Dark Stranger

Alex - Part 5

Case 2 - "Blood Bank"

When I awoke the next evening, Scott was snuggled against my side, his head resting on my chest. I breathed in the scent of his skin. As my chest rose and fell under his head, he murmured and rubbed his nose against my neck. I couldn't help grinning like a love struck idiot. He was so cute, super sexy and in my arms even though I'm not the warmest of sleeping companions. His body temperature was if anything, a couple of degrees warmer than most, so I guess that worked out. Opposites do attract in more ways than one.

I cradled him against me and listened to his heartbeat. It was totally soothing having him next to me. It almost distracted me from my hunger. Almost but not totally. I'd marked Scott's neck, but I hadn't claimed him, not totally. If Lynx came to town before I'd made Scott mine permanently, that could be a real problem right there. Having a Sensitive as a lover would make certain people sit up and take notice. People I didn't want to get involved in my life. I was trying to be Switzerland in Vampire politics. They so weren't my thing. But if I 'Marked' Scott as mine, she wouldn't be able to do anything to him without my permission. I hadn't Marked Lyssa and she'd ended up dead. I didn't want to lose him, but I wasn't going to Mark him without asking permission first. It would have to be his choice.

It was different with Sensitives, or any supernatural being for that matter. Marking humans was basically saying 'This is my dinner'. With Sensitives, it meant that you were the one they used their abilities for. You and only you. Me and only mine... I knew I wanted Scott to belong to me, but modern people don't react too kindly to being property. I had lived long enough in modern times to know that Scott wouldn't agree to belong to me that way unless I explained the reasoning behind it too. If Lynx chose to take Scott away from me, she could attempt to do so, by any means at her disposal, including her bonus, mind control. It might not work on Scott, but I wasn't prepared to give her the chance to attempt it.

I wanted Scott, body, mind and soul. I knew it then and there that his generous spirit, his kindness, his strength and sunny nature had completely healed the heart I had believed totally broken. He had snuck into my heart and it was full of him. I didn't just want to make him mine, I wanted him to want to stay with me. I wanted to give him everything he wanted, everything he needed, everything in my power to make him happy. The totality of my feeling was unexpected and now something that I feared.

I hadn't loved someone like this since Nathaniel. Nate and I were together for 150 years. I'd been with him at the end when I couldn't stop him and had to end him. The Ennui had claimed many of my kind who had lived longer than 400 years like Carsten. They didn't know how to adjust, how to adapt to modern life. Carsten had been so set in his ways, he wouldn't have been able to cope with today's world. I on the other hand thrived. I don't know if it was because I'd immersed myself in the human world rather than trying to remain apart, but I loved everything about modern society.

I loved that people could wear anything they wanted, say anything they wanted, eat anything they wanted, love anyone they wanted. It seemed like there were endless possibilities in this world and I wanted to make the most of every opportunity to experience whatever came my way. Hopefully with the man by my side. Scott's breathing changed and grew faster as he rose through the stages of sleep and began to wake up. "Morning Beautiful." I whispered against his forehead.

"Whaaaa?"

I chuckled, Scott really wasn't a morning person at all. I was happy he was spending most of his nights with me, but eventually I'd need him to have a different schedule to mine, if he was going to be my Companion. I'd need him to help with daytime callers, although being the kind of Detective I was, most of my business came and went during night hours, Scott would need to be available during some part of the day for those annoying little things that you still couldn't arrange at night time. Deirdre was a life saver in that regard too.