Doubts and Secret Thoughts (Rhyma)

Karma sat in the kitchen, her eyes on the full plate of brownies. She was hungry, but she was trying not to be. She didn't want to face Rhys right now. She felt guilty about being with Ethon, so she'd been avoiding him. She didn't want to face him. She also didn't want to resort to drinking from raw meat. It was no longer appealing to her.

She frowned as she looked around at the House Elves, her mind far from the creatures she was watching. Ethon's words rang in her head, making her feel a bit sick to her stomach.

A vampire feels a certain responsibility for those upon which they feed, and in turn, the... subject feels a certain loyalty to the vampire. Why, in some cases, such feelings can be mistaken as affection or love. Naturally, it's just the addiction doing the rationalizing.

What if that was all Rhys wanted from her? Her bite? What if....

She groaned and put her head in her arms, once again returning to her dark temple. She sighed.

There it was again. That even so soft throbbing in his chest, pulling him out of his dreams into the real world again. He rolled over, tired and trying to ignore it, but found it was impossible.

Karma was waiting.

He pulled himself out of bed and headed to the kitchen, sitting in his pajamas. She was there, of course, so he smiled a sleepy ghost of a grin, then whispered,

"You're up late,"

Karma sensed him come in and slowly raised her head off her arms. She glanced over at him, her eyes guarded as she took him in. She took in his grin, his bed head and his wrinkled looking clothes. Her face stayed distinctly expressionless, though a small bit of dread may have seeped through.

She'd missed him.

"I've just been a bit antsy." She said, looking away from him and returning her gaze to the table.

Rhys nodded, then walked over to the table and grabbed a brownie. He managed to jam about half of it into his mouth before laughing and almost spitting it across the table.

"So good," he said through the brownie, watching her in the corner of his eye. He was just stalling now, of course. She knew why he was here. "Want one?"

Karma glanced up at him, and instead of taking the brownie, took his wrist and unceremoniously pulled him closer to her. "Sorry for dragging you out of bed again." She said softly, her lips centimeters from his. She looked from his lips to his eyes, then lowered her lips down to his neck, kissing it sweetly. She was almost sure she loved him. She certainly didn't care for anyone else as much.

Why, in some cases, such feelings can be mistaken as affection or love.

She paused, her lips trembling. What if Ethon was right?

She froze, her eyes sliding to the boy before her.

Without a warning she bit, filling him with endorphins.

Rhys wrapped his arms around her, placing his head on her neck softly. He managed to swallow the last of his brownie, trying to enjoy the bite process.

"Karma," he said softly, curling his fingers into her shirt. He brushed some hair off of her neck, then sighed and kissed her neck chastely.

You're hurting me, love. A bit softer, please, he thought, unable to tell her seriously. She seemed happy enough, so he kept his mouth shut about it.

Without knowing why, Karma eased up on her biting a bit, licking the wound when she was done and humming as she watched close itself. She loved being in his arms. She loved everything about him and how she felt around him.

Naturally, it's just the addiction doing the rationalizing.

Her humming abruptly stopped. She traced her fingers along his back in random patterns. Could it really be the endorphins? Her addiction to his blood? Really? She hid her face in the crook of his neck, scared to show him her doubts. What they had... it felt magical. Problem with that was, if it felt magical, it was probably magic.

"Would you like to go back?" She whispered against his skin, her breath slipping across his skin. "If you're tired... you can..."

Rhys cuddled with her, pulling her closer and closer until he was afraid he'd crush her fragile little self. He kissed the top of her head, listening for her soft humming.

"No... I'm... not tired..." He asked, and was surprised to find it was true. He sat on a chair then pulled her into his lap as if she was a child.

"Are you okay, love?"

Karma didn't object as he pulled her onto his lap. She put her temple on his shoulder, finding it quite comfortable. She'd never been held like this before. Not that she remembered.

"I'm fine." She lied, gently laying a hand on his shirt collar. "I'm just..." she debated telling him everything. Ethon. Arsen. Everything that had ever bothered her. Her fears about their addiction to each other. "Fine." She whispered, the lie burning in her heart and making its way all the way up her throat.

"I missed you." The echo of her words to Ethon made her feel dirty, as she remembered full well what had happened after that. She blushed, moving herself closer to him.

...mistaken for affection or love...

Rhys knew she was lying. It was in her voice, but he couldn't bring himself to say something about it. It was her, sitting there, on his lap, that stopped him. Carefully, he peeled her arm off of him so he could look at her.

"I missed you too," he gruffed, placing an ear on her collarbone. He paused to listen to her heart beat softly, smiling. He remained like that for a while, then pulled away.

"I really did,"

Karma froze when he placed his ear on her collarbone, gently playing with his hair as he did so. It took her a second to realize he was listening to her heartbeat, and when she noticed, it made her smile a bit and feel better.

She rewarded his words with a one thousand watt smile and a lingering kiss on the lips. She really had missed him.

