Night Time Breakfast (tag: Open)

[Harmony Ferguson]

The last rays of day filled the kitchen as Harmony padded in dressed in a simple white t-shirt and a clean pair of blue jeans. Her hair was still a little rumpled from sleep, and she was currently bare foot. She preferred being barefoot as often as possible. She even ran around out in the gardens barefoot sometimes. It was just one of her little quirks. Blue eyes skimmed over the implements for cooking before she went to the stove and pulled out a skillet, sitting it on the stove top. She turned on the heat and let the skillet heat up while she prepped some eggs, scrambling them up and adding in things like bacon bits, onions, and a few other goodies for the scrambled eggs. Once they were set she poured them in and cooked slowly.

The typical person would be getting ready for bed at this moment. Not Harmony Ferguson. And why was that? Oh, only because she lived in what would be considered the headquarters of the Vampire Council. And Harmony was a slave to one of the council members. Usually she would be waking in her bed with her lover by her side. Devon Soulstrick. She never thought after all the things she had been through she would willingly let a vampire drink from her much less sleep with a vampire. She looked out the kitchen window for a moment, watching as the sun finally finished it's descent for the evening, being replaced by the stars and the moon.

The vampires would begin to wake soon if they had not already up. She didn't know many vampires that were up before sunset though. Harmony usually entertained her master and lover when he wasn't busy, but he wasn't present at the council right now. Edna, his wife, took him away. Everyone knew that Devon had long ago lost interest in his wife. Especially when Harmony came along. And now she was trying to win him back by stealing him away from Harmony. Usually is was just a couple of days, but Devon had been gone for at least a weak now, and Harmony was beginning to grow weary of it. She would be fine if she was missing for a couple of days. But you couldn't leave your blood slave alone without some sort of guardian on her. Especially when you pretty much told everyone to keep their hands off of their slave. Which Devon pretty much did once he took her as a lover. She sighed and looked to her scrambled eggs, gently urging them onto her plate while she started up some bacon to go with them.

She missed Devon. She never realized how much time he filled her life until Edna took him away from Harmony. Devon never really gave her any duties to do unless he thought it very important. Other than keeping him happy and in good company, she had no duties. She had nothing to do around the mansion. She usually went out to the garden or find a nice little nook to curl up in and read. She was beginning to grow anxious of her lover's absence though. What if Edna had enticed him back into their bed. Devon spent most of his days with her in her room. She had even made space in her closet and dresser for him to keep clothes and what not in. She missed him. She wasn't going to sit around and mope that he wasn't here. She was just going to get through her day and hope he came home soon. Before something she really did not wish to happen did.

She sighed and looked back down to her food as she pulled the skillet off the burner and forked the bacon onto the plate with the eggs, drizzling a little maple syrup over the bacon before she found a place to sit and eat.

[Devon Soulstrick]

Eden was grasping at straws and Devon knew it. This trip to Paris was entirely just to try and win him back. Little did she knew that she had lost him long ago. Eden just didn’t do anything for him; not in the literal sense but in the ways of attraction. She had a certain beauty about her, but it paled in comparison to the woman she was keeping him away from. The entire trip was torture for him and he was sure it would be worse for Harmony. Sure, he was spending time with the hag from hell, but Harmony would know what was going on. Hopefully, she also knew how little Devon liked it. It wasn’t so much because he would have to be (gag) intimate with his wife, but because he didn’t like messing around with women who weren’t Harmony. Which to be honest scared whatever was living out of him. It had never made him feel guilty before to sleep around. He was a man, a vampire at that, so it was just his right. But he disliked hurting Harmony in any way. Which made this trip doubly difficult, especially since he had to feed while on it. Eden was going to pay for this.

Devon and his wife had just gotten back before the sun came up the night before, so there hadn’t been time to tell Harmony he was back and even if there had been, he didn’t want to wake her. Of course, he had no idea what went on with Harmony when he was practically forced to leave her alone. Instead he did what he was supposed to do: go to bed with his wife even if it made him restless in his sleep. He hadn’t hated Eden before he found Harmony, but now he found her increasing jealousy a bit of a problem. At first it was funny. Now it was just annoying. He didn’t love her when he married her. He thought he loved her; he had wanted what was best for her. And he knew that he was supposed to produce an heir with her. That last part was one of the few things that kept him sleeping with her. And yes, he did still sleep with other women when he needed blood and didn’t think Harmony was strong enough to give it to him, and he did enjoy that time. It just wasn’t like being with Harmony… and usually the women were killed. It happened less and less now though, because he was developing such feelings for this strange human that had come into his life.

The vampire threw a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt on. Eden was still asleep so there would be no explaining to do. Not that he would have lied. He felt no guilt at all for spending time with Harmony, not even if it meant cheating on his wife. But when he got to the room he slept in with his blood slave, she wasn’t there. He frowned and looked at the clock. She had probably gotten up a little early. He made his way to the living room, which was empty, and then smelled someone cooking in the kitchen. To his delight, the blond woman he preferred to share his bed with was standing there. A smirk spread on his face as he silently snuck up behind her and put his arms around her waist. “Good evening.” He had to bend over a bit to make up for their height differences, which was something he thought was really cute though he’d never say it. His lips pressed a kiss into her neck. “Did you miss me while I was gone?”

