Smoke filled the air, but Karrina Winston didn't smell it. All she could smell was the overwhelming scent of her favorite denizen, sliced open and feeding someone somewhere in the den. Her fangs ached, venom swirling in her mouth and down her throat as she tried to control the hunger. She'd already been warned once by the owner that "such flagrant displays of possessive behavior toward someone she did not own" would not be tolerated, so in essence, Karrina was on probation.

But Mistress E had had decades to curb her baser instincts and learn to control her urges into finely-tuned instruments of power and prestige. Karrina had only had three years. She still felt starving most of the time. And that combined with the draw she felt to this girl... it was nearly impossible to behave. She was drooling venom now, the restraint she was employing almost physically painful.

And now she would have to wait. Or feed on someone less desirable.

Eva noticed the pacing vampire and made her way across the lobby. "Your self-restraint is duly noted and very much appreciated, Miss Winston. Would you care for an appetizer while you await your main course?"

"No, thank you," Karrina said tightly, digging her fingernails into her palms as she continued pacing.

"Miss Winston," Eva said more sharply, "have a snack. It wouldn't do for you to bleed her dry when she's just finished feeding another client."

Karrina knew she was right, but she didn't want to feed from anyone else. Becca's blood was fucking irreplaceable. "I'll be fine," she insisted.

Eva's eyes darkened. "If you harm her, I will personally slit your throat with my fingernails and remove your head from your body. I hope that's clear."

"Crystal," Karrina said through clenched teeth.

The longer she had to wait, the more out of control she felt. Her pacing got more frenzied and she wound her hands in her hair, pulling at it to try to feel something other than pure, dripping want.

Just as she was about to burst through the doors to the back, she sent a little thank-you prayer skyward - yes, she was aware of the irony of that - because Becca finally emerged. Karrina stopped herself from grabbing the woman by the arm and dragging her into a corner of the lobby. "Hi," she said instead, lamely.

"I would ask if you're ready but you're always ready, darling," Becca said in that captivating British accent that Karrina came apart replaying in her mind when she touched herself.

Karrina wanted to be away from the eyes of Mistress E, so she didn't answer, knowing Becca would take that for what it was and not be insulted.

"Of course, you and the boss lady don't get along," she teased, taking Karrina's hand and leading her through the heavy double doors to the private area beyond.

When they were alone, Karrina pushed her against the wall and inhaled sharply. "I can smell him all over you," she snarled.

"Not all over me, darling," Becca drawled with a smirk. "You know I always save my throat for you."

Karrina's pupils dilated, then contracted as she could no longer restrain herself and bit hard into the pale column of Becca's throat. She liked to feed right from the front, not the side, so she could feel every breath the human took. Becca didn't seem to mind, even though she had some nasty-looking scars from the one time Karrina tore too much skin.

After her hunger had been sated she apologized more than a dozen times, almost in tears, and Becca kept telling her it was okay.

"I'm so sorry, Becca, really, I just--"

"Stop apologizing, darling. If I wanted to be like everyone else and fit into a certain mold I wouldn't be here. I like my scars, and I wouldn't let you near my throat if I cared about having it torn open. Now calm the fuck down," she concluded with a smile.

Becca groaned and tilted her head back, trying to edge them toward the sofa across the room. "Karrina, darling, let's lie down, please?"

Karrina sucked forcefully but moved as she was guided, crawling over Becca when she laid down.

Pleasure flooded her body as the sweet viscous liquid poured down her throat and heated her insides. Her mind was not idle; as she fed, the twisting, churning, desperate addiction to this woman slowly began to be satisfied. It was as if each reckless swallow bathed a different part of the addiction - need, desire, control, connection - and the urge to suffocate herself in pools of Becca's blood became slowly less intense.

Though the flames were doused, so to speak, the deep-seated craving to possess and devour the pale, gasping woman beneath her would never be extinguished. She could drown in the sight, smell and feel of Becca Ford and not an instant would be less than blissful.

