it's been a while [Closed]

[Devon Soulstrick]

The door swung open effortlessly and Devon kicked it shut behind him before locking it. He didn’t want to be interrupted by Eden or any of Harmony’s human friends in the castle. But especially Eden. He didn’t care that his wife knew all about what he and Harmony did and that he had feelings that were growing every night for the human blood slave, but he would hate for her to walk in and see them in the act just because he thought it would probably mean another month or so away from the woman he really wanted to be with. He wasn’t going to risk that. If Eden saw the two of them somewhere else around the castle that would just be her own fault for walking in. If Eden walked in on them while he was in the room he and Harmony usually slept in, he would be furious. It was probably one of the reasons he hadn’t seen her much around this particular room; he was sure she had a fairly good idea of what the consequences would be of interrupting them.

A few quick and large steps left them at the bed he shared with said blood slave. While it wasn’t as grand of a bed as he had in the room that he was supposed to be sharing with his wife, this one was large, long, and comfortable. It had to be since he spent most of his days in here. A good portion of his nights too when he wasn’t busy. Devon had what he called a healthy sexual appetite, really it was probably product of being a vampire who didn’t need much time to recover from sex before starting again. He put her gently on the bed and lifted the same white t-shirt over her head to reveal the cotton bra. He pushed her back lightly to lay down as he climbed on top of her.

His fingers moved to her jeans again and unbuttoned and unzipped them. This time he removed them as well and tossed them to the floor. His lips moved to the inside of her thigh and he bit down, forcing his fangs into the skin so the blood could run into his mouth. After lingering there for a moment to taste more of her blood he moved back up her body and pressed his lips to her neck again. His hands began exploring what was exposed of her body.

“Is this scenery more appropriate?” he asked with a small chuckle, his hand moving to her inner thigh to hold in her blood. His lips pressed back against her neck and he rolled them over so she was on top of them. “Or do we need to pull down the covers and sheets, or close the curtains?” Devon smiled playfully at his human woman - the only human he’d ever felt anything remotely close to liking before. It was easy to see that he cared deeply for her, but why he did hardly anyone knew. Devon himself was still figuring a good part of that out. He knew why he had gotten her initially, but how he had allowed himself to fall for a human he wasn’t entirely sure. There was just something about her. Part of it was that she stood up to him at times, still after all those years of breaking her. But that wasn’t everything. He wasn’t going to try and figure it out now though, not when he still wanted blood, and a little something extra.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Harmony's blue eyes stayed on him as he carried her from the door to the bed. She grinned up at him as he sat her on the bed. It did not take him long to whip her shirt back off and toss it aside, leaving her in her white cotton bra. She laid back, intense blue eyes on him as the bedding whispered over her skin softly. She shivered as his fingers went to the jeans and he undid them, peeling them away from her skin, laying there in white cotton bikini style panties.

She let out a loud gasp and her body arched as his fangs sank into the soft flesh of her thigh. A moan escaped her lips as he drank from her from his favorite spot, clutching at the covers under her. She quivered as he drew away from the thigh and trailed his way upwards. Her head tilted to the side and up for him as his lips found the pulse of her neck. Her body quivered in excitement as his hands roamed her body, as if memorizing everything. A soft gasp escaped her lips though as he flipped them, swinging her up on top of him with a soft giggle from her lips.

She grinned down at him as she sat atop him, fingers running along his chest as she leaned over him a little. "This is much better... except..." She murmured as she reached for his shirt and peeled it away from him. She grinned at him playfully as she reached her hands down to his pants, slowly unbuttoning and unzipping the jeans as her eyes lifted to his. "Getting much, much better. " She grinned softly, stroking her hand along his abs slowly and up to his chest as she leaned down and pressed her lips to his softly as she rolled over, pulling him on top of her.

"I've missed you so much, Devon." She murmured weakly, running her hand along his side slowly. She had missed him. She yearned to feel his touch once more. To be one with him. To feel the pleasure he always gave her. To wake next to him at sunset. To watch him sleep when she can not. She pressed a kiss to his chest softly as she slipped out of the rest of her underwear, tossing the white underwear to the floor as she grinned up at him.

"Make love to me." She murmured softly as she pressed her lips to his hungrily.

(fade to black)

( several hours later)

Harmony roused some time in the night. When she realized her cheek laid against something hard and warm, she was afraid to open her eyes. What if it had all been a dream? What if Devon hadn't come home and she had only been dreaming? What if this was Tristan her cheek laid against? What if they did something they shouldn't have? She shuddered at the very thought. It took all the strength in the world to not jump out of the bed and scramble for her clothes. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for something that may very much be what she didn't want. Her eyes fluttered open. She was so relieved when she saw Devon laying under her cheek.

