Chapter 96

~~Beatrice~~

She curled up under her pile of blankets, and clutched Jennifer tight.

It was quiet in the cave. Jacob and the boys were out, doing things, looking for hunters or something. She didn’t really care right now. Every part of her ached, felt drained, and demanded sleep. Deep diving into Crúac was exhausting, demanding, and beyond difficult. But that wasn’t the whole reason she felt like shit, and she knew it. Every part of her couldn’t imagine doing anything but staying in bed, and letting the world crumble around her.

Of course, Jennifer wouldn’t let her do that. Like that annoying friend that refuses to let you die, Jennifer hounded her and demanded she not succumb to the blatant depression she was suffering. Like, right now, Triss had planned to just lie in her alcove, and mope, but Jennifer had slipped under the covers with her, wearing nothing at all. Triss was only wearing a tank top and some boy shorts, and they did little to block the feel of Jen’s skin.

Triss held her close, the big spoon, and she set her cheek against the back of Jen’s head.

“Hey,” Triss said.

“Hey. How did your visit to Jack’s go?”

Right, she hadn’t talked to Jen about that yet. Too busy being sad, and crying in dark corners.

“It was ... it went well. He agreed, but I ... I could tell that ... that this curse thing is real.” She’d felt it, when in the kid’s presence. He was stronger. He was deadlier. He’d gone from sweet, innocent little Jack, naive and untainted, to a predator. A seemingly corrupted predator, given the nature of the curse.

She didn’t understand it, and didn’t need to understand it. Jack was willing to help her, and he seemed confident he could handle anything she threw at him. More to the point, he was willing to kill Angela, no matter what. They both saw eye to eye on that.

That was where things got blurry, ethically. She never considered herself to be a particularly horrible person, even at her worst when she killed kine; they’d deserved it, and she didn’t lose any sleep over them. Hunting down asshole humans and drinking them dead had been a good way to burn off steam, and it wasn’t a problem as long as she kept killings rare, and cleaned up evidence. Dolareido’s crime rate remained moderately low, despite it being the perfect nesting ground for the lowlifes of the world, because of Kindred like her. Low crime rate, casinos, theater, strip clubs, and everything in between, meant a lot of kine were always visiting or moving in, and food was always at a surplus for Kindred. Everybody won, a symbiotic relationship.

Slaughtering kine because she needed blood for rituals, was a grayer area. How many had she killed in the past week? Six. Drug dealers and abusers, people that didn’t necessarily deserve death, but it didn’t matter. She had a goal, and it required blood. People would keep dying until she met that goal, until she found Angela, until she killed every hunter in the fucking city.

Even if she had to burn the whole thing to the ground.

Tonight was her first break from practicing Crúac with Jacob since Julias’s death. Her mind needed a break. They’d been trying to do something unusual, and something even Jacob himself warned her might not be possible: invent a ritual that could track down hunters. The problem was that, not only were they struggling to figure out a way to get the ritual to hunt hunters specifically, but Crúac rituals were as mysterious and obscure as trying to talk to God. God had a habit of not responding, so learning whether the Crone, or whatever strange alien entities or forces that existed in the universe, were even listening to them, was difficult.

That’s where Black Blood came in. It—

Jen’s hands, hidden underneath the many blankets, slid around until they found Triss’s, and guided them along her body. One hand slid down to set Triss’s fingers along Jen’s thighs, while the other slipped Triss’s fingers around one of Jen’s breasts. The woman’s body was smooth and curvy, and Triss traced her fingers along her friend’s skin, sighing as she did. Soft, and delightful. The big tits and large ass were model material, and Jen did ever enjoy rubbing them against her.

It was obvious her friend was trying to get her mind off Julias, and onto something less depressing. Jen’s body and sex drive were definitely less depressing, and Triss managed a weak chuckle as she gently squeezed the woman’s large tit until it overflowed her fingers.

It was more than just sex. Jen knew that Triss had begun associating sex and Julias, with having Jen around as well. Rubbing her big ass against her, making her grope her breasts, it did feel like being in Julias’s company again, if only a little. If a big guy had climbed under the blankets with them, wrapped his arms around her from behind, while Triss felt Jen up, it’d have been the same world she’d lost over two weeks ago.

