heir rejected

her throat was serpent, but the words she spake came, as through bubbling honey

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

No questions, no shock, she didn’t even seem startled. The slight change in her heartbeat was the only sign that he’d gotten to her. Not unheard of, but not what he was expecting from her. She looked so fragile, like some kind of painting, next to the lilacs. Jamie had expected her to maybe step away, clutching at her chest, ask what he was doing there. Those were easy targets, practically every vampire’s bread and butter. It would have been frustrating that she didn’t seem bothered if he weren’t interested in their current location.

And he was never one to back down from a challenge.

“The roses caught my attention, actually.” He was still being flippant as he stepped away from the statue and instead turned his attention to the lilac bush closest to him. Pretty, but not as fitting as the thorny, red blooms. His fingers reached to touch one of the flowers stalks, as if he were debating plucking it. Only for his attention to turn to her. Closer now, he could get a better look at her, get a better assessment as to how to play this. She didn’t seem particularly bothered, but the spike in heart rate had given her away. So she wasn’t about to show him that she was afraid of him. There was something there in her eyes, a brief glint of defiance. A fighter, she wasn’t the naive girl he thought he was stumbling upon.

Normally that wouldn’t really be much of a problem, but considering they were still near such a populated place as the palace, it wasn’t like he could just drag her off into the shadows without someone noticing.

The way she eyed him, the brief sight of her tongue against her bottom lip, he knew how to go about this. She wasn’t the usual naive maiden, but she was at most curious about him. Not like he could really blame her, he’d been in her position. Had looked out from the stables and hoped for something to happen. Anything to break up the monotony of his life.

A lot of good those thoughts had done him.

It was an easy feat to play the mysterious stranger at this point. The beautiful creature lurking in the dark, someone you couldn’t quite decide was exciting or dangerous. His sire hadn’t had to teach him how to do it, it’d been something he’d learned by observation before he’d even met him. She probably wanted adventure, maybe just a bit of danger. He could give her that.

“Always been my favorite. Such an interestin’ flower.” Jamie stepped away from the tree, made a show of looking around the garden. It was almost something otherworldly, too beautiful to be real. He could spend too much time here, forget about how dull everything was outside of the garden wall. It’s not like Tenea wasn’t gorgeous, it was just that being cautious was boring. Every time he thought about heading back home, he heard some whispering about his kind, and he knew he had to stay. He wasn’t here for anything political, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t looking for the French vampires who’d just vanished.

The fountain adjacent to them was just as extravagant as the garden itself. Marble and carved, statues of saints finely detailed around it. A few trees around it bore fruit that was not quite ripe enough to eat, but the branches were laden with what he knew to be pomegranates. He paused at the edge of the fountain, hands behind his back and eyes moving from the fruit to over his shoulder at her. A slight turn of his head accentuated his jawline, his relaxed stance leaving his shirt just a bit more open. “Arguably the most beautiful.”

If she wasn’t going to just fall all over him like some blushing young girl, then he’d have to work for it. Which was something he enjoyed for the most part, it wasn’t often he got to show off around these parts, there was no reason he couldn’t have a bit of fun with it. And so he kept his tone light, the corners of his lips upturned just slightly in a crooked smirk. “Dinnae find many of them here as pretty as the ones within these walls.” It was apparent he wasn’t talking about flowers, his eyes settled solely on her face, still smirking, as if sharing some kind of secret. “’Course I always found the thorns tae be what makes them so interestin’.”

While the stranger looked about the garden and taunted her with the lines of his jaw and the light fluttering of his shirt, Thea’s eyes never left him. If he was indeed there to hurt her, she couldn’t afford to be distracted, though- though he was plenty distracting by himself. It was uncanny, his resemblance to Lamian’s statue. Too many parts of him were built and dressed to draw eyes. Moonlight made everything dreamy, urged her to let her guard down.

But she couldn’t, so she watched him, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She was hardly a rose, but she had plenty of thorns, if that was his idea of fun. “That sounds like something an Englishman would say,” she said with a ghost of a smirk to match his. Her time with Sloane taught her well that he was definitely not English, and that there was hardly a worse insult. But then, maybe she was playing the simple gardener girl, with little experience of foreigners like him. What did he know of her?

“They are pretty,” she offered, playing along just a little. “If a little fragile, sometimes. I like the ones that bloom when there’s still snow on the ground.” She shifted her weight, the leather lining of her prosthetic leg chafing against her thigh. Her skirt shifted to reveal a flash of flesh toes and steel toes alongside one another. Immediately she regretted the movement. Anyone who knew anything about Tenea had heard of its weak, clumsy little princess who was terribly injured in an accident years ago... Or whatever the lie was. She could hardly keep track and didn’t much care to anyway. 

Now it was her turn to distract him, lest he grow bored and do whatever he’d come to do instead. “There are more unique flowers, though. More unusual, more decadent. If you’re here for anything, why not something interesting?” Was she supposed to be the boring rose or the interesting flower in her extension of his flirtatious metaphor? She wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe it could be exciting to have some surprise affair with a stranger trespassing in her family’s garden. Maybe that was all a scoundrel like him came looking for.

Maybe, at least, playing to that would give her an opportunity to run inside once his guard came down. She twirled one long lock of hair around her fingers like an obsidian ring. “You look like you would be more at home with a fruit, anyway.” Her eyes drifted to his lips in a momentary lapse. They were full and inviting. Dangerous. He served himself up for her eyes to feast on, yet he looked ravenous himself. “Maybe blackberries, given your apparent fondness for drawing blood.” And wouldn’t he look all the more charming with his lips and fingers stained deep red?

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

Leave it to Thea to be more concerned about his well being than the fact that at least one of those knights were dead. The smile that graced his lips was brief, there was more to it, there was more he had to tell her. There were no doubt going to be repercussions, he couldn’t just leave it at compelling the younger knight and call it a day, they had to discuss this.

Jamie sighed as he leaned into her touch, whether it was in exasperation or relief at the feel of her nails gently scraping at his scalp, he wasn’t sure. “The one who did this, he’s dead.” It was a blunt statement but he did feel some anxiety in putting it out in the open. Which was such a foreign feeling. It’s not like he was particularly remorseful over the bastard’s life, he’d had it coming. And honestly, he probably had the blood of several vampires on his hands, so as far as Jamie was concerned, he’d done his kind a service.

But there was still an underlying feeling of guilt that wasn’t normally there after he got into an altercation. He’d never spoken it aloud to her, his indifference towards humanity. Figured it was one of those things just too dark, might paint him too dangerous. “There was a younger one wae him, broke both of his wrists. They’ll heal. Gave him some of my blood. Told him that I didnae get tae his friend in time, but Sloane killed him an’ not me. But he was tae worried aboot his friend tae see which way any of us went. I imagine he’ll wind up back here at some point.”

Against the wishes of the voice in the back of his head to get out of the palace and just go back out and feed, Jamie allowed himself to carefully lay back with a huff of frustration at the whole situation. It wasn’t Thea’s fault, he’d never put that on her. “Fuckin’ politics.” He mumbled, eyes closing and fingers smoothing through his hair. “He might say something, might have more of those bastards watching me a wee bit more closely fae now on. Least for a while.”

The other one, the one Sloane had fed from, too. The one who’d told Thea he’d take her back to the palace, spoke to her like she’d been some lamb who’d strayed from the flock.

Bastard.

“Third one, if he lives after Sloane got intae him, I told him tae tell everyone he killed her. Nobody should go looking for her. He never saw either of us. Mibbe that’ll discredit the wee fuckin’ barra of a knight that’ll go back tae the knight’s quarters blubbering.” Annoyed, that’s what his tone had settled on. Annoyed at himself for not just telling them to both just forget the incident completely. Opening his eyes and letting them fall on Thea’s back, that anxious feeling was there again. A discomfort under his skin he didn’t think he’d ever really quite get rid of when it came to her. Only her, her opinion of him was the only one that mattered.

“But if you think he’s gonnae be a problem,” His fingers reached out, brushed the ends of her hair. “I can take care of it.” For her sake. And maybe the knight’s as well, now that he thought about it. Poor thing had been a mess the entire encounter. If he didn’t kill him, some other vampire without a doubt would. “Dinnae want you tae get intae any kind of trouble over my mistake.”

As much as she wanted to ignore the darker facets of their day out, she couldn’t when he brought them up. It wasn’t that she hoped to ignore what he was or how he felt about the people who, in her country at least, were very much his oppressors. It was that she felt... saddened by the loss of life. By the need Jamie had felt to endanger himself and take a life at all. Maybe some shred about the innocent people in that knight’s life too, so on and so forth... No, the real conflict came from how small that sadness felt. Should she feel more for the dead? Was she exempt from grief and guilt because they followed the orders of a zealot?

In the end, it was already done. She could pray for him, however empty the gesture was, and then move on all the same. “They already watch you closely.” Because of me. She stayed still, back straight like she had been taught (as if her corset gave her any other choice), letting the lilt in his voice roll over her. “But for all their training and research, they believe the scary bedtime stories everyone tells about vampires. You’re ten steps ahead of them no matter what they do.” She just hoped that was enough to keep him from suffering worse than the injuries he’d already sustained.

Thea almost flinched at the notion that the remaining knight believed he’d killed Sloane. What a horrible thing, that. If she had her way he would never get the chance to do anything of the sort to anyone again. She dared to turn her head just so and glance down at him. It wasn’t difficult for her to see past his strength, the sharp edges of him, and instead look down at a gentle man with his eyes closed in what looked like peaceful rest.

Offering him the softest look she had, she shook her head slightly. “It’s only a problem if they come after you again. Or anyone else who doesn’t deserve it.” Inevitably they would. That was the tragedy of their misguided code. If they were still fit for combat, they were still fit to follow incredibly suspect orders. “Whatever you have to do to keep safe is worth it. That isn’t my call to make.” In other words, you need not tell me everything you do to defend yourself or your people, if you don’t want to tell me. 

“I won’t get into trouble.” That was almost an outright lie. Eventually some part of this would catch up to her - maybe not her direct involvement in the altercation, but the fact that she chose to spend her days with a dangerous, murderous creature of the night was by itself a trespass in this situation. If the knights remembered she was there... Still, she needed to put him at ease. “Sloane grew up on those streets, she knows who to talk to so this stays as quiet as possible.” And the emperor disliked making big news out of his heir when he was not in total control of every aspect of it, and the Church...

Well, they would seize any reason torment her. Or at least, that was her fear, prickling just beneath her skin no matter how unlikely it really was. Cressida had all but cast her aside, yet she still feared there would be more to it, somehow. Thea chewed her lip, no longer looking at Jamie. The Church had a way of clouding her mind until she forgot who she was speaking with. That third knight had been familiar, not in a way she could place directly, but more... like the ones who had tried to reassure her through the experiments. Tried to soothe her with thoughts of the grand destiny she was finding her part in, or whatever it was they believed. They had been so honest in their attempts at kindness. It was worse than being spat at, somehow. 

Snapping herself out of it with a short exhale, she reached backward to brush her knuckles against Jamie’s. “You can take care of anything you want, if you think it’s necessary. I trust you. Even if the knights talk, I’m their fragile little princess, I can just feign innocence and then, I don’t know, faint or something equally ridiculous.”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

With her teeth at his throat and her nails biting at the skin of his scalp, it was hard to remember that she was so fragile. The way she clutched at him was anything but delicate, but he wouldn’t pin it as desperate. It almost felt familiar, the same kind of passion he’d expect from laying with a vampire, and yet…Jamie wondered if it had to do with the positioning, how close she was to the center of his chest, how he loomed over her, keeping her kind of contained within his arms. As if she could  crawl inside his chest cavity and make a home there.

As if she hadn’t done so already.

