Doe's POV:

Hands grabbed my thighs, lifting my feet from the floor before the world around me rushed by.

He stopped for only a second before progressing, and within that second, I processed the three walls surrounding us in this new space.

Then my back hit the wall, my front meeting with his, and his lips took mine with much more fervor than I had anticipated.

Not that I minded.

At all.

I guess he really wasn't kidding when he told me that he could get himself in the mood with a snap of my fingers.

As if I wasn't already close to matching the heat he was feeding me with his tongue currently in my mouth.

My ankles locked behind his back, solidifying him there with me.

He'd already told me that he needed me, but feeling it in moments like this never got old.

I draped a hand over his shoulder, nails digging into his shirt, the other languidly twirling and teasing his hair.

He responded by shifting his legs, settling his knee against the wall, and having me partially sit on it to give his hands the chance to do something.

And that something was apparently slipping under my shirt, fingers splaying and sliding around my waist. Then curling and pulling me impossibly closer to him.

For once, I actually felt the need to keep quiet, suppressing every little sound I know he enjoyed earning.

Suppressing us both down to just heavy breaths with the occasional hushed groan or mewl.

His purr definitely wasn't trying to keep quiet, that's for sure.

But the direct feel of it against me was certainly making it harder for me to do so.

I knew he had to be on the lookout with his ears, or whatever other vampiric sense he was using, but we both stayed somewhat on the side of caution.

Or, I did, Xander on the other hand apparently had other plans.

He broke the kiss, allowing me a moment to catch my breath, yet keep my mind racing wondering what his next move was.

His left hand pulled from under my shirt and up my arm, pulling at my sleeve until my shoulder was exposed.

He was lucky that I was wearing a fabric that allowed for that movement with little resistance, his head lowering down to the skin he'd just exposed.

I don't know what I was expecting, bit it certainly wasn't a bite.

With just his front teeth, but it still yanked a shocked yelp from me that I couldn't catch in time.

My face flamed, hearing the sound echo slightly through the halls, followed promptly by the sound of Xanders snickering right into my shoulder.

"Xander!" I quietly scolded through clenched teeth, effectively making him laugh even harder.

"Sorry," he replied, kissing over the spot he'd bitten, "I couldn't help myself."

I think he, the uncharacteristic mastermind he'd become with these things, had somehow trained my body to simply forgive and forget the moment his tongue came into play, the warmth from it flicking out against the bite, soothing the remaining ache.

Easing me back down into him.

God, I had to work on that. I couldn't give in so easily every time.

...Okay maybe sometimes I can.

He was getting good at silently convincing me as well, now dotting feather light kisses up my neck.

I think we both wanted something a little heavier right now, but given the fact that we both had to be presentable here in a little bit, he kept it like this.

If I'm being honest, if we were to have sex here and now, I don't think I'd be left completely satisfied with the time crunch and all.

I could already tell that Xander wasn't really the type to rush these sorts of things.

Or maybe he was, he just had to get into a mood I hadn't seen yet.

He did however do another one of those quick nips right below my earlobe and behind my jaw, this one spreading again the goosebumps I'd just barely gotten to stay down.

A few more minutes of his antics, his kisses, and the taste of him on my lips was all it took for me to finally submit to just letting myself enjoy this for what it was.

Well, it felt like a few minutes. Who really knows how long it'd really been.

I couldn't force myself to focus or really even care about much else when I had him so close.

Everything just felt at ease when things were like this, despite my stubborn nature that he eventually managed to dissipate for short bursts.

Where my guard was completely down because right now, my guard was him.

I battled for a moment with the thoughts pestering me these past days, the want to just spill it now growing and growing.

It would just be so easy to whisper an 'I love you' between kisses. To spare a single moment of catching my breath to utter those three words.

But then what? Just turn and go our separate ways for the afternoon?

No, now wasn't the right time yet.

Something else seemed to prove my thought the second it passed through my brain, Xander all of the sudden stopping and pulling back a few inches.

His head turned to the right to the only spot someone could walk through.

A few more seconds of his narrow eyes staring and the flaring of his nostrils before his eyes grew wide.

"Shit," He muttered, hurriedly yet carefully setting me back onto the floor.

I put two and two together rather quickly, and the sound of two sets of running footsteps hit me right after.

We both hurried to fix our hair and straighten our clothes, getting everything together just in time for the approaching pair to turn the corner.

Everyone involved looked to be shocked that the other two were there.

I for one just wasn't expecting it to be Khloe and Marcus of all people, both of them skidding to a halt in front of us, breathing like they'd been sprinting.

While holding hands?

Well, not anymore, Marcus just quickly and very suspiciously pulled his away.

Everyone's surprise quickly shifted into confusion, meanwhile, I was trying to fabricate an excuse as to why Xander and I were here in this random hide-away corner, hoping that they don't ask any questions before I do.