She stopped, and put her hands back where they were. Still holding and squeezing the naked, beautiful woman to her, but no fondling, no groping, no fingering. Jen got the point pretty quick, and relaxed into the blankets while Triss held her.

“You don’t need me to have sex, Jen,” she said. “You have two ghouls, who I am sure are itching to fuck you. How long has it been since you’ve slept with them?”

“A long time ago.” Groaning, she turned around and faced her, keeping the mountain of blankets pulled up to her shoulders. “Since ... you know.” Since Julias first invited her into his bed with Triss. For all Jen’s talk about not being interested in romance, she’d displayed a lot of the signs of someone who’d been romantically interested.

Sighing, Triss squeezed her friend tighter, and buried her face in her neck. “I miss him. So damn much.”

“I know. I was just—”

“I know. It’s ... it’s ok.” She kissed Jen’s neck a couple times, before settling her head back down against her pillow. The past two weeks had been nothing but crying. Crying, and experimenting with Crúac when Jacob said to, that’d been her life for now and probably would be for some time.

The Beast in her disagreed. It was sad its mate was gone, but the Beasts were loners by nature. Relationships were not something it understood, especially long-term ones. The Beast told her to get out there, kill her enemies, reestablish her territory, defend her food supply, blah blah blah. Annoying as it was, she appreciated its candor, she supposed. It was the only part of her that wasn’t screaming in rage and agony every second of the night.

Two years. Two fucking years she’d spent in that man’s arms, and now, she didn’t know what to do with herself.

Not true. She knew what to do next. Revenge. It was her only guiding light, the only thing she could trust. Once it was done, what next? The idea of going on with her second life without Julias felt pointless and hollow. All she wanted to do was climb onto his body, get between his arms, and disappear. Nothing else existed, nothing else mattered when she was there, just the way she felt safe, and loved, and happy, and complete, and...

God fucking damn it. She sobbed a couple times, and hid her face in Jen’s neck. Her friend held her, squeezed her in return, and said nothing. The cave was empty tonight save for them. No one to hear her cry.

~~Jack~~

Dusk arrived, and with it, new goals. He was going to talk to Beatrice today, and show his mom his apartment, and see Azamel. Or at least, that was the plan. Right now, his brain was having trouble picturing anything past the immediate moment, and what Antoinette was doing to him.

He gulped, melted into the bed, and watched Antoinette as she settled on the bed perpendicular to him, her torso draped across his thighs. She set her weight onto an elbow on the other side of his legs, got comfortable with her side pressing down on his upper thighs, and set her breasts around his shaft so it was sticking up between the two pillows. It was absolute bliss, feeling the weight of her breasts around his cock, how the soft skin and supple mounds molded to its shape, and how she smiled at him like a satisfied cat, as she watched him merge with the blankets and mattress.

“An old friend of mine will be visiting soon, my love,” she said. “Do be careful with her.”

“I, uh ... wait, what?” He blinked down at the Prince, but she only grinned at him as she got comfortable. “Oh, right, Elaine. You haven’t told me anything about her yet. Figured I’d wait before asking.”

His shaft, still between her breasts, and getting squashed by the sideways angle she was lying on him with, fought to escape the tight confines. With a guiding finger, she pushed it back toward her sternum, trapping it between the two mountains. She set her temple against the hand of the arm with the elbow to the mattress on the other side of his hips, while her other casually teased over her nipples, circling and stroking their swelling, pink areolas. Her touching herself meant no stimulus for him, just a heavenly blanket of breasts around his length while they talked. That was fine. Hell, it was perfect. It gave him a little more self control, more mental capacity to simply watch the amazing sight, instead of immediately giving into sexual need.

It’d been weeks since they had a conversation like this, exchanging information about their day and whatnot, during the middle of sex. Apparently, she wanted to make it known that these sorts of talks would be happening regularly again. Awesome.

“Elaine is a fellow dragon and upstanding member of the Ordo Dracul. She will be visiting my city soon, and she means to speak with you.”

“With me?”

