#vampire bites

And then there was their voice, that low, velvet utterance of their typical greeting. Softer than she had ever heard it, and somehow more intimate spoken in the middle of the night in her empty apartment.

She had never felt more vulnerable than she did at that moment with no mask, no armor, and only a pair of sweatpants and an oversized tee-shirt for protection. “Villain. What are you doing here?”

Something was wrong. Villain had always carried themselves proudly but tonight they seemed to hunch and shrink in on themselves in a way that Hero had never seen before. She expected them to posture, or to at least make snarky comments about her decor, but there was nothing.

“If you’re here to fight -- “

“No.” Their refusal was sharp and instant. “No. I’m not here to hurt you.”

Then why were they here? Didn’t they have something better to do on a Thursday night than break into their nemesis’s home for shits and giggles? And why were they acting so strangely?

“Villain… are you hurt?”

They took an unsteady step towards her. She took one back in response.

“No,” came the soft response. “Not hurt. Not this time.”

But there was something wrong.

“Are you sick? Were you drugged? Did you take something?”

With every question they took another step forward and she took another step back.

“No.” Villain answered, and their mouth turned up in a strange smile, as if they had thought of something funny, the punchline of a joke that they were unwilling to tell her. “Didn’t take anything. Wanted to. So many times. Would you give it to me if I asked?”

“What?” Now she was even more confused. “Villain seriously, stop messing around. Why are you here?”

Damn it, why did they have to be taller than her? Each of their steps seemed to take two of hers. They had always been fast, always been graceful. They had crossed her little living room so quickly, her retreat backing her into the shadows of her kitchen. 

With every step their eyes remained locked on her, their eyes flickering over her form in a way that seemed to strip her bare of all pretenses.

This was quickly spinning out of control. 

“How -- how did you find me?” She was always so careful to make sure she wasn’t followed on the way home from her hero-ing. The ability to bend light certainly came in handy for that. So how had they managed to track her all the way back to her apartment?

The villain took another step forward. The hero stepped back again and found her back against the kitchen counter. “Followed your scent,” they murmured, taking a deep inhale, then let it go with a deep sigh. “Always know when you’re nearby.”

Well that was… deeply concerning. “You’ve known where I lived this whole time?”

They shook their head. “Never followed it. Not until tonight. Wanted to…”

That was a relief. Her relationship with Villain had always been complicated but they’d always had some kind of mutual respect for one another. She really did not like the idea of them stalking her home on a regular basis. 

“Okay, good to know.” She laid her hands against Villain’s chest and tried to nudge them back but she might have well have tried to push a brick wall. Actually, she’d been thrown into more yielding brick walls. The physical demonstration of Villain’s strength probably should not have excited her as much as it did. “Why did you follow me this time?”

“Hungry,” they answered, and for a moment their dark eyes seemed to gleam red in the dark kitchen. “Couldn’t steal what I needed. They’ve started guarding it better now. Caught your scent.” They took one of her hands from their chest and stroked their thumb gently over her wrist where her pulse skipped under their caress. A smile curved their lips. “Always your scent. Always in my head, even when you’re not there.”

The hero was confused. What did her scent have to do with anything? But the villain was clearly not in their right mind. Maybe if she fed them they’d come down off of whatever weird high they were on and start making sense again. Their nearness and this prolonged physical contact was doing dangerous things to her heart.

It didn’t help that somewhere along the way she’d developed a crush on them. It wasn’t fair. Why did her nemesis have to be so attractive? Their continued rivalry had become almost as much of a game as their exchanges of flirty banter. She knew it wasn’t serious, just a way to disarm and distract her. 

It didn’t work. Of course it didn’t. She was a grown-ass woman and just because she hadn’t been on a date in… a while… didn’t mean she was going to be susceptible to hollow flirtation from her nemesis. 

“You want… food? I mean… I guess I could make something.” She turned to glance around the kitchen. She had some leftover pasta in the fridge. The carbs would probably be good to absorb whatever it was that had put Villain in such a state. “You could have stopped at a McDonalds or something, you know.”

She tried to step out of their grasp but Villain’s grip was as strong and immovable as the rest of them. “If you don’t let go I can’t get you food.”

But instead of letting her go, Villain leaned in until she could feel their breath on her neck. They took a slow breath, the exhale feathering over her skin. “I’m starving, Hero. I want the taste of you so bad. Will you let me?” 

“You -- what?” How could she possibly think with them so close? A taste of her? What the hell did that mean?

Her free hand shoved again against their chest and in that moment she realized something that she had never realized before: Villain did not have a heartbeat. Or at least it was so slow and so weak that it would never sustain a human.

“Villain… what are you?”

She felt the curve of their smile against her skin. “Ah, she asks at last. For a time I thought you might have already known, but you didn't?” They trailed their lips slowly down her neck and she felt her pulse skip under their touch. “Would you like to guess?”

