Tonight There's Only Us

by CuriousAussie

Summary:

“I want to be the only woman you think of- I will be, I’ll earn that place, right here,” she says, pressing a cool hand to Bella’s chest, right above her heart before they join Bella’s in helping her unbutton her pants. “You’ll see that I’m the only one worth thinking of, us- together, here, in this moment and more. Tonight, there’s only us.”

Notes:

Merry Christmas! Here's my not so little present for all of you. Part 3 will consist of two chapters... please keep that in mind when you get to the end of this lol

Chapter 1: One

Cuddles and blood drinking- oh my!

Part Three

Chapter 1 of 2

Tonight There’s Only Us

 

“ Find her.” Tatyana snaps, although her words are little more than a hiss. “The second you know of her whereabouts, you come directly to me and only me. Do you understand?”

Tatyana stands by the desk in the lobby, the furious tap tap tap of her nails on the hardwood setting a rhythmic beat with the tik tik of the clock above their heads. She’s fighting so many instincts right now, but top of the list is her desire to race out into the streets and chase down the woman wearing that silly Spongebob fucking Squarepants t-shirt. 

Bella.

Tatyana’s dead heart aches at the thought of the woman. Clumsy, awkward, human Bella-

It’s not appropriate, she thinks- now isn’t the right time.

When is the right time?

She growls, her own thoughts a plague- and she spins around on the woman who watches her from behind the desk. She’s the same woman who was on shift last night, who caused her human to-

Her human.

How funny that sounds after only an evening together.

“Find her,” she says, barking out her order with finality. “Don’t dare show your face again until you have.”

It’s not her fault, not really, but she’s there- and Tatyana is pissed off.

“Oh, and Riley?” she adds, causing the other ethereal to falter. Wariness cracks the stoic mask that has befallen her face, but Tatyana won't allow herself to fall for it. “If I catch wind of anything like this happening again… it will be the last time. Is that understood?”

She dips her chin. "Yes, ma'am."

She is replaceable. They are all replaceable. Usually Tatyana doesn’t mind when Riley and the others play their little games with clients, but this human is different.

Bella is different. She’s not like the other clients.

It matters, right?

Tatyana’s heart bleeds as she fights hard not to think of just how much it matters. She wishes she could have told Bella in the moment, but touch is the next best thing… isn’t it? It speaks without words. There’s no need to talk, to fill the silence- they make love, they speak in other ways, and Bella touches her so tenderly that Tatyana’s eyes flood with emotion that she buries beneath passionate cries for more.

Even now, her eyes mist and the world bathes red. 

It does no good to cry now that Bella is gone though, and she hurries to blink it away before anyone can see.

It's for the best.

"Go," she sneers, turning away. "I expect her to be found by the end of the day.”

She can't think about Bella right now or what it all means, and so she focuses on something safer. Although perhaps 'safer' is the wrong word. There's nothing 'safe' about what she's feeling right now. Eyes open, eyes shut… it doesn't matter. She can’t unsee it- what she saw as she tasted that drop of Bella’s blood. 

A curse… to see the memories of their prey, but in particular, to be forced to see Bella’s in that moment. And of course, it’s just a flash of a woman, a glimpse of before, but it’s enough for Tatyana to put two and two together. 

It's enough to hurt.

She recognises the arrogance, is familiar with the hunger- the desire this woman, this ethereal, has for her human.

How dare she?

It doesn't matter that it's in the past- that Bella’s thoughts of her are from memory, because the fact still remains; this is the woman responsible for Bella’s hurt. 

Tatyana’s expression hardens. Oh yes , she knows her face very well indeed, and how eager she finds herself to see it again now, after all this time.

 

…

 

“I don’t want…”

.

.

.

“I know.” 

Tatyana feels it, too. Neither are ready to say goodbye. 

They wait by the lift, standing side by side, face to face. Tatyana spies Bella's tears, but hides her own well. 

She needs to be strong.

“I enjoyed our time together, Bella.” she promises, but even those words sound wrong to her own ears. Is that all she has to say? It tastes cheap on her tongue. "Please," she continues through the silence. "At least allow me to walk with you-"

Bella interupts her with a kiss, and she stands dumbfounded, saddened by the way she feels Bella’s lips tremble against her own. "Thank you for last night…" Bella says with a noticeable crack to her voice. “And for the shirt."

Tatyana doesn’t want to be thanked for that, for any of it. "The shirt belongs to you.”

The shirt, her un-dead heart- all of it. Why can’t she just say it? Their eyes meet and…

The elevator doors open. 

Tatyana lets her walk away.

 

…

 

"Fancy meeting you here, Tats."

The lift shuts with a soft ding. "I told you not to call me that."

"You know I don't listen."

Left eye twitching, Tatyana attempts to focus on the climbing numbers illuminated above the door. She’s returning to her apartment to prepare… 

Just forty one more floors to go.

"You look tense.

Tatyana peers sideways. "Do I now, Katrina."

It isn't a question. She looks back to the numbers, willing time to move faster.

Thirty eight.

" Oh, you are tense," comes the amused reply. "You only ever call me by my full name when I'm in trouble, or when you're in a bad mood. I haven't done anything-"

"Today."

Kate shrugs. "-so, come on, tell me what happened."

Thirty five.

"What makes you think something happened?" Tatyana purses her lips, shoots her an annoyed look, and adds, "I can be in a bad mood without there needing to be a reason."

"Bullshit." she says.

" Katrina ."

"Kate."

Tatyana narrows her eyes. " Kate, " she says. "Leave it."

She dislikes how easily the other woman can read her on a regular day, but it's particularly irritating to her right now.

.

.

.

“You smell delicious this morning by the way.”

… deep breaths…

She holds her silence, refuses to engage- watches those numbers climb higher and higher…

"Eau De Clientele?"

Tatyana will not bite.

She won't feed her curiosity- she only needs to hold her tongue and mind her patience for a little while longer.

She can do this.

Ding. 

The doors have barely opened, but Tatyana squeezes through them as soon as she can, desperate to get out, away. Of course Kate only follows her- why else would she be riding it six floors above her own if not to sniff around?

“What do you want, Kate?” she snaps finally, spinning around. 

She's like a damn hound.

"I just want to talk," Kate answers, so innocently that Tatyana doesn’t believe her for a second. "What's wrong with wanting to chat?"

“You don’t want to just chat.” She wants to annoy her. Tatyana throws her hands in her air and starts toward her apartment again. “You’re not as smooth as you think you are, but fine, whatever. Come inside, talk! But do me a favour and at least stay out of my way while I tidy up.”

She throws the door open, storms inside… and Kate practically glides in after her, pleased as goddamn punch.

“... and stay out of my closet!”

“Who, me?” Kate sings from behind her. “I would never!”

Tatyana huffs. She absolutely would, and probably will anyway. 

She begins to tidy the apartment, moving quickly, and it’s only as she moves into the bedroom that she slows. Her hands brush the sheets.

'You're so beautiful, you know that?'

She thinks of those soft brown eyes- so wide and in awe of her…

'You think I'm beautiful?'

… that pink flush…

'Clearly you’ve not looked in the mirror.'

Tatyana looks at those messy sheets and tossed pillows, sees Bella- smells her lingering scent…

So soft, so lovely…

She makes the bed instead, if just to keep Bella’s scent around a little longer.

"I saw her."

And all the while Kate just perches her cute little arse on the back of the couch and watches her as she does all of this- plotting.

At least she stays out of Tatyana’s closest though.

"Did you hear me?”

Tatyana grumbles. “Unfortunately.”

“So…?” 

“So…” Tatyana says, returning from the bedroom. “Who did you see?”

Of course she already knows who Kate saw. 

"Your Eau De Clientele.” She's grinning, so smug and confident. “Met her in the lift on the way down."

Tatyana purses her lips. "She could have spent the night with Jasper.”

Kate taps her nose, smirking. "Please, I'm offended. Neither of you have showered, and frankly, Tats, your entire apartment reeks of her.”

Tatyana is trying very hard to control herself, but it's hard. “What's your point?” she asks.

She hums. “No point really, just that she smells really nice. And she's a cute lil thing, which is a bonus. You know I can't resist cute lil things.”

Cute lil…

As quick as lightning, and just as dangerous, her head snaps around. “What did you do?” 

Very subtle. 

Well done.

Kate's smirk widens. "Nothing, why? Do you think I should have?"

Images flash before her eyes- Kate cornering Bella on the ride to ground floor, flirting with her, whispering promises in her pretty pink ear…

Touching her.

Tatyana takes a threatening step in her direction. "Katrina, don't-"

"Don't what?" she teases with that insufferable smirk. She holds her hands up though. "Calm down, Tats, I'm fucking with you. I didn't touch her. I know how you feel about sharing."

"There is no sharing," Tatyana tells her through narrowed eyes. "I don't share, Kate, and it'll do you good to remember that the next time you cross paths with a 'cute lil thing' that reeks of me."

Her threats don't have the effect she expects- if anything, Kate's smirk widens. "So, you did scent her on purpose." She hums, a twinkle in her eye. "Interesting. Didn't see your mark on that lovely throat of hers though, Tatyana. I'm intrigued. Did you not feed?”

Of course, Kate would notice something that goddamn intimate, and all the while looking directly into her eyes- unblinking… smug as the cat that ate the fucken canary. 

She knows.

Tatyana’s eye twitches. No, she doesn't know. There's no way.

Tatyana starts to neaten the cushions on the couch, determined to ignore her now, to not give her any more ammunition against her.

Because that's exactly what this is.

"Oh!" Kate exclaims a moment later, slapping a hand to her thigh. "Before I forget, I actually do need to go into your closest. Can I borrow an outfit for tonight? Oh, don't look at me like that! I don't own anything that works."

"Works for what exactly?" she asks. Kate's closet is twice the size of her own so she has her doubts, but when Kate persists with those innocent eyes, she rolls her own. "Fine, go. Take what you want."

Maybe she'll wear herself out sooner and leave.

"Anything I want?"

"Within reason," she says, but Kate's already gone and Tatyana is left to stare after the woman. "Not my dresses. I'm serious! Do not touch my dresses!"

Kate has enough of her own.

"But they're such lovely dresses!" Kate's voice, although muffled, is followed by the sounds of her ruffling through Tatyana's clothes. "What about that sexy little black number?" she adds, "The one with the back tie and plunging neckline?"

Kate saying she wants to borrow something means it'll never be seen again.

"No." 

Ever .

"But it makes my tits look spectacular."

Tatyana fights the urge to grind her teeth as she moves through the apartment and into the bathroom. "No, Kate."

As if she needs a dress for that.

She cleans the toilet, mops the floor, and returns with the dirty laundry. Kate waits for her with a pout.

"Well, that's very disappointing," she sighs, "I'll have to check Rina's closet instead. She'll let me borrow a dress."

"Doubtful." Irina is even more stringent with her clothes than Tatyana is. "Maybe go ask Alice."

Do literally anything else.

She takes the clothes out to the hallway to be collected.

“Maybe I'll just go shopping instead… buy something new, donate my current closet to one of those human charities you're so fond of." Kate sounds so dejected at the thought. 

"Leave any donations with Riley," she tells Kate, with a twist of her lips. "She can sort them."

Another fitting punishment.

Kate cackles. “Poor Riley. She's in the bad books after her little stunt last night, huh.”

Tatyana loathes the reminder. “Poor Riley nothing."

"It explains your mood though.”

Tatyana doesn’t respond, which she notices only fuels the other woman's amusement. But fuck it if Tatyana will give her any more from this encounter than she already has. 

