Work Text
The sun had begun to peek through the thin curtains, slowly rousing Claire from her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted towards the window, mentally groaning as she rolled over and buried her head underneath the covers. She wasn’t sure what time it was but she was almost certain she didn’t have to be up yet, and as she snuggled into her pillow she felt a warm, comforting arm wrap around her waist, pulling her tightly to his chest. It was mornings like this that were Claire’s favourite, after seven years of marriage, Shane still managed to make her heart flutter, even when he was just half asleep.Claire felt herself drifting back off when the morning alarm rudely started to sound, 6am. Time to get up. She heard Shane mutter to himself as he let go of her and flipped himself over, Claire turned to look at him. His hair fell loosely across his face, she brushed her fingers gently over him, rough stubble causing her to shiver slightly as she grazed her fingers over his chin. His eyelids fluttered open, he turned his head and greeted her with a tired smile.“Off to work?” he spoke softly, he took her hand gently and placed small kisses along her wrist. Claire closed her eyes and sighed, enjoying the sweet sensations with every small touch. He pulled her back down and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling into her neck with small kisses that were presenting Claire with a good argument for going to work late. She felt Shane smirk against her, she felt one of his hands move from her waist and slowly travel down to her thigh, his thumb forming slow, teasing circles. His lips moved from her neck and worked their way up to her lips, the kiss started off sweet, gentle. Just as she was about to give in and lean in to it, her phone buzzed, sounding her back up alarm. She huffed.“You’ve given a good argument Shane Collins,” She reluctantly pulled herself from his arms, he made sure to let his hand travel across her thigh and brush the outside of her underwear slightly, sending another shiver through her. “Not fair!” She growled and moved his hand, he held his hands up and pulled what he thought was an expression of innocence, but his eyes said something else.“Hey, just trying to start my day the right way,” he retorted, now leaning up on his arms to look at her properly. “Oh, and how would that be exactly?” A dangerous question, she was already supposed to have been showered and somewhat ready by now. He moved himself closer towards her and she watched as he slowly and deliberately, licked his lips.“With my head between your legs,” Fuck. That did it and he knew he had won. She grabbed the back of his neck and brought his lips to hers, different from the sweet kisses experienced only a couple of minutes ago. This was hungry, desperate and urgent and she loved it. He pulled back and began trailing kisses along her jaw line, down her neck and shoulders, gently nipping at her skin as he did so. She was wearing a very thin vest top that covered her breasts and he made quick work of making sure that was no longer in the way. He brought his mouth down to her chest and trailed kisses until his lips gently passed over her nipples, teasingly. Claire moaned and arched her back up, impatient. He looked up at her darkly and smirked, watching her as he kissed the top of one nipple while his hand played with the other. The sensation of pleasure slowly building, the anticipation of what was to come slowly driving her mad.He eyes closed and her head fell back when he fully took her breast into his mouth, his tongue drawing circles around her nipple, biting gently whilst his other hand pinched her free one causing her to moan loudly. She placed her hand on his shoulders and started to urge him further down her body, he pulled away from her breasts and laughed, “Someone’s impatient this morning, I was hoping to take my time.” His voice was dark, smooth, Claire could have melted. “It’s not that kind of morning,” her own voice matching his. “I love it when you get bossy,” he muttered as he sat up and moved himself in between his legs. She could see how hard he was through his boxers and the familiar excitement of having him fuck her only added to her arousal. He pulled down her underwear, fully exposing her. She opened her legs for him immediately, not wanting to waste any more time and teasing.Shane smirked, getting the message. His head disappeared between her thighs and her entire body arched against the mattress with a pleasant sigh, her eyes shut with the sudden contact of his warm, wet tongue. She fully relaxed her body and found that her hips began moving on their own accord, giving him even more access, enjoying every twirl of his tongue, dipping inside her and bringing her to the edge.“Fuck, right there,” her hands wrapped themselves in his hair as she pulled him further into her as she started to ride the build-up. Her phone started to ring but she didn’t care, the rest of the word faded away and the only thing that mattered was Shanes tongue. Nothing else. She lost herself completely as she arched her back further and with a cry, came within the next second. She allowed herself to be lost in the aftermath, giddy with the high. She felt Shane place a gently kiss on her thigh before climbing up to meet her slips.“I think your boss is wondering why you’re late,” she didn’t need to open her eyes to know he was grinning. She sighed and rolled over, grabbing her phone to check it. Missed call from Myrnin, it was now 6:32am. She put her phone back down and looked back at Shane who was gazing down, she cupped his face in her hands and pulled him down for a deep, sensual kiss.“I guess I will just have to be even later,” she wasn’t done with him yet, nowhere near. As if reading her mind, Shane smirked as he slid off his boxers and positioned himself over her, she let out a gasp as he rolled his hips and roughly slammed himself into her.