That Voodoo stuff don't do nothing for me.

[rogue_lawyer]

[Continued from here.]

It’s been a long night and I’m starting to feel it in my bones, taking the seat at the bar that Lorne gestures towards and resting my folded arms on the counter, trying to pretend it’s not the only thing that’s holding me up at the moment. "Not sure what you want, Lindsey. You know that all this is gonna end you up in

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[rogue_lawyer]

I wake up shivering, automatically curling closer to the body next to me for warmth and...

My eyes fly open and I'm pulling away from her before my brain catches up. That dizzy dropping feeling in the pit of your stomach as you wake up to realize that you're the only living thing in the room... it's not one I'm about to forget anytime soon. Thanks for that, Darla.

But it's not a corpse, and I feel like a bastard for even thinking it. Just Tara, translucent pale with hunger again, her eyelids twitching slightly in sleep. We'll have to get a proper meal into her today, not just the little sips she was taking to please me last night.

Last night. Damn, it seems like another lifetime ago. Hard to believe I'd gone from smitten, to a snack, to wanting to stake her, to... well, this. Whatever this is. I smile and brush the hair away from her face, propping myself up on one arm and watching her lips move as she murmurs in her sleep. She doesn't exactly look at peace, and I can't say I blame her.

Stretching next to her and taking note of the stiffness in my muscles, but no real lasting harm, I trail my fingertips down her bare arm. "Time to wake up, soul-girl," I whisper, content just to watch her for the moment. Why should we have to rush?

[sexytarawitch]

I was achingly aware of everything that went on, in my dreams and in the surrounding's of the room. I felt every time Lindsey shifted in the bed, each movement when he pulled me just that much closer to him. The sound of his heartbeating was loud in my ears, it beat straight into my nightmares...

"H-how...how could you do this to me? I...I thought that..." I was crying and I was beginning to lothe crying. I could see the anger on Spike's face and I could feel the ar crack with each stroke of his whip even before it met my flesh. I pleaded and sobbed, wondering if I would wake up to him standing over me with the bloody leather strap in his hand.

"Time to wake up, soul-girl,"

I heard Lindsey's voice and I could feel his fingers lightly over my arm. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his neck, trying to pull myself out from my sleep. "C-can't let him find me. I h-have to hide...please...he...he'll hurt me again...he'll take the girl away..." Lindsey was warm and I pressed myself closer to him, willing everything else to go away. Becoming attached to him wasn't going to be a wise option but right now I needed to hide from Spike, not run from Lindsey.

[rogue_lawyer]

Her eyelids flutter but don't open, and the shallow unnecessary breathes that she's taking make me think that she must be dreaming. A painful little sound slips out, almost like a sob, and I put my arm around her automatically.

"It's just a dream. Come back to me, Tara."

She clings to me like a little kid who's had a nightmare, and I can't tell if she's really awake yet or not. With her face against my throat, it sure would be a hell of a lot more comforting to know that she's entirely awake and in control. "C-can't let him find me. I h-have to hide...please...he...he'll hurt me again...he'll take the girl away..."

I hold onto her, stroking her hair and letting her ride out the horror of whatever was happening in her dream. Sometimes memories of the past are the very worst kind of nightmares. "I won't let that happen," I promise her softly. "Nobody's going to hurt you again, Tara."

I feel like a bastard for doing what I do next, taking advantage of her muddled half-awake state, but if I really am going to keep that promise, I need the details. "Who are you hiding from?" I whisper. "Tell me who's after you, and I'll keep you safe."

[sexytarawitch]

Everything in the room is thick and heavy. From sleep to the emotional baggage that we both have, but the way he pulls me to him and strokes my hair...the way he talks to me makes me know that he's not worried about his baggage and for once in a long time someone's worried about me and mine. I've missed that.

"Who are you hiding from? Tell me who's after you, and I'll keep you safe."

It's a fair question at an unfair time. But I can forgive it and try to answer him as best as I can. I swallow hard and try to calm myself down enough to tell him without sounding like I've lost my mind...again. With slow deep breath's I close my eyes tightly and inhaile Lindsey's scent mixed with the sharp smell of the back room. "M-my Sire," I murmur quietly, "I found him trying to t-take my soul away. He doesn't...I thought he loved me, wh-who I was, but he didn't. He lied all those months; lied when he-he said that he knew how much I missed her. He just was playing a sick joke and...he wants the monster he created, the scars he made. He...he tried to kill me..." I started sobbing again, the pain and anger of things that I left behind in Sunnydale coming back and haunting me.

[rogue_lawyer]

It's probably a good thing that she didn't give me a name. I've got this tendency to get a bit... focused when it comes to these vampire-lineage tangles.

"He won't hurt you again," I insist stubbornly, holding her as she cries. "He can't. I won't let him. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore, Tara."

I'll plead with Lorne until he breaks for me. I'll wheel and deal and pull the few strings I've got left in this town. Tara needs as much help as I can give her right now, and although I haven't quite worked out the logic of why I'm doing this, I know how I'm going to start.

