Chapter 127

~~Author’s Note~~

This is a fun, silly chapter, a break in the story before things get serious. Feel free to skim.

~~Damien~~

After being pestered by Fiona until the Lord himself would have broken, Damien agreed to go to Bloodlust. He loved hanging out with Fiona, but going to a nightclub was the last thing he wanted to do, and she knew it. So she dialed up her pestering and playful prodding until he relented. It was probably healthy for him to socialize, even if he’d prefer to be home alone, or home with Fiona.

He picked up Fiona at her apartment. She wore a dress obviously meant to kill him, because he froze when she opened the door. A living man would have died instantly. A vampire was thankfully only struck dumb for several long minutes of staring and gawking.

A deadly green dress, open back, two tiny straps over the shoulders, holding up the tight, plunging bust snug to her huge breasts. The green glittered, and the extremely short skirt had a split that went up past her hip, with little green straps connecting the split. No underwear.

“What do ye think?” she said, grinning up at him before spinning around once.

“It’s ... shiny.”

“It’s sequin!” Giggling, she reached out for his chest, and undid a couple buttons of his suit shirt. “Come on ye dobber, show some skin!”

He frowned down at her fingers, but didn’t stop her. “I probably should, I suppose. I’ll never, uh, have cleavage like yours though.”

Her giggles turned into squeaks, and she stepped onto her toes to reach up and kiss him.

“Aye, but I’m a pretty lass. Yer the lad, the man, and should be ... strong!” She raised her arms and flexed her biceps. Vrall may have been a very strong creature, but Fiona was soft. Thin, but soft, and didn’t have much muscle to show off. It was adorable.

He laughed, nodding. She was too damn cute to not. “Unbuttoning my shirt makes me strong?”

She touched his chest, traced his pectorals, and ran her fingers down to his abs. “Aye.”

The fire in her eyes blazed, and he gulped down on a dry throat. If he’d been Blushing Life, he would have pushed her back into her room, closed the door, and thrown her onto her bed. But with it off, he could ignore the biological half of him, mostly, and smile down at his girlfriend.

He did not look forward to going to some sort of impromptu gathering at Bloodlust, but if he was going with Fiona, he knew he’d have fun; not sexual fun, but fun. It was a public place, after all. But, Fiona made him laugh, made him smile, made him feel warm, and made him feel like he wasn’t hiding out in a sewer rat hole anymore. Hanging out with her was always fun.

Ok, maybe it might not be so fun.

Damien groaned, but Fiona pushed him up the stairs. All the kine had vacated the second floor, leaving only vampires and werewolves above the dancing kine beneath. And to Damien’s surprise, there were a lot of vampires and werewolves.

There was no denying that Fiona had called it right. Tonight, the theme was sexual attraction. That made sense for a nightclub, but vampires and werewolves had some massive advantages. Vampires were groomed before their embrace, and turned usually when at peak physique and attractiveness. Werewolves overflowed with energy and life, probably because their wolf spirit wanted them to be the strongest vessel possible. So, everyone on the top floor was gorgeous, and considering what they were wearing, basically half naked.

The largest booth, further back on the floor, contained the group of people he’d expected, his friends and whatnot. But the contents of a nearby booth caused Damien to raise a brow. That was Caleb, Brianna, and the two vampires he’d seen sandwiching her at the ball. A couple other vampires were with them, women, members of Isabella’s acting troupe. Both had their hands on Caleb. Another werewolf, Erica, sat closer to Brianna, and one of Brianna’s male companions had his hands on Erica, evidently at Brianna’s request. Fiona had somehow invited a lot of paranormals, paranormals he doubted she’d ever spoken to before. It wouldn’t have surprised him if Fiona could easily get herself invited to a stranger’s wedding, through her sheer sociability.

The smell of alcohol was blatant, and Damien noticed many bottles and glasses of alcohol at both tables. The werewolves were getting drunk — were drunk — and considering what he’d heard from Jessy, their blood was extremely potent. Any vampire who got a nibble was bound to be borderline high on the bliss.

He sighed, and forced his eyes to the group waiting for him. Jack sat in the middle of the group, with Elaine, then Eric, then Jessy on his right. On his left was Antoinette, then Matthew, then Natasha, then Arturo. Matthew was the only person there taller than the Prince, though Arturo seemed to match it.

Jack was dressed in an Invictus suit, shirt undone, same as Damien. The werewolves, on the other hand, were dressed for a club. Eric wore a casual shirt that was open to the navel, while Matt wore a tight tank top, and Art wore some kind of fishnet shirt, nothing underneath.

