This Time Of Year
Written by: wizardtho
Story dedicated to: Bella MacLeod
Chapter 10:
BPOV:
Less than a full second after Demetri turned off the water, my senses were battered with tons of scents and sounds. Even worse was the claustrophobic feeling the wet, clingy clothes were making me feel.
I shook my head and pulled at the lounge top as I nearly cried, “I can’t… can’t… breathe. Off… help!”
In the same instant, Demetri placed me on my feet, then ripped my top clear from my body. He lifted my face, catching my eyes before saying seriously, “Breathe slow and deep, Isabella. In… and out. In… and out. Good. Keep going. Better now?”
I tried to take stock but couldn’t. After half a thought, I yanked my lounge shorts off and dropped them with my shirt. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, then met Demetri’s eyes as I covered my breasts with my right arm.
With a shaky exhale, I nodded, “Yes. It was too much all at once with the clothes and sounds and smells. I started feeling claustrophobic. Sorry. It’s still a lot, but nothing more than I can process through. I can hear the rhythmic ticking of your watch, and your breath, and a sort of whooshing sound? Also, people… everywhere. And who the fuck taps their nails around here? That’s going to become annoying real fast.”
Demetri chuckled, explaining as the nail tapping suddenly stopped, “The whooshing sound is the water going down the pipes from the shower. The nail tapping was Jane, who is currently in our sitting room, in case we need her. She only does that when she’s on edge, which is rare.”
I bit my lip and called a soft, “Sorry, Jane,” only to hear a chuckled reply of, “Not a problem. It annoys me, too, truth be told.”
When I smiled at Demetri, he nodded, “Let’s get a towel around you so you can feed. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by picking you up with your current lack of clothing, so I need you to listen. Until you feed, Isabella, I want my scent to be the strongest thing you smell. We’re going to line our bodies up so that when I move, it’ll be natural for you to follow. Keep your nose against my chest, and I’ll guide with my hands on your back.”
Demetri opened his arms for me, so I stepped into them, my body alining with his as my hands grasped his t-shirt between his shoulder blades. His hands gently rested one above the other on my back.
After a full 3 seconds of stillness, I started becoming antsy, but his right leg made a small move in the direction of the shower door. Instantly, my left leg mirrored the movement, as if they had been tethered together.
It took no time at all to be standing in front of the cooler, then one of Demetri’s hands left my back to grab several bags of blood. The microwave was running a split second later.
At some point, while my nose was against Demetri’s chest, my other senses ranged out. I could sense Jane in our sitting room, more than one group out on the training fields, and many other vampires spread throughout the castle… each vampire like a dot on a map in my mind. There was one that was calling to me like a beacon -a female clinging to a male- and they were in the same area as several other vampires. She was completely terrified.
I hadn’t realized I was shaking or whimpering until Demetri pulled my chin up to look into my eyes, “Hold on for me a few more seconds, Sweetheart. Alright?”
I shook my head as I managed to choke out, “Not blood. Female… frozen. Fear… she’s terrified of so many strange males. It’s all wrong! He’s innocent, Dem. I’ve got to help her. Please!”
Demetri studied my eyes for a split second, then called softly, “Jane, call Aro. Explain what Isabella just said, and ask him to clear the throne room. Tell him I will be there with Isabella as soon as she is dressed and fed. No more than 30 minutes.
I could hear Jane on the phone as soon as Demetri stopped speaking, but I was unable to relax at all until I could sense that most of the dots left the room that the scared female was in. Only 4 remained, one of which she still clung to.
I let out a breath, then whispered shakily, “Thank you. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s…”
My sire looked deep into my eyes, then said, “Let’s get you fed. That’s priority 1. You can try to explain while I’m helping you dress.”
He pulled 2 bags of blood from the microwave, looked in my eyes, then shook his head before putting another 2 bags in to heat.
Demetri sat on the edge of the tub, then guided me to sit sideways on his lap. He carefully took both my hands in one of his behind my back as he kept eye contact with me, noting, “You won’t be able to control your hands once you first taste it, Isabella. You’ll try to grab the bags, and they will bust. Any other day, I would let you try to prove me wrong, but we don’t have time to be showering again if you want to help your scared female.”
I nodded quickly, letting him know I understood, then he placed the bag up near my mouth. “Bite softly. Barely let your teeth touch. Be prepared to drink.”