…Claire made her way down the alley towards the lab, she looked at the time on her watch and groaned, she was an hour late. Her hair was still wet from her shower, she had thrown on a pair of black ripped jeans and one of Shanes hoodies that she had found discarded on a chair. She had stopped by Common Grounds on her way, arming herself with coffee and donuts to try and earn the forgiveness of her insane, yet brilliant, 1000-year-old vampire boss and who also happened to be one of her best friends. Grabbing her key as she approached she unlocked the door and made her way down the stairs, banging and clattering could be heard in the distance and some angry muttering coming from the ancient vampire who inhabited this den.“Nice of you to turn up.” In the blink of an eye Myrnin was before her with a disapproving look, which quickly turned to curiosity once he noticed the coffees and donuts in Claire’s hand. He grabbed them and stalked towards his desk, hunting through the donut selection she had brought.“My forgiveness can be brought it seems,” he muttered as he took a bite from a chocolate glazed one Claire had been eyeing for herself.“I slept in, you were the one that wanted me here ridiculously early and kept me late last night.” A small lie, she didn’t fancy telling Myrnin about her sex life and she doubted he cared enough to hear.“I am not to be blamed for your tardiness my dear,” his tone was mocking but there was still a slight edge to his eyes. Claire ignored this and got herself set up at her own small desk at the far end of the room. She had made this space her own in the years she had been working with Myrnin and he was under strict instruction to not interfere with any of her research.“So, are we continuing with the dawn project today?” She asked, the last 6 months Amelie had instructed them to focus on understanding vampires’ intolerance to sunlight with hopes that herself and Myrnin could develop some way for vampires to comfortably walk in the sunlight, like humans. But lately, they had hit a brick wall and for once, Myrnin was running out of ideas.She turned to look at Myrnin who was leaning against his solid oak desk, which had been chipped and worn over what could have been centuries of use knowing Myrnin. His loud Hawaiian shirt felt outmatched by his black steampunk style leather trousers, finished off with his white bunny slippers. Claire couldn’t decide if he looked dangerous, comfy or a middle aged dad on a tropical holiday. His black, slightly curly shoulder length hair was loosely tied back today, a new style he had recently adopted.“Well I have been thinking,” he said, taking a bite into his second donut. Claire walked over to where he was and pulled out a strawberry shortcake flavoured one and perched next to him.“I revisited the basic concept we concluded at the start, do you remember it?” He was testing her, Myrnin loved feeling like the smartest person in the room and he was still her mentor when it came to science and alchemy. She loved taking these moments to show that she to, was almost smarter than him, almost.“Vampires are highly sensitive to sunlight; we are assuming this is due to the biology that has evolved in a way that makes vampires vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation.” The corner of Myrnins lips lifted revealing a small smile, “And?” He prompted and took a sip of his coffee.“It is reasonable to conclude that over time, a vampires’ body has adapted to a nocturnal lifestyle and this adaptation comes with a significant vulnerability to sun exposure.” She finished, this concept had been the foundational building blocks to their ideas, which currently, weren’t progressing very well.“Well done, so what does that mean for me then?” He moved from beside her and walked into the middle of the room, giving a little spin as he used himself as an example.“I am over 1,000 years old and my tolerance from the sun has increased since when I first turned, although I don’t fancy sunbathing just yet, I could survive longer than a new vampire.” He gestured towards himself and Claire had a funny image of a very pale Myrnin trying to catch a tan. He tilted his head and gave her a lopsided smile waiting for her response.“What you mean is, that this doesn’t quite line up with the concept we developed. Although you have lived a nocturnal lifestyle for the most part, there is something developing in your genes that the older you get as a vampire, the better your defence is against the sun?” Admittedly, this had been bothering Claire for a while, they had analysed samples of Myrnins skin and blood and compared them with younger vampires but nothing was standing out.“Good, you’re keeping up,” he teased and began rummaging through a messy pile of books Claire could have sworn she had only organised yesterday.“Perhaps we could look at Celluar structure again? I think there might be something in there that I missed last time,” she mused. They both had different ideas and theories and with the level of research this project was taking, they both had made a habit of covering different topics and swapping research. Claire loved this, she had started to feel more like Myrnins intellectual equal and found that both their research benefitted from each other’s input.“You just want to keep prodding me with needles,” he discarded whatever book he had been flicking through and appeared back in front of Claire. His vampire speed and erratic behaviour no longer causing any unease, if anything, she was more concerned when he was being ‘normal’.“Small pleasures I suppose,” she teased, this earned a chuckle from her vampire boss. He reached round her and grabbed the coffee from the desk, taking another sip. He was close enough that Claire caught the scent of old books coming from him and something else, which she couldn’t quite place.“I find it rather annoying that Amelie has made this a top priority, why can’t she be satisfied with an umbrella? Do you think she wants to go on holiday?” He mused. Claire knew he was frustrated and a bit bored, the man before her had a wealth of knowledge which he wanted to pass down to her, and in the nine years she had worked with him, they had barely begun to scratch the surface.