| Chapter 25 Nancy walked into the bathroom, finding Tracy sitting in the shower with Brian. Both were wet. Tracy held her finger up to her lips for Nancy to be quiet. "What's wrong?" she whispered. Tracy shook her head, "Terrible dreams." Nancy noticed Brian's arms and gasped. The skin was red, with scratch marks up and down them. Some of them were bleeding. "Oh my goodness," she said. Tracy shifted Brian in her arms, and slowly stood up with him. Nancy followed her to the bed where she gently lay him down. "I'll get some dry clothes," she said, going to his closet and pulling out a fresh t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Together they peeled his wet clothes from him, and dressed him. Tracy pulled the blanket up to cover him, "Nancy, please bring his breakfast up and leave it in here. I'm gonna stay with him until he wakes up." Nancy nodded, "Should I bring you some dry clothes?" Tracy smiled, "Yes, thanks." Nancy took one last look at Brian before she headed out the door, "Poor, poor child," she mumbled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jennifer looked down at her plate, well aware that Howie was staring at her from across the table. He'd been doing it since they left the hotel, and it was beginning to unnerve her. This wasn't his usual stare, no this one was different. It was searching, probing for something. She looked up, right into his deep chocolate eyes. "Howie, is something wrong?" she asked. He smiled at her, "No, not at all. Why do you ask?" "Well, um, you keep staring at me, like, I dunno, like your trying to figure me out or something," she answered, blushing. He looked down, "I'm sorry Jennifer, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." "It's Ok," she said, studying his face, "Is there something you want to ask me?" His head shot up, and he considered her for a moment. She grinned at him, "My life is an open book, ya know?" He laughed, taking a sip of his drink. "I um, well, I don't want you to think that I'm weird for asking this, but ....... um," he stumbled. She cocked her head to the side, smiling at him. He was so cute when he was flustered. "Um, you know how we both have this fascination with vampires?" he went on. "Uh huh," she said. "Well, I was just wondering if ......... oh this is stupid," he mumbled. Jennifer reached over the table and took his hand, "Just ask." He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, "I was wondering if it was more than a fascination. If you um ..." "If I am one?" she finished for him. He stared at her, and nodded. "Would it matter if I was?" she asked, feeling a little afraid of losing him. He looked down at his plate, "No, it wouldn't. I love you Jennifer," he said, looking back up at her. She smiled, "You love me?" He nodded, grinning, "Yes I do, with all my heart." Tears came to her eyes, "Oh Howie, I love you too." Howie leaned across the table and kissed her, then sat back down. Jennifer bit her lip for a moment, "Howie, um to answer your question ..... yes I am." He squeezed her hand tighter, "That's alright, it doesn't matter. I um have a few things I need to tell you too. I'm a watcher." "I know," she grinned. He looked at her surprised, "You knew?" She nodded, "The watcher's aren't the only ones watching you know. We keep taps on you as well as the slayers." Howie shrugged, "Makes sense." "So, it really doesn't matter?" she asked. He shook his head, "No it doesn't. I'd love you wether you were a watcher, slayer, vampire or just a regular person." Jennifer wiped away a tear that escaped down her cheek. In all her years, she'd never found someone that cared for her as much as Howie. He moved his chair closer to hers, and kissed her cheek, "No crying now, K?" She smiled at him, "They're happy tears." He smiled, "Good, that's all I want to see." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat in Kevin's hotel room, trying his best not to go insane. The sun had set a few hours ago, and it was all he could do to sit still. He flipped through the channels on the TV at lightening speed, bouncing his leg as he did. Every few minutes he found himself staring out the window, wishing he was out there. Someone knocked on the door, and Kevin answered it. Nick looked over to see A.J. walk in. "Hey Nicky, I got this new game and I can't figure it out. You wanna help me out with it?" A.J. asked. Nick glanced at Kevin, then back to A.J. "J, you bought a game? That's so unlike you," he snickered. A.J. shrugged, "Well, I didn't feel like going out tonight, so, what else is there to do. You gonna play or not?" "Sure," Nick said, "Wanna set it up in here?" A.J. looked at Kevin, "Yeah, if the old man here can take it." Kevin glared at him, "Old man my ass. Go get the game." A.J. headed to the door, catching Kevin's eye on his way out. Thank you, Kevin mouthed to him. He smiled, then out the door he went. