Count Dracula knew if he was human, his palms would be sweating and he would probably be shaking but ever since he had been turned into a vampire, those weaknesses had ceased being a part of his life. The only difference he felt was the rush of emotions and thoughts in his head. How could this be?

She was supposed to be dead, the sorcerers had announced it; he had watched her body shut down after Miya had betrayed him in a way he had never anticipated. Miya who had always seemed loyal to him. Miya who had claimed to love him despite all he was. What a damn shame.

He did not know if he was seeing a ghost but he wasn't even sure he cared either. What mattered to him was that she seemed real, she was talking to him and he was no longer seeing her with that deathly pallor she had had as she had laid lifelessly on his couch.

Right then she seemed real to him, he was sure he could even smell her usual delicious scent, heightened by the delectable aroma of her blood that had leaked on her clothes when Miya had stabbed her. But that had to be a trick of his senses, ghosts couldn't project scents- at least not any good ones.

"Vlad?" Erinna or her ghost called, standing up shakily and walking towards him.

"How come I can hear your voice?" He was unwilling to believe this was more than what it actually was: an illusion.

Erinna was dead and he was sunk so deep in denial and depression that he was conjuring up hallucinations, grasping at anything to keep a hold on her. That had to be it.

"Because I'm talking to you," she said, raising her hand and put her hand on his jaw.

It took everything in him not to jump back. Four thousand years had ensured that little on earth surprised him but right then, he was so shocked that he found himself doubting the sanity of his own mind. He had to be off his rocker, how else would he have felt her touch? It couldn't be. No class of ghosts had that foothold on the physical world.

"You're now a ghost?"

Despite his selfishness in wanting to keep her, he would have loved it if Erinna had moved on and found her 'peace'. She deserved to rest, not spend her afterlife bound to earth and wandering around listlessly.

"A ghost? Vlad, I'm not dead."

Anger wiped away his shock. He knew everyone in the room probably thought he was crazy talking to thin air but he couldn't stop himself from reaching out this last sliver of what was left of her.

"I watched you die," he growled, his voice vibrating with anger.

It was anger at himself because despite his efforts, some seeds of hope had been sown in him and they were budding. He had to extinguish that treacherous emotion fast. Erinna had died and deluding himself would end in nothing but disappointment.

"I had to die first so I could return to you," she assured him probably seeing the doubt in his eyes. That was true, he didn't believe it one second; this had to be Diana with one of her cruel tricks.

"As a ghost, you mean."

"No, as me. Can't you see, Vlad? I'm back," she said desperately, her face wrought in tight lines of what seemed to be both pain and joy, tears running down her cheeks.

Ghosts could cry?

He was shocked that even as a ghost, he found himself wanting to protect her. He raised his hand and wiped her tears, fearing his hand would go right through her but surprisingly it made contact.

Those seedlings of hope shot out and blossomed to life. It was now inevitable, he had set himself for a second heartbreak. Perhaps rediscovering that she was really dead would kill him this time around. Any kind of reprieve would be preferred to the desolation that had settled in his heart after feeling the disconnection with her soul.

"How?" He asked.

Elves could bring each other back to life but this would be the first case of one rousing herself from the grave.

"I will explain. But I can see you do believe me. Perhaps you will believe this."

She put both of her hands up to frame his face, bringing his head down, at the same time rising on her toes to meet his lips. Time seemed to stop still the moment their lips connected.

Everything that had died in him came alive all at once. Heat spread through his cold veins and a fire was lit in the cold recesses of his heart. The numbness that had gripped him ebbed away and finally he could breath. Not breath in the way a human needed to breath but breath in the way a soul needed to in order to survive.

It was like the first time they had kissed. A force shot out from their joined bodies, weird colours swirling around them in a kaleidoscope that entranced all that watched.

A strangled moan full of desperation and relief left his throat and finally responded to her kiss. His tongue tasted the edges of her lush lips gently. He teased them open, not wanting to hurry. Understanding his need, Erinna did not push him but engaged him.

When she did finally open her mouth for him, he was lost. Whatever control he had had, went up in flames and he kissed her back with the unrestrained passion and desperation of a man deprived for three days.

His hands went to her waist and gathered her to him as he drove his tongue deeper into her mouth, not stopping until he had drawn an involuntary moan from her. It was this little sweet sound that he liked to be reserved for him that reminded him of their location. Before anyone could blink, he teleported his bride to a place where it could just be the two of them.

Erinna felt her back hit the trunk of a bark roughened tree. By the renewed energy that buzzed through her, she guessed they were in a forest. Nature was always kind to her race. It was when they were surrounded with it that they could thrive and rejuvenate.

She had never felt more alive and it was not just replenishing energy seeping into her body from the surroundings. No, this was something more subtle and much more power. Vlad thought she was his drug but she was coming to the realization that he had the dynamics of that relationship all wrong.