Kate stretches her arms out above her head. "Not going to deny it?" she teases. “Cute lil thing must have left a lasting impression.”

“Weren’t you going to harass Irina?” Tatyana lifts an eyebrow. “Or go shopping and be literally anywhere else but here?”

Honestly, Tatyana doesn’t care what she does as long as she leaves her alone. 

“Okay, okay, I’m leaving,” Kate says, rolling her eyes. “You’re no fun in this mood, Tats. You’re all irritable and half-starved."

“I am not half-starved.”

Kate matches the look on her face, her severity ruined only by the smirk she wears. “Could have fooled me.” she hums, and pushes off the drawers toward the front of the apartment. “Anyway, I’d best be off. Wouldn’t want to sour your mood anymore than it already is. Do you want anything while I’m out?”

Tatyana’s left eye twitches. “No.”

Just go.

“You sure?” she checks. “I thought maybe you’d like me to pick you up another ridiculous t-shirt, since cute lil thing left wearing yours this morning and all-” Tatyana’s snarl cuts her off, but Kate preservers with a triumphant giggle. “No? Nevermind then. I must have been seeing things. My mistake!”

By the time Tatyana thinks to chase after her, although to do what she isn’t sure, maybe beat her within an inch of her life or remove her tongue, Kate is already out the door. She slips through the closing elevator doors with an amused cry of ‘great timing, Jasper!’

Tatyana’s hand slams against the doors just as they close shut. “Damn it, Katrina!” she hisses, smacking it again in frustration. “You keep it to yourself, do you hear me?! Your tits won’t be so spectacular when I’m through with you otherwise!”

As the numbers above begin to go down, she hears the echo of cackling laughter from within.

Tatyana spins around, her patience well and truly gone. “ Fuck!”

She knows .

 

…

 

“What is that?” Irina sounds more horrified than Tatyana’s ever heard her before. “Wait, you’re not actually going to buy that, are you?”

Tatyana can’t explain it- has no hope of evening finding the words to try, but yes. She is going to buy it.

She needs to.

“Tatyana, it’s not really… you, if you catch my drift.” she continues on, a look of wariness crossing her face. “Even your plain old boring shirts have a little more…”

“Class to them?” Kate adds, popping up from behind a rack of discounted clothes. She’s looking at the shirt that Tatyana holds with a curious grin. “I, however, would wear the shit out of that shirt. Gimme-” she says, reaching for said shirt, but with Tatyana’s snarl, she pulls back in surprise. “Or not. You might wear it, too, I guess. Sure.”

Tatyana is as surprised by her own outburst as her sisters appear to be. “... it’s not for me.” she says, gaze dropping to the shirt. “I just… I need to buy it. I can’t explain it.”

And she can’t explain it, because she doesn’t know how or why, but it has to come home with her.

“Tats?” Kate touches her hand, gently… cautiously. Tatyana meets her eyes, and then Irina’s- and their concern is clear to her. “Talk to us. What's going on?”

She has no idea.

“It’s important.” That’s all she has- all she knows, all she can explain.

She buys the shirt.

 

…

 

His scent is wrong- that’s Tatyana’s first thought upon meeting her client for the night… but he’s handsome, she supposes. One glance at his Louis Vuitton suit and his shiny shoes tells her all she needs to know about him though.

And he isn't as impressive as he thinks he is.

Neither is the Rolex on his wrist.

“Good evening,” she greets him, fighting through her initial reaction to his presence. She sweeps in to touch his strong shoulders and kiss his bearded cheek. “Such a pleasure to meet you, I am Tatyana."

Tatyana notes that Riley is still absent from the reception desk, which pleases her as much as it annoys her because it means she's yet to find any leads.

“Would you like me to accompany you to the bar for another drink?” she asks, returning her attention to her gentleman caller. She notices the empty glass in his right hand and the smell on his breath. “We have an impressive range of single malt to wet your tongue."

His eyes sweep her body from head to toe (not once does he make eye contact with her), and given the look on his face…

Tatyana's fairly sure he'd rather something else to wet his tongue. 

Ugh.

"Not what I had in mind," he leers, confirming her suspicions. "Maybe you could fix that drink for me in my suite instead."

Tatyana isn't sure what irks her more- the fact that his suggestion isn't a question, or that he believes her apartment is his , even for the night.

Her answering smile is tight. "Of course. If you'll follow me…"

He doesn't move to follow her, and instead clears his throat with a look at his luggage. If it's even possible, her smile becomes tighter. 

"The porter will bring them up. Come, come," she says, her words dripping with false affection, "Let’s retire, hm?"

And of course it all feels off tonight, but the very real beginnings of wrongness become undeniable as he follows her into the lift and they ascend in silence.

It's in that quiet that the feeling grows. 

What is this?

She offers him a cursory glance as they near her floor- notices the gold wedding band on his finger, the opal cufflinks at his wrists, and the way he totally disregards her curiosity in favour of casually checking out her arse instead.

She finds it far less pleasing than having Bella's eyes on her-

Bella.

That's why. Of course that's why.

They enter her apartment in silence, and he follows, which isn’t surprising at all. He wants her, he paid for her, for this, for tonight. Inside the apartment, he removes his jacket and, like a hound, he sniffs out where Tatyana keeps the liquor, and he helps himself.

It suits Tatyana just fine- the less she has to deal with him, the better. She puts on some soft music, steels her resolve to get tonight over with, and joins him on the couch where the false words continue.

She tells him what she knows he wants to hear, what they all want to hear- compliments the quality of his silk tie and what a strong grip he has when he touches her thigh- and with each mouthful of century old scotch whisky that he ploughs down his greedy gullet, his tongue loosens more and more. He wants to talk about himself, about how successful his enterprise is, about his expensive cars and how tonight is all about him 'needing to let loose'. 

"My wife… doesn't like me to have fun, or to have… friends." He slurs his words, and his attempts to paw at Tatyana fail due to his inability to control his hands. "You'll be my friend tonight though," he continues, oblivious to his own failure. "I can't wait to… bury myself i-inside you."

Charming.

“Oh, you poor thing,” she sighs, reaching for the bottle of scotch. “Have another drink. You deserve to let loose!"

All lies- all empty words that he's totally oblivious to. He hears what he wants to hear, and before long the man’s greed has won out and he can no longer stomach any more liquor. In fact, he can barely string together a sentence now. He slouches back against Tatyana’s expensive couch, white shirt no longer crisp, but now open- stained with splashes of amber that have missed his mouth and dribbled down through his beard.

It doesn’t matter how well groomed he may be or how much money he has- once the scotch is poured, they’re all the same.

She takes the empty glass from his hand and places it down upon the table, before her gaze returns to his face. It’s slackened in unconsciousness, softer now…

But even that doesn't lessen her disgust for him. Not even the pulsing vein in his throat entices Tatyana tonight.

It's all wrong…

She leans in closer, takes a sniff just so that she can be sure, but the scent of his blood is tainted. Not by disease or illness, but just-

A knock at her door saves her from further speculation. She rises to answer.

"Riley,” she greets, peering down at the smaller woman cooly. “To what do I owe this pleasure?"

She hopes it has to do with their earlier conversation, because she’s not sure her mood can dip further. 

“As requested.” Riley hands her a sealed envelope. “She’s on the other side of the country-” A snore sounds loudly from within the apartment, followed swiftly by a snort and a cough, to which Riley barely bats an eyelash. “-taken up with a group of questionable youths."

"Questionable?" Tatyana tears the envelope open to find an address printed there. 

"Humans," she responds. "They appear to do little else but drink, sleep and harass others in their spare time. It appears that one or two of them attend college, when it suits them."

Tatyana stifles a displeased growl. “Very well,” she says, as a grumble sounds again from within the apartment. “Have the jet prepared and the driver waiting out front. I’ll be leaving immediately.”

Such a disappointment.

"And your client, ma’am?”

A look of distaste flashes across Tatyana's face. “Offer him to another in the building, or organise a refund and have him removed. I’m not interested.”

“I’ll have it taken care of.” she agrees, and glances over Tatyana’s shoulder. “May I?”

Tatyana waves her through, and within moments, Riley is once more exiting the apartment- only this time with the unconscious man over her shoulder and luggage in her hand, as though together they weigh nothing more than a sack of potatoes.

"Oh, and Riley?" she calls, just before she can step into the lift. She raises an eyebrow when their eyes meet. "You may resume your regular duties after you've dealt with… that."

She disappears back inside her apartment- the closest thing that Riley will get to a 'thank you'. Tatyana looks back to the piece of paper in her hand, and begins to shift through the cursive on the back of the page. There are names, dates, times, and locations, all no doubt pertaining to the questionable youth that Riley mentioned.

The feeling of disappointment returns with the very unflattering picture. Tatyana had taught her better than this… or so she thought.

Growling, she tosses the piece of paper aside and reaches behind her to lower the zip of her dress. Before she does anything, she needs to get clean. Everywhere around her and on her, she smells him and she hates it because it means she can no longer smell Bella's soft scent.

It's gone- overpowered by the overwhelming stench of testosterone, sweat, and cologne. 

" Ugh ."

Right now, her entire apartment makes her skin crawl, and that includes the dress she's wearing. In a matter of minutes Tatyana has showered, dressed, and made her way down to reception.

She notes that Riley has returned to her station by the desk. "Car is ready and waiting, ma'am. Jet is being prepped for departure as we speak." She holds an envelope out to her. "I've taken the liberty of booking you a suite for your arrival. The details are inside."

Tatyana doesn’t take it. "I won't be staying long enough to require a hotel, so ensure the pilots are ready for a swift return." she tells her. "This trip is for business only. I have no desire to linger once it's settled."

"Very well," Riley answers, taking back the envelope. "I'll have the reservation cancelled." Tatyana starts to make her way to the building's entrance to the sound of Riley typing away on the keyboard, but pauses as her name is called. She turns back, lifting an eyebrow. "Would you like your room deep cleaned in your absence?"

" Please," she groans, and offers the woman a truly grateful look. "His stench will linger for days otherwise."

At this, Riley shows the first real signs of amusement. "Consider it done," she says, smirking. "I'll take care of it personally."

"Don't think for a second that means you're forgiven." 

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Good." As refreshing as their teasing is, Tatyana can't have her becoming too comfortable. " Goodnight, Riley." she says, as the doorman waves the door open for her.

"Safe travels, Tatyana." 

The clicking on the keyboard resumes. 

She slips into the sleek black Mercedes parked out front, pausing only long enough to greet the driver who holds the rear door for her. 

"Airport, ma'am?" he confirms once he slips into the driver's side. He's a young ethereal, with slicked back hair and kind eyes.

"Airport." She nods, and turns her attention to the window as he begins to pull away from the curb.

It will be a long night.

 

…

 

"You did wonderfully," The cold wind whips at her face, but of course she doesn't feel its chill. "How do you feel?" Her body embraces it as she watches the young ethereal step away from the corpse at her feet. 

"I feel… alive." Red eyes meet her own, and they're shining so brightly that they could almost be beacons in the night. "I didn't realise I could feel this way. Will it always be like this?"

Tatyana knows exactly how she feels- the first of what will be many in her lifetime. 

"Only if you make it so.You have the world at your feet." She smiles, the action so eerily calm amidst such a grotesque situation. "Now clean your mess up. It's time to come home and meet your family."

 

…

 

The air feels thick as she steps down off the plane, and for once she's grateful that her kind aren't day dwellers. 

It's so late by the time she arrives that she must be on one of the last flights of the night, and the whole airport is unusually quiet.  She breezes through security and finds her driver waiting for her at pick up.

