Belladonna - First Meeting (Patreon)

There were two things Belladonna liked to do on her day off. Curl up in the solitude of her room to read a book and not see anyone. So, when Milo Next asked for a meeting, her initial reaction was absolutely not.  In fact, her initial reaction was to laugh uproariously at him and remind him that she worked for no one.  And then, she had paused.  In his inquiry he stated that the person he was sending her way was new to the market. Without memory. Not exactly an unheard of situation within their world but then he went on to say that there was something different about this one.  That he was willing to owe her a favor if he was wrong.

And Belladonna did enjoy collecting favors from erroneous men.

But when Belladonna met them, she forgot about that.

Lost. It was what they thought of themselves. A lost little lamb unintentionally walking to the slaughter. It was a persona they wore like a cloak, huddled beneath the shroud without the knowledge of how to shed it from their skin. There was something very different about this dear heart. Lost but intentionally so.  Confused but with purpose. It was an odd thing to observe, and something Belladonna was unsure if she was even correct about.

There was something to their eyes, however.

A light that Belladonna was familiar with but she didn’t know why.

It called to her.

“So you’re telling me I’m just supposed to sit back and do nothing?” they asked. There was a range of emotions behind their eyes that she just wanted to take. To toss elsewhere. But anyone that was going to live in the market had to stand on their own.

“I am.  Because that is how chess is played,” she told them.

Whether they were here on their own volition or not was not so much the concern Belladonna had. What she was far more concerned with was the call of blood. The way it began to sing to her. The longer Belladonna was around them, the more their heart matched to the beat of her own.  And that was not good.

The meeting was done and Belladonna should have sent them away.  Technically, she fulfilled her obligation to Milo upon taking the contract. She had given this poor little one more information than she thought was necessary considering it was free.  And yet…

“The information portion of our meeting is done,” Belladonna said softly, “but that does not mean you have to leave.  Please.  Rest with me a while.  Allow me to take care of you.”

The words that escaped her surprised even herself. This was not her way. She did not give handouts except for those initial meetings. When she was evaluating the type of person they were and deciding whether they were a threat to the market.  The fact that she was inviting them to stay was a red flag. But when they agreed, oh did her blood sing. It called to them, wishing to curl them closer, her fangs pricking at the bottom of her lip in preparation for a bite.

Outwardly, she knew she showed nothing more. That she was the perfect picture of poise. But heat crawled within her as she was pulled towards this soul, desperate to take them and make them her own.

It was a dangerous road and one that she didn’t want to go down. She had heard rumors of what that did to individuals. She had seen the results of it coming to fruition once or twice. But this was too much. When Belladonna had been young she had succumbed to the feeling and lounged in its bliss.  But she was older now and knew far better.

Placing them in the water, Belladonna pressed her luck, getting behind them, bare thighs squeezing their shoulders.  Her fingers itched to press down further, to curl beneath the water and coax pleasure from them. To drink the sound of their moans. The desire curled around her with a tight grip that she knew she would have to sever.  Because now was not the time. There was so much more that Belladonna had to do. She could not afford such obsessions such as the one in front of her. No matter how warm their body was. How pliant and supple they could be.

Dipping her head, she ghosted her breath across their neck and watched them shiver. It gripped her tight.

When they left, Belladonna stood, staring at the place they had sat. The candles in the room flickered with their movement.  Eyes flashing red, she breathed in deeply their scent. It was home. Warm light with a richness of copper and the beautiful taste of rushing blood on her tongue.  Food would taste like ash now until she could sip from their neck.  Life would seem duller.

Belladonna sighed in irritation. She had found what was hers and it couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time.