Their mouths parted and Thea’s heel pressed against his lower back, her cries against his ear increased in volume. The nails at his shoulder blade, the sound of her heart rapidly beating in her chest. It was all dizzying, had him pressing into her harder as he fought to keep the movement of his hand steady. It didn’t take much beyond that and despite the warning, he wasn’t ready for her body’s response. Or for the well placed bite Thea used to stifle herself.

The next few seconds were a blur of too much and yet not enough and her pulse was so loud. He let out a growl of her name against the side of her face, his hand between them returning to her hip, thumb sliding right over the bone, nails digging into soft flesh. Everything was less careful, more desperate as he chased after his own pleasure.

Fingers of his free hand gripped a little too tightly at the already strained silk sheets and the sound of them tearing couldn’t distract from the task at hand. Jamie allowed himself to get lost in the sounds of her breathing, the soft cries coming from kiss swollen lips. Strings of curses escaped his own mouth against her hairline, punctuated by her name and then everything was too much and he was shuddering, his teeth quick to catch the noise he made.

The come down took a moment, a few slower and thoughtless thrusts of his hips as his fingers smoothed over her hip. Jamie was almost afraid to look at it, knew he’d find a darkened outline of his hand. There was a slight, all too familiar metallic tang of blood in his mouth and he wondered how long his fangs had been out, his tongue sliding against his already healing lip.

He didn’t really allow them time to stay that way, nudged his forehead against hers in some affection before he was rolling off of her and raising his hips slightly to pull his pants back up over his thighs. Sitting up on his elbows, Jamie ran a hand through his hair and let out a slow breath as he tried to assess himself. The ache in his throat was worse, insistent, but not overpowering and the moment his fangs had retracted, he rolled onto his side and reached for Thea. He wasn’t going to let reality catch up to him, wasn’t about to run off on her after that, didn’t think it’d be fair.

“Sheets will be a fun one tae explain.” His tone was amused but soft, his fingers sliding across her cheek and into her hair. She was made of glass again, flushed and covered in a slight sheen of sweat while he was just disheveled. It wasn’t fair, he’d have liked something physical to remind him of what’d transpired, maybe the outline of her teeth at the base of his throat, but the aftermath could have been far worse than what it was.

For a moment, however brief, Thea had the faintest worry that her tightening grip on Jamie would hurt him. Her vision went white. There was nothing but how good she felt, floating along while all of her muscles spasmed beyond her control. Only when she came down from the high, Jamie’s voice rough by her ear, his fingers digging into her hip, did she remember it was a silly concern. Even if a thorn pricked a lion the beast would move on without much worry. So why did it always cross her mind, no matter where or what they were doing?

Counter-intuitively she gasped when he released her hip, the blunt pain of his grip hitting her only momentarily before smoothing into something parallel to her bliss. She almost reached for him when he rolled away. Instead she slid her small thumb into the red print his left behind, soon to bloom dark just like the ones on her thighs. She didn’t know how she was going to explain it, or any other evidence he left behind, but the thought curved the corner of her lips.

As if reading her still-hazy mind, he had her tucked in his arms right where she belonged. Only when she looked up at him did she realize how hard she was still trying to catch her breath. Perhaps his hair was mussed and his lips pinked by his own blood, but otherwise he was still marble and obsidian. He could have been revered as a god if he wasn’t such a heathen - or perhaps because he was-

“I am experienced with far-fetched excuses,” she murmured back, tucking herself into all the best places she fit against him. Shreds of her sheets stuck up between them in places. As if magnetized, her lips found his neck, pressing there softly before she nuzzled in to rest against his shoulder. It was a miracle she had any response for him at all. Snug against him, her own warmth reflected back at her, exhaustion finally began to set into her bones.

But she couldn’t have that, not yet. While she slept he would see himself out just as he always did. And she didn’t blame him for it, this time or any time, but he had only just returned from being away for a while, and clearly she had missed him...

So her hand found his, her fingers sliding into place between his like they were meant to fit. She watched herself do it, marveling at the hands that had just touched her in entirely new, entirely forbidden ways. “Welcome back,” she said, her short laugh covering her near slip into saying home, though she knew well this place was not that, for either of them. Other sentiments rose to her lips - I missed you, I’m glad you’ve returned, it’s so boring without you, I feel alone when you’re gone - and instead she used them to smile up at him. “Thank you, Jamie darling.”

That needed no explanation, for there were a dozen at least. A yawn rolled down her tongue and she missed covering it with her hand like a good dainty Tenean girl by a mile. “Oh, don’t let me fall asleep,” she whined against his skin. “Not that I didn’t just enjoy that, greatly, but I feel like I’ve hardly gotten to talk to you at all.” It was still hard to believe what they had talked about. Neither of them was particularly innocent of thoughts of treason or regicide, but to make concrete plans aloud? That was something she had only ever dreamed about.

Then again, Jamie did occupy most of her dreams regardless. 

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

It was hard to ignore, the palace of Tenea. Beautiful, but gaudy in comparison to the stone castles that were scattered about the hills of his beloved home. It wasn’t really wise to come close to the place, not when he knew they had knights dedicated to hunting his kind. Tenea in general was a bit of a strange place when it came to that. The vampires within the area had been either chased out or killed, the humans had completely toppled the French monarchy, forced it underground. There were those like his sire who sought to see the area governed again, neighbouring monarchs who demanded they just take back what had been theirs. And then there were those like himself, who didn’t bother with the politics but were curious about the whole ordeal, despite the danger.

And yet Jamie found it hard to resist the tall garden walls, found his gaze lingering on the foliage that peeked from over it. It was no doubt a beautiful garden, something Rose would only dream of having. He’d heard whisperings from women in the market about how the lilac bushes were full, how there were several statues dedicated to the people’s deities.

He’d blame boredom, not the recklessness that his sire often chastised him for, that led him to climbing said wall.

Besides, he was quicker than anything within the walls and it was late, nobody would see him and he’d finally quench his curiosity about the place, maybe even press a flower to send back to Rose.

And maybe, just maybe, he was there in hopes of catching a bite from “the help”. Catch a stray stable hand, a maid scurrying back to her chambers. The pickings for feeding had to be calculated here, he couldn’t just pick off someone at the pub or grab someone from the market. Everything had to be careful, he couldn’t take anyone from the same spot, couldn’t risk drinking too much. It’d been a drastic change to his diet, had left him somewhat on edge.

So maybe that could be blamed for the recklessness.

Silently landing on the other side of the wall, Jamie took in the greenery. It was lush, well tended to, he could see that even in the moonlight. It was unlike any garden he’d ever seen. Small blue flowers, the same that threatened to spill over the wall were draped over hedges, over stone fountains. He walked quietly, kept to the shadows just off the path. He could hear people from the palace, but the only sounds he could hear in the garden was water running, rustling of a soft breeze.

He passed rose bushes in full bloom that had no doubt been meticulously pruned, was careful not to let the thorns catch on the black silk of his shirt. Rose might want one of them, maybe he’d pluck one and press it between the pages and bring it back to Scotland. He was about to pick a full red bloom when something to his left further down the path caught his attention. A rustle too deliberate to just be the wind, a twitch of his nostrils saw past the various florals and led him to a deliciously rich B+.

It was enough to make him lower his hand from the rose bush and rush towards the smell.

Among the lilac blooms, a young woman with hair dark and wild down her back, wearing some dainty slip of a dress nearly the same color as the flowers she tended to. Pretty, high cheeks, a frame that reminded him of a bird.

His fangs ached in his gums just looking at her.

“Bit late tae be oot, int it?” His voice was a casual purr as he leaned against a statue near the bushes, some saint he imagined. Purposefully, Jamie kept his gaze off of her, his attention turned to faint scratches on his free hand. From the rose bush in his haste no doubt. “Pretty thing like ye cannae sleep?” They were already healing, but the faint lines of scarlet incited something in him, brought about that all too familiar ache in his throat. His eyes looked to her, raked over her exposed collarbones, settled on the hollow of her throat, an almost wolfish grin stretching the corners of his lips. @hermajestyvengeance​

The palace gardens were a sacred place, though not at all by design.The intent was to show off as much as possible - wide paths cut through carefully manicured foliage to leave room for girthy skirts and their accompanying noble escorts, lined by a menagerie of statuary in materials which made each individual carving worth a small fortune, and so little of the garden produced anything besides pretty perennials. The occasional berry bush was offset by the garden’s exclusivity. Even servants who went into the garden were watched, suspected of stealing whatever they found hanging freely on a plant, though they got away with plenty of justified berry theft. 

And then the pomegranate tree, some gesture to the divine and the gifts bestowed on Delpha and her followers. It wasn’t quite in the center of the garden, but just off by a few feet, hanging over the fountain which took that central position like its branches protected the statue of Nys rising from the waters. It was rather beautiful in the winter, actually, when fruit hung like gaping garnet maws over the fountain’s bubbling waters, dropping blood red seeds and, occasionally, an entire fruit to bob around until someone cleared it away.

Always cleared away, never harvested. The fruit of that tree was sacred, so said the Church. Only on auspicious days could it be eaten, and only by the Emperor and a select few religious leaders, and only if the Archbishop herself plucked the fruit from the tree and fed it to her hapless flock.

The notion of eating out of her spindly, pale fingers was enough to churn Thea’s stomach. Just one reason she was grateful she was essentially nothing to her own court.

Nothing in the garden produced anything of value for anyone who actually needed it. Except, perhaps, Princess Lysithea Mercier and the others who scurried about under the Empire’s muddy boots. She could pick blackberries and peonies at any hour if she so pleased, and if the baskets of fruit she brought back to the palace disappeared from her rooms, well, the mice could be blamed, no? 

During the day the gardens made her restless. She had to put up with being paraded around them hanging off of some suitor's or chaperone's arm until her mind was blank and her thigh was thoroughly chafed. She couldn’t just run wild like she wanted. Vague memories of doing just that as a child floated through her head, but at this point she hardly trusted them to be real. Her father, tolerant of her desire for freedom? Unthinkable.

At night, however, people paid her very little mind. She slipped past her guards like it was nothing, because it was. The ones posted outside her bedroom door often wandered away at night, or fell asleep at their post. It had taken her a few years for the paranoia to fade and be replaced by surety, but eventually she had come to terms with her reality. No one within the palace, with the exception of a few tenuous friendships, perhaps, would care if anything happened to her. Slip and fall, break her neck on the stairs. Climb out her balcony and drop to her doom. Found strangled in the kitchen early one morning - it was all the same to them. The Emperor did not care, so neither did his subjects.

It stung still sometimes, but it also left her the freedom to explore more than she assumed real princesses could. If she felt like traipsing out into the gardens in a nightgown, with her hair scandalously unkempt and her feet gloriously bare, who would really put a stop to it besides her father himself? Besides, only five of her toes were bound to grow cold in dewy grass. The rest of her was alive with a rare buzz.

Lately the lilacs had been her favorite. They were such a lovely purple, and so delicately perfumed the air with every gentle breeze. She could sit among them for hours and weave them into her hair until fatigue finally set into her bones and she could drag herself into bed without fear of lying wide awake. Tonight was a little less joyful. A chill hung on the air and her restlessness wasn’t so soothed by the mere sight and scent of pretty things. She kept glancing up at statues, expecting one of them to come alive and speak to her.

“Quite the surprise that would be.” The words came laden with their intended sarcasm, but she whispered them all the same. Hard though it was to believe in anything the Church espoused, it was harder still to deny the possibilities the Saints represented. She shook the shiver from her shoulders and stood straighter, daring the dark night to send her something she could not face down were sheer courage alone.

Long enough passed that she forgot this dare, but the night, it seemed, did not. She didn’t hear anyone approach until he was upon her, and then she started, spinning at the sound of a rough, rolling voice. She froze there, skirts swishing around her legs. He would think she was startled by his sudden presence, or perhaps that she was alone and he was a strange man so close by, or something else equally predictable and girly. Her eyes were on his face, the full curve of his grin and the glitter in his stare. Leaning against the statue of Saint Lamian the Lethal, he looked... nearly identical.