He pulled a little grey box out of his jeans and set it on the counter. “I got you something. To make up for being away for so long. It’s probably a bit too much for around here. But I felt bad for having to go away.” Inside the grey box was a Hercules Knot key necklace. Again, probably something blood slaves wouldn’t normally be able to wear, but when it came to Harmony, Devon was a bit on the soft side. Not that he couldn’t give her a punishment if she had it coming.

[Harmony Ferguson]

She was about to head to the table and eat her breakfast when she felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist. Her body tensed, thinking it was Tristan. He had decided to take a particular "liking" to her since Devon's absence, taking it upon himself to make her sleep on the foot of his bed. Something Harmony did not enjoy at all. Vampire Master Tristan Holt scared Harmony more than any other vampire she had lived around in the half century she had been a slave. She didn't know what it was about him, but he scared her. She still had her moments of defiance, but never with Tristan. He scared her far too much for her to disobey the man.

So, it was either sleep under the covers with him to keep warm or freeze at the foot of his bed. Usually she just chose to freeze and sleep poorly. There had been a couple of times where she reluctantly crawled under the covers with him. Her body quickly relaxed and she whirled around when she heard his voice. Devon.

Her face lit up brightly and she jumped, flinging her arms around his neck tightly as he asked if she missed him. "God yes. I'm so happy you're home." She murmured softly, her nose nuzzling into his neck as she hugged him tightly. He had absolutely no clue how happy she was to see him. She wasn't sure she could take another day in Tristan's bed. "Please tell me you're not going anywhere for a very long time." She murmured weakly, holding onto him tightly. She didn't want to let go. Not after how long he had been gone and the things Tristan put her through.

She finally let go and slowly sank back down to his feet when he started to fish something out of his pants pocket. "Devon, you know that just having you back is enough to make up for your absence." Blue eyes looked up to Devon with a smile when she saw the box then down to the little grey box. She picked it up and looked back up to Devon for a moment before she looked back to the box, opening it slowly. She let out a soft gasp and smiled warmly, fingering the ruby for a moment before she looked back up to Devon. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Devon." She grinned warmly and pressed a tender kiss to his lips before looking back to the key with the intricate knot design. She turned to him and handed him the box. "Help me put it on?" She turned around and pulled her hair out of the way for him. She knew it would draw attention. Especially considering she was a slave. Blood slave or not, it was very frowned upon. What her and Devon had. But she didn't care. He always got her pretty little baubles when he went on trips. To make up for his absence.

She didn't care if he brought her pretty baubles. He always did, but it didn't matter to her if he did. She was always just happy for him to come back to her. She worried when he went on these trips with Eden. She knew that he had long lost his attraction for his wife, but she wasn't stupid. He was expected to produce an heir. Which meant that he was expected to sleep with his wife. She worried that one day he would find interest in her once more and he wouldn't love Harmony any more. She knew he hated humans. She was the only human he didn't seem to hate. If he lost his interest in Harmony she had no idea what he would do with her. It worried her a little. That's why she just happy to have him back.

[Devon Soulstrick]

Devon had to admit to himself that he was a little confused at the tension in her body at his touch. That didn’t happen much anymore. It did at first, Devon could remember when he didn’t like the girl at all and just wanted her for the blood and sex. But that had changed and he thought that she had gotten more comfortable with him. Not too comfortable though, hopefully. He still had to keep control of her and that meant being sort of a bad boyfriend sometimes. Devon knew he wasn’t really the right match for Harmony, but it didn’t stop him from caring about her. And after several years she was still being broken-in so-to-speak. She had her moments of independence, and really it was something he admired about her, a reason that he hadn’t just sold her back right away. Even if he hated that she embarrassed him sometimes by either speaking out of line or acting like she was in charge of something or anything, he also admired that she didn’t just lie down and take it. And she could take a punishment well. Sure, she wasn’t as strong-willed as when he first got her, but that was to be expected. It was for the best anyway if he had someone who didn’t talk back to him.

He was relieved when she turned around and threw her arms around him since it meant that it had nothing to do with him. It made him wonder though who the hell she thought was coming up behind her. It seemed as though they were going to have a lot to talk about and it wasn’t all going to be pleasant. Hopefully they could just pass over all that happened on his side of the trip. Devon didn’t want to cover the whole having to be intimate with Eden, though he knew that Harmony was aware of his responsibilities. He was fairly certain she also knew how he fed. Talking about it probably wouldn’t end well and he didn’t really blame her. But he did want to know what had been going on since he’d been gone. He was going to make Eden pay if anything bad had happened while they’d been in Paris, her trying to win him back and him just trying to do what was expected of him.

