"Exactly." Tyr's eyes still danced with amusement. "The goth scene works well - people there are already fascinated by vampire lore, and they tend to be more open-minded about supernatural things."
Beth chewed her lower lip, curiosity overtaking her embarrassment. "So when you feed... do you bite their neck?" Her cheeks flushed hot as soon as the words left her mouth.
Tyr laughed again, but the sound was gentle rather than mocking. "No, that's actually pretty intimate. Usually reserved for Consorts, or very trusted companions." He held up his wrist, turning it to show the complex network of veins beneath the pale skin. "Most of the time we feed from the arteries here. There's also a good vein in the forearm, but arterial blood is better - it flows faster too, so feeding doesn't take as long."
Beth stared at him, mesmerized by the casual way he discussed something so... profound. Her eyes traced the blue lines visible beneath his skin, trying to imagine what it would feel like to have fangs pierce the delicate flesh there.
Beth winced, her hand going instinctively to her own wrist. "Doesn't it hurt?" She traced the delicate network of veins visible beneath her pale skin. "And there are all these tendons and stuff right here. Wouldn't that cause damage?"
"Not where we feed." Tyr gently took her wrist, his cool fingers sliding up her forearm to rest just below the crook of herelbow. "Here, where you'd check for a pulse. The radial artery is closer to the surface, away from the tendons."
His touch sent shivers racing up her arm, even as his voice remained purely clinical.
"Besides," he continued, "vampires have kept our existence secret for centuries by ensuring humans don't remember being fed on. It's one of the first things we learn - how to feed without causing damage." His fingers remained light on her skin as he spoke. "Our saliva contains compounds that act as both a numbing agent and an anticoagulant. The bite itself is practically painless, and it heals almost instantly."
"So that's why there aren't thousands of people walking around with mysterious puncture marks," Beth mused, still studying where his fingers rested against her pulse point.
Beth felt her pulse flutter under his touch. Her mouth went dry as she tried to find the right words, heat creeping up her neck to stain her cheeks.
Tyr's blue eyes softened as he watched the play of emotions across her face. "You can ask me anything, you know. I won't be offended."
Beth gulped, her voice barely above a whisper. "Could I... I mean, would it be possible..." She ducked her head, unable to meet his gaze as the words tumbled out. "Could I try it?"
"Try being bitten?" Tyr's voice held no judgment, just gentle curiosity.
Beth nodded, still not looking up. Her pulse raced beneath his fingers, and she knew he could feel every rapid beat. The quiet hung between them. Beth's stomach dropped, and she wished she could take the words back. Had she just made a complete fool of herself?
Finally, she gathered her courage and peeked up at him through her lashes. Tyr's expression was unreadable, but hiseyes had darkened to indigo, and something electric crackled in the air between them.
Beth's breath caught as Tyr's cool fingers encircled her wrist. "Of course," he murmured, his voice impossibly gentle as he lifted her wrist to his mouth.
A shiver raced down her spine as his tongue swept across her pulse point. The touch was feather-light, almost reverent. Beth's heart thundered in her chest, but not from fear. Anticipation coiled low in her belly as Tyr's gaze locked with hers, asking silent permission.
She gave a tiny nod, unable to look away from the intensity in his eyes. His fangs extended, but his touch remained impossibly gentle, as if she were made of spun glass. Beth held perfectly still as he brought her wrist back to his mouth. The sharp points pressed against her skin with exquisite delicacy before sliding home.
There was no pain, just a brief pressure and then... warmth. Heat spread up her arm as Tyr drew carefully from the artery. His eyes never left hers, watching for any sign of distress. But Beth felt only a dreamy sort of pleasure, like floating in a warm pool.
It only seemed a moment before Tyr withdrew his fangs. His tongue swept across the tiny puncture marks, and Beth watched in fascination as they disappeared, leaving her skin unmarked. Only the lingering warmth and the memory of his touch remained as evidence of what had just occurred.
Beth surfaced from the haze slowly. "I expected it to hurt, but..." She traced the unmarked skin of her wrist where his fangs had pierced just moments before.
She could almost feel a phantom sensation where his fangs had pierced her skin—his cool touch, the gentle bite. "Actually..." She ducked her head, unable to meet his eyes. "Even thoughit was just my wrist, that felt really..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Intimate."
Her cheeks flamed hotter as the word hung in the air between them. She hadn't expected such an intense connection from something as clinical as feeding from an artery. But the way he'd watched her, his intent gaze never leaving hers, the careful press of his fangs, the warmth that had spread through her body...
Beth's fingers traced absently over her wrist again, remembering the feather-light sweep of his tongue. No wonder vampires had such willing donors. If a simple wrist bite could feel like that...
Beth's fingers still lingered on her wrist, when Tyr's phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket, his expression shifting to focused attention as he listened.
"Yeah, sure. No problem." He ended the call and turned to Beth. "Dimitri's taking Jochi and Sai over to the pack house - there's something he wants them to see about the security setup there. He asked if I'd stay here to keep watch on the clinic."
"Oh." Beth dropped her hand from her wrist, trying to gather her scattered thoughts. "Yes, of course. That makes sense."
Tyr's thumb brushed once across her unmarked wrist before he released her hand. "I'll do a perimeter check, make sure everything's secure out there."
"Right." Beth nodded, grateful for the return to normal routine. "I should finish that inventory count anyway."
She watched as he slipped out into the darkness, her heart still racing from their earlier encounter. The cool night air swept in briefly as the door closed behind him, helping clear her head. She picked up her abandoned clipboard, determined to focus on work rather than the lingering warmth in her wrist or the memory of Tyr's gentle bite.
