could you-"
"I'm not carrying Mason anywhere so long as he's got a third leg."
"Fine," I looked to Mason, raising my eyebrows at him, "How much dignity are you willing to part with today?"
His mouth opened as if processing, though he stared transfixed at my lips.
Eventually he sighed, hanging his head in defeat, "Go on."
In one swift motion, I took his legs out from beneath him and cupped his bent-knees. He rocked a bit for balance before grabbing about my neck to steady himself. I looked up at him, still a few inches taller than me even in sitting my arms, and smiled encouragingly.
"Ha~!" Anne doubled over, heaving gasps of air through her chiming laughter.
"Can I have another sip of your blood?" Mason asked, his face fully flushed-dark beneath the freckles, "Just enough to black out."
"I'd replay this on repeat in my brain so you couldn't forget it," Leo assured him.
"Let's get going," I suggested, digging in my hind foot and launching forward.
Despite my head-start, the others were quick on my heels. Leo's lumber was like that of a bear, heavy and moving while Anne and Kira were more elegant and lithe, like a lynx or doe.
I could tell they were slowing slightly to accommodate me, or perhaps Anne was simply trying to provoke Mason. She kept getting close behind my right shoulder, the one Mason leaned on the most for support. I slowed as we approached the backyard so as not to score the grassy expanse. I'd been chastised for doing so by Claire after the dodgeball game.
Taking a knee, I set Mason down, but he still stumbled.
"You sure it was just one shot of the stuff?"
"It's very potent. A lethal dose takes significantly more, but all we really need is an edge over our attacker."
"Attacker seems like a neutral term..." Kira probed.
I cinched my arm around Mason's waist to guide him up to the house.
"My blood is poisonous to anyone who tries to consume it. Humans included. It stands to reason that anyone who's trying to consume blood in the first place isn't entirely human."
"That's cool," Leo lauded, interlacing his fingers behind his head.
"Is he going to throw up or anything?" Anne asked, wrinkling her nose.
"He hasn't had nearly enough for that."
I settled Mason on the sectional, laying him out and instructing Kira to fetch him some more blood.
"I'd rather be in my room," he muttered, one leg crooked up and his forearm draped over his face.
"Sorry, I don't really want to be alone with you right now," I confessed, lifting his head and setting it back down in my lap once I'd seated myself. He stared up at me, mystified. "You're a bit mouthy."
He returned his forearm to his face with a groan.
"I really doubt the close contact is going to help much," Leo pointed out, plopping down on the couch opposite us with Anne.
"He'll behave with supervision, I think."
"Not what I was talking about."
"I hear it when any single one of you is aroused," Mason growled, "And I have the decency to say nothing, the least you all could do is extend the same to me."
"No way, you always lord yourself over us, like you're always in-the-know and we're not," Anne scoffed, "It's about time you had some comeuppance."
Kira tossed a blood-bag to me and disappeared into the adjacent room.
"Smart, Kira," Mason said icily, "Wouldn't want your exploits voiced, huh-"
"I'm not as embarrassed about that as you think I am," she objected, reappearing in the doorway at the challenge.
"You might not be."
She vanished again.
"S'what I thought."
"I have no shame," Leo stated, blandly, "Come at me, virgin."
"Did dinner get taken out of the oven?" I fretted, trying to stop this conversation before it got going.
"Mmhm," Anne steamrolled her answer, leaning over her knees with twinkling violet eyes, "Sorry about Mason's inexperience, by the way; I'm afraid the only thing he knows how to fuck is a fleshlight-"
"That's quite alright," I said quickly, watching Mason's hand jump off his face to reveal sparking anger in his eyes, "I've got nothing against virgin men."
"Leo, quit it-!" Mason snapped, teeth suddenly bared.
I sighed, giving in, "What now?"
"Did it cross a line?"Leo wondered.
"Yes."
"Sorry," he chuckled, "Quit mouthing off and I'll keep my mind out of the gutter for you."
Mason's posture was still stiff but his nose had scrunched and the deep rose-blush had returned to his cheeks. Across the way, Leo fidgeted.
"You're being disrespectful," Mason growled.
"I want to know," Anne whined, but it was Leo's turn to look away.
"You lack the self control," Mason grunted.
"True," Leo mused, "Y'know, you ought to prepare yourself more."
Curiosity itched at my insides, but I held my tongue as Mason flushed even deeper. His propped-leg twitched. Finally my gaze was drawn away from his face to the uncomfortable posture he maintained.
The upturned leg likely hid it from Leo and Anne on the opposite couch, but from my perspective I could clearly see the stiff length of his erection pressing up at a forty-five degree angle to his fly.
Damn.
Because of their slower blood flow, did vampires maintain arousal longer? That topic hadn't been an area of research in my family's histories.
Swiftly, I snatched the chevron-patterned throw from where it lay folded beside us and unraveled it to lay over him, "You might start feeling cold as a side-effect of the poison. C'mon, have another drink. I want to get ahead of any cravings."
He sighed, but allowed me to help him sit up. The supple, farm-hand muscles of his back flexed beneath my fingers as I guided him and held the blood-bag to his lips. This one he took down slightly slower.
"Seriously? You'll deplete us at that rate."
"You need more blood whenever you're injured, right?" I pointed out.
Leo nodded.
"Same principle."
"But that's significant."
"It's a significant poison; one of the side effects being thirst."
"So that you drink yourself to death on more poison?"
"Precisely."
Mason finished and I tossed the empty container to the coffee table, moving a hand to run fingers through his hair. He stared up, eyes heavy-lidded and lips parted as I continued the ministrations by brushing gently along his scalp.
"You should sleep," I whispered, running a thumb over one of his freckled cheekbones.
"How did I...?" he started, but swallowed the rest of the words, embarrassment in the arch of his brows.
"Sleep."
A gusty sigh escaped him and I settled back into the couch cushions, my fingers working rhythmically until his breathing faded into a consistent rhythm. I smiled and closed my own eyes, breathing in vampire mint and noting only mildly how dull the scent had become.