The vampire gave a breathed out a laugh. “I’m not going anywhere for a while. Certainly not without you.” He bent and kissed the tip of her nose. He was much more relaxed when the two of them were alone. Oh, he could still get mean and yell, growl, and throw things around. He could get violent when he needed to, and if it hadn’t been that it was Harmony, he would love to get violent. Devon was violent by nature. It was Harmony that made him calm down and even then it wasn’t a sure thing because she was also one of the people who could make him the angriest.

As she pulled her hair back, Devon took the necklace that he had to remember to handle with care so he wouldn’t break it and clasped it around Harmony’s neck, bending down again and pressing his lips to the place between her neck and shoulder. It was so good to have her scent around him again. He hated to admit it but he did miss the smell of her skin, not just her blood. Devon was a bit of a blood addict despite the fact that he had been born a vampire and not a bitten one. He had other addictions as well… sex, violence. He could be one horrid vampire.

Devon pulled a chair out for Harmony and then took one next to her, not willing to let their physical contact end after being apart for so long. His eyes lingered on the piece of jewelry. It was a little difficult to buy jewelry. He normally went for white gold since he couldn’t touch silver. His intense blue eyes looked his human mistress slash blood slave over making sure nothing was out of place. “I was going to come to the room last night, but it was late and I was sure you were asleep.”

[Harmony Ferguson]

" Good." Harmony murmured softly when he assured her he wasn't going anywhere without her for a while. She meant it as well. She didn't want to be left alone in this mansion for a very long time considering all that Tristan made her do.

Her head bent and she studied the necklace for a moment as he fastened it for her. It was lovely. It looked like silver, but she knew it couldn't be silver. It had to be white gold. Vampires couldn't touch silver, and if he could fasten it himself then clearly it wasn't silver. She smiled softly. It was a very lovely piece and she imagined very expensive. She shivered a little when his lips brushed over the space between her neck and her shoulders. She turned to him, smiling warmly as she showed it off for him a little before carefully tucking it under her t-shirt to conceal it from suspicious eyes.

Most of the vampire population of the mansion thought of Harmony as some sort of high end whore, and Devon did not help to disprove that by giving her such pretty, expensive baubles. Harmony was the other woman. She had long accepted that fact. She had hated that knowledge at first, but then the feelings for Devon had formed. Clearly Eden didn't really love her husband. Only the position her marriage to him gave her. She certainly fought for Devon though. Doing such desperate acts as taking him away from Harmony to try and win her husband's attentions back even though she knew his attentions would be held by Harmony. Others tried not to worry about it too much, simply stating it was a phase. It was no phase though. At least she hoped not. She loved Devon. She had come to realize that. And a part of her prayed that he felt similarly. He was too stubborn to realize it. He let those three words slip out all the time, but the second she told him she loved him he froze up and acted like a cornered cat.

She happily followed him to the table, grabbing her plate and a fork on her way. She settled into her seat and scooted close to him. She wanted to feel the touch of his body to hers for a very good long time. She missed him and his touch and his scent and so many other things about him. She was glad to have him home.

The smile on her lips faltered for a moment and she looked down at her food, picking at it with her fork before she forked up some of the eggs into her mouth. She didn't want to tell him what Tristan had been making her do. Devon would be so mad about it. But she had to tell him. How thought. She picked at the food a bit longer before she looked back up to him. "I wasn't in my room yesterday. I was with Tristan." She mumbled the last few words out as she looked down at her plate. She knew this was not going to be quite as pleasant a reunion as she had hoped. Harmony had hoped she wouldn't have to say a damn thing about what Tristan had been making her do, but she couldn't lie to Devon. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "He took it upon himself that I needed a surrogate master while you were gone. I was to sleep with him at the foot of his bed every night till your return." She couldn't lie, but she couldn't look Devon in the face while she spoke. She stared down at her food, hand laying on the table next to her plate, fork in hand.

[Devon Soulstrick]

People talked. That was inevitable; Devon couldn’t help that. And he was sure there were more people talking about the situation than he knew about because those people were smart enough to keep it quiet enough that he wouldn’t hear about it. But he knew the things people were talking about; he would have to be stupid not to know about it. They all saw it as Devon cheating on his wife - that Harmony was some sort of toy that was used because Devon didn’t want to sleep with Eden. Sometimes it made him laugh. How could something like this be a phase when he didn’t even like humans? Humans were a food source to him - a way to have a bit of fun and relieve some tension. He had slept with humans, sure. Physically their bodies looked the same. The only difference was that humans could be killed easier. Their bodies were more fragile and in a sadistic way, that only heightened the pleasure he got out of it. Devon was a vampire through and through. He didn’t think twice about killing someone, especially a human, if they didn’t belong to someone else. And truth be told, Harmony couldn’t be the other woman. There were plenty of other women if people wanted to look at it that way. He rarely changed the way he fed. At least now he usually did that with one woman. He never felt guilty about sleeping around with other women when thinking about Eden, but with Harmony, he was practically consumed with it just because he didn’t want to hurt that one human.