“Oui.” Still with her head resting lazily against the fist of one arm, keeping it propped up, her other hand reached down her own body, down her flat stomach and pale skin, to disappear between her thighs. Her body started to move, slow and subtle motions, a gentle rhythm that drew his eyes. She was masturbating, while she talked, instead of pleasuring him. All he could do was lie there, and watch the goddess play with herself, with his cock sticking up from between her two breasts sitting on his abdomen.

A teasing game. Probably punishment for him taking control a couple nights ago. As far as punishments went, he was entirely ok with this one. She wasn’t against binding him with shackles and chains, complete with a leash, if the past was any indication.

“What does she want with me?”

“You are an intellectual curiously to her. She will likely seek to learn all she can of your curse.”

“Ah.” That made sense. If the Ordo Dracul were dedicated to uncovering the secrets of the world, particularly those that directly involved Kindred, then he should have seen this coming. Antoinette was supposedly one of the highest ranked in her order supposedly, and no doubt other members of her order would be interested in something like a childe-jumping curse.

“Though,” Antoinette said as she lifted her higher leg, exposing her smooth skin and sex’s lips, “I suspect once she sees you, she will try for more.”

“More?”

“Mmmm, oui.” Her fingers between her thighs, now visible, played with her clitoris in massaging waves. He recognized the motion; she wanted to cum quickly. She probably had plans as well, and didn’t have time to spend all day fucking. He wanted to. God, every part of him wanted to forget about the world, forget about all the horrible shit, and spend his time in his lover’s bed every night instead. So much better to do that, than to deal with hunters and Azamel and only God knew what else.

“You mean, secret stuff about the Invictus, or—”

“Nothing of that sort. But, I am sure she will attempt to seduce you.”

He raised a brow at that. “She’s ... your friend, though?”

Antoinette laughed, a husky chuckle. “I have known Elaine for centuries, my love, and she is quite an attractive woman. There has been occasion where we have shared a bed.” Her red eyes stayed on him, smiling as she sank a finger in between her slit’s lips. “Though, it has never been romantic, purely sexual. She shares my interest in the skill of sex, the art of it, and has joined me in exploring its pleasures on several occasions. I suspect she will attempt to do so again, once she sees you.”

“I ... I uh, I see.” Ok, this was dangerous territory. Antoinette made it clear that sex was almost like performance art for her, but she also made it clear that she did not want them sleeping with other people; except for inviting her ghouls into their bed. And he was more than happy with that relationship, elated even. Sex between them was special, and sleeping around would taint that. But, from the mischievous smile she was giving him, as she masturbated, while his cock lightly moved around between her shifting breasts, it was obvious she was purposefully planting thoughts in his head. “What sort of exploring have you two done?”

Her smile widened for a moment, and she made a long sigh as she sank two fingers into her slit, leg still raised at the hip so he could see. Masturbating for her was a skill she’d mastered well beyond what any horny teenage boy could.

“I told you of my ghoul, so long ago, in a castle I once owned?”

“Y-Yeah.” The story of the orgies, and Antoinette getting drenched in cum while women licked it off her, stuck in his mind a little more than the individual ghoul herself, but yeah he remembered.

“Elaine has joined me on such adventures. Some, she initiated herself.”

“I ... I see.” His cock twitched between her breasts, and she laughed, openly. He didn’t need to say that the image of Antoinette with another woman was appealing, his dick said it for him.

“She has shown great interest in Daniel, and has tried to seduce the man on many occasions. But he forever ignores her; which, naturally, both infuriates and entices her.”

The idea of the sheriff hooking up with anyone was honestly strange to imagine. Jack figured he was one of those Kindred that was content to get all their pleasure from the Kiss, hunting and feeding, as some Kindred did. No need for sex or other artifacts of their first lives. But then, what did he know? It was often the quietest people who had the biggest kinks, and sex drives to go with.

“So, this woman, you think she’ll try and seduce me?”

“Oui.” Even as she nodded, she took her hand from her pussy, and set its fingertips down between her breasts where the glans of his cock was sticking out. Wet warmth coated the head of his cock, as she teased the tip with her juices that practically dripped from her fingers. Instant sparks of pleasure.

“W-What does she look like?”

