A certain tranquility settled around them like a blanket. That was until that declaration of love was spoken as profound as it always sounded from him. Any other man that had tried to say it would so easily end with a tongue ripped off or worse. But Darcy spoke it like a vow, a potent torch he had no qualms with doting upon her and how it unsettled her. She understood fear, it was a very real thing, something she could control.. something she could toy with. Love.. was its own beast walking hand in hand with betrayal. Love was unsettling. Love was something she had thought to have let rot with all else that made her weak. To love was more than ownership. It possessed it's countless snares that could rip you beneath its guise of something so innocuous. When it wasn't. Why did they have to use that term? Why did it need to exist at all? She had enjoyed his version of worship. His compliments, how he showed his gratitude. More importantly she enjoyed him. Buckling for only her. Any other man would have been dead by now. She was certain. Wasn't it enough that she called him hers? That she had publicly declared him her mate which meant something to their kind? Wasn't it enough they shared a bed, shared an immortal existence that could expand across an eternity? With the fountain of youth that existed within their veins. Was that not enough?

That question left her as she challenged that very notion he declared, a frown settled, pinched upon his usually stoic features. If he claimed loved prevented him from truly attempting to maim her at all. If his what his words he said were true. How in one breath he claimed to have loved her and that he wouldn't bite her and now he admitted he would.... And people said woman were confusing. Yet, she did not punish him for speaking his truth. She merely listened to him and his own confusion of a word they could both hardly understand. It was better that then his robotic response that didn't seem to have a place in that moment.

Her eyes tightened at the corners as she studied his expression before trailing to the way he gestured to the couch. He wasn't expecting this. She could have pretended like she didn't know what he was speaking of and yet she could not even deny it. He hadn't expected the open lines of communication or the choice she provided him at every turn. Truthfully, she hadn't expected it either. She much preferred her usual way. It was far less messy.... But this... she supposed wasn't bad. To hear his thoughts, to give him a true chance to deal with all that coiled that threatened to pull him under as well as apart. If anyone that deserved that right, wasn't it her? Not fear. She hummed in consideration to the very words he spoke. The mention that something had changed. The feline queen had felt it too. It wasn't just her. How odd. That was until his words grew crass, surprising her. Aint a bitch to him so he wasn't going to bite her. No one would ever speak to her like that. They wouldn't dare. It wasn't about sex he claimed. But how often it had been between them.

How simple those words were and yet she somehow understood them enough even though it was not. Perhaps letting her usual demeanor shift into something far more patient and understanding.

It was love that he claimed that bound him.

Love was the answer to all of it. How that almost vulnerable moment was almost shattered with the wrecking ball called love. She drew to her feet in an instant, in an effort to put space between them. It was her turn to pull away and yet not entirely, it was not enough to break his grasp around her wrist even though she could, her arm as far as it's limit it would go. Darcy made no move to let go. It was yet another cross roads. One where she could have called all to this to a screeching halt. Abruptly and break that tentative peace. She did not expect for him to bait her. Didn't expect for him to shift that mood from serious to colour it into something playful. A side that he alone had coaxed from her. Did she not trust him? She paused, as that terse mood that could have shattered that fragile glass all but remained intact. Snapping within her mind. That singular word that was very much like the epitome of determination... or peril. Did she trust him? It was like a night and day shift. She would not back down from this challenge, would somehow show it to him. She repeated the word with a haughtiness that set its meaning into stone.

Such a curious look upon his handsome face, one that was plagued by wariness the moment she told him to put those lover's words where his mouth was. In the very literal sense... A dare of her own. He had said those pretty words of love, that he wouldn't maim her because of it. Well, it was time for him to prove it too. She spotted the hint of wariness upon his features. Their eyes met as her demeanour shifted to adapt, moving with her usual sinuous movements with divine purpose. Like every movement of every limb turned into a sensual dance where she lowered herself upon his lap with a perfect grace.

How swiftly he became enveloped by her, her being, scent, energy all but sought to explore him, touch him with something almost exploratory. The midnight haired devil ended up leaning forward smoothly into him, her hand rested flat palmed and fingers gently splayed but did not apply pressure besides her touch against his chest and her body upon his lap. How she could sense his reaction, could feel even the slightest of movements of his figure reacting to her presence as he always did. She was but a siren call as her other hand was willingly shackled by his firm grip that reached to press a finger across his lips, the whisper of blood from her healed thumb further intoxicating his senses. It was a shame this wasn't about sex because she imagined all the ways she could have him here. His lips parted as she demanded entrance, before those same fingers traced along each pointed fang like an intimate lover. She took her time, to learn each one in a way that could almost be deemed intimate until she reached the final broken fang. She felt a twitch in his jaw, her pale gaze shot to his mismatched eyes and that sharpness of how she honed on him could have been a warning but she remained silent, waiting. Giving her lover every opportunity to snap. She paused for a breath of a second but didn't stop that progression. Did he not trust 'her'?