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian rolled over, opening his eyes. Tracy moved from the chair to the bed, and sat down, "Hey, you feeling better?" He took a deep breath, then sat up, "Yeah. How long was I asleep?" "A few hours. The sun has set," she answered, "Here, you need to feed," she said, handing him the drink Nancy had left. He took it, downing the liquid in a few swallows. "Brian, do you feel like training?" she asked. He nodded his head, "I'm sorry for freaking out earlier," his voice quiet. She took his hand and squeezed it, "It's perfectly understandable. I'm sorry she's putting you through this." He nodded, sliding out of bed, and noticing he was in different clothes. "You were wet," she said, moving to the door, "You're sure, you're alright?" Brian nodded, "Yeah, I'll be Ok." Tracy looked at him a moment, trying to decide if he was telling her the truth or not. She could still see the pain he carried, but he was calmer now, able to handle it better. "Alright, meet me in the kitchen when you're ready," she said, leaving his room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howie sat down on the couch, "So how old are you?" Jennifer giggled, "Don't you know it's rude to ask a girl her age?" she teased, making him blush. The two had decided to come up to Howie's room and talk, instead of going to a club. With their new revelations, they had a lot to discuss. "I'm kidding, um two hundred and one," she said proudly. He stared at her amazed, "Really?" She nodded, "I was embraced when I was twenty-one. I remember it like it was yesterday." He scooted closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories to tell." She nodded, "I do, and I'm sure you want to hear them?" He nodded vigorously. She laughed, "I thought so. What kind of watcher would you be if you didn't?" "True," he said. She leaned on him, getting more comfortable, "Where should I start?" "How bout at the beginning?" he suggested. She smiled at him, "Alright. I met my sire at the market ........" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian walked into the kitchen, seeing Tracy with a bowl of apples at the table. She motioned for him to sit down, so he took the seat next to her. She took an apple from the bowl and handed it to him, "This is the last thing you need know." He stared at the apple a moment, then looked at her, confused. "You need to learn how to bite," she said. "I don't wanna learn that," he said, placing the apple back in the bowl, "I'm never gonna bite anyone, so I think we can skip this part." Tracy shook her head, "No we can't. You have to learn to do this." He shook his head. Tracy sighed, "Brian, a vampire that doesn't know how to bite, is like a cat with no claws. You're defenseless." "But I have all my other abilities," he argued. "Yes, you do, but they can only get you so far. If you don't know how to bite properly you can't defend yourself, and you could permanently injure someone if you bit them," she said. "But I'm never going to bite anyone," he said again. "Honey, forever is a long time to say you aren't gonna do something. You aren't properly trained until you learn this, and you can't ever hope to defeat Raven without it," she informed him. Brian sighed, looking down at the bowl. He had to defeat Raven. If he didn't he'd go nuts. The thought of an eternity with her inside his head was just to much to bare. He reached out and picked up the apple, "Alright, what do I do?" Tracy smiled at him, "Let's practice the defense bite first. Bare your fangs, and plunge them down into the apple, at the same time, bite with your lower jaw, until your teeth meet." Brian held the apple up, his eyes changing into a pale blue as he lifted his hand. He licked his lips, then bit. He successfully bit the apple in half. "Very good," Tracy said, as he spat it out of his mouth. She pulled out another, handing it to him, "This time just use your fangs." He nodded, taking the apple and plunging his fangs in, "Wha... ...ite ...is .... vis?" he asked, the apple hanging from his fangs. Tracy laughed, "That is the bite to feed." "Oh phay," he said, then pulled the apple from his mouth. She giggled, handing him another, "Now do the same