“A tall woman, though not quite as tall as me. Thin and strong, with a touch of softness to her, like your Prince. And, her bust is très large.” She grinned at him, and slowly eased her chest forward an inch, causing her breasts to roll and press against his abdomen as she buried his member. When his jaw dropped and a groan escaped him, she chuckled again, leaned back, and slid her fingers back down between her own legs. “Large, and quite soft, my love.”

He groaned again, and let his eyes roll up as he pictured Antoinette, massaging, kneading, rubbing, and fondling someone else’s large breasts. A small part of him nagged at him, poked him in the back of his brain, and complained he was being a typical man. A much larger part announced its desires clearly: breasts, yes breasts, more breasts, all the breasts. Another set of legs in the bed? Perfect, as long as it meant more breasts.

He’d feel guilty, if Antoinette didn’t seem to also delight in indulging him such fantasies. She was a sex goddess that had harnessed the power of everything sexual, and she loved to tease him with it.

Maybe she was doing this to make him feel better about Julias? Maybe—stop, stop thinking about Julias. You can deal with that mountain of pain and misery later. For now, just enjoy the fact that your lover is as amazing, and horny, as she is.

“I will do my best to resist her charms.”

She chuckled, but cut herself off short. After a few shudders, and a single deep breath, she withdrew her fingers from her sex once again, and set them back onto the tip of his cock where it poked out from between the two alabaster pillows. Wetter, hotter. God damn.

“To invite another Kindred into our bed is not something I had expected to consider,” she said. “You are mine, little Ventrue, and while to share you with my pets is a pleasant indulgence, sharing you with another Kindred felt ... as if, it may perhaps damage our intimacy.”

“A legitimate concern.” And one Julias and Triss probably ha—stop, stop it.

“But, Elaine is Elaine. I have known her for longer than Dolareido has existed. I trust her, and...” She leaned down, and planted a kiss on the head of his cock. Pleasure poured down through his length, and he flexed it, causing it to pull toward his stomach from between her breasts. Her wet fingers kept it where it was, a few of them teasing up and down one side of his glans, while her lips set kisses on the other. “And, I do believe, she will find your charms quite irresistible.”

“My charms?” he managed to say, but as she started kissing and suckling on the swollen head of his length, the pleasure waves began to build. A drop of precum announced his pleasure, and she stopped kissing, using only her fingers to tease and tickle his cock as she smiled at him.

“Oh yes, my love. I have no doubt she will be interested in you, and I believe, you would enjoy setting your length between both sets of our breasts, at the same time. Non?” She kept her head down so her kisses could resume. The only way she managed the position while keeping his shaft between her breasts, was because of how absurdly large they were, flopped forward and almost pancaked against his pelvis and abs.

“I ... I um...” God she was a cruel woman. A cruel, evil, horrible, awesome woman.

“I do not know for certain if she will attempt to join our bed, but there is a strong possibility. I felt I should warn you, and give permission to invite her to join us, if the conversation went in such a direction. And, of course, only if you are interested.”

Before he could respond, she encased the whole of his cock’s tip in her mouth, and began to milk him, squeezing her suckling lips tight and drawing them up, from the base of the bulbous head to the tip. The sparks of pleasure were immediate and massive, flowing down his length in between his legs, and telling his insides to let out the growing pool of heat building there. A hard flex of his inner muscles caused a gush of his cum to splash onto her tongue, and Antoinette smiled up at him while keeping his shaft in her mouth, suckling the engorged tip almost painfully, and licking the underside with a loving tongue, as he flooded her mouth with his cum.

“I ... will ... m-make sure to ... to say something if she ... suggests it.” It was almost enough to white his mind, the extreme sensation of being suckled and licked during orgasm. She knew just how hard to go, how tight, how fast, keeping everything bordering on too much without ever crossing over. It left him destroyed, helpless but to lie there and squirm as the pleasure waves coursed through his length and out from between his legs.

Evidently satisfied, she lifted her head, swallowed, licked her lips, and grinned at him. “That said, do be careful with her, my love. She is a calculating, dangerous woman, and she has her own agendas.”