“Yes Myrnin, our centuries old vampire founder wants to go on an all inclusive holiday,” she said sarcastically. “It wouldn’t surprise me,” he said in all seriousness as he grabbed the bag of donuts and rummaged for the last one. Claire cocked an eyebrow in annoyance at him as he pulled out the last donut, a sugared one, her favourite.“What?” He took a big bite, ignorant to the fact he had just devoured three of the four donuts she had brought. As if reading her mind, he smirked and brought what was left of the sugared one to hover just inches from her lips.“Want a bite?” There was a slight darker tone to his voice, a challenge. Claire knew better then to back down from him, so surprising him and herself a little bit, she leant forward and allowed him to feed her the rest of the donut. Pulling back, she licked the remnants of sugar from her lips, which Myrnin watched closely.“Thank you,” she quipped and moved out of his gaze to grab her own coffee, she looked over her shoulder and saw him smirking as he placed his fingers in his mouth, licking up the rest of the sugar. An action which Claire felt was somewhat, suggestive. She mentally shook herself and put it down to her steamy morning.“Let’s get to work then,” she gulped down the rest of her coffee and walked past Myrnin to her desk, she could feel him watching her for a bit longer as she sat down and opened up her laptop, but this didn’t last long as she soon heard the familiar clanging sounds of Myrnin digging out equipment to start what she could only assume was an experiment she was sure she would end up being dragged into.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As Claire left the lab, she took a few moments to just stand and appreciate the sun. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to never feel it’s warm glow on her face, she wondered just how deeply the vampires she knew missed it. She started walking to where she parked her car, lost in thought at her current project. She knew the Dawn Project was important to Amelie, but it also brought its own issues in regards to the human population.The sunlight offered a safe space for humans in Morganville, and the humans of the world who did not know the existence of vampires still. Morganville was a special case, built up of years of debates, peace talks and a council of both human and vampire to make the town what it was today. But Claire knew that the peace was fragile and she couldn’t shake the feeling that a disaster was always lurking around the corner.She got in her car and started the engine, she was still tired from her early start and craved another coffee. She remembered that Eve was working at Common Grounds today doing the afternoon shift, Myrnin had let her leave early which was a rare treat so she decided not to waste the rest of the day, starting her engine, she set off. It didn’t take her long to pull up outside Morganville’s famous coffee shop, she could just about see Eve through the window working at the bar, pouring coffees and chatting happily to customers. Her heavy goth make-up hadn’t tamed at all in all the years they had known each other; Claire had dubbed it as Eve’s war paint.Claire entered and walked up to the bar, Eve flashed her a big grin and a wave as she finished making someone’s coffee. Claire took a seat at one of the bar stools and people watched as she waited for Eve. The coffee shop was quiet today, just a handful of students from the local university furiously typing away on their laptops, getting ready for deadlines. Claire felt a pang of nostalgia, she missed those days, going to university classes and working towards her future, pursuing her love of physics. She hadn’t gotten to spend as much time in university as she had hoped, she was reminded of bittersweet dreams to attend MIT, which she did, only for a very short time before Morganville and Shane needed her back.She shook the last though off, at the time they were dealing with the Daylight Foundation amongst other things. It made sense that when it was all over to just stay in Morganville and finish her education between Texas Praire University and Myrnin, she had somewhat made her peace with that.“The usual CB?” Eve’s perky voice broke Claire out of her train of thought, Claire looked up as Eve began making her coffee before even waiting for her to respond. “Good day?” Claire asked, Eve seemed to be in great mood, something Claire appreciated seeing more and more often.“It’s been quiet and pleasant, just how I like it these days,” Eve mused as she warmed up the milk for Claire’s latte. She understood what Eve meant, they had spent many evenings talking about how quiet things have been the last seven years, a few hiccups here and there which was to be expected. This suited Eve very well, especially as Eve and Michael were now considering starting a family. Quiet was safe, quiet was normal.“What about your day C?” Eve pushed the coffee over to Claire who eagerly took a much needed sip. Eve leaned over the bar, head in hands waiting for Claire to answer.“It’s been good, Myrnin set the lab on fire but that’s not surprising considering he has no regard for fire safety,” Eve chuckled, “Perks of being ancient, I must remember to come with you one morning to see crazy pants, I might need to borrow some more of his funky clothes.” On more than one occasion, Eve had browsed through Myrnins eclectic wardrobe and had taken ownership of a few items that took her fancy.“He still hasn’t noticed you took his dark purple, velvet waistcoat, even when you wore it right in front of him!” Claire laughed at the memory, Myrnin had even complimented it when he saw her wearing it.“I have no intention of returning it either,” Eve smirked. She started to wipe down the bar with the towel she had flung over her shoulder, Claire looked at the time and noticed it was nearly 3pm. She looked towards the door and on cue, Shane and Michael Glass walked through, wearing their Morganville police department uniforms.