Her lips parted oh-so slightly. She didn’t quite pray, but the thought pressed its way to the tip of her tongue. It helped that when he spoke he sounded like a growlier, more dense version of Sloane when she got so fired up the old Irish spark took hold of every syllable.

The thought made her heart pang. She missed Sloane so badly.

Her Saints weren’t, as far as she could tell from her studies, Scots or Irishmen. Despite his broad shoulders and the distinctly otherworldly hunger in his gaze, he was no spirit or Saint returned from the after. Fae, maybe? Or simply an off-kilter assassin? She had no idea. So rarely was she ever left alone with anyone, let alone a man who grinned.

But then, if he was just a man or creature or both, then she was unconcerned. She had put herself in this position. She had no weapons, not even a pin to yank free from her hair. Even if she shrieked so loud the whole city awoke, who would come to her rescue fast enough to do any rescuing at all? The moment of surprise was gone and in its place came a distant sort of interest. An uptick in her pulse, too, but fear was like a raggedy puppy perpetually trailing at her ankles. Her eyes swept over the man just as his had over her, appraising while her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip.

“Who’s going to collect me?” she retorted, matching his casual air with her own. He was pale in the moonlight, practically made of it. His dark hair ought to be dusted with specks of starlight. “Maybe sleep wants me and I’ve simply ignored it. I rather liked being here by my lonesome, enjoying the quiet. But I have to guess that isn’t what lured you.” If she was to die here, she’d put up a fight. Run, claw at his eyes, whatever it took. If he was there to drag her back to her father for being insolent and daring... Well, princesses could be pains when they felt like it, with or without their tiaras and gems. As long as she held her cards close at hand for now, she maintained a certain level of surprise.

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

He almost said something, almost. Went through the usual flash of discomfort at the unusual touch. It didn’t linger after she’d nudged him into perching on the edge of the bed. No, this was Thea, this was somebody he could trust. Again, it crossed his mind that if this were different circumstances, if he didn’t feel so vulnerable, Jamie wouldn’t have had an issue showing off. Just enough to tease her, to let her know that he knew how she was watching him.

That was a whole different problem, that her fingers seemed almost too gentle against his skin as she worked. There were so many little quips he wanted to make, anything to lighten the mood a little. But they didn’t come out, he sat there in silence with his teeth biting at the corner of the inside of his lower lip. He tried to remain still, tried not to flinch when her fingers got too close to the wound. Thea knew what she was doing, worked quickly and quietly and he allowed her to maneuver him as she did so. All the while fueling his curiosity as to how she knew how to do such a thing. The day had brought about a lot of questions.

It’s not like Thea wasn’t a bit of an open book. She never really seemed to be hiding something, didn’t really keep her opinions to herself around him. But now with Sloane, with how comfortable she seemed patching him up, he realized there was a lot her just didn’t know about her. Not like he was really concerned about such a thing, there was a lot about him that she didn’t know. If anything, he was curious about these hidden depths that seemed to go beyond her title.

Once everything was in place, Thea was going back over her handiwork, touch a little more firm as she watched looked over the bandaging. The whole thing was probably unnecessary, it’d been decades since he’d really had to go to the extreme of bandaging up anything. But maybe that’s why he was so paranoid, held himself so stiffly. Silver was serious business, was honestly something to write home about. He’d seen it, what it did to them, but he’d never really experienced it aside from a brush of it here or there. Everything healed with more feeding, Jamie had half a mind to jokingly ask if she wouldn’t mind him snacking on one of her handmaids.

When Thea sat beside him, he gave a slight roll of his shoulder to test mobility before sliding his arm back into his shirt sleeve. “S’alright.” The response was quiet, his gaze set ahead across the room and not on her. She was pressed against his side slightly and that was fine, it was almost comforting, grounding, to have her weight against him. “Thank you. You didnae need tae do that.” And he was looking at her, his hand moving to her forearm to give it a gentle squeeze. Not just him, but Sloane, too. She hadn’t needed to put herself in that situation, it’d have been safer to just walk away, maybe even just let him take care of it. But she hadn’t, and it only spoke to how good of a person she was that she remained in the fray the whole time.

The younger knight, the one he’d left alive but still bleeding, quickly came to mind. It wasn’t the most brutal he’d been towards someone, not when vampire’s systematically descended upon and then tore apart irresponsible sires. But it was the worst he’d been in Tenea.

He didn’t deserve Thea’s kindness. Not after that.

That didn’t stop him from leaning against her slightly.

“It…” Jamie wasn’t quite sure how to phrase the question. He wanted to know what had gone through her head that moment she’d seen him step out of the shadows covered in blood. If she thought any different of him. If it bothered her that at least one man had lost their life at his hands inside her kingdom. “What happened today, you winnae lose any sleep over it, yeah?” The playfulness tone was forced, came off as more nervous than anything.

Jamie may as well have been made of marble while she worked - just as pretty as a statue, too - but Thea released a small breath when he finally turned to her like she was the one who had been frozen in place. She offered him a smile in response to his thanks. His gratitude felt entirely undeserved and she had no idea how to express such. He was the one who had risked his neck for her and a stranger to him.

If Jamie rarely said much at all, it was rarer still that he hesitated with his thoughts. At least, that was her impression after hearing him lambaste vampires, humans, nobility, whoever deserved his ire, without a second thought. She did realize she was uniquely positioned to receive those opinions because she delighted in them, but still, the idea that he ever held back around her was... uncomfortable.

His question was equally as unbelievable. Fear flickered behind her eyes. “Of course I will,” she said firmly. “Those knights could have executed you.” Execution was hardly the word so much as slaughter without remorse, but she struggled to put that fear to words. Blood bathing his chest, some of it actually his; the image would linger in her head for as many years as she had left. “I prefer most of the time to think that simply isn’t possible, you know. Seeing you hurt like that...” She shivered, leaning into his weight for the small comfort he offered.

He was here with her now. That was what mattered. “I’m glad you’re all right,” she added after a moment, almost a whisper. The various ways he could have ended up otherwise played out in her head despite herself. She reached for him, grounding herself in the feel of his arm beneath her fingers until they found their way back to his hair. She rarely saw him as relaxed as he’d been when she washed it. Now it was still slightly damp and a little cold, but soft.

In truth, a truth she didn’t know how to say to him, she had no idea what she would have done had she discovered he would not be all right. He had made impressive time of becoming significant in her life. He was safety. He made this blasted castle feel more like home than it ever had before.

Sometimes she even felt guilty for it, her reliance on him to feel secure. He was more than a weapon or bodyguard. More even than a friend, really. That was exactly why she didn’t pry, didn’t beg him to stay even though sometimes her stomach lurched at the idea of him leaving in the night. She couldn’t have him feel at all tied to her. If he seemed for even a second to regard her as an obligation... Her heart would break. She would never feel comfortable asking anything of him again, even if it was as silly as going for a stroll with her. 

“You should rest.” Her nails scratched across the base of his skull gently. “Or go feed, if you need that more. Though I have to insist you use a staircase instead of climbing on that arm.” Or you can stay right here. I really won’t mind. But she knew better than to bring it back up. She was certain she couldn't’ scare him, but he had come as close to it as he could when she’d made the offer int he first place. “I am going to worry about you right up until you’ve healed, so you’ll just have to be used to that idea. Whether I winnae lose any sleep is long since a question,” she said, almost as nervously playful as he had been as she mimicked his cadence.

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

The new closeness had him at a bit of a disadvantage in trapping his hand between them but that thought was fleeting. Because the action had them pressed so close, drew him deeper into her, and on top of that-

Thea’s teeth scraped against the skin of his throat and everything stopped for a moment. The curse she’d uttered, he repeated it into her hair. The fingers of his free hand gripped tightly at the silk sheets beside her head, the fibers straining in his fist. His rhythm faltered, eyes closed as he let out a breath and tried not to think too hard about the feeling of Thea’s teeth against his skin.

He knew what she was trying to do, wondered if she was trying to see if it’d work. He’d left marks on her, she was no doubt trying to return the favor. It was impossible, even a bite from fangs would disappear after a moment, human teeth weren’t going to do anything. He wished her efforts could come to fruition. That he could leave here with imprints of her teeth at the base of his throat. With some kind of physical reminder of what’d taken place. That he was…Hers? Jamie wasn’t really sure how he felt about all of that.

“Sorry.” It was barely audible, his lips pressing to her temple in apology for spacing out.

That was all it took and he was moving again, maybe a little harder than he’d previously intended. He made up for it by tilting his head and craning his neck press his lips to Thea’s. There wasn’t any gentleness to it, wasn’t meant to be anything chaste. No, he kissed her hard as his fingers moved, as his hips drove into her, as if to swallow her cries of his name.

There was uncertainty there, too. A streak of possessiveness he’d like to pretend didn’t quite exist anymore. She’d said his name a number of times throughout the night, and he knew her enough to know that she was using it to affirm the whole thing, ground them both here to the moment. Appreciation, too, he supposed. Thea had never been anything but appreciative of him. It filled him with some kind of not quite smug satisfaction, but something akin to it that he couldn’t quite put words to.

He liked it though, his name on her lips and her fingernails at his back. He was exercising a lot of restraint, but her touch was still maddening, made it hard to focus on anything else but the fire burning under his skin.

Thea had never taken you can’t do that as anything more than a challenge. She was not supposed to talk back to her father. She was not supposed to stray from the Church. She certainly wasn’t meant to befriend vampires and roll around in her sheets with them, digging her blunt teeth into their necks to stifle the keening noises rolling off her tongue-

So of course, when Jamie faltered for barely a moment, pride bloomed in her chest, tangling up in the rest of her ferocious muddle of emotion and sensation. Maybe she couldn’t leave a mark, but she could leave a lasting impression. She had always been better at that where he was concerned anyway. So she wasn’t the Knight who would end him as the Church desired, or a vampire he could exercise his full strength with. What did it matter? She pried him open in search of the pearls of who he really was, finding incredible treasure in the process.

Even if she hadn’t found her way underneath him, she would still have dug her claws in and refused to let go. By Delpha, he needed someone to simply talk to.

That goal, or any goal really, was quickly slipping away from her. His lips crushing to hers chased away all thought. Her nails scraped along his back, digging in as a desperate attempt to ground herself in the strength of his hips meeting hers. Each time her body lurched beneath him she shuddered, pleasure rippling up through her. She wound one hand into his hair, holding him as tight to her as she could until she had to come up for air. 

Pressure built in the pit of her stomach. She found she could hardly manage anything but breathy, warbling moans when she tried to tell him so. Then in one thrust, he took her breath away entirely. Spots whirled in her vision. She whimpered her ecstasy in his ear, her teeth coming down hard on what was once his pulse to quiet herself.

She knew the edge when she approached it this time. She was prepared, at least more than before, though the matching rhythm of his fingers and hips was driving her crazy. She pressed her heel into the small of his back, urging him closer, as if such a thing was possible. When she found her voice it was small, hardly able to get a syllable out at a time. “Jamie, I- I’m-” The needy sounds building in her throat stopped her short. She tilted her head for his lips and then, not quite able to reach, bit down on his neck once more, muffling her cries against him. 

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

Jamie chose not to acknowledge Thea’s questioning on Rahul in favor of focusing on the other name that was offered. His attention snapped to Sloane and his brows furrowed. The name she uttered didn’t ring any bells and he didn’t expect it to. It was just a surprise, that the two of them knew someone who would be involved in street fighting of all things. His eyes went between the two women and he tilted his head to the side a little as he idly put his gold ring back on his finger.

