Meredith had always known about magic. Her family was magic, one of the most powerful mage lines out there. Having lost her parents to all the fighting though, she stayed far away from it, focusing on school and lading a primarily normal life.
Unti...
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For the moment, it was waiting, and when it wasn't, what it did terrified her. Not wanting to be dragged or have anything cut off, she scooted carefully toward him. That close, she stared at his bare chest under the covers. It wasn't like she was avoiding its eyes, which maybe she was, but she was thinking about that damned shriveled kiwi again.
"I'm not doing anything to melt your brain, am I?" Mer asked, looking up to it, and it shook its head slowly. Sometimes she wasn't sure. Clearly, she was doing something when she was frustrated, but when she was terrified it wasn't the same, it seemed. "As long as I'm sleeping with you would you humor me?" Mer asked, and it tilted its head in the only expression it did frequently.
"In what way?"
"Nothing bad. I just..." Trailing off, she touched the spot on its chest over where its heart should be. With just her fingertips, she couldn't feel anything, and she pressed gently with them, hoping to find its heartbeat.
Its hand snapped out and grabbed hers the moment she dented his skin. Painfully and anything but kindly, it crushed her hand in its own, and she looked up to it frantic and confused. Anger warped its face, its eyebrows crunched much nearer its nose, and its fangs bared where its lips rolled back aggressively.
"I-I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" Terrified by the bones she was sure were going to break under its grip, she quivered. It stared at her for a long moment but eventually it let her hand go, and she pulled it back to her chest to rub it. It didn't appear anything was broken, and Mer stared into its chest again, afraid to look up.
"I'm sorry." The words came thick from its mouth with its eyebrows still crunched near its nose, though it no longer showed its fangs. "I misinterpreted your actions again. I thought you were attempting to kill me."
"With my fingertips." Sarcasm coursed heavily through her voice, but it did not change its upset expression.
"You had them directly over my heart, and you are of one of the strongest mage bloodlines. It would not be difficult in that position."
"I don't know any magic." Mer sighed as depression sank in. Was there anything she could do that wouldn't be perceived as an assassination attempt?
"So you say. It was strange. What were you doing?"
"I wanted to feel your heartbeat." Curse her interest in their tiny emaciated fruit hearts.
"Here."
She bit the tip of her tongue in surprise as it lifted her, but not shortly after, it set her back down so close to its chest that she blushed. It slid a folded pillow under her head, and then, in a small gentle motion, turned her head and placed her ear on its pectoral. It was intimate, but as she calmed her breathing and her pounding heart, slowly but surely, she felt the small pitter patter against her ear.
The vampire's heart was beating, though slower than her own at a resting pace, and she smiled at the even beat against her face. This was not what she'd expected when she'd been given over to the vampires, but she couldn't say it was unpleasant. Strange and terribly literal, this vampire was cordial, though not when it felt accosted in any way, which was all the time.