As they pull away from the airport, he asks where they're off to. 

“Into the city,” she tells him simply, and turns her attention out the window. “I'll give you directions as we get closer.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

They make their way into the flow of traffic heading toward the city proper, and Tatyana is forced to close her eyes. The sounds and flashing lights are a little more than she's used to. She begins to think to herself why her kind would choose to live in such a place, surrounded by such chaos, but then remembers that she also lives in the city. 

Her city doesn't feel this overwhelming though.

"Wait here for me," she tells the driver when they arrive sometime later. "I don't plan to stay long."

Tatyana steps out onto the busy street, and immediately her senses are assaulted with the stench of the city. Piss, shit, sweat and sex- all rolled into one filthy concoction designed to burn her nostrils. Her expression twists into one of disgust.

Her home is far superior to this- to these trashy neon lights and flashing signs. She makes her way to the security at the front of the building, who gives her a once over.

"Back of the line," he says, lifting his broad chin. "We don't offer special treatment to your kind."

Tatyana glances at the nightclub’s entrance in clear distaste. "I'm not interested in special treatment, just directions.” She rattles off the address Riley had given her. “Could you help me? Clearly the directions I was given are wrong .”

He gives her one last look, then thrusts his chin to the side. "Down that alley," he tells her, "Second door on the left, down the stairs. Basement floor. Past the club's emergency exit. While ya down there, remind that worm about our little chat last week. I don't get paid to keep giving directions to his shitty apartment."

Clearly not the first time he’s had to give instructions to late night visitors, but it’s really not her problem, so her responding smile is anything but friendly. “Thank you. Much appreciated.” she says, and then turns on her heel and walks away.

She brushes her way by the people on the street, ignores their whispers, their stares, and enters the dimly lit alleyway. The small group standing by the emergency exit are busy passing around a joint and pay her no mind- she steps over what she knows is a puddle of urine on the footpath (her nose burns at the acrid smell), before she finds the doorway she's looking for. It's down some concrete steps.

Entirely underwhelming, she thinks, standing beneath the flickering lights. She presses the call bell.

"Pizza delivery for… Mike." Tatyana says into the receiver when a male voice answers. 

There's a moment of static silence. "I didn't order pizza…" The man, Mike apparently, sounds confused. "Did I?" 

“I have two pizzas here for Mike. Do you want them or not?" she asks, hoping she sounds more human than she thinks she does. If nothing else, the annoying static over the call line should help. 

She waits a moment as he tells her he needs to put pants on first, and she’s relieved to note that he’s actually wearing them when he opens the door a minute later. "Wow, pizza delivery has really stepped up." He makes a whistling noise as he stares. "You're smoking, baby. Goddamn. What the hell kind of high-end pizza joint hires vamps to deliver their grub?”

.

.

.

She’s sure she must have misheard him, but…

No, one look at his face tells her she’s misheard absolutely nothing.

“The only grub here is you, Micheal,” she warns him through a clenched jaw. “Speak to me that way again and you will not like my next course of action, I promise you.”

He lifts his eyes to hers. “What?” And only then does he appear to notice that Tatyana doesn’t have a pizza box in her hand. “Hey, where’s my pizza? What gives, man?”

" Idiot." She takes a threatening step forward, slapping her hand against the door to stop him from closing it in her face. "I'm looking for someone, and you'll do damn well to tell me where she is. Don't look at me as though you have no idea who I'm talking about. Where is she?"

His face appears to lose some of its colour. "You said you were delivering pizza…”

“You didn’t order pizza.” Her patience is rapidly disappearing. “Where is she, Michael?”

He’s an idiot, but surely he’s not that big of an idiot.

“She's not here," he tells her, and jumps at her answering snarl. "She's not, I swear!" he insists, taking a step back from the door. He eyes the space between them warily. "You can't come in here!"

Tatyana eyes the threshold with disdain, carefully removing her hand. Nor do I wish to. You’ll need to come out eventually though, yes?"

The threat is implied and he pales further. "I-I told you, she's not here!"

"Then tell me where she is."

He's beginning to sweat. "She doesn't tell me where she disappears to," he tells her, and she sees his adams apple jerk as he swallows. "Sometimes she takes off for days at a time, but I swear, I haven’t seen her since last night.” He’s sweating more now as he stammers, “Y-you could try the roof! Sometimes she takes girls up there to show off.”

Of course she does.  

She sniffs the air- Rosalie’s scent isn’t fresh, so she doesn’t think he’s lying to her.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Her smile is all teeth. "Oh, and by the way… you might want to change your pants again, Michael. You appear to have had an accident.”

Heart pounding and reeking of sweat, terror and piss, Tatyana leaves him behind in search of an access point to the rooftop. She doesn’t find anything obvious and slips further into the alley, away from the lights and the chatter of the club-goers. There’s no hint of Rosalie here either, but it’s darker- easier, she thinks, to climb up onto the roof without gaining unwanted attention, and she remains hopeful.

She scales the side of the building, pulls herself up and over…

And she finds nothing, not so much as even a scent left behind to follow. She leaves the rooftop, searches the streets, the surrounding blocks, even the club, but again she’s left frustrated and empty handed.

If Rosalie was here last night, she’s not anymore.

“Fuck.”

Rosalie has moved on.

 

…

 

“Come inside.”

Tatyana doesn’t want to come inside. It’s cool out here- refreshing even, with the raindrops hitting her face. She looks up at the night sky but she doesn’t see any stars- not that she expects to see them this deep into the city. Not to mention the fact that it’s far too overcast for stars. No, she uses all of this as more of a distraction than anything else. 

“Will she be alright, do you think?” she asks.

She needs the distraction.

“She’s a strong young woman,” Kate tells her with a soft touch to her shoulder. “She’ll be fine.”

“But will she come home?”

Tatyana wants her to come home already- never wanted her to leave in the first place. But she wants to see the world, go on adventures, and Tatyana doesn’t want to be the reason for getting in the way of that. 

Kate sighs beside her. “Let our Rose blossom and live her life. She’ll come home when she’s ready.” 

Tatyana hopes that she's ready soon.

 

…

 

She doesn’t return home upon touching down at Sea-Tac, which is how she finds herself now walking through the streets of Seattle. The city is beginning to wake up- not that it really goes to sleep in the first place- and the air is somehow clearer here. Less thick, less putrid than where she’s just come from. She’d turned the driver who waited for her away with assurances that she would find her own way, and then she simply…

Walks.

She likes the peace and quiet it affords her, the time to think, away from people she knows and confined spaces with said people. It gives them the chance to hover, ask questions, pry, and Tatyana isn’t ready for that right now. This right here, this is nice, this is what she needs after the disappointing night she’s had.

She doesn’t find Rosalie, and now she’s forced to wait for her to pop up again elsewhere. It’s a frustrating development.

She was so close.

She fires a quick email off to Riley, and while she waits, she walks until the sun begins to rise, hitting her skin, reflecting off of it… sparkling so prettily. She is dangerous and beautiful- and the people stare and whisper on the streets.

Their wariness is understandable, but it feeds her bad mood, and she picks up her pace in an effort to escape it all. She walks until the city grows smaller and bleeds away into suburbia, built up with three and four bedroom homes, white picket fences, and the sounds of children getting up and ready for school. Cars are idling in driveways- more cautious looks from mothers and fathers. They rush to load their children into the cars, thinking that if they’re out of sight, they’re out of mind.

They needn’t bother. They’re safe from her, she thinks, offering a particularly terrified looking mother with a baby a cursory glance she passes by her letterbox. Tatyana doesn’t feed on infants or children, but she makes an exception for their mothers if they pay the right fee.

Suburbia thins out, the houses are smaller, older… yards larger, until finally Tatyana can focus on nothing but the sounds of the highway encroaching nearby. She doesn’t want to go that way, and so she jumps over a barbed wire fence and goes this way instead, toward the quiet and the trees.

The further from the highway she gets, the clearer the sounds of water lapping at the shore become… and the calmer she is. Rosalie has escaped her for now, unknowingly and by sheer bad luck, but Tatyana knows she’ll surface again soon enough.

She only needs to be patient.

She's right by the inlet now, walking aimlessly through patches of forest and private properties- with no direction or real purpose when she receives the call she's been waiting for.

She would have preferred an email, but beggars can’t be choosers.

"Riley," she answers, skipping over a rock with ease. "Do you have what I asked for?"

"Of course," comes her haughty response, and then, "I’m sorry you didn’t find her.”

She sounds a little more apologetic about that bit. “It’s fine. I’ll get my chance eventually.” Tatyana responds. “The address, Riley?”

There's a noise over the line a moment before she rattles off an address. "It's a business address, not a home address." Riley adds as an afterthought. "It's the best I can do. Your little bird is intensely private."

Her little bird?

Unimpressed, Tatyana clicks her tongue. "You forget yourself."

“Hardly,” Riley argues, sounding almost amused by their banter. “In any case, shall I send a driver to pick you up?”

“I’ll walk. It’s shaping up to be a lovely day.” As she says this, a ray of sunshine breaks through the trees and warms her face for the briefest moment. “The fresh air is nice.”

“If you say so,” Riley agrees, although she doesn’t sound particularly thrilled by the idea. Tatyana knows she would prefer her to be chaffered. “Best of luck with your little bird. Call me if you need anything.”

She’s gone before Tatyana can reprimand her again, but she doesn’t care to dwell on it for long.

Bella.

Her little bird (she rolls her eyes) is waiting for her. She just doesn’t know it yet. And oh, how her imagination runs wild as she starts to run now, faster, even more eager now that she knows where to be. She pictures Bella’s face, her smile, her soft skin- the way it will flush with joy when she sees that Tatyana has come to find her…

Her own excitement fuels her, makes her feet move faster, closes the distance an easy mile at a time, and she feels it build up inside her. It feels as though it might overflow, and she has to channel centuries worth of control to keep it inside.

She imagines this is how a teenager in the throes of first love must feel, because surely this must be what it is.

Love .

Her heart is always a heavy burden- a reminder that she’s dead, but she swears it comes alive when she thinks of the human. 

She groans. “Get a grip, Tatyana.”

Her heart isn’t alive, she knows this… but the fact that Bella makes her feel alive… that counts for something. Something big and important, and all consuming.

With that feeling warming her chest, she runs, barely noticing the scenery shift, and certainly not caring for the warmth of the sun as it greets her when she breaks through the trees, higher in the sky now. She runs until her feet should hurt, but of course they don’t, and the clouds roll in, threatening a storm as epic as the reunion she plays out in her head all the while.

As she crosses the ‘Welcome’ sign, she pulls her phone out to help her locate the address, which she does easily. But it's still early in the afternoon- still technically business hours…

She wants so badly to go inside, forget all the customers, forget that this is Bella's livlihood… but she can’t. Bella won’t find her interuption charming, she's sure. 

Instead, she steps back, hides away… and waits.

Hours pass, customers and cars come and go. Tatyana becomes infuriatingly familiar with the tall, barbed wire fence that surrounds the workshop. She counts cars in the yard- mentally sorts them by colour, brand, year, make and model until she can think of nothing else. 

It distracts her from what she really wants, but not really. It's a poor distraction, but still, the day does show signs of coming to an end- clouds grow darker, thunder shakes the ground, the heavens open up…

And finally, finally her time comes as she watches the last car pull out of the carpark. The sun is setting as she slips through the gates. The office is quiet- the lights out, but the workshop…

She can hear music playing and the clanging of tools. The roller door is closed already, but the small side door is inviting and she gravitates toward it.

