The Romantic

"Curious where we are going?" Jack grinned, glancing over at Molly in the passenger’s seat of his car.

"Of course." She said with a small smile. "Why wouldn’t I be? You haven’t told me anything about it."

"I know. That’s the point of a surprise."

"Well, are you glad I’m excited about it then?"

"Excited? Yes, that’s much better than just curiosity." He said before nodding at a piece of cloth he had between their seats. "Put that on, wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. And we’re almost there."

"Really?" She said with a small laugh. "A blindfold?"

"Mhm." He grinned. "I want you to really enjoy it when you see what I have for you."

"Well, ok." She said, putting it on. "Though you don’t think I’d enjoy it just as much without?"

"It’s more fun this way." He said, driving a little while longer before parking the car. Molly’s senses seemed heightened with the blindfold on. She could smell the forest when he opened the door. Even more so when he went over to her side to help her out. She could feel the soft breeze - cold, littered with small flakes that were hitting her skin.

"It’s cold out." She said. "And snowing."

"It is winter." He said, leading her out away from the car before stopping. "I suppose I shouldn’t leave a pretty girl standing outside in the cold for too long though, hm?"

"I might freeze." She joked, paying attention to how quiet it was around them. "Smells nice out here. Are we in a forest?"

"Mhm." He said, standing behind her now and wrapping one arm around her while he teased at the blindfold with his other hand. "Anymore guesses?"

"Must be a building, unless you drove me out here to make me sit in the car again."

"That would be correct." He said against the back of her neck, pulling the blindfold off before stepping back and moving back to her side. "Well?"

"It’s gorgeous." She said, a little lost for words when she saw the cabin before her. It was small, nestled in the trees and snow. It looked older, but at the same time looked warm and comforting. The whole area was nothing but forest. They were all alone. No other people. No Hunters, no nothing. It was paradise, in a way. It felt removed from the rest of the world. "I love it."

"I’m glad." He said, leading her inside. "Already nice and warmed up for you, too."

"You came all the way out here before taking me here?" She smiled, seeing the logs in the fire burning away. And it was really warm. The chill left her almost immediately when they walked in the door.

"Mhm, anything for my pretty little shifter." He said, sitting down on the couch with her in front of the fireplace.

"I could live here."

He laughed. "Well, that would be a bit difficult. I don’t want to have to go all the way to town every time I get hungry."

"Oh..."

"But I will do that for you for a week or so, give you a nice break." He said, pulling her over against himself.

"Only a week?" She said, still studying the inside of the cabin. All the quaint decorations just added to the feeling of comfort she was already getting from the place.

"Mhm. A little present for you to relax." He said, kissing at her neck. "Though I must admit, some time away from the Hunter and the rest of that group is nice for me too. It’s just a bit inconvenient out here." He said, his words warming her skin.

"Yeah... I suppose it would be with no people around." She said softly. She still wasn’t sure how she felt around him. She enjoyed his company - she always had. He was there for her. She trusted him the most, though she was told not to. She wasn’t sure why she did or why she enjoyed being with him. It just felt nice.

"But it is quite a nice place, isn’t it?" He said, nuzzling at her.

"Very. I bet there’s a lot to explore outside, too."

"You have all day tomorrow to figure that out." He grinned.

"Yeah, I do." She smiled.

After a few days there she was really starting to get attached to the place and the idea of staying longer. There was a lot to do. She had hardly been anywhere and had so much more to do in the day as far as exploring went. She managed to catch her own food around there, too, which was something she hadn’t been able to do for a while.

He just needs to eat... she thought as she was sitting in the kitchen, waiting for her latest catch to finish cooking. After she went back to the bedroom to lay down with him and wait for him to wake up.

"Well, hello." He smiled. "You smell like you’ve been outside again."

"All day." She smiled. "Do I smell like a weed?" She laughed.

"Mhm, just a little."

"Does that bother you?"

"Not at all. I’m glad knowing you’re still having fun." He grinned.

"Yeah... I wanted to talk about that." She said. "After you get dressed and stuff.." she said, getting up. "I’ll go wait for you in the living room."

"Mm, alright." He said, waiting for her to leave, smiling to himself as he got up and got dressed. She’s going to want to stay longer, like I figured she would.

"Well?" He asked, going out to lean against the wall since she was standing in the middle of the room in front of the fire.

"Oh... well... I was just curious, about staying longer... I know you have to eat but.. well, you could maybe just eat from me for a while until I want to go home, or if it bothers me too much?" She said, looking at the ground as she spoke, uncertain of what was coming out of her mouth.

"If that’s what you want to do." He said. "I certainly won’t make you, but yes, that could extend the stay as it’d be much more convenient."

"Ok... well, it doesn’t hurt does it?"

He grinned, walking over to her and lifting her head up. "I wouldn’t do something to you that hurts you know."

"I... I know.."

"Stop being so afraid, I don’t like seeing my pretty Molly so upset. Especially over nothing. If it bothers you that much, we won’t do it."

"It’s ok. I’m just unsure about it."

"Well, you trust me, don’t you?" He said, pulling her in to hold her close.

"I do."

"Then trust me when I say I won’t hurt you. In fact, you might even like it."

"Ok." She said softly, relaxing a little. "Let’s try it then..."

"If I bother you at all, let me know, ok?" He said against her neck, trailing his hands along her back.

"I will." She said, tensing up a little when she felt him teasing her skin with his teeth.

He bit into her with no further warning. At first it made her want to back off, more afraid than ever now that it was happening. But then something else kicked in and she relaxed. "It does feel nice..." she murmured.

"I figured you’d enjoy it." He said after he finished drinking a little more of her blood. He had been waiting for her to lighten up around him about that for quite a while. The reward, though, was certainly worth it. Her blood was as good as he expected from a Shifter - and she was the first he had had in a long while.

He bit into her again, drinking a little again before picking her up to lay her out on the couch. "Not so bad, now is it?" He smiled, running the back of his fingers along her jaw and down to her shoulder.

"It’s nice." She said again, not sure what else to say. She didn’t really want to say anything at all. She just wanted to feel what she was feeling - the easiness of it all. She longed for more of it, whatever it was. She didn’t really know or care as to why she was enjoying it so much. It didn’t seem right, but it felt right.

"And we can stay longer if you like," he said before biting into her again, this time only for the feeling of it instead of drinking any of her blood. He wasn’t really hungry anymore, but the reaction he was getting out of her was well worth it. This was what he had been so patiently waiting for. She would be all his now.

"I would like that."

"For how much longer, hm?" He said against her skin as he kissed at her.

"A long time."