Taken in the Night

by Tara Fox Hall

  “I want you to make it as deep as Devlin made his,” I said firmly.

  His eyes widened. “You’d never be able to remove it,” he whispered. “Never.”

  “I’d carry it the rest of my life,” I said, holding his gaze.

  “It will hurt a good deal,” Danial said cautiously. “I’ve never bitten you that deep, Sar. No amount of sex will dull that kind of pain.”

  “I know,” I said, letting out a breath. “Will you do it?”

  “Only if it’s what you want,” he said carefully.

  “It’s what I want, and it’s safest for us all.”

  “You’re safe enough without being marked,” Danial said seriously. “I am Lord here, and you wear the choker.”

  Watching him, it was apparent he was balking. What I didn’t comprehend was why. “I understand it will hurt. I’m still asking you to do it.”

  “Not because you want to be mine,” Danial said softly. “I never wanted the farce I had to play out under Devlin and now Samuel, Sar. I don’t want you to pretend with me, now that I have a choice.”

  “I’m not pretending,” I said angrily. “I’m here in your bed because I want to be here. I’m asking you to give me a mark I’ll never be able to remove because I want that from you. I’m going to carry a mark made from hate for the rest of my life. I want one from love!”

  “Do you love me?” he said stridently.

  “I never stopped,” I said, swallowing my guilt over Theo. “You keep telling me you want to make me happy. Don’t you understand I want to make you happy, too?”

  “You don’t have to do this to make me happy,” Danial said, embracing me.

  “It’s because you tell me I don’t have to that I want to.” I kissed him gently.

  “You’re sure?” Danial said urgently. His eyes sought mine, his breath coming fast.

  I nodded. “Do it,” I said softly.

  “I’m sorry in advance for the pain,” he whispered. He turned me over onto my stomach and began again, his thrusts measured. Yet this time, Danial was so excited he was shaking, kissing and nuzzling me. In a few minutes, he shuddered, screaming my name. His excitement stoked me, and I climaxed again, arching my back with a sharp cry.

  Danial struck, biting me so deep his top and bottom fangs were completely buried. I let out a scream of pain, but he covered my mouth, silencing it. My climax ebbed in seconds, the nerve endings in my neck radiating damage. I panted hard, trying to hold still, every fiber of my body wanting to fight him. Danial shuddered with wave after wave of pleasure, his body moving involuntarily on mine. As he did he sliced deeper with one of his fangs, causing me to jerk in his arms. I pushed back from him, suddenly afraid.

  Danial crushed me to him and pulled my top half upright as he continued to feed, still shuddering. I let out whimpers, tried to pull away, and then gave a cry as I cut myself again on his fangs. Danial let out a muffled groan of sheer joy, and his mouth clamped down tighter, still swallowing.

  The pain dulled, my fear deadening with my senses. A few seconds later, I went limp in his arms, nearly unconscious. Danial abruptly withdrew, laying me back gently, then went for the bathroom. In a grey haze, I watched as he tended to my bites with gauze and gentle kisses. As the fog in my mind cleared, the pain returned, throbbing.

  Danial handed me some aspirin and water. “These are prescription strength for me. Please take them and tell me when they wear off.”

  I swallowed the pills and water and lay back gently. “Thanks. You were right about the pain. Does it look okay?”

  “Yes,” he said quietly, his tone odd. “It looks fine.”

  I looked over at him. He looked back worriedly.

  “What’s wrong? Did you take too much?” I said, searching his eyes.

  “I wanted to take it all,” he admitted, drawing back from me. “That’s never happened to me before. I could feel you fighting me, and it didn’t matter.”

  “You’re scaring me,” I said softly. “Do you still want to?”

  “No,” he answered. “As soon as you went limp, the feeling passed.” He gave me an agonized look. “I wanted to give you my blood, enough so you’d waken.” He wiped at his eyes. “I’d have turned you.”

  I was silent, watching him, my chest heaving in fear.