Beneath all the petrol and grease… Tatyana recognises her scent immediately. It’s overpowering-

Calling to her, welcoming and warm…

Inviting her in.

She knocks.

“You forget something again, Gary?” Comes the shouted response from beneath the hood of an old truck. Tatyana knocks again. “Just come in, ya dickhead. Since when do you knock?”

Tatyana steps over the threshold.

The tools still.

“Gary?”

If possible, Tatyana’s heart would be pounding. “Far better looking, I hope.”

Has it clicked yet? She's yet to look up, but surely she recognises Tat-

Fuck… she's never been more beautiful, covered in filth, with grease smeared up her flushed cheek as she peers cautiously out from behind the truck.

“Hello again, darling.” she murmurs.

She's dreamed of this moment since Bella left, fantasising about all the lovely things she’ll say to make her swoon into her arms…

But anything else she wants to say- the words are stuck in her throat now, and she realises quite suddenly, desperately , that there's something far more important she needs to do.

She's across the workshop floor before Bella can blink, but she allows her that moment of clarity, of surprise, before she takes a hold of her hips, drags her closer, inhales her sweet scent-

She’s kissing her before she's even made the conscious decision to do so.

And Bella kisses her back.

“Tatyana,” Bella gasps the second she can tear her lips away for breath. “You’re soaked!”

Tatyana raises an eyebrow, looks down at herself… and yes, she’s not exactly dry. “Not what I thought you would say, if I’m being totally honest with you.” she muses, not even slightly out of breath herself. “I thought maybe you’d ask what I’m doing here, but I suppose it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“Sticking your tongue in my mouth?”

Bella might be complaining about her wet clothes, but she’s not letting her go, Tatyana notices. “You think you’re so funny.”

“I’m hilarious.”

“And I’m wet.” 

“Oh?” Bella is smiling, and there’s a dirty little gleam to her eye that Tatyana finds hard to ignore. “Your words, not mine.”

My my, she thinks. Bella is in her element here. Tatyana finds it ridiculously attractive. She leans down, reaching for Bella’s flushed face, and yes, her words indeed. 

Her body is quickly catching up. 

Her gaze drops to Bella’s soft lips. “You’re wonderful,” she murmurs, licking her own in preparation for what she knows is coming. “It might be forward of me to say so, but I’ve missed you , darling.”

It’s only been two days, if that, but it feels like much longer. She misses her, her body misses her.

Bella’s heart beats faster. “It’s not just me then? I thought… you let me leave, and I just- I assumed… I guess I just thought I was alone… feeling what I felt?”

Tatyana's head tilts, and their eyes meet. “If I had said something to you while you were in my bed, or even that morning in the doorway… would you have believed me?” she asks, so softly that she’s not sure she wants an answer. “I refuse to be a part of something that might plant seeds of doubt in your mind, and maybe it wouldn’t have… but I wasn’t going to risk ruining this.”

This is everything.

“What is… this?” Bella dares to ask her, dropping her gaze. She's practically staring at Tatyana’s chest now, which she might have found funny any other time. “I know I felt…” 

Tatyana knows exactly what she felt, what she feels now, but she wants to hear her say it. “Tell me,” she murmurs, “Please.”

Bella's breath is shaking now. “I've never felt anything even remotely close to what I felt with you that night, and maybe I'm panicking a little about it because holy shit, this can’t be happening but-”

“Darling, stop.” She touches a finger to her chin. “Let’s not… I’m here, you’re not alone in this, not then and certainly not now. I felt -feel- it all, just as you do. I’m here, and it is happening.”

Bella nods, as though trying to convince herself. “This is real?” she asks, still not sounding entirely sure. Tatyana smiles and inclines her head, so close to her lips that she can practically taste it already-

“As real as the water I’m dripping all over your workshop floor.” 

Bella laughs at her response.  "Yeah, thanks for that. I'm going to need to clean that up before I leave tonight." 

But even as she says it, Tatyana knows she doesn't really care. 

It's all in the eyes.

"Later," Tatyana says, brushing her lips along Bella's jaw. She presses a gentle kiss just before she can reach her ear, and continues in a murmur, "I've been thinking about all the ways I'd like to celebrate our reunion, but seeing you in these overalls now, all I can think about is you fucking me on the hood of this old chevy pick up."

She hears her breath catch. "That's my pick up."

"Then you have excellent taste."

"Do I really though? The alternator shit itself this morning, and I'm debating just stomping it into the fucking ground at this point."

Tatyana pulls away with an amused pout. "I tell you I want you to fuck me, but you want to talk shop, darling? Really?"

"Oh." She flushes a deep pink. "I guess I kind of focused on the wrong part of that conversation. It's just really been giving me a shit time tonight.”

Slipping her fingers beneath the straps that hold Bella's overalls together, Tatyana tugs her ever closer, leaning in again. 

"I like you in denim," she murmurs, unable to keep the low, tantalising want from creeping into her voice. "I've always appreciated it, the charm, the confidence it takes to pull it off."

Confidence that here, among cars, greasy parts and tools, Bella most certainly has. Tatyana lets her eyes wander- notes the flush that crawls up her neck to her cheeks… 

"I'll wear denim every day if it means you'll keep looking at me like that."

She cups those rosy cheeks, and they're so warm in her hands that Tatyana's eyes flutter shut briefly from the sensation alone, before she feels arms wrap around her and they're kissing.

"Bella."

Tatyana has never been one to melt, but she melts into Bella now, quickly losing herself to the feel, smell and touch of the perfect woman in her arms. It's too much and altogether not enough, and she wants more, always more.

Tatyana deepens the kiss and lets Bella press her back until she slams into the driver's side of the Chevy with a groan. She can feel every inch of its cold steel biting through her wet clothes and into her flesh, promising pain but never quite able to deliver. She grips Bella’s forearms to steady herself as lips move to her throat, laying hot, open-mouthed kisses until Tatyana’s shirt gets in the way.

“Take it off,” Bella orders her, breathless, gentle. She shuffles back just enough to help Tatyana guide it over her head, leaving her in a black lace bra before she’s back again, burying her face in her throat. She licks a hot trail up her throat, and Tatyana’s surprised moan echoes around them. “ Fuck, I’ve been dreaming about this. I can’t get you out of my head.” she admits, biting down. It doesn’t break the skin, never could, but Tatyana feels it right down to her toes.

“Yes,” she whines, lifting a leg to curl around Bella’s hips. She pulls her closer, seeking more. “I don’t want to be out of your head. Yes, just like that,” she adds, sighing as teeth and tongue work her throat. She shivers. “I want to be the only woman you think of- I will be, I’ll earn that place, right here,” she says, pressing a cool hand to Bella’s chest, right above her heart before they join Bella’s in helping her unbutton her pants. “You’ll see that I’m the only one worth thinking of, us- together, here, in this moment and more. Tonight, there’s only us. ”

It’s hard to get her point across when she can’t breathe (doesn’t need to), can’t think (does she need to do that right now), can’t do anything more than help Bella open her pants with a desperation that rivals that of a school boy.

It all feels so wonderful that she doesn’t even care. They manage to get them undone and Bella helps her out of them. There’s a tremble in her hands as she runs a finger along the top of her underwear, but her voice is steady when she says, “You didn’t wear red today.”

“Red is for seduction.”

For the bedroom.

Her lashes flutter as a warm finger slips beneath the elastic, touching her hip bone. “And what is black for then?” Bella asks, tilting her head so adorably that Tatyana can’t fight the laugh that bubbles from her throat.

“I find it far more sensual, don’t you?” She hums as a second finger joins the first, touching, exploring, mapping her skin without so much as a single thought of what it’s doing to Tatyana. She can see it in Bella’s eyes… She has no idea. She leans in, kissing her again, this time being so daring as to glide her tongue along Bella’s bottom lip, relishing in her small gasp before retreating with a smirk. “It’s such a mysterious colour, timeless, so full of strength and elegance… ”

She’s looking Bella in the eye, refusing to so much as blink, and she has her, she knows she does- she’s breathless with anticipation, with want. “Black fits you perfectly,” Bella breathes, dropping her gaze down, to her cleavage, her stomach, and settles on the spot where her fingers touch her. She meets her eyes again. “It’s stunning. You’re stunning.”

Tatyana’s breath catches in her throat at the raw need she hears in her voice- breath she doesn’t need, words that don’t need to be said but Bella says them anyway. It makes her sing. She doesn’t want to wait any longer, can’t wait. She drops her leg from around her hip and takes Bella by the hand, moving so quickly in her desperation that she momentarily forgets Bella is human and she stumbles after her with a gasp.

“Sorry, darling,” she apologises, slowing her pace as they round the end of the open truck bed. “I can be a little impatient and forgetful at times like this.” She pulls Bella closer again, feels the metal which should be cold but isn’t pressing against her backside, and she feels giddy at the matching look of need in Bella’s eyes, adding, “Actually, that’s a lie. I’ve never felt this before. I’m always in perfect control of my strength, my thirst, my desire, everything, always. This is new for me.” 

She feels Bella grab her by the waist and lift, so she helps her, knowing that what she is makes her slightly heavier-more durable than any average girl Bella might have done this with before her. Certainly not Rosalie as she would never allow it but…

Her eyes darken at the thought, and she tries hard to push aside her jealousy. She’s perched on the ledge now, Bella is looking at her like she’s her whole world and she takes this opportunity to wrap her legs around the warm body between them.

Rosalie doesn’t matter.

“This is new for me, too. It’s different, it’s not like- it’s not the same as-”

Tatyana shushes her. “I know. You don’t need to explain it to me, I promise. I know.”

Brown eyes glimmer with tears. “You know?”

“I know.” She drags Bella closer, until her warm body is pressing flush against her centre. She hopes Bella can feel what she does to her through the thin material of her underwear. “I understand it, I feel it, too. This isn’t just you, Bella. I know.”

This is all consuming, messy, rough- all things that Tatyana is usually able to keep in check. This is her, this is Bella, this is them.

Bella releases a breath. “You know.”

“I know.”

And then they’re kissing again, hands gripping, nails biting as she drags them up Tatyana’s thighs- but it’s not enough, and soon Bella moves her mouth lower, sucking and biting her way down Tatyana’s throat and chest. Tatyana’s head falls back as Bella, in a hurry, pulls her bra down beneath her tits. They bounce free, press high and tight over the fabric, and she sighs as a hot mouth closes over a hardened nipple.

“You’re perfect,” Tatyana groans. She grabs a hold of Bella’s hair with one hand and she leans back on the other. Her nails scratch at her scalp, but carefully, gently. “You have no idea what you do to me, Bella.”

Bella’s head lifts, and her eyes blaze with hunger. “I have every idea,” she murmurs, voice so husky it sends another shiver down Tatyana’s spine. “Because you do the same to me, since the moment I heard your voice that first time, I was- I am enraptured. I think that’s got to be one of my favourite things about you… your voice…” Her eyes close, and Tatyana’s own move to her flushed throat, ignores the bite mark that doesn’t belong there, and simply watches.

She leans in. “You like my voice, darling?” she asks, saying the words into her ear with a brush of her lips. She pulls away just enough to watch that throat tremble with how hard Bella swallows, and purrs, “Is it the way I say the words? The tone? The soft little edge I reserve solely-for-you…?” Bella makes a strangled noise, deep in her throat that has Tatyana grinning. “No, no, perhaps it’s that I call you darling, and pull on my accent just-enough-to-make-you-squirm?”

“ Yes , all of it,” Bella breathes. “Your voice sends shivers down my spine.”