In any case, he was crazy about Harmony. Not just crazy as in he wanted to be around her, but crazy as in going to lengths to make her life more comfortable. He spent the nights in her bed whether he was sleeping with her or not so she wouldn’t wonder what, if anything, he was doing with his wife. The blood slave had a room, granted he had stuff in it and usually referred to it as his other room. She had decent clothing, he spent large amounts of money on her. He did still yell at her, and do whatever it was that he needed to do to keep her in line. But that was part of having a slave. And he wasn’t going to give her up as a slave. If he was being truthful with himself, it wasn’t just for the reasons he’d given her, though those were all true as well. He didn’t want to free her. Freeing her would give her the ability to choose someone else. Devon was confident enough in himself to know that he was drop dead gorgeous, but he also know that to her, his personality probably needed a bit of work. Like that whole disliking humans thing.

He watched her hide the little piece of jewelry, disliking that she had to hide it but knowing it was probably for the best. Showing it off would only cause more talking. Not only that but it could start trouble among the other slaves. One of the things he didn’t like about the slave/master relationship was that it was a little frowned upon to treat one so well. It was particularly odd of Devon, since he was very anti-human.

With one statement Devon’s entire stance changed. It was lucky for Harmony that she explained without the vampire having to ask for an explanation of why his blood slave had been in Tristan’s bed. In a swift movement he was on his feet, pacing the kitchen, hands clenched at his sides. He had thought something about her scent had been off. This was low even for Tristan. At one point Devon had respect for him, but he had no respect for anyone who would take charge of another’s blood slave. Devon didn’t think that vampires needed to be particularly nice to the slaves, but he had always lived by a rule that you were not to take another’s slave into your own hands. Devon’s jaw was tight and he made his way over to Harmony, immediate checking her for bite marks. He knelt down into more of a squatting position so he could get a better look at her, moving her hair and then moving her sleeves up to check her arms, then living her shirt up so he could see her back and stomach. He would have to inspect the rest of her later, since she was, unfortunately, wearing jeans. “Did he hurt you? Did he touch you? Drink from you?” The questions practically shot out of his mouth as he turned the chair so she would face him. And if he was a bit forceful, well, Devon was angry - that much was apparent just from the way his blue eyes turned to ice.

[Harmony Ferguson]

She watched him wearily as she nibbled at some bacon while he paced the floor. He was mad. That much was clear. He made her nervous when he was mad. She knew he could be violent. She saw it on occasion. He scared her a little when he was mad. She remembered him throwing a lamp one time when he was seriously upset with her. He almost hit her with it. Acts like that sometimes scared her a little. She remembered those first few years when he was training her. She suffered through a lot of punishments. A lot of pain. He was a very unhappy man with her a lot of the time those first few years.

She worried now that he would blame her for what happened. A lot of people would. She was a slave after all. It seemed like slaves were good for nothing more than to blame something on or feed from. It was a perfectly natural thing to lay blame on the slave. Even if the slave had no choice in the things she did. Blue eyes watched warily as he knelt down in front of her.

She flinched a little as he lifted his hand, but he didn't hit her. He lifted the hand to brush her hair away, checking for bites or injuries that he did not inflict on her neck. She turned her head obediently for him to examine her better and helped him with the sleeves and her shirt when he moved to other various parts of her body. She stopped his hands though, unsure if he intended to make her take her jeans off for him to check the rest of her, but she didn't want him to do that. She met his gaze and laid a hand over his cheek softly. "He didn't do anything serious. He threatened as a means to keep me in line, but he never touched me or fed from me. I promise. You know he can't stand the thought of a human as anything other than food." She murmured softly, shuddering at the thought of Tristan possibly feeding off of her. She decided it best not to mention that she offered herself to him a couple of times to keep him from feeding on Anna. Because it didn't happen in the first place. Tristan gave the girl the ultimate choice and she wouldn't let Harmony do that. If Devon found out she offered for Tristan to feed from her he would flip.

"I'm sorry, Devon." She murmured to him weakly. "You know how much he scares me. I was afraid he would drain me dry if I didn't do what he told me."

[Devon Soulstrick]

It was an incredibly relief to know that Tristan hadn’t done anything physical to Harmony, though he was sure enough emotional damage had been done. As he thought about it, he realized what he’d done probably wasn’t much better. He wouldn’t have cared if it was someone else. If he had other slaves he would have been angry with Tristan, but not this furious. And he certainly wouldn’t have felt guilty about how he reacted to the information. He was a violent person and that had never really bothered him before. Even still it didn’t really bother him that he was violent, it just bothered him that he knew it scared Harmony sometimes. But he wasn’t going to change who he was either.

He did relax a little after hearing that Tristan hadn’t really touched her. Not that he was going to take her word for it - he would search her head to toe later for any signs of marks that Devon had not been the one to leave. He was a little possessive maybe, but he couldn’t stand the idea of someone else forcing Harmony to do something. Especially if that something included sleeping in someone else’s bed, whether they were going anything physical or not. But he should have expected this from Tristan. That damn vampire could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. Devon had started speaking up to him but only for small things. He didn’t think Tristan would get rid of him, maybe he was just being cocky, but since he had no heir, there wasn’t much of anyone to take his place. He didn’t really think Tristan would like it so much if Devon ordered around his little child human. Devon didn’t have a lot of morals, but that was something he wouldn’t do.