“Looking good boys, what can I get ya?” Eve greeted as she leaned across the bar to kiss her husband Michael. Shane came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and planting a kiss on the top of my head.“You’re out early today,” he sounded quite pleased, she smiled up at him as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Yeah, when Myrnin starts a fire your day is pretty much over,” she had said it playfully but the way Shanes face fell told her he didn’t think it was as funny as she did.“Are you okay?” He brushed his hand against her face, worry covering his features. “I’m fine, Myrnin would never let any harm come to me, you know that.” She said, slightly annoyed at his overreaction, he slips formed a thin smile and he just nodded in response before turning to Eve.“You should know our coffee orders by now gothica,” he teased. Eve grabbed the filter coffee, poured it into a to-go cup and passed it to Shane, “Extra spit, just how you like it Collins,” she retorted. The tension from Shane moments ago quickly faded as him and Eve began exchanging their usual harsh banter. Claire turned to Michael who was watching Eve fondly, his blonde hair had grown out slightly and loosely shaped his face, he looked joyful, young and most importantly, human.“So, how’s Morganville’s’ finest detectives doing today?” Claire asked Michael as Shane and Eve continued to have the ultimate showdown of insults. Three months ago both Shane and Michael got approached to join the Morganville police department, which was a huge shock to both Eve and Claire. Shane for his general hate of the Morganville law enforcement and Michaels for his focus on his music, so when they both agreed to take the jobs it had left her a little dumbfounded.“We’re good, all is quite so we’ve just been patrolling,” that word again, quiet. It almost felt like they were jinxing it every time they used it.“Shame really, I was hoping to chase down some criminals,” groaned Shane, Eve rolled her eyes and moved to hold Michaels hand. “Well perhaps I could steal a donut and you could chase me down,” teased Claire. Shane cupped her face and brought his lips to hers, their morning passion returning, “I do like the sound of that,” he whispered against her lips.“Keep it PG you two, bad enough you woke me up with your porno this morning!” Eve blurted, Claire pulled away quickly, grabbing a discarded coffee cup lid next to her and hurled it at Eve. “Eve!” Claire’s face blushed furiously as Eve and Michael failed to hold back their giggling.“Seems like I walked in at the wrong time,” a familiar voice spoke from behind them, Claire sighed realising exactly who it was.“Hey boss,” greeted Eve. Claire turned around and was greeted by the bored expression of Oliver, Eve’s very own vampire boss, second to Amelie and lover. Oliver merely nodded at them in acknowledgement before joining Eve on her side of the bar. Pouring himself a coffee he turned around and pointed at Claire, “There is a car waiting for you out the front, Amelie wishes to speak with you.” Claire felt Shane stiffen beside her, he had made his peace with living alongside the vampires, however he still didn’t like them and he definitely didn’t trust them.“And why does the founder need my wife?” Shane said through gritted teeth before Claire could get a word in. Oliver just looked at Shane with that same bored expression before turning his lips up into a taunting smirk, “Can your wife speak for herself?” Claire grabbed Shanes arm and squeezed it quickly before he could retort, “Any hint on what this could be about?” She asked Oliver, she felt a lot less threatened by him than Shane did and even less now by Amelie over the years. It wasn’t unusual for her to get summoned like this.“Not for me to say, you might want to hurry up as she is rather impatient today,” he didn’t let his face show any emotion, no hint on whether this was going to be a pleasant visit or not. Claire simply nodded and got up from her seat, passing her used coffee cup back to Eve. She turned and gave Shane a kiss on his cheek, “I’ll be fine, see you later.” He kissed her back and let her go, she could feel their eyes on her back as she left.The darkened out windows of a black car sat outside, she looked over at her own and wished she could just drive herself but she knew better than that. Amelie had sent a car with a vampire driver for a reason, and as she opened the door and got in the back she had a sinking feeling that something was amiss.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Claire was quickly escorted to Amelie’s office upon arrival, the vampires who guided her barely acknowledged her as they walked down the corridor towards the office. This was not unusual, she had found that although she had been accepted by the vampire elite of the town, not all vampires cared enough to socialise with her, which wasn’t a bad thing. Vamps meant danger, she had been through enough to know that, so the less on her Christmas list the better. They brought her to a set of cream double doors, Claire knew the procedure by now so she gently knocked the door and waited for instruction to enter.“You may come in.” Amelie’s voice sounded through the door, she sounded a little off. Claire took a deep breath and opened the door, walking in. Amelie’s office was always immaculate, she looked around the room she had probably seen a hundred times by now and marvelled at the collection of art and antiques. Claire looked over to the cream, elegant desk and the vampire queen who sat behind it. Her silver blonde hair tied back into a bun with a few loose strands framing her face, her grey eyes watching Claire carefully as she entered.“Take a seat Claire,” Amelie pointed towards one of the chairs in front of her, Claire pulled it out and slowly sat down, giving Amelie a smile as she did. It was funny, when she had first met Amelie nearly ten years ago, she had been terrified of her and with good reason to. But over time, Claire had proven herself to be valuable and over the years Amelie had grown to care about Claire, enough to respect her and keep her safe.