“Just my voice?” There’s a pout to her voice now as she teases her. “Not these?” she asks, seeking clarification as she cups her own breasts, practically shoving them in Bella’s flushed face. It’s too easy in this position.

“I mean, those are incredible, too.” she mumbles, unable to resist dropping her gaze. “But I can’t say they do the exact same thing to me…”

No, what they do to her is far less innocent if what Tatyana can scent in the air is any indication… which it is. Although her tits are likely not the only cause of her current state, she’s sure. Tatyana knows what she must look like right now, she feels a hot mess- her hair is still wet and dripping down her shoulders, her face. She would be short of breath if she had any need for it, but even so, her chest rises and falls rapidly with each breath, a habit she’s seemingly developed from watching Bella do the same. Her bra is tight beneath her tits, pushing them up, and her underwear-

Well , it’s totally soaked through and it has nothing to do with her standing out in the pouring rain. And Bella wasn’t lying- isn’t lying when she uses the word enraptured to describe the effect Tatyana has on her. Bella’s eyes are so focused on her, on watching her own hands move up over her underwear, the dip of her waist, her ribs-

Tatyana tightens her legs around Bella’s waist, trapping her. “Bella, darling, as much as I love having your eyes on me, please touch me.” she orders, licking her lips. Bella looks up at her, and Tatyana is consumed by the look in those brown eyes.

“I am touching you?”

Is she… 

Giggling, Tatyana can’t really believe it. She takes Bella’s hand where caresses her stomach, and she guides it, murmuring, “Touch me here .”

She’s having a moment of deja vu . 

“Bella, please.”

She loves saying her name, she loves the way the brunette can’t seem to get enough, can’t look away as she takes the hint and her hand slips beneath the damp fabric between Tatyana’s legs. Her legs fall open, her hand falls away… and Bella drags a single finger through her wet folds, up, both breathless with the anticipation of it all. 

Bella groans a little as she says, “You’re so wet,” almost like she can’t really believe it.

“For you,” Tatyana murmurs. Her hips twitch, desperate to hurry Bella to that spot, and her eyes want to shut, to remember this feeling, this moment, but she fights it with every scrap of control she has left. She doesn’t want to miss a thing, can’t . “All for you, Bella.”

Their eyes meet again. 

“Only me?” she husks, pausing right below where Tatyana needs her. Something flashes quickly through her gaze, and it sets Tatyana on fire when she realises what Bella’s asking, what she wants to hear, what it is.

“Only you,” she breathes. Nobody has ever affected Tatyana this way. “Only you, Bella. Please .”

Funny how quickly she resorts to begging now. Bella leans forward, Tatyana’s hand tight in her hair. “You’re mine?” she asks with a quiver, her burning gaze searching Tatyana’s face. She’s breathing faster now. “You’re mine, right? Tatyana…”

Growling, Tatyana surges forward and their mouths meet. “Stop asking me.”

Bella bites her lip, hard, and Tatyana hisses and arches into her, always wanting more. “You’re mine,” Bella says. “I can feel it, you’re mine .” Her growl is weak but it does things to Tatyana, things that makes her equally as weak, only for her it’s in the knees so it’s a good thing she’s not standing or she’d be a puddle on the floor.

“ Yes, I’m yours,” she says, and then, “Please, I’m yours, I need you to touch me,” and cries out into Bella’s mouth as she moves her finger again, pushing inside of Tatyana as her thumb presses against her clit. “ Fuck, Bella…”

It’s an explosion of finally, of relief, and pleasure, and all things good in the world, and her hips press forward as she moves her cheek to Bella’s. Warmth moves inside of her, walls clamp down on a second finger as Bella pushes in to the knuckle, so wet, so easily- and it’s like nothing else, everything she remembers and everything she’s dreamed of since the last time.

“Say it again,” Bella begs her, panting, speaking so softly that Tatyana almost misses it. It’s in stark contrast to the way she slides her warm fingers out, and then pushes back in, all the while her thumb keeps hitting her sensitive clit with each slow, forceful t hrust.

Little bird is stronger than she looks.

Tatyana grabs at her hair, the back of her neck, her shoulders, anywhere she can reach and touch to anchor herself. “I’m yours,” she tells her. “I’ll never be anyone else’s. I’m yours, forever- Bella, yes, ” A face buries in her throat, sucking, biting but never breaking the skin, “Yes, keep doing that, right there…”

Bella isn’t going to stop, she knows she isn’t going to stop, much like the way Tatyana’s hips pitch forward with each thrust, driving her feet into Bella’s backside, wanting her deeper, never stopping. All she can feel is Bella, Bella, Bella- all she can hear is her laboured breaths in her ear and the wet sound of Bella fucking her into what must surely be oblivion at this point.

A coil winds tight, low in her belly as Bella curls her fingers inside her, and the noises she’s making now are so desperate, so needy that she can’t really believe they’re coming from her.

“More,” she pleads, and Bella answers her with a hot puff of breath against her throat, adding a third finger, stretching her, filling her. “You’re everything I need, everything I want,” she promises. “Nobody makes me feel this way but you. Bella, please, I need more.”

Bella pulls back with wild eyes, and her hand jerks in surprise. “Jesus, how much more can I give you?”

Tatyana doesn’t know, can’t think, can’t talk sense- only knows that she wants as much of Bella as she can get, and why has she stopped? Tatyana’s eyes snap open, flashing as she growls, “Bella, please .”

“What?” she pants, flushed, thoughtless… not moving, then quickly looks down between their bodies, realising, “Oh, fuck, sorry.” 

Oh, the heat coming off of Bella’s body, seeping inside her with each grind of her hips and twist of her fingers as she begins to move them again… 

Tatyana realises then that she’d spoken those words out loud, and what a blessing, she thinks, moans slipping from her lips without conscious thought. Because this right here, this feeling building inside of her- this is her reward.

Bella drops her sweat slicked forehead onto Tatyana’s shoulder. “My hand is cramping.”

“Don’t you dare stop,” Tatyana tangles a hand in Bella’s hair, pulling, seeking, until she can feel those panting breaths on her lips. She kisses her, rough, with far too much teeth and not enough care because she tastes blood on her tongue, muttering, “I’m so close, and I’ll never fucking forgive you if you stop right now."

Bella groans, the sound hot and heated. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”

Tatyana is sure her brain has been fried… but she opens her eyes, needs to see, watch, feel-  

“You’re so beautiful, and you’re mine.” Bella breathes, still as though she can’t really believe it.

Bella’s fingers curl inside of her, her thrusts becoming deeper, harder, all the things that Tatyana needs. “Yes.” she hisses. “I’m yours, you’re mine- fuck, yes, right there, Bella…”

Eyes slam shut as the pleasure builds, heat intensifies, a thirst rages, and Tatyana is making all kinds of high pitched noises that sound almost as obscene as Bella’s fingers between her legs.

“Is that what I am?” she pants, almost assuring her, goading her. “Yours?”

From the pounding of her heart, the little gasp that leaves her lips as Tatyana tangles a hand through her hair and pulls… 

To the sweat Tatyana tastes on her tongue as she drags it up Bella’s straining throat, over a mark that should-not-be-there. “ Mine,” she growls into soft flesh, “All of you. You belong with me.” 

It’s not even a question at this point, just pure, unadulterated fact. Every inch of her aches, burns with the truth of it- Bella is hers, as she is Bella’s. There’s no one without the other now, no second chance at this moment. 

They belong together.

“I don’t want to be with anybody else,” Bella says, “I don’t want to be with anyone but you.”

“Good,” Tatyana’s tongue flattens over the scar at Bella’s throat, “Because I would fight to the death for you, a friend, a foe, even my sisters, for you.” She’s panting with Bella now, for breath she doesn’t need, but she can’t help herself. It’s instinct, it’s intense-

It’s right.

And when she opens her mouth and bites down, hard, she’s not entirely sure which of them makes the loudest noise, but she’s ninety-nine-point-nine percent positive that it’s her because holy fucking shit. Bella tastes like nothing else in this world- of passion, and desire, and love, as Tatyana feels the heat of it coat her teeth, tongue, and insides, scorching a delicious path all the way down her throat.

Her earlier taste during their night together has nothing on this.

The warm feeling settles in Tatyana’s heart, she’s sure of it, cemented further by a hand tugging desperately at the nape of her neck, pushing… wanting more…

And so Tatyana feeds- her hips grind faster, Bella curls her fingers with each thrust, and all Tatyana is now consists of this woman whose body she trembles around so easily. With her pleasure building, she worries momentarily for Bella’s fingers inside her (will they bruise? Break? Shatter?) but her worry melts away in a tide of pure bliss , and her high moan is muffled only by the throat she suckles against as she comes.

They stay like that for a long minute. Tatyana listens to Bella’s pounding heart, her harsh panting breaths… the pelting rain on the tin roof above them… and she feels…

Complete.

Her mouth comes away from a freshly marked throat, and smiling, she licks her bloodied lips. “ Oh, that was so nice,” she sighs, and begins to clean up the mess painting Bella’s soft skin. She hums, eyes close, sees, feels, is everything Bella experiences in this moment. “You’re truly exquisite, I have no words.”

A harsh puff of breath against the side of her face as Bella laughs, “Those sound like words to me,” but hisses as she removes her fingers from inside Tatyana, mumbling, “I think I need to ice my hand.”

Tatyana takes the hand and inspects her fingers gently. “Best put them back in then,” she teases. Nothing appears broken, but it’s bruising already. “My body is better than any ice. I don’t melt, except perhaps when it comes to you.”

“Yeah?” Bella’s face flushes, and she drops her gaze to their fingers as they, very carefully, intertwine. “You make me melt, too.” she admits.

The moment is so sickeningly sweet, so corny, that neither can contain their laughter for long. Tatyana then offers her a soft kiss.

"You're wonderful, Bella." she repeats in a murmur. 

"So you keep saying," she responds with a soft grin. "But seriously, my hand is hurting." She flexes said hand between them. "Do you think I broke something? Cause that would be kinda cool. I've never injured myself during sex before."

She’s reminded of Bella’s history with a certain blonde who likes to play with women's hearts, and tries not to let it sour her mood. “I’d rather not think about it,” she says, which garners her such a funny look that she has to laugh. “It’s hypocritical of me, isn’t it? Considering my line of work.”

“I mean, I wasn’t going to say it, but kind of, yeah.”

She wonders if right now is the right time to tell Bella about her own history with the blonde, but decides quickly that it is not. 

Post-orgasm is, in fact, a very bad time to bring it up.

Bella shifts between her legs, drawing her back to the present. Their eyes meet, one pair amused, the other embarrassed. “Is this crossing a line?” Bella asks, “Talking about this while we’re… after we’ve- you… I… you know…” She’s blushing heavily at this point. “Fuck, I can’t word tonight. Help me."

“After you’ve fucked me in the bed of your truck in a dirty workshop?” Tatyana offers, grinning. She sits forward and pulls the warm body closer. “I don’t think there are any lines you could cross to upset me, Bella. That would imply that there are lines to begin with, and I don’t think there’s a single thing I wouldn’t be happy to talk with you about.”

It’s the truth. Tatyana will speak with her about Rosalie- of course she will. But not right now. This is their moment, their memory to make, not hers.

"And besides," she continues, "I'm the one who brought it up."

She almost wishes Bella would ask her questions, because there's very clearly something on her mind now. 

Tatyana nurses Bella's busted hand, gently, encouraging her. "What are you thinking?" she asks her. "Tell me, please."

Bella chews on her bottom lip. "Did you see another client that night… after I left?"