He hadn’t asked about how they knew each other. He’d been too busy trying to keep the lot of them alive. Thea, despite knowing that she wouldn’t limit her friendship to just nobility, didn’t seem the type to rub elbows with…Calling Sloane a street urchin seemed rude. Someone down on their luck in comparison, perhaps? She was definitely wilder than his princess, had more experience in the streets of Tenea. There was almost a hardened look in her eye, one he knew too well that pulled at whatever was left of his heartstrings.

His gaze settled on Thea as his fingers pretended to adjust the gold band on his finger. There was so much he still didn’t know. Not that he thought she was hiding anything in particular, he was just curious as to what else he didn’t know. There seemed to be a strong bond between the two despite the difference in status, and it only made him more curious. He had been about to ask when Thea went back to chastising the both of them to rest up and he opened his mouth only to close it.

“Get some rest, it’ll be alright.” The softness of his tone surprised him a bit, was something he reserved usually soley for Thea. And yet he spoke it to Sloane like it wasn’t an issue, like she were Aila and he was back in Scotland. Wasn’t she though? It seemed close in situation from what he could gather. A newborn vampire without any kind of sire, not knowing her place in the world. Not knowing her place in Tenea. She would be maybe the second of his kind he’d found in the damn place, even if she was Irish and brash, there was some kind of kinship there. There was solace in numbers, in knowing he wasn’t alone.

Jamie’s eyes moved back to Thea as he rose from where he sat on the bed and rolled his shoulders as he stood. It still hurt, it wasn’t going to stop hurting, not until he’d fed some more and the idea…The theory…No, he wasn’t going to go back to that, that conversation was over, he’d packed the fantasy away.

He moved back to the hidden archway and held the curtain aside only to look back at Thea over his sore shoulder. “If ye want tae patch me up, that’s fine.” The words were a quick mumble as he ducked his head bashfully under the curtain and stepped into the spare room. The moment he was out of sight, when he heard the curtain hit the door frame, he was shrugging off his shirt and allowing the sleeves to pool at his elbows.

Standing there beside the spare bed, Jamie looked to the floor length mirror beside the bed. His eyes took in the burnt skin and he couldn’t help but wince at the sight of it. A hole of burnt flesh marring smooth and pale freckled skin. It wasn’t bleeding, not much, but he wondered if it’d reached a bit of a standstill in the healing process. A sound behind him had him looking away, back to the curtain and then back to his reflection. He opened his mouth to speak only to close it, his jaw clenched slightly as his eyes met Thea’s in the mirror. “Think it’s as good as it’s gonnae get fer the moment.”

Thea’s face softened at the gentleness of Jamie’s words. He was predictable sometimes, like now, taking pity on the young vampire they’d just plucked off the street. She could see it in his eyes, he wanted to take her under his wing, teach her the best ways to survive in such a hostile place. Given the role Sloane had played in Thea’s survival throughout her childhood, she was not about to discourage it. Even their bickering felt right.

Sloane, for her part, looked exactly the stubborn little sister. She looked down at the bed underneath her, a quiet distaste coloring her features. Thea rested her palm on Sloane’s hand, giving her an encouraging smile that melted even the coldest of hearts. And it worked; Sloane sighed, resigned to her need to sleep. Thea had to imagine she was bone-tired from so long without proper rest or meals before now.

Her head shot up at Jamie’s invitation. Of course she wanted to patch him up, before he managed to get flecks of castle wall in his wounds or something equally likely of him. She didn’t follow immediately, though, instead taking her time tucking Sloane back into bed like a child and teasing her about it all the while. “I’m fine on me own,” Sloane growled as she swatted harmlessly at Thea. It only served to make them both laugh, and then Thea pounced, squeezing her into a hug. 

“Rest,” she insisted again as she rose. “I’ll wake you if you need it again.” Sloane nodded, her eyelids already drooping, and Thea smiled at her softly while she gathered up bandages to take to Jamie’s room. She wove her way through the curtain as quietly as she could. Her forehead wrinkled as she once again caught sight of the damage those knights had done to her darling vampire. It was a large wound, though no doubt healing itself slowly, on an already broad-chested man... Taking a place at his side, she tried not to count freckles on his reflection, instead finding his gaze. 

“Perhaps, but it will do and feel better if it’s secured.” She couldn’t do anything for him while he stood unless she found herself a step stool. Without thinking, she reached for the first thing she could loop her fingers around which wasn’t attached to burnt flesh. That was how she ended up tugging him to the bed by one of his belt loops. She was gentler in her approach to pushing him into a sitting position this time around, snatching up her supplies and getting to work as quickly as she could.

It had been a few years since she’d had any need to wrap up such a serious wound, but muscle memory helped. She had done it a hundred times at least, on all manner of child injured at hands that were only supposed to help, to heal and offer blessings. Her fingers danced over his skin, feather-light where the bruising stretched. She lifted his arm so she could wrap bandages beneath it and Goddess, it took all her effort not to linger there exploring the muscles under her hands. She caught herself just before mumbling wow. 

With minimal embarrassment, she tied off her handiwork, and then proceeded to triple-check how secure it was for no real reason except... Curiosity wasn’t quite the word to explain her warmed cheeks, although she had never really seen a man up so close. Certainly not one whose presence she enjoyed quite so much. Eventually she withdrew, though, sitting beside him with her prosthetic foot almost touching the floor. “How does that feel? If it’s too tight, I’ll fix it.”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

“Thea.” He hadn’t expected that. For her to go for his throat the moment it was exposed. Her name came from lips like a plea, his fingernails biting into the skin of her hips. It was easy to get lost in, his head tilted back against the pillows, her lips at his collar, muffling whatever noises she was making. Jamie’s hips faltered the moment her teeth scraped against his skin and his teeth were firmly embedded in his lip as his back arched. The slight tang of copper reached his tongue and he realized his fangs were back out, had scraped against the inside of his lower lip.

He hadn’t expected that, how touchy she was going to be during all of this, and he was stupid for it. He knew Thea, he knew that she often had hands on him affectionately, he should have known she’d take her chances once she had him like this. It was almost overwhelming, something he wasn’t used to. He and Gavyn had so many boundaries set in place that came and went over the years. Touching was fine most days, but their touching wasn’t this.

The difference between laying with vampires versus mere men was stark. It was in the touch, the urgency, the passion. In his experience, despite having all the time in the world, things were usually a quick and torrid affair. More animalistic in nature than what was currently transpiring. He always figured it was because they didn’t have to really be gentle with each other but realized as time went on that there was just…They were passionate creatures at the heart of it. Some more than others, he noticed it didn’t seem to wane with age. Some just became better at hiding it, their wild streak. When together, when alone and in the company of their kind and in the absence of clothes, maybe it just became unbridled.

Touches were fleeting but hard, aggressive. Not really meant to savor, meant to devour instead. Aside from Gavyn, aside from Emory, there were a string of vampire’s he’d spent time with over the years. It’d always felt more like a release than anything, of lust, of aggression. That wasn’t what this was, not in the slightest, this was. It wasn’t like he was a human either, it wasn’t a paycheck, he wasn’t expecting…

He had no idea what to expect. He had no idea what this was and it every other thought in his head. Would have been just an onslaught of it if her name hadn’t so adamantly taken up space in his head. Any doubts or anxieties were chased away by the mere thought of her, a reminder that this was indeed happening.

Thea’s touch held so much weight behind dainty hands and she was touching because she wanted to. Not out of possession or awe, but because she wanted to touch him, wanted to reciprocate the pleasure he was giving her and the realization filled him with a warmth he couldn’t quite place as he moved a hand to her hip and rested another against her side. With almost too much ease, he rolled them over, gently pressed her back against the sheets. He kept a hand at her hip, his other elbow rested beside her head.

And maybe because this was all so different, that he didn’t know what to expect, was why he kept every movement of his hips slow and careful. Their height difference had her face at his neck in this position which made him…Jamie couldn’t decide if it were frightening or exciting. His lips found her hairline, her temples, and he peppered kisses there to muffle any noise that threatened to spill from them. Soft sighs of her name were uttered against her hair as his fingers moved from her side to glide over her hip until his index finger found her center again. Everything was back to being careful, calculated, his fangs safely back in their place.

It was her turn to feel fingernails dig into her hips, sending a thrill up her back. Being touched like that, like she was wanted, like he knew she could handle more than anyone expected of her... It meant everything. She had done everything she could to gain his trust enough to share his feelings, what he was, all the hardest parts of opening up to someone. This was no different from that - she wanted to whisper, to scream I promise I will not break, you can trust me.

Just like gaining his trust, that would take time and she knew it. In the meantime she grazed his skin with her teeth again, startling him with her boldness so he knew she was serious about this. She only played games at court. He got her when her mask slipped and her tongue melted from silver into steel. He teased her with her title but he knew - she was certain about very few things when it came to him, except this - that he spent his time with the girl, not the princess. 

She tried not to be greedy in everyday life, but in her bed at this moment, all she wanted was more. More of him, more of the sounds he made when she surprised him, more of his touch and his lips and- 

In a matter of moments she was on her back, a sigh escaping her as she looked up to his face. She couldn’t place the look in his eyes, but something about his focus, the broadness of his shoulders above her, the sound of his voice softer than ever, made her shudder. She pressed her lips to his throat again, her mind wandering to the beautiful bruises he had left at her hips. Maybe she couldn’t leave any such mark on him to remind him for a week or so how she felt, but damn if she wouldn’t try.

It did nothing to muffle her moan, but she bit down harder than she planned when his fingers danced between them. Specs of color overtook her vision for a moment. “Fuck,” she groaned against his neck, breathless and dazed. Her hips jerked up to meet his, accustomed to his rhythm with help from the hand on her hip. 

Hooking her leg around his hip, she could only hope he knew how to read her body as well as he did her mind. That he would have some idea of what she needed from him. She would ask if she knew how, though he was clearly the expert between them. The only thing spilling from her lips was his name anyway, over and over, in soft gasps and sharp whimpers.

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

He was about to respond, say something to match her banter as his eyes slipped close again when he picked up on it. Slight rustling from the other room had him stiffening and raising his brows and then Thea was off the moment the cry pierced the air. Panic seized him briefly as she squeezed his hand and stood, he was ready to tell her to sit and wait, that they didn’t know how Sloane was going to react. But he wasn’t really in a state to be making any sort of demands and despite how dangerous he considered the newborn….It seemed to be a delicate situation, he wasn’t so sure if he was alright just barging in there. And he, though begrudgingly, trusted her after their ordeal. If she wanted to harm Thea, she’d had ample time to do it.

With a soft sigh, he watched her hurry from the bathroom, kept his ears peeled for anymore distress. Sitting up and grabbing at the towels at the edge of the tub, it took Jamie longer than he’d have liked to dry off and grab for his previously discarded pants.

He didn’t bother buttoning up his shirt as he entered the other bedroom, leaned against the entrance to the secret doorway with his good shoulder. It felt like it wasn’t a moment he was meant to see, Thea hovering over the newborn vampire on the bed. Sloane reacted as he’d expected, crawled away from any touch, curled in on herself against the headboard and for a moment, Jamie thought of Gavyn’s youngest progeny, Seth.

When Rose and Leighton had returned him back to the house after being gone for a couple of months, he’d reacted…Strangely wasn’t really a fair word for any of it. While he’d been a quiet person to begin with, he’d become borderline mute, watched everything with tense muscles, looked ready to bolt at any moment. They’d all had to walk on eggshells around him for weeks while he readjusted. Jamie’s way of dealing with it had been to simply leave the younger progeny alone to deal with the trauma he’d endured.

Gavyn had never been the one to tell them that sleep was still important for mental health, that’d always been Rose. She’d spent days trying to get Seth to get some damn rest and every time he went down, a few hours later, there’d be screaming. Breaking things, ripping sheets, fighting off Leighton or whoever got to his side first, he’d be inconsolable. Time had been the only thing that’d stopped it. Time and Rose’s gentle hand, the rest of them allowing him to figure things out at his own pace.

