If I Knew Then....

Starting Fresh

His red eyes stared down in mine. They looked like they were starting to bleed back to the weird red rimmed brown, but they were still strange…and WAY too freaking amused at the moment. “I said, ‘Get OFF!’….NOW!”

His Lord assholeness laughed harder at that.  “Kitten….I just saved your ass quite literally….”He pushed his hips down on mine. Jerk. I couldn’t help but moan.  Yeah my tail pipe was feeling better. “Oh like that is it, kitty?” He thrust his hips down again and I thrust right back up at him to his apparent “delight”…yeah that sounds like a good Lord Bastard word… “Delight”.

He bent his head down and pressed his lips gently against mine only to deepen it swallowing my moan. Fuck yeah.  He tasted like blood and I think, his own “Bram” flavor? Could they bottle it? I shoved my hips up against his again and little Martin was all too happy to have the friction. Oh c’mon buddy, give in…he just saved your ass….it’d feel so good to get off. Yeah…it would…but- Fucking Traitor! He was hardly “my buddy” because he kept raising to all of the wrong occaisions….

I tore my mouth away from Bram’s gasping, “Wrong kind of getting off!”

I finally realized that the only thing pinning me in place as his hips. Yeah. I know. G-e-n-i-u-s.  He had his upper body braced using his arms, but not actually touching me. Just holding himself in a nice push-up position. I shoved myself out from under him and away.

Sick… I rolled into snake guts. Or was it human guts? “Uck…Turn. Off.” I jumped up and tried to shake the pieces off of my hands.  Then it struck me, and I started gagging. I know…real manly…But seriously, you see tons of blood, torn in half creatures, etc and you, too, will recognize the joy of your gag reflex!

“FUCK!” I didn’t have to roll back over to look at him to hear and feel the amusement.  “You – you-…!”

“I what? Tore a Were-snake in half and drank his blood? Shoved my saliva up your ass to stop the bleeding and then kissed you? Which one do you have a problem with right at this moment, kitten?” He was so freaking smug…Wait…I hadn’t even thought of the healing rim job.

“I-…” I turned to look at him, completely disgusted and speechless. I shook my hands and tried to wipe them on the ground. “All of it.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really….? So you are telling me that you would have preferred that I allow George here to continue his obvious rape of you and anything else that he may have had planned…by my measure…your eventual death….?  Oh just for starters , of course.” Uh…no.. I probably was doing a good impression of a fish at that point. He made a good argument, but still! 

“No….” Damnit…..Bram stood and stretched.  No man, woman, were, vampire, whatever should ever look that good stretching.  It wasn’t helping me continue to be mad. I was starting to wonder if he was purposely doing things to make me calm down. I couldn’t be that easy to manipulate, right?

“Kitten….?”

“What…?” He raised an eyebrow. “What, Master?” The look on his face said it all – Much better.. Yeah for which one of us.

“Position one….”

Oh you fucker…. Still, I knelt down, spread my legs, pushed my chest out, and placed my heads on my head, spreading my arms out. I stared up at him for a moment and then lower my eyes, without lowering my face.

He stepped closer and for a moment I flinched thinking he was going to pull the same bullshit that George had used about stepping on my junk and telling me not to move. Like any guy wouldn’t move! His shoes got awfully damn close for comfort, but didn’t complete the move.

“Good.” He knelt down and placed a finger under my chin. “Look at me please.” I met his eyes hesitantly and was surprised at the softness of them. It was like…he had his mask off? Pfft… yeah right….

”I  had no desire to have any of this happen. Specifically – none of what has happened to you, Martin.  I made some errors and I have tried apologizing just to make them again with regards to you.  I have pushed you into a world that you had not planned on being a part of, and rather than giving you water wings….I have done nothing more but continuously shove you off the high drive into fourteen feet of water with no idea if you did know how to swim or not.”

I just stared at him and blinked. This has to be some sort of test or joke, or something! I had no idea what to think. I was, for once in my ever loving life, speechless.

“I do not expect you to trust me, or believe a word out of my mouth….however I will promise to attempt to introduce you more gently into the life. I do not take back what I said about wanting you to be mine – particularly mine in the fashion that most Were-Leopards are – servant, slave, consort, whatever word you choose to put to it.” Oh and here I thought we had made some freaking progress.

Time to interrupt what had been a good monologue by Bram only to have him change to Master Bastard halfway through. “Look, you were doing great with you apology up until you brought up the whole fucking slave, servant, whatever bullshit again.” He actually had the guts to look…even more apologetic? Did I lose more blood than I thought…I mean I did regenerate fast but what the heck? I shifted my legs slightly trying to keep the feeling in them from kneeling.

He ran a hand through his blonde hair and had the guts to look sheepish. Aww…kinda cute really… “Yes, you are right. I made a mess out of apologizing to you as well.” He stepped away, clearly agitated. HA! At least both of us weren’t happy.

I had to cut him off again. Why the fuck was I helping him? “Ok – Look – I get what George was saying about other vampires, court rules, blah, blah, fucking blah.  I get it already. “ I ran a hand through my own hair and touched the collar.  Annoying but I was finally starting to put two and two of Bram’s bizarre puzzle together. It was like one of the modern art pieces where someone through a couple of buckets of paint and slopped it up on a canvas.

“You get it?” He actually looked so innocently hopeful that I almost laughed. As if I didn’t know the asshole better.

