As Sole spoke, Astraea chose to hold her silence, although she drank in every word he spoke, inexplicably held in place by his voice as it crossed the distance between them, silent and unmoving. More than once, she tried to force herself to move, to simply walk away from the situation and never have to face it again, yet something held her back, kept her from retreating and hiding from what it was that she so feared. Perhaps it was time she stopped running from the truth and faced it instead, but it was much easier said than done. Although she seemed outwardly in control of herself, there was a tension in her frame which belay her internal conflict, her heart fluttering rapidly, as if she were a bird, cornered and with its wings bound. It seemed that no matter where she went, she couldn’t escape him, his questions, his brazen forwardness and self-assurance.
“So what does that make me? Just another fascinating specimen for you to study like an animal in a zoo until you’ve sated your curiosity? Will you cage me and keep me like some sort of prize to satisfy your ‘captivation’?” A small quiver ran through her form as the tension contained within her escalated dangerously close to a breaking point. She still refused to acknowledge him with her gaze, partially because she was afraid of what might happen to the fragile, perilous control which she currently held over herself. “Plus, what could you possibly know of eternity? You couldn’t begin to understand the meaning of the word.”
Although she couldn’t see him, she could sense him draw closer painstakingly slowly. With every step he took, the tautness contained within her slender frame grew, on the brink of snapping and finally releasing her to take flight, in which case he would likely never see her again. However, even against her will, his words seemed to have an almost hypnotic effect on her, firmly grounding her where she stood and refusing to let her go, no matter how hard she fought it. “Perhaps you and I share more in common than you know,” she finally replied, her voice soft, laced with a tightness that hadn’t been there before. But there was no way that he could have known what she had been through in her much longer life; he might have thought that his life was unfair, but he could never truly miss what he’d never had in the same way that she did.
However, his words hit home somewhere and stung, finally provoking the reaction she was sure he’d been looking for all along. She whipped around, sapphire-blue eyes flashing dangerously as they locked unforgivingly on his, accusing, although deep down inside, she knew that there was truth in his words. “And what does that make you then, if you don’t have the guts to fight what you think is unfair? You chose to run instead of stand for what you believed. You’re just as much a prisoner of your own shortcomings as I am to mine, don’t try to deny it.” She watched him warily, almost like a feline, her gaze following his every movement, her form tense, almost quivering with agitation, anticipation, and contained emotion.
Without warning, Sole had slammed her against the wall behind her, pinning her between the harsh, unforgiving stone and himself. She gasped in surprise, mirrored by a feral snarl which tore from the Khimera’s throat as the feline made to intervene, only to be halted in her tracks by a brief hand motion. Astraea made to protest, pushing against the Clone’s chest, but he didn’t give her the chance to resist, the sheer force and intensity behind his actions rapidly overpowering her resistance. Sole was merciless as he exploited her one weakness, and although her mind and expression protested his unexpected behavior, her attempts were feeble, and he found her body pliant and unresisting against him.
Astraea could feel the sharp contrast between the cold, unyielding stone wall at her back and the warmth of Sole’s muscular form as he pressed himself carefully yet commandingly against her, the sheer, thin fabric of her dress hardly any barrier between them. Against her will, her body arched to meet his, as if instinctively seeking the contact which she sought to deny it and had succeeded in doing for so many years. He played her just like a finely-tuned instrument, pulling at each string to draw out the strongest reverberations. His touch, regardless of how unwanted and uninvited, elicited inviting responses from her body, and she shuddered lightly against him as he nipped at the sensitive skin on her pale, elegant neck, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps, powerless to refuse him what he so clearly wanted.
At his questions, she turned away, her gaze avoiding his as she refrained from replying, afraid to respond. Although she hated herself for it, she found that she couldn’t deny the long-forgotten, fiery passion which slumbered deep within her soul, held painstakingly trapped and restrained until he had so forcefully awakened it once again from its years of dormancy. It burned like an all-consuming flame deep within her, threatening to destroy her if she refused to yield to it. It seemed that the prolonged denial she had lived with had only served to feed her desire, and finally, unable to fight back any longer, yet refusing to be dominated by him, she seemed to rise to his unspoken challenge, answering with equal passion and intensity as she returned his kiss with just as much fire and need.
Why? Why was she doing this? Why was she allowing him to do this to her? That was the only coherent thought which plagued her mind as he almost literally kissed her senseless, demanding and gaining entrance as easily as taking candy from a baby. Perhaps it was because he was the first one in a long time to actually seem to care about Astraea, the person, even if he was only being sarcastic, and not just the detached bounty hunter front which she put on for the rest of the world. That, and it was impossible for her to deny her true nature for but so long; it wasn’t in her character to be so cold and detached from the world, and it was only now that that guise began to crumble around her.
As Sole kissed her, she could feel the powerful rush of blood which pounded through his veins, just under his skin, and it had an almost intoxicating effect upon her. Unconsciously, her fangs slowly slid from their sheaths, yearning for nothing more than to sink themselves into his warm, yielding flesh, to taste that tantalizing blood just once. However, one grazed lightly against his lip and Sole withdrew once again, seemingly intrigued by the tiny, inexplicable nick which had appeared on his skin. Astraea pulled back for a moment as well, watching him, regarding him as if in a new light. Her sapphire gaze, although hazy with desire, seemed thoughtful, calculating, as if she were appraising him. Would letting him in on her secret be so bad? How could he possibly use the information against her? Whether he knew or not, she knew that she was still capable of taking him down if need be, and it would be nice to be able to share her burden with someone for once…
“Do you want to know what I am? Are you certain that that’s what you want?” Her voice was husky and still slightly breathless as she spoke, but her tone was serious as she fixed Sole once again with a piercing, unwavering gaze. “I can show you…but don’t blame me if you don’t like what you find.” Not waiting for his reply, she closed the distance between them once again, this time taking the initiative as she allowed her instincts, both human and vampire, to take control, trailing a line of kisses along his jaw, then slowly down his neck, each lingering slightly longer as she came to a stop, her warm breath ghosting over his neck as she hovered over a vein, listening to the steady thud of fresh blood coursing so enticingly close. She hesitated for a moment, considering for just a moment the consequences of her actions. However, she pushed those second-thoughts aside just as quickly as they had arisen, and in a swift, fluid movement, sank her fangs smoothly into his neck, relishing the surge of warm, metallic liquid as his lifeblood poured forth readily.