A slow, warm smile crossed her lips as she ran her hand over his chest softly before reaching up to brush a stray hair out of his face. He had no idea just how happy she was to have him back. She missed him. She missed this. Waking with her cheek on his shoulder or chest. Watching him sleep, though she often suspected he wasn't actually sleeping. She missed feeling the way he made her feel. He had no idea just how happy she was.

She closed her eyes softly when she felt tears. She turned her eyes away from him, wiping at her eyes softly in an attempt to hide them from her. She didn't mean to get all teary eyed, but she suddenly realized just how afraid she had been. She was starting to think that Eden would never bring him back to her. The very thought about that scared her like nothing else. That he would never come back to her.

[Devon Soulstrick]

It was night time again, or still, Devon wasn‘t sure, but what sleep he had gotten he had slept peacefully after his little bedroom adventures with Harmony. He didn’t wake up dreading the sight of Eden and he wasn’t putting off having any sort of conversation with the woman next to him because she wasn’t his wife. Refreshing. The vampire hadn’t slept this well in about a month. Coincidentally, that was the amount of time he had spent in Paris with his wife. Life with Harmony was a bit more complicated, but it was more fulfilling. Devon felt more alive than he had since his parents died with this human. He wouldn’t let any vampire know that this was how he felt, maybe Kacey because he had made her, or Julian because he had his own human girlfriend. Then again, it was probably very evident in his behavior, how he acted around Harmony, that he felt something different for the blood slave. Why he cared so much about her he couldn’t stop pondering. Maybe because she accepted him or because she really did make him feel more alive than before.

As he let his mind wander with the possibilities of his reasons for the affection he felt for the blond woman, he felt the woman move slightly. Her head shifted on his chest and he imagined that she was looking at him. He felt her fingers in her hair. He debated for a moment about whether or not to go back to sleep, just because he hadn’t slept well since he’d been away and being in bed with Harmony was as close as he would ever get to Heaven if it existed. But he opened his eyes to find that she was faced away from him. A slight salt smell entered the air and Devon rolled to his side and wrapped his arm around her.

“Everything alright?” His voice was a whisper in Harmony’s ear. He pressed soft kisses to her shoulder, his arm wrapped around her, hand resting gently on her stomach. He knew she was awake for the simple fact that she had been touching him and moving around just moments before. Her skin was soft and warm and he thoroughly enjoyed the way her body felt next to his. He buried his face in her hair, taking in her wonderful scent. Had he not fed just hours ago he would have wanted to take a little bite. He would have anyway if it was someone other than his blood slave.

Devon was a bit worried about Harmony, not just now but all the time. The woman had it in her head apparently that things would be better for them if she was a vampire. Devon wasn’t so sure. He didn’t think Tristan would let him out of his marriage with Eden even if Harmony was a vampire simply because of how he had treated her while Devon was away. There were other issues as well, like the fact that when he fed it was almost always accompanied by sex or violence, neither of which he thought Harmony would approve of, especially not sex with another woman. He was lucky that she was so understanding about Eden, though it probably helped that he didn’t enjoy his time with Eden. All it was was sex and that was only because he was required to produce an heir. He moved his hand up and down against Harmony’s stomach in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

[Harmony Ferguson]

She looked up to him when she felt him move and press up against her. She wiped at her eyes and looked to him, turning over slowly and pressing up against him as his hands ran over her body softly, in a comforting manner. "I'm fine." She murmured weakly as she brushed her nose against his shoulder. She closed her eyes once more, pressing her face into his chest. "I just... I missed you so much... I thought you were never coming back to me. " She whispered softly, lifting her gaze up to him. She brushed her lips over his jaw softly. "I was starting to think she would never allow you to come back."

She knew he worried about her . She wasn't ignorant to that fact. Especially now that he knew what had been going on with her and Tristan. And then there was the whole wanting to be changed thing. She tried to explain it to Devon, but she just couldn't seem to ever make it sound sensible. Either that or Devon just refused to make any sense of her words. She knew that just because she was turned didn't mean Tristan would allow Devon to divorce and remarry for a former blood slave. That wasn't why she continued to ask him to change her. Equality. Devon claimed that he cared about her very much. And she had no doubt that he did, but he continued to treat her like a slave. He let her get away with a lot of things, but he still punished her on occasion. As long as she was a slave, they would never be equals.