The women were dressed as he expected women to dress in a nightclub, except of course, taking advantage of their immortal beauty and endless money. Elaine wore white, Antoinette wore black, both dresses nothing but a few loose straps that barely covered their enormous breasts, and probably less of their legs. Jessy wore a see-through, tight dress made of some sort of thin, black material, and underneath he could see she had X-shaped nipple pasties on. Most surprising was Natasha, who wore a tube top, except, tube top was too generous a word. More accurately, it was a three-inch thick strap of black that circled her chest at the perfect position to hide her nipples; you had to have small breasts to wear something like that, and it looked amazing on her tiny frame. He couldn’t see anyone’s legs, booth table in the way where he stood, but he imagined she wore a tiny black skirt to go with.

She noticed his staring, and looked down, embarrassed. Which earned a laugh and elbow from Art in her side. Which earned a hard punch from her, a punch that landed in Art’s side and didn’t faze him in the slightest.

Damien smiled, took Fiona’s shoulders, and forced her to sit down before he did. No way he was going to join this giant group and not be on the outside edge of the booth. Just getting Fiona to sit down was already enough to have people shoulder to shoulder. Once he sat down, everyone was thoroughly squished.

“How nice of you to join us, Damien,” Antoinette said, with a little more edge to her voice than he felt strictly necessary. “I had been wondering, considering this was Fiona’s event.”

Fiona giggled and shrugged. “Fashionably late, aye?”

Damien twitched, but the Prince laughed and nodded.

“Ben oui.”

“Gonna be straight with ya,” Jessy said, “didn’t expect the elders.”

Everyone looked at her like she’d just lost her damn mind, but Elaine and Antoinette laughed more, eventually shrugging.

“I had heard,” Elaine said, “that the tiny redhead had invited Jack to a gathering at Bloodlust. Antoinette has spoken to me of the unusually friendly nature between certain members of her city, and I wanted to see it firsthand.” She leaned forward, placed her elbows together on the table, squashing her hanging breasts together, and grinned at Jessy. “Invictus are not known for playing well with others.”

Jessy grinned, but Damien recognized the itch of fear nagging at her. Talking buddy buddy with an elder wasn’t exactly smart, but somehow Jessy had managed to survive over fifty years talking like that. Maybe she knew something he didn’t, but regardless, she wasn’t so stupid as to not be a little afraid of Elaine.

“Invictus play well with others!” Jessy elbowed Eric’s side, and gestured toward Elaine. “Tell her!”

Eric put up his hands in total, abject surrender. Smart man. Jessy elbowed him again, earning a groan from him, but he only lowered his arms to drink more, and everyone laughed. Damn it, even Damien laughed a little.

“As Jessy and Elaine have made somewhat obvious,” Antoinette said, “she and I are not here to play ruler or bully, Prince or elder. Things in my city have been ... quiet, for the most part as of late, and I am taking the opportunity to show my friend that relations have improved.” She nodded toward Jessy and Fiona, and then to Natasha beside her. “Three Uratha and a Begotten sit at this table. Surely a cause for celebration. My lover has done well.”

Everyone at the table smiled at Jack. Jack winced, like a kid being called out at a high school assembly, for doing a good job at something.

Damien caught his glance, and the two of them looked at each other for a moment, before looking away again. Something dangled around the boy’s neck, but Damien looked away before he could figure out what it was.

“Yeah, Jack’s gotten pretty good at keeping things smooth,” Jessy said. “If we had a Carthian and witch at the table, it’d be complete.”

“I’m not a miracle worker,” the boy said. “But, Garry and Michael have been playing nice with each other lately, mostly. Nothing to do with me though. They’re just biding their time and waiting for an opportunity to fuck each other over. But, hey, better than them fighting and—”

Antoinette shook her head. “Come now, let us not speak of covenant matters. We are here to relax. Speak of more enjoyable affairs.”

The group of them looked at each other, each taking turns making eye contact with others, before everyone turned and looked at Jessy and Fiona. Which sent Fiona into a fit of maniacal giggles. She grabbed a bottle from the table, poured herself a drink, and drank it down without bothering to check what it was. Apparently, she wanted to catch up to the intoxication level of the werewolves.

“What, only Fiona and me know how to have fun?” Jessy said.

Arturo shrugged. “More like, you two kinda vibe on this atmosphere.”

Jessy pfffft’d, loudly, and gestured to the two elders. “Don’t give me that. These two have probably held parties that make Bloodlust look tame.”

“I didn’t say it had to be extreme.”

“Your eyes said it!” Jessy slapped a palm on the table, but the aggression was playful, and she grinned at the werewolf across from her. “But for real, it’s a little hard to just let loose with a couple elders here. If Michael were here, or even Maria, I’d be ... uh, kinda questioning what shit I could get away with.”

