Author's Note: I would just like to thank everyone who read the first installment of 'A Little Respect'. It was supposed to be a one off, but after having such a positive response, I have decided to continue with the characters and develop their situation into more of an actual story. I just hope everyone enjoys it! Thanks for the comments too, any kind of response to my work is always appreciated.
Thanks and hugs.
LTS xxx
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I awoke with a start and sat bolt upright, my mind somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. For a second I could not remember where I was and everything looked strange and distorted. It seemed like I had been lying facing the window, and through my hazy eyes I could just make out the setting sun, its rays casting a pool of muzzy light across the stone slabbed floor and onto me. For a moment my skin tingled.
As my eyes adjusted, I realised there was also a figure by the window, leaning on the sill, looking out. His entire body was perfectly still, a long dark coloured cloak draped around his broad shoulders, a swathe of thick black hair falling to just below his waist.
"Awake, at last," the figure said in a smooth treacly voice, slowly looking round before walking over to another window and unlatching the heavy wooden shutters that had been pulled across, revealing another section of sky.
Instantly I was struck by the beauty of the sunset, of its colours; the deep purples and blues, vivid oranges and reds which looked as if they had been splashed across the sky in streaks of wet paint. "I like to rise early, but you looked so peaceful just lying there...I didn't want to disturb you."
He made his way over to me and knelt down beside the pile of furs I had been sleeping in, cupping my cheek in a hand as he planted a tender kiss on the crown of my head.
"I've sat watching you sleep for over an hour," he admitted softly, and his handsome face broke into a thin smile.
"Aenerin," I murmured, still a little sleepy.
"At least you remember who I am," he replied. "That's always a good start."
His hand moved to my neck, brushing away my hair before running his claw like fingers down the curve of my spine and across my back, my bare flesh tingling beneath his sensuous touch.
"I don't normally go back to bed once I have risen," he commented, his deep eyes fixing my gaze into them. "But with you, I may be willing to break that particular habit."
He leant into me and placed a soft kiss on my lips, the ends of his fingers digging into my back as he pressed his face against mine.
Memories of the night before all came flooding back to me and I sighed, letting his sharp tongue part my lips, allowing for a kiss which left me feeling weak. He was everything I could ever have wanted, caring, funny, attentive, yet with a darkness which only made him all the more irresistible.
I ran my fingers through his soft hair and traced the muscular outline of his chest and shoulders through the light material of his clothes, remembering what he looked like without these coverings. I wanted to melt into him, press myself against that creamy firm body of his and be wrapped up in his essence...but something stopped my dreaming. There was more than just my new lover in my life now, and he should be made aware of that.
"You would deny me from seeing the rest of my new home, My Lord?" I murmured, my voice raising to turn my statement into a question, pushing Aenerin gently away from the kiss, finding a new strength possessing me, as well as a desire to tease him. After all, I didn't want him to think I always enjoyed being bossed around.
"As My Lady commands then," he said and bowed his head, before swiftly standing up. He offered me his hand and I took it, but instead of raising me up slowly, as a proper gentleman should, he hauled me up so fast I had no chance of keeping hold of my coverings and before I knew it I was standing completely naked before him, my sleep tousled hair messily curled around my shoulders, my mouth contorting into a little 'o' of shock.
"I'm sorry, but I can't resist you," Aenerin smiled wickedly at his own trick and swept his arms around me, holding his cloak so that I was instantly wrapped in tight to his chest, the soft velvet material rippling over my skin.
"Unhand me," I snapped at him playfully, although all of a sudden I did feel a little lightheaded. At first I thought it was simply because I had risen too quickly, but when I felt my legs suddenly give way from beneath me, I knew something was defiantly wrong. Luckily Aenerin's reactions were instantaneous and he swept me up in his arms, my head resting on his chest, as he carried me over to a long softly padded seat where he sat and settled me against him.
"You need to drink before we think of anything else," he said gently. "My apologies, I forgot what it is like in the beginning. You are still changing...adapting to what you are now. Your strength is not as it should be. Here..."
I watched as he bit into his wrist, two small pools of blood forming on his skin.
"Drink," he coaxed, holding his wrist close to my lips. I closed my eyes and sucked slowly, feeling the coppery tasting liquid drip down my throat, my hesitation only momentary as I felt a biting hunger gnawing in my stomach and through every nerve of my body. I knew I had to feed. I was just glad it was on him.
A few moments later I felt the strain of my gums splitting, allowing my own fangs to emerge, allowing me to bite a little harder into his skin, a somewhat stronger flow of blood now coursing down my throat. But Aenerin made me take it slowly and whispered soft encouragement and advice, making me feel as if I was doing well. I think he knew that for a young woman who had been human only a day before, it would be fairly frightening otherwise.
Yet as I drank more competently, I felt one of Aenerin hands slip slowly inside the folds of the cloak which he had wrapped around me, and begin to smooth his fingers over my body. I didn't quite notice at first, until he started to play them across my chest and neck, sometimes touching my gullet as I swallowed. It was certainly pleasurable and I shivered slightly at the almost electric touch of his hand on my bare flesh, feeling his other arm holding me tightly.
He said nothing, but I imagined his eyes glinted with the enjoyment of giving his blood to me. He had liked it when I had drunk from him before and as I suddenly felt his thick fingers creep underneath me and brush between my legs, I knew this had to be the case.
I murmured a little moan of pleasure between feeding as I was massaged in slow, tingling circles, his middle finger dipping smoothly inside me as he worked up the pace. I felt aglow, not only from the blood which lined my throat like a good brandy and left my mouth wanting more, but deep inside my belly where my arousal was beginning to take over.
I parted my legs a little and raised my hips, despite already being in this rather strange cradled position in his arms, but it still felt good, if not a little different, as he continued to toy with me, being careful not to hurt me, as clawed fingers were not always ideal when trying to pleasure a woman.
"Darling, I'm trying to eat," I smiled up at him, licking his wrist clean of blood, the wound my own fangs had made, already healed.
"Well, your table manners are appalling," he laughed darkly, licking a smear of blood from my cheek before pressing his mouth close to my ear and whispering, "my dirty little wench."