Once she was sure the tears would not spill, she looked up to him, smiling softly as her hand ran up and down his chest softly. "Tell me about Paris." She murmured softly, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Did you get to see the Eiffel Tower?" She sat up on an elbow, grinning at him at the thought. She wanted so badly to go when she learned he would, but she knew the instant she found out Eden had planned all this that she would never allow Harmony to come with them.

She wanted to know about Paris. She unfortunately had to live life vicariously through Devon. Harmony hasn't been outside the mansion grounds in well over half a century. No one trusted her. No one would allow her off the grounds. Not even Devon. She gave up asking a long time ago. That's when she began to live the life outside the mansion through Devon. He often went on trips outside the mansion. Places all over the world. If she asked about something outside the mansion, he usually could tell her about it.

[Devon Soulstrick]

Devon tightened his grip on the woman slightly as she turned around in his arms. His fingers continued their movement only now on her back. He pressed his lips to her cheek where he could smell where the salt water had touched her skin and then to her forehead. He really hadn’t thought about what Harmony would think about Eden outside the fact that he figured she probably resented her just for doing things like taking him on vacation. That and he was pretty sure no woman wanted to know that the person they cared about was sleeping, willingly or not, with another woman. Eden was a jealous sort of woman who couldn’t just deal with the fact that Devon wasn’t in love with her, or that he never loved her. He had cared about her once, but to say love… Devon didn’t understand the word love. It was just a word he couldn’t use around someone he cared about because he didn’t know the meaning of it. Did it mean the person you cared about most? Or that you’d put yourself in danger for someone? Or did it simply just mean that you had strong feelings for someone? The vampire couldn’t really say.

He let out a sigh. “Eden can’t keep me away indefinitely. And she can’t force me to stay anywhere I don’t want to. If that was the case I’d be sleeping in the room I have with her instead of this one. You should know that…” Devon hated that the thought of him not coming back had even crossed her mind for a second, though he supposed it would have been better if Tristan hadn’t had his bit of fun while Devon was gone. He hated that he had left Harmony to deal with that. Devon hadn’t know that Tristan was going to act that way, but he still felt responsible for it. He kept going over in his head things he should have done to prevent it, have someone watch her, or insist that they take her with them - though he knew that second one wasn’t likely since he knew what Eden had wanted to go for.

“Paris was… dull.” The vampire had been several places several times. When you probably wouldn’t die, there was a lot of time to do things. “It would have been much better with you there. Eden was a constant pain in my ass.” Devon would have loved to have Harmony with him in Paris, though he probably wouldn’t have said that to any vampire. He would have told them it was because he liked his blood source or something. It wasn’t really a secret, his relationship with the human, but it wasn’t accepted by most people either. It wouldn’t have been acceptable to him if it hadn’t been him having the relationship. “I did see the Eifel Tower, but I didn’t stay there long. It’s clean to tourists but if you’re there long enough you can see the mess around the town… and I’m not a fan of the French accent…” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I should take you sometime. Maybe just to get you away from Tristan for a while. I’m sure I could think of a reason to go somewhere without Eden and need my little blood slave…” He wasn’t sure what that reason would be, but he’d think of something.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Her body relaxed into his as his hands ran over her soft, warm skin, soothing her frazzled nerves. He knew just how to calm her down and to comfort. He knew Harmony so well. She felt so silly for getting so worked up over the his absence. She felt lonely without him though. She had friends among the slaves and servants, yes, but that was not the same sort of companionship that Devon offered her. Her eyes fluttered open again when she felt the tender brush of his lips over her cheeks and then her forehead. She smiled at him weakly and ran her knuckles along his cheek softly.

She felt a little like a scolded child at his words. "Then why were you gone so long?" The words were just barely above. She didn't bother trying to hide things like that from him anymore. He would hear it either way. Whether he replied to it or not was up to him. Harmony was not ignorant. She knew how smart Eden was. It would only be so long till she found a way to win Devon back or completely get rid of Harmony. If the vampiress got desperate enough, she would take the risk of angering her husband. So long as Harmony was out of the way. It made Harmony nervous. She kept her guard up when Eden was around. That was for certain. Devon and Eden were away for nearly a month, and Harmony heard nothing from them. All the updates she got came from Tristan, and Harmony wasn't sure that she could trust what he said.

Devon just didn't seem to understand so well when it came to Harmony's feelings about a lot of things. He didn't understand the worry she felt. Especially when he spent any time away with Eden for any amount of time longer than a few nights. He didn't understand her need to be equal with him. He just didn't seem to understand anything other than the attraction they held for each other and even then he refused to call it love. Harmony loved him. She knew he couldn't say it to him, but she could say it to him. It just hurt a little when he didn't return the words. He always said he cared about her, but caring and loving were not the same thing.

