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"Those two don't need to see this," Ilia said, ushering Lainie through the heavy bedroom door. Shouted complaints could be heard from the hallway before Ilia closed the door and leaned against it. She sighed and closed her eyes.
"Um, are you sure you want to help me? I can try to deal with it myself." Lainie sat down on Ilia's bed, running her hand across the soft comforter. "You've done so much for me already."
"Nonsense." Straightening up, Ilia peeled herself away from the door, and approached her dresser. "It's a maid's duty to take care of those in her charge." She took off her hat and apron, and began to pull her dress over her head. Feeling her cheeks heat up, Lainie quickly looked away, casting her eyes around Ilia's bedroom. It was a functional and spacious place, a good deal more comfortable than Lainie's childhood room, and certainly cleaner. The sound of rustling fabric drew her attention, and she looked up to see Ilia sitting on the bed next to her, wearing only an undershirt and tights. She smiled gently, putting a warm hand on Lainie's shoulder. "How do you want to do it? I can cut my arm, if you'd prefer."
Lainie squirmed. The thought of someone hurting themselves for her benefit turned her stomach. She imagined a crimson line dripping down Ilia's smooth, unblemished skin, and felt a rush of both disgust and sharp, piercing hunger. Her mouth watered. "Tilty said I could use my teeth, that it would satiate my primal urges… or something along those lines." She licked her lips. "To be honest, I could only follow about half of what she said."
"That's half more than what I can usually manage to understand out of that girl." Ilia took off her shirt, then tossed it to the bed, the action causing her hair to fall loose around her shoulders. When she bent down to unbuckle her shoes, Lainie got a glimpse of Ilia's heavy breasts. "You can get comfortable too, if you want."
"Oh, um, sure." Lainie kicked off her heels, then pulled her dress over her head. Cool air tickled her skin, which was more accustomed to being wrapped up in tight, starchy gowns. She got up and gently laid her dress and gloves on the back of a nearby chair, hoping Ilia wouldn't notice her burning cheeks. The bed squeaked, and Lainie was greeted with the sight of Ilia's bare back as she returned.
"You want to bite my neck, right?" Ilia said, over her shoulder. "Princess Anis explained to me how all the old stories went."
Lainie nodded, nervous. Her body felt hot as she climbed onto the bed, kneeling down behind Ilia. She placed her hands on Ilia's upper arms, which were toned with a surprising amount of muscle. Well, if she had to carry an unconscious or fidgeting Princess Anis around all the time, perhaps it wasn't so surprising. Ilia reached back and gathered up her hair onto her left shoulder, leaving her right bare. Lainie's heart skipped a beat when she made eye contact with Ilia, before she turned her head down in embarrassment, focusing her attention on concentrating her magic into her mouth. She felt a dry, tugging sensation in her upper jaw. Running the tip of her tongue over her front teeth confirmed that her fangs were indeed out, and she nearly cried out in pain when they pierced the soft flesh on the underside of her tongue. After swallowing her thick saliva, she wet her lips before clamping them onto the side of Ilia's neck. A sweet, vanilla fragrance tickled Lainie's nose. She closed her eyes, hearing her heartbeat as well as the sound of Ilia's soft breathing in her ears. Her teeth slipped around a bit before her sharp canines found purchase in a prominent ridge of muscle. Saying a silent apology, Lainie bit down, squeezing her jaw in sync with her clenched fingers. Ilia made a soft cry, one hand reaching up and brushing against Lainie's fingers. Hot, sweet-tasting blood followed across her lips and gums, making her tongue tingle in delight. Lainie felt a deep sense of thirst well up from the core of her being, as if she suddenly found herself wandering in the desert for days. She sucked greedily, the movements of her lips pulling out more bubbling blood for her to drink before gathering it up into a pool on her tongue. Pulling her lips free with a wet smack, she swallowed, feeling the blood burn down her throat, making her entire body feel hot and heavy. A moan bubbled up from her throat. Her head swam, and the lights danced in her vision. She imagined that this is what the adults felt like when they imbibed too much alcohol at one of the many balls she was forced to attend. Wanting to express her gratitude to Ilia, but incapable of pulling words out of the sticky morass of her mind, she instead roughly grabbed Ilia's jaw before kissing her roughly. After a brief moment of apparent surprise, Ilia kissed her back, their tongues briefly touching. As her thoughts finally began to clarify, Lainie realized, to her horror, that she had just forced Ilia to taste her own blood. Flustered, she quickly broke away. Her lips still felt as warm as her stomach. Ilia looked mildly surprised, a ring of red around her lips like macabre makeup.
"I'm sorry! And…thank you," Lainie said, in a tiny voice. She bowed her head deeply.
Ilia laughed softly. "Don't bow your head to me like that, people will get the wrong idea." She stood up and placed a towel into a small wooden bucket, moistening the cloth before wringing it out. "And, you're welcome." The cloth quickly turned red, as Ilia used it to clean up Lainie's face before touching it to her own mouth and shoulder. Lainie could see a purple bruise forming on Ilia's neck. The sight of it made her dizzy. She felt terrible, knowing that she had inflicted pain on someone so kind to her.
"Did it hurt?" Lainie felt her fangs brush against her lips. She tried to retract them, but she was too agitated to concentrate.
"Oh, this?" Ilia touched the wound with two fingers, as if she had already forgotten about it. "Princess Anise once made a broom that could fly on its own, something to do with helping her ferry materials around. One of them went out of control and got me here-" she touched her other hand to her abdomen- "and broke two of my ribs. Compared to that, this is nothing." A red line squeezed out between her fingers, and she crossed over to a cabinet and taped some gauze to her neck. To an outsider observer, it might look like the aftermath of an insect bite.
"I… see." Falling back onto the bed, Lainie tried to get her racing heartbeat under control. The magicite in her chest greedily absorbed the magical energy in the blood she drank just like that towel soaked up the clean water, and her nerve endings felt like they were on fire. She still couldn't pull her fangs up, so she tried to press her tongue against the roof of her mouth to keep it out of the danger zone.
"You look tired. You should rest." Ilia pulled the covers up over Lainie's body.
The cool pillow felt so soft against Lainie's throbbing head. "Are you sure? This is…your bed." Pressing her nose to the fabric filled her nostrils with Ilia's gentle scent.
Ilia smiled warmly. "It's fine. I still have chores to keep me busy, so rest as long as you like. And don't hesitate to tell me if you need to do this again. After all, I'm at your service." She leaned over and kissed Lainie on the forehead. Feeling safe and warm for the first time in quite a while, Lainie closed her eyes, listening to the soft sounds of Ilia putting her maid uniform back on before she fell asleep.