That’s what this was going to take. Out of principle, Jamie wasn’t going to pry as to what happened to Sloane, that wasn’t his business. The most they could do was just kind of…Be there for her. On her end, she needed to be open to their support. Which he figured would also be a challenge.

“You can sleep a little easier knowin’ you dinnae have tae be afraid of a little sunshine anymore.” And then he was on the other side of the bed, eyes set on the glint of the gold band on Sloane’s finger. He held out his spare, a white gold band that housed a striking sapphire the same shade of blue as his eyes, to her as he perched himself on the edge of the bed. “I can get ye one of yer own, might take a while. Depends on if I can dig one up ‘round here or if I want tae chance heading back home where they grow on fucking trees.”

He kept his tone light, wanted to show her that he wasn’t about to dig into all of this. Her sire was one thing, personal trauma was…Well, it was personal, there was no need for him to know what plagued her. “Until then, ye can keep that. Stop being so sleekit, try and blend in a wee bit.” With that being said, he turned his attention to Thea. Soft, caring and compassionate Thea who was already risking a lot just to help her old friend with new teeth. They didn’t deserve her, he didn’t need to speak that out loud.

“Cannae imagine there’s any magic user around these parts that are gonnae be fine making anything for me. Unless Rahul happens tae know somebody.” The enigmatic designer was his first thought, someone who dabbled in Tenea’s underbelly while still working so closely with it’s nobility. “I dinnae care tae deal wae any of that lot directly and neither should she.”

Several moments after the other side of the bed dipped under Jamie’s weight, Sloane uncurled just enough to shoot him a look. Her skepticism was so palpable Thea almost laughed. It must have been rare for people to just hand over expensive rings to her without coercion, and that was the third time he’d done it in just a few hours. Sloane, eyes dark, acquiesced by dropping his ring into his waiting palm and taking the dainty replacement gingerly. He won’t bite unless you insist, Thea almost joked.

Holding it up in front of her nose, Sloane cast Jamie a wary look. It spoke volumes about her distrust, as did her brief glance toward Thea before she slid the ring onto her finger. Mumbling something Thea only caught a fragment of - too posh for the likes of me - she twisted the ring so its gems were couched within her curled fingers. It would draw attention on the street, presumably. She took it, though; that was a great success in itself.

Thea looked up into Jamie’s face, realizing a half second late that he was addressing her now. “Rahul... Provos?” She arched a brow at him curiously, though her mind quickly raced on. The skillset required to both make and enchant jewelry was scarce within Tenea. One of the many major reasons for their desire to engulf Esthellia, in fact. “I know someone who could make you an exquisite ring,” she said, her mind beelining for Lowell in his smithy covered in soot, “but as for the magic, well. I can’t even begin to know who to go to for that sort of thing. Unless...”

Her eyes lit up, but Sloane cut through her newborn excitement with a gruff voice. “If you’re thinking of Boyd Carlin, he’s dead. Street fight gone brutal. Knights got involved, the whole thing.” She still had her eyes on the gold band around her finger, but they were stony and set hard just like her shoulders. Boyd had been older than them, an unfortunate sort of success for the Church - they’d given him the ability to wield powerful curses, but it was so unstable that he became timid, unwilling to use it unless there was no other option.

For a boy who had planted himself between priests and other terrified children, resolutely daring them to go through him, the trembling hands and downcast eyes had been a heartbreaking development. Once he’d outright refused to do anything for the Church no matter how much they threatened him, he was turned out into the streets just like Sloane. Thea could only imagine the rest of the story; stressed until he lost control of his magic, Church soldiers running in to contain the situation...

Closing her eyes for a moment, almost in prayer - that poor boy deserved so much more - Thea shook her head. “Then I’m out of ideas. I guess Rahul might know someone. It can’t hurt to ask.” They were just the type who’d have odd, helpful connections, after all. She resolved to do that for him, because he had already done so much for the pair of them and she agreed, he needn’t bother with anyone unnecessarily after all this. 

“First, though, it’s back to resting for the both of you.” She speared them with pointed looks. “I will not be taking negotiations. You are injured and exhausted, and you need to do everything in your ability to heal.” Sloane groaned, snatching a pillow up and hugging it to her face. Thea didn’t budge, her hands on her hips. “Don’t make me force feed you.”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

“So demanding.” It was meant to be a joke but it came out sounding breathless as he leaned back for a moment. She was just so beautiful, her face and chest flushed, her lips kiss swollen. He was trying to just let her take this at her pace, and apparently her pace was a lot quicker than he’d anticipated. It didn’t take long for her to take control of the situation, a slight shift of her hips and then she was moving and Jamie dared a glance down between them and he swore he bit his lower lip so hard he drew blood. There was so much he wanted to say, make some kind of cocky comment to normalize this somehow. Maybe next time he’d be a little better at it, about not being so damn wrecked over the whole situation.

Was there going to be a next time?

At the moment, the idea almost made him want to stop. Almost induced too much anxiety to want to continue. It was all a lot of feelings, this all required so much talking down the line. He couldn’t imagine either of them just leaving this, whatever it was between them, at just this encounter and being done with it. No, if her noises and his willingness to ignore his bloodlust was anything to go by, this could very well become a normal occurrence.

Instead he just nodded almost dumbly, watched her arch in his lap as he shifted to rest a foot flat against the sheets for a bit more leverage. It was hard to do much of anything at all beside watch her and try to keep quiet, but at the same time, he wanted to do absolutely everything she asked of him. Everything was so tight, so hot, there was an urgency to her movements that had them lacking grace. With intent to correct that, Jamie’s fingers smoothed up over her sides and then back down again to rest at the curve of her hips, meant to still her for a moment, as he gave an almost languid roll of his own upwards.

His lips peppered along the edge of her jaw, the strain in his abdomen from the positioning completely worth it. “Thought I told ye tae relax.” It was a mumble, the corners of his lips quirking upwards slightly. He understood the urgency, but he also wanted to take his time with this, wanted every little arch burned into the back of his damn eyelids for decades. Shifting again, he moved a hand to the right side of her waist, his other hand sliding up over her back, through her hair, to rest at the back of her neck. It pulled her forward a little towards his chest, allowed him not to sit up so damn far.

It took a moment to fall into a decent rhythm, his hand on her waist kind of guiding her hips downwards as he pressed upwards. He found himself pressing kisses to any inch of skin he could reach, muffling a litany of soft curses. Fingers carded through the back of her hair, as if the act would ground him, make him feel less shy about just how good everything felt. His own back arched against the pillows, his head tipping back as he repeatedly pulled her down into his lap, teeth grazing his lower lip.

Demanding. If Thea hadn’t been busy making other noises, she would have laughed. It was a word seldom used to describe her, but if anyone got that liberty, it was definitely Jamie. Only he got her unfettered opinions, her real emotions - and now, the true face of exactly how much she needed him in every way she could get.

Right now she certainly demanded his attention, though it didn’t take much to get. If she felt like her mind was scrambled, then he looked like it, his jaw clenching in time with her fevered movement. A smile broke across her face. He seemed lost, which wasn’t much of a surprise. His inability to come to terms with the fact that she wanted him around, wanted his touch and his grin and his lips, was becoming familiar. Not that she understood it entirely. She could tell him a hundred times and he still wouldn’t quite believe it.

She could be fully in his lap, his hands crawling up her hips to hold her steady but still, disbelief lingered in his eyes. Yet his doubt didn’t prevent him from drawing a ragged yelp of delight from her. His hips rising to meet hers were exactly what she wanted, and somehow too slow, too. She craved nothing more than the relief of friction between them. How was she supposed to relax when every jerk of his hips was magic?

She just bit her lip in response, the expression pouty even though she blushed. It was lost on him as he pulled her closer to his chest. She couldn’t complain about that. There was a deliciousness to his skin sliding against hers. He smelled like sandalwood and sweat. Her lips found his neck, pressing under his jaw and down the slope pf his throat. With her nails digging into one shoulder, she bit down on the other, muffling her broken moaning against him.

It kept her from saying all the forbidden words ricocheting across her mind with every shallow thrust. They were things she could not be overheard saying, things that would stop him in his tracks if he heard them. She knew him well enough. Feeling it was one thing; shooting him weighty looks across rooms could be tolerated. Putting those thoughts to spoken syllables was a step too far for him, and she was afraid to see him flee.

So instead, it was his name again and again, or if she got creative, a plea for something specific. A tug in his hair to give her more throat to scrape her teeth against in a pale imitation of what he was used to. A whine when he hit something deep in her that made her fingers and toes tingle. And encouragement, of course. “Yes, yes, like that-” He’d never gotten enough, she figured, so she always made up for it when she could. Now was no different. 

“Jamie,” she whispered in his ear, “darling, don’t stop-”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

The sound of her fingers against the metal of her prosthetic made his stomach drop. Of course Thea knew pain, he hadn’t meant to invalidate that. Opening his eyes, he reached a hand to gently grasp at her one of her wrists. “You’re strong lass, I know that.” His voice was quiet, fingers traveling up her forearm to give it a gentle squeeze. “It’s just…”

It’s not like Jamie was somebody to really give anyone any insight into what he was feeling. The most he was comfortable with was blunt opinions a majority of the time. But Thea had a special talent for rendering him speechless, had him trying to be a little more careful in how he worded things. The whole situation she was describing was something he wanted to immediately shut down from happening, something he didn’t want to think about. Feeding from her in an emergency was one thing, but that wasn’t the picture she was painting here. It wasn’t an option, he didn’t want to make it a habit.

And it would be, there was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn’t be able to just do it once. Even now, just being in her presence, he was constantly aware of how she smelled. Not just the scent of her skin or her hair, but beyond that. Thea was the only human he hung around, the only one that he saw as more than a meal. She had thoughts, she had feelings, she wasn’t to just be a safe snack.

And yet he did think about it. How easy it’d be right now to just turn his head and sink his fangs into the delicate flesh of her wrist. But it wouldn’t just be that, because she was offering. It conjured up an image of her in the garden, underneath one of her lilac bushes, skirts fanned out as she sat upon a stone bench. He sat at her feet, her wrist delicately offered to him and he held it like it was made of glass. It was something out of a stained glass scene, an illustration from some holy text. Somewhere there had to be something about some goddess offering some poor demon a drink. His lips would brush against the offering briefly before his fangs would sink in, spilling ruby red over perfect porcelain and-

“It’s not something I’d subject you tae.” It was out of the question, his voice was a little firmer than he’d intended it to be. Moreso for his sake than her own. “It wears ye down. And there’s implications tae it if my kind ever found out. It’s not uncommon for us tae attach ourselves tae a human. It’s mutually beneficial, usually protection, healing, that kind of thing. We dinnae take it lightly, know what’s bein’ offered is important.” Jamie had seen it, humans at court all fawning over some older vampire, always decorated like a prize.

“There’s a reason we tend tae pick off people nobody will miss. If word got out, there’d be consequences eventually. Just because you dinnae see vamps crawling around here dinnae mean they arenae there, love. Last thing we need is some sleekit bastard mouthing off that Tenea’s princess is a buffet.” The mere idea had him clenching his jaw. Vampire’s far older than him would come out of the woodwork to get a taste. “We have few laws, honestly. But we’re territorial, possessive bunch. We stake a claim on a human and nobody else will go near ‘em. Whether the human consents tae it or not. Takes one ass tae come out of the shadows and sink his teeth in ye and it’s over.”

It was all hypothetical, it was all pretty much an excuse. But it was something he thought about, and now with knowing Sloane was a thing, that her sire was out there…It seemed more like a reality. The idea that someone would come for Thea, somebody would choose to pluck her right off the damn chess board just to taunt Gaius. Jamie’s fingers tightened around her forearm slightly, as if her were afraid she was going to slip right through his fingers.

“This helps.” His gaze was on the floor tiles outside the tub, voice quiet as he tried to steer away from the subject.