Vlad didn't stop, his tongue was on an intent journey to explore every detail of her mouth and commit it to memory, not that she had any complaints against that. Her bosom was growing heavy with need and she pushed it against his chest, aching to feel any type of contact that would bring her closer to him

Every part of her was buzzing with need, crying for the attention of his hands. She needed to feel him everywhere.

He pulled her closer but she groaned and this time it was not in passion.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

His eyes were hooded with desire and they were red, burning with raw passion and desire which was begging to be released. The lust blazing right through his unnatural eyes, spoke to a deeper, baser and more primitive part of her but there was something else there. He was concerned.

With inhumane strength, she tore her gaze away from his and put her hand on her stomach where she felt the pain. They both looked down. Her dress was covered in blood. This was probably where Miya had stabbed her, bless her heart.

"The wound," she whispered.

She had thought the wound would have gone away by the time she woke up but it was a small inconvenience compared to the gift she had gotten.

"I'm going to kill her."

Vlad's voice was quiet, low and vibrating with anger the way it did when he reached his limits or somebody was about to lose their life, specifically at his hands.

"No," she shook her head, "It's not her fault, she saved my life."

"She's the one who killed you," he frowned, probably thinking she was being her usual self, defending everyone, even those who hurt her.

"There's a lot I have to tell you, but right now I need to sit down," she told him calmly, putting her hand on the wound to stem the blood flow.

Now that the heat of the moment had passed, she actually felt tired and the pain was seeping into her bones, making her dizzy and nauseous. She felt like doubling over but she gritted her teeth and took it like a princess. Vlad had enough to worry about without thinking she was at death's door again.

"You have just been gutted Erinna, stop making it seem like a headache for heaven's sake. You're allowed to to listen to your body."

He picked her off her feet, carrying her away in the fashion on a newly wed bride. Color seeped into her cheeks at the intimacy of the action, the tiny blush assuring him she was indeed back. He didn't know how yet and probably wouldn't want to but for then, he was just going to be grateful.

"Where are we going?"

He didn't answer but teleported them to the boat. Erinna smiled, seeing where he had taken them.

"I never got to see the sharks last time," she smiled, even though the smile held none of its usual glamour, the pain she was trying to conceal from him darkened her eyes and dampened her joy. His strong bride. He found himself marvelling at her strength again.

Erinna cried for everything and everyone but when it came to herself she refused to indulge in the luxury, preferring to pretend to be fine. A part of him wanted to let her know it was alright to show weakness but who was he to pour water over her spirits? If she wanted to focus on the positive and mundane then he would let her. Everyone was allowed their illusions.

"They're no longer stupid?" He smirked, remembered how the last time they had been there, she had called them stupid in her anger over Derek still being under his torture. He had said a lot of stupid things that night.

"Vlad, I never said that!" She gasped, looking scandalized and affronted.

He raised his eyebrow but did not press her. Instead, he took her to the bathroom, sitting her down on the counter.

"What are you going to do? Something tells me you've never had to learn basic first aid."

"I never needed it," he shrugged. "I could try giving you vampire blood but I don't know the effects on your kind. Plus you're a Pure Being. I'm basically an abomination."

Her hand went to his jaw. Even with her sitting on the bathroom counter, he was still taller than her.

"You're not an abomination. Not to me."

"I'm still the same person you didn't want to sleep in the same bed with a couple of weeks ago," he reminded her.

Nothing had changed and he would rather Erinna not have him at all than take him under some misconception that he was capable of some monumental personality change after four thousand years. That road would lead to nothing but disappointment.

"You mean when you were going out of your way to terrify me?" She smiled softly.

"I didn't want you to have any illusions of what I am and what I do."

"What you are is a vampire, what you do is a choice."

"And that choice is you. If you actually let me heal you before you succumb to your second death, that is." Then because he didn't want to darken the mood, he added, "I draw the line at necrophilia."

That smile of hers widened and her eyes sparkled with humor.

"Only till death do us apart? How very humanly of you."

"You're not dying again so let's not talk about it."

His voice had turned serious without him noticing. It was easy for Erinna to make light of her death but just thinking about it made him feel like his stomach was being shredded from the inside.

"What do you intend to do?" Erinna asked, noticing his mood shift.

"I will try to heal you using my powers like last time but I don't think a peck on the forehead will cut it this time."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not a healer by nature. I am only able to project that kind of energy under stimulation."

Other vampires could heal as a gift, for him it was mostly locating and absorbing the pain into his own system. The first time he had done it, had been with Lisa's sister and it had been mostly trial and error then. It still was, but he found it was easier to heal Erinna. Maybe even his own spirit knew how invested he was in her.

"What kind of stimulation?" Erinna asked.

"Strong emotions-- Anger. Pain. Lust."

Her tongue came out and licked her full, soft lips, an action that made his own tongue jealous. She was so beautiful to him it that it was no longer rational. Every part of her, every gesture, every action had a direct route to his groin.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"Come."

He gave her his hand, helping her down from the counter. He opened the shower curtain and helped her inside.

"I thought this was a bathroom," she frowned.

"It is."

"But there's no bath."

"It's a shower, an invention I picked up from the Egyptians. It uses the water from the sea."