“I apologize. I didn’t realize what was happening here while I was gone. Someone should have notified me.” Of course, very few would probably say anything against Tristan… if they even knew what was going on. He turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand and stood back up, pulling his chair back over and sitting next to her. He grabbed one of her hands and leaned over to smell her neck. Devon had a strong urge to sink his teeth into her skin, but he resisted. Instead he just pressed his lips to her neck and pulled away slightly. He kept his hands on her though, partially part of marking his territory maybe. He didn’t like the idea of another vampire commanding her. “It’s not your fault.” His jaw was still tight, but he at least sounded more calm. “And I’m back, so you won’t be sleeping in his bed anymore.”

Devon pressed a kiss into Harmony’s hair and moved the plate closer to her. “You need to eat.” He wrinkled his nose at the human food but didn’t say anything about how he found it disgusting. Devon was well aware that humans ate to survive, but Harmony was the only human he had ever cared about. “Please let me know if he does anything else to you?” He hated that there was a question in his voice instead of it being a command. He should have commanded it. But he knew how she was. If there was something that she thought he’d get mad about, she might not say anything.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Harmony shook her head softly. "No. This isn't your fault. You didn't know." She murmured softly, laying a hand over his knee softly. She squeezed his knee gently, looking him over thoughtfully. No one would have told him what was going on. She wasn't even sure she could have called if she could have just because she didn't want any trouble. She tilted her head sideways a little as he leaned in. She shivered when she heard him smelling, familiarizing himself with her scent once more. She shivered once again when she felt his lips brush over the pulse of her neck.

Blue eyes lifted when he said it wasn't her fault. She knew that, but she still felt guilty about it. She shared another man's bed. She hated that thought. Even if he didn't make her sleep with him. She nodded her head softly and she moved closer to him. Harmony reached a delicate hand up to his jaw, which was very tight. He was still upset over the entire ordeal. She could tell just by the way his jaw was set. "One of these days your jaw is going to get stuck like that." She teased softly, trying to lighten the mood as she softly stroked his cheek in a very tender gesture.

She looked down to the food, nodding her head softly she picked her fork back up and slowly ate it, nibbling over the yumminess happily. Eggs were her favorite food. Especially fried eggs that had a nice oozy yolk so she could dip her toast in it. She noted the look on Devon's face at the food. She knew he was disgusted by human food, but humans had to sustain themselves just as much as vampires did. Especially humans who had their blood sucked on a regular basis like Harmony did. She needed to keep her body replenished so that it could replace the blood she lost when he fed from her.

Blue eyes lifted from her food to him when he asked her to tell him if Tristan did anything to her. She nodded. "What are you going to do?" She asked gently. She worried that he would do something rash if he got too upset over Tristan. There was nothing that anyone could do about what Tristan wanted to do to Harmony. He was the one person that Devon couldn't say "no" or "back off" to. Tristan Holt could do whatever he pleased to whoever he pleased without any consequence. She didn't want Devon getting mad and doing something that could get him into serious trouble. Harmony didn't want to be the one to get him into that trouble either. That's why she was careful about what she told him. She knew what would set him off and she didn't want him messing up because of something she did.

[Devon Soulstrick]

He loved that he could make her body react like it did with the simplest of movements. Devon liked knowing how he made Harmony feel. It thrilled him to no end each time he felt her body shake or shiver. Yes, he had had other women, he was almost old enough to be considered an antique yet still not older than anyone on council, but it had never delighted him as much as when he made Harmony’s body react this way. It was a shame that this action had to occur while they were talking about something as important as what Tristan had been doing in Devon’s absence. And to think that Devon used to respect the vampire. He was mentally hitting himself over and over again for letting this happen.

“It is my fault. I should have insisted you come with us, or call to check in… or left someone trustworthy to watch you.” Who that was, he didn’t know. But maybe if he had assigned Harmony to another vampire temporarily, Tristan would have laid off. Maybe not, but at least he would have felt a little better about leaving Harmony here. That probably wasn’t true. He hated leaving Harmony alone regardless, but at least it would have given her some form of protection. At the same time, who was there to trust? They were supposed to be able to trust Tristan. He was their leader.

Devon felt Harmony’s hand on his face and he relaxed just a little. A small smile. He appreciated what she was trying to do. With Eden being the way she was lately, getting it into her head that she could somehow win him from Harmony, his Jaw was tightened a lot - an action he did unconsciously when he was angry. He was angry with Eden a lot, especially now that she had taken him on a trip that he felt obligated to go on because they were married and it was expected of him to produce an heir with a vampire, and had been indirectly responsible for the mental abuse that Harmony had gone through with Tristan. He put his hand over Harmony’s and made an attempt at a laugh, though it came out rather breathy. “I don’t think it will, though it might seem that way lately.” He admitted. He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips to it again before setting both their hands in her lap, fingers laced.