That gentle touch of her hand upon his chest pushed, coaxing him back further into the plush embrace of the embrace of the chaise lounge they shared. She could feel the cords of solid muscle within his chest even beneath his shirt.. all of him was that solid and that strong. The perfect lean, and mean fighter she needed him to be. The press of those finger tips asked for him to give into her, to offer that perfect angle in order to pull that tooth out without hinderance. It was at the final precipice of that moment that the final tooth came into focus, even with the feel of him tensing beneath her she did not heed the warning. This was his game after all and Risque intended to play it all the way through to the end. Trust was a dangerous thing.. it was very much like love.

She leaned in like the seductress that exuded from every pore, she could tell he knew what was coming. He had asked for it and his body seemed to communicate with her own as her voice a honied velvet before yanking the fang out in her pinched hold, ripping it away in one swift go. Trust... cuts both ways. She only had the one chance, she was sure of it. It was important that it had to be done quickly.

It was rare to hear her lover yelp from surprise and yet those fangs did not come crushing down either even though her hand was now clear away from those violent fangs... How often their kind was determined to bite, to lash out from that inflicted pain. Only Darcy seemed stunned. Frozen. She pushed back just enough to take in that peculiar look upon his chiseled features as he tried to come to grips at the assault upon his mouth. The broken fang that now pinched between her fingers and held before him to see. He had an impressive root, far deeper than she had anticipated. Those weapon-like fangs were not designed to be removed, the shape and length of the root was for certain. It did not take long for her cowboy's blood to scent the air and draw to her nose, a scent she was very much well-acquainted with. His mismatched gaze eyed the tooth that she held in what appeared to Risque as disbelief. Until he muttered ow, a mantra of steady ows as if he couldn't believe the pain. Of all the pain he had inflicted upon him, never before had he muttered ow of all things. Blood rushed to pool into his mouth that she could see it pooling appetizingly red at the corners... The desire to trace it with her tongue and yet....

That whisper turned to a distracting shout sending fine droplets of blood sputtered from his mouth. OW OW!!! He sounded like a man who stubbed his toe, howling out loud! So very dramatic. The next moment she found herself bounced about upon his lap, her hand pressed into his chest in an effort to steady the sporadic jostle as the full grown vampire beneath her threw a tantrum she did not at all anticipate. He was very much her rodeo bull, although her cowboy wasn't anywhere close to dislodging her for the simple reason that it was not his intent. She was jostled about from left to right, her core muscles tightened to keep her looking like a ragdoll, at attempt not to laugh at him.

It was his next words that wholly surprised her more than his tantrum. It caused a smile to spread across her lips, his exclamation made her eyes glint with tangible amusement and something terribly close to mirth. He loved her less? Is that so? So quick he was to change his mind when he declared so much under its title.

"How quick of you to change your mind. In the wake of trust. I am not so sure you will feel that same way when you find out your reward." A mere tease dangled before him to ensnare his mind within her coils. Still unsure if she would follow through with the rogue idea within her head. He did not process like she had anticipated from him and yet, he didn't lash out. Not even the faintest of stings.

It was after he was able to begin collecting himself that he settled again, curious of that 'big ol' hole in his head'. He opened his mouth on his own accord for her to look. Not even she could turn down the faintest of temptations to explore that wound. A stroke of eagerness flashed across her face. Oh he knew just what she liked.

"So much blood in my way." she tsked, although she mused at the same time, drawing in closer to eye that gaping hole where his broken fang used to be. It was out. Despite his little tantrum, he did better than she thought he would.

"But the gap... Darcy... you need to know... Its rather distinguishing." She couldn't see that hole with all that blood which spilled from that small but obvious wound. It would stop soon.. But it would take time to regrow a fang. A week without her aid, maybe more. She tipped her head to the side as if she could determine this by just scenting the blood. She was tempted to explore that wound with her tongue, to have his blood dance on her tastebuds. Instead, her features grew serious. "You need to feed." She stated a matter-of-fact as she considered the simple task of calling upon a feeder to their demise and yet.. that could come later. He would require more. He had done well. He had proven himself in more ways than one. Proven himself as a worthy mate.

The she-devil paused, considering the weight of what she offered without the ecstasy of sex. Without asking for anything in return. "My blood will see that you mend faster. Your fang will grow back in a few days.... with me running through your veins." It was true. Her potent near ancient blood was far more powerful, it would help heal close enough to her level of healing. It would make him stronger. To help replenish what was lost quicker. It was hardly a necessity. Run of the mill feeders would be enough. Yet.. part of her wanted to erase what that hunter had caused, to bring him back to his prior glory, untouched by another.

The feline queen never offered him blood before for the sake of healing, it was always in the wake of sex when she allowed it, upon that volatile urge to give into their instinct and desire. Yet, that mate's bond, at least this is what she blames. Pesky as it was, wanted to see him strong. Not broken and damaged. She sat up, perched upon his thighs, her pale hypnotic eyes bore into his own, her hand dropped from his chest to allow him free movement.

"Now that you.... love me less..." She stated, an attempt to wrap his prize in a hint of playfulness. "...bite me."