Apparently she was drowning in the sight, smell and feel of Becca because suddenly she became aware of hands roughly shoving her.

"Jesus Christ, Karrina!" Becca panted, the color drained from her face. She'd used all her strength to push the vampire off of her and it was hard to draw a full breath.

Karrina swiped the back of her hand across her lips, intending to clean her face, but all she did was smear Becca's blood across her cheek. She said nothing. She couldn't speak yet; she was still too clouded. Every time she drank she needed time for the intoxicants in human blood to settle and retreat back past the blood-brain barrier they'd penetrated.

"Are you trying to fucking kill me? Bloody hell," Becca said weakly, barely able to reach over to the coffee table for a cloth to press to her still-bleeding throat.

When the bloodlust and confusion finally stopped swirling, Karrina quickly moved to hold the cloth to Becca's throat for her. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "You're just so mind-numbingly decadent." She moved from being on all fours over Becca to sitting beside her, and slid one arm under the woman's shoulders, cradling her as she helped stop the blood flow.

"Be that as it may," Becca said, leaning into the embrace, "if you can't stop when you should know to stop, I'll have to have an escort accompany us in the future. I don't think you want that, darling. You say things to me sometimes that would have you positively banned from this den."

If it were physically possible for her to blush, Karrina would have. She was, however, properly chastised, and looked away from Becca to hide her embarrassment.

"Perhaps you should stop trying to deny your addiction and come see me before it gets this out of hand," Becca suggested gently. "If you weren't starving, you'd control yourself better. You know this, I know this, Mistress E knows this."

At the mention of the den's owner, Karrina sighed. "You're right, of course. It's just so hard to be dependent on something. I fight it because it goes against everything I believed in as a human."

"Addiction and dependency are not things to be believed in or disbelieved. They simply are."

Karrina sighed again, resisting - not for the first time - the urge to kiss Becca's forehead. "Is it good enough if I promise to try?"

"No," Becca said, slowly gaining back some strength the longer they rested and the less she bled. "If you’re not back here in three days, I'll refuse to see you."

Karrina almost cried out at that. "Please don't do that." The thought of Becca refusing to see her made her unbeating heart constrict. "I'll be back in three days," she promised.

Becca nodded, then closed her eyes and let Karrina support her full weight while she finished recovering from the extra blood loss. If anyone else had done that to her they'd already be out on their asses, forbidden from returning. If Mistress E knew it had happened, she wouldn't care that Becca had a soft spot for Karrina - Karrina would be forbidden to return.

"I've never lost control the way I do with you," Karrina said quietly after a long while of silence.

Becca let out a soft moan of appreciation and carefully took the cloth away from her throat, fairly certain the wound had coagulated. She ran her fingertip gently over one side of that jagged scar Karrina had left her with and sighed. "Well you're only three, aren't you?" she teased to cover up the swell of emotion the vampire's words evoked. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

Already halfway lost in thought, Karrina just nodded absently and murmured something like 'mhmm'. But they both knew that wasn't the case.

--

As soon as Karrina had left the building Becca headed home. Her job wasn't nearly as intense most of the time, but after feeding Karrina she was always too tired to continue working. Or maybe that's what she told herself, but really once she'd been with that woman, no one else compared. No one else talked to her the way Karrina did, treated her the way Karrina did, wanted her the way Karrina did... and especially respected her the way Karrina did, even if she was prone to fits of overindulgence.

Who could blame anyone else for overindulging? Becca certainly couldn't, that fact ringing in her ears as she unshouldered her bag and went straight for the coffee table in the living room where her oblivion was waiting. She always left a line or two ready when she went to work in the morning, knowing she would be too drained to be bothered when she got home. And she needed her fix. While blood was Karrina's vice, cocaine was hers.

She sank to her knees between the sofa and the table, picking up the hollowed-out shaft of a ballpoint pen that she'd destroyed earlier that week. She held her hair out of the way with one hand and snorted the fine white powder, inhaling sharply several times and tilting her head back with a long, drawn-out groan, pushing herself up onto the sofa where she could lay down, boneless.