  “Ever since draining Devlin, I’ve had this desire before to share blood with other donors, when I took a lot of their blood,” Danial continued. “Dr. Camlyn said it was a normal desire to procreate for those vampires with the power to turn others. He said the urge would abate in time. I thought it had.”

  “Why didn’t you warn me?” I whispered.

  “I wanted to mark you badly as you asked,” Danial said, moving still further back. “I’ve never bitten anyone that deep I wasn’t trying to kill.” He paused. “I’ve never lost control like this with anyone. I’d not have risked doing this tonight if I’d had.”

  “You stopped in time,” I said slowly. “You didn’t give me any of your blood, right?”

  “No,” Danial assured me. “My saliva still heals you to a lesser extent It just doesn’t take away your pain. I used the minimum, to be safe. You’ll be fine.”

  “Then why are you on the far edge of the bed?”

  “I could smell your fear, taste it in your blood. I don’t just feel awful for the terror I caused you, I feel terribly guilty I enjoyed myself so much at your expense.” He let out a breath. “I’ve never enjoyed inflicting pain. I’m worried Devlin’s blood has somehow corrupted me.”

  “If it had, you wouldn’t be thinking recriminating thoughts now,” I assured him. “His blood has changed you, made you more powerful. It makes sense that power comes with a price.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said haltingly. “I wanted you to feel safe in my arms, not afraid. I didn’t want you to be scared of me, after what happened before—”

  I reached out and brought his hand to my cheek, covering it with my hand. “I asked you to mark me. Nothing that happened here tonight changes what I feel for you.”

  “Even telling you all I did?” he replied, surprised.

  “I asked you to tell me everything, to keep no secrets,” I answered. “I trust you more, knowing you told me the truth, as hard as it was.”

  “We don’t have to share blood again,” Danial said quickly, moving closer.

  “We can, though it won’t be so much,” I said, managing a smile. “Probably not soon, either or I’ll have to take some of those awful blood replenishing packets.”

  “Do you forgive me hurting you?” he said, serious.

  “I forgive you. Let it go,” I said gently and kissed him. He cradled me to him, and we slept.

  * * * *

  The bite opened in the night, but Danial stopped the bleeding with pressure. In the morning, it was scabbed over. Examining it, the wound was deep, as deep as Devlin’s had been, the four punctures a purplish red on a background of blue purple, from bruising beneath the skin. There was some pain, but with the aspirin, it was manageable.

  “It will scar,” Danial said from behind me.

  “I’ve always wondered why, when you bite, you don’t bite with all your teeth?” I said hesitantly. “It feels like your incisors are all the way in, but they must not be.”

  “I’m not biting to eat flesh, like a mouthful of chicken,” Danial said, cracking a smile. “I’m biting to open a vessel to drink from.”

  “Then why the four marks, instead of just two?”

  “It’s theorized the lower fangs are for opposing the uppers used to pierce a vein, to provide a counterpoint to the pressure.”

  “To hold a person still, so they can’t dislodge you, no matter how hard they struggle.”

  “Yes,” Danial said with a sigh, “but that’s false. You remember when I bit you a year ago, when I was dying? The wounds were ragged because you were struggling and I couldn’t hang on. My best guess is evolution: four fangs instead of two increased the accessible amount of blood from a single bite.”

/>   “Was biting easy to learn?” I blushed. “What I mean, is it must be easy to sever or slash instead of pierce. It must have taken, um, practice to do what you did last night.”

  Danial nodded. “Yes. Willing donors hold still, so they usually only have two or four shallow cuts.” He cleared his throat. “The idea of the mark originated from the Oath; equal restraint. No human could withstand a bite so deep once, much less twice, if he or she didn’t do it from love. No vampire could bite that deep and not kill, unless it was out of love.”

  “In that way we are oathed, then,” I said quietly. “Both of those things were true last night.”