thing, but only use the tips." He looked at the apple a moment, then pierced it. "Little bit more," she said. He sunk his fangs in a little deeper, "Like .. at?" "Yes, that's perfect," she said. He pulled the apple from his mouth, "I can't tell what I'm doing with that one. I can't feel where I'm suppose to be." "Here let me show you," she said, taking an apple and piercing it. He watched her, then shook his head, "I still can't tell how far to go." Tracy sat her apple down, thinking. After a moment she reached over and took his hand, "Do you trust me?" He nodded. "Alright," she said lifting his hand to her mouth. She flipped it over, palm up, pulling him closer. "This won't hurt," she said, lifting his arm up and biting his forearm. Brian stared at her, seeing how she just inserted the very tips of her fangs, using her tongue to lap the droplets of blood around them. After a moment, she let go, "That help?" He cleared his throat, shifting in his chair. "Brian, you're blushing," she pointed out. This only caused him to blush even more, "Sorry, but that was um..... nice." She grinned at him, her cheeks growing crimson, "Yeah, love nips tend to um do that." He looked down, playing with the hem of his t-shirt, "Uh, do you care if I um ..... if I try?" he asked, looking up. She smiled at him, extending her arm to him. He took it gently in his hands. Her skin was so soft. He cleared his throat again, then licked his lips. His stomach was doing flip flops. Why was he so nervous? He glanced at her, then back to her arm. Slowly he lifted it to his lips, and bit. The warmth of her flesh surrounded his fangs. He could taste her blood, and it was intoxicating. Slowly he ran his tongue around his fangs, licking her skin. He heard her sigh, and glanced up. Tracy had her eyes closed, thoroughly enjoying the moment. Brian smiled, removing his fangs and sucking the small pierce marks, before, planting a small kiss on them, and letting go. "That ...was perfect," she breathed, as she opened her eyes, and tried to regain what little composure she had. Brian looked at the table, embarrassed, but also turned on at the same time. He'd never experienced anything like that before. The way his fangs felt in her skin, the taste of her, it was all so ..... erotic. Tracy cleared her throat, "So .... um you think you got that one?" He shrugged, looking up at her, "Uh maybe. I might need to practice some more tho," he grinned. She laughed, "I'm gonna ignore that right now. So the next bite is the one to embrace. It's like the one to feed, basically you're doing the same thing, but you have to drain the person to the point of them dying. Then right before they pass out, you have to feed them your own blood. You do that by biting your wrist here," she pointed out, taking his wrist and showing him where to bite. "Where do you bite them?" he asked. She pulled her hair back, running her finger along her neck, "Here, right in the vein." He moved closer, running his own finger along her skin. "Right here?" he asked. She nodded. "Can you um, do the love nip thing there too?" he asked. "Yes, that can be done anywhere," she answered. He raised his eyebrows, "Really?" She smiled, "Yes, really." They both stared at each other, their faces just inches apart. "Tracy, can you kiss with your fangs extended?" Brian asked, his voice somewhat husky. "Yes, it takes some practice tho, you don't want to injure the other person," she replied. He stared into her eyes, his breath hot on her skin, "Can I ....?" he whispered. She reached up and cupped his cheek in her hand, drawing him closer. Their eyes closed as their lips met. The kiss was soft and gentle, tentative. After a moment, he ran his tongue along her lips, asking for entrance. She opened her mouth, and let him explore. She moaned at the sensation of his tongue on her fangs. She pulled him closer, the kiss growing more passionate. He wrapped his arms around her neck, tangling his hands in her hair. Nancy stepped into the kitchen and halted, seeing the two. Her eyes widened, and a huge smile formed on her face as she quietly tip toed from the room. Brian pulled back, needing to breathe. Both were panting, their hearts beating wildly as the emotions of the kiss still filled them. Tracy grabbed her shirt and fanned it, "Man it's hot in here." Brian blushed, smiling. She smiled back, "That was very good for your first time." "Thanks, but um, I might need some more practice," he said. She pulled him closer, "Yes, I think you do," she said, pulling him into another kiss. Chapter 26 |