He traces his tongue along the impression his teeth left behind, and then dips to pick her up. To carry her carefully toward the altar, where he can set her down and settle between her legs. His fingers find her hair, and comb the strands back from her face. Fondly, almost dotingly — or condescendingly.

"Well... it's because I can give you something nobody else can," he explains gently, earnestly — an expression that might be a little unsettling when it's accompanied by a set of black, empty eyes. "I can find your darkness. I can find the piece of you that you hide from everyone else, and I can touch it. Match it. I can show you things... you have never seen before."