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At the end of her first night with Eztli, Angela was so worn out she could hardly move. He had fucked her hard, following their late-night dip in the icy cold water, leaving her literally unable to walk, for which he then teased her mercilessly. Yet she did not mind. If anything, his deep laughter, as he carried her up the stairs to her bedroom, turned her on and made her smile.
"Quit laughing at me, please," she murmured, while lying docilely in his arms, with her head hanging back. "It's not fair and you know it."
"I own you," he replied, matter-of-factly. "I can laugh at you all I like."
He laughed again, the sound reverberating through his large frame and into her own, naked body, the body that she knew belonged to him, just like he said. That being the case, what was the point of arguing? She may as well relax and let him do what he wanted, including laughing at her, if he so chose. It was better than him being angry with her, anyway - the way he was back in the alleyway, when he criticized her for her lack of focus and the mistakes that she made during her first ever hunt.
"Don't think about the hunt now." She heard him say. "I told you we would talk about it when you are better. Until then, I want you to put it out of your mind. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Eztli," she replied, glancing at him through her lashes. By God, he was attractive! She could look at him forever, and a day, and still not get enough. She saw him smile as she thought this, and she knew he was reading her mind once again.
"Is that a vampire thing, being able to read minds?" she asked, as he deposited her inside the big four poster bed and pulled the covers over her. "And, if so, how come I can't read yours?"
He did not answer right away but set about closing the heavy shutters on the window and then the curtains on the bed. Angela watched him moving around, a feeling of pure contentment washing over her. What was it about him that made her feel this way? She wondered, dreamily. He was a vampire as old as time, and he scared her out of her wits, sometimes. Yet, he also made her melt inside, awakening desires in her that she never even knew she had. Like the desire to have him hurt her until she screamed, something she was still coming to terms with. Slightly easier to accept, yet equally shocking, was her desire to have him take charge of her at every turn and in every possible way. None of the men she had met before knew how to do this, and their clumsy attempts at domination forced her to conclude that she did not enjoy it, at all. A conclusion that seemed desperately flawed, in light of her recent experience.
"Eztli... you haven't answered my question," she whispered, when she saw him leaning down, about to plant a good night kiss on her forehead.
"Close your eyes, fräulein, and go to sleep," he responded, in a firm tone. "You can ask me all your questions when you next wake up."
Angela's eyelids were too heavy, all of a sudden, to keep them open for a moment longer. As she complied with Eztli's direction and began to drift off, his smooth lips brushed her forehead, sending her into the land of dreams - dreams that would be full of him, from now on, more often than not. This was noteworthy for two reasons. For one, it was something neither of them had control over. It happened naturally, the same as it did for women everywhere, when they became infatuated with someone. Angela, however, was not human anymore. She was a vampire - and vampires, as a rule, did not dream. Indeed, truly powerful, old vampires did not sleep at all, as Eztli would have told her, had she bothered to ask him. They simply entered a meditative state while allowing their bodies to preserve energy during daylight hours. This, then, was the second reason that made Angela's dreams special, and that made Eztli stay next to her side for the second day in a row, watching her.
For most of that day and into the early evening, Eztli stood watch over Angela as she slept, his blue-grey eyes glowing in the darkness. It was, for him, a restful way to pass the time, and he did not stir except to attend to his three human guests and see them out. They were a bit dazed upon waking up, and could not remember much from the night before, which was how he liked it. He made sure to feed their confusion so they would not remember the location of his home, once they turned the nearest street corner. Returning to the bedroom, he found Angela's phone ringing shrilly and waved his hand at it to place it on 'silent'. Then he settled in for another long wait, letting his mind go still once more.
When, toward late evening, Angela stirred and opened her eyes, she found Eztli waiting for her, the same as he had been the previous night. And the same as that night, he took her phone and passed it to her, saying,
"You have more messages you might want to reply to."
With that, he turned and glided over to the window. As she sat up and pulled the sheets around herself, Angela experienced a sense of déjà vu. Remembering how he had performed the same actions that first night, before turning around and showing her his true, incredibly handsome face. All at once, she caught herself worrying - quite irrationally - that he might have reverted back to his gaunt and scary appearance while she slept. But when he spun around and glided over to her, she saw to her relief that he was still every bit as handsome as he was when she went to sleep. All of a sudden, she became acutely aware of her nakedness, and she dropped her gaze into her lap and the phone she was holding. A moment later, she cursed.
"Something the matter?" Eztli's tone was flat and unconcerned, making her wish he could transfer some of that calm, to her.
"It's my Dad," she said, struggling to keep the tremor from her voice. "He's had a heart attack and he's in hospital, about to have open heart surgery."
"No," Eztli said, in that same flat tone. Angela raised her head and stared at him, in confusion.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up. He smirked at her expression, while replying flatly,
"No, you can't go visit your father in hospital."
"But he could die!" she blurted out, her eyes growing wide. "And besides, my Mom needs me!"
"The answer is still no," Eztli told her, with a hard glint in his eye.
No longer concerned about her nakedness, Angela threw off the covers and leapt to her feet, so that she could face him squarely, or as squarely as possible considering their height disparity.
"Can't we talk about this?" It was a reasonable question, she thought. He shook his head at her extra slowly, his flawless features set in a harsh and impenetrable mask. Angela knew that look. It should have been enough to stop her arguing, but she was too upset to back down easily. Instead, she changed tact, pleading with him plaintively,