She closed her eyes, smiling as she listened to him speak of Paris. He never really sugar coated it for h her when he went off to foreign places like that. She supposed she could understand that considering he'd been to a lot of those places several times over. He grew board of it. She imagined if you went somewhere often enough, you grew board with it. She laid an arm over his hip, stroking the small of his back gently as her eyes fluttered opened. "When I was just a little girl, I would fantasize about traveling the world. " She murmured softly as she studied him thoughtfully. "Seeing things like the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Coliseum." She closed her eyes, smiling as she imagined what it would be like for a moment.

Those soft blue eyes opened though when he spoke of taking her to Paris. Harmony's eyes lit up and sparkled like pale sapphires for a moment as she sat up. "You really mean it? Would you really take me to Europe!?" She sat up on her knees, looking down at him happy and excited at the very thought of it. Harmony had never been outside of New York State much less the country. And it has been years since she's been in the city really. It was nearly half a century now since she came to be a slave. Half a century locked away in the coven's mansion. The farthest she was allowed to go was to the mansion ground's boarders. She missed New York City. She missed just walking along the sidewalks and window shopping. She always did so much window shopping before her years of servitude. She pined for a good many pretty baubles that she knew she could never have. She kind of longed to do that again.

[Devon Soulstrick]

The time he had spent with Eden was not something Devon particularly wanted to talk about with Harmony, though he was aware that it would probably need to be discussed eventually. He couldn’t help but wonder why they had to talk about why he’d been gone so long now though. Why right after what they’d just done? Why couldn’t they just have a nice reunion and get on with their lives? Instead, Harmony wanted to know why he’d been away so long. He supposed he could have just told her that it wasn’t any of her business, but with the way Harmony was, he never knew if she was going to talk back or not and he really didn’t feel like punishing her right now. Besides, it wasn’t her fault that he was sleeping with some other woman… that woman happened to be his hell-raising wife, but still… He probably also could have gone without saying that Eden couldn’t really keep him anywhere if he didn’t want to be there. It was true, but had probably come out wrong. He hadn’t expected Harmony to take that as meaning he had wanted to be away, though it was nice to get away from the castle at times he would have much preferred to be away with his human.

Devon’s body stiffened, his grip tightening on Harmony. He was definitely frustrated, both with himself and with her - with everything around him. He hadn’t anticipated on having disturbing information about Tristan being thrown at him or the fact that he’d have to talk about Eden so soon. Sure, he was used to talking about Eden, when it came to things like how much he disliked the woman and how he’d rather be with Harmony and how he didn’t really want an heir right now but was sort of expected to produce one. “If it was only her keeping me there I would have been back and you know it, Harmony.” His voice came out hard and authoritative, as if he couldn’t imagine why she would think he would want to be with Eden. “There are things I have to do that require me to be with Eden. She is my wife. Nothing we can do about that right now and as my wife she does have the right to want to go places. Then there’s the damn council to think of. What would it look like if I rushed home to a blood slave?”

He really didn’t want to be having this conversation, but he couldn’t see any way around it other than telling Harmony to back off and let him deal with it. He would have if it hadn’t been his first night back with her. But he didn’t want her to remember him as that vampire who could torture without another thought. He wanted her to see him as the man she loved, even if he couldn’t say the words himself. It was a complicated issue for Devon. He wanted to tell Harmony he loved her, but he didn’t want to lie to her either, and he didn’t know if he loved her just because he didn’t know what love was.

The vampire got up and paced for a minute, trying to clear his head and not hurt the woman that had been lying in bed with him. The room temperature air was a bit cool against his naked skin, but it didn’t bother him much. He welcomed the calming air. When he thought he was sane enough he went back to the bed and sat, his back leaning against the headboard.

“I’d really take you to Europe.” His voice was much more calm and controlled now. “Wherever you want to go.” He paused for a minute and thought. “Though we might want to wait for a little while, so I can actually get some work done and so it won’t look strange right after the trip with Eden.”

[Harmony Ferguson]

She bit her lip as his grip tightened on her. It didn't hurt... at first. But then it started to get tighter and tighter. She knew Devon didn't do it on purpose. When he got upset, either with her or with someone else he forgot the fact that he was much stronger with her. She tried to not let it happen, but sometimes it was unavoidable or she didn't think about that. She knew he didn't mean it, but it still hurt. She was a little hurt by his words. She knew Eden was his wife. She was constantly reminded of that when people looked at her like she was some sort of husband stealing whore or when someone made a snide comment about her and Devon. She was the other woman. Devon could deny it all he wanted, but it was true. She didn't think she would get as much attention of the fact if she wasn't a blood slave. If she were a vampire no one would draw much attention to her and Devon's relationship.