“How are you?” Asked Claire, teenage Claire would never have dreamed about asking such a friendly question to one of the most powerful vampires in Morganville, another example of how their relationship had changed over the years.“I’m not in a good mood, if that’s what you’re trying to figure out.” Her voice was cold and had an edge to it, Oliver had given her a heads up about Amelie’s current mood. Not wanting to poke any further, Claire simply nodded and sat back in her chair trying to relax, “What can I do for you?”“Two things I wish to discuss with you, first of all being the Dawn Project.” Straight to business, Amelie fixed her with a hard look before continuing, “I have tried to have this conversation with Myrnin earlier but he is being considerably difficult, so I want you tell me how far you have gotten in your research.” Amelie sounded frustrated, she could imagine how the conversation would have gone with Myrnin, she mentally cursed her for now making this her problem.“It’s going well; I am just beginning to look back into Celluar structure and Myrnin is going to be investigating some other theories.” Claire tried to sound confident, Amelie was unaware of how much both Claire and Myrnin were struggling. Amelie raised an eyebrow but her general expression did not change, “So, explain to me how that is going ‘well’ exactly? It’s been six months; I was hoping for something more concrete.” The edge in Amelie’s voice was hard to ignore, Claire scratched the back of her head and tried to not show how anxious she was becoming.“I understand but this is going to take a lot of time, we’re researching and experimenting with everything that we can.” Claire defended, Amelie could often be impatient and not always fully grasp the gravity of knowledge, research and practicality of some of the stuff she and Myrnin focused on. Amelie fixed her again with a hard look, sighed and just shook her head, “Fine, but I want regular updates from you regarding this,” she commanded, Claire simply nodded. A silence then hung in the air, she began fidgeting with her fingers as she waited for Amelie who looked deep in thought.“I need to tell you something, but you must keep this to yourself for the time being. I have disclosed this information only with Oliver and Myrnin for now.” Claire felt a rush of panic shoot through her body, the idea of keeping something from Shane but also the fact that whatever this was, was clearly bad enough that Amelie had summoned her to personally inform her.“Give me your word Claire,” Claire felt her throat go dry, she hadn’t realised she had just been staring at Amelie who was clearly waiting for Claire to acknowledge what she had just said. “Why can’t the glass house know? They are all part of the council,” Claire barely managed to finish speaking before Amelie slammed her hand on the table and growled. “This is not a council matter! Like I just said, the only ones who know so far are Oliver and Myrnin, I am telling you for a reason Claire so swear to me you will not speak of this.” The tone of voice and the look in her eyes told Claire everything she needed to know, she reluctantly nodded “I swear I won’t tell anyone,” she whispered. This was not the first time she had been put in this position, forced into keeping secrets from the glass house, but it felt even worse that she could not tell Shane, her husband.Amelie composed herself and spoke slowly and carefully, “Vampires have been going missing for the last couple of weeks, one by one they are turning up dead and drained of blood.” Her voice was steady; Claire didn’t miss a word. “The more concerning part is the bite marks on these vampires,” Amelie’s voice trailed off, waiting for Claire to comprehend what she was saying, “What kind of bite marks?” Claire asked, nerves seeping into her voice. Vampires ruled Morganville and were the most dangerous creatures she had come across, what was out there that could drain a vampire of blood? “Human bite marks.” Claire felt herself go cold as she tried to process what Amelie had just said. Human bite marks? That doesn’t make any sense. Claire’s mind began spinning, how has a human managed to overpower a vampire to do this? Did the human or humans drink the vampires blood? That seemed to be the suggestion Amelie was making, why else would you bite?“We think that vampires are being abducted to be fed and drained, I need you to help us get to the bottom of this.” Amelie request brought Claire back to reality, “Why me?” she blurted out, she didn’t want to get involved, she had been happy with the quiet life as everyone else had been. “Do you really need to ask? You’re a human I trust and I want you to assist Oliver and Myrnin in this investigation while I do my best to cover this up, the last thing we all need is the peace we have built to come crumbling down around us.” The weight of her words made Claire give in, she was right. They had all sacrificed and worked together to make Morganville somewhere vampires and humans could co-exist alongside each other. If this got out, the impact would be devastating on both sides and they could face being back at square one again, neither side trusting the other, which inevitably leads to violence and death.“I assume I am going to be heading back to Myrnins?” Claire asked, knowing all too well that when Amelie gives an order, you follow it straight away. Claire got her answer as she felt the familiar vibration of the portal to Myrnins lab forming behind her, she stood up and looked over her shoulder. Myrnins best invention, it was upon seeing her very first portal which sold her on working with the crazy vampire all those years ago. The portal lit up around the edges and through it she could see Myrnin, who looked up from his research and gave her a warm smile.