  “We’re in love again,” Danial amended quickly. “Come, Elle will be looking for us.”

  * * * *

  Terian gave me a narrow eyed look when he showed up for work, but didn’t say anything. Irritated, I pulled him aside. “I didn’t give Danial an oath, so stop glaring.”

  Relief passed across his face. “It’s not my business,” he then said loftily, moving away.

  Time kept passing and I found my new routines both enjoyable and reassuring. Elle was happy, and so was I. I hadn’t expected to enjoy the busy work I did for Danial, but I found satisfaction in helping him with his e-mail, phone calls, and filing. There was always a lot to organize and collate, so when Danial awoke for the night, he could get right to work instead of spending half the evening chasing down a client who had left a message during the day or finding the right phone number to call back someone. In turn, it gave him more time to spend with Elle and me.

  I still took time for myself. Sometimes I baked or read, but not to the extent I had before when living with Danial. I wanted this to work, which meant I needed to keep myself busy. Between Danial’s business, Elle, the pets, my target practice, and my hobbies, it was easily accomplished.

  My only sadness was my mother had not called me in all this time, a first for her. I finally broke down and called my stepfather. I told him everything was fine, we were all settled, and we’d like to come for Christmas, if it was okay. My mother called back later to say Elle and I could come, but she didn’t want Danial to darken her doorstep.

  With heavy heart, I told him the news that night. Oddly, he wasn’t upset like I was.

  “They remember what happened,” he said sadly. “I don’t blame them for not liking me. I know how much they liked Theo.”

  “I don’t feel right about them excluding you.”

  “Go. Elle needs to see her grandparents. Besides,” he said, pulling me to sit on his lap “this way we don’t have to worry about my not-eating being a problem.”

  Elle was less cooperative. “I’m not going. I don’t like Grandma. She’s mean.”

  “You are going,” I said sternly. “We’re going to pick you out a dress tomorrow.”

  “I’m not.”

  I let it go, with Christmas still a month away. There was time for her to come around.

  Later that night, I mused over the real trouble. Elle loved Danial the way he loved her; completely and utterly. She did not want to hear a word against him. He was her hero, her father in all ways but the biological one. When she had a nightmare, it was him she cried for to soothe her. When she learned something new, she always made sure he was there to hear it. When I put her to bed, she wouldn’t fall asleep until he came in and kissed her goodnight.

  Danial was the same; Elle was first in his world. No matter how full his schedule was, he made time to read her a story, brush her hair, or spend time talking to her about what she had done that day. He was never too busy for her, or cut her short in favor of more pressing matters.

  Some of this was hard to watch. I was now a third wheel to their twosome. I handled it as gracefully as I could, devoting extra time to the dogs and cats or spending time with Cia. As much as I felt excluded, I also relished they had bonded so quickly. Seeing them together, I knew I’d been right to come live with Danial. However, their relationship also raised an important question. If Theo returned now, how would Elle take it? In her eyes, she already had a father she loved. She was not the cub she once was huddled in Theo’s arms.

  * * * *

  The night of the party came. At Danial’s request, I wore my red dress with the fox head choker and earrings. Danial had bought Elle a red dress with a sweetheart neckline and matching red shoes. She was twirling around in the great room, watching the skirt flare out to settle around her legs as we waited for Danial.

  Danial came out from his bedroom at last, buckling a sword and belt onto his waist. He was dressed in his red swordsman’s shirt, black jeans, and those thigh high leather boots I loved.

  “I thought this wasn’t a costume party this time?” I said, eyeing the sword.

  “I needed it the last party, Sar,” Danial said grimly. “I would prefer to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.”

  “Point taken,” I said, grimacing in return.

  “Danial, are we ready to go?” Elle said excitedly.

  “Almost,” he said, going to one knee before her. “I have something for you.” He handed her a blood red velvet box.

  She opened it and let out a shriek. “I love it.” She tossed the box aside and held up a tiny gold fox head on a short wide gold chain. The pendant was identical to the one at my throat, down to its ruby eyes.