As soon as the first drop of blood hit my tongue, I was lost. I didn’t comprehend anything else until I heard both Demetri and Jane talking in a calming manner. My eyes darted around the room, only to see the floor littered with empty blood bags. Demetri had me sitting in front of him, his legs trapping mine, and his arms tight around me from behind as he fed me another blood bag. His voice in my ear was calming as he reminded me I was safe and could feed all I needed.
Jane let out a breath as my eyes settled on hers, “There we go. She’s coming back to herself, Sir. You’re safe, Isabella. You’re in Demetri’s arms. Take a second to gain your bearings. I’ll go let Aro know you’re alert while Demetri tends to you.”
Jane left the room, and though I was seriously confused about what had happened, I couldn’t bring myself to take my mouth away from the glorious liquid I was being fed. Instead, I tried to relax into Demetri as much as possible.
He took that as his cue, and offered in explanation, “Never again, so long as I have a say in it, will you come close to starving. You either have the will of a saint, or you didn’t tell me the true magnitude of your thirst. Whatever the case, it won’t happen again, even if I have to force-feed you every few hours. Your reaction rivaled those who have been starved and tortured for months as punishment, Sweetheart.”
Nothing else was said until Demetri went to switch my empty blood bag for a new one. I took the opportunity to whisper when I let go of the old bag, “I don’t know what to say. I was truthful when I told you it was manageable in the shower, though. Before you put the first bag to my mouth, I was honestly ready to tell you I could wait to feed, and wanted to go make sure the girl was okay.”
He shook his head, then rested his chin on my shoulder as he said, “Until further notice, if you get the slightest tickle in your throat, I need to know. I don’t care what you hear about what the thirst is supposed to feel like. If you get the sensation of needing to clear your throat or have a tickle feeling in your throat, tell me at once. If you go to breathe in and the air feels hot, your mouth keeps watering, or you start having an acidic taste in your mouth… tell me. Any of those could be signs that you need to feed, and we’ll have to find your cues together. It’s dangerous for both your mental and physical health for you to be that far gone when you finally feed. Do you understand?”
I whispered I understood, then he held up the new bag. I tried to gauge my thirst, then nodded when I realized I had swallowed 5 times in the few seconds he was showing me the bag.
He fed me that one and two more before I finally heard my stomach sloshing as I shifted in his arms. Apparently that was a cue for Demetri, because he relaxed his hold on me with a clearly relieved breath. He was helping me dress only minutes later while explaining that my stomach sloshing was an undeniable sign that I was now well-fed.
BPOV:
Less than a full second after Demetri turned off the water, my senses were battered with tons of scents and sounds. Even worse was the claustrophobic feeling the wet, clingy clothes were making me feel.
I shook my head and pulled at the lounge top as I nearly cried, “I can’t… can’t… breathe. Off… help!”
In the same instant, Demetri placed me on my feet, then ripped my top clear from my body. He lifted my face, catching my eyes before saying seriously, “Breathe slow and deep, Isabella. In… and out. In… and out. Good. Keep going. Better now?”
I tried to take stock but couldn’t. After half a thought, I yanked my lounge shorts off and dropped them with my shirt. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, then met Demetri’s eyes as I covered my breasts with my right arm.
With a shaky exhale, I nodded, “Yes. It was too much all at once with the clothes and sounds and smells. I started feeling claustrophobic. Sorry. It’s still a lot, but nothing more than I can process through. I can hear the rhythmic ticking of your watch, and your breath, and a sort of whooshing sound? Also, people… everywhere. And who the fuck taps their nails around here? That’s going to become annoying real fast.”
Demetri chuckled, explaining as the nail tapping suddenly stopped, “The whooshing sound is the water going down the pipes from the shower. The nail tapping was Jane, who is currently in our sitting room, in case we need her. She only does that when she’s on edge, which is rare.”
I bit my lip and called a soft, “Sorry, Jane,” only to hear a chuckled reply of, “Not a problem. It annoys me, too, truth be told.”
When I smiled at Demetri, he nodded, “Let’s get a towel around you so you can feed. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by picking you up with your current lack of clothing, so I need you to listen. Until you feed, Isabella, I want my scent to be the strongest thing you smell. We’re going to line our bodies up so that when I move, it’ll be natural for you to follow. Keep your nose against my chest, and I’ll guide with my hands on your back.”
Demetri opened his arms for me, so I stepped into them, my body alining with his as my hands grasped his t-shirt between his shoulder blades. His hands gently rested one above the other on my back.
After a full 3 seconds of stillness, I started becoming antsy, but his right leg made a small move in the direction of the shower door. Instantly, my left leg mirrored the movement, as if they had been tethered together.