“I’ll be going then,” said Claire as she was about to step through the portal Amelie called out and stopped her. “Remember Claire, tell no one.” Claire knew there was a threat beneath that, she could guarantee her sown safety when working with the vampires but never her loved ones, keeping it a secret for now was how she was going to keep Shane, Michael and Eve safe. Claire nodded and turned back to look at the portal, Myrnin stood directly on the other side and reached his hand out to her. She reached her own hand out and he took it, gently bringing her through the portal to the lab.“Welcome back Cariad,” he greeted as the portal shut behind Claire, she smiled up at him and let go of his hand, she walked over to the old tattered sofa and plopped herself down, feeling overwhelmed. At a blur, Myrnin zipped into the kitchen and Claire could hear him banging around for a few minutes before he emerged with two cups, he handed one to Claire who took the hot drink and was relieved to see it was hot chocolate, on more than one occasion Myrnin had accidently given her a cup of warm blood. “Thank you,” she said gratefully and took a sip, enjoying the warmth it left her with. “You should get a job at common grounds,” she joked, Myrnin snorted and took a sip of his own drink, Claire caught the sight of red. Blood. “I’ll give good old Oli my CV next time I see him,” she chuckled at the image of Oliver and Myrnin working together, the pair of them argued like a married couple and both insisted on hating the other. Working together to get to the bottom of these vampire murders was going to interesting.“So, I assume Amelie has you all caught up?” Asked Myrnin as he sat down next to her, “Yes, I am not comfortable being told to keep this from Shane and the others though,” she stared into her hot chocolate, she hated being dishonest. “The problem is if you told them, they would end up getting themselves involved, especially Shane,” he rationalised and she knew he was right. Even if she told them and asked them to stay out of it and keep it secret, they wouldn’t, they would follow Claire into hell just as she would do the same for them.“I guess you’re right,” she admitted, Myrnin put his arm around her and pulled her into a side hug, comforting her, she lay her head slightly on his shoulder in return. Years ago Myrnin would have struggled to show this much affection without putting her life in danger, they had met when he was dying from the vampire sickness which was also driving him insane, since then they had cured the disease, saving vampire kind and had been through their fair share of hell. Myrnin had truly become one of Claire’s best friends and had finally started to trust himself around her.“Am I interrupting?” Olivers dry voice came from the door way, Myrnin let go of Claire and rose to meet him. “Ever heard of knocking?” Myrnins tones was mocking and Claire couldn’t help but role her eyes at where this was going. “Ah, Amelie’s court jester, how funny you are,” snapped Oliver, Myrnin snickered, glaring at Oliver, “Ah, Amelie’s whore, didn’t know you had ‘other uses’,” he emphasised that last bit, Oliver’s eyes flashed with anger, Myrnin was ecstatic at getting a rise out of him.“Let’s act our age gentlemen,” Claire intervened, she rose from the sofa and set down her hot chocolate. Oliver glared at her over Myrnins shoulder as she came to stand next to her friend. “I should have eaten you years ago,” there was a low growl in his voice but it wasn’t fuelled with his usual venom, Oliver had somewhat mellowed over the last few years. “And I should have staked you,” she retorted it. She heard Myrnin at her dig, Oliver ignored him and continued to stare at Claire, she could have sworn his mouth nearly twitched into a smile.“I simply came to make it clear that I am leading this investigation,” he gave her a pointed look but then turned his full attention to Myrnin, “That means you wait for my instruction and you don’t go off doing things without telling me,” he snarled. Myrnin raised his hands, trying to pull and innocent facade, “Perish the thought, I am at your command Oli-pop,” he mockingly bowled, Claire thanked the stars that Myrnin was one of Amelie’s oldest friends and a key part to the running of Morganville, because otherwise Oliver would have definitely killed him in that moment. Oliver looked back over to Claire and let out an exasperated breath, “Try and keep him on a leash,” he snarled, Myrnin just flipped him off and shot off to the other side of the lab, clearly done entertaining Oliver.“Have you got any leads so far?” Asked Claire, clearly having to be the mature one out of the three. Oliver ran his hands through his hair and just shrugged, “There’s not a lot to go on, it’s not something I have come across before but I have my ears to the ground, I would like you both to analyse some vampire blood samples, I can’t imagine why humans would want to drink vampire blood but they might know something we don’t.” Claire nodded, analysing the blood would be a good start, the last time she had looked properly at vampire blood was when they were developing the cure. Claire grew slightly more excited at the prospect of unlocking its secrets. Vampires, even Myrnin who was normally an open book when it came to her learning from him were all cagey when it came to their blood.“Before I go, I got these from your husband when Amelie told me you would be here,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out her car keys and gave them to her. “I’ve parked it out the front, I’ve also informed Shane that you may be home a little late tonight,” he smirked, “How thoughtful of you,” she said dryly. “I look forward to hearing your findings,” he finished before darting out of the lab at vampire speed.After a moment of silence, Myrnin huffed, “He sucks.