“Tonight, you may get away with anything,” Antoinette said, offering Jessy a small flick of her wrist. “As you said, we have thrown gatherings that would make Bloodlust seem tame.” And of course, the elder said that last bit with a touch of emphasis and sultry flair, putting some obvious images in everyone’s head. Yeah, people knew what things Antoinette was into, and it didn’t take much to piece together what sort of parties a Daeva elder probably held in the advent of her power. The orgy could probably have been heard a village away.

“Alright.” Jessy leaned forward across the table, and grinned at Natasha. “Shown anyone else your movies yet?”

Natasha almost squeaked, but after taking a moment to regain her confidence, frowned at her friend. “Antoinette’s seen them.”

Damien smiled. Natasha was reliable in a fight, extremely fast, and her unusual bloodline allowed her to see in darkness most Kindred could not; whether or not Daniel could, no one knew. When bullets and swords started flying, she was confident, just, not confident in socially awkward situations. He had no idea how she’d managed to find the confidence to wear a tube top barely bigger than a belt.

She’d changed.

“I have,” Antoinette said, grinning, “and Natasha is quite beautiful in them. As are you two, you delicious pair.” The Daeva smiled at the two werewolves surrounding Natasha, and winked, earning some big dopey grins from them.

Movie? Well, if it was a movie containing Natasha, Matthew, and Arturo, it was probably spicy, especially considering the embarrassed look on Natasha’s face.

“I wanna see, I wanna see!” Fiona said, and she leaned forward over the table, squashed her chest down on it, and held out both hands toward Natasha with gimme grabbing motions.

“Um, uh ... m-maybe later.”

After a laughing snort, Jessy leaned in and whispered into Fiona’s ear. Squealing with delight, Fiona burst into more giggles, and bounced in her seat several times. “I wanna see I wanna see!”

Damien elbowed her in her side. Far softer than Eric elbowed Jessy in the side, though. Fiona’s giggles stopped, but her smile never faded, and she quickly gulped down more drink, as did the werewolves.

“I am delighted,” Elaine said, “that everyone here is so comfortable with each other.”

Natasha groaned, a tiny sound, while Arturo and Matthew laughed.

“I have to admit,” Art said, “every time I look around in Dolareido, I’m surprised. And happy. Tijuana was nothing like this.”

“How was it?” Fiona asked.

“Rough. Very rough. The covenants didn’t get along at all, and were happy to use regular joes and janes as fodder. No one treated any of them with respect, and vampires killed them regularly.”

“What? Why!?”

He shrugged. “Don’t ask me, they just did.”

“If I may,” Elaine said. “There are many cities in the world where vampires are taught to accept their predatory instincts. We are predators. Humans are prey. Such views are ... antiquated, and narrow minded. But imagine being thrust into an environment where every other creature you shared your territory with displayed such behavior? A self-propagating issue, especially when your enemies behave the same way. And in cities where covenants turn streets into battlefields, the darkest instincts in any Kindred emerge.”

“You,” Jessy said, “must have an interesting history.”

“I do.”

“Tell us about yourself.”

Elaine raised a brow, leaned back, and hooked one arm under her bust, while the other reached up to tap on her lips thoughtfully. “Some of you know I am Jack’s great grandsire, some of you perhaps do not.” The group looked at each other. Yeah, they all knew by now, and Elaine laughed. “Gossipers. You know I am a dragon, and have belonged to the Ordo Dracul for centuries.”

“Yeah, but, I mean, if you’re Antoinette’s friend, and you definitely are from what we all saw at the ball, you must have some spicy stories.”

“You, young Gangrel, are a sex addict.”

Jessy laughed, hard, with a couple hard snorts sneaking into her hysterics. Apparently being called out on her sexual addiction was hilarious? Damien didn’t understand Jessy’s sense of humor. But either way, her laughter was contagious, and several people also laughed; Fiona outright giggled herself into asphyxia.

“Yeah, I am. But can you blame me? Grew up in Dolareido, embraced half a century ago, and stayed in Dolareido that whole time. I blame the city.” With a sly, knowing grin, Jessy nodded toward the Prince. “I am what she made me.”

People laughed again. Damien rolled his eyes. Why, why did it always come to sex? It wasn’t like Dolareio didn’t have other venues of expression and pleasure, ranging from its plays and orchestras, to gambling extravagances. Not everything had to be about sex.

Of course, a glance at Fiona beside him sort of wiped away that thought. The tiny, tight green dress sent his imagination spiraling into pits of sexuality, until all he could think of was tearing it off her and throwing her onto the table. Ugh, these sexaholic friends were slowly but surely changing him, for better or worse.

“I am happy to have done you a service,” Antoinette said to the Gangrel.

