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"Carol?" Therese called out as she shut the apartment door. "I'm home." Hanging up her coat and setting her bag aside, she walked towards the kitchen expecting to see Carol. The older woman wasn't there, Therese then assuming she was possibly in the bedroom. Unbuttoning her sweater, Therese walked down the hallway and noticed the lamp was lit in the room, signaling that Carol was indeed home.
"Is there anything you'd like for dinner?" Therese asks, stopping short when she seen the woman sitting on the edge of the bed, sharp nails digging into the sides of her arms. "Carol? Are you okay?"
"Get out." The woman mutters, taking Therese off guard. The young woman didn't leave, instead tossing her sweater aside on the other end of the bed, attention now directly on what was bothering Carol. Carol heard her step closer to her, hearing how hard her lovers heart was beating and forced herself to pull it together.
"Carol?" Therese reached out, whether to rest a hand on her shoulder of to brush her hair aside, Carol wasn't sure. The older woman snapped, shoving her hand away and regretting it just as soon as she did when she seen the hurt on Therese's face.
"I told you to leave!" Carol demands, her voice raspy and harsh, refusing to meet her eyes. Therese frowned, ignoring her refusals and kneeling down in front of her. Carol finally looked at her, blue eyes wild and bloodshot and Therese bit back a startled gasp. Carol could hear the rush of her blood because of the close proximity, clenching her teeth to avoid lashing out and ruining any trust she has made previously with Therese.
"Carol." She whispers, urging Carol to look back at her. The brunette slowly twined her hands with hers, giving them a comforting squeeze. Hazel eyes questioned her, eyebrows furrowed until realization settled in from the pleading look Carol was giving her. "You've been starving yourself."
"No, I haven't." Carol argues, hands tightening around the young woman's wrists. "Please leave me alone, Therese."
"No, not when you're hurting yourself." Therese sits down on her knees, watching her grey eyes roam down her face to her neck, pupils dilating with every beat of her heart. Carol felt her mouth water involuntary, swallowing hard to keep from biting down on her soft skin.
"I don't want to frighten you." Carol says quietly, running her thumb over the faint crescent marks she left behind on her skin, ashamed of hurting her. "I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't." Therese says sincerely, reaching up to brush a blonde curl away from her face. Carol gazed at her intensely, catching the scent of her lovers blood she craved endlessly and caught her wrist before Therese could pull away. The young woman seen the conflict in Carol's features, the way she was holding back and fighting against every cell in her body to not take what she so desperately wants.
"You haven't ever scared me, you're not a monster." Therese insists, not trying to move her wrist out of the older woman's grasp.
"I am. I almost killed you, I took too much-"
"Carol, that was months ago." Therese says firmly, attempting to get through to her. "You can't keep forcing yourself to starve. The longer you do, the more it is likely you will snap and take too much." Her words felt blunt and harsh, but Carol knew it was true. The longer she goes without blood - without Therese's - she is sure to kill her or get close to it and the thought scared her more.
When Therese didn't get a response, she carefully moved her hands away from Carol and the older woman assumed she was getting ready to leave. What she didn't expect was to see her unbutton the first few buttons on the collar of her blouse and tug it down to reveal the side of her neck. The smell of blood only grew more with each layer of clothing Therese moved aside, the familiar taste of iron vividly in Carol's mouth as she watched with temptation.
"Therese." Carol warned, already leaning closer to the brunette who returned the action and stood up to sit down in her lap, pleased when Carol's hands immediately rested on her hips.
"It's okay." Therese whispers, leaning forward to meet her lips. Carol pushed towards her to deepen it, fangs brushing against her bottom lip, mouth quivering slightly as Carol fought to not bite down. Therese only encouraged her, digging her nails into the woman's sides and smiling at the quiet whimper before breaking the kiss.
"Angel..." Carol breathes, listening to the fast rhythm of Therese's heart as the brunette kissed down her jawline. She pressed her lips harder against Carol's skin as she trailed down the side of her neck, angling hers near the older woman's mouth, teasing her. Red nails moved up the young woman's sides, resting underneath her breasts.
"Dearest, please." Carol begs softly, nuzzling her jawline and breathing her in, teeth grazing across her skin as she listened to her blood rushing. Therese ran a hand through her hair, tugging back sharply when Carol's lips dragged against the side of her neck, causing the woman to finally dig her fangs into the delicate flesh. Therese let out a sharp whimper, Carol's nails digging into the sides of the brunettes waist to hold her still as she tastes the copper dripping from the wound. The bitter metallic flavor was addicting and Carol found herself taking more and more, unable to stop because Therese was just letting her take.
Carol pulled away to push her down against the mattress, tongue trailing up the side of her neck to catch any stray droplets of blood before latching on to the previous puncture wounds and taking more. Therese didn't fight against it despite the yelp she let out at the sore pain blossoming in her jugular. Carol drove her teeth in further, licking at the wound, euphoric off the taste. Therese tried to fight off the block spots that filled her vision, wanting to let her take as much as she liked; as much as she needed from her but it was becoming too much. She felt her head start to swim, arms numb and sliding off Carol's waist to lay against the mattress instead. Therese felt her chest grow heavy with each breath, about to tell Carol to stop, but the blonde pulled away instantly before she could. A cool hand cradled the side of her cheek, tilting Therese's head towards her to see her dazed eyes. Glancing back at her wound, Carol quickly looked over to the nightstand and scoured the drawer for a rag.
"Are you alright?" Carol asks softly, pressing the rag against the open wound and Therese sucked in a sharp breath. "I'm sorry, sweetheart- I didn't mean to take so much."
"It's okay, I'm okay." Therese whispers, shutting her eyes as she was drifting on the edge of unconsciousness. Carol heard how fast her heart was beating, trying to make up for the amount of blood she took. The older woman kept the rag against her neck for a good while, placing delicate kisses across her jaw to distract her from the pain and to keep her awake.
"Hold this here." Carol says, gently lifting her hand and moving it to hold the rag against her neck before she stood up. "Let me go get some bandages, stay awake." Therese nodded, blinking hard to keep her eyes open when Carol left the room.
~~~
Both women were now lounging in the living room, Therese's head resting against Carol's chest as she dozed. Carol had made dinner for them both, preferably Therese's favorite as a thank you and afterwards they both settled down for the night. Red nails ran through chestnut hair, admiring the woman laying on top of her, listening to the beat of her heart. Carol's craving died down after earlier, making the contact bearable and satisfying her much better than before. She had taken almost too much and it still confused her as to why Therese let's her; allows her to take willingly. She never viewed her as a monster, never tore Carol down for what she needed to do in order to stay alive and even offered herself over to soothe the woman's needs. Therese wasn't frightened of her. She trusted her like she was another human being.
"Thank you." Carol whispers, half wondering if the young woman fell asleep. She got her answer when Therese propped her chin against her sternum with a tired smile.
"Of course." She leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth and tasted the faint copper that lingered behind, but it didn't bother her. "I'm always here, whatever you need." She mumbles, shutting her eyes and nuzzling her jaw, drawing a smile from Carol.
"I love you, my angel." Therese hums contently, blood rushing to her cheeks when Carol gave her a lingering kiss.
"I love you."