Gentle

Chapter 2

Prompt: knuckles brushing against each other and person A getting shy

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It wasn't Hawaii, but Drac sure felt like he was in paradise.

A few reasons could contribute to that. The comfortable pool chair he was seated on. The refreshing Blood Beater mimosa that he casually sipped. The sounds of his family and friends excitedly shouting and splashing each other about in the cruise ship's Olympic-sized swimming pool. And the sighs of contentment that were coming from his zing, lounging as casually as he was on the pool chair adjacent to him. She was out of the captain's uniform she'd donned for the trip thus far, and instead wore a little white bikini that showed off much of her slim figure. Drac would occasionally glance from underneath his sunglasses to catch a glimpse at her as she lay, and from his peripheral vision, he would occasionally see her take a peek at him as well, the vampire having chosen to wear nothing more than those white short shorts she'd seen him in when playing Monster Ball.

Dracula was happy to keep the back and forth pattern of glances up for a while until finally he was the one to break it, an annoying itch having taken a hold of his nose. In scratching it, he realized just how dry his skin had become, and he knew what it meant: it was time to reapply some more moonscreen. The great orb was glowing at its fullest this night, after all, and would only continue to do so, judging by how clear the skies were. The pool bag he'd brought with him had the lotion at the very top, and so he reached for it without sparing a glance down.

And that was when he felt it.

Instead of the plastic surface of the bottle with its peeling label, the back of his knuckles were met with the soft touch of skin, warm and delicate in its contact. His eyes darted from his view of the pool and back toward the hand that had bumped against his, and the woman attached to it.

Ericka, having also had the same idea to apply more moontanning lotion, peered back at him, her blue eyes wide and the beginnings of a blush already rising to her cheeks. Drac could feel himself warm up as well, but he was the first of them to find the voice to speak.

"Forgive me, my love," he said, picking up the bottle and handing it out to her. "After you."

Ericka smirked in response. "Actually, hold on to it. There's a spot I can't quite reach, and I'm going to need the help anyhow."

At that, the woman turned herself over, laying on the pool chair so that she was frontside down. Then, she reached behind her back, unclipping her bikini top and moving the straps out of the way so that her bare back was visible to him.

Drac became as hot as an oven at the sight.

"Do you think you can help?" she asked, trying to maintain an innocence to her tone of voice.

It took Drac a couple of tries, but he finally was able to swallow down the lump in his throat and answer, breathlessly. "Yes... anything you want, my love."

And so he did move in to help her apply the lotion, the vampire wanting to melt on the spot at how incredibly soft her skin was underneath his fingertips, and for the opportunity to touch her as no other man would.

Because she, was all his.