The Value of a Life: A Vampire's Love Story By The Mistress of The Rose

Nick was at the crime scene by the time Tracy arrived, looking more than a little flushed. Seeing the new marks on the back of her neck, he knew where Vachon had headed off to in such a hurry. He envied them.

Natalie was there, too, examining the body found next to the dormitory. This time, everything pointed to the same sad but safe conclusion: the idiot fell off the roof drunk. "What do we have here, Natalie?" Nick insinuated himself closer, only to have her counter his move with her own away from him. "Still angry with me?"

Natalie started her report as if he'd never spoken. "His neck snapped on impact. From the smell of him, lots of liquor involved. I'll have the tests done up, but this one looks easy. No homocide here, detectives."

She gathered her things and walked off, only to be brought up short by Nick's hand on her arm. "Please, Nat, can't we talk?"

"Words are being exchanged. I believe that defines talking, Nick."

Remembering her challenge to make her believe in his love, Nick jerked her body against his. Nick took advantage of her suprise, plunging his tongue in her mouth and kissing her. She was so shocked it took her a moment to realize she was kissing him back. She pulled away only to see Tracy and the other officers quickly looking away, amusement on their faces. "Nick, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Kissing you, Natalie. I intend to do it often." Nick walked away. Natalie found her normally quick wit stymied, and sputtered ineffectually.

Tracy sidled up to the still sputtering Natalie. "Looks like things are heating up, hmm, Natalie?" She walked away laughing, leaving a very confused coroner behind.

***

"Pretty dull night, wouldn't you say?" Tracy and Nick had been reviewing old cases, trying to find the one elusive clue that could solve an old crime. Time dragged by, especially for Tracy. Her thoughts were on what the evening would bring.

"I don't know, Tracy, I don't think your whole evening was a loss." Never looking up from his file, Nick could hear her quick intake of breath. "By the way, did you have car trouble tonight? I heard you left the station long before I left for the college. So what took you so long to get there?" He was feeling particularly good this evening. Proving himself to Natalie might be a fun undertaking after all.

"Nick, just shut up, okay?" Tracy could feel herself blushing. "By the way, nice kiss."

"You saw that? Good. I hope everyone did."

"So you're finally getting smart, huh? About time. Let's just hope you're not too late. Natalie is purely pissed at you." The little sister strikes back.

"That's okay. I'll win her over."

"Don't be too cocky, Nick."

"How could she resist my charm, my finesse, my good looks?" They laughed. Stepping into each other's worlds sealed their relationship. They were finally friends.

***

Natalie was finishing the tests on the poor dumb sod when she sensed a presence. Spinning around, she found herself nose to nose with Vachon. "Don't do that!" Why do vampires have such morbid senses of humor, she thought irritably.

Vachon just smiled. He looked around, counting the long-stemmed roses. He also saw a bunch of long-stemmed stems with the buds cut off. "Symbolic offerings?" he mused.

Natalie blushed. She had been so flustered after returning from the crime scene, she decided to cut the buds off of all the flowers. After about a dozen, she realized she was being a tad childish, and stopped. That one dozen did feel good, though.

"I was pissed off. Take it as a warning." She turned back to the corpse. "So what brings you here tonight, Vachon?" She wanted to look at his cut. The implications of that one little cut were astounding.

"It's Tracy. I'm really worried about Tracy. I think I'm infecting her somehow."

"Oh brother. She was just in here telling me she's afraid she's poisoning you, now you're afraid you're infecting her. Get it straight, guys. You are a vampire. She is a mortal. This is NOT supposed to happen. Gee, do ya think there might be some side effects?"

"A bit on the acerbic side tonight, aren't we?"

"Yes, WE are." Natalie sighed. She liked Vachon. She liked Vachon for Tracy. He wasn't the vampire she wanted to stake. "I'm sorry, Vachon. Tough night, okay?"

Vachon took in the tension in Natalie's neck and shoulders, and walked behind her. She jerked when he began massaging her shoulders, then relaxed as his hands worked magic on her tensions. "Nick came to see me tonight," he began quietly. "If it's any comfort, he really is afraid he'd kill you if he ever got close enough. I don't agree, but his concern is sincere, if misguided." Natalie was quiet, but her mind was racing. Nick went to Vachon!

Then her own memories flooded her fantasies, and her shoulders slumped. "Well, this is beyond the vamp/mortal thing anyway. The fact is, I don't believe he loves me, not enough, not like-" Natalie's words stopped abruptly, but Vachon knew where they were leading.

"Like I love Tracy?" Natalie nodded. "Thanks, Nat. I haven't been looked up to alot in my life, and it kind of feels good. You're a good woman, Natalie."

Shaking off her turmoil, the doctor returned. Walking to her desk, she picked up her notes on Vachon and Tracy. "Anyway, back to you and Tracy. I want to know why you think you're infecting Tracy. But first I want to take a look at that cut of yours." Vachon offered his hand, and Natalie studied it. It looked like a minor thing, something a little Neosporin and a bandaid would fix. She gathered her things and fixed him up. "Does it hurt?'