Thea might have argued with Jamie had he not squeezed her arm. Unknowingly he quieted the fire in her chest. She could be headstrong when she had the chance, stubbornly butting her head against any barrier to what she wanted. It took far more patience and practice in every other situation, so when she had the chance to be entirely herself-

She had to remember that it was just as much her responsibility to make him feel heard, too. So she listened. He spoke seriously, much more seriously than their usual banter. In a manner she was not willing to explain, she had attached herself to him. Slinking around with him at her arm made her just mysterious enough to make necessary waves, just protected enough to avoid most of the true basket cases.

But then, that wasn’t why she sought out his company. It was an unintended benefit to the sheer relief of his charm, his honesty, his cheeky grin. After any other mass she’d have run home as quickly as her short legs could carry her and hidden for the rest of the day; when Jamie waited outside the cathedral for her, that time could slip away and she hardly noticed. It didn’t matter who he was or what he was, what he could offer her to further her political standing - he had given her, and continued to give her, the grandest gift of being able to relax for once in her life.

She only wanted to return as much of that favor as she could, but he knew better than she ever could about how it mattered beyond just the two of them. It wasn’t as if she needed anyone else trying to claim her for themselves. Plenty of noblemen were trying their hand at that already.

Massaging his scalp with one hand, she slid her other hand into his. He was almost warm, soap suds sliding from his skin. “You can always subject me to your terrible jokes,” she said with all the warmth she had. He needed to hear her accept his opinion with grace and respect, because she respected him more than anyone, and because she was nothing if not graceful no matter how strong her own feelings. She placed a chaste kiss to wet hair. “Please don’t strain yourself while you heal. I will be very cross. How am I supposed to match my shoes to my dresses if I’m upset?”

Her mouth was open, more gentle humor at the ready to ease them back into their usual familiarity, until a cry cut through the wall. Thea stilled, the sound taking her back ten years. “Sloane,” she murmured, her forehead creasing with worry. “I should go wake her.” Squeezing Jamie’s hand again, she rushed out the bathroom door and back into her own room.

Twisted up in her sheets, Sloane was twitching and mumbling just like she had ever since the nightmares first began. She had been fifteen, Thea thought, though her perception of time was fuzzy at best for that period. Hurrying over, she threw herself across the bed to wrap her arms around Sloane and ease her awake. “Sloane, honey, wake up-”

Sloane writhed in her grip and then grabbed at her arms, her eyes flying open. They stared at each other, Thea steady why Sloane’s chest heaved. She was much, much stronger than Thea remembered - which made sense objectively, of course, but was a shock to her system nonetheless. She looked and felt like a wild creature for that long moment of nothing but breathing. Then Sloane released her, shuffling away to curl up against the headboard, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.

Someone might as well have reached into Thea’s chest and squeezed her heart. It had been years, sure, but somehow she hadn’t expected Sloane to pull away. Things had changed whether or not she wanted to admit it. Though Thea understood how she felt, Sloane still felt out of place near the princess proper, surrounded by her luxuries... A vampire hiding in the lion’s den.

Thea bridged the space between them first, despite her acute awareness of Jamie’s presence somewhere nearby, watching their every interaction just to be sure. He could worry for her while she worried for her friend. “You’re safe here with us,” she said, placing a hand on Sloane’s shoulder. Sloane scoffed, her derision undercut by what could have been a small sob, if anyone was brave (or dumb) enough to consider it as such. Thea pressed on, “No knights or Church nuts will come through here without announcing themselves, and I’ll make sure you are safe here and when you choose to leave.”

Sloane was silent, her eyes still covered, a muscle in her jaw jumping every few seconds. Then, at last: “I’m gonna need several drinks if I’m t’sleep again.”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

“Sounds like her.” Thea was changing the subject, but he was alright with it. Not like it was that big of a deal, he wasn’t about to chastise her for knowing how to patch him up properly. And Jamie, despite finding the church to be unbearably unfair and often absurd, kind of liked the stories. Or maybe he just liked the picture Thea wove of them. It was always vivid, and there with his eyes shut and her fingers in his hair, he could see it. Rose beneath a tree, the skirts of one of her more elaborate gowns fanned out at her feet, her head bowed, long hair framing her face. Beautiful and still, downright regal until something she loved was threatened. “You’ll have tae tell her that one eventually.”

Whenever the Cowen’s decided to come for him. Or whenever he decided to steal her away from her gilded cage. If things were to continue this way, if he were to get into more trouble, he could see the lot of them showing up. Gavyn and Rose at least, maybe Leighton if they were really serious about forcibly taking him home. They didn’t meddle in his business, he was fortunate for that. Gavyn had always made a point that the life he’d been given was his own to live, his choices his to make. It’d been negotiated before he’d been turned that the set of fangs meant freedom and that Gavyn wouldn’t take it away from him.

But that being said, they were prepared to talk him down from dangerous or self destructive endeavors. Traveling for him was nothing new, they didn’t mind that at all, knew he grew restless of being in one place too long. But when he’d announced he was planning on meandering around Tenea, the atmosphere had grown tense.

(“Why?” The question had come after a pregnant pause and even then, Gavyn had sounded like the word had been forced out of him. Leighton, the bastard, was watching with raised brows over the book he’d been reading beside the window, cup of tea in hand. He didn’t matter though, what mattered was that Rose, who’d been fussing over rearranging something on the mantle, had stopped moving entirely. Had gone from animatedly chattering to herself about the room’s aesthetic to being a gorgeous statue in front of the fireplace.

“M’nae settling down there. Passing through is all. Ye cannae tell me ye arenae curious aboot the damn place.” Jamie had just looked straight at her, knew that she was going to be the one he had to sell the trip to. Hell, if he’d have proposed it as some getaway for himself and Gavyn, he was sure his sire would have jumped at it. The politics of it all intrigued him and that’s exactly why Jamie wanted to go alone. He wasn’t about to sit and do some kind of reconnaissance for Europe’s vampire monarchy, he just wanted to see what the big deal was. And maybe get rid of some of their noble parasites for the hell of it.

Still no response, no movement, aside from Leighton turning the page in the book he was in no way paying attention to. “I think it’d be interesting. Bring home a nice French lad.” The snide bastard was actually helping diffuse the situation, casting glances at Rose where she couldn’t see him. Jamie couldn’t stand him, but he appreciated it, he’d always appreciate someone calming Rose before she could get going.

And because of that, he was going to ignore the elephant in the room completely, sidled right on up to where she was still….Still against the mantle. “Hear that maw? I’ll just bring a nice boy ‘n’ settle down in the highlands.” He had an arm around her shoulders, a grin pulling at the corners of his lips. Her body was still but the muscles of her face twitched, the edge of her lips quirked into a frown, brow slightly furrowed. She wanted to tell him no, he knew she wanted to tell him he was staying right there.

But she didn’t and something in her seemed to relax, must have given an internal sigh. Her shoulders went lax and Rose offered a hint of a smile. “I want a real wedding then.” The words were practically a murmur, but what was such a thing in a room full of vampires?

Jamie offered a soft chuckle, pressed his lips to the side of her face in a brief moment of affection, and he swore he could hear Gavyn let out a sigh of relief that he tried to muffle with his glass of wine.)

There was more to be said about that, but her fingers were distracting and then she’d brought up what he considered the inevitable. “Thea, I-” No, no, he could not tell her that. He could not tell her that had it not been for her status, he’d have drank from her that very night they met. He’d been planning on it, had she not been so interesting, she’d just been another meal. A little something to get him by, quick snack between places.

“It’s nae some simple thing, lass.” It was a rushed statement, his muscles tensed in the warm water despite the relaxing atmosphere, despite her touch. “Gav fed fae me plenty of times before all this. Hurts, feel fucking fatigued as hell for days afterwards.” Jamie refused to look at her, had his eyes open but was staring ahead.Dissuading her sounded better, gentler, than the firm ‘no’ that wanted to slip past his lips. “Doesnae just pierce skin, rips right intae muscle if we have tae. Nothing fun aboot bein’ on the receiving end of it.”

It had been wise to wade slowly into this subject. In theory Thea had already known that, but feeling him tense beneath her fingers was another thing entirely. She also understood, in theory, that he was right to be so wary about it - for all practical purposes he was at least three times stronger than the average man, and she had a certain fragility to hold against her. Less than an hour before she had seen him drenched in blood from the neck down. Seen the light in his eyes at the violence of it, like it fueled him.

She was also willful, though, and determined not to be a porcelain doll, not with him. That brightness to his face had quieted the worry built up in her chest before then. So he needed a little violence in his life to keep it livable - so what? That didn’t separate him from any breathing human desperate to hurt others. They didn’t even draw any measurable benefit from it. “I promise I do not underestimate the weight of it,” she said in her most pointedly sweet voice. She had lost blood before, lots of it. There wasn’t much to her to begin with. She remembered shivering for days afterward, her body unable to control its quaking unless she slept.

She had been cut before. And punctured. And bruised, and bled, and so on. She wore the evidence of it all across her torso, with much less pride than Jamie with his bite. All that pain she had endured, and for what? Survival hardly felt like an achievement. The only people who had benefited from everything she, and Sloane, and all the rest of them went through were the Church.

“I like to think I can handle a little pain.” Releasing his head momentarily, she tapped her nails on the solid steel of her thigh, just to punctuate her point. This would be different. A temporary pain to help heal Jamie’s much more serious injuries? That was hardly a question at all. She was certain, either way, that it would not compare with the fiery pins-and-needles of unwelcome magic festering within her very flesh. “Nobody would bat an eye if I spent several days resting, anyway. Goddess knows I fall ill plenty as it is.”

Thea brought her fingers back to his hair. Though it irked her to no end that he treated her this way, she needed him to feel comfortable with her. He didn’t have to agree to her offer. He could give her a definite no and she would at least try not to bring it up again. As long as they maintained that level of honesty, she would be content. Mostly. “I only offer because it could help you heal,” she said, softening. “You helped me today for no reason except because I asked. I hate thinking that there’s no way to help you, even though all this is only because...”

Not because of her. He wouldn’t accept such a statement, no matter how true. “I suppose I also offer because it’s you.” As dearly as she loved Sloane, it wasn’t the same. Too many variables, too much possibility for everything to go sideways. Jamie was nothing if not careful with her - too careful, as he was being now, in her opinion - but she had to admit she could appreciate it when there was a lot at stake.

“This isn’t for fun.” If she could lean in to see his face without immediate danger of seeing far too much else, she would have looked him right in the eye for that. “This isn’t a passing curiosity. I do not care if it isn’t sunshine and roses. I want to help you any way I can, Jamie. Even if that means letting this drop.”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

“Thea.” It was a hissed breath against her ear as Jamie tried to grapple with any sort of bearing. Was there any bearings left to collect? He was hyper aware of the bite of her fingernails against the skin of his shoulder and then against his scalp as she gave an insistent tug to his hair. The action had him arching his back slightly, hips rolling up to meet hers in the process. She was trying to keep this from being just about her, he knew it. But she also seemed to realize the power he’d given her, was moving against hips and hand and it was so much.

Too much, his fingers tightened against the skin of her side, curling around it. His other hand withdrew from her in favor of traveling up her other side, his lips pressing to hers maybe a little harsher than he’d previously intended. It was hard to calm down when she was talking like that. When she was moving like that. Thea’d pointed out that this was new for both of them and it had him wondering if he’d ever really felt like this before. He found himself searching through hazy memories, going through phantom touches that didn’t make his skin crawl.

With Gavyn, everything was always so heated, even before they could feel what the other was feeling. Gavyn was comfort, Gavyn was safety, a fiery, passionate home to go back to. With Emory everything had somehow been shiny and new, somewhat tentative. This felt like a combination of the two and yet entirely different. It wasn’t often that he felt himself longing like this. It was a need that went beyond anything physical. The desire to touch her was bone deep, he couldn’t seem to stop, he wanted to remember every inch of her.