“I see.” Typical elder then. No surprise there. And if she was Antoinette’s friend, than she was probably smart and deadly to a degree words didn’t do justice.

As Antoinette pulled away and started getting dressed, he forced himself to sit up. He didn’t want to. He wanted to lie back down and spend more time with Antoinette. Fuck going back to work. Fuck going out there and dealing with Angela, and getting revenge. Fuck that noise, as Jessy would say. Just let him stay in bed, chat with Antoinette about stories, music, history, politics, maybe invite her ghouls over for some foursomes, and ultimately do nothing productive.

He couldn’t let himself do that. Just like when he was first changed, first became a vampire, it was important he didn’t let himself stop doing things. To sit idle and contemplate was a recipe for depression, and a downward spiral into mourning sadness that’d rip him in half, like it was probably doing to Triss over, and over, and over.

That was probably half the reason Antoinette had put the idea of him in bed with her and Elaine, to keep his mind on something far more appealing. And it was definitely appealing. The idea of him, lying down, while two women with huge breasts buried his dick in four pillows of erotic, heavy softness? It was hard to think of a more juvenile male fantasy, and damn, it was an awesome one.

Groaning at himself for being too damn smart for his own good, he jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. Watching Antoinette get dressed was always a joy, and he made sure to do plenty of that. Black bra that struggled to handle her breasts, black panties that were borderline a thong, gray business skirt, blouse, and suit jacket. Black shoes too, of course. Antoinette did love to wear black.

“So, she’s an elder, like you?” Obviously, from her earlier comment about how long they’d known each other.

“Indeed. She has served the Ordo for many centuries. Unfortunately, as many of us realized far too late, we did not journal our lives with the detail we now wish we did.” Ugh, journaling. “But she had written enough that we know she has, indeed, served our order as long as I have.”

The idea of forgetting their previous lives due to age and torpor, was a scary idea. It gave him a reason to journal things, sure, but it was still damn hard to wrap his mind around that wall. If he hit four or five hundred years of age, would he forget how he felt now, staring at Antoinette and struggling to not jump her, because of how amazing her ass looked as she slid her skirt on over it? Would he forget what it felt like the first time he talked to her, the dangerous dragon sitting in Bloodlust?

Those were things worth writing about, and worth writing about on actual paper. Digital revolutions could mean files might get lost or deleted, but paper was forever, if it got laminated or something, and locked inside a vault. Mental note: when you get back to your apartment, look into a better way to journal things.

“My pets,” she said, “have never seen Elaine. But they know of her, and will undoubtedly wish to partake, lost in the stories of my past that I have shared with them.”

He couldn’t blame them. Just one story about her past, and Jack had a newfound respect for his lover’s immeasurable sex drive and sexual interest.

“Wait, four women, one man? Are you telling me that’s a possibility?”

“Oui.”

He winced as he looked down, buttoning his shirt. “I mean, uh, I’m only one guy. And—”

“I am sure that you will be more than capable of handling it, little Ventrue. Especially if you feed and feed deeply, non?” Laughing, she sat down at her nearby desk, and started making adjustments to her make up. “You are taking your mother to see your apartment today, are you not?”

“Yeah. I think she still has trouble believing that I’m financially well off. I could almost hear her writing desperate cheques in some sort of attempt to help me with money, because she hasn’t heard from me for two years. Gotta help her son, right?” They both chuckled. His mom was adorable. “After that, I thought maybe we’d talk about ... about visiting Mary’s grave, once she’s buried. And her own grave.”

“Ah yes, the sight of one’s own grave will forever be a powerful, final seal, on one’s past.”

He raised a brow. “You’ve seen your grave?”

“If I have, I ... I cannot remember. And it is likely that no such grave exists.”

He frowned as he came up behind her, grabbed a brush, and started going through her hair. “If you’re as old as you think you are, then ... yeah, I guess. Who knows.” The feel of her hair was always pleasant, and he leaned in to smell it a little as he brushed it. It was silly, but hey, if she continued to use shampoo that smelled nice, he could not be blamed for smelling it.

“Be careful, Jack. Your mother may react strongly to such a situation.”

