She slapped his chest with both hands. "You're a pig!"
"Oh, sure. Skippy's up there defiling Sarah and I'm the pig."
"Yes, and you better not embarrass them when they come down, or you and I won't be making noise for quite some time."
He frowned dejectedly. "That's harsh."
Sarah floated down the stairs with Connor in tow. He avoided eye contact with everyone. Jackson looked up from his newspaper. "Everything okay in paradise?"
Elisabeth shot him a warning stare.
Sarah's smile spread far as it would go. "Perfect... Jackson, I'm afraid you are going to have to influence some people for their blood. I didn't have enough time to plan for the extra we need."
Elisabeth piped in, "You can take all you want from me. I know Jackson can't drink it, but you two can, and save the rest for him." Jackson stared at her, slack jawed.
Sarah said, "That would be wonderful, you sure you don't mind?"
"Of course not. I would offer to let Connor feed on me if I weren't convinced Neanderthal here would go postal on us."
Connor looked at Jackson. "You okay with Sarah drawing her blood?"
Before he could respond, Elisabeth grabbed his chin, squeezed it and turned his face to her. "Of course he is. Aren't you darling?" She kissed him quickly. "Good, then that's settled. After dinner you can hook me up." Jackson sat rubbing his jaw wondering what the hell just happened.
***
Sarah set Elisabeth up on the sofa and started a line to draw her blood, then she and Connor went down to clean up the holding cell. Jackson had started a fire and stood with his hands on the mantle, watching the flames. Elisabeth said, "You shouldn't pout. It's not a good look for you." He turned to her and shook his head. "Come on Jackson, you know this is the right thing to do. Will you please come here and talk to me?"
He skulked to the sofa, lifted her legs and sat under them. "I understand it's the right thing to do, but don't for a minute expect me to like it."
"Do you want me to tell Sarah I changed my mind?"
"No."
"Maybe you would feel better if you went out and hunted."
Jackson exploded, "When are you going to get it? I don't want someone else's blood. I want yours!"
She brought his hand to her face. "You know I want that too."
He glanced at the bag filling with her blood and shook his head again. "I'm going up to the music room for a while." He dropped a perfunctory kiss on her cheek and left.