Tatyana nods, and watches with an aching heart as Bella breaks eye contact in an attempt to reign in her… anger? Jealousy? Both things that Tatyana would never begrudge her feeling, considering. But she refuses to allow it to fester into anything more.

"He drank himself unconscious on my couch and I had him removed." She takes Bella by the chin, encouraging her to turn her head, to look at her. She does. "He was neither as charming nor as lovely as you, Bella. Not even close. Quite the opposite in fact.”

His eyes certainly don't hold the warmth that Bella’s do now.

"You didn’t sleep with him?"

Tatyana shakes her head. "I didn't so much as even taste his blood. My only thoughts, desires-" she answers, eyes wandering leisurely to the bite mark at Bella's throat, "-were of you… for you."

Her body, her mind, her blood- all of it. She wants only Bella.

"I'm not jealous." Tatyana cocks an eyebrow, and Bella snorts. "Okay, so maybe I was a little jealous at the thought of you…"

"I didn't."

"I know, but that's not what I mean." she argues, making a noise of frustration. "I'm not being clear. I don’t hate that you’re an escort. I literally wouldn’t have met you any other way, and I’m glad that we met the way we did because I don’t think I would have been brave enough to approach you otherwise.”

If they had crossed paths on the street, it wouldn’t have mattered if Bella was brave enough to approach her. Tatyana wouldn’t have let her walk away. 

Bella continues before she can voice this though, explaining, “If you’d slept with him last night and then come here to see me like you did tonight...” Bella’s fingers find purchase on Tatyana’s hip, and she massages the flesh there thoughtlessly. “But you didn’t sleep with him. You sent him packing.”

“I did,” Tatyana lays her colder hands over those at her hips. “If I’d had any real sense I would have cancelled his reservation before he arrived. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she murmurs, laying a kiss to the corner of Tatyana’s downturned lips. “I’m the one who jumped to conclusions. That’s on me, not you. I’m sorry.”

“We’re both sorry then,” she teases. “Can we move on now? Maybe talk about why you’re so okay with what I do for a living?” She pokes Bella in the side, saying more seriously, “I don’t think I would be taking it so well if our positions were reversed. I want you all to myself, and I…” She thinks of Kate’s teasing yesterday. “Well, I don’t share well. I may owe my sister an apology…”

Now that she thinks of it.

“Your sister?”

She hums. “Kate. You ran into her in the lift, if memory serves me right.” 

Which it does.

“Oh.” A flush spreads up Bella’s throat to flood her cheeks. “She was very… friendly.”

Tatyana’s eyes narrow. “Yes, so I heard,” she mutters, “She thought it prudent to tell me so herself, looking to get a reaction from me.”

“Did she get one?”

“... with some persistence, yes. You’re worth it."

Perhaps she doesn’t owe her an apology, after all. Bella’s lips seek to distract her, whether it be on purpose or not, and Tatyana is half tempted to allow it- she’s quickly losing herself to hot kisses being pressed beneath her jaw, an unforgettable feeling. A soft massage becomes harder, grabbing at Tatyana and dragging her into Bella’s body.

“Say that again.” Bella demands. She sounds breathless already, and her pupils are blown as she pulls back to look up at Tatyana’s confused but oh so wanting face. 

“Which part?” she questions, tightening her ankles behind Bella’s body again. Somehow, impossibly, she’s not close enough. “The bit where you’re worth reacting over?” Bella’s lashes flutter, her stare heavy. “I chased her to the elevator and threatened to destroy her spectacular tits.”

Through her arousal, Bella manages a breathless giggle. “I don’t even want to know.” And then she’s kissing her again, mapping the inside of Tatyana’s mouth with her tongue, no longer careful of the sharp teeth that threaten to cut her. 

Tatyana rips her mouth away at the first drop of blood from her tongue. “You asked!”

“I changed my mind.” Bella says, and a playful grin curls her lips, like she knows… like she did it on purpose. “I’d prefer to hear about how spectacular my own tits are. They might be smaller but-”

“They’re lovely, and they fit perfectly in the palm of my hands.” Tatyana makes an effort to demonstrate just how perfectly but those damn overalls are in the way. “Or they would, if not for these,” she says, attempting to snap the suspenders, but of course they’re denim, and denim doesn’t snap like that. “But we probably shouldn’t get the human naked in a draughty shed and risk hypothermia just to prove a point.”

“It’s not cold enough for that.”

“You’re not factoring in the temperature of my body,” she argues, “Which, might I add, is currently wrapped around your toasty body, sucking it of all its warmth."

“Fine, I’ll leave my clothes on,” she responds, but Tatyana senses that there’s more, and she intends to be patient enough to find out. Bruised fingers run down Tatyana’s body, along a thigh, pausing… leaving her wanting for more. “Can I taste you instead? Or is a draughty workshop not the right place for that either?”

A slow, predatory smile curves Tatyana’s lips. “I can’t get hypothermic, so it’s exactly the right place. There can’t possibly be a wrong place for such things.”

Now all she can think about is Bella’s head between her legs, and all the wonderful places they could make these sinful memories together. Even as Bella begins to list all of the places that would, in fact, be the wrong place to have someone go down on them, she’s still fantasising about it. It’s only when Bella starts ticking them off with her fingers that she begins to lose some of her patience.

"Alright, you've made your point," Tatyana huffs and gives Bella's waist a warning squeeze. "I won't ask you to go down on me in a school yard or at a Sunday church service."

Bella scrunches her nose up. "I don’t intend to step foot in either of those places ever again, most especially a Church. Blegh. ” 

"Good," She loosens her ankles and her legs fall open slowly, purposefully . "Not even the promise of a tongue between my legs would convince me to listen to a stuffy old man preach on about his false god."

"Then why say it in the first place?"

Given her ancestry, the thought alone is downright offensive. There’s no way she would be able to find herself aroused in such an environment. "It was at the top of your list."

Mildly taken aback by her matter of fact response, Bella splutters, "Only because it seems like the most obvious place to not fuck someone!”

“Oh, darling…” It occurs to Tatyana then how utterly ridiculous this entire conversation is, and she can’t really hold back the laughter, much to Bella’s annoyance. 

“Hey, quit that,” she growls weakly, smacking the inside of her thigh. She laughs harder. “It’s not that funny! What, have you fucked someone in worse places?”

A 16th century convent in the English countryside comes to mind, and Tatyana, still giggling, leans closer. “I’m not going to give you the -what did you call it- sordid details? Yes, that was it!” she says, triumphant. “You don’t want to hear it, you told me so yourself!”

Of course, they were discussing a very different type of sordid at the time, but still. 

Bella grumbles, “Where the sordidness takes place doesn’t count.” 

"It most certainly does." 

She recalls a hazy memory of a young woman splayed out upon unforgiving stone steps, her habit askew…

… praising her false god as Tatyana's tongue wove a sinful tale between her legs. It’s a pleasant memory- and certainly no Sunday church service, that’s for sure.

"Why are we spending all this time arguing about this when we could be doing more enjoyable things?” she points out, as it just occurs to her. And with their mouths no less. “Seems to me that we’re just wasting time.”

Time they could be utilising in far more fun ways. Bella holds up a finger, motioning her to wait a moment and Tatyana watches her disappear around the front of the truck. She hears a grunt, a clatter of tools, and then the sound of something rolling along the concrete floor. Before long Bella is back again, this time wheeling a rolling stool ahead of her. Tatyana only has a few seconds to be confused as she watches Bella drop the height and toe it into position between her legs before she realises what she’s doing.

“Don’t want to get on your knees for me?” she teases, lifting an eyebrow as Bella quickly straddles it. It makes her lick her lips because she knows what she would much rather Bella be straddling right now. 

“Ask me again when we decide to do this somewhere that there’s carpet.” she responds, wasting no time running her warm hands from Tatyana’s knees, up. She catches Tatyana’s eye. "So, my worst,” she says, picking up where they left off, “was in the back of my father's police cruiser. He was in the force basically my entire life… not sure I told you that. But anyway, it was Friday night- I think I was maybe fifteen -we waited until he was a six pack into the football game before we snuck out my bedroom window and down into the back of the cruiser."

Heat reignites in Tatyana’s belly. "Don't believe in locking your cars at night where you grew up?"

"I didn't grow up there," she answers simply, and then flashes her a grin, like she knows what kind of effect she's having on her. "And no, it's Forks and my father was Chief of Police. They wouldn't have dared."

"And yet you dared to let one of my kind fuck you in it," she counters. "That sounds rather daring to me."

The name of the town rings no bells for Tatyana, but she assumes it must be small by the way Bella speaks of it. 

"When did you hear me say that?" Bella asks, her grin deepening. “I did have a life before I met her, you know- friends, crushes… all of that fun teenage stuff. I even went to a party or two on occasion.”

“Bella!” Tatyana gasps, feigning her surprise, “Are you trying to tell me you were partaking in underage drinking? My, my, how very rebellious of you.”

Bella snorts with poorly concealed laughter, her fingers twitching high up against Tatyana’s inner thigh. “Not how I would describe myself, but okay.”

Tatyana hears it then- the tone she uses, implications of the words she might use instead, and Tatyana can’t stand to sit by and simply think it’s okay to make fun of herself that way.

“Rebellious, smart, charming, ” Tatyana says, placing her fingertips beneath her soft jawline, urging her gently to simply keep looking at her. “You’re kind, thoughtful, and utterly delightful-”

“Don’t forget awkward.” 

She silences her with a finger to her lips, but quickly removes it in favour of grabbing ahold of the truck bed when Bella’s grip tightens at her waist and she drags her closer. “It’s part of your charm,” she insists, pitching forward. Her eyes widen, but she tries to carry on, continuing, “Now don’t interrupt me again while I tell you how wonderful you are. Where was I?”

She’s rather forgotten her train of thought with Bella’s forwardness.

Bella shrugs, a decidedly amused smile curling her lips. “Delightful?”

“I believe the words I used were utterly delightful,” she sighs, lashes fluttering beneath Bella’s soft touch. Her feet lie flat at the edge of the truck bed, knees to the ceiling, legs having fallen open. She watches Bella’s hungry gaze drop between her legs. “Focused… thoughtful-”

“You already said that one,” Bella interrupts her, again. “Using it twice doesn’t make me twice as thoughtful.”

She’s running her fingers up her thighs again, down over her knees… calves. Her rough thumbs slip over her ankles, and she’s teasing Tatyana enough that it’s quickly becoming blatantly obvious that’s her intention. She wants to tease her and she wants a reaction.

“Attentive-”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Tatyana’s chest rumbles. “No. Now stop interrupting me.”

She hums. “How about… aggravating. Is that one of the words on your list?” Bella questions instead, totally ignoring the warning she’s given. Wheels roll on the concrete as she uses her legs to pull herself in closer, waggling her eyebrows. “Annoying? That has to be on the list.”

Tatyana smothers the unpleasant noise that works its way up her throat. “Persistent.” she counters through gritted teeth, hoping it’s a somewhat more flattering description. Before Bella can open her mouth again, she continues, “Gentle, cute, generous, captivating…”

“I swear some of those things mean the same things,” she tells her. “You can argue otherwise all you like, but I know. I’m onto you, ya know, trying to flatter me so that I’ll-”

“Stop teasing me?” Tatyana finishes for her, the unmistakable rumble of a rumble in her throat. “I’m adding ‘tease’ to the list, just so we’re clear.”

She needn’t bother though, because no sooner does she say the words does Bella laugh and finally lower her head between her legs- finally taking pity on her.