It took no time at all to be standing in front of the cooler, then one of Demetri’s hands left my back to grab several bags of blood. The microwave was running a split second later.
At some point, while my nose was against Demetri’s chest, my other senses ranged out. I could sense Jane in our sitting room, more than one group out on the training fields, and many other vampires spread throughout the castle… each vampire like a dot on a map in my mind. There was one that was calling to me like a beacon -a female clinging to a male- and they were in the same area as several other vampires. She was completely terrified.
I hadn’t realized I was shaking or whimpering until Demetri pulled my chin up to look into my eyes, “Hold on for me a few more seconds, Sweetheart. Alright?”
I shook my head as I managed to choke out, “Not blood. Female… frozen. Fear… she’s terrified of so many strange males. It’s all wrong! He’s innocent, Dem. I’ve got to help her. Please!”
Demetri studied my eyes for a split second, then called softly, “Jane, call Aro. Explain what Isabella just said, and ask him to clear the throne room. Tell him I will be there with Isabella as soon as she is dressed and fed. No more than 30 minutes.
I could hear Jane on the phone as soon as Demetri stopped speaking, but I was unable to relax at all until I could sense that most of the dots left the room that the scared female was in. Only 4 remained, one of which she still clung to.
I let out a breath, then whispered shakily, “Thank you. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s…”
My sire looked deep into my eyes, then said, “Let’s get you fed. That’s priority 1. You can try to explain while I’m helping you dress.”
He pulled 2 bags of blood from the microwave, looked in my eyes, then shook his head before putting another 2 bags in to heat.
Demetri sat on the edge of the tub, then guided me to sit sideways on his lap. He carefully took both my hands in one of his behind my back as he kept eye contact with me, noting, “You won’t be able to control your hands once you first taste it, Isabella. You’ll try to grab the bags, and they will bust. Any other day, I would let you try to prove me wrong, but we don’t have time to be showering again if you want to help your scared female.”
I nodded quickly, letting him know I understood, then he placed the bag up near my mouth. “Bite softly. Barely let your teeth touch. Be prepared to drink.”
As soon as the first drop of blood hit my tongue, I was lost. I didn’t comprehend anything else until I heard both Demetri and Jane talking in a calming manner. My eyes darted around the room, only to see the floor littered with empty blood bags. Demetri had me sitting in front of him, his legs trapping mine, and his arms tight around me from behind as he fed me another blood bag. His voice in my ear was calming as he reminded me I was safe and could feed all I needed.
Jane let out a breath as my eyes settled on hers, “There we go. She’s coming back to herself, Sir. You’re safe, Isabella. You’re in Demetri’s arms. Take a second to gain your bearings. I’ll go let Aro know you’re alert while Demetri tends to you.”
Jane left the room, and though I was seriously confused about what had happened, I couldn’t bring myself to take my mouth away from the glorious liquid I was being fed. Instead, I tried to relax into Demetri as much as possible.
He took that as his cue, and offered in explanation, “Never again, so long as I have a say in it, will you come close to starving. You either have the will of a saint, or you didn’t tell me the true magnitude of your thirst. Whatever the case, it won’t happen again, even if I have to force-feed you every few hours. Your reaction rivaled those who have been starved and tortured for months as punishment, Sweetheart.”
Nothing else was said until Demetri went to switch my empty blood bag for a new one. I took the opportunity to whisper when I let go of the old bag, “I don’t know what to say. I was truthful when I told you it was manageable in the shower, though. Before you put the first bag to my mouth, I was honestly ready to tell you I could wait to feed, and wanted to go make sure the girl was okay.”
He shook his head, then rested his chin on my shoulder as he said, “Until further notice, if you get the slightest tickle in your throat, I need to know. I don’t care what you hear about what the thirst is supposed to feel like. If you get the sensation of needing to clear your throat or have a tickle feeling in your throat, tell me at once. If you go to breathe in and the air feels hot, your mouth keeps watering, or you start having an acidic taste in your mouth… tell me. Any of those could be signs that you need to feed, and we’ll have to find your cues together. It’s dangerous for both your mental and physical health for you to be that far gone when you finally feed. Do you understand?”
I whispered I understood, then he held up the new bag. I tried to gauge my thirst, then nodded when I realized I had swallowed 5 times in the few seconds he was showing me the bag.
He fed me that one and two more before I finally heard my stomach sloshing as I shifted in his arms. Apparently that was a cue for Demetri, because he relaxed his hold on me with a clearly relieved breath. He was helping me dress only minutes later while explaining that my stomach sloshing was an undeniable sign that I was now well-fed.