Faline

A warmed nude form lays next to me, even taking the small amount from her that I did, she's still fine from the feeding she'd had at some point before coming into her office. Guessing by scent, it was a Were-animal who'd 'donated'.

Still unsure what to do as a firm and toned body presses flush to my front, one bare leg slips between mine. A strong arm goes across my waist while the other creeps under my head till I'm pillowed on it. Pulling back slowly and blinking several times before I look into her face then away, a blush fills my cheeks so fast that they feel hot.

"That was the most enjoyable and fulfilling punishment I've done in awhile. You should get into trouble more often."

I snort as I look to her, shy but with humor still intact...for the moment.

"Don't think that will be a problem. Either I can't keep my mouth shut or it finds me, there doesn't seem to be any middle ground."

Smirking, she leans forward and nuzzles my neck, a thick blanket getting pulled over us as she breathes deeply. Her doing so reminds me of the conversation she had with Nicolaus.

"You mentioned a 'calming' effect that I have, is it an actual thing or were you blowing smoke up his ass?"

Chuckles are exhaled over my skin, followed by several light kisses.

"Why do you think I would keep coming around your squabbles? It's subtle at first, but as long as no hostility is shown towards you, you're very soothing to be around. I imagine that is why he holds you so tightly and jealous of any others around. You ease his inner turmoils."

I scoff, but softly as my eyelids get heavy.

"That's a nice way of putting it. 'Inner Turmoils'. Right. More like raging crazy with pyro tendencies. If I were you, I'd keep him away from your fireplaces. And candles. And stoves...just keep him away from anything that creates a flame."

My voice is steadily getting quieter and quieter, but she hears me, judging from her laughing. I give a lopsided smile, then frown as I force my eyes open, calmed heart now thumping.

"As soon as he smells you on me, he'll be furious. I don't know if you've seen him in one of his rages, but it really isn't something I want to be the focal point of again. I don't think my bones are fully healed from last time."

A trembling hand goes to my hip where a deep jagged scar can still be seen and felt, only able to touch it with the tips of my fingers. The Lady pulls back enough and moves the blanket to see what I'm doing, gem-colored eyes going to where I can barely touch without cringing. There's a nagging memory, a fogginess seeming to dissipate. She slips a hand over it and I wince, causing her to frown.

"It is still painful? What caused it?"

Doesn't sound upset or anything, wasn't expecting that, but I wasn't expecting the morbid curiosity either. Trying to pull away, I'm gripped and held in place while my brain flashes over what I just did. Did I really just do that with someone who could very well be worse than my bane? Body shaking, I start fighting, all of a sudden terrified. What is it about me that attracts the crazies? It can't all be this 'calming' crap.

"Let me go. You've had your fun, now release me. I will not get away from one psycho and jump into the arms of another. I won't survive it, not that you care anyway."

Legs tangle with mine and hold them while the arm under my head holds it there, facing her. Tears start to form as I start panicking, the hand just above my hip holding firmly.

"Easy, Pet. I don't know what started this, but you're just having a panic attack. It will pass. If I didn't care, I would have put you down by now. What caused the scar?"

I'd be hyperventilating now if I could, fear damn near choking me. Clenching my eyes shut tight, the fuzzy memory of how very near I'd come to dying from Nicolaus's fury surfaces. I have to swallow hard twice before I can answer her.

"After the first blood exchange, when he took me to his bed, I wouldn't cooperate, fought him hard. Got smacked around and still didn't do what he wanted. I'd never gone that far with anyone before, so I was even more terrified. Since I wouldn't cooperate anywhere near willingly, he came at me with one of his whips."

I have to stop for a moment, my head hurting. The Lady has loosened her hold, so I'm able to bring my hands up, pressing knuckles into temples.

"This one wasn't like any of the others. It was much longer and had multiple pieces, not just leather or whatever else the others were made of. I got dragged to his bathroom and hung up facing a wall as it came down. Was then that I felt the bite of hooks, much like the ones in that first room I woke up in here."

I can feel my eyeballs pounding in my skull, body jerking at the remembered lashes. The fiery pain.

"I had been given three or four lashes before one of the hooks got caught in my pelvis. Vampire strength ripping metal through human bone..."

My eyes open, feeling just as dead as I had then, still going back and forth on wanting an ending. She lifts my head up by my chin, can feel my eyes dull as I slip back in time.

"I'd never known such pain. I'd already been screaming so he didn't even notice it at first, giving me another three lashes before he stopped because I'd slumped forward. Anthony had been the one to point out that there was a gaping wound. I could barely breathe, and I couldn't seem to pass out even though I reached for it."

Her head turns back to my hip, only vaguely see it from the corner of my eye, more catching the movement than anything else.

"He'd laughed at first, then realized how bad it was when he started digging in it. Releasing and taking me down to the floor, I remember watching my life bleed away through a drain in the floor."

A hand runs through my hair, but I barely feel it, so entrenched in the memory. Thumbs brush my cheeks as she again points my face to her. The expression she has makes no sense to me, so I continue.

"I prayed that my sister would be found and safe away from them, alive, while I drained away in some unknown hole. Prayed that she wouldn't see my body if I were to be found. The hook had caught in the hollow of the bone, and when he yanked back, it went right through, tearing right through it as if it were melted butter."

I feel warmth against my forehead, but I closed my eyes, so I have no idea what it is.

"Once Nicolaus really saw the extent of the damage, he acted all worried, as if he cared. He sliced open his wrist and poured blood down my throat, over the exposed bone, and around it. Obviously, it did something since I'm still here. I am still here, aren't I? Or am I stuck in some purgatory, having died from it and this is my punishment for leading him to my family?"

"You're alive my Pet, alive and very strong. Nothing has broken you yet, and this won't be it. You've survived intact, both mind and body. I find it amazing that you did, many others would not have. Your strength of character amazes me, has since Max confronted you. Your humor and how you bat things away, being able to laugh at all, let alone with people you don't know, in a place you've never been. Staying strong, just as your sister probably is."

Pulling myself away from that event, I now wonder if Nicolaus had done something to fog over it, not having remembered until I started really thinking about how I got the scar. Not to mention the headache that came with it. The same scar that both Kerry and he had been touching on earlier.

"Vampires can fog memories, can't they?"

She nods as she pulls me closer to her. My skin feels like ice now when it had been so warm earlier.

"Some can, yes. Would appear Nicolaus is one who can."

Her forehead touches mine as I ask something important.

"The way you mention her... You know about her don't you?"

"Rest, my Pet. Rest for a few hours, then I will have someone brought in so you can feed. There is a bathroom in here where you can shower and wash away your fears when you wake."

So exhausted, I don't push. Head once again pillowed on her arm as she tucks her face into my neck, arm across my waist and leg between mine, I close my eyes and drift off.