"You have been to Egypt?" She asked in awe.

"Four thousand years is a long time with teleportation at your hand, angel. There's little I haven't been," he said from behind her, kissing her neck. She shivered, her skin flushing deliciously.

His hands went to her corset strings, untying them even as he continued to kiss her shoulder.

When he had untied them all, he stepped back to strip her of the dress but frowned as something caught his attention. Her flesh was marked by red lines, imprints of the corset strings.

"This is what it does to you?" He asked, tracing one of the lines with his thumb. Her skin was too perfect, too beautiful to be marred by anything.

"Beauty is sacrifice," Erinna smiled, repeating the words Melissa had said to her constantly. "But you should not complain, you know you would go through the roof were I to wear an uncorsetted dress."

Vlad imagined her unrestrained youthful breasts all out there for the world to see. The notion that he would go through the roof seemed unlikely but what he knew was some heads would definitely roll down the stairs.

"Why didn't you tell Miya to design something that doesn't cause you pain?"

"It's not that bad, every woman wears a corset Vlad and Miya already does enough where my wardrobe is concerned."

You're not every woman.

"I'll talk to her."

He proceeded to take off the dress, sliding it down her torso, past her curvy hips and down her long legs to pool at her feet. This wasn't his first time seeing her naked yet it felt like the first time all over again.

She turned and his eyes nearly rolled back as she stood before him in all her natural glory, every part of her bared to his hungry gaze.

Erinna had no self esteem issues, it would be impossible with how Dracula complimented her every time. He made sure she knew how beautiful he thought she was but more than that, he made her feel it.

She was confident in her body yet standing there naked somehow made her feel self-conscious. She looked down and let her hair curtain her face and exposed chest.

She shivered when his hand came under her chin, raising it so that she was looking at him.

"You're so damn beautiful. Never ever feel like you have to hide any part of you from me. Alright?"

The truth was written in his eyes, there was no need to deny it. She nodded.

He let her chin go.

"Every time I look at you, it is like I'm looking at a woman for the first time."

"I don't think Ingrid would appreciate hearing that."

She didn't know where it had come from, the words just slipped out.

"It's the truth. Now stop mentioning people who are irrelevant in my life."

For some reason, that statement pleased her no end and she found herself struggling to hide the smile as she let him get them fully into this shower contraption. He turned some knob, surprising Erinna when water came gushing out from the overhead spout.

Where was the water coming from? Oh yes, he had said it came from the sea. These inventions Dracula had, she could not keep up. Even his castle looked different from what she had been used to back at her father's castle.

The thought of her father brought pain to her chest. Dracula, attuned to her emotions put his hands on her waist.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," she lied, not wanting to ruin the moment.

She was almost certain Vlad wouldn't let her go to Ellingsdale anyway, even if she asked with her cutest puppy dog eyes.

"Whatever it is, it's upsetting you. Don't think about. Stay here. With me."

He began massaging her, his hands soft and gentle yet firm on her skin. He dropped kisses on her shoulders, her neck, her back, alternating with little bites.

Erinna felt the painful tension of weariness and stiffness leave her body, giving way to a new tension. A tension only Vlad could take care of.

With his mouth and hands he brought pleasure to her pain ravaged body until every part of her wound had closed and she had healed.

They got out of the shower only after Vlad felt he had made up for all the time she had been gone. He dried them and together, they prepared for bed.

It was still night and she could tell he was still restless. Vampires were made for the night and forcing him to any other timetable would be selfish yet he insisted they go back to bed when she mentioned it.

"But you'll still have to sleep during the day too," she pointed out.

Vampires could stay wake during the day but Vlad had told her it was very energy consuming. The sun drained them and made them lethargic. It was also the time of the day that he was at his weakest.

"When did this conversation become about me? You need to sleep and regain your energy. Healing is all good but it means nothing if you don't rest."

This consideration was not something she had not expected from his and it made her smile. She did not even try to hide it from him this time as she sunk deeper into her pillow and pulled the duvet higher over her body. A feeling of peace and contentment spread over her weary body.

"Lights off?"

"On."

Vlad joined her in bed and Erinna's body naturally molded itself to his, fitting perfectly in his arms. With a satisfied sigh, she lay her head on his chest, burrowed deeper into him and hugged him tighter.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yes."

She didn't say any more because she knew he was not just referring to her health status but rather if she was fine with all he had had to do to heal her.

Erinna was more than fine, she would do it all again, wounds or no wounds. Even though they had not yet consummated their bond, there was something about being intimate with Vlad and sharing parts of her with him that completed her.

"Miya will be making jokes all week, she can always tell."

"It's none of her business."

"She means no harm. I missed her, everyone, Alex, Alexander, Tristan, even grumpy Shadow."

"I think someone is missing from that list," he pinched her side, making Erinna giggle in a way that was unlike her.

"Really? I thought I had everyone."

"You'll sleep on the floor, Countess." He warned her.

"Oh please, as if you would not crawl down to join me halfway through the night."