And if the bitch wanted to go place, she was perfectly capable of going to them without dragging Devon along. Harmony didn't know what he wanted her to say when he asked her what it would look like if he came running back to his blood slave. She knew how it would look. That's why instead of shooting some smart ass remark back she answered with something else. "Devon... you're hurting me..." She whispered it softly, laying a hand over his arm softly.

It's not like Harmony enjoyed these arguments. And it was certainly the last thing she wanted to do right now. Not when she finally had him back. When she finally felt the warmth of him in her bed once more. She didn't want to fight It was ruining their reunion, but it seemed like no matter what Harmony could never say something that would keep him happy. She sighed as he jumped out the bed and intense blue eyes watched him as he prowled the bedroom naked. She would have asked him to come back to bed, but she knew better. He needed to calm down.

She watched him, thinking as she studied his muscular form. She loved him. She loved him so very much. Sometimes though, it would be so much easier for them if Eden was out of the picture and if Harmony were a vampire. It would all be so easy... to get rid of Eden and for him to change Harmony. All so easy. Harmony had thought about all the ways she could get Eden out of the picture. Just a little holy water in some blood. That's all it would take to get rid of Eden.

She watched him as she sat on the bed. She sat up and wrapped a sheet around her to help ward off the cold before she carefully straddled his lap and sat down, meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry." She murmured softly, stroking her hand along his chest. "I don't want to fight. Not when you've just gotten home. " She murmured as she leaned forward, laying against his body as she rested her cheek over his heart. She smiled weakly at his words and nodded her head in agreement. "Where is your favorite place to go?" She asked softly, stroking his chest softly with her fingers. She wanted to go where he liked to vacation. She wanted to find the delight in what he delighted about his favorite vacation spot.

[Devon Soulstrick]

It wasn’t uncommon for Devon to, not forget that Harmony was human, but forget that he was holding onto her when he was upset. Not much of an excuse, but Devon couldn’t exactly help that he was stronger than her, not without changing her from human to vampire and even then he was stubborn enough to believe that he’d still be stronger than her and he was sure that if she’d done something to upset him he would react the same way - unconsciously tightening his grip on the woman. Just as he was now. He didn’t mean to hurt her. If he meant to hurt her he would have done it in another way. At times like these, Devon was mostly cut off from everything around him. He could get lost in his thoughts and emotions so easily when he was upset, especially if it was Harmony who had upset him. She was one of the people who could piss him off the most. Fortunately, for her, he also cared a great deal about her and could treat her well if he was in a good mood.

He barely heard Harmony tell him that he was hurting her, but he wasn’t paying much attention. As he paced he thought. It would be nice to get rid of Eden. Not necessarily kill the bitch, but just get rid of her. He wasn’t fond of his wife in the least; actually, he quite hated the woman. But killing her would draw more attention to him and Harmony, even if they were careful about it. Devon wouldn’t risk Harmony like that, even if she was willing to kill his wife off.

When he got back into bed he was a bit surprised that Harmony would climb on top of him out of her own will, putting herself close to him again, though he was reasonably calmer now. He pulled her closer to him as she rested her head against his body. His hands moved to her sides, gently caressing her skin. Funny how the woman who had just upset him could make him more relaxed as well. He pressed his lips to her forehead, continuing his caressing of Harmony’s skin with one hand and with the other holding her body against his.

Devon let out a sigh. “I don’t want to argue either. But I hate to think that you would believe I would want to stay away from you for so long.” He leaned his head against the headboard, enjoying the feeling of Harmony’s body against his and her fingers moving across his chest. He allowed his eyes to close for a moment, pretending that they didn’t have anything else to worry about except where they where Harmony would like him to take her. He let out a soft moaning sound at the way her body felt against him before opening his eyes again.

“I personally like Italy, Rome especially, even if I can’t go to a lot of places… like Churches. Holy water and all that. The places themselves are beautiful and I enjoy a good beach at night. Though I’m also quite a fan of Greece. Neither place is nearly as uptight as the French in my opinion.” The hand that had rested on her back began to trace little patterns with his fingers. “But I want us to go where you’d like to go. Wherever that is.”