"Nah, nothing like that. It's just weird." Vachon was silent. "I'm becoming mortal, aren't I," he asked quietly. Natalie looked into his incredible eyes, and saw the fear within.

"I don't know, Vachon. Maybe. Maybe it's just that Tracy's blood is altering your ability to heal. Are your other vampirisms intact?"

"'Vampirisms?' Nice word. Like what?"

"Can you fly? Do you need to drink blood? Is your strength beyond mortal abilities?"

"Yes, yes, and yes. Second yes is weird, though."

"Do you mean drinking blood is strange to you now?"

"No. It's just that..." Vachon struggled with the words. "I only want Tracy's blood. I was thinking that if her blood is making me mortal, maybe if I drank from someone else, it would counteract her blood, you know? Only, the thing is, I couldn't do it. It's not that I wouldn't do it, I couldn't do it. The hunger just wasn't there. But I think about Tracy's blood, and I fly across town just to have her." He sounded so exasperated.

Natalie remembered Tracy's late arrival at the crime scene, and understood Vachon's last statement. She smiled to herself. Vachon misunderstood. "It's not funny, Natalie." Now he sounded petulant.

"Vachon, I was just figuring out why Tracy was late tonight. Don't be sensitive. Sheesh! Men!" She made notes on Vachon, then turned to him again. "Okay, now tell me why you think you're infecting Tracy."

"Well, she's changing."

"Changing how?"

If it were possible, she would have sworn this vampire blushed. "Sexually."

Natalie sighed to cover her smile. Men, either mortal or vampire, are so funny about sex. They can tell the lewdest stories, but the mildest comments are off limits about the women they love. She wondered if he knew how much Tracy had shared with her.

"Vachon, think of me as your doctor, okay? You're going to have to answer in sentences of more than one word."

"She's wild, okay? She's Tracy one minute, then all this wild side is coming out of her. She bit me!"

Natalie buried her face in her charts as she pretended to make notes. She had a feeling this had very little to do with Vampire Infection Syndrome, and a whole lot to do with Tracy letting go for the first time. "Go on," she prodded.

"Well, then she licked the blood off my lips, and she's being all demanding about tonight. She said she's in charge, and I have to be 'obedient.' Now tell me, does that sound like Tracy to you?"

Natalie was in pain. The need to laugh at this poor confused vampire was riding her hard, but biting on her inner cheek seemed to balance out the laughter. "Okay, I can see why you're confused. If you want, I'll run some tests on the both of you."

She sobered, needing to explain herself. "Vachon, you know I've been working with Nick on a cure, right?" He nodded. "Well, studying you and Tracy will help me alot. I'll work with you for you, but I wanted to be honest about all my motivations."

Vachon stared in her eyes long enough to unnerve her. "Don't be mad, okay?"

He smiled. "I'm not mad, Natalie. I just haven't dealt with someone with as much honor as you ever, even before I became a vampire. You are a rare and special woman. I hope Nick appreciates what he has."

Natalie was embarrassed. "Yeah, well, let's just keep that little secret between us. I've worked hard on the reputation of the slightly off ME who talks to her corpses." She turned to her tools, finding a syringe. Turning to Vachon, she was startled to find a look of pure consternation on his face.

"What's that for?" The little petulant boy was back.

"I'll need a sample of your blood to run some tests on. I'll measure the levels of the vampire agent I've identified in Nick's blood in your own. Then I'll check Tracy's, to see if she's been infected. Will that put your mind at ease?"

"Thanks, Natalie." He rolled up his sleeve. His elegant eyebrows slanted down towards his nose. "I hate needles."

Men! she thought, loving the little dears all the more for the few minutes she spent in this man's presence.

***

When Vachon got to the church his phone was ringing. "Javier? It's me, Tracy."

"I recognized the voice."

"Funny. Listen, give me an hour, then come to my apartment, okay? I've got something special planned for you."

Vachon felt something shifting inside of him. This desire to please her wasn't yet at home in his heart. It was, however, undeniable. "See you in an hour."

Tracy was energized, exhilerated. She was also aroused to the point of pain. Thoughts of this evening hounded her mercilessly, planning the seduction of the vampire. Lighting candles around her apartment, she was slick with anticipation.

Reaching for her second glass of Bailey's, she let her head roll back on her shoulders, enjoying the simple buzz, the slight greasing of the path of her inhibitions. She felt them slipping away minute by minute, and nearly attacked the door when the bell rang. She opened the door to find a vision of beauty and heat. Vachon had dressed for her. He wore a suit from another time, perhaps the early 1900's. Dressed in black, his white tuxedo shirt was tied with a simple cord, Spanish-looking. The black of his clothes set off the pale of his skin until he looked carved of alabaster.