He sighed and let his gaze shift to the table. He wouldn’t have even looked away if he hadn’t been able to smell her scent and feel her body next to him for fear that he might wake up again next to Eden in Paris. But he had to think about the answer to that question. What would he do? There wasn’t much he could do against Tristan and he absolutely hated that fact. The mature thing would be to go to the vampire and politely request that he respectfully keep his grubby hands off of his blood slave like he was supposed to according to tradition. He wanted to remind Tristan that he never laid a hand on anyone Tristan had ever had, and that the same respect should be offered to Devon. But Devon was a violent person, and he knew that he might overreact if more unsettling news about their vampire master popped up. “I don’t know.” He finally answered truthfully, but in a whisper. “I’ll ask him to keep away from you first. That’s the respectful thing to do. If that doesn’t work…” His voice trailed off. He didn’t want to think about what he might do. He could get killed for several of the things that went through his head.

“I’ll keep closer to you,” he looked at Harmony again and tried to smile. “I don’t think he’ll do anything if I’m here. Not that he’s afraid of me because he’s older than I am and in a higher position. But because I think the council will frown upon it if he does, even if they don’t approve of our relationship. I don’t think he would want to look bad to the council.” Though he wasn’t sure about that, it made sense in his head. Besides, before Devon had left, he had been the only one to lay a hand on Harmony. He would hope that things would return that way now that he was back. He made a mental note to accidentally see Tristan in the halls or something just to show that he was here.

[Harmony Ferguson]

She laughed weakly and pressed a kiss to his cheek softly, patting his other cheek softly. She knew why he was so tense and angry lately. Eden. Eden seemed to be the cause of a lot of their misery as of late. No doubt he was getting sick of what his wife was doing. Why couldn't she just accept that he was not in love with her? That her husband was in love with Harmony. Harmony stroked his cheek softly before her hand lowered to her food and she finished her plate with the last bite of syrup covered bacon. "Certainly seems like it to me." She grinned up at him playfully as she licked some syrup off her fingers.

She looked over him thoughtfully as he looked away from her. Trying to figure out just what he would do. She knew there was nothing he could really do other than ask Tristan not to touch Harmony. And there was a very high chance that Tristan wouldn't even respect Devon's wishes. She looked down to the empty plate for a moment before she slowly stood, reaching a hand to his hair. She stroked her fingers through his locks softly for a minute before she carried the plate over to the sink and cleaned them off. She went back to him once she set them in the dish rack and sat in his lap softly, stroking her fingers through his soft blond hair once more. "Promise me you won't do anything rash if he doesn't listen, Devon... please." She murmurs softly, pressing a tender kiss to his temple. She didn't want him doing anything rash.

If Tristan got rid of Devon, there was no guarantee that Harmony's life would be any better. If Devon was gone then she would have no one to protect her. Devon was the one reason she was alive. right now. He was the only person who cared about her enough to protect her.

She looked over him thoughtfully and grinned, stroking her fingers through his hair softly. "Well, I plan to show you just how much I've missed you, so you definatly will be locked up with me in our bedroom for a few days before I let you leave. " Harmony grinned at him softly. She called it their bedroom all the time. It was their bedroom. He spent more time in her bedroom with her than he did in his and Eden's room. At least half his clothes were in her closet and dresser and most of his toiletries were in her bathroom. It might as well have been their bedroom.

She indeed intended to show him just how much she missed him. And he wasn't going to be coming out of her bedroom for several days. Devon Soulstrick would be a very busy man for the next couple of days.

[Devon Soulstrick]

The blond woman was just too cute sometimes. When he looked at her, he thought it should be easy for others to figure out what it was he saw in her. Even if he couldn’t even always put it into words. But when she was licking her fingers of syrup, he felt a genuine smile form on his lips - not a large one, but a smile nonetheless. Devon knew that her life wasn’t that great, though he refused to believe that it was as bad as she sometimes made it sound, but when she was around him (and they weren’t arguing), she seemed truly happy. He honestly didn’t think that he was the only one that cared about her. She had human friends in the castle, surely. Right? He heard her talk about the other slaves and servants, though now that he was thinking about it he wasn’t sure that she’d ever come out and said that any of them were her friends. Then again, they spent a lot of time together when he wasn’t busy or being taken away by Eden. He didn’t care anymore if people knew that he was with Harmony, even if she was a human. She was more than that to him. Devon didn’t like humans, so obviously he wouldn’t see Harmony as one. She was… different. How, he wasn’t quite sure all the time. He chalked it up to the fact that he knew about her history as a hunter. Or at least he thought he knew. It was what he had been told when he was thinking about buying her, and it was what had made his decision.

