the auction

chapter 10

Sorry for the wait here the next chapter
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Without bothering to knock, Vlad walked into the room Danny slept in with a glass of water in his hand. He half expected the young hybrid to complain, but was surprised to see him still sleeping. It was noon; when Danny slept in, he normally slept in until about 11:30 the latest, unless he had a really rough night. A sense of smugness washed over him. Could Danny not sleep without him? When he was close enough to the ghost hero, he gently shook his shoulders. It took a little longer than expected, but eventually, bright, neon green eyes were gazing groggily up at him.

"Good morning Daniel." Danny looked terrible; his hair was all mussed up and there were bags under his eyes. "Sleep well?"

Stretching his body, Danny went lax on the bed as he let out a groan. "Not really." Vlad was surprised he told the truth. "T'was kinda hard to sleep." With a sigh, he rolled onto his back and rubbed his tired eyes. When he sat up, Vlad immediately reached over to the top drawer where he kept some pills for Danny to take.

"Here, take two of these. It'll help you feel better quicker and numb any remaining pain you feel."

Obliging, Danny took the pills and swallowed it down with a glass of water the older hybrid handed to him. It seemed he immediately felt the effects. He sat up straighter and appeared more alert. "Thanks."

"Think nothing of it, my pet." With a smirk, Vlad lifted Danny's chin and planted a soft, lingering kiss. He was surprised when the body tensed momentarily before relaxing. He had expected some sort of resistance. Pleased that he didn't get one, he decided not to press his luck and pulled away. However, when Danny licked his lips as if to savor the taste, he couldn't resist; he found himself lunging in for another kiss. This time, when he pulled away, Danny had a dazed look on his face, causing the older hybrid to smirk. "We should remove those bandages."

"Okay." Without a struggle, Danny allowed Vlad to strip him down to his underwear and take a look at the remaining damage. His body healed nicely; there were only a few bruises left on him. His eyes scanned the body before him as he removed the bandages. He still felt guilt wash over him. It had been his fault that Danny got hurt so badly. Although he doesn't hold back in training, he hadn't meant to overdo it and cause so much harm to his pet. That's not the purpose of training.

He allowed Danny to shower on his own. When the teen came out, he dressed in fresh clothing and switched back to his human self. Vlad smiled at the sight of the tousled hair. Walking over, he ran his fingers through the damp hair, fixing it as he did so.

"You are to take it easy today. You still need to recover." Vlad ordered as he walked out of the room, Danny following behind him. The young hybrid had no response to that. In fact, he looked lost in his own thoughts. Vlad wondered what he was thinking about but didn't pester. It could be a number of things, really. One thing on Vlad's mind was the phone call Danny had with Samantha last night.

It angered him that Danny sought out to speak to the goth girl. Perhaps his jealousy wouldn't have flared up so much had it been the geeky tech friend, Tucker, but no; Danny called her. The only reassurance he felt was that Danny responded to his kiss and seemed to enjoy it. Although it looked like it confused him as well. At least Sam wasn't so much of a threat. Still, perhaps Danny deserved a little freedom. He had lied to her, as he was ordered to before, and kept up the charade of willingly being with him. Danny had presumed he was asleep and didn't take advantage to hatch some kind of escape plan.

They went into the dining room. Danny was about to take his normal spot on the floor when Vlad yanked him by the arm and pulled him onto his lap. Startled, the young hybrid blinked in surprise as an arm slung around his waist. There were two plates of breakfast before them. The teen's knees were still bruised and Vlad didn't want to cause them any more unnecessary pain. So, his lap would have to do. He alternated between feeding himself and feeding the teen with his hand. He grinned at the sight of the embarrassed and annoyed flush Danny had on his face whenever they had to eat together. Vlad loved it.