"We're going to find somewhere safe for you, alright? Somewhere this guy can't find you." Impossible, and we both know it, but what I really mean is somewhere he can't find her without having to go through me first. I've got strength to spare and if I want to use my new power to protect her until she gets back on her feet, as well as keeping myself safe from my old employers, that's what I'm gonna do. Call it an exercise in free will.

[sexytarawitch]

"He won't hurt you again...He can't. I won't let him. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore, Tara."

He's stubborn to a fault and it reminds me of Spike, it makes my heart pull and tug in such a way that I wonder if I'm going to burst into ash right here. I cry softly onto his chest and he holds me tighter, almost so tightly the entire world is blocked out...almost.

"We're going to find somewhere safe for you, alright? Somewhere this guy can't find you."

Bitter laughter escapes my lips and I pull Lindsey away from me and turn my back to him. "Don't make promises you'll die to keep. You can't Lindsey, he will find me. He said he'd always find me, I believe him." My lips were dry and my head pounded hard as I tried to gather a clear thought. "I'm going to go back to the hotel and get my stuff, the f-faster I leave the better we both are, you have enough baggage without taking my own."

I feel his arms on me and my eyes flutter closed, the warmth of his skin against mine making me ache and wish I had found him another place and another time, the 'what if's' keep floating into my mind. "He will find me, I know that as sure as..." I take Lindsey's hand and trail it slowly down my body, his warm palm wrapping hotly around my thigh, his fingers right over the mark carved into my skin. "I'm sure of this mark," I whispered, hiding my face in the pillow and wishing for one solid moment of clarity.

[rogue_lawyer]

She tells me flat-out what she intends to do, but I grab her arm, as if physically holding onto her could keep her here. "You're safe here," I insist, pulling a face when she spouts off some bullshit about not taking on her baggage. I know a worthwhile cause when I see it, Oprah-jargon be damned. And besides... "I don't have 'baggage'," I add with a frown.

I'm confused for a moment when she guides my hand over her skin, my fingers curling to touch her and my fingertips moving over rougher skin. She hides her face like she's ashamed and I'm almost afraid to look myself. Someone did this to her. Someone could look her in the eye and take a blade to her skin, carving those sharp thin lines...

I know scars and these cuts were deep. Deep enough to kill a human. I trace the lines slowly, running my free hand soothingly down her back and trying to pretend that I'm not physically trembling with rage. "Does it still hurt?" My voice gives me away, low and edgy, barely in control.

"Tara, if I find out who did this to you..." I shake my head, trailing off to prevent on of those promises that she swears I'll die keeping. "If I ever find out..." Finally taking my hand away from that horrible scar, I put my arms around her and lay down with my head against her shoulder, shutting my eyes and trying to calm down. Murderous rages aren't gonna help anyone at this stage in the game, but if any vamp comes knocking and asking for her, they're going to die screaming.

[sexytarawitch]

There is no place safe, Lindsey of all people should know this and he insists on telling me that things will be ok...and he's baggage free. I just sign and nod, relenting and letting go that part of the argument.

I feel his fingers move over the scar on my thigh and his anger and body heat rises, almost making me pull away until his arms move to me. I can feel his body shaking and I turn slightly at his voice to look at him.

"Does it still hurt?"

"No," I whisper, moving my hand over to his arm. "Not...not physically anyway. S-sometimes I can feel it bright as day and...all I can feel is betrayed."

"Tara, if I find out who did this to you...If I ever find out..."

His body half covering mine soothes me like a blanket of comfort and I relax slightly, my hand moving ghostly over his forearm as he holds me to him tightly. "Then...then that's a secret I'll keep." I turn my eyes to him and try to smile. "I want you around as long as you want to be." I reminded him quietly, shifting my body to his as I finally start feeling a small moment of calm washing over me. The demon and rage inside me resting for the moment and everything is quite inside me as I lean into him and kiss him softly.

[rogue_lawyer]

"Then...then that's a secret I'll keep." I'm not happy with that answer, not at all, even when she turns to me with a smile that's got a broken heart behind it. "I want you around as long as you want to be."

She cuts off any arguments with a surprisingly gentle kiss and, being the sucker that I am, I give up the fight and close my eyes, my hand sliding over her cheek and her cool lips against my own. She's so soft, for someone so deadly...

I rest my forehead against hers when she lets me breathe, trying not to think about her scars. The image of them is already burning in my mind's eye, likely fuel for a vendetta if I ever saw one. I've got to be so careful. I've got to keep some distance between us if I want to stay alive, as much as it hurts to admit that.

"You don't think I could take out a vampire?" I wonder, my tone teasing but the question serious. "Oh, ye of little faith..." I run my fingers through her hair, kissing her again lightly and smiling. "I'm actually not that bad in a fight, when I've got my clothes on."

[sexytarawitch]

The kiss goes on until I can almost hear his lungs screaming for air and I pull back slowly, my tongue darting over his lip as I hear him start to pant for air. "Sorry," I muttered softly, running my hand over his back and feeling his body against mine.

"You don't think I could take out a vampire? Oh, ye of little faith... I'm actually not that bad in a fight, when I've got my clothes on."