And then she was humming again, her fingers slowly tracing over any part of him she could reach, his arms, his chest, his neck, his face.

Rhys smiled soft down upon her, as if she was a pet, not a woman. He leaned into her caresses, loving the soft touch of her fingers. Taking her face into his hands, he leaned forward, demanding another kiss. Something in his face was serenely dormant, as if the horrible part of himself was resting.

"You spoil me," he whispered, "You shouldn't spoil your pets, love. They get lazy,"

Karma kissed him back eagerly, grinned, and hummed a bit. "But don't you like being spoiled?" she asked softly, settling back onto him and tracing her fingers over his collarbone. "Doesn't it feel good?" She loved him this late at night, when the hour robbed him of his insanity.

....Just the addiction...

Rhys nodded as he let go of the kiss, watching her movements. He smiled vaguely, then brought his face to her neck to rest it there.

"Maybe," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her, "Maybe I like being your spoiled pet,"

He paused his breathing, then gave her neck a sharp nibble- not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to hopefully surprise her.

"I'm the vampire now," he joked

Karma took in a sharp gasp of air when he bit her, before breaking down into giggles. "Are you gonna make me your pet, big vampire man?!" she said with a laugh, pretending to cower, but using it as an excuse to get even closer to him. "Are you gonna take a sip of my blood?" she kissed the side of his neck sweetly, a small smile on her face.

Rhys jumped, trying to move away from her lips. "I'm the vampire right now! Not you!" he complained, starting to laugh as well. The chuckle grew into he was shaking uncontrollably and then he leaned back, falling out of the chair. His laughter paused, then continued even louder.

Karma grinned as Rhys laughed, strattling him and leaning on his chest, waiting for his laughter to die down, or at least hoping to stop his laughter as she lowered her lips millimeters from his. "I'm sorry, Master, bite me?" she grinned a devilish grin that may or may not have had inappropriate origins. "Please bite me?"

Rhys was extremely flustered. Normally, his brain acted normal in situations like this, but now... he didn't know what to do.

She was talking about biting, so he gave a fake sigh, then leaned up at bit her neck- hard. He tasted her blood as he pulled away, realizing this was wrong.

"How do it feel?" he grinned, licking the blood off of his lips, "Not too good, right?"

Karma gasped and bit back a moan as he bit her. It hurt, but the hurt was surrounded by pleasure so deep that she was momentarily blindsided by it. She looked up at him with wide eyes, her desire reflected in them. Why did it feel so good? Must be a vampire thing.

"It felt....." She watched him like a predator about to pounce, ready to devour him. "Amazing."

Rhys stared up at her in disbelief, then smirked. He pushed her back so he could sit up, then shrugged.

"I don't think I'm going to do it again," he sighed, "It's so late, you know. I don't want you all riled up before bed,"

Karma looked up at him, her mouth in a small frown and her hand trailing down his arm as she got farther away, until she only held his hand. "But don't you want me riled up before bed?" She purred, a devilish smirk on her face. "I thought that's exactly what you wanted..." She stepped closer to him, pulling herself into his embrace and giving him a long lingering kiss, but not letting go of his hand.

Then she stepped back, letting go of his hand and sitting on the table. She picked up a brownie and slowly, tantalizingly took a bite of it. She chewed and started humming again. "If you want to go, then go." She said, after swallowing.

Rhys gulped slightly, anxious and certainly "riled up". Why did everything she did intoxicate him? God, just watching her eat that brownie sent shivers down his spine. He could just-

No. No, no, no, no.

Rhys swallowed again, his mouth unusually wet. "I guess I could stay," he murmured, walking towards her, "For you,"

Karma licked the chocolate from her lips slowly and smiled a saccharine smile. "You'd do that for me, Rhysie? You're too kind..." She reached for him and pulled him closer, her lips millimeters from his. "But I was looking forward to you going to bed... and me going with you..." She purred. Where was this coming from? She didn't know, but the throbbing pleasure of the bite was messing with her brain. It was as if with that bite he'd woken up a whole different side of her. And she wanted him. Now.

"Can't we, Rhysie?" She breathed.

Rhys stood, amazed at the scene in front of him. He whispered a prayer to the God he knew wasn't there, then basically tackled Karma, pushing her into the table behind them. He covered her neck, face, and lips in kisses, pushing his hands up her shirt.

"We don't need to go upstairs," he growled, "We can stay right here,"

Karma grinned, roughly pulling up Rhys's head so she could kiss him on the lips again, noting his hands. They were... wow...

She bit his lip, rubbing her body against his in a ploy to get upright until she was standing before him. She kissed him, long and hard, her hands running up his chest over his shirt.

And then she was across the room, out of his arms, using her vampire speed to get over there before he could blink. "You know, Rhysie, You were right. I shouldn't keep you up... And I do seem to over spoil you. G'night, Pet." She blew him a kiss, smoothed down her shirt, and was gone, back to the Slytherin CommonRoom.