The sun shifted lower in the sky. I gathered the best specimens I could find to bring back to Camille's garden. Once the light had left the forest, I pushed the stone back from the hole to wait for my lover to wake.
Much as I expected she was cranky. I let her feed before I brought her to the stream to wash off the dirt. We sped home with our precious cargo.
"What did you do while I slept?" she asked as we worked in the garden.
"Laid around in the wood. Pretty much what I did two thousand years ago. It was nice though, being an animal instead of a man."
She laughed and ruffled my hair, getting dirt in it. "I'm going to have a bath. Can you finish up out here?"
"Sure, no worries," I said. How strange that I liked working in the garden with her. With my other lovers, we rarely left the house, with the exception of the woman who taught me about vampires. She was the first of their kind I met. When she was slaughtered by the locals, I'd been devastated. I cursed their crops and chased their flocks into the mountains to be eaten by wild animals. After that, I never stayed anywhere very long. With the exponential growth of the human population, I spent more and more time blending in with them, and hopping from lover to lover became even easier.
Shaking my head, I stood. Dwelling on the past would do me no good. "Camille, I think I'm ready for a snack!" I bellowed, stepping into the house.
I found her frozen over my suitcase, the lining torn out. My heart frozeβdid she try on any of the jewelry? She wouldn't be the first lover I'd lost to curiosity. When she turned to me I finally breathed.
"What's this?" she asked, holding up a length of tattered cord.
"It's nothing," I said, quickly putting the jewelry away.
"You're pale. Those things are cursed, aren't they. Where did you get them, and why is this with it?" She wagged the length of hide at me.
I certainly wasn't going to tell her it was rope made of the Nemean Lion, which I'd won gambling one night. Over the years, I'd traded lengths of it for my other little treasures. A good measure of it I kept for myself to restrain unruly immortals. Despite it's filthy appearance, it was the most valuable thing I owned.
"Well Giles, are you going to answer me, or are you just going to stand there thinking?"
"They are cursed. That rope is just sentimental."
She smirked. "I should have guessed you liked such things. I don't like to be restrained."
"Nor do I have any desire to restrain you," I replied without thinking.
Her grin grew wider. "So, would you like me to tie you the bed?"
Looking into her eyes, they sparkled. She knew I was lying, she just didn't know if I would keep lying. If she knew what it was worth, would she take it? She'd at least wait until she had wrung all the juicy bits of information from me.
While my brain was spinning, Camille prodded me to the bedroom. I sat down on the bed before I snapped out of my thoughts.
Her mouth pressed to mine, the clean scent of her skin, didn't allow any cogent plan to form. When she pushed me onto my back, I fell. Prisoner to my own hunger, I allowed her to pull my hands over my head. I held my hands together, hoping she would bind me so I could easily free myself.
Camille hadn't survived because she was stupid. I was bound spread eagle. There was very little slack in my bonds, keeping my nimble teeth and lips away from my wrists. If I'd been able to get a knot in my mouth, my fingers, I could get out.
My vampire wasn't saying anything, just sitting at my side smiling. I realized how unguarded my face had been. She'd sat there, watching with amusement as hope dwindled to resignation. I was bound to this bed until my lover decided to untie me. I hoped the games she wanted to play would be fun. If she walked out the door I think I might cry, for the first time in a hundred years.
Her lips were parted, a blush on her cheeks, and her whole body leaned toward me. No, she wasn't going to leave me here.
"Aren't you going to say something?" she asked.