Lessons

"Now I have heard Arabella remind you time and again that you are a vampire. Do you understand what that means?"

He lifted her chin, looking in her eyes as he pulled her hands away. He kept her eyes locked with his own as he lifted the shirt over her head, tossing it aside. He held her hands gently as he spoke.

"You have no reason to be worried. You are amazing, and have every reason to be proud. Yes you are a vampire, and a princess, but you are so much more than that. You are Brianna. While you are still figuring out what that means, it is more than enough that you need fear nothing and be ashamed of nothing."

Brianna felt the chill as he removed her shirt and held her hands as she could not help but feel embarrassed by standing here like this, thankful that Arabella had left a while ago.

"I don't breath, I sleep during the day and I live of blood. That is all Bill taught me, other than to listen to him because he is my Maker" she admitted.

As though her heard was still beating as a human, she surely would have felt it stop when he spoke his last words. Without letting her head think she launched herself at him as her hands wrapped around his neck as she stood on the ends of her toes as her lips crashed down on his.

Taken aback a moment by the unexpected, he let his arms wrap around her, letting his hands trace the shape of her bare back as they kissed. He kept his eyes on hers until she pulled back enough for him to speak.

"Well now, that was very bold of you."

He chuckled, lowering her to the ground and walked to the locker by the door.

"Now, if you would remove the rest, i'll get you a robe."

He opened the locker revealing a black robe for her.



"I thought you might like this style, so I has one sized for you on hand."

"That is because someone is helping me become more confident" she admitted grinning.

Looking on curiously as he headed towards a locker and pulled out a gorgeous black gown.

"I love it, thank you....But what I find more curious is that you know my size" she grinned.

Making a show as she slowly peeled her shorts down her damp legs as they pooled at her feet as she accepted the gown and draped it over her shoulders and tied it loosely around her waist.

Since it was obviously for his benefit, he made no pretense at watching the little strip tease. He even chuckled when she shimmied into the robe, tying it loose enough to be teasing but modest. Taking her hand, he kissed her cheek and turned to leave the training room. He walked her into the common rooms and then the dining room. He has two bottles with ornate marking on them in a warmer. He poured a small glass from each and set them on the counter. He motioned her to sit and walked around, standing behind the short bar.

"I want you to try each of these, drink the full glass of each, and tell me your preference."

'He didn't even look'

Brianna did not know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she followed him out of the training room and into the common room and then to the dining room as she perched herself on the bar stool as Quinn stood behind the bar and poured two glasses. Crossing her legs at the knee as she rested her arms on the bar leaning forward as she smirked.

"What are they?" she asked looking at both glasses curiously.

He chuckled softly.

"It is blood, more specifically it is the blood of a set of twins. I am curious which one you will prefer. I'll tell you more about them once you have tried it."

The blood of twins?

Not wanting to question him further she did exactly what she was told to do and took the first glass and took a small sip from the first one letting the blood glide down her throat. Placing the first glass back onto the bar as she took the second one and took a small sip and let the blood flow through her. Placing the glass back onto the bar she looked at both debating on which one that she liked best. 

"....The second one" she told him.

He smiled as he watched her sip from each glass.

"Empty both glasses. I want you to be certain. I will explain why when they are empty and you have made your choice."

Brianna did exactly what he said as she took the first glass and drained it in one mouthful and did exactly the same with the second glass as the mixture of flavours from the blood mingled in her mouth.

"....The second one....I like the second one" she told him, certain of her answer.

He smiled and walked over to the intercom. Pressing the button he spoke softly ~you can send them in now.~ He walked back over to join her by the bar as the twins walked into the room. They smiled at him and at Brianna, then looked at each other, speaking softly.


~No matter who she picked, we stick together~
~agreed. Always together.~

They smiled at each other and held out their wrists to Brianna. Each had a mark on their wrists matching one of the bottle labels. Quinn smiled as he watched Brianna put two and two together. Once he was sure everything had clicked, he explained.

"I rescued them from the holdings of a vampire that I...um...had disagreements with. They were still a bit younger back then and were being maintained as Exotics by the vampire. They had been raised from birth knowing they belong to vampires and were to be fed upon eventually. Once I rescued them, they were free and chose to stay on. They are the truest form of pure donor you could ask for. They have never known the touch of a man, and have been screened and cleared of any risks."

As he finished talking, the twins had walked over to where Brianna was sitting and smiled at her.
"We are here..."
"..to serve you, Mistress."

They leaned in, each kissing her on one cheek then they stepped back, waiting for her to respond. Quinn could not help but chuckle at the look on Brianna's face.

'Send them in now?'

Brianna watched curiously as a door opened and two girls entered - twins.

"Quinn....What?" she looked back and forth between the twins and Quinn.

Once Quinn had explained how he had come to know them she looked at their wrists again as she looked to the glasses, it was the same small intricate design on both glasses. She had to get used to being greeted like this by other women. Brianna turned to both women and smiled a little unsure.

