Serena clung to Lucifer, weeping. "I want my vampire," she managed to gasp out between sobs. "I love him so much -- and he just -- he left me! He promised he could never hurt me! He lied, Luci!"
Lucifer held her close and stroked her hair. "Shall I summon him for you?" he asked.
"I'm supposed to be able to summon him," Serena sniffled. "He told me, when we bonded, he would come to me if I was in distress. But he...." Serena trailed off as she realized what Luci was asking. "You want to compel him using your power over your Dominion?"
"I was hesitant at first," Lucifer admitted. "I feared he wouldn't be quite himself, but perhaps, if I command him to be kind to you, you would find that preferable to the hurtful creature he's become?"
Serena nodded and wiped her eyes. "Please," she said softly. She rarely asked anything of her husband, except in bed, but she wanted her vampire, wanted to be fed on, to be needed and treasured.
Luci's eyes glowed that impressive red-orange and, a moment later, Xander was there, kneeling at his feet.
"You summoned me?" he asked.
"I did, for the sake of my wife, your Bonded. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Have you any idea the trauma you've caused her?"
Xander turned to Serena. "I am sorry, my love," he whispered. "I do not know what I was thinking."
Serena threw her arms around him. "Xandy!" she exclaimed. "You're really here! I missed you so much!" Her agony forgotten, she nuzzled him and kissed his cheek.
"I said the most horrid things to you," Xander whispered as he held her. "Would you allow me to take them back?"
"Of course! I'm just happy you're here! You poor thing, you must be starving."
Without another word, he brushed her hair away from her neck and kissed her, then bit into her. The taste of her filled him with pure joy and he moaned as he held her closer yet. She echoed his moans, turned on by his touch and his bite as always. That was all it took for her to forgive him completely.
Yet after he'd drunk his fill, he still saw the need to comfort her and apologize again. "Truly, I should never have made you feel insecure about your gender, nor your darker proclivities, given my own past. You reflected something within me that I was ashamed of."
Snuggled into his embrace, she insisted she didn't mind, not anymore, not now that he was HERE! But she added, "You shouldn't be ashamed of your past. I know you want to be a better man, but as long as you remain by my side, loving me as I love you, needing me as I need you -- as long as you never let me go again, or hate me for being needy--"
"Never," he promised. "You have every right to want me by your side. You are my Singer, my Bonded, my everything."
Tears of joy streamed down her face. "That's all I wanted," she whispered. "Gosh, I've never been so weepy as I have lately. And, Xander, I ... The other men...." She wanted to keep Sigefrid and Trent in her life, but even with them around, she had still deeply missed Xander.
Xander nodded. "Return to me, feed me, and I shall not trouble you about your men." He seemed to understand.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you comfortable sharing a bed with Luci and me?"
Here, he hesitated. He could deny her nothing, yet the power dynamic made him a little uncomfortable. "... I will do so," he said finally, earning a squeal and a kiss. He kissed her back, fervently, finally showing her how deeply he regretted his absence.
"Thank you," she breathed in his ear. "For coming back to me. I, um... I forgive you, but it might take a little while to trust you completely again."
"Understood," he said. He removed his shoes as she and Luci climbed into bed, and he got in and cuddled her to his side. She cooed happily at the coolness of him, as she had the day he had marked her as his own. It didn't take long for her to drift off to sleep in his arms, with Luci snuggled up behind her, protective and loving and oh-so-tender.
She really was the luckiest girl in the world. She and Trent had gotten back together, as had Trent and Nathaniel. Sigefrid had defrosted towards her. Dany flirted with her and called her gorgeous, and every time they met he seemed to want to get closer to her. Luci was so patient and gentle with her; he was surprisingly adept at handling her delicate, oft-fractured heart. And now she had Xander back and he seemed willing to make amends for breaking her heart before. She smiled in her sleep, and Xander purred against her, the low rumbling sound soothing her and helping piece her back together, bit by fragile bit.
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