And because he cared about her, he couldn’t honestly tell her that he wouldn’t do anything rash. He didn’t rightfully know what he would do because it hadn’t happened yet. He knew what he would like to do, but he also knew that despite the fact that he was slightly taller than Tristan, the other vampire was stronger than he was for the mere fact that he was older than Devon. Tristan could also be very convincing when he wanted to be and might make a case that Devon should be removed from council or worse, the castle. He knew that if that happened he would find some way to sneak Harmony out with him and maybe then Eden wouldn’t follow, but Devon also liked the respect he got with being a council master. He hadn’t chosen it; he had been forced into it by the death of his parents. And there were things he didn’t like about it, like the expectation to produce an heir.

“I’ll try, Harmony.” He sighed, trying to appear as relaxed as possible. Having Harmony in his arms now that she was sitting on his lap did help a little, but his anger was always just at the edge waiting for something to throw it off. He gave Harmony credit for being able to be close to someone who could turn violent so quickly. He tried not to hurt her when he didn’t have to, but accidents happened sometimes. He hoped she wouldn’t notice that he hadn’t actually promised that he wouldn’t do anything that would get him thrown out, but he knew she would. It was just whether or not she would say something about it.

An eyebrow arched at the next statement. “Oh, you’re going to order me around now, are you?” He smirked and pressed his lips to hers for a moment. Devon normally would have been livid about a blood slave ordering him around, but this was Harmony and he didn’t really think that she meant it as a command. Besides, he was more than willing to stay in their room for days at a time, leaving only so Harmony could eat. There was no way he was going to let her go walking about the castle on her own now that he knew Tristan liked to play master to her.

One of his hands slid up her shirt just slightly to feel her skin. His smirk remained, the Tristan incident temporarily pushed to the back of his mind. He had been away from this woman for too long and he planned on refamiliarizing himself with every inch of her body. “You’re just too adorable for your own good. I may have to keep you in our room for more than just a few days.” He pressed his lips to her neck, taking in her scent as he did so. His fangs grazed slightly against her skin, though not hard enough to draw blood. He thought about it though. Like her body, it had been too long since he had tasted her blood. His mouth watered slightly just thinking about it. But part of him didn’t want to bite her, just because he thought she might think that he only wanted her for her blood, which was far from the case. Though her blood was delicious, there was more to his feelings for her than that.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Blue eyes studied him for a moment. She had to resist the urge to frown. He didn't promise her, but at least he would try? She didn't want to say anything because whenever a subject like this came up, it always seemed to cause a fight. He had just gotten home. She didn't want to fight with him. She only pressed a tender kiss to his temple and stroked her fingers through his golden locks softly. "I'll try" would have to do for now. She just didn't want him doing something to get him thrown off the council. Especially if it was because of her.

She let out a girlish laugh at his question, studying him thoughtfully as she took her hand from his hair. "Maybe.... are you going to punish me?" She grinned and batted her blue eyes playfully at him. She knew he punished her for real sometimes, and those weren't the best of moments for either of them, but she didn't mind a little play punishing. She let out a soft little whimper as his lip pressed to hers. She happily yielded to this advance, laying a hand over his cheek softly, quivering at the touch of his lips against her own supple lips.

As their lips parted, Harmony let out a soft little moan as his hand slipped under her tee-shirt and brushed over her skin, sending chills up her spine in excitement. She had not felt his touch in weeks and it felt so exciting to feel it once more. She grinned at him as he told her she was too cute for her own good. And it slowly fell into a smirk when he said he may have to keep her in their room for more than a few days. She studied him thoughtfully as a knowing grin lifted on those soft lips. "Well, I certainly have no complaints about that so long as you keep me fed. " She grinned and flicked her finger down his nose softly. They needed to refamiliarize themselves to each other. Harmony wished to feel more of him hands on her body, stroking her soft, warm skin as he did now. Only in other places.

She shivered when she felt his fangs graze along her skin. He did not draw blood, though. Not yet. She let out a soft little whimper and bit her bottom lip, sucking on it gently as she closed her eyes."Drink if you want, love." She murmured the words softly, tilting her head a little in invitation. There were a few times that Harmony felt like he was only using her for food, but he always assured her that he wasn't. That she cared more to him than a slave would. She missed the pleasure she got from his feedings. It was much like an orgasm and she hadn't had one of those since before he left with Eden. She yearned to feel that once more. To feel like a real woman and feel his chest under her cheek afterwards. Snuggled up against him with his arms wrapped around him. She missed him greatly. She missed waking early in the evening and watching him sleep. Her bed felt so empty without him there for so long a time.

[Devon Soulstrick]

Devon had to hand it to her, she didn’t say anything about him only trying not to do anything rash about Tristan. If it had been years ago when he first got her and he’d done something she didn’t like, she would have complained about it or tried to tell him off. Even now, sometimes she spoke up to him. Sometimes he let her, but usually he just got angry. It probably wasn’t fair to her, but at those times, Devon didn’t think about fair. He thought about status, gender, and how it would look for him to have to be arguing with a woman. Not just a woman, a blood slave. True, he thought of Harmony as more and he cared about her more than anyone else, wife included, but he was still superior, in his mind. Status was a constant factor for Devon. He always considered status. And he was slightly sexist, but more in the way that he had preconceived ideas about gender. That men were supposed to be the ones who were strong and made the living. Which was ironic, because he thought of Harmony as very strong-willed and it was one of the things that he lov- liked about her, even if it did drive him crazy.