"What is your names?" she asked them both.

~ Marie ~

~ Melody ~

they answered.

"Could I have a moment alone with Quinn please?" she asked them nicely.

~ Of course Mistress ~ they spoke in unison.

Watching as the twins bowed as they exited through the door that they had just come from as Brianna turned to Quinn.

"Why do you do that?" she asked him.

"Well...the biggest threat right now is HepV and securing a preferred donor is simply a good precaution against that. As for why I had you taste them before seeing them, I did not want you to judge things based on appearance or gender. As you can see, they appear identical but each is their own person. Perception is reality in some cases. They needed a purpose they could understand. I did not want to separate them. Now your preferred choice will become your primary donor and her sister can help you with more mundane tasks. That will let them stay together."

He smiled, hoping that his words had cleared things up.

"I get that and that is really sweet of you to think of my well being...But why the other things?" she questioned him.

When she saw the puzzled expression on her face, she could not help but sigh.

"You take me in without question because of your loyalty of mutual interest of me because of my Maker and because you care for my safety. But its like being on a carousel with you, one minute your harsh almost the point of scaring me and then next your this sweet guy that I love being around. I never know what to say around you because you challenge everything that I say, you make me think differently. You want me to stay with you because of our "friendship" but I don't know what you want? I never know what to expect when I am around you and it scares me a little" she admitted whispering.

"Well, in training, I am sifu. Teacher. Nothing more or less. I have to keep the bar high because your Maker dropped the ball when he should have been teaching you. As for why you are here, originally your maker asked me to allow it for Arabella to train you. I liked the idea because it would make it so we could see more of each other."

He took a breath.

"Other than that, I have tried to show you kindness, and even gentleness. What do I expect? Nothing. What am I willing to find? Anything and everything. I am making no prejudgment on where you and I will end up going, and I think that is the right way to look at things. I do like you and would enjoy more than friendship with you, but I am also looking at being realistic. I am not trying to flip you around all the time, it just sometimes end up that way. If it helps, I can clarify one thing for you."

He walked close, wrapping his arms around her, leaning in and kissing her softly and slowly.

"I am very happy that you are here with me."

Brianna listened to and hung onto every single word that he spoke and liked it even more when he admitted that he liked having her here.

"And I like being here with you. No more sneaking around behind Bill's back" she grinned.

She let out an un-needed breath that she did not need to release.

"Tonight.....Will you if you want to that is. Stay with me tonight?" she asked him sweetly.

His confusion returned for a moment. What did she mean by that? He was on sensitive ground right now with things. He did not want to misread her on this, but wanted to be careful not to hurt her as well. He smiled as he looked in her eyes.

"Tonight is yours, Brianna. Arabella and Cassia are going with a few of the guards to a movie in Shreveport, so they will be gone until at least three or four o'clock. Vincent and his lady have gone to Baton Rouge for the weekend. I'd suggest calling the girls in and having a snack while you decide what you'd like to do with your night."

He smiled and watched as the information sank in.

Brianna felt a little disheartened by his answer, maybe he didn't want to stay with her. She didn't know how else to take his answer.

"But I am not hungry....Besides I don't want female attention..I want yours. But if your busy I mean its okay. No pressure or anything" she whispered.

Wrapping the black gown around her tighter as her arms wrapped around her.

He chuckled.

"Brianna, you have not fed yet tonight, and I don't want you to be distracted, which is why I suggesting having a snack. If you prefer, I can pour you something. I cleared tonight's schedule to spend time with you. I just don't know what you want to do with this free time. We can play the happy human couple and cuddle up and watch TV, or cuddle in front of the fireplace, or anything else you would like. As for my attention, you have it completely. Tonight is all about you and I."

He kissed her again.

"About you and me?" she repeated.

As he kissed her again as she held onto him for a few moments as her hand searched out his own and slid into his. She would bypass the blood for now, he had her attention. Slowly she began backing up from him pulling him with her as she guided them down the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Unsure of what to do as she was such a novice at this kind of thing.

"Yours or mine?" she asked him.

He chuckled as she led him down the hallway, unsure of what to expect. He thought about her question carefully and grinned at her. He silently thanked Vincent for adding a sliding door to his rooms when they did the rebuild.

"Mine...the bed is bigger and there is a couple Truebloods in the cooler if you need them."

"A bigger bed? Why Mr Quinn I do believe that you have stolen my heart" she joked.

Not being able to hold back her laughter as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply before turning from him and darting straight to his bedroom.

Quinn laughed at her impishness. He was not sure where this night was going to lead, but he was going to enjoy the journey. He smiled and winked at the guard at the door of the secured wing as he slid the door shut. He walked up to her, looking into her eyes.

"Whatever happens tonight, I am just happy that we are here together."