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Claire found herself entering the glass house exhausted and later than she had hoped to be, the late night in Myrnins lab had paid off a little bit and gave them some grounds to continue their research, Claire just wished it hadn’t been so late. She looked at the time, it was nearly 10pm, she groaned as she dropped her bag by the door and walked into the kitchen. Shane looked up from the dining table and greeted her with a small smile, she lowered down beside him and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Sorry I’m late,” she said under a yawn, he wrapped his arm around her neck loosely as she snuggled into his, “I saved you some pizza,” he murmured, music to Claire’s ears. She kissed him again and walked over to the fridge, pulling out the pizza, she quickly sat down at the table and started digging in.“So what was the emergency?” Shane probed, she could sense he wasn’t entirely happy with her late night and she couldn’t blame him. Between his new job and Claire’s work with Myrnin, finding the time to spend together had started to become more difficult. Claire swallowed the piece she had been working on as she thought of an answer. She didn’t want to lie to him but she could also recall Amelie’s warning in hear head and Myrnins reasoning.“I can’t say much so please don’t get mad,” she said carefully, taking another bite of pizza whilst waiting for his reaction. He put down his bottle of beer he had been sipping and looked at her, raising an eyebrow, “Go on,” he prompted. Claire signed and chose her words carefully, she wasn’t going to lie to him but she also wasn’t going him everything. “There’s a vampire issue, I am looking into it with Myrnin and Oliver, for now my involvement is purely research purposes.” She watched him closely as he processed the information, willing him to understand and to not put any pressure on her to tell him more. “Have you been told to keep this to yourself?” He asked, she nodded quickly, realisation flooding his eyes. “Final question, are you in danger?” He asked, concern creeping across his face, she shook her head, “No, not at all, like I said my part is in the lab.” He nodded and reached his hand across the table to grab hers, “I trust you, but if it gets bad you get yourself out of there,” Claire’s heart broke at the look in his eyes, this was hard for him. He wanted to be her shield, just as much as she wanted to protect him. She squeezed his hand in return and met his eyes, “I promise, I won’t put myself in danger.” He nodded, somewhat satisfied with her answer, Claire could still feel a slight tension in the air but she didn’t want to sit and dwell on it, a distraction was in order.Claire put her pizza down and got up out of her seat and walked over to Shane who watched her every move, she slowly sat down on his lap and removed the bottle of beer from his hands and gently started placing small kisses along his neck and jawline. She felt him sign and his body relax, his hands wrapped around her waist, he pulled her towards him, closing the gap between their bodies, leaned in and kissed her. The kiss started off slow but built up with burning passion that caused Claire to feel giddy, Shane made quick work of picking her up and pushing her up against the dining table as he pressed into her with urgency. As he pulled off her hoodie Claire started to undo her jeans and then his, she gasped as both of his hands flattened against her back, exploring and stroking her along her curves and then slowly bringing them back up to undo her bra.Shane brought his lips to her neck, kissing her as his hands slide to encircle her breasts, his lips moved slowly as he deliberately massaged her. She let out small moans as he trailed his lips from her neck, down to her shoulders, he travelled slowly and deliberately down her body and Claire hissed in pleasure as he took one of her nipples in his mouth, twirling his tongue. He released her and looked up at her with a smirk that still made her heart skip a beat, he continued kissing lower until he got to her jeans, she wiggled as he slowly pulled them off along with her underwear, seconds later she found herself completely naked. Shane pushed her back gently and she complied, letting her elbows be the only thing to prop her up on the table. Shane was still fully dressed and running his hands up her thighs, watching her with intensity. In the next breath, Shane had nearly vanished from her sight, she could feel his breath between her thighs, the feeling of anticipation becoming too much, she could hardly stand it.Then, finally, she felt the warmth of his tongue press into her. He moved with the lightest touches, pushing into a part of her and then in the next moment, teasing the most sensitive part of her. She leaned back as he explored her, enjoying every sensation and movement, her toes curling in pleasure as her breath quickened. The familiar build up had her biting her lip, she let her head fall back as she enjoyed every wave of orgasm that rushed through her as Shane held her in place, relentless with his tongue. She let her back fall against the cold table, breathing heavy, she felt Shane pull away and he stood back up, leaning over her with a smirk.“Turn over,” was all he said and Claire was more than happy to oblige. She turned and leaned over the table, gripping both sides. Shane came up behind her, somewhere along the way he had gotten rid of his clothes she realised as he pushed his whole body against her, the skin to skin contact felt electric. She felt Shane’s hands on her legs, and then, the feeling of him entering her slowly.