He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, he thought. Standing before him in a rose colored chemise, the simplicity of the gown heightened her own beauty. He looked at her flushed cheeks, smelling the bouquet of Irish Creme. He studied her graceful neck, her sweet breasts. He gazed at her long long legs. Returning his eyes to her face, he offered her a single daisy. "I thought you might be tired of roses."

"Thank you, Javier. Come in." His ears had come to crave her hot, husky voice. She took him by the hand and led him through an enchanted maze of candles, finally seating him on the couch. "Can I get you anything?" He smiled. She could only imagine what he wanted.

"Are you willing to do what I say tonight?" Vachon stared at her, blinking twice, then finally nodded. "Good. Then stand up and take off your clothes. Slowly," she commanded. Picking up her drink, she settled herself against the pillows of her oh-so-sensible couch.

Vachon allowed himself to slip into her fantasy. Standing before her, he heard the sounds of an old Rossington Collins album on her stereo. Down and dirty music, he thought.

Staring into her eyes, making her look into his, he slowly began undoing his bolero. Feeling the music, refusing to move in time, he achingly undid each of the buttons of his shirt, his cuffs. Pulling the shirt from his pants, he left it hanging open, and took this time to stretch. The shirt fell open even more, showing the beautiful pattern of hair on his chest and stomach. Tracy felt an urge to rub her face through the beautiful forest, and had to consciously keep herself on the couch. She breathed deeply.

Vachon's vampire senses had long since kicked in, and he could smell her rising need. He removed his jacket and slowly turned away from her. Letting his shirt drop off one shoulder, then the other, she saw his sculpted shoulders, and caught her breath. As the shirt fell to the floor, he stretched high, causing his muscles to ripple and move. He heard her breath break. She didn't know if she could continue.

Vachon's back was still to her. He kicked off his boots, shucked his socks. She saw he was unbuttoning his pants. They slipped off his smooth tight hips, revealing strong legs. Turning to her, she stopped breathing. Vachon standing before her in candlelight, strong, aroused, beautiful, was beyond any dream, any fantasy. The reality of this man took over, and she fell to her knees in front of him.

"Be still, I won't hurt you," she commanded. She proceeded to torture him with lips and teeth and tongue, biting his thighs, running her hands along the furred beauty of his legs. Feeling him edging ever closer to his goal, she stopped, giving him once last long slow glide of her tongue. Standing, she walked away from him, only to stop at the doorway of her bedroom to look back invitingly. "Are you coming?" she asked.

He refrained from his usual comment, and followed her obediently.

He stopped short when entering her bedroom. Tied to the headboard and footboard were four nylons, obviously meant for him. "You're going to tie me up?"

"I know you could escape if you want to, but you promised me," she reminded him. "I'm counting on your honor not to escape." One time she's not satisfied, he thought, and she wants to tie me up. He didn't think he'd EVER do that again!

"Tracy," he hedged. "Are you sure about this?" She nodded. He climbed into the bed, and Tracy promptly tied him up. She then walked to the foot of the bed.

"So many times I've dreamed of having you at my mercy. Long before we were lovers. Tonight you're mine." She bent and bit his foot. She moved up just a tad and bit just below his ankle. The feel of her teeth pressing into his flesh, hard enough to feel, yet not breaking skin, was a stimulation he'd not experienced.

"I'm yours every night, Tracy. Forever." His words urged her on, and she continued nibbling up his body. She worked her way up calves, knees, thighs. She looked at his legs, and counted 20 bite marks. Biting his hips, she felt herself lifted off the bed from the force of his thrust.

"Lie still." She continued to his stomach, sinking her teeth into his rippled musculature. Biting her way to his chest, she finally rubbed her face in the smooth mat of hair she longed for. Biting his shoulders, she made her way down one arm, through each finger, sucking after each bite. Finding his other arm, she repeated the process completely.

By the time she reached his neck, he was covered with the blood sweat of the vampire and shaking in his need. Her need was so strong she felt like a completely new Tracy, knowing she had never been this hungry, this base.

Swinging her long legs over his hips, she found him and impaled herself on him. His thrust nearly sent her tumbling, so she held on even tighter. The ride was wild. Vachon was savage in his need, yet never broke the bonds he so easily could have shredded. Climbing, seeking, they finally reached their peaks together, and Tracy's cry as she brought her neck to him was enough to alert the neighbors.

Cuddling Vachon's body, she realized his arms were now around her, the bonds broken. She wondered if she could use that as an excuse to do this again as she drifted off to sleep, her fantasies fulfilled.

***

Natalie walked to her car carrying one of the several dozen roses from the morgue. On her car was a present. Looking around, Natalie sensed yet could not see Nick. She opened the present to find a simple length of satin, colored in the deepest red. With it was a note:

"Natalie - I dream of you and your softness. I will find my way back to you. I will see you wrapped in this and calling my name. We will be together. I love you - Nick."

Driving home was hell.

****

RMK

Chapter 9