“Oh…” At the first touch of her hot mouth, Tatyana winds her hands into the hair at the back of her head. “Might have to… add… sympathetic… as well…” she sighs, and unbidden, she smiles. She knows she does, she can feel it, realises she must look a bit demented, but she can’t help herself.

It’s never felt like this with anyone else, never felt so good, so right.  

She never wants to stop feeling this way.

 

…

 

Pleasure is easy, she discovers, but humans are easier- and what is it really, but an exchange? A service for a service.

Business, pleasure, living… 

She can do this. This, she thinks- to pretend, to fake her desire… 

It’s easy.

 

…

 

There's no pretending with Bella, and certainly no faking of anything. Being with others… suddenly it's not such an easy prospect. 

Her pleasure is disappointingly short-lived. 

With the slamming of a door and a snarl so loud that Tatyana could almost mistake it for thunder outside, she’s ripped from that precipice of pleasure in one terrifying instant. 

“Bella, darling,” she murmurs, although her eyes are now fixed on the imposing figure standing in the doorway. “You have a visitor.”

It all happens so fast that it takes Bella a human moment to catch up. Lifting her head, she blinks in confusion. “What?”

As much as it pleases Tatyana to know Bella enjoys going down on her as much as Tatyana enjoys being on the receiving end, there are more pressing matters that hold her attention. She sits up slowly, cautiously, her legs falling shut now that there’s no head between them and their bubble has been burst.

“There’s somebody standing in the doorway, Bella.” she answers, although vibrating is probably more accurate. The woman is tall and solid, and if not for the fury that twists her otherwise pretty face, Tatyana might have found her somewhat attractive even. She carries an equally unpleasant smell with her. “She appears to be quite upset.”

Which is putting it mildly. She sniffs again, curious.

What is that…?

“Someone standing in my…” Bella blinks the lust from her eyes, and still confused, takes a look back over her shoulder. Tatyana feels the hands on her thighs tense. “Leah,” she breathes, “What are you doing here?”

Ah. Tatyana’s eyes narrow. So, this is Leah.

The woman doesn’t so much as twitch as she’s addressed, won’t even look at Bella. She appears to have only eyes for Tatyana, and not the kind that Tatyana is accustomed to. The unadulterated hatred is new, and Bella, picking up on the fact that something is very wrong, casts a nervous look between the two women, eyes flitting rapidly back and forth.

She gets slowly to her feet, and stands in a way that completely blocks each of their views of the other. “You need to leave,” Bella tells the woman, and holds a hand up to her friend, but Tatyana is pleased to note the other stays touching her knee. “This isn’t the time or place.”

A long, tense moment passes before…

“But it’s the time and place to do that?” Her voice is a deep rumble, far deeper than Tatyana’s. Pleasant apart from the utter contempt with which she spits her words. “Bit fucking hypocritical, don’t you think? At least wipe the cum off your fucking mouth when you spew your bullshit to me.”

The hand on Tatyana’s knee tightens, but she notes Bella does bring the other to her face, blushing bright red. “Leah, don’t do this right now.” she begs, and her hand returns to her side, fist clenched this time.

“Where the fuck else am I supposed to do this, Bella? You won’t answer my calls!”

“And I bet you never stopped and asked yourself why that might be, did you?” Bella snaps back, and takes a step forward. The warmth leaves Tatyana’s knee. “You never could take the hint to give me space when I needed it, so I shouldn’t be surprised that you can’t respect it now either. You don’t get to speak to me like this, like the way you did the night I was with Tatyana-”

She’s moved forward in her anger, enough that Tatyana can see again- just in time to watch the woman’s eyes flash with fury. “That’s who this bitch is?” she asks, sneering. “The filthy leech who you paid to open your legs for? What, you couldn’t get enough of her filthy cunt the first time so you had to waste another fucking paycheck for a second taste?”

“Leah, please…”

“Real classy, Bella.”

Tatyana can’t listen to anymore, and she stands to her full height, partially behind Bella- but naked or not, the threat she poses is unmistakable. “She tells you why you’re being given the cold shoulder, and this is how you continue to act?” she asks the woman, her voice a soft, deadly murmur. She tilts her head, takes the woman in, and is decidedly unimpressed. “You’re not a very smart puppy, are you?”

Because she realises now that's what she smells, the thing that makes her so uncomfortable around the woman. And it explains her hostility now, too.

It also makes this situation a hundred times more dangerous, for her, for the woman, for Bella who stands between them. Tatyana remedies this fact immediately, stepping around the warm body and in front of her, shielding her…

Protecting her.

Leah’s eyes follow the movement… fists tremble…

“What are you doing?” Bella whispers in horror, and Tatyana’s smells her cheeks flood even from where she stands behind her. “You’re naked!”

“That is the least of my concerns right now, I assure you.” she responds, refusing to take her eyes off the threat standing in the doorway. “You never told me that your friend is a shifter,” she continues more softly, and dares to take a peek at Bella’s face. It’s clear by the widening eyes and the look Bella throws the woman that this is news to her. “Untamed puppies are dangerous company to keep.”

They exist, and of course humans and ethereals alike know it, but they’re less open about their nature. They prefer to keep it to themselves, and apparently Leah is no exception. She hasn’t been very forthcoming with Bella.

“You’re one to talk considering what the fuck you are,” Leah growls, and Tatyana’s attention returns to her immediately. “I’d say I’m less of a threat to her than you .”

“I disagree. I’m in complete control of myself right now,” she begins to say, and tilts her head as she studies her. “Can you honestly say the same, Leah?"

“Keep my fucking name out of your mouth!” she snaps, taking a step forward. “You think you’re so much better than me because you can hide your hate better? You’re fucking not. You’re a filthy bloodsucker-”

“Very original,” Tatyana interrupts her, lifting her nose. “Definitely haven’t heard that one before. Filthy cunt however… that one is new. But I wonder… is it because I’m an ethereal or an escort?”

Leah’s eye twitches. “Fancy name for a whore.” she sneers.

Her words- they amuse Tatyana, who, despite Bella begging her not to rise to the bait, can’t help but respond with, “Who has what you only dream of.” Purposefully, she drags her tongue along her bottom lip and grins. “Would you like to know what success tastes like?”

It’s childish of her perhaps, but it feels good to watch Leah’s face turn that deep, furious shade of purple because they all know very well what, or rather who, success is in this particular context. She’s standing behind Tatyana, flushing with indignance and offence.

Rightfully so.

It's a little crude to say aloud.

Tatyana feels a hand touch her naked hip. “Stop,” Bella says, face flushed as she comes up beside her instead. She looks to Leah next, adding, “The both of you. Please.”

“Me?” Leah scoffs, jabbing her own chest roughly. “What the fuck did I do?”

Tatyana fights the urge to roll her eyes. “The fact that you even have to ask-”

“Tatyana,” Bella warns, rounding on her once more. Tatyana closes her mouth. “I’m serious. Enough. This back and forth isn’t getting us anywhere.” She’s right, of course, but Tatyana would sooner cut out her own tongue and feed it to the dog before admitting it in front of her. The dog, that is. Not Bella, obviously. Bella’s touch on her hip softens, and she adds more quietly but no less seriously, “If you want to continue tasting success, you’ll quit while you’re ahead.” 

“Are you…?”

Is she… flirting right now?

Tatyana searches her face for an answer, but Bella gives nothing away. Or at least, not until Tatyana catches the twitch of her lips. She can’t help but return the gesture, grinning, and for a moment they seem to forget that they’re not alone- that there is literal danger standing only a few feet in front of them, watching this all unfold with a burning in her heart…

“You’re going to keep fucking her?” Leah’s vicious accusation is heavy with hurt, with anger. Tatyana is quick to return her attention there. “Are you serious right now, Bella? After everything that other bitch put you through…”

“Tatyana is different. They’re not the same person.”

“That’s bullshit! They’re all the fucking same!” Leah is no longer trying to hide the way her body trembles. Now it visibly shakes, and Tatyana swears she can hear her teeth grinding under the immense pressure of her anger, and yet still, she holds onto that last shred of her control. “She’ll have her fill of you and then she’ll leave you behind, and I’ll be forced to pick up the pieces again! I’ll be forced to watch you fall in love with someone else, again and again. ”

Tatyana is realising very quickly that this whole situation is rapidly getting out of hand. Her mind, body, soul, screams danger. 

“Why are you doing this to me, Bella?” Leah begs, her control shattering as quickly as her heart. They all see it, feel it. Tatyana attempts to get Bella to step back, to stand behind her, but she won’t budge. She just watches this train wreck unfold with tears in her eyes.

“Leah-”

“No! You always do this to me!” she wails, and her fist to her chest echoes like thunder. “You never choose me! It’s always them!”

Bella makes a sobbing noise. “Calm down, please.”

There’s no reasoning with her, and Tatyana has to wonder if Bella’s ever seen a shifter lose control and change. She doubts it, especially when Bella goes to move closer to her and Tatyana is forced to take her by the arm and hold her back. She can only shake her head as Bella’s anguished gaze turns toward her.

“It’s too dangerous.” she explains, but of course Leah hears her softly spoken words, meant only for Bella.

“ I’m not dangerous.” 

And yet despite her words, her body screams it. Tatyana can see muscles, bone, shifting beneath her skin. Her shoulders are hunching in on themselves and the ground is literally trembling beneath their feet with the force of… whatever is happening right now.

“Yes, you are, and I can’t let you hurt her.” Tatyana responds, watching as the shifter breaks out into a feverish sweat. She can feel the heat from where she stands. “You might not mean to, but you will.”

The sound of tearing fabric reaches their ears moments before Tatyana realises that Leah’s shirt is coming apart. It rips at the sleeves first, travelling up higher until it snags at the neckline. She’s panting now- a harsh sound, short and sharp-

“This is… your… fault,” Leah gasps, and slaps a hand over her ribs, which Tatyana can see crawling beneath the skin. “She’s scared of me because of you!”

“You need to calm down,” she says. She’s never seen a shifter change either, not this close, not this personally. She’s more forceful as she shoves Bella behind her now. “For Bella’s sake, stop.”

She isn’t going to stop. She can’t, she’s beyond that point now.

“You did this.”

Terrified, Bella’s breath catches behind her, and they all hear it. And even if they hadn’t, her thundering heart gives her away. 

She is scared, and rightfully so. Leah is dangerous like this, uncontrolled. And almost as though having heard her thoughts, Leah’s harsh breaths drop into silence for just a moment.

“Don’t do this, Leah.” Despite her soft warning, Tatyana’s shoulders drop in preparation. “Turn around, walk away, go home.”

Tatyana’s only ever fought a shifter once, and she's not in a hurry to repeat history- but as Leah’s eyes flash beneath her own…

“You!”

She knows what’s about to happen. With the sound of cracking bone and tearing flesh…

Leah lunges.

 

…

 

Tatyana learns how to fight- how to protect herself. It’s not because she particularly wants to, but because she has to. Her sisters don't always have her back, aren’t always there. 

If she wants to survive this life, then she has no choice.

After all, who else is there to rely on but herself?

 

…

 

Utter carnage, that’s the only word she has to describe this. Warped metal, craters of concrete, a ceiling partially caved in…

“No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!”

The scent of fresh blood is thick in the air, both tainted and not, but she doesn’t care, she isn’t thirsty- she can’t think about that. Not here, not right now, not when-

A whimper. “What have I done?” 

There’s no comfort in Tatyana, no hatred, no anger. She feels only terror and blinding panic as her bloody fingers grasp for signs of life.

So weak.

She says her name over and over. Bella, Bella, Bella, but she gets no response.