She let her right arm hang off the edge of the sofa, one leg bent at the knee and the other stretched out barely on the cushions, and just let the feeling of numbness creep into her body and mind. She adored this sofa even though it was covered in rips, snags and stains. She could easily afford a new one, but it was the most comfortable thing she'd ever experienced in her entire life.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see stacks of dishes on the kitchen counter and clothes strewn everywhere in the living room, and she silently cursed them all, refusing to do anything about them tonight. She could barely move, let alone have the energy to clean. She would take the day off tomorrow and clean the house. Maybe. If she could be assed to get off this cloud.

--

True to her word, Karrina returned to Mistress E's three days later, slightly hungry but nowhere near starving. The girl’s scent still drove her crazy, but it was more of a quiet pulse than a pounding bass drum. Becca was in the lobby speaking to Mistress E when she walked in.

Noticing Karrina, Becca couldn't help the grin that spread across her face that the vampire had kept her word. When she was excused from the conversation she made her way over and laid a hand on the vampire's arm. "Karrina," she said, tugging her toward the back. "It's lovely to see you."

Karrina was nervous and self-conscious. This was a terrible idea. Without the blinding need to consume overpowering her senses she was left with room for all manner of thoughts. When they were in their room - she was always brought to the same one - Becca reclined on the sofa and patted the space next to her.

"It's especially lovely to see you not in a frenzy."

Karrina sat and looked away, hands folded in her lap. "I don't think you understand," she started, her voice catching. "If I'm not starving, I can't make myself do it."

If that surprised Becca, she didn't show it. "Karrina, darling, look at me." When Karrina looked, she continued. "That's part of my job. I'll help you through it." It was in no way part of her job.

Karrina just shrugged, not sure what to do.

Becca turned and opened the drawer of the nightstand beside the sofa, drawing out her Swiss Army knife and opening one of the blades. She made a thin, shallow cut across the center of her throat, barely enough to bleed, and with a quiet moan she slid a hand around the back of Karrina's neck and guided the vampire's mouth to the broken skin.

Karrina gasped, a need pulsing through her that had nothing to do with hunger.

Becca held Karrina's head against her, tightening her fist around a handful of dark hair. "That's it, darling," she whispered encouragingly. "Drink."

Karrina was so close. So close. "I can't," she said, wrenching free of Becca's grasp. "You still don't understand. For me, feeding has to be about survival. If I'm not crawling the walls with aching, gnawing hunger then this is about something entirely different. And I don't think you want three fingers buried in your cunt while I suck your throat," she said bitterly.

On the inside, Becca was spellbound. Her body burned and throbbed at the vampire's words. On the outside she forced a subtle smirk. "While I can't say the idea is ghastly, I do think it would be rather forward of you given that we've never even discussed holding hands." She tapped a finger to her lips in feigned thought. "Would they be your fingers or mine? I must admit I don't usually use three..."

Karrina growled in frustration and turned for the door.

"Karrina!" Becca was on her feet in an instant.

Karrina stopped but didn't turn.

"I'm sorry. You can come back when you're ready and I promise not to refuse to see you... no matter what state you're in. But the situation will require an escort, I hope you understand."

Karrina breathed a sigh of relief. An escort was the least of her worries at this point. She turned back to look at Becca, every fiber in her body aching to be with her but knowing it wasn't allowed. She did close the distance between them, though, and whispered in Becca's ear. "I wish you were mine." And without waiting for a reaction, she left.

Becca stared at the door long after Karrina had slammed it behind her, then flopped onto the sofa, running a hand over her face. "That's one of those things you say that would get you banned," she sighed. "Even if the feeling is mutual."

--

"You look like shit. No, actually you look like what shit would consider shit."

Karrina snarled at her partner. "I'm trying to stay away from the blood den."

"Uh, doesn't that mean you'll die? What the fuck, Winston?"

Karrina snarled again. "I won't let it get that far, of course. I just hate being a slave to it."

