Secrets

[AzuraGallu]

"See, Melora, now you're just trying to save yourself from feeling guilty. You'll make me look like a liar." As she turned to walk away, he caught her by the wrist, turning her back toward him. He leaned his head down so that his lips were practically touching her ear.
"Want me all to yourself, do you? Why don't you put some stock in that, and do more than just touch me with trembling fingers. Don't think I don't know what you're up to, little Hunter."
He released her hand, smoothing out the mild wrinkles in his Dolmen before slipping it on with a disturbing sense of grace and efficiency.
He didn't take his golden gaze off her, hoping to intimidate her into cowing against him.

[MeloraBelikov]

Oh dear, he'd called her out. Now what? Her gaze met his, her glimmering emerald eyes focused in on him, indicating she did not intend to back down. "So you like your women to have a bit more force with their touches? I'll need to keep that in mind." Her smile returned, this time in full force. Never had she met a man who would match wits with her or resist her, and the fact that he could only served to make him more sexy. Would Melora sleep with a vampire? Only if she ever decided that she'd need to hate herself in the future for some reason or another. But it was fun -and potentially dangerous- to play, and Melora loved a challenge.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura chuckled. "I like my women to like me. Sorry, but you still throw me looks that say you despise me. Though I think I'm getting pretty used to you."
He smiled back at her, despite her chafing him. She was fun to banter with, if nothing else. But his promise to himself still stood. He would have her, and by her own choice.

[MeloraBelikov]

She knew when she was defeated. Melora had attempted to be honest at least, she did find him sexually attractive to the point where, if she trusted him, she would hit that so hard she would send him off his rails. But that was just the issue. All she could do was laugh, realizing that the whole game had been silly in the first place. "I do not despise you, people I despise I do not touch. I suppose you will just have to try harder to seduce me." The last sentence bordered on the line between serious and joking, hanging heavily in the air for him to do with it what he would. The game wasn't a total loss, they seemed to have both gotten a smile from it, and Melora had just gotten what she considered to be the last word of it.

[Doctor]

"The thing with vampires, Melora," Anshel called to her from the bed with his face half-buried in the comforter, "You shouldn't ever issue a challenge you don't plan to see through to its end."

He stretched and pressed himself into the silk, having woken up groggy and confused. His head started lightly throbbing once it stopped spinning, but he was alert enough to hear the end of two's conversation. What he heard relieved him. Not knowing his partner's expectations always made Anshel nervous the morning after sex, but his initial assumption seemed to be right. He and Azura were two people who liked each other well enough who got shit-faced and ended up having some damn great sex. Simple and uncomplicated - a general upside to consorting with vampires. He'd found a companion he could still work with post-intimacy without awkwardness or political consequences. He felt like hi-fiving himself.

"I'm naked and about to get up and wash," he warned Melora. Oh Beelzebub, had she been passed out the entire time? All he remembered were he and Azura's exploits on the bed. Anshel was unsure how they got there and even more unsure of if the girl saw anything. He wasn't voyeuristic, but he had gotten really fucked up. If she had, he'd apologize, but for now he would help her avoid seeing anything more that she didn't wish to.

[AzuraGallu]

"Then I will," Azura said, clearly taking her up on her challenge. His ears perked when he heard Anshel finally coming around. The man slept like a hibernating bear.
At his threatening Melora with his nakedness, Azura waggled his eyebrows at her, a smirk playing on his lips. Would she mind? Probably. Though she pretended not to be a prude, she didn't act the part very well. But at the same time, he could see her becoming a bit of a wild cat in the sack.
Damn his curiosity, he thought, glaring pointedly at his groin. He needed to meditate...or something before all of this pent up sexual energy got to him.

[MeloraBelikov]

"You ought to get on that before I find someone else" Melora laughed. She had indeed won. Now Anshel was awake, and she covered her eyes, perhaps having seen enough of naked men for one evening. Still, she smiled from behind her hand, thinking of joking with Anshel too. "Well, it's nothing I have not seen, but if you'd like your privacy I cannot object."

[Doctor]

"When have I ever minded, Melora? As long as I'm not making you more uncomfortable." Anshel slipped off the bed and surveyed the room, really wishing he remembered where he had had sex so he knew what to send with the laundry. "I apologize for my lack of consideration last night. I was high off my ass, you understand."

He walked with quick strides to a dresser and from among the collection of eclectic garments selected a few, hanging them on his arm in preparation to wash the booze and sex off his still bare form and dress for congress.

"Remember that I warned you, Melora. Playing hard to get will only buy you so much time to come to terms with these loathed desires of yours." Anshel said as he passed by the girl and the desire in question, quickly recognizing the little defense mechanism.

He took a moment's pause and turned back to face them. Acknowledging Azura with a nod, Anshel offered him a fist in kudos. The vampire immediately responded by bumping knuckles with his own.

"Fun night," he stated with a toothy grin before heading back towards the washroom.