[Harmony Ferguson]

" I know. I know and I'm sorry." She murmured weakly, sitting up and stroking his cheek tenderly. She studied him thoughtfully for a moment as he laid his head back and closed his eyes. She was being ridiculous. She realized that. It didn't mean that the thought that Eden might have succeeded in whatever plans she had had indeed crossed Harmony's mind. Because it did. She wasn't going to tell him that though. It would only upset him more. And Harmony didn't want to ruin their night. She already made a mess of a good portion of it.

Harmony knew he was probably still mad with her for starting their conversation as she had. But for now, they were back to their happier conversations. She was happy to push aside the bad so they could discuss the good. She didn't want him to be mad at her. Not when he was finally home. She missed him too much to argue with him. Why couldn't she just be a good slave and keep her mouth shut? Because then she wouldn't be Harmony.

She reached a hand to the key she wore around her neck, fingering it softly as she thought about it . Where dis she want to go? What place attracted her so much? As she continued to think one place in particular. Greece. Santorini to be more exact. She knew Devon couldn't go into the blue domed churches at the island was known for, but she could go on her own one day if she wanted to go inside one. She just wanted to see them. In her earlier years she read about Greece. They were known for their night life. Mainly because it got dark late into the night. Stores stayed open into the wee hours of the mornings. Bars never really closed. Restaurants stayed open all day and night. She smiled at the thought for a moment before she dropped the key back to her collar and looked up to him with a warm smile. " I want to see the blue domed churches of Greece." She murmured softly as she looked over his face. " And the beautiful beaches. And I want to eat a gyro. I've never had a gyro before. "

Her fingers softly traced little imaginary patterns over his chest as his fingers did over the flesh that was exposed by her sheets. She smiled at him softly, pressing a tender kiss over his heart softly. "Let's go to Greece." She murmured softly, reaching a hand up to stroke through his hair tenderly.

[Devon Soulstrick]

He would try to forget the argument about Eden for now. He didn’t want to think about his wife while he was with Harmony. Really, he didn’t want to think of his wife at all, ever, but that was unavoidable. For now, he would focus on his human though. The only human he’d ever felt anything really for. Devon hadn’t cared as much for anyone, human or otherwise, in so long. Not since his parents had died. Not since he’d been forced to do what he needed to instead of what he wanted to do. Before Harmony, he had done some things that he’d wanted to - sleep around and take blood when he wanted it. But he hadn’t cared about any of the people he’d slept with or taken blood from before. With Harmony, he had feelings he hadn’t had in a very long time - guilt being one of them. Even after buying her, he had continued to sleep around for a decade or so until he had started to develop feelings for the woman. And now, he did when he needed to, when he fed from another source, but it was usually followed by the pesky feeling of guilt.

Devon would have to settle his issues at another time though. He told Harmony he didn’t want to argue and that was true. It was too soon for him to be back to start arguing with her. What he wanted to do was spend every second touching her or holding her. He had missed her too much to want to argue with her. The vampire’s hand moved from her side to underneath the sheet to her thigh. His fingers moved gently over one of the places he had bitten her tonight before caressing up and down. As sex driven as Devon was he had even missed these more gentle moments where they were intimate but not going at it like there was no tomorrow.

For now, the topic would be their future trip. Devon had to admit he was a bit disappointed that she would want to see a church. He really didn’t know how they were going to pull that one off. He didn’t like the idea of Harmony going anywhere alone inside or outside the castle. Before he had allowed it inside the castle because he could understand her desire to not be kept in one room. But now there was the thing with Tristan to consider. Outside of the castle would be even worse. If she was somewhere he could not go, what was to keep her from running off? Trust was not something Devon gave out easily and while he trusted Harmony more than other people, but he also knew of her desire to be, as she called it, free. Before he would have just assumed this was an argument to be turned into a vampire, but he could not help but think that it might still hold true for whatever part of hunter was left inside of her.

“You want to do odd things,” he couldn’t help but give a sort of breathy laugh at the gyro part. What strange things humans wanted to do sometimes. He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, taking in the smell of her hair and body as he did so. He missed that as well, her scent. “We can go to Greece. I don’t know how we’ll work out the church thing… but we can go to Greece if that is where you want to go.” He frowned slightly as he thought. “You understand that I won’t be leaving you alone anywhere. I can’t have you running off in a different country. I’ll have to be a bit more strict as far as that goes…” His voice trailed off; he didn’t want to cause another argument, but he couldn’t allow her to think that in another country things would be different as far as their situation was concerned.

[Harmony Ferguson]

A soft, gentle chuckle escaped Harmony's throat. "Says you. Those are perfectly normal things for humans." She commented with a playful grin. "We don't have to go inside them." She murmured in reply to his comment about the churches. " I used to see the pictures and paintings people have of them. I just want to seem them for myself. See if they're really as beautiful as the paintings and pictures." Harmony didn't care much about seeing the inside. Once you saw inside one catholic church, you saw inside most of them.