…The next day Claire found herself sitting alone on the sofa whilst everyone else had already left for work that morning, she wasn’t due to be at Myrnin’s lab for another couple of hours and was grateful for the time to herself. She looked around at the space she shared with the glass house, her chosen family, it had been eight or nine years ago that she had first showed up on the doorstep here, trying to get away from Monica Morrell who at the time was Claire’s biggest problem in Morganville, this was before she had found out about the vampires. They had all come along way since then and grown in their own ways, as much as she loved it here she did wish for her and Shane to get her own place, especially now that Eve and Michael were looking to start a family. Claire had tried to talk to Shane about it before, but he wasn’t so keen to split from the herd, his Morganville defence, safety in numbers.Eve and Michael didn’t seem to mind them being here which didn’t help when trying to persuade Shane. Amelie has already offered to provide Claire and Shane with a founder’s house just like the Glass house, but Shane didn’t like the idea of accepting anything from the vampires, which she had to respect no matter how frustrating it was. Claire signed and looked at the time on her phone, having a rare couple of hours free was a blessing, she could use this to be productive and go to the shop to get some bits she’s been desperately needing for herself. Gathering the motivation, Claire lifted herself off the sofa, grabbed her bag and keys and headed for the local supermarket not far from her house. It was nothing special but had all your essentials, Amelie had made sure that Morganville wasn’t too inviting, unsuspecting humans came in and out of Morganville for many different reasons and it was important that they did not want to stay long term, hence very basic shops and places of entertainment.As Claire arrived she grabbed a basket and began browsing the aisles, happy to be off in her own little world as she picked up things that she needed as well as adding things she simply wanted. She walked round to the snack aisle, no doubt it would be another late one so some snacks for her and Myrnin would be necessary. Thinking about the day and night ahead, she did not want to be eating any left over food, so she found herself at the ready meals so that she could make something at the lab. Myrnin had a working microwave and oven after much debate with him, especially over the oven. Myrnin had just been using it to store books and other crap in until Claire cleaned it out to his dismay, so she had to make a point out of using it for its intended purpose occasionally.As Claire made her way to the checkout she felt her body collide with that of another, luckily she hadn’t lost her footing but the same couldn’t be said for the other person. Once Claire got her bearings back, she looked down and sighed at the mess before her, Monica Morrell. The last few years had not been kind to her and Claire had only seen her occasionally, there had been rumours but Claire didn’t pay a lot of attention to those. Monica looked up at her, dazed, Claire reached out her hand to help pull her up, “Sorry about that Monica, didn’t see you.” Monica took her hand and allowed Claire to hoist her up, Monica just snorted in response and brushed herself off. “Please Danvers, you’ve been wanting to knock me on my ass for years,” she laughed, this was not the reaction Claire had been expecting. A cruel comment, a vicious threat, physical violence, all would have been normal for Monica, not sarcastic humour.“Well, I’ve always been tempted,” Claire quipped back, she took in Monica’s appearance, she looked like she had just been on a night out and had yet to find her way home. “Happy accident then,” Monica staggered a little in place, Claire looked at her eyes and noticed they seemed a little glazed over. Their relationship over the years had been a difficult one, but Claire felt uncomfortable leaving her here, she didn’t seem herself and was clearly coming off a big night out, and if Claire was to believe any of the rumours she had heard about Monica, they she could very well be on drugs. “Do you want a lift home? I’ve got some time before work…” Before Claire could finish her sentence Monica was already shaking her head, “Don’t worry about me Danvers, I’m still partying,” she staggered again and gave Claire a lopsided smile, “I’ll see you around,” and with that she staggered off from Claire and out of the store altogether. Claire shook her head and continued towards the checkout in-deep thought, something about that interaction with Monica raised a red flag.“She practically lives at that new underground club on the edge of town, literally only comes in here to get energy drinks and then goes,” Claire looked up, broken from her train of thought by the guy at the checkout. Claire looked at him quizzically, underground club? This was the first time she had heard of one. “Underground club?” She asked, he nodded and scanned her stuff, “Yeah, been open a few months now but it’s invite only,” he packed her items into bags as Claire processed this information. “How do you know about this?” She prodded, he just shrugged his shoulders, “Rumours at first, but the Morrell girl came in here the other week raving about it so I figured it must be true.” Claire just nodded, a mysterious underground club in Morganville that’s invite only, vampires going missing, unease passed through Claire. She thanked the guy at the checkout, paid and left, once back in her car she mulled over what had just happened.Was there a possible link between this club and the missing vamps? Unlikely, but worth digging into. There was nothing concrete yet to bring to Oliver and her role in this was strictly research, but Claire had a hunch and she wanted to follow it and the way into this club seemed to be with Monica. She pulled out her phone and brought up Monica’s number, she hadn’t used it in a while so she had no way of being sure that Monica would receive a message, and even if she did, wouldn’t she just ignore her? But Claire felt something different in her recent interaction with Monica, there was no hostility, Claire would be silly to pass up this opportunity. Swallowing any doubt, she quickly typed out a text to Monica, ‘Hey, was nice to run into you! You said you were still partying, anything I can join? Feel like blowing off a bit of steam.’ She felt awkward but sent the text anyway, she needed to come across nonchalant if Monica was going to take her seriously. She put her phone away and started the car, she decided to head to the lab early to distract herself but to also fill Myrnin in.