[AzuraGallu]

"See what you're so obviously missing out on, 'ms. going to find someone else'. My ass, Melora." He responded with an aristocratic toss of his head. He needed to dress as well. Perhaps both he and Melora should return to their rooms to get ready, and look at least a little presentable.
"I definitely smell some kind of alcohol on me, and I can't miss Anshel either." He passed a look to the remaining Hunter with a raised brow. "We should go make ourselves presentable before we're all thrown out for being drunken party-goer's."

[MeloraBelikov]

Melora agreed with Azura with a nod of her head. "Getting in here was fairly troublesome, do you think we can make it back through his security system without being killed?" She ran her fingers through her hair, stopping to untangle a knot at the ends. Perhaps she looked more of a mess than she had thought.

[AzuraGallu]

"We can always find out. Too late to ask him now anyway." he said as he walked over to the door that led them to the rigged elevator. He waited for Melora to come inside before feeling around for the false panel. It took a few moments, and after looking, he assured himself that the button was only for getting in, not getting out.
Straightening to his full height he plucked the key for the main floor and smiled to himself as the elevator began to move slowly toward the surface.
A small, pleasant ding sounded as the doors opened with a barely audible whisper.
"Now," he said looking back at Melora. "Where are our rooms again?"

[MeloraBelikov]

She stepped off of the elevator, heels clicking on the marble floor with each step. "You can follow me, I'll take you directly to your room," She offered, smiling back on Azura. In her smile she was hiding all of her stress, it had just hit her that after the council meeting, she would be going back to that bloodstained house in Russia. Also, meeting with the council was distressing to her. She hated every moment of the cringe-worthy translators, looking nice and presenting herself in front of them, and looking at every one of them knowing they had all probably slept with each other. Council member sex. Ew.

Melora stopped dead in her tracks. There was a vampire nearby, which was an odd occurrence. Vampires were allowed here and there had indeed even been vampires who were hunters before, but this was different. All of those vampires had been invited in for a specific purpose, and every hunter heard about it before they were brought in, so as to avoid confusion. This was a very familiar feeling. The woman from Las Vegas was here, in her faction's court. Unfortunately, without permission, she was not allowed to do anything about it. Melora continued to walk down the hall, more slowly, seeking out the vampire to be sure that her suspicions were correct. Though it was no matter, if the woman was indeed trespassing, she would be taken care of accordingly.

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Rima was quite pleased, yet again. Her contact, turning out to be a Higher Up Huntress had just purchased the additional painting, one by Van Gogh, which had been stolen in Vegas while on display. The small brief case she had, with two locks and one spin dial with a finger printer located under it, contained a single card which had approximately $7,500,000 on it. Of course the painting was worth more, but she always had her methods of retrieving it later if need be. Her hair fell loose, crimson blouse accenting her curves along with a nice tailored pair of slacks and her fitted jacket over the top.

After depositing the case in her housing, she was intent to head back out into the darkness of the Courtyard which would make her call that would allow her to return to Florence with the Mona Lisa.

Speaking of the thing, perhaps she should've passed on it. She had a fondness for Leonardo, but now his paintings were priceless. The French authorities wanted the thief and the painting, which of course explained her reason for keeping the theft quiet. The only real thing they had as evidence were a few gloved prints, which she had already burned and deposited the ash over a distance, and an extensively blurred security photo, and even that had put her clad in black. The Cat, is what they were calling her now, if she remembered correct. Rima had to hand it the Louvre security, they knew their stuff and they were some of the first to ever get anything tangible for evidence.

[MeloraBelikov]

Immediately upon seeing the vampire walk into view, Melora turned on her heel and grabbed Azura's hand, leading him down the hallway away from Rima quickly, not even giving him time to resist her tugging him along. She's most definitely a Blackraven, Melora noted to herself, recalling the time they had been introduced in Vegas. Rumour had it that a very important painting had disappeared from that particular gallery and that a Blackraven had taken it. Most notable was the fact that Miss Rima had been particularly interested in said painting, making it all the more likely that she was in fact the culprit. No matter. Someone in this place will find her and bring her to justice. But for now, it was Melora's job, as Anshel had pointed out, to play bodyguard for the Prince turned King, and the Blackravens, any Blackraven, posed a threat to his safety. Finally she turned one last corner and disappeared behind a door, still dragging him the entire way. She was surprised to find she was met with no protest to this treatment, dragging him along like a child.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura blinked dumbly in surprise, then, as if on cue, a slow seductive smirk alighted his features. He allowed himself to be pulled along, patiently allowing her to direct him, but wondered to himself just where the fuck they were going.
"Forgive me, Melora." he said, looking around the unfamiliar hallway. "But either you really want me, or this is just some cruel joke to get me all hot and bothered." He gave a dramatic sigh, head lifting up and to the side to convey the sexual absurdity of his words.
In actuality, he was very curious as to why she changed directions so abruptly, his sharp eyes not missing the approaching vampire from the night previous when he and his companions stood out on the balcony. He wondered just what she happened to be doing in the Court, seeing as vampires were usually not permitted here without an escort.
He then realized his attempt at bothering Melora had turned to a bit of an introspective tirade. Shaking his head slowly, the smirk returned and he regarded the Hunter once again with amorous, lust-filled eyes that seemed to glow in the blue hued setting of the empty room.