Up her sides, over her shoulders, to the sides of her neck to her cheeks his hands traveled as he kissed her before they left her completely in favor of pulling his pants down his thighs the best he could in their current position. He had half a mind to tease her about the neediness but didn’t think it would be fair considering he felt the same way. Resting a hand back against her right side, he leaned against the pillows so she fell forward against his chest a little. His lips pressed to the side of her face, trailed across her jaw as the hand on her slid dowards so he could raise her hips slightly. “Just relax.” It was a soft mumble, almost more advice to himself than her as he used his free hand to guide himself into her.

A soft noise was muffled against the side of Thea’s neck as he, at a maddeningly slow pace, pressed up into her. He hadn’t thought this could get anymore overwhelming, but he had been wrong. He had to keep focus though, couldn’t lose himself with her like he wanted to. “You alright, love?” Jamie didn’t think he’d ever stayed so still in his entire two centuries of life as his hands settled on her hips. This was still up to her, this was still meant to be at her pace over his.

Jamie kissed her hard and Thea pressed back harder still, desperate for the heat of him, the closeness, him. She had half a mind to go right for his throat to make him shudder like he had before, but she was already working with so little concentration, and his hands were all over her, and her fingers were claws around his shoulder blade. A raspy whine left her at the same time as his fingers. He didn’t leave her in the lurch, thank Nys herself. 

There were so many things she wanted to say to him. Just relax. How was she supposed to do that? Every touch from him, even if it was light, even if it was as he fumbled for somewhere else, lit her from beneath her skin. She never wanted him to let go. Couldn’t fathom unfurling her fingers to let him go. His hands were hot on her hips, lifting her so they were pressed chest to chest. She crushed her lips against his temple, a knot of anticipation pulling tight in her stomach.

Inhaling sharply at the entirely foreign sensation, Thea released a soft moan in time with Jamie’s. Nails embedded in his skin aside, she did her best to follow his advice, relaxing against his chest. In a truly rare reversal, she had nothing to say - no way to explain how strange and exhilarating this was, even if she was frozen in place, trusting him entirely to guide her. Biting her lip, she nodded at his question, the movement almost frantic. 

“Kiss me.” It was a plea and a demand at once. She was a little afraid to move her hips, but she had to move, needed to feel him beneath her. Her lips sought his and she kissed him with all the ferocity of moments before. Then tension in her body was overwhelming. He might as well have yanked her limbs in different directions. Not for even a heartbeat would she have thought to tell him to stop.

Only a few moments later all that tension tunneled into one small point between her legs and then grew until it was unbearable. Without thinking, Thea squirmed in Jamie’s lap like any tiny bit of friction she could get would ease it. Spots flared across her vision and she arched, either to escape the pleasure or drive further into it, she couldn’t tell anymore. Her lips parted completely while she rolled her hips against his urgently. “Goddess above, please move,” she hissed through her teeth. She felt like she was going to tip off the edge of her sanity, waiting for him to catch her. Or shove her over? Too much thinking was required for that. 

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

“Ye wouldnae have even got intae that mess if it werenae fer me.” It was an non-enunciated mess of a mumble as Jamie leaned back into her touch. It was also not true at all. Sloane would have still found her eventually, still drawn her into something, still attracted those knights. Sloane wouldn’t have survived that, he’d already decided that hours ago. And Thea….That one knight had said he was going to take her back to the church. He didn’t know what that would entail, but he doubted he wanted to find out. He’d helped them both out considerably today, he knew that, he just didn’t want to draw attention to it.

He shifted against the edge of the tub, trying to seem less like he was just leaning back into her touch even though he desperately wanted to. “They teachin’ you nobles bedside manner now?” The corners of his lips curled into a playful smirk, his eyes peeking open to sneak a glance at her. He wasn’t sure about any of that at this point. Some politics, manners, public speaking, and what fork to eat with at dinner as to not embarrass yourself, he was sure that was all on her plate at some point. Sarah, the nobleman’s daughter, had been taking sewing and music lessons, read poetry, had to be taught proper etiquette. Essentially she needed to know enough to catch a husband who would then turn her into some breeding factory for more noble brats. He imagined Thea needed to know more, hell, he bet she’d have fought to know more than she needed to.

“Last person who patched me up was probably Rose.” And before that Aila. “Over some shite at court.” He didn’t remember what, some irresponsible sire had made a swipe at him before he and the other overseers made a point to rip him to shreds. Hadn’t been that bad, nothing that wouldn’t heal, but it’d startled Rose and so he’d let her fret over him. “Think it was more for her peace than anything.” It would have been embarrassing if she hadn’t seemed so distraught, hadn’t pulled him from the fray immediately and snapped her own fangs at the rest of them. Gavyn had hurried them away, understanding, calm about the whole situation.

(“Not my boy.” She’d mumbled when they were finally away from the fray, her hands cradling his face, her fangs still bared. Menacing and beautiful, he’d never felt so cared for before, never felt so protected. It’d been a scratch, a cut along the length of his right forearm, but it’d been unexpected. Her voice had sounded far away, eyes seemingly looking through him, but her grip on him was firm, anchoring her. She didn’t come to court for such things, she was there for social activity, not politics. That was solely Gavyn, and on occasion, Leighton’s sort of thing. It was an uncomfortable thing, seeing a newborn slain, seeing their hunted down sire cut down right afterwards. But she’d jumped at the chance to show up with the two of them for once, wanted to spend time with him while he was taking a break from terrorizing Europe.

“I’m fine, Maw.” It had been a sheepish response and he’d tentatively ducked his head to brush his lips to her forehead as some way to calm her. It’d done the trick, snapped her back from looking like she was a hair away from rushing back to somebody apart by herself. A small smile had pulled across her red painted lips as she shook her head, as if dismissing her behavior.)

Thea reminded him of Rose every so often and maybe that’s why he’d been quick to mention her. They shared a fire within them, a cunning sharp tongue. Without a doubt, give her a few decades, and Thea could shed away her perfect princess mask and be that strong, fiery woman he knew she wanted to be all the time.

“It’s…difficult here. Tae gauge how it’s gonnae turn out.” Rambling was what she’d been doing earlier in her worry and that’s exactly what he was doing now. Anything to keep his mind off of how good her fingers felt, how much he wanted to just sink down into the water and continue to let her fingers work into his sore muscles. “Diet’s a bit different here for me. Have tae be more careful, cannae be taking anymore than I need. Feeding speeds up the healing. Probably fed more today than I have since I got here.”

Which wasn’t entirely wrong. It’d taken a while to adjust, but those first few weeks in Tenea, those first few weeks without her, he’d contemplated terrorizing a few of the nobles. For the French, for every member of his kind that’d been mindlessly slaughtered like animals. Gavyn had warned him that it wasn’t a place to mess around in, that his usual brand of mischief was going to get him into trouble. The memory made him chuckle softly. “Best we fix it up so it doesnae leave any marks or Gav isnae gonnae let me come back next time I head back home.”

And it was meant to be a joke, but there was no doubt in his mind that his sire wouldn’t either a) forbid him from leaving entirely, or b), which was far worse, he’d want to accompany him back to Tenea.

There Jamie went, being patently false as he was wont to do whenever he could blame himself for just about anything. It wasn’t his fault they ran into the day’s obstacles. Or Sloane’s, for that matter. It all, as always, came down to the Church’s seedy underbelly permeating every life in Tenea whether or not they were aware. Thea had a hundred and ten angry quips about it loaded and ready. Instead she just clucked her tongue and let her fingers do the talking against a particularly stiff muscle in the back of his neck. 

“Since they don’t seem to be teaching the doctors or the clergy, someone has to learn, don’t they?” It was genuinely a joke, though a bitter note made it into her laugh. She had all sorts of excuses for her oddly specialized medical knowledge. Few of her doctors had been anything resembling kind. Or competent. She didn’t dwell on that, preferring to her him speak about Rose, whom she knew so little about and yet could picture so clearly. 

Slicking his hair up into funny shapes, Thea smiled, a thought occurring to her that she simply had to tell him. “Every time you mention Rose, I think of one of our saints. Turenne the Unflappable, she’s affectionately known. The story says she took a seat beneath a willow sapling and stayed for years, not moving once. Completely undisturbed by her surroundings. The tree grew, she aged, people passed her by. Some tried to wake her and no matter what, none of them succeeded.”

She had fallen into her story-telling voice, wondering momentarily if Jamie really cared to listen to Church stories. She couldn’t blame him if he simply flipped his mind off when she started in like this; that was exactly how she got through mass. “Only one thing managed to break her meditation. By then she had been there so long the tree had grown up around her, beginning to swallow her legs in its roots, and she was hidden by its draping branches. A road had been laid beyond it. That day, a man drove his cart down that road, until a little boy - or a girl or a lamb, depending on the version - darted out in front of him. The driver swerved, snapping one of his wheels in the process, and got down to berate the boy for the accident. He raised a hand to strike the child.”

She could never say that phrase in quite the same tone, no matter how many times she had told the story. It always came out a touch raw.

“A strange cracking noise distracted them both, and then a hand clawed through the willow’s branches to part them. There stood Turenne, eyes blazing. With hardly a look in the man’s direction, she summoned a bolt of lightning down from the heavens to strike the man clean off the earth. Then she turned, settled back into the seat the tree had grown for her, and went still again until she was swallowed completely.” Realizing she had gone on for a while, Thea stopped short of the final note - that in a few, albeit rather obscure, versions of the story, the boy went on to become none other than Saint Lamian.

So instead, she offered a joke: “That’s what Gavyn can expect from me if he keeps you to himself.” Her hands drifted from his hair to the curves of his neck, his words lingering in her mind. She wanted to help any way she could. Bandaging all his bleeding bits together was a start, but... “You know,” she said softly, like she was worried he would recoil, “if it helps, if you need it, I really don’t mind offering anything I can. You could always... drink from me. If you like.” She left it at that, watching the back of his head so intently she might as well have seen through his skull. Was that too much to offer? He was so touchy about his vampirism when it came to her, sometimes. But it was a genuine offer, and today of all days was one for it.

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

The only response he could muster was a soft chuckle against her skin as he practically nuzzled against the edge of her jaw. He kept one hand against her right side, but his left hand slid lower slowly. Maybe she’d accuse him of teasing her later, but he was trying to take this slow for her sake. And it was new, this kind of pace, for the both of them. Wasn’t that what all virgin maidens longed for? Someone who took their time and kept things slow? Who referred to it as lovemaking?

Thea wasn’t just some maiden though, he wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted out of this other than him. Which was…He just wanted to touch her, he just wanted to make sure she was okay. As far as he was concerned, this was all about her and what she wanted. His fingers brushed over her stomach and kept continuing lower until he was cautiously pressing an index finger inside her.

“You flatter me, princess.” He teased against her collarbone, pad of his thumb pressing lightly against her center just as it had earlier. There were marks against her hips and he had half a mind to leave them against where his lips were now, near her throat, along her collarbone. But he couldn’t imagine that’d bode well for her. Even if Tenean fashion seemed to be fair more ornate than most places he’d been to, he figured someone would eventually notice the high collars and chokers. And yet there was a weird sense of pride about even the mere idea. It wasn’t really uncommon knowledge that he was a bit possessive. He’d been jealous in the past, had terrorized anyone else Gavyn brought into the house to the point where aside from his direct progeny’s, everyone tended to avoid him.

He’d like to think he’d grown up considerably in the last few decades. And he didn’t think of Thea that way, as his. He’d clamor for her attention, that was a given. But for one, he didn’t really see anyone in Tenea as competition for it. And secondly, he didn’t really think of Thea as his. Not like he considered Gavyn his, not like he’d considered Emory his. If anything, he kind of figured himself to be hers. She had a hold over him and he figured she knew it. With each smile, be it sly or sincere, she made something seize at his chest, as if she were reaching into it and squeezing the century still heart that lie there with her own hand.

