Valor was right that she didn’t have the level of education that he did on this matter, but she was not entirely ignorant of what it meant. She remembered when she was a child, how she had asked the vampire woman any question she had think of about vampires, and she had always answered them honestly, if not always in depth.<br/><br/>Aria had asked her once if vampires ever fed on each other, and she had explained why it wasn’t commonplace, including how the blood that pulsed through their veins was not like that of humans. She had also told her, however, that it was considered very intimate for vampires to feed from one another, it was the purest expression of their love, and it was never done lightly. She’d not really given it a lot of thought back then, or even since then, because she had no reason to; she’d asked out of curiosity, she had no interest in love, and she was not a vampire, so was nothing more than an interesting bit of knowledge.<br/><br/>Now, though, as that memory flooded back to her mind, it was more than that. Now, those words meant something, their weight was real. She had accepted his request easily, but she understood, at least on some level, that he hadn’t asked this of her lightly. She understood, to some extent, that with this gesture, he gave her his trust, his heart, just as she had given her own to him. It made her feel incredibly happy and honored, and she vowed in her heart that she would protect this, protect him, and his heart, no matter what.<br/><br/>Valor hid whatever he was feeling well, but she could imagine at least a little of what he was feeling. It was not the same as him feeding from her—or at least in that he fully understood what he was giving. She had felt many things before he had fed on her the first time, so she could imagine that whatever he felt was probably even deeper, because the implications were deeper.<br/><br/>Knowing this, she was gentle, as if his arm were a precious object that she wouldn’t risk breaking. She hadn’t missed the way he shuddered when she’d taken his wrist, or the way he had tensed when she leaned in. She knew from experience, though, that it would hurt like hell for a moment, but it would fade quickly, and when it did, the pain would be worth it.<br/><br/>Some part of her had known that there was a chance that she might not have been able to produce venom, but she hadn’t truly given it much thought, because somehow, she knew that she needn’t worry. It was as if some part of her was waking up, and with it, she instinctively knew that it would come. Likewise, it was an instinct that told her when she’d injected enough, and it was time to feed and let the venom work.<br/><br/>The moment the venom took effect was marked by a deep moan, and his body reacting beneath her. She smiled just a little as she began to feed from him, not only because his blood tasted incredible, but also finding some happiness and pleasure in knowing the she could give him the same pleasure he had given her. She’d never thought that drinking blood would have felt this good, but she realized now why some vampires lost control. She also had an even greater respect for Valor’s self-control. He made it look easy. She’d never thought it was easy, but she’d never understood just how hard it was until now, when she found herself never wanting to stop.<br/><br/>When his hand moved from her abdomen to her breast, she moaned softly, the sound muffled by the skin of his wrist, and the blood that filled her throat. This action brought with it the realization that it wasn’t just his blood that she wanted; she wanted all of him. She wanted to make love to him, and she knew that he wanted the same thing. She could feel it—almost taste it.<br/><br/>They’d only just dressed, but she suddenly moved her left hand to support his wrist while her right hand moved behind her, to unzip her dress. She then slipped that arm out of the dress and replaced her hand on his wrist, allowing her left hand to release its grip and slip out of the dress. She then slipped the fabric of the dress down her torso, so that it no longer separated her skin from his touch.<br/><br/>She wanted nothing more than to remove all of the barriers that separated them right then, so that she could give him what he’d given her. It would have been all too easy to give in and give up her self-control in that moment. Instead, she decided to take her time, to be patient.<br/><br/>As much as she enjoyed feeding from him, she knew she had to stop, whether she wanted to or not. Vampires had little blood to begin with, and she didn’t want to take back everything she had given him. Besides, she wanted more than just his blood, and there were too many barriers between them now.<br/><br/>Recalling what he had always done to seal the wound, she pulled back just a little, to stop feeding. Unlike the quick and practiced motions he used, she licked the skin softly, almost seductively, until the wound disappeared. She then kissed his wrist before slipping out of his lap to allow her dress to fall to the floor before she turned to face him, once again wearing nothing but her panties.<br/><br/>Her hands reached out, taking hold of the hem of his shirt and slipping it off of him. Her gaze moved from his violet eyes down to his chest, where her fingers briefly traced lightly across the fresh scars. She gestured for him to move farther back onto the bed before she joined him, moving so that this time, she was atop him.<br/><br/>She trailed soft kisses across each of the scars, wishing that it was within her power to erase them, along with the pain that must have come with them. From there, she kissed up his neck, nipping lightly at his ear before placing soft kissing along his jawline, coming to a halt only millimeters above his lips. “I love you,” she whispered sweetly before leaning in to kiss him passionately.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Rosalie couldn’t help but laugh a little at the way Jalice had pouted when she’d reminded him that he was a crybaby. It was cute. She half expected that he would attempt to argue with her, even knowing that she wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t. At any rate, she thought that she made up for it when she had, embarrassingly, told him that this was not the case now.<br/><br/>It seemed that whatever had momentarily distracted him was forgotten when she climbed into his lap and kissed him. His kisses were passionate in return, and she soon forgot any annoyance she might have felt at him for allowing his attention to drift from her. She smiled a little against his lips when he laid back, pulling her with him so that she was laying on top of him.<br/><br/>He really had changed a lot from the boy he had once been. He wasn’t as timid and shy as he had been before. She had found that part of him endearing, but at the same time, it had been frustrating at times. She was not one to beat around the bush; she preferred to be straight-forward and go after what she wanted. She didn’t expect him to be this way, of course. She didn’t want him to become someone else. But when it came to her, she didn’t want him to be shy or hesitant.<br/><br/>She wasn’t generally the patient type, but right now, she wasn’t in a particular hurry. She wanted to enjoy the time she had with him, to savor every part of it, of him. Rather than rushing, she continued to kiss him deeply, moaning softly as she enjoyed his hands on her butt. She slowly worked to unbutton his shirt as they kissed, allowing her hands to rove across his bare chest once it was open, enjoying the feeling of his cool, soft skin beneath his fingertips.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Celes watched Kera as she stood there, her left hand now resting on her hip. She smiled lightly when her name was repeated back by Kera, as if she were tasting the name. Apparently, she liked it, as she then told Celes that her name was beautiful, before she went on to answer the question she had asked.<br/><br/>“Thank you,” she answered with a light voice, knowing that it was only proper to thank her for the compliment. “That sounds dreadfully boring,” she couldn’t imagine a single way in which being a third way could be fun. Well, that wasn’t true. But it was quite clear that it was not something Kera was excited about, so it was easy enough to gather that there was some sort of thing between the others and that she had been left out.<br/><br/>“Delightful,” she replied with a sweet smile, drawing her hands together in front of her in an apparently happy little clap. “Even so, I’m not very familiar with the area, so I’m sure you’re probably still more knowledgeable, even if it has been a while,” she waved off the comment about Kera having not been home in a while. “At any rate, I get to enjoy your lovely company, so it’s a win for me either way,” she spoke the words lightly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to say such things.<br/><br/>“So, where shall we begin?” she wondered, giving Kera the lead to take her where ever she thought best.