Crux

Fort groaned and raised a hand to his face, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. His head felt several sizes too big, and even opening eyes to only slits caused a sharp wave of pain to explode inside his skull.

He felt rough material on his skin, and realized that he was naked once again. The weave of the carpet felt particularly coarse against his irritated skin. He rolled onto his back, moaning at the unpleasant sensations the movement caused. Splaying fingers across his stomach, his flesh felt heated, feverish, as it always did the morning after his transformations.

He winced against the light and shut his eyes, and just laid spread on the floor for a moment. He breathed steadily, fighting back waves of nausea.

Slowly, he sat up, again rubbing at his face and groaning in the back of his throat. He let his eyes adjust to the light by opening them gradually, but they soon opened wide in surprise as he focused on the sight across the room.

Lia was curled in the corner, staring at him. She was hugging her knees to her chest, and her hair was tangled and falling around her face in disarray. The t-shirt and shorts had been returned to her, but the look in her eyes revealed that she still felt naked.

A little helpless sound escaped her lips when she noticed that he was looking at her, but she did not look away. He sent a withering glance her way and stood, grabbing the new pair of pants that lay arranged carefully on his bed, slipping them on. The soft, cool cotton felt fantastic against his angry skin.

Fort received a new set of clothes every month, always situated neatly on his bed. At first he hadn't needed them; he had roamed the castle, nude, available for the vampire at any moment. But as the master had grown tired of him, he had started clothing himself, and with that came to occasional ruined article, torn and pulled apart at the seams by sharp claws and his transformation.

He slowly stretched his aching muscles, ignoring the girl. After a moment he felt infinitesimally better, and he stretched out on his bed, letting the soft material embrace him. He started to drift into unconsciousness once again, letting the cool air on his skin lull him to sleep, when he heard the whispered words emerge from the corner of the room.

"I saw you… the wolf… ripping up that poor little animal... Then they dumped us back in that room… and you…

changed

." Lia hissed the last word in a stage whisper. Fort glanced wearily at her, his entire manner indicating his exhaustion.

"I am a werewolf." His first words to her were startling, and voice was not as she had expected it to be. He spoke with a charming lilt, despite the tired, resigned tone of the words. "Of course I changed. I cannot control what I do when I am the wolf, and I'm sorry if I caused you any discomfort." He didn't really sound apologetic at all, and let his face fall into the pillow once again, obviously uninterested in the girl's response at this time. He was soon asleep, and the girl allowed herself to leave the safety of the corner, slowly approaching the door on the other side of the room, keeping a close eye on the slumbering figure across from her.

Lia turned to open the door, and found herself staring into a pristine, white bathroom. After a quick, desperate search she found no way to escape, and nothing she could wield as a weapon. There was only a sink, a toilet and a shower. No cabinets, no mirrors, not even washcloths or hand towels. There was one bar of soap, but it was a small, hotel-sized bar, nothing that would cause damage if thrown.

She bit lightly at her bottom lip, considering the shower. She felt unclean, inside and out, and she desperately wanted to climb in and scrub herself. She made one more cursory search, and though she didn't find anything different, nothing to dry herself with after, she quickly stripped and hopped into the shower, pulling the curtain closed.

Lia was afraid that the shower was inoperative, but was delighted when water actually came shooting out of the nozzle. She turned the knobs to make the water unnecessarily hot and stood under the stream of steamy water for what seemed to be a lifetime. The force of the water on her sore muscles was a miracle, and she let out a soft sigh of pleasure.

She picked up the bar of soap, and began a slow, complete cleansing of her body. Starting with her shoulders, she rubbed the soap in a leisurely, circular motion, massaging the tension out of her muscles. Continuing slowly down her body, she could feel the anxiety melt out of her with every caress of the soap against her skin.

The vampire watched the monitor in his security center, riveted to the screen as the girl showered herself. He started feeling the familiar ache shooting to his gut as he watched her caress her breasts until they were soapy. The water ran down her body, dripping off of the sensitive points that were her nipples. He noticed that the color of her areolas was a slightly deeper color when her skin was wet, a shade darker than the deep blush they had been before.

He found that his hand had made his way to the now stiff length at his crotch, and he was slowly stroking up and down through the satin sheen of his pants. It was a tortuous sensation, but he made himself keep the slow tempo, enjoying the waves of slow, tightening pleasure it sent through his body.

Lia continued the slow exploration of her body, unaware that she was being watched. Her eyes were closed, and her lips parted slightly. The vampire wish to kiss that wet mouth, feeling her struggle underneath his. A soft moan escaped his lips, and he stopped the slow stroking, standing awkwardly. He rushed out of the room, his steps slightly graceless, his mouth pressed into a line.

