"For the most part," Tony answered. My body bag was sitting on top of some sort of bunk; Tony helped me out of it while I glared at him. He knew he was in trouble. He also didn't seem to care. I'd figured part of this out, at least—we were on a ship and the guy in the white outfit was Captain Nemo or something. I was still dressed in my PJs and without a wig so I was even more bald that Captain Nemo. He was still frowning at me, by the way.
"This is the one you brought for the mission?" Nemo was incredulous as I stood before him in my sleeveless stretchy top and striped cotton pajama bottoms. If I glanced downward, I'm sure my ni**les would be showing through the stretchy top. I kept my gaze level and hoped my audience would do the same. "Don't criticize," Tony warned the two men. I got the feeling he didn't appreciate the audience any more than I did. "Lissa, I brought some clothes for you and there's a bathroom right through there," he pointed to a door off to the side, only it was made of metal, as was the wall around it. "If you gentlemen will excuse us, I need to have a few words with my agent, here." Tony was giving orders and Captain Nemo wanted to grumble, I could see it in his eyes. He saluted smartly instead, as did the other guy and they left, closing the outside door behind them.
"I'm sorry, Lissa, but this just came up. It couldn't wait and I knew you could do this better and faster than anybody else." Tony was talking quickly, his gray eyes pleading with me to understand.
I was standing there, barefoot on a cold metal floor, listening while Tony defended his decision to haul me into international waters. My arms were crossed over my chest against the cold and to hide my protruding ni**les, so I blew out a calming breath. "Tony, where are we?" I asked as sedately as I could. He'd just exposed me to two Navy officers for some reason and I wanted an explanation.
"The Arabian Sea, near the Gulf of Aden," he replied. All right, my geography needed improving. "Off the coast of Somalia," he added.
"Pirates," I said.
"Yeah." Tony looked uncomfortable for a minute. "There's something else, Lissa."
"What's that?" I looked up at him.
"I forgot your blood. I remembered your clothes, even your toothbrush, but I didn't think about the blood."
"Tony, if you're going to deal with what I am, that's the first thing you have to think of," I said. "Fuck. Now what?" My fingers would have run through my hair if I still had any. The stubble seemed to be improving, though.
"You'll have to feed from me tonight. I'll find somebody else for later if we have to." He pulled me into a hug. "Lissy, I messed this up for you but the opportunity was too good to pass up. You can do this for me. The pirates have a hostage and it's somebody important."
"Tony, I don't want to feed from you." I leaned away from him. "Do you know what happens if I do that? With a warm body?"
"No. It won't be that bad though, will it? Can you do it so it won't leave marks?"
"I can do it so it won't leave marks," I huffed. "But there's a side effect besides the symptoms of just having donated blood."
"What's that?" Tony led me to the bunk and pulled me down to sit beside him.
I had to clear my throat before I could tell him. "You'll, uh—do you have a change of underwear, Tony?" He lifted an eyebrow in surprise.
"Why would I need one?" He wasn't getting it, and he was in charge of national security. Me? I was embarrassed—and not in charge of anything.
"You'll need it," I glanced down at his khaki slacks. He might get away with it if he'd worn black or some other dark color. With those pants, he didn't need the humiliation.
"You're kidding?" The light was finally coming on and he blinked at me.
"No."
"Fuck."
"Exactly."
"Here." He unbuckled his belt and slipped his pants and underwear down to his ankles. Okay, that was a sight I wasn't truly prepared for. Tony grabbed my stretchy cotton top and lifted it over my head before I could squeak out a protest. Seems vampires and werewolves weren't the only ones with no modesty.
"Hey!" I said, watching while he wrapped my top around himself. Too bad, too—it was something to see.
"Now, get to it, we have someone to rescue," he said, impatiently pointing to his neck. Well, this was going to be awkward. I ended up almost in his lap; biting while your donor is sitting down isn't the most graceful thing to do, I learned. Gripping the back of his neck, I placed my forehead against his.
"I won't hurt you," I said and kissed him gently. Tony stole a second kiss before I could stop him. I had to place a hand over his mouth before lowering my head. The pulse throbbed strongly in his arteries and I could scent and almost taste him before placing another, softer kiss over his carotid. My fangs sank into his skin and I drank.
Tony came. Oh, boy did he come. And he enjoyed it too, if those little sounds of pleasure were any indication. I licked his neck three times, just to make sure the skin was healed before backing off. A dazed smile lit his face as I slid away from him. "Lissa, I love you," he turned orgasm-clouded gray eyes toward me.
"Yeah, you and a bunch of other guys," I said. Turning his attention to his lap and my now ruined top, Tony cleaned himself up, tossed my top into a nearby wastebasket and dressed himself again.
"Lissa, if I had time," he walked over to me and brushed a knuckle over one of my bare ni**les.
"Yeah, you and a bunch of other guys," I repeated while taking his hand away. "Where are my clothes? Thanks for the blood by the way. You're really quite tasty." I hadn't had warm blood in a while and Tony's had been an exceptional treat. "You should eat something, I think. While I clean up." I walked into the bathroom.
A duffle bag stood in a corner of the tiny bathroom and it held a couple pairs of jeans, three tops, bras and underwear, along with two pairs of athletic shoes and one of my wigs. Soap and other toiletries were out on the minuscule sink. The shower was pretty much a joke but I couldn't be picky, I guess.
I was clean and dressed when Tony came back with a cup of coffee in his hand. "I ate," he held up a hand. "And I want to talk about what happened later. Come on." He motioned for me to follow him, so out the door we went, through several narrow corridors and up two sets of steps until we got to the deck. The Navy certainly bought a lot of gray paint, I noticed as we walked along. Eventually we came to another door. Tony stopped there, opened it imperiously and led me inside a room occupied by the two men I'd seen earlier, a few crew members and banks of electronic equipment. We'd made our way to the control room and Tony acted as if he owned it.