He smirked as her body began reacting again at his touch. He knew he wasn’t immune to her touch either, it was just that his body reacted differently since he was, well, technically dead. His natural reaction was to pull her closer and demand more from her body. His hand found its way to her hair, winding his fingers into the blond locks. “Mmm. I might have to punish you for that. Can’t have you speaking back to me, now, can I…” But the smile on his face made it clear that he wasn’t really planning on punishing her. Not in a bad way anyway. He could get violent during sex, but he didn’t ever intentionally hurt her. He may have left a scratch or two on her skin, but any (mental cringe) human could do that.

Keeping her fed was the only thing he’d let her leave the bed for, he thought. Unless they moved their fun time to a different area, like a shower or a dresser. “I’ll keep you fed if you keep me fed.” He smirked and brushed his lips against hers again. He decided that there would be plenty of feeding going on. Of course there would be. He was a vampire. He needed blood just as much as she needed food… even if he did think her food smelled absolutely gross and looked about just as appetizing.

Harmony gave him the go-ahead to drink from her right there. The only issue with that was that they were in a kitchen and Devon could get carried away especially when blood was involved, but then again, normally the humans just used it. Vampires didn’t need food and the blood was served to them generally since that’s what the servants were for anyway. That is, if they didn’t just feed straight from the source. Drinking right from the body was Devon’s preferred way. He liked the feeling of the pulse as he drank and the way the person reacted, whether with fear or pleasure as he dictated it, when the blood left their body. He still used the more painful way on Harmony when she angered him, but that punishment tactic was being used less and less only because he didn’t want her to be afraid every time he fed from her.

The vampire moved both of his hands behind the woman’s back and pulled her body closer to his. He brushed the hair from her neck and pressed his lips to the skin a couple of times. Then his fangs punctured the skin at the neck and he let the blood flow slowly but steadily into his mouth. A strained moan came out of his throat as he kept one hand on her lower back to keep her on his lap, and one went back up her shirt, only sneaking up the front this time. The taste of blood mixed with the feel of her skin was just what he needed to welcome him back home.

[Harmony Ferguson]

Fifty years ago, Harmony would have continued to argue back. Fifty years ago, Harmony wouldn't have asked him to be careful though. She would have been happy to see his demise. She would have been happy to see every one of the vampires she met to burn. She was certainly not the same woman Devon bought fifty years ago. Fifty years ago, Harmony never would have thought she would not only love a vampire but welcome him to her bed and allow him to feed her. Especially not after what vampires had done to her. To her family. Harmony Ferguson was a totally different woman now. There were small remnants of the woman she had once been, but she was not the same anymore.

The first time Harmony had made that realization, it had been startling. It was hard for someone to accept what had happened. Devon broke her. There were still things about her that had to be broken, but he broke a good portion of the woman Harmony had once been. With time, Harmony came to accept that about herself though. Because she loved Devon. He made her happy. He made her life so less miserable when he was around. He was the reason Harmony could still be so lively. Even when she was a slave. Even when people like Tristan were around.

Blue eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she felt his hand twine into her messy blond locks. She let out a soft little hum and shifted in his grasp softly, grinning as her eyes fluttered open once more. "Oh, never, Sir. Are you going to spank me?" She giggled girlishly as she shifted in his lap. She knew he was teasing. She could tell by the way he spoke and the look in his eyes. They liked to joke around about punishing her when he was in a better mood.

He could be quite a violent lover when he wished to be, but she didn't mind. A little rough sex was rather exciting every once in a while. She laughed softly and nodded her head faintly at his little deal. "Deal." She murmured softly, stroking her hand through soft, golden locks. She knew he despised human food, but she had to keep herself fed as much as he did. More than he did actually because her body needed the strength food gave to replenish her blood supply on such a regular basis. He drank from her at least once a night. Sometimes more.

She turned her head a little for him as he brushed aside the wild mass of hair, tilting her head ever so slightly. So he could have access to her neck. She shivered at the brush of his lips over her pulse. It excited her. To feel that brush of his lips right before... She let out a soft gasp as his teeth sank into her soft flesh. The initial bite always hurt her, but when the blood started to flow... She moaned for him as he drank from her, her body reacting in similar ways that it would to sex. Her hand on his chest clutched at the shirt as her head tilted back a little for him. Her eyes fluttered shut as she pressed her body against his, whimpering in delight while Devon drank from her. Devon was the only one that the bite brought pleasure to Harmony. If anyone else bit her, it was be painfully excruciating. Devon was the only one who brought her pleasure when it came to the bite. When he wanted to anyways. Sometimes when he drank from her and she was in trouble, he made it painful. She doesn't enjoy it so much then. Then she had to fight the urge to cry when he did that.