The super strength was not uncommon, but the enhanced senses… eyes that gleamed red in the dark… 

“Oh…”

Villain was a vampire.

She’d heard of others, both in the hero and villain communities. It wasn’t something openly spoken about, but it wasn’t directly hidden either. More of an open secret if anything else. Most of the heroes had their sources to get what they needed but apparently villains had a harder time, especially if they didn’t want word of what they were getting out. Her villain was apparently one of those people.

“Couldn’t steal what I needed. They guard it better now.”

Villain must have been stealing from blood banks and hospitals. There had been an increase in thefts over the last few years, to the point where many of those facilities were hiring private security now. With that option taken away there were not a lot of other options. Vampirism still wasn’t openly talked about so private donors were rare. Villain was not the type to start attacking civilians; they had always tried to minimize casualties if they could. Hero respected them for that. 

“You want my blood.”

“Wanted you for so long,” Villain confessed. Their thumb brushed over the pulse in her wrist again as they gently guided her hand back to rest against the counter behind her. “Could all but taste you every time we fought.”

That explained the strange look they got sometimes when they were close. When their eyes seemed that much sharper behind their mask, their movements a hair less controlled. “How long has it been?”

They bowed their head against her shoulder in silence and for a moment the hero wondered if they had even heard her.

“Don’t know. Days… weeks? When was the dock fight?”

“The dock -- that was almost a month ago!” It had been that long since they’d fed? Were they mad? “Why did you wai--ah!” She let out a squeak when the villain’s lips brushed over a sensitive spot on her shoulder.

This was not helping either of them. They were starving and if things kept going the way they were the hero was going to do something that would embarrass them both. 

But before she agreed to anything she had to know why.

“Why -- why me?” She asked, her breath hitching as their free hand traveled to her waist. “Why ask for my help? You could have gone to someone else.”

“Know you,” they murmured softly. “Knew you would help. A hero always does the right thing. You always did.” Their grasp on her tightened just a little and she jerked in their hold as they laid a feather-light kiss over her throat. “Can help each other. Please… I know you’re lonely. I can help you fix that tonight. I’ll be good to you. I promise. So good to you… Just -- just let me… Let me taste you. It won’t hurt. Promise… I’ll be gentle… Make it feel good…”

The hero froze in their hold. How desperate must their Villain be to offer this? Pride warred with sympathy as they continued to lay kisses over her skin, followed briefly by the teasing skim of fangs. 

Hero wasn’t that hard done by. If she wanted some companionship she knew where she could find it. There were plenty of options in the local bars for people looking for a hookup. Only hooking up had never been her style. And how was one supposed to maintain a functional long-term relationship when one moonlighted as a superhero? 

You didn’t, that was how. 

It was a life that led to too many nights in a cold and lonely bed, but that was the life she had chosen. 

In those first moments after Villain had appeared in her kitchen she thought they might have actually returned her feelings. But of course they hadn’t. They didn’t want her. They were just another person in need of help.

So she agreed because she always did.

“Okay.”

The villain let out a shaky sigh, their body sagging against the hero’s, even as their fingers gripped her waist a little tighter. “Thank you.” 

Their lips brushed again over her throat and she closed her eyes, willing herself not to shiver in response. Another whisper of lips against her, followed by the gentle trail of sharp fangs and this time the hero could not help the breathless sound that escaped her.

“I can hear your heart pounding,” the villain murmured against her neck. “It’s okay. It will feel good. I promise. I just -- I just need a little -- “

There was another shuddering breath and then a sharp pain as their fangs pierced her skin. She barely had time to cry out before an impossible warmth flooded through her that had nothing to do with pain. 

The villain groaned against her neck and pressed her harder against the counter as their mouth worked against her skin. 

Hero bit her lip, desperately holding back the sound that wanted to escape her. This… this was a mistake. Not just because it was the most intimate physical contact she’d had in years and it was coming from her nemesis. Every gentle pull of their mouth and stroke of their tongue made her feel like she was burning from the inside out and made her want to beg for more. 

The fingers of their left hand twined with her right on the counter as they leaned into her, the hand at her waist sliding to her back to pull her impossibly closer. The firm lines of their body pressed against hers, pinning her back against the counter. 

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she became aware of them pulling away, breath shaky as they swept their tongue over the wound they had left behind. 

“Fuck.” The word came out a bare whisper against her skin, followed by a trail of kisses that left her weaker than their bite had.

“V-Villain -- wait -- “

“Mh?” 

“S-stop --”

They paused in their kisses, drawing slowly away to look her in the eyes. “Is something wrong? Did I take too much?”

Hero glanced quickly away, her hair falling to hide her face from their gaze. “N-no. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“Then why -- “

“You don’t have to.” She forced out, deliberately casual. 