"I don't know if you realize, but we're all slaves to our food. You're not unique in that category. If we don't eat, we die. If you don't drink, you die."

"Yes, but when you eat a bowl of cereal, does it drain the life out of someone else?"

"Obviously not. Unless it's Lucky Charms and that little leprechaun guy--"

"And when you eat a bowl of cereal, do you practically orgasm?" Karrina interrupted her.

"Depends on whether my girl’s under the table while I'm eating."

"Oh my God. Why do I even try?"

"Because deep down you're a masochist?"

That at least got a snort of amusement from the vampire. "I must be."

--

Becca was starting to get nervous. It was way past the time Karrina usually came stalking into the den in a frenzy. Two days past, to be exact. She tried to tell herself that Karrina had probably just ended up going somewhere else, but the nagging feeling that the vampire was starving herself kept poking at her.

Her fears were allayed and confirmed at the same time when the doors opened and an unconscious Karrina was being carried inside by two women. She was over to them in a heartbeat. "What's wrong with her?" she asked, trying to sound casual, but her voice betrayed her and broke more than once within the four-word sentence.

"You must be Becca," Dana said with a grunt of effort as she tried to hand Karrina over.

"Are you mad? I'm not a vampire, I can't hold her up by myself when she's out cold! Follow me," she said, clearly unhappy as she led them through the doors to the back. She continued on to her and Karrina's usual room, motioning to the sofa. "Lay her down. What happened?"

"It seems our dear Miss Winston doesn't know the meaning of 'Jesus Christ, eat something before you waste away'," Dana’s girlfriend explained.

Dana growled at her. "Stop making jokes."

"That wasn't a joke."

"So she's not injured, just starving?" Becca asked, reaching for the nightstand drawer and her Swiss Army knife again.

"Correct," Dana confirmed.

"And who are you?" Becca asked as she made a cut on her wrist. It would be easiest to feed Karrina from a source she could maneuver.

"I'm her partner."

Becca stopped breathing, stopped moving, stopped existing for the briefest of moments before she slid her cool mask back into place and held her wrist to Karrina's mouth.

The girlfriend didn't miss a thing. "Not that kind of partner, sweetie," she whispered. "They're in the FBI."

Dana gave one of those one-syllable laughs like "heh" and shook her head. "You thought I meant... no. One psychopath is enough for me.”

Becca tried to put all her focus in making sure enough blood was getting into Karrina's mouth. When it seemed to be taking too long, she made the cut bigger. Finally she saw the vampire's eyelids starting to flutter. "It's working," she said, her voice flooded with relief.

Suddenly Karrina's eyes flew open and the only things she was aware of were fresh, sweet blood pouring into her mouth and the muscle-wrenching pain throughout her entire body.

Becca's eyes widened when she saw how black Karrina's were. She'd never seen Karrina's eyes look like that, even when she was in a frenzy. "Karrina?" she whispered.

Karrina was vaguely aware of someone speaking, but her entire being was focused on the blood at her mouth, and her fangs sank in deep. She couldn't get enough.

Becca gasped when she felt Karrina's fangs, but honestly she was just grateful the vampire was waking up. A few minutes later Karrina grabbed her wrist and held it tightly while she shot upright on the sofa.

Karrina was finally aware enough to at least know it was Becca's blood she was drinking. She had no idea how she got here, but she didn't care one way or another. She drank like she'd never had a drop of blood in her life. "I want to feel you," she murmured against the broken skin at her lips.

Becca wasn't sure what that meant so she offered her throat.

Karrina's hands went to the human's waist and fingertips dug sharply into her hip bones. "No," she said, grabbing the waistband of Becca's jeans on either side and trying to tug them down. "Your thighs. I want-- I need-- please," she gasped desperately.

Not sure what to say, Becca debated whether to allow it, and finally unbuttoned her pants.