“Yeah, dude, I fucking get it.” His eyes narrowed on the dude part but I quickly went on. “I am glad you decided to save my ass in many senses of the world. I get that you’re trying to make this work – make me the square peg, fit into the round hole.” Was I seriously going down this path?

Lord Asshole actually smiled.  “You are welcome. And I do apologize….” For a moment he looked hesitant. “Can…we try this once more…?”

I couldn’t resist being a smart ass. “Which part are you apologizing for specifically, Master? Breaking my ankle, splattering your sire’s chest gore on me when you reached through her chest, having George beat me ass and fucking taze me, not explaining shit, or turning -….” Oops.. I got carried away in my list.

“I turn you on, kitten?” He had the shit eating grin on his face once more. I really was wondering if they could freaking read my mind.

“No. I was going to say for turning my already fucked up life into even more of a freak show.” He laughed.

“You realize you have been holding position one almost the entire time….do you not, kitten?”

Shit….He was right.

***

I was trying to hide my surprise, and concern, at Martin’s reaction to this. I was really concerned that I had finally broken him.  Yet…he didn’t appear that way.  He actually seemed calm – Ok calm for kitten in any case.

“You can relax now, Kitten…” I smiled as he slumped where he was kneeling and moved his limbs into a cross legged position and rest one arm on his leg and his hand propping up his chin.  It reminded me of just how long of a day it had been.

Edward….please warm some blood and have a meal suitable for kitten’s dietary needs prepared. We will be roughly thirty minutes…. I could feel his acknowledgement. Ah, it was good to be the head of my strange little family.

I needed to be sure this was not an act that Martin was attempting.  I thought it most likely was…even so I wanted this to last for as long as possible. “As I am sorry, let us try this whole mess again, shall we?  I need to be sure that you understand everything.  There are rules that I need for you to follow. They are limiting and you will most likely not appreciate them. You may ask questions about my instructions – if we are in private. DO NOT ever question me in front of my childer, or anyone else. You do not understand vampire politics – be glad for that. Otherwise, I will attempt to be more lenient and realistic in my treatment of you…. However I am the alpha, head, leader of this family. Choose whichever term you prefer.  There will be times that you will not appreciate everything and I will try to give you fair warning.”

Ah, there we go…Martin was rolling his eyes again. It was rather amusing. At his age, he still maintained the dignity of a two year old human at times. “Does that mean I have to keep up the whole, ‘Master’, ‘Sir’, bullshit?” Oh..that was part of the joy that I was taking from all of this.

“Of course…my own childer have to refer to me as ‘Sire’, do they not?” I fanged my tongue to stop laughing outright at the look on Martin’s face and the muffled cursing.

“Yes…” I raised an eyebrow and could visibly see the frustration on my kitten’s face. It was almost reminiscent of children’s cartoons that my Thad enjoyed watching.

“Yes, what?  I did not say that punishments would no longer be dealt out, kitten….” He growled and now I did laugh.

“Yes, Master.”

“Thank you, kitten.” I reached a hand down to him and he looked at it sideways. Oh… I wiped it off on my black dress pants and extended my hand once more. This time he took it, but still looked hesitant.

“Are you hungry?” A loud grumble made itself known from the vicinity of kitten’s stomach. He blushed and grabbed his stomach convulsively and I had to grin. “I will take that as a yes. We need to clean up first and then we can get something to eat. Please follow me.” I turned and did not bother to turn to see if he was following me or not. I doubted he wished to stay in the room any longer with George’s remains.

That was going to be an issue.  I still had not decided what precisely I was going to say to Adolphus, and I certainly had not been considering what his reaction to this news was going to be. It was only two hours until sunset. 

***

I stared at Bram’s back. Was he freaking kidding me? Was he actually falling for my b.s.? YES! Awesome! I finally got my limbs working and followed him through the hallways.  I was so lost in my own triumphantness…is that a word even? Anyways, I was so happy that I wasn’t even phased as we wandered back into what I was calling the “pool room” or “grotto” because it was truly a work of art and was really an indoor grotto.

I walked down the stairs into the water and didn’t even flinch as the lukewarm water lapped against what were now small abrasions….The only good thing about becoming a Were was the fast healing.  Not much else was good about it as far as I’m concerned.

I couldn’t help but sigh as the water relaxed all of me.  I swam over to where Blue had put soaps before and sure enough they were still there.  What I didn’t expect was Lord Asshole to join me. He must have stripped out of his stuffed shirt attire when I was relaxing.

He was damn quiet too. Stealthy. “What?” And his eyes were way too intense.

“What, kitten?”

“As if you don’t know?! Why are you staring at me like that?” His arrogant smirk that makes him look…well…hot…not that I’ll ever tell him that…was back in full force.

“I am afraid, I do not kitten…please tell me how I am looking at you?”

“Like you want to eat me…” REALLY?! That’s the best my brain could flipping put out! At least I hadn’t had to call him Master!

“Hmmm….eating…no.  Sucking….That depends on the way you mean that, and how hungry we both are….”

AN: Sorry for the delayed, shortened chapter. Me and Mine had a very busy, very interesting weekend to say the least.  Coming up next – What sucking will be done? And by who? Also- just how pissed off is Adolphus going to be about the umm…multiplication of his beloved George.

Thank you as always for your reviews. Next time I’ll put a personal note back to each one. I just really wanted to get you all something to chew on for now =).