The girl finished her shower, washing her hair with the soap after a fleeting moment of consideration. She was feeling much better despite the bizarre situation she had found herself in. Shaking her head, ridding it of unhappy thoughts, she tried to cling to the peace the shower had brought to her. After twisting the knobs to turn off the water, she turned, pulling open the shower curtain and letting out a squeak that echoed in the steamy bathroom. Throwing her arms around herself, trying to hide her naked form, she stared, wide-eyed at the master, who was standing there, smiling gently at her. He held a towel, and spread it wide, stepping forward to wrap it around the girl's damp body.

His eyes met hers, and he didn't break the contact as he lifted her up as if she weighted no more than a feather and set her down on the cool tile of the bathroom. He began to lovingly dry her with the towel, rubbing the soft, absorbent material first through her hair, and then over her heated skin. His touch was especially soft as he brushed the towel over her nipples, and a little, soft moan escaped her lips at the jolt of awareness it sent through her body.

Breaking the eye contact at last, he dropped to one knee, continuing the slow journey down her body. She grew uncomfortable at the thought of the proximity of his eyes to the mound between her legs, and moved to cover herself with one hand. The vampire snatched her wrist away, growling a warning from his lower position, squeezing just enough to make her bones creak. He rubbed the moisture off of her legs, and then rose just enough to dry the sensitive flesh between. She tried to keep her muscles relaxed, to not show any level of resistance, but her body rebelled, and her lips trembled.

The vampire was through, and he let the towel fall to the floor. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. She found herself pressed stiffly against him as he lowered his mouth to hers. The shiver in her lips was soon massaged away by soft sweeps of the master's tongue. The sensation of her naked skin against the material of his clothes was strangely erotic, and made her particularly aware of her nakedness.

All the heat and pounding of the shower on her skin had brought the smell of her to the surface, and it was like wine to the vampire. He was intoxicated by her very presence, and he inhaled her scent like it nourished him. Before he knew it, his fangs had extended, and he bit down on her bottom lip.

She gasped against him, and tried to pull back, finding herself still in the steel cables that were his arms. He dipped his head again, suckling at her lip, licking away the little beads of blood that rose. The angry need to retaliate rose in her, and she did what came natural; she bit him back.

Her teeth sunk into his bottom lip, and he tried to jerk back, but her teeth stayed clamped, causing the delicate flesh on the inside of his lip to tear. Blood spilled into her mouth, and she sputtered, releasing the grip of her teeth.

The vampire looked in astonishment at the spatter of blood on her chin, and took a step back. Her eyes went blind went pain, and she fell to the ground, doubled over, one hand clutched to her stomach.

Fort woke feeling uneasy. A sort of low keening sound that put his nerves on alert was reverberating through the room. He shoved his hair out of his face and stood, trying to locate the origin of the sound. As he stepped toward the bathroom, the sound stopped, and a low sob echoed out of the slightly ajar bathroom door. He pushed open the door, and immediately fell to the girl's side. She was curled in a tight ball on the floor just inside the bathroom. She had begun to make the eerie sound again, and her skin was incredibly flushed, and she was covered in sweat. Her muscles were taut with pain, and Fort had no idea what to do.

He could hear her bones cracking, stretching, readjusting. It was a sound he was familiar with; it was the sound he heard as he turned into the wolf. He watched her wide-eyed, wondering momentarily if she was a lycan as well.

She sobbed again, and he saw a flash of sharp fangs, reminiscent of his own. But she did not grow larger, nor did she sprout hair or become a wolf. As the sound of her moaning died down, so did she seem to calm, to become more peaceful. Her skin cooled, and the moment Fort could hear that her bones had stopped cracking, her eyes popped open.

It took her a moment to focus her eyes. Everything seemed to look different, but somehow the same. She looked over and saw Fort hovering over her, a mask of concern on his face. Trying to sit up, her limbs protested, trembling. She felt incredibly weak.

Fort saw her struggling and helped her to sit up, grabbing the towel off of the floor and covering her so she wouldn't be embarrassed. As he leaned over to tuck the ends of the towel into each other, she tilted her head toward the curve of his neck. The tip of her nose brushed the delicate skin at his neck, and she inhaled deeply,

"You smell so good," she murmured, her eyes fluttering closed. There was an odd intonation to her voice, a resonance that hadn't been there before. In a split second, Fort realized his mistake, and as she sunk her brand new fangs into his neck, he just hoped through a red haze of pain that she would stop drinking before she killed him.