“Do ... you want to come?” He leaned in over her shoulder, set his chin on it, and kissed her ear, watching her reflection in the mirror. “It won’t happen for weeks yet, but when Mom and I do go to see Mary’s grave, and her grave, her sire should be with her, right?”

“That ... is true, my love. I admit, I had thought you would have preferred to perform such a powerful ceremony in private with your mother.”

“It will be in private, with you.” He set the brush aside, kissed her again, whispered, “I love you,” and headed for the door.

“I love you,” she said, smiling at him, before turning to the mirror.

He breathed deep as he looked around his apartment. The breathing habit would never die, no matter how useless it was. Within a moment, his body always realized the breath did little, provided no soothing oxygen, no comfort, no energy, no nothing. But, at least scratching his head still provided some of that soothing sensation; permanently even, because it’d be forever buzzed until the end of time.

“You’ll rub your head raw,” his mom said.

He laughed, and stepped aside so she could follow him in. “You know that isn’t true, at least not anymore.”

“I ... I guess that’s true, isn’t it?” As she stepped in and slid out of her new, fluffy white coat Antoinette got her, she dropped her jaw. “This place is so ... expensive!” She still didn’t understand that she too could afford a place like this, being the childe of Antoinette. Hell, she was wearing a very nice suit, charcoal with pants.

“I can afford it. Easily.”

“B-Because of the Prince?” She slipped off her shoes and started walking around, running her fingers along the white walls, black couches, glass table, the steel kitchen appliances, and she looked up the small stairs that led to the small second floor that held the master bedroom. The second floor only took up half the apartment, so the living room had a high ceiling, and an enormous window.

“Nope.” He followed after, waiting for her to stick her nose somewhere he didn’t want her to; which wasn’t really anywhere, he supposed. As long as she didn’t go through his laptop, she was free to poke her nose wherever she wanted. A big change from the past, hiding in his bedroom and considering everything within to be his private property.

The enormous TV sat against the wall over one couch, and his mom laughed as she finally sat down, and motioned to it. “Didn’t you used to say that proper viewing height was blah blah blah lower than this?”

He sat down beside her, on the couch in the center of the living room, and grabbed the remote off the glass table. With a press of a button, the TV began to lower, until it was, indeed, at a proper viewing height, the upper hemisphere of the screen level with the eyes. How anyone could watch a TV not at the correct viewing height, he could never understand.

“Other couch is in the way,” he said, “but I can just slide it out of the way when I need to.” The huge living room had more than enough space.

“Wow.” She blinked at the technological display, before turning her eyes to the blackout curtains that blocked the window. “And, still using those thick curtains? You ... you probably shouldn’t let the sun in, should you?”

He laughed again. This was too cute. He got up and pulled the curtain aside, exposing the lights and tops of the buildings of Dolareido. They were pretty damn high up, and it was the most expensive district in the whole city. People went all out like it was Vegas here. There were glass pools connected to the sides of apartments. Some apartments took up the entire floor of the building they were in. Many of them kept the windows open, as if hoping other people would notice how much money they had. A few others kept them open because they had some blatant exhibitionist kinks. More than a few women enjoyed standing around on their balconies wearing bikinis, or night gowns that were partly open. A few of them, straight up enjoyed fucking on their balconies, or masturbating for what was probably a webcam they had setup nearby. Thankfully none of that was on display tonight. Lucky.

“You—” His phone rang. “Ugh, hold on. Might be my bosses.”

“Ok dear.” With a nod, his mom got up and walked over to the window. Much as she was used to being surrounded by fancy living arrangements and technology, thanks to the Prince, she didn’t spend much time high up in the tower. There was no substitute for seeing a city at night like Dolareido, from up high, regularly.

He pulled out his phone, and grimaced. A message from Damien.

~Jack, I followed up on the statue issue with Vicky and Parker. They insist that they traded with Jacob for them.~

Oh for fuck’s sake. Why, why was it always Jacob?

~What’d they trade with?~ No point in asking why or how Jacob had acquired special artifacts like that; he wouldn’t have told the two entrepreneurs. Fucker probably had millions of dollars stashed away in various bank accounts, that he likely never felt the need to spend. The Circle didn’t care for possessions.