I kiss him back and a teasing smile crosses my lips and I can't help but smirk slightly at him. "I know you could take me...I've been told I can't exactly fight..." I reach up and run my fingers over his tattoo on his shoulder and then down his chest. "I know you can handle it, I can feel it."

Just the simple touch of my fingers over his tattoo's started that pull in my spine again. It made me wonder if his feelings towards me and I to him part of some sort of thrall that I never quite understood. It didn't matter, I felt him wrap his arm tighter around my lower back and I leaned into him and started nibbling his jaw and shoulder. "I...I can stop..." I murmured softly, dragging my nails lightly over his chest, feeling the electric of his tattoo's under my fingers.

[rogue_lawyer]

"I know you can handle it, I can feel it."

She isn't the only one. Her fingertips send a hot buzz of pleasure through me as they trace over the ink, and that's something new. I sure as hell didn't get that kind of reaction the couple times I got pawed by drunken patrons as I showed them to the door at closing time. It can't be because she's a vampire... maybe it's the soul?

My grip on her tightens as she starts doing wicked things with her mouth against my bare skin, and how thoroughly fucked up am I that I want to feel her teeth against my throat again? Not to wound, just to feel.

"I...I can stop..."

"Where's the fun in that?" She's calmed down enough now that she doesn't protest when I flip her over, half on top of her and grinning. "And I could stop you if I wanted to, anyway. I'm onto you now, Tara," I tease, my voice pitched low as I tangle my fingers in her hair, my free hand tracing the curve of her side, down to her hip. "Won't catch me like that again."

I lean down with a little growl, my teeth harmless against her throat. Always playing with fire. "But I didn't say anything about stopping now," I whisper against her skin.

[sexytarawitch]

I find myself pinned under him and I gasp, grinning back at him as he whispers teasingly to me. "Oh really?" I breathe, feeling his fingers lace themselves in my hair and his hands suddenly feel like fire against my skin, everywhere at once.

"But I didn't say anything about stopping now,"

A soft moan escapes my lips, his mouth hot against the cool skin of my throat, his teeth brushing and making me shudder. My mind started to fill with sinful thoughts of how beautiful and deadly wicked he would be if he was like me. Deadly Southern sin... and mine.

"No stopping." My fingers tighten around him and I wrap my thighs around his waist and press his warm body against mine, moaning as his teeth dig lightly into my skin. "Yeah," I moan, my nails dragging up his back to his shoulders as I dip my face down to his neck, dragging human teeth over his skin and my tongue finds the old wound on his neck.

[rogue_lawyer]

Soul or no soul, she's as confident and seductive as she was last night; primal and powerful and beautiful. I'm trying to tell myself that I'm not taking advantage of the situation (I am.) and that she's in a place where she's capable of deciding whether or not she really wants this (She's not.)...

"No stopping."

Ethics was never really my area of expertise anyway.

Her lips are cool, but her tongue burns against the bite that she left on me yesterday. Back when she left her mark on me, left me to bleed in the confusion that followed. Not her fault, right? And definitely not my fault that the sting of sensation makes me shudder and press closer to her, and that the pad of my thumb is tracing slight circles on the inside of her thigh. Not my fault that I want her this bad.

"Gonna be gentle with me today?" I tease, before kissing her again, open-mouthed and suddenly needy.

[sexytarawitch]

Both of us are clearly playing with fire and I know that we're going to get burned. But I need to feel, I have to feel. I want to feel something other than the cold.

"Gonna be gentle with me today?"

I start to smirk until I find his mouth over mine, his weight pressing me into the mattress as his tongue slips past my lips and into my waiting mouth. I kiss him back hard and filled with want, my body writhing against his and matching the beating of his heart. The want and need between us is something I've never felt before; not even with Spike.

The kiss deepens and I dig my fingers into his hair, closing my lips around his tongue gently and sucking slowly, my eyes parting to watch his face. A low growl escapes my lips and I pull back, letting him breathe as my hands run gently over his face. "Are you sure?" I pant softly, the habit still unshakeable. Neither is the bits of doubt that flutter through my mind at the touch of his thumb against my thigh, teasing me. Taunting me into more.

It wasn't going to take a lot with him.

[rogue_lawyer]

There's that indescribable magnetism between us again, a deep siren-call that defies good logic, and I know that she feels it too. Either that or she's one hell of an actress and this morning is going to be punctuated with two new bite wounds in my throat.

There's no way. Lorne wouldn't have let us get this far if my life was still in serious danger.

So I enjoy the moment for what it is, something entirely unexplainable and comfortable and right. I let her kiss me deeply, my hands running over smooth skin and the rough scar on her thigh, wanting every inch of her. The maiden and the monster and the girl who's been hurt; wanting to protect her and watch her smile and make her my own. There's something primal happening here... I'll have to ask Lorne about it when he's finished being huffy about all this. And, y'know, when I don't have much more interesting things to do.

"Are you sure?"

It makes me grin, reminding me of a game that me and Lilah used to play, answering questions with questions back and forth until somebody gave up. "Are you kidding?" I reply, kissing the soft skin under her ear. "Very, very sure," I add quietly, smiling.