Villain frowned, confused. “But -- I thought -- “

“It’s fine,” she repeated, and this time when she pulled out of their grasp they let her, stepping back to give her space. “I’m not the kind of woman who accepts sexual favors as payment.”

“But -- that’s not -- I didn’t mean -- “

The hero cut them off. “And I don’t want your pity either. You needed help and I gave it to you. Let’s just… leave it at that. Okay?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Let’s just… forget it ever happened.” That was what she wanted to do. She had accepted their offer in a moment of weakness and now wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment.

Actually that wasn’t true. What she really wanted was to beg them to take her to bed and do something with the heat that their bite had kindled inside of her. Did vampire bites do that to everyone or was she just so damn touch-starved that even something like that made her desperate for more?

“Do you have somewhere to stay? Or like, are you able to get home?”

“What? Oh -- um… yeah. Yeah I can… I can get home.”

The hero eyed them measuringly. They certainly looked better. Their complexion was no longer the sickly grey that it had been and was far closer to its usual alabaster paleness. Their eyes were clearer than they were a few moments ago, the dark iris turned fully crimson now. They seemed lucid. 

And then they took a step towards the door and she could see them waver with the movement.

God damn it.

She sighed and dragged one hand through her hair in frustration. “Stay here tonight.”

In someone less preternaturally graceful she’d have called their next step a stumble. “What?”

“You’re in no condition to be going anywhere this time of night. At this rate you’re just going to get yourself hurt.”

Villain gave a crooked smile that should not have been as endearing as it was. “Um, have you forgotten what I am? The time of night means nothing to me.”

Hard to forget when she could still feel the echo of their mouth on her skin. “It will mean something when you run your bike off a bridge.”

“Hey!” They drew back, affronted. “I will have you know I have never crashed that bike.”

“You’ve probably never gone so long without feeding either,” Hero pointed out. 

Villain had no argument for that. They glanced away, their mouth curved in an unmistakable pout.

Hero turned away to hide their smile. Damn them. “That’s what I thought. Just… give me a few minutes. I’ll get some blankets and make up the pull-out.”

It gave her an excuse to make a much-needed retreat.

Hero ducked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it with a sigh. What the hell was she doing? Had she lost her mind completely? Villain had broken into her apartment. She should have kicked their ass out and gone to bed. But oh no, she was a bleeding-heart idiot with a crush and an inability to say ‘no’. 

The hero groaned and scrubbed their hands over their face. Well, there was nothing for it now. She’d volunteered and now there was going to be a vampire bunking on her couch for the night.

What even is my life right now?

And here she thought things had gotten weird when she became a superhero.

With a bemused shake of her head, the hero flicked on the lights and turned to the linen closet to retrieve a couple of blankets and an extra set of sheets. She always kept her place warm but Villain’s hands had been cold when they’d taken hold of her in the kitchen. Had they always run cold or had it been a side-effect of their famished state? Hero wasn’t sure. This was the first time they had ever touched skin-to-skin.

Hand to hand. Mouth to throat…

Best not to think about it, for the sake of her own dignity, or what remained of it. 

As she turned away she caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror. A rosy flush rose high in her cheeks and combined with the disheveled state of her clothes, she looked like a woman who had just been messing around with a lover. Helped not at all by the fact that the wide neck of her shirt had been pulled almost off her shoulder and there was a deep red mark on her neck that looked very much like a hickey. 

Villain had been true to their promise. It hadn’t hurt, beyond those first few seconds. It had felt good, better than she wanted to admit. Upon closer inspection, even the puncture wounds seemed to have already healed.

Huh… 

Well that was useful.

Wait. Right. Blankets. 

Hero shook her head and pulled up the collar of her shirt before leaving the bathroom.

Villain did not appear to have moved an inch from where she had left them. They stood silently in the kitchen, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. If anything they looked… embarrassed.

They turned as soon as the door opened.

“Hey. Um. I got — “ She held up the blankets, then gestured towards the living room. 

Villain followed silently behind her and paused when she deposited the blankets on the armchair and started tossing cushions aside on the pull-out couch. They watched as she set up the bed, fidgeting as if they weren’t quite sure what to do with her hands.

Their gaze burned into her like embers on her skin.

Hero determinedly did not meet their gaze. 

At last the makeshift bed was as comfortable as she could make it.

“Okay, so um… that should do it. Do you need anything else?”

They had never been this awkward before, not even in their first fight where she had thrown them through a plate glass window. But then, they had never propositioned her or taken her blood before. 

“No,” they responded softly. “Thank you. You’ve done more than enough.”

“Okay.”

The silence stretched on between them, the scarce feet of distance that separated them seeming like miles in the wake of what had happened.

“I should… I should let you sleep,” Hero said at last. 

“Right. Sleep,” Villain agreed hurriedly, stepping back to allow her to move past him. “You should… you should also sleep. All considered.”

“Right. Considering. So um… goodnight.”