Rodriguez looked at her and shook his head. Returning his shirt to its resting place against his skin. â€œThere is no need to apologize Christy. I would have done anything and everything for you. Even kill for you.â€ He smiled a sad smile. â€œIt was worth it...to see you smile before you fell asleep.â€ He shook his head a bit. Closing his eyes as he started to doze off unitl his stomach reminded he was hungry. Yet again. He leaned back against the headboard. â€œThe less you knew the harder it would be to find you. The more you knew the easier time they would have in finding you. It might not make much sense but it was for your best interest that you knew nothing. If you knew enough to know who I was when I appeared then you would know enough for Vincent and the others to track down your energy signature.â€ He said. Yawning slightly. â€œSo Nana and I both agreed that for your safety...we would wait until you were old enough for marking. I do apologize for the way I went about things Christy. I am merely doing what I felt was the right thing to do to take care of my mate.â€<br/><br/>He sighed and shook his head. â€œI am not even sure how to explain that one. I will leave it up to Nana to explain it to you.â€ He nuzzled her hair and inhaled her scent. Such a beautiful scent. â€œAll I can really say on this matter is not everything is as it seems.â€ He kissed the top of her head. â€œYou will need it. I am not lying to you. Such an amusing way you have of complaining.â€ He said with a chuckle of amusement. Nuzzling her again before just laying his head back against the headboard. Dum de dum. He knew Nana would be coming up here soon. She was not going to be happy about the bathroom door. Of this...he was certain. He had let her go and watched her lean against the headboard. It was mighty comfy for a headboard. He would not put her out of her own bed.<br/><br/>He turned his attention to the bedroom door when Nana opened it and walked in. â€œYes. Yes she is.â€ He said with a slight yawn. He hadnâ€™t gotten much sleep after sensing she had left. He was dead tired. Hahaha. Dead....tired. Dead. He wasnâ€™t dead and he wasnâ€™t really alive either. That was why the pun was so amusing to his tired mind. He listened as Nana spoke. Making a face. Geez...thanks. Leave it so she would ask him questions why donâ€™t you Nana? He yawned again. Listening still as she talked to Christy. This conversation currently wasnâ€™t directed in his direction. Yes. Not ready for the whole story. Being of a new race would be a lot to take in. It would be understandable that Christy needed to rest before she heard the whole story. He had done what he did and there was no way to take it back. He had no desire to take anything he had done to protect her back. End of story. If he had to do it over he would do it all again. Just to protect his mate and give her a chance at normality.<br/><br/>He sat up sniffing when he smelled the bloody steak. His stomach audibly growling. His facial features went into a puppy dog begging expression. It smelled soooooooo good. His stomach growled again in agreement. He hissed then growled then whimpered as she smacked him on the back of his head. For an old woman she hit pretty hard. For a human at least. He rubbed the back of his head. It didnâ€™t hurt as much as he was pretending it did. â€œOw....what was that for?â€ he said in protest. Smirking a moment later as he knew Nana would know he was just pretending. Sighing a bit. â€œYes Nana. I wasnâ€™t certain it was unlocked. I reacted and acted instead of thinking. I will fix it soon.â€ He said as he yawned again. â€œNana dearest I apologize for destroying your bathroom door.â€ He smirked in an amused way.<br/><br/>He looked at Christy and stuck his tongue out at her as he could tell she was laughing a bit at his expense. â€œIt didnâ€™t really hurt you know. Just stung a little bit. For an old lady Nana still hits hard like it was yesterday...â€ he seemed to zone out for a moment as his mind wandered down memory lane. Shaking his head and still smiling. Looking from Nana to Christy as Nana began scolding Christy as well. He looked to Christy and nodded his head. â€œIt is true. Dangerous people of the vampire clan are seeking you out. You have my marking as my mate but that will only go so far. These people want you badly. Not for anything good. Of this I can assure you.â€ He yawned a bit. â€œBesides it worried me when you vanished like that.â€ He listened to Nana as she continued. Shrugging a bit. â€œYes. They often did not share the money I always put into their bank accounts to aid and take care of Christy. She is worth every penny I ever gave them. I did it under the guise of child support but that was not really the case. However, I am supporting my mate who you are raising didnâ€™t, and still doesnâ€™t, sound like a very good explanation for why the money is appearing there.â€<br/><br/>He chuckled a bit but soon stared at the plate with the bloody steak hungrily. His eyes pleading with Nana to give it to him. Yes! Yes! Yes! Fooooooooooooooood! Fooooooooood! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! He loved the bloody steaks that Nana got. They were always really bloody and really meaty. When they were really bloody and meaty he could taste the flavor of the meat. It didnâ€™t taste like sandpaper. Nana always did get the best cuts of meet. She made sure they left almost all the blood in. Telling them it kept the meat moister longer. He took the plate with eagerness and delight. He took the silverware that Nana had put on the edge of the plate. Cutting the steak up into little pieces. Tilting the plate at a delicate angle and sipped down the blood that had pooled in the dip of the bowl. He then started to stab the steak. Taking a bite of it and began chewing. Sure it was probably weird he was eating it raw but that was the only way he could eat it. Well eat it and it taste not like sandpaper. Such was the curse of the vampire line.