Vail’s smirk widened into a broad grin when Victoria became flustered by his question. She was always acting so tough and cocky whenever they crossed paths. He enjoyed knowing that he could still get underneath her skin with the right words. Besides that, he found their occasional banter fun. Lighthearted conversation wasn’t commonly found among his kind, and he suspected their longevity slowly sapped away their senses of humor. He’d even fallen victim to the melancholy, to some degree. However, he liked to think he had a bit more of a personality when compared with the rest of his stoic family; a tribute of his persistence to attend human events like the Lady’s party. He hadn’t turned into an emotionless monster quite yet.

Additionally, a part of him [i]liked[/i] knowing that she had enjoyed becoming his prey. There was just something about hearing the pleasure in her voice that thrilled him in a different way than the hunt usually did. He wasn’t yet sure why, but there was no denying the feeling was there; an exhilarating sensation when he felt her heartbeat quicken and a breathy moan escape her lips. Just thinking about it again excited him. He couldn’t wait to return in three days to do it all again.

At her defensive question, Vail shrugged. “No,” he answered simply. Far from it, he was rather pleased that she had admitted to enjoying his feeding upon her. He waited in the doorway until she exited the house before following her into the brisk night. Of course, she couldn’t let him get away without asking one more query—one that he decided he didn’t want to answer openly. Though he knew how he felt about it, he didn’t want her to interpret his enjoyment as something more sinister or strange than it actually was.

“Am I not allowed to be curious?” he asked, turning the question back on her in avoidance. “I’ve never had a Lady react like you before… It was intriguing.” Meeting her gaze in the dark, he supposed he could bother to give her a little more of a window into his thoughts. “It wasn’t unpleasant though.”

With that, he offered Victoria a devilish smile and bowed to her customarily. “Goodnight, My Lady,” he said softly as he departed into the surrounding trees.