It was hard not to just get lost in the feeling of her fingers at his back, over his shoulders. He found himself leaning into the touch a little, his lips sweetly pressing to the left corner of hers as he kept the ministrations of his fingers slow and consistent over her. Too slow for his own liking while the back of his hand was brushing against himself as he touched her. He could wait though, wanted her to be in control of this, wanted to take his time.

Thea had no idea she was holding her breath for what must have been the tenth time that night until Jamie’s hand slid between them. This time, she was a little more prepared for what it would feel like - not that this prevented her from gasping in his ear or arching into his chest. In her defense, it was difficult to prepare for the tour de force that was Jamie. In every capacity, not just this one, though... How could she not appreciate a set of very long, practiced fingers?

Soon she gripped his shoulder so tightly she would have bruised a mere human. Jamie pulled a melody of breathy whimpers from her. “It isn’t flattery if it’s true.” There really wasn’t a word that covered every aspect of how excellent he was. She wanted to show him instead, touch him with the same care he showed her. 

It was hard to calculate her moves with her mind fogged as it was, though. Her nails were firmly set into his shoulder, not going anywhere unless he suddenly let up. If there was one thing she remembered... She tugged at his hair, loathe to pull him away from her neck but desperate to express herself, and to coax a soft sound from him in her ear, if she was lucky.

His careful pace wasn’t bad, per se, but she was still sensitive and his touch had her coiling tight again and, and, and- She shimmied her hips desperately, desperate to relieve the tension. Then, realizing the potential in their position, rolled her hips with more rhythm, did her best to build the same urgency in him that she felt deep in her chest.

“Jamie,” she sighed, her eyes fluttering closed. Her toes curled. Sparks danced up her back. It clicked then, the word for him. The one thing she had never had, that would have utterly changed her life - the thing she had always wanted because she had been certain, for a large chunk of her childhood, that it would make her happy. This version of it certainly did.

Thea didn’t say it, though. She didn’t know how he would take it, or if he would be able to without ducking his head and giving her that bashful look of his, the one that said I exist here only for you, highness. She hadn’t yet decided how she felt about that look.

Her head flew back as he found that spot again. “Jamie, please.” Please what? She didn’t have an answer for that. It was more whine than request anyway. She wanted his touch, his tongue, everything he was willing to give her - there was only one simple way to say that. Even if she would sound like something out of a bad romance novel in the process. What did she care? “I want you, I need you, Jamie- Jamie please.”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

There was some quip he wanted to make at the sight of her face, the heat in her cheeks, her heartbeat a flurry in her chest. Sure the room was warm, he could stand a ridiculously hot bath, the steam coming off the water proved that. But her eyeline betrayed her and it took everything in him not to just lean back some more and allow himself to be admired. Jamie was too tired to tease and instead raised his brows at her in question. He doubted she noticed it, her eyes fell on his shoulder and that was the end of that.

He was waiting for some lecture, maybe some rambling, but he was surprised at the soft tone her voice took on. Thea stepped closer slowly and he wondered if she was hesitating for his own comfort or her safety. Knowing her, he figured it was solely about him, but he couldn’t help but wonder after all that she’d seen if she saw this as approaching a wounded and cornered animal. He’d be lying to himself if he said he didn’t feel like it a little. It’d been the most aggressive he’d been in Tenea. Exchanging a bit of banter here and there didn’t compare to laying hands on someone.

And sure, maybe he’d gotten into a few altercations down at the pub just to show off. But these had been Delphinian Knights, these had been hunters of his kind. It’s not like he felt any remorse over it, Thea was the only human Jamie had any allegiance to. Hell, he was more worried that the whole affair was going to be traced back to him and cause problems for her than he was about killing one of them. Thinking about that, about how that young one was still very much alive and would get back eventually, was too tiring in his current state.

He was about to tell her about that bit, maybe protest to her feeling the need to patch him up when-

Oh.

Oh that was nice.

Her fingers ran through his hair and his stiff posture relaxed, he allowed his eyes to slip closed. He was just too weary to argue, that was all. Jamie let Thea know that this was the narrative he’d chosen as he let out a sigh and tipped his head back. He couldn’t remember the last time someone else had done this for him, had to have been over decades. Gavyn had offered and he’d always declined, felt that maybe the intimacy of such a thing was too much for the old bastard’s heart to take.

But that was kind of a problem, wasn’t it? The intimacy, how close she was, how he was practically melting into her touch as his head tipped back.

Later, he’d worry about all of that later. He one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when said horse definitely knew what it was doing.

“I have half a mind tae stitch it up. Seems like a lot of work fer something that’s gonnae heal by tomorrow.” That’d be taking it too far and asking her to do such a thing, he didn’t think it fair. “Yer not wrong aboot patching it up though. Could be gone by tomorrow, might take more than that. Silver’s a right pain tae deal wae.”

Thea couldn’t help but preen at Jamie’s response to her touch - out of his sight, of course, after glancing around to see where they were in relation to any mirrors. It was rare that he let on about such things, even to her. As if she wasn’t constantly trying to get him to lower his guards just for the two of them. If he wanted to remain a mystery, fine, but no one could stop her from broadcasting her desire to see him cared for in the meantime.

Perching herself on the edge of the bath behind him, she took her time carding her fingers through his hair. She had to make sure she gave the back of his neck and behind his ears the attention they deserved, after all. What was harder was keeping her eyes steady on the back of his head. They wanted to roam over broad, bare shoulders...

“I can help with that.” It rarely occurred to her to be more careful about divulging this particular skillset. Why should a princess know how to bandage up a major wound? No one questioned her, though, not that the need arose often enough to do so. “Stitches won’t help you,” she said almost absently. She had never been good at giving them, or any sort of sewing at all, but that wasn’t the point. “Your skin will just heal around them and make them a hassle to remove. And if it’ll only take a few days...” Humming to herself, she took it upon herself to massage her fingers into his temples. A gratuitous gesture of thanks for earlier that day, and of her own desire just to touch, too. 

It was a skill she ought to have learned when she was younger and really needed it. Might have saved a couple lives, rather than watch them flicker out of existence on grimy stone floors beside her. Not that they’d had anything for her to practice with, of course; the rags they’d called clothing had been great for slings and splints, though. “You just have to hold it all in one place so it can heal properly, and as soon as possible.” She shrugged one shoulder that he couldn’t see. “All you need is a bandage. And not to run around climbing up walls.” That was accompanied by a light tap to his forehead. Vaulting up onto her balcony like he did - she often wondered how on Earth he had made it as long as he had even with the extra kick he got from vampire powers.

Leaning to one side, she nearly dipped a hand in the bathwater, until she noticed its shade of rusty pink and frowned. Now she had to lean forward over him, reaching for the faucet so she could flush some of his blood out of the water and wash his hair clean. “Thank you,” she said at last. He couldn't avoid her genuine gratitude forever. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, you know.”

[hermajestyvengeance]

jcmieprice

The soft noises, the small arches, her thighs still tight on his hips. She was so responsive to everything, it made it hard to stop touching her. Made it hard to focus on doing anything but just touching her, just to watch, just to listen. It wouldn’t be fair though, to keep up the teasing without any payoff. His fingers smoothed from the side of her neck to the side of her face. That being thought, it was hard to stop, it was so easy to just get lost in her. One day he’d express it to her, how comforting she was to him. How he listened for her heartbeat in a crowded room and instantly went from being on edge to being home.

“I never expected to have any sort of choice.”

It took him a second to process anything beyond that. Jamie’s face found a home against the junction where her neck met her shoulder. There was an irony in that. That he was trying to ground himself against the very spot that called to him. He wanted so much more for her, wanted to take her away from this place so badly that it ate away at him. That was the cold reality of all of this, her status. That she’d wind up married off to one of the rich bastards he’d been itching to take a bite out of. Jamie couldn’t imagine whoever chosen for her would take too kindly to him. Best case scenario was he’d be forced into the shadows, they’d only be able to meet in secret. It’d be dangerous for her, it’d be better off if he just-

Treason, they’d been discussing treason. A plan, a plan that was going to work and Thea would be queen of Tenea and he’d be….Later, he’d figure that out later, because the weight of the situation had finally caught up with him. He was her choice, he was what she wanted. He’d give her the goddamn moon if she wanted it, the least he could do was this. He found himself nodding against her shoulder, letting out a small breath. There was a lot he wanted to say, a part of him that kept thinking about how much this all meant to him and was desperately trying to put it into words.

Explaining that you were a decently popular prostitute over a century ago wasn’t really going to do anything for the mood though.

“Okay.” It was simple, it was quiet, his voice a strained whisper as he pressed his lips to the edge of her jaw and then the corner of her lips. “Okay.” Repeated a little firmer, with another nod as his lips found hers again in what was a sweet, but brief, kiss. Fingers of one hand went to her side and the other to her hip and then he was maneuvering her, rolling them over carefully. He didn’t allow his back to be against the sheets for long, sat up on his elbows to rest his hands at her hips to aid in balancing her without her prosthetic. Hell, he didn’t even stay like that for long either, was quickly shifting to scoot back against the pillows a bit, dragging his pants down a little more in the process.

“This alright?” It was a mumble against her collarbone, his eyes flickering up at her from under his lashes, hips pressing upwards against her just slightly. His fingers moved along her sides, thumbs traced over the top of her hip bones. They were still separated by the black material, but he’d deal with that in a minute, her comfort came first. He knew firsthand that their height difference kind of threatened to ruin a bit of the intimacy, but he’d be lying if he didn’t think the position was fitting. He wanted to see her on a throne, his hips were a start.

A kiss was the only warning Thea got before the world shifted around her again. Logically she understood Jamie’s vampire strength, but it never failed to surprise her how easily he could pick her up and move her. Finding herself perched somewhat precariously in his lap, she could not have been more grateful for it then. Her hands flew to his shoulders like she would pitch forward, unable to support her own weight, but he already had her secured by the waist. She hadn’t even had a chance to wobble.

Winding her arms around his neck, she slid her fingers into his hair, a subtle thank-you both for keeping her upright and for listening to her at all. They tightened there as his hips came up to meet hers and sent a tremor up her spine. She never intended to pull his hair, he just kept provoking it, but she couldn’t help but enjoy his reaction. Or any response she wrangled out of him. He had marvelous composure, her vampire, but making it crack was quickly becoming a favorite hobby.

It occurred to her that, seated atop him as she was, that his eyes could roam anywhere they pleased. Over flushed skin, faded scars, even between them, where his pretty lips had left behind pretty marks. Pink bloomed in her cheeks yet again - like he hadn’t just been kneeling between her legs - at the same time the thrill of the change set in. Settling in against him required shifting her hips until she had arranged herself comfortably, a process that left her biting her lip to hold back little squeaks of her own making. Or perhaps to stifle the smile unfurling across her face.

“More than alright,” she told him, surprised by how eager she sounded. Without thinking about it she tilted her head to give him more access to her neck. His hair carried the woodsy scent that always relaxed her. One of her hands skated across the muscles of his back. They were easily within reach like this - what more could she ask? She always caught herself eyeing the breadth of his shoulders, wishing she could cling to them. He’d just offered her the chance on a golden platter, complete with fluttering deep in her stomach and dizzying sparks wherever his fingers brushed her skin.

She couldn’t help but hope those hands would be all over her again soon enough. Just imagining it made her thighs shiver around him.

The way he looked up at her from under lush lashes nearly had her swooning. Almost disgruntled, she couldn’t help but tell him, “You are really... Really something, Jamie. I don’t know what yet. I’m not even sure there’s a word.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead, then sought out his lips for a moment. “Whatever it is,” she mumbled against them, smiling, “I like it.”