And just like that, the smile was gone, and in place of it, a slight frown, which she tried to hide as best she could. He still didn't trust her. She made a few escape attempts the first few years of her captivity. She almost got away the last time she tried. Harmony was so close to getting to the hunger's safe house that night, when Devon finally caught up to her. That had to have been one of the worst punishments he gave her since her slavehood began. A part of Harmony Ferguson broke that night, and she never made another attempt to escape again. She may have thought about it several times, but she never made another attempt after that. And still he didn't trust her.

After fifty years of being with him, he still didn't trust her. She didn't know why she didn't see it before now. That was why he never took her outside of the mansion grounds. Because he thought she would run away at the first given opportunity. Even though he was twice as fast as Harmony and could have easily tracked her and caught her without trouble . She wanted to say something, but everything she wanted to say would only start another argument. And another argument would finish the job of ruining their first night back together. If she didn't say anything though, he would know she was upset about something. Unlike a lot of men, who avoided conflict with women, it seemed Devon would happily welcome them. Whenever she seemed upset about something he had to poke at it and provoke her instead of just dropping it.

She sat up in his lap, holding the sheet to her naked chest to ward off the chill of the night, trying to give him a playful pout. Her hand ran along his torso slowly, trailing its way downward. "More strict?" She asked inquisitively as she looked up to him. "Surely you don't have to be more strict..." She murmured in a seductive tone to try and distract him. She was curious to see his reaction to be honest. She wanted to see just how much he didn't trust her.

[Devon Soulstrick]

Devon’s hand moved slowly and gently up and down Harmony’s back. He didn’t care what she wanted to eat even if he did find it very strange. And despite the fact that he had just gotten back from a trip, he was already looking forward to this next one. Of course, the company during this next trip would be a massive improvement on the last one. It might look weird, going on a trip with his blood slave, but he was sure he could reason it out. Besides, it wasn’t much of a secret that Devon preferred his blood slave to his wife. If it had been anyone else that had this sort of relationship he would have wondered about it himself. Devon didn’t like humans in the least, he barely acknowledged any of the ones working for the vampires. To Devon, anything not a vampire was lower in status and shouldn’t need to be treated as an equal. So he was sure it would look weird to others, a trip with a human. At least they would be away from Eden. For that he’d let Harmony eat a gyro a day if she really wanted to, no matter how odd he thought it was.

A sigh escaped his lips. He would have given almost anything to go into a church with her if that was what she wanted. He really hadn’t thought about the things they wouldn’t be able to do because of what he was. Before that wouldn’t have bothered him. Again, vampires were an evolved race. They weren’t human any longer, Devon never had been human - he didn’t know what it was to be human. As far as things with Harmony went, he had to play it by ear and wing most of it. He was completely out of touch with what humans needed, forgetting sometimes that they even needed to eat, mostly because he tried hard to forget the smell of food. Well, she would have to learn to live with it. Especially with her little desire of wanting to be a vampire.

Her silence was something he didn’t particularly want to endure right now. He was fully aware that she wouldn’t like the fact that he would be a bit more strict on a trip. In all honesty he didn’t much like it either, but he would be on edge the entire time wondering if she would be planning on getting away. Devon knew that Harmony had said she loved him on more than one occasion, but with him not really understanding what love was, it was hard to imagine what love entailed for her. Part of him thought she was just trying to make the best out of what she considered a bad situation as far as sleeping with him went. They both knew that if Devon wanted it he would have taken her if she refused if there had been no real feelings there.

He didn’t have to wait long though. The bad thing about caring about Harmony was that Devon always wondered what the hell was going on in that pretty little head of hers. “It depends on what you see as strict I guess…” His voice came out in more of a throaty whisper. He watched her as her hand moved down his body. Torturous little thing she was. He cleared his throat. “As in I won’t be letting you out of my sight.” Not much of a change from the usual, even now his eyes were glued to her. Quicker than it should be for a human to see, he grabbed Harmony’s wrist and pulled it away from his body. “I wouldn’t do that unless you think you can lose more blood and still function.” When he spoke his fangs were clearly visible, sharp and ready to puncture skin.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Harmony looked to him a little thrown off as he grabbed her arm as quickly as she did. She knew they could move faster. Much faster. She lifted her gaze to his eyes and nods her head softly in understanding. She knew she didn't have enough blood to supply him with another round. She studied him for a moment before an easy smile spread across her lips. "If I remember correctly,you do enjoy sex without the feeding to. " She murmured as she reached her hand up and stroked a finger along a fang carefully before looking to him once more. She studied him a moment longer before she sighed and climbed off his lap and out of the bed, taking the sheets with her.