Luckily, Xander had the same thought, asking the first question.

"Well, what were you two off to do?" He inquired with a knowing tone, gesturing down to where their hands used to be connected.

I stifled a laugh at the insinuation, and at the impressive way, he managed to get the attention off of us being the weird ones in this situation.

Honestly trying to breathe like a normal person right now was the hardest part, but other than that, we were pulling this off quite well.

The two of them matched a flustered look, Marcus immediately trying to explain in a state of panic.

"N-no it wasn't like that- it- I was just leading her away and-"

I knew everyone here enough to know that Marcus was telling the truth and that Xander said that just to sway their focus.

Though, the thought of Khloe and Marcus getting together was a tad funny.

I'd like to think that Xander thought the same.

Khloe ended up being the one to set a hand on Marcus' shoulder to calm down his sputtering explanation.

"Shouldn't you be having lunch with your family?" She asked him, that being one of the first times I've seen her speak to him so directly since filling her in on his whole past situation.

Hell yeah.

Xander just shrugged a response, "Yeah but not for like twenty minutes. I was told to be there at 1:30."

Eh. 20 minutes didn't feel right. Maybe like 5.

Marcus proved us both wrong, squeaking out a tight, "It's 1:39."

"What what?!" Xander gasped, snagging the pocketwatch Marcus', well, pocket, and flipping it open.

Even from here, I could see that Marcus was 100% correct.

Holy crap time really flew back there...

"Shit," He cursed, surely having the same realization.

Well, Xander's never really been too good with time anyways.

He quickly turned to me, "I'll be back in an hour," was all he said before he was just gone, leaving only a breeze to show that he'd sped off.

The watch was still suspended in the air where he was holding it, leaving Marcus to catch it.

I hurried to fill the silence now that it was two against one, and I still didn't want to be questioned due to the fact that I didn't yet have a decent excuse.

"So what were you guys doing?" I pressed, taking a step closer.

I was surprised to see Khloe take my side in this.

"Yeah Marcus, what was that?" she asked, "That slave was trying to be nice and you just took off."

Marcus kept his eyes lowered, rubbing his upper arm.

"Yeah I guess I could have handled that better, but I just panicked," he uttered.

Khloe and I glanced at each other.

"Panicked," I asked, raising a brow.

That certainly wasn't like him. Not when it came to the ones he worked with.

I'd seen him do nothing but stand his ground when it came to that.

Memories of that one time with that Austin guy resurface, part of me hoping that that's who we were talking about here just so a solution could be made.

"Yeah," He eased out, his hand now running up through his hair," Look Khloe, one of my duties here is to protect you, so if you ever see him again, turn and run."

She blinked in confusion while I spoke.

"Just Khloe?" I asked.

Maybe this wasn't about Austin then, because as far as I know, he's only been bugging me.

And Marcus had already sort of warned me about him.

Did she have someone bugging her too?

I guess she did get drugged...

"I think so, but you should be wary too," he replied.

Another strange glance between us.

There seemed to be a lot of information he wasn't sharing with us right now.

"Why?" Khloe asked, "Is he dangerous?"

"If he's dangerous we can just get Xander or Nico to deal with him," I chimed in, knowing that Xander would probably be down for it.

"No!" Marcus snapped with a new panic that didn't compare to the one he held earlier.

Khloe and I stayed silent, partially just out up surprise from the outburst while he collected himself again.

I know that he's been tired lately, so maybe the stress of something was finally catching up with him.

If it was, I knew he wouldn't just come out and say it.

He was similar to me in where he didn't like asking others for help.

"No," he sighed, "Not yet. I'm suspicious of him but... but I don't have solid proof of anything yet. I just want you guys to be careful until I can figure this out."

Oh jeez, this did go deeper than I thought.

And although his words were calm...er, there was still anxiousness hidden in his eyes.

Come on Marcus. Don't riddle yourself down to this.

You even through enough already.

"Okay," Khloe was the first to agree, her voice soft and calm.

It effectively made that look of his melt away before I could respond.

"Yeah okay, but if you need more help, I'm sure that one of the brothers can take care of it for you," I pushed again, hoping that he'd actually take the time to consider it.

If there was suspicious activity, who better to snuff it out than a vampire?

Though with his reaction to the very little that's been said, there was absolutely more to this than just that alone.

He was hiding something, but I wasn't going to sit here and try to pry it out of him.

Especially when he wasn't trying to pry out why Xander and I were in this random corner...

"I don't doubt that," Unease trailed through his words, letting us fall back into silence.

For a little bit before I decided that I didn't want to deal with that again.

I took a wide step between the two, hooking my elbows into theirs.

I didn't like awkward silences, especially not between my friends.

And poor Marcus looked like he was already dealing with enough right now, and could probably use the support.

"Now can we go get some food? I'm hungry as hell."