<br/><br/>He noted the smirk that crossed Nanaâ€™s features and stuck his tongue out at her. Sure it was childish but they had always had a playful kinship and friendship. Ever since she was a little girl. This was long before Christy was ever even born. Long before she was ever thought of. The little girl had befriended him during a time when he had temporarily lost his sight due to a fire. Due to his vampire genetics over time it had healed. Nana as a little girl had befriended him, he had been quite young looking himself back then, and protected him. Had told her parents he was her foreign friend who had been in an accident. That had been slightly true. Over time he began slowly seeing things again. Her parents had been praying for his eyes to heal. Even though it was a slow, and somewhat painful process, he had begun to get his sight back. His family eventually found him and he lied. Telling them Nana was his blood donor. In order to protect Nana he had returned with his family to the castle. They had grown closer on a friendship level. Nana had become family. His family, though hating it, accepted that this would never change. They would never, however, accept her as part of the clan. Which turned out to be a good thing because as she got older she was trained to become a slayer. Just like her father before her.<br/><br/>Still their kinship and friendship traversed time. He had a dream one day Nana would aid him again. That she would play a key role in a life changing event for him. This had come to be true. He had dreamed of the day his mate would be born. The day he would finally have his other half. Sure he had taken lovers but never a mate. None of them were his soulmate. None of them were the one meant for him. So he had never entered a serious relationship. He shook his head to snap out of his thoughts. Resuming eating as he looked at Nana fondly in a brotherly way. Shaking his head then looked to Christy. She was a sweet girl and his mate. He had known that the very second she had been seen by his eyes. She had been a beautiful baby and had grown into a very beautiful woman.<br/><br/>He blinked as he heard Nana speaking again. What the hell??? Was she serious? He couldnâ€™t do that to Christy. He looked at Nana but the look on her face meant business. She was dead serious about this. He knew she had something up her sleeve. Now that just wasnâ€™t fair Nana. Putting him on the spot like that. He started eating even more of the steak. Chewing it happily. It tasted so good. It wasnâ€™t as delicious as Christyâ€™s blood had been but it was pretty close. He watched as Nana left and shut the door. Well wasnâ€™t that just putting on the spottish? Ah crap. Now Christy was looking at him like that. Seriously??? It was so not his idea. He had been quite fine with sleeping on the floor. Or on the couch. He had slept in less comfy places then that before.<br/><br/>He looked at his mate as her gaze settled on him. He just smiled at her warmly but it soon turned into a smirk. He started laughing a bit but nodded his head. â€œWarning slash threat taken Christy.â€ He said in an amused voice before growing serious. â€œI would never try anything. I know you are not ready for more than hugs and the occasional kiss. I would never violate you in such a way. You are very important to me. I would never jeopardize our building and growing bond by forcing myself on you. I am a vampire Christy...but I am not a monster. Unlike most of my kind...I hold many human morals.â€ He smiled at her warmly. â€œSo you have nothing to worry about. Though I will not promise not to snuggle. You are so warm and I am so cold. It feels nice to feel such heat for once.â€ He wasnâ€™t lying either. Sure he wouldnâ€™t try anything but he wasnâ€™t going to promise not to snuggle. Not to hug. Not to hold her. She was his mate.<br/><br/>He watched her get up and open the window. He finished his steak and put the plate on the nightstand. Getting up and followed her over to the window. Climbing out and sat mostly on the outer window sill. â€œYou always did like sitting on the roof by your window. It always seemed to calm you. I will admit though I was always worried you would get hurt. Thankfully you maintained perfect balance. Never once were you in danger.â€ He looked at the sky. It was turning to daytime once more. His eyes closed for a moment. Then they opened. He looked at her. Since he had had blood his eyes were less red. More of a beautiful emerald green with flecks of red speckled throughout it. They were usually only red without human hues when he had not eaten. It had been a few days since he had last taken time to get blood. Any longer and the red would have been a glowing crimson.<br/><br/>He was used to these fasts. He never drank from unwilling donors. Marking his mate did not count. He would often take from animals if there was no willing human donor. There was clubs in towns and cities where vampire â€œpetsâ€, as they were often called, would be at. A willing donor to a vampire in need. These vampire â€œpetsâ€ were vampire fanatics and or wanted to be a vampire. They were â€œpetsâ€ because they obeyed what they were told by vampires. Personally he found vampire â€œpetsâ€ to be distasteful. On one hand, he wondered what possessed those humans to want to be used as fodder. As a living food bank. On the other hand, he was thankful there was humans like that. It meant he did not have to be a monster. He looked out over Nanaâ€™s land. He had always enjoyed coming here. It was peaceful and somewhat isolated from the rest of the world. He knew this peace would not last forever. Eventually they would have to leave for a bit.