She went to her bedroom window and opened the curtain to look out at the night lights of New York City just a mile or so away from the mansion. He had no idea how much she longed to walk down a New York City side walk once more. She missed the city. She missed the sound of the cars and taking the subway. " You don't trust me." She said matter of factly. She didn't look to him or anything. It was a fact. If he wanted to try and deny it, he could, but they both knew it was true. " That's why you haven't let me out of the mansion grounds." She studied the lights of New York out the window, sheets wrapped around her small form as she leaned against the windowsill a little.

It hurt a little that he didn't trust her. She knew she made a few mistakes in the beginning. She certainly couldn't forget the way he punished her for her final escape attempt. He made sure to lock her away in a room without any windows and only one door in and out of the room for at least a week. Possibly longer. She sort of lost track of the days and nights when he locked her away. And the feedings in that week or so... She had never felt such misery in her life till that point. The pain. She hadn't realized that Vampires could make it as painful as they wanted it to be. He made it quite painful. And he forced himself on her too. A week of all that. It definitely broke a piece of Harmony. That was the beginning of her breaking. She had a few more similar situations like that since then, and they all broke a piece of the original Harmony Ferguson away. She was a little afraid that if anything like that happened again, she would reach the real breaking point.

And she would never be the same Harmony again.

[Devon Soulstrick]

Harmony had her own form of torture and it took the shape of a beautiful woman who knew exactly how and what to do to Devon to turn him on. “You have no idea how difficult it is to have sex and not feed. It takes everything I have not to leave you looking like a victim of battery.” And sometimes he wasn’t always successful at leaving her undamaged. He could remember several times when he’d had sex without feeding and left bruises and scrapes. He was sure he was capable of breaking bones if he wasn’t thinking about it. If the women weren’t Harmony then it would have been fine, but the only reason to sleep with another human was for feedings and so the violence wasn’t necessary, though it was fun… when he didn’t feel guilty afterward. And while Devon had beaten Harmony in the past as punishments for whatever thing she had done to displease him, he didn’t like making sex painful for her, though he didn’t think she complained much about it.

Had she not gotten up abruptly he might have given in and let her go ahead with it. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the stamina. He could go all night if it was done right and Harmony had enough blood. Instead he watched her take the sheet and walk over to the window. That was somewhat of a disappointment, he had to admit, because while he didn’t think she had enough blood in her to go again, he did like looking at her form. And he liked being next to her, even if they weren’t having sex.

“Of course I don’t trust you.” How could that even be an issue? Devon trusted very few people and none of them wholly. He trusted Harmony with things like, his ideas (or most of them) and whatever tasks he gave her, which were growing smaller by the day because he was just running out of things for her to do and he didn’t want to make her feel like a slave though he also made sure it was always known. But he didn’t think that she trusted him either. And she shouldn’t, in his opinion. They were both fully aware that if Harmony did something that was not desired by Devon, she would be punished. Granted, he had become slightly more relaxed as far as some punishments went. He didn’t always punish her for talking back to him anymore and he was sure that he wasn’t nearly as extreme with his punishments as some vampires could be. It had been a while since he’d forced her into sex or feeding though he would if it were absolutely necessary for a punishment. Thinking about it made him wonder if he shouldn’t bring some of those punishments back just because he knew the only reason he’d done less to her lately was because he had feelings for her.

With a sigh he got to his feet, not caring to wrap anything around him as she had done. The cool air was something that normally just didn’t bother him, though he did prefer the warmth of her touch to the jealous seemingly icy touch of his wife. “Regardless, I wouldn’t have let you off of castle grounds whether I trusted you or not. Certainly not alone. That’s just how things work here and with your history I won’t be taking any chances that you’d try to escape again.” Of course he highly doubted that after the last time she’d even want to think about it, but he wasn’t going to risk that. He was also almost positive that if on the off chance she ran into anyone she knew on the outside, or a relative of someone she knew on the outside, well he didn’t think she would hesitate to run off if she were alone. He tried to make himself feel better by saying that she’d come back because she said she loved him, but he honestly didn’t really know.

“If that upsets you…” His voice trailed off while he thought. He couldn’t honestly say he would apologize for that, he wasn’t going to say sorry for not trusting someone. She’d made more than one attempt at escape and even still she would do something that upset him or that required some form of punishment. So instead of saying anything, he just let it rest at that and leaned up against the wall.