Karrina groaned and pushed them down as far as she could, which was around Becca's knees, then maneuvered Becca onto her back and crawled over her, dropping her head between the gasping woman's legs and biting hard into the soft, smooth flesh of her thigh. She groaned in appreciation, her mouth burning with the need to consume.

Dana took that as their cue to leave and practically dragged her gawking girlfriend out the door.

It was an entirely new sensation for Becca. She had never offered such an intimate part of herself to one of her clients. She threw her head back, writhing beneath the vampire, not to get away, but simply from an inability to hold still because it felt so good. When she started to get dizzy and a little too weak, she pushed at Karrina's head. "That's enough," she said.

Karrina was crazed by now and barely aware Becca was even speaking. But she felt the push and backed off, though it took every single ounce of self-control she had in her to do it.

Surprised but pleased, Becca grabbed a cloth from the table and held it to her thigh.

"I'm still hungry," Karrina growled after a minute or two.

"Just wait awhile, darling, and you can have me again," Becca said fondly. "I promise. Just sit with me and wait. Thank you, Karrina, for stopping when I needed you to."

"Why are your pants down?" As soon as she asked the question her memory served her and she hid her face. "Oh my God. I'm sorry. Do you want me to pull them up? Or-- I mean are you still bleeding?"

"It's all right, darling," Becca laughed softly. "You asked permission, remember?"

Karrina felt like she was blushing even though it was impossible. But she was almost certain it was happening. There was no way to feel this level of humiliation without turning red.

"There must be something special about you," Becca continued, teasing now. "I've never dropped my pants for a client."

"Fuck off," Karrina groaned, refusing to uncover her face.

Becca scooted closer. "Do you remember what you said before that?"

"No." Maybe she did.

"You said you wanted to feel me," Becca breathed. "What did you mean?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to feel you. Everything about you... surrounding me and holding the rest of the world at bay."

"And feeding from my thigh accomplished that?"

"Mildly."

"And what would moderately or extremely accomplish it?"

Karrina slowly took her hands away from her face and gazed wistfully into Becca's eyes. "You know what would, Becca."

And then Becca said "do it" at the same time Karrina said "I should go now".

The vampire blinked. "What?" She swore she could feel her heart pound.

"Do it," Becca repeated. "I'm tired of pretending it's not what I want. Bury three fingers in my cunt while you suck my throat," she essentially begged, trying to get her pants all the way off.

Karrina was staggered, and part of her thought she should refuse, should leave and give Becca time to think about whether it was something she really wanted or if it was just a heat of the moment decision. The stronger part of her knew that they'd been dancing around this for months. So she grabbed the waistband of Becca's underwear, dragging them down around her knees. "Are you wet?" she growled.

Becca blushed at the frank question but nodded. "Yes."

Somewhere amidst the haze of arousal, Karrina managed to smirk. "I'm not talking dirty, I just need to know so I don't hurt you," she purred, lowering her mouth to Becca's throat. She bit down just as her hand dropped between Becca's thighs and she pushed three fingers deep inside.

Becca cried out loudly, then quickly covered her mouth to keep quiet. If a bouncer came in now she'd be thrown out alongside Karrina. "Bloody hell, Karrina," she gasped through her splayed fingers. "God, yes."

Karrina wasn't gentle. She moved her fingers at a demanding pace, and she could feel she was stretching the fragile human, but Becca wasn't complaining... and Karrina loved that. She got off on that - knowing it probably hurt a little but not enough to be worth objecting to. She would never want to damage Becca, but causing pain excited the more primal part of her. "You're really fucking wet," she murmured when she could take a moment's break from drinking. "And yes, now I'm talking dirty."

"I don't think you realize how much I've wanted you," Becca gasped, throwing her head back with another loud moan as Karrina sped up her fingers. Her hips rocked, though she was confined by her jeans around her knees and Karrina's body half on top of her. "Of course I'm fucking wet. You're practically a walking wet dream, darling."

Karrina gave a particularly forceful thrust and reveled in Becca's whimper. "I wonder if your blood will change taste when you come," she hissed.

