101 Broken Bonds

"Mate?" Rory asked softly and I giggled hysterically.

"Haven't you figure out by now I'm rather fond of you?" Cornelius asked, taking a calm sip from his mug while Rory blushed. "Carys-you're bleeding little nymph." I looked down and saw my own blood mingling with the remains of the blood from the mug I had broken.

"Oh..uh..I..um..don't know what to do." I gasped out a nervous laugh desperately, trying hopelessly to get my breathing back under control. Cornelius' nostrils flared and he came to attention.

"Carys... are you about to have an attack?" Cornelius asked swiftly, setting down his mug and standing. Rory inhaled himself.

"My senses aren't as sharp as yours-what are we picking up?" Rory asked with worry.

"Carys suffers from anxiety attacks due to past trauma. She hasn't had one in a while, but Alexandre's outburst may have triggered one." Cornelius paced around the table as I tried to stop my hands from shaking. My ears were ringing.

"Let me get these shards out of the way before you hurt yourself." Cornelius said gently, taking the pieces from my grasp and picking them up from my lap swiftly. "Rory-could you?"

"What do I do?" He asked nervously.

"Just stay with me." I gasped and he nodded as Cornelius took the shards to the garbage and left the room briefly.

"There's so much blood." I said quietly, my heartbeat pounded in my ears and my hands continued to tremble. That wasn't the real issue, but it was a problem I could focus on. If I concentrated on the fact that Alexandre had just scared me this badly...

"I can help with that." Rory crouched in front of me and took my hands. He brought my index finger to his mouth and sucked the blood off, looking up at me while he did. I shivered. He moved on to my middle finger, running his tongue around the base before popping it in his mouth as well. One by one he slurped the blood off my fingers and then began licking my palms, never breaking eye contact. My heart was now racing for a completely different reason as his warm tongue swirled around the swiftly closing wounds on my hands.

"You taste yummy." Rory moaned and I bit my lip, trying not to voice my own pleasure. "But now your lip is bleeding as well." Rory frowned, and raised up to kiss the blood away. I sucked in a quick breath, trying to steady myself.

"Here-I think you can probably wrap her hands now." Cornelius said with amusement. I jerked.

"How long have you been there?" I blushed as I asked. He handed Rory some gauze and his eyes twinkled.

"Long enough. It worked, didn't it? No panic attack? So I let him continue." Cornelius chuckled. I avoided his gaze.

"Knowing you-you probably enjoyed the show." I complained bitterly.

"And would that be so wrong?" Cornelius asked against my ear, suddenly licking my neck. "I've already offered little nymph, any time, any place, and I'm sure Rory feels the same." I looked at Rory who was eyeing me eagerly.

"I thought you two had paired off?!" I exclaimed.

"We're vampires, my little fire nymph. Our appetites are insatiable, as you should well know." Cornelius purred. I stood up quickly.

"I'm going to go change." I said abruptly and fled the room.

Although Alexandre and I had officially moved into the nursery for the time being, most of our clothes were still in his old bedroom, so I stood in the closet debating outfit changes. Finding something that didn't get in the way for nursing and also didn't gap or rub the wrong was was a pain, even with Alexandre's foresight. I sighed. It had been a while since I'd seen him lose his temper like that. I grabbed a loose T-shirt, hoping for the best and found a pair of comfortable pants to go with it. Comfy clothes day for me. I heard Mina's cries as I was dressing and cursed, throwing the shirt on as I raced towards the nursery, pants slung over a shoulder.

"Alright, alright, momma's here." I told her soothingly as I picked her up from the crib. Her little scrunched up face relaxed slightly, but her cries didn't stop until I sat down with her and brought her to my chest. "You know if it was your poppa picking you up, you would have stopped crying by now." I pointed out, pulling the shirt up so she could nurse. She fussed quietly, blinking her large green eyes at me blearily a couple of times, long eyelashes fluttering as she finally calmed, grunting and closing her eyes as if to sleep. The smell of blood on my pants was getting to me, so I started struggling out of them, holding Mina's heavy weight in one arm, while pulling the waist band over my hips with my other hand. Mina grunted with discontent, wiggling slightly.

"Well, excuse me. You sure don't make this easy you know." I sighed.

"Here, let me." Alexandre's soft voice spoke from the doorway. He walked around the bed to where I sat and gently slid the pants the rest of the way off of my legs. "How are your hands?" He asked me gently as he took the clean pair of pants from the bed and tenderly lifted my left leg, slipping the pants over my foot before doing the same to my right leg.

"Fine." I gasped lightly. He slid the pants up my calves and thighs and looked at me patiently.

"You'll have to stand." He said softly.

"I don't think I can." I panted and Alexandre smiled lightly.

"A babe on the breast, and here you are getting aroused because your husband is dressing you?" Alexandre teased, running his fingers up my inner thigh.

"Never said I was aroused." I responded grumpily, squeezing my thighs together to stop him from going any higher. Alexandre lunged forward and I squeaked.

"You didn't, but your body did." He replied, inhaling the crook of my neck deeply. I turned my head away, offering the vein to him. He kissed my neck softly. "Stand up, Carys." Alexandre instructed softly, half tugging me upward so that he could get my pants up the rest of the way.

"Aw dang. Just when things were getting good." I complained.

"You're nursing the baby Carys." Alexandre pointed out.

"She's gotta stop some time." I whined. Alexandre shook his head and sat on the bed next to me.

"I'm sorry for my behavior earlier Carys." Alexandre said gently. "I know I terrified you." He frowned, hands clenched on his knees.

"I haven't seen you like that in a while." I whispered, patting Mina's bottom distractedly, not looking at Alexandre.

"I know." He sighed. "Would you..come talk to Luc with me?" He asked hesitantly. I looked at him swiftly.

"If even Cornelius notes a difference, I must acknowledge there's been a change. I can't promise my opinion will be any different though." Alexandre warned. I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"You're making an effort. I'm satisfied with that." I responded.

When Mina had been adequately fed, burped and changed, I walked with Alexandre to Luc's room. He took a breath outside the door.

"You don't have to do this today." I told him.

"I'm afraid I'll change my mind if I don't." Alexandre grimaced.

"Carys?" Luc called weakly. Alexandre flinched.

"He calls you by name now?" Alexandre asked. I nodded and walked through the door.

"Hi Luc, you hungry?" I asked him. He still looked pitiful. There was very little use of his wasted limbs and his stomach had sunken in grotesquely. His hip bones stuck out sharply as did his ribs, and his skin had withered while his hair had thinned severely. He looked like a living corpse. But he never complained

"A little, yes." Luc replied. "Have you decided yet? About Mina?" He asked eagerly. Every time I visited, it was always the same-the first thing he asked about was seeing his niece.

"I'm trying to get the others to agree. You know you left a pretty bad impression." I remarked. Luc grimaced, the expression eerily similar to the one Alexandre had just displayed.

"I know. I am.. sorry.. If I had any idea she would look just like her.." Luc stammered.

"She's not our sister." Alexandre said briskly, with arms crossed. He had entered the room silently and was standing at the foot of the bed.

"I know, but..."

"Do you?" Alexandre questioned imperiously. "You seem to be getting the two mixed up. If she hadn't looked like Genevieve, would you still have tried to kill her?" Alexandre demanded.