Bella is dying, her pulse is weak, her blood paints the ruins that they -she- made. There’s a steel rod protruding through her stomach.

“It’s okay, Bella, I promise,” she says, frantic as she presses at the gaping wound there, desperately trying to stem the flow. “I’ll fix this, I promise. You’ll be alright. Bella, I promise.”

She can’t promise, she can only try.

More sobbing from behind her, buried beneath her own. “What have I done?” 

She can’t remove the rod, not yet, not while she’s still her. There’s no time and she’ll bleed out even more than she’s already doing. She doesn’t even think, not when her love is gasping so weakly beneath her and drowning in her own blood. 

She brings her own wrist to her mouth and she bites down, so hard, so deep that she rips into a vein.

Her own blood tastes of nothing in her mouth, but there’s no time, not enough. She spits it to the ground, and instead lifts her flowing wrist to Bella’s open mouth. She hauls her up, grabs a hold of her chin, opens it wider, tilts her head back-

They don’t have time.

“Please,” she begs her, hoping she’s not so far gone that she won’t hear her. “You’re dying… let me save you…”

She coughs, choking… and Tatyana can only keep trying, pressing her bleeding wrist to Bella’s mouth harder, hoping that there’s enough getting through, that Bella is strong enough to survive her death.

Drink, she thinks, please.

“.... Bella…”

 

…

 

Tatyana isn’t a stranger to loss. She knows it- it’s an old friend at this point…

A fact of life.

She’s felt it all throughout the years- loss has thrown every hurdle at her… and she’s sure it will never be able to take her in its vice-like clutches again.

She won’t let it.

 

…

 

Of course, she’s wrong.

Riley answers in two rings.

“Send a car, bring my sisters.” Tatyana’s gaze is moving frantically between the woman who has bled out in her arms and the one who kneels across from her, her cheeks stained with tears, her stare vacant. “Hurry, Riley.”

Things are about to get a whole lot worse- she can feel it.

“Tatyana?” Riley asks, sounding equal parts confused and concerned. “What’s going-”

There comes a mournful howling outside, in the distance, beneath the soft patter of rain, and Tatyana’s eyes look in the direction it comes from. They’re not close, she can’t see them, but…

They’re coming.

"What was that?"

“ Now, Riley!” she growls, fully panicked now. She tries to wipe the blood off of Bella’s still lips, and she realises that it’s pointless. She’s caked in it, both her own and Tatyana’s, but she doesn’t know what else to do with her hands. “There’s no time, just hurry. Please.”

She doesn’t beg, ever, but she doesn’t know what else to do. She needs them to be on their way now.

“... we’re on our way.”

The line goes dead to the sound of more howling, closer now. She throws her phone aside, and immediately her attention returns to the woman in her arms. 

She has no idea if her blood is working. Bella’s body is still, her heart isn’t beating anymore, but that doesn’t mean that Tatyana’s failed. She knows there’s only a slim chance, but there is still a chance, and she holds onto it with everything that she is.

She needs to. It’s the only thing holding her together right now.

“She’s dead,” comes the mournful murmur. “I killed her. It’s my fault.”

It’s our fault.

She doesn’t correct her though. She can’t- she has no space to comfort the woman who, no matter how it's come about, is responsible for this.

For Bella’s death. 

Tatyana’s fingers tremble as she attempts, once more, to clean the gore from her pale face.

“... will it work?” Leah asks. Her tears have long since dried up though. Now she just… stares, vacant, empty. “Please tell me it will work. Tell me I didn’t actually…”

Kill her? Tatyana wants to snarl the accusation across the room, but she holds her tongue. Their impulse controls are what led to this in the first place, and she-needs-to-hold-it-together.

“I don’t know.”

She won’t know until…

Until, if , Bella opens her eyes. There won’t be body warmth or a heartbeat to tell Tatyana that she’s survived death. 

She just needs to wait.

The storm outside has settled somewhat, but it doesn’t set Tatyana at ease. She knows what’s out there, what’s coming for her.

“Bella will never forgive me.”

“This isn’t about you,” Tatyana snaps, hissing the words and taking the shifter by surprise. She lifts her head. “This was never about you. Let her have her death, at the very fucking least. Jesus Christ.”

It infuriates Tatyana that Leah makes this about herself. Even faced with the possibility that Bella might never-

No!

She looks away, furious, hating that this woman is here to witness her breaking apart. But she’s not crying, possibly because she’s got no blood left to shed- everything she can, she’s given to Bella in the hopes that this will work.

That Bella will live.

“They’ll kill you.” 

Tatyana knows who Leah refers to. 

“I didn’t do this.” She doesn’t look away from Bella’s face. “If you think for a second that I’ll go down without a fight, you’re mistaken. I will take you with me.”

If she pretends hard enough, she can imagine that she sees a twitch of Bella’s eye. Her stare is vacant though-

Dead.

Did enough of her blood make it into Bella’s body while she lay there dying? 

Leah clears her throat, the sound rough… barely holding together the sanity she’s found. “You should go."

“I won’t leave her here.”

If Bella manages to get through this, how could Tatyana live with herself if she fled to save her own hide? She would be leaving Bella in danger, surrounded, caged like an animal. 

She won't do it.

She and Leah haven’t looked away from one another, but Leah does now. “Take her with you,” she murmurs. “I can’t do anything for her now… I guess I never really could though, could I? I just make things worse. I… I did this.” She looks down at her open hands, adding, “I’m a disgrace to my kind. We exist to protect our people and those we love… and look at what my love did to her.”

Her love…

It's laughable.

“Your inability to control your temper did this, not your… love for her.” Her eyes narrow as she says it, hating that she can see it, despite all of Leah’s wrong decisions in how she chooses to express it, to show Bella.

She can see it, but it doesn’t make it right.

Leah shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter."

No, it doesn't.

Tatyana eyes the exit but hesitates. “I won’t get far enough away for it to matter.”

They’ll catch her, on her own, in the rain… with the mauled body of someone they know, their friend. She won't come out of that one.

“Maybe not, but you can try.” Leah tells her, getting unsteadily to her feet. It seems that shock, pain and grief have turned her legs to jelly. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can."

She wants to argue, but maybe… maybe it’s what Leah deserves, after everything- to stand on her own, waiting to confront her brothers, agonising over the death she’s responsible for. Tatyana stands far more gracefully, even with the dead weight in her arms, which she never lets go of. She cradles Bella to her naked chest, watching the shifter, considering…

"They'll kill you." she says, finding that the thought bothers her. “Seems a shame to let them have the honour.”

Leah’s gaze drops. Maybe she knows, maybe she even agrees. “Tell Bella I’m sorry, that I-”

“ No .” Tatyana interrupts her. “You want to apologise for this, you’ll do it yourself, to her face.”

If she…

Tatyana shoves the thought aside. She refuses to think about it even one last time because Bella’s going to be okay.

Bella will be fine. 

She looks Leah in the eye, telling her, “ You will tell her.”

She’s not even sure who she’s trying to convince anymore, and she quickly looks away, but not before she sees the pity, the pain, her words cause the shifter as she nods. 

“Sure… if I get the chance.”

It’s clear that Leah doesn’t believe the words as she says them, but Tatyana doesn’t linger on it. She can’t. So instead she holds Bella tighter to her chest, allowing Leah to come closer only so that she can tuck an old rug from the truck bed around her body.

She's glad. It feels wrong to run Bella through the streets covered in her own blood.

Tatyana says nothing, and Leah takes a careful step back. “You need to go. Now. They're coming.”

She doesn’t like her chances of out running them.

She doesn’t like this .

"Good luck," she says with finality. "You're going to need it."

It almost looks as though Leah might cry again, but her expression hardens before Tatyana can find out for sure. “Not as much as you,” she says. “Start running, Forest."

Tatyana doesn’t need to be told a third time. Cradling Bella close, she turns her back on the shifter, turns away from the danger, from the consequences, her revenge - and she runs.

She knows that she won’t hear them coming. They're hunters, and tonight she is their prey. It's an unfamiliar feeling for Tatyana to be on that end of the scale.

She can only run, RUN, run.

 

…

 

“I don't run from a fight.”

And how dare this man, a dear friend, even suggest it. The man, younger only in appearance than Tatyana herself, gives her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

“Sometimes, Tatyana, it's the wisest choice. You get to live… you get to fight another day.”

 

…

 

Kate is out of the car first. “What happened?” she growls, throwing the door open so violently that the metal groans. Her wide eyes are darting everywhere, all at once, but eventually settle on Tatyana once more. “Are you alright?” she asks, far more gently now that she's sure that there's no immediate threat. Her eyes fall to the body Tatyana cradles. "Please tell me that's not…"

Bella .

Tatyana can’t speak the words, can't confirm her sister's worry. Her own panic, the hot breath of her pursuers panting at her heels (not quite literally)... harsh… terrifying-

"Get in the car," Irina orders, sliding out of the car next, far more gracefully. She holds the door for them, her gaze swinging from the limp body in Tatyana's arms to a spot over her shoulder. "You're being pursued."

So they are close. 

They pile into the car, Tatyana so careful not to knock Bella's head in the process. She might be…

Her heart clenches. She can't . 

The tyres squeal as the car peels quickly away, back toward Seattle, away from the the danger… away from the catostrophic evidence of what happened…

The more heartbreaking of which lay still in her arms.

“Is it… her?” Riley asks.

Tatyana looks up, meets her worried gaze in the rear-view mirror -Irina turns in the front passenger seat- but Tatyana has to look away. She can’t look at any of them. 

And so her gaze returns to Bella, who she refuses to let go of. She can't. They were so close behind her…

Her sisters are watching her, waiting, silent- she can feel their eyes on her, hear their questions, feel their worry.

"You're naked." Kate, of course. A moment later, a coat is handed over to her. "Here," she says more softly. “Put this on.”

Tatyana leans forward just enough so that Kate can slip it around her shoulders. It doesn’t do much to cover her nakedness, but the gesture is a sweet one.

"Thank you." 

She is grateful.

"What happened?" Irina asks her, still twisted in her seat. If possible, her gaze is even more worried than the others. "Who is… this?"

Tatyana hasn't had the heart to uncover Bella's face yet… doesn't want to see the truth of it again. Once is enough, twice would be unbearable.

Kate's hand touches her shoulder. "Tats?" she whispers. "This isn’t…?"

Bella, her heartbroken mind whispers.

"Not so lovely smelling now, is she?" An answer. The best she can manage under such circumstances. “Death will do that, I guess.”

Silence…

The only sound to be heard is the wind whipping by as they tear along the highway, hitting speeds no mere mortal would ever so much as dare.

Kate clears her throat. "You didn't do this." 

It's not a question, but…

"No."

.

.

.

 

Her sisters wait for more… but Riley is quiet behind the wheel- and Tatyana wishes they would both follow her lead.

She doesn’t want to talk.

"Did you…?" Kate begins to ask, at a loss for words. She leans forward, sniffs, but sits back… lost. "Will she turn?"

They can all smell the death, but Kate is searching for something else …

She's searching for the underlying scent of more. And obviously Tatyana did, but she has no idea if it will work… if it's enough, if she was enough.

She strokes a finger gently over the rise of Bella's cheek- over the blanket Leah placed over her. 

She should say something.

"She's fine," she whispers. "She'll be alright."

Bella.

She'll change, she'll survive this, she'll be one of them- and maybe, just maybe this is the shock talking, brought on by the trauma, her denial…

But she holds onto it like a lifeline. She needs to, and for now it appears to be enough to  keep her afloat…

To fight just one more day.