Karrina was hurting her, but in that delicious way that blurred the lines between pleasure and pain. Her entire body throbbed with the need she felt to come apart. "You think you can make me come?" she challenged, breathless.

"You sound like you don't want to find out," Karrina said darkly, slowing the pace of her fingers.

"Oh dear God, Karrina, please don't stop..."

Karrina smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. "Apologize."

"I'm sorry," Becca said desperately.

"No, I don't think so," Karrina said thoughtfully.

When she felt the vampire start to withdraw her fingers, Becca let out a wordless whine and then apologized again. "I am, I'm sorry, it was a stupid thing to say and I never should've said it. Please, Karrina, please," she begged.

Karrina chewed her bottom lip, debating.

"Oh for God's fucking sake, please!" Becca raged, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Karrina clamped a hand over Becca's mouth as she relented and started pushing again. "Do you want someone to come in and throw me out?"

Becca shook her head and placed a kiss to Karrina's palm, trying to settle back in to the rhythm she had almost lost.

"Will you be quiet?"

Becca nodded.

Karrina took her hand away from the woman's mouth so she could return to the delicious blood flowing from her throat. It only took a few more fierce thrusts to tear Becca apart. She could feel when it was about to happen; the anticipation, the threshold being held and then crossed, and she could feel it when it happened, the human's muscles coiling and burning and shaking, then going completely slack.

She left her fingers inside while she finished drinking, and slowly withdrew them only when she needed to reach over and grab a cloth for Becca's wound. She pressed it gently to her skin, enjoying the view of the sultry little Brit sweaty and sated beneath her.

They stayed silent for awhile - until Becca's throat stopped bleeding, actually - and Karrina tossed the cloth into the trash and pulled the girl to her feet, helping her fix up her jeans and panties.

Becca stood and let Karrina fuss over dressing her, and when her clothes were in place she reached down to button and zip her jeans.

"Out of curiosity, why did you choose to question the prowess of a vampire during sex?" Karrina asked, suddenly wanting to know.

"I don't know! I was caught up in the moment! It was whimsical! I thought it would be challengingly sexy! Christ, I want to fall into a black hole right now."

Despite herself, Karrina laughed. "Well I suppose I could have chosen to view it as challengingly sexy instead of downright rude," she said pointedly.

Becca blushed to the roots of her hair. "Can we please talk about it, say, never again?"

Karrina considered it. "I swear on my honor as an undead citizen that I will never bring it up again."

Becca turned to face her and sighed, stepping closer, uncrossing her arms to rest her hands on Karrina's waist. "Here's the thing, Karrina. I am enamored with you. I do not ever want to offend or hurt you, and I very much do want to please you, in every way possible."

"I'll hold you to that,” Karrina told her.

"That’s fair," Becca agreed with another sigh, this one of relief. "You know, this is the longest conversation we've ever had. Usually you're starving to death, you feed, and then you're gone."

"Out of propriety, not by choice," Karrina reminded her. "Your boss doesn't like me."

"You haven't exactly been a model client," Becca said with a quiet chuckle.

"Wait... back to the previous topic... you said you're enamored with me. What exactly do you mean by that? I feel like that's a term that hasn't been used since the 19th century."

Becca laughed softly. "Good night, Miss Winston."

Karrina's mouth pulled up in a half smirk and she curtsied gracefully. "Good night, Miss Ford."

--

Eva was in the middle of a conversation with a prospective client when she nearly choked on the smell of sex. She spun sharply to face Miss Winston, already knowing who that scent had come from and therefore who it would be emerging from the back.

Karrina realized at the same moment Mistress E did that the other vampires - especially ones who had been around as long as Mistress E - would smell sex on her.

"Please--" Karrina started to say, but the blonde's hand shot up to silence her.

"As I have said before, Miss Winston," she intoned dangerously, "if you harm her, I will personally slit your throat with my fingernails and remove your head from your body."

Shocked at not being immediately banned from the den, Karrina simply nodded and made a hasty exit. Next time she was taking Becca home with her.