  She tried to put it on immediately and couldn’t. “Why won’t the clasp work?” she said in frustration.

  “I must fasten it,” Danial said lovingly. “Hold still.” He slipped it over her head and fastened the miniature choker in place.

  Elle ran to the mirror in the entryway to admire herself. “Wow.”

  “I thought I’d better,” Danial whispered to me. “Some vampires like children’s blood.”

  “It was good of you to think of it,” I replied, grimacing again. “Let’s go.”

  Terian drove us to the party, not speaking. I wondered if he was nervous. This would be his first real job as head of security for Danial.

  The drive brought back thoughts of Theo. Again, I was sad, missing him and then pushed away the thoughts.

  We arrived in good time. As we were early, almost no one was here yet. The band was just setting up as we walked in to the convention center. The tables were spread with food while waiters and bartenders stood ready.

  “Everything looks great,” Danial called to an approaching figure.

  It was Tatiana, again in silver, her hair in ringlets. “Thanks, Danial.” She embraced me. “I’m glad to see you,” she said formally. “This is a welcome surprise.” By the way she said it, she knew all about Theo and what had happened between Danial and I.

  “It’s good to see you,” I said stiffly.

  “Who are you?” Elle said, her eyes wide.

  “I’m Tatiana, a friend of Danial’s and your mom’s.”

  “Are you a witch?” Elle asked bluntly. “Do you do bad magic?”

  Tatiana looked at her in shock, her mouth open.

  “Elle, what did I say?” I said sharply.

  “I’m sorry,” Elle said quickly to her.

  “It’s okay, Sar. Yes, Elle, I’m a witch,” Tatiana said with a smile. “A good one.”

  “You’re more than your average witch,” Terian said with an appreciative smile.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know.” She winked at Terian. He winked back at her and smiled.

  Danial, meanwhile, had walked over to the band and asked them to test their instruments. I smiled as the first strains of “Lady in Red” sounded.

  He picked up Elle. “Care to dance, my Lady?”

  “Yes,” Elle shrieked.

  Danial held her in his arms, and moved to the music with her. She swayed in his arms as Terian and I watched.

  “Sar, you were right to do what you did,” Terian said emotionally. “He loves her like his own child.”

  I nodded, watching them sway to the music, pushing away a slight feeling of jealousy. When the song ended, Danial brought Elle back to us, and
she and I quickly got something to eat.

  The guests began to arrive. Terian took up a position somewhere out of the way, Aran and Demetri with him. Several other foxes stood near the doors. Before long, we were surrounded by people, all of them vying for Danial’s attention.

  I’d been nervous attending this party last year. Yet this year I felt comfortably in the background, content to look after Elle and not try to be especially witty or smart. Elle was very well behaved, responding politely to questions as she held my hand or Danial’s.

  The night wore on, and my face began to tire from constantly smiling. To give us a break, I danced with Elle a few times, and then we returned to the tables for more food. By the time we’d finished, most of the human guests had left. Around us were only our guards and a few scattered vampires, but more were coming in.

  Elle sniffed, then pressed herself to my side. “I smell blood, Sar. Fresh blood,” she said quietly.

  “They are like Danial, most of them,” I said softly. “Some might be weres, but don’t believe any are good like he is, Elle.”

  “Danial warned me not to,” she said, scared.

  “Don’t worry,” I reassured her. “We’re going to stay over here and watch. There is just some ritual usually, and it doesn’t last very long.”

  Danial came over to us. “Are you ready, Sar?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “Is there anyone Elle and I should be careful of?”

  “Devlin wasn’t invited,” he replied, waving to a man who’d just entered. “There are a few who have come from outside the US to be here tonight, like Samuel, but they aren’t going to be trouble. You will notice more have come, close to a few hundred.”

  “You once told me there were about five hundred vampires in the United States. Did most not get invited?”