Elaine leaned forward and grinned at Jessy. “A little bird told me you have been enjoying your nights with a werewolf, transformed. That sounds interesting.”

The Gangrel grinned the most evil grin Damien had ever seen, to the point everyone at the table except for the two elders looked a little worried.

“Truth or dare?”

Jack immediately threw up his hands. “No no, no. Bad Jessy, bad. We’re here to hang, and show Elaine what it’s like in Dolareido, with how we all get along. We don’t need to—”

“Very well Gangrel,” Elaine said, evil grin a mirror to Jessy’s.

Oh Lord, help him survive this night. Help Jessy survive the night. Or not. You can take her, if you want.

“Awesome. Truth it is. The sex is great. It can get a bit rough, you know, having a giant foot-long shlong jammed into a hole and stretching me until I’m borderline bursting, but holy fuck, I just cum my brains out, every time. He’s so huge when he’s transformed, fucking strong as hell, and the danger just makes everything so much better.”

Everyone looked at Eric, and the poor man squirmed in his seat. Considering Jessy sat on his right, and Elaine on his left, he was surrounded by two sexually aggressive women who apparently didn’t have a single qualm about talking about sex openly. Well, considering how long he’d been dating Jessy now, he must have accepted his fate.

“It sounds delightful.”

“My turn. Truth or dare?”

Elaine tapped her lips a couple more times. “Truth.”

“How many times has Jack cum on your tits?” Jessy, was ruthless. No hesitation whatsoever. Jack threw a bottle at her, but she caught it without issue. “What? Come on. If I had a dick, I know I’d be doing everything I could to—”

Eric elbowed her again. She elbowed him back. The antics continued until Matthew had to grab the table to keep it steady as the two pushed at each other.

“Dozens,” Antoinette said, bringing the lovers’ spat to a quick end, and the whole table froze for a moment as they realized the Prince said it, not Elaine. Jack groaned and sank into his seat.

“Fucking awesome.” Jessy held out her hand for Jack to high five, and when he didn’t, she simply held it there. After fifteen seconds of awkward silence, Jack groaned again and high fived her.

“Truth or dare?” Elaine asked.

“Fuck it, dare.”

Of course. Damien looked past Fiona and Jessy, and offered Eric a sad, knowing shrug once the man met his eyes. Eric returned it, and took a sip of his drink. This night was going to be weird.

Somehow, Elaine’s devious grin managed to grow more devious. “Remove the pasties.”

Oh no. If Elaine was willing to go that far, this night was doomed.

Jessy shrugged, pulled down the apparently quite stretchy and springy collar of her see-through dressed, reached down, and peeled the X pasty off each nipple.

“Hold these,” she said, and she passed them to Eric, who rolled his eyes and slipped them into his pants’ pocket.

Damien did his best to avoid looking, but wandering eyes caught a glimpse of her naked breasts, and he frowned as he looked away. He’d seen the damn woman naked plenty of times through his telescope, fucking her ghouls, but this was a proximity he hadn’t expected.

Fiona, on the other hand, made no efforts to avoid looking, and she giggled as she stared down at Jessy’s chest. Damien’s girlfriend had larger breasts, but that didn’t change that Jessy was a very fit woman with visible feminine musculature, and her breasts were unusually large considering how low her body fat percentage was. They drew Fiona’s eyes, and hand, and she reached out to lift and fondle one of those breasts through the see-through, skin-tight black dress.

“Ha. Fiona, you’ve seen these before. If you wanted to touch, you just had to—”

Damien stood up, pulled Fiona out of the booth, sat down, and sat Fiona on the outside edge. She whined and pouted, but three seconds later she forgot about why she’d been moved, and proceeded to nuzzle into Damien’s side. Her further arm reached across, slipped into his open shirt, and caressed his abs with her fingertips, while her eyes drifted between Jessy and Elaine. Well, better him than Jessy.

Jessy laughed. “Jealous I’m going to steal your girl?”

He rolled his eyes, again. “No, but I’m noticing it’s the women in Dolareido who are a little near-sighted with their sexual aggression.”

“Hey!” Natasha said. “I’ll have you know I’m v-very ... careful, about what I do.”

Jessy shook her head. “Then why did—”

“Because Art and Matt are assholes!” She folded her arms across her barely covered chest, and frowned up at the big guy on her left, and then the big guy on her right.

Damien raised a brow, and looked to Jack for explanation. The boy shrugged, confused as well.

“What can I say?” Art said. “You look great naked.”

“So do I,” Matt said. “But not as good as Natasha.”

“What happened? Tell me!” Fiona yelled. Thankfully her voice didn’t have enough impact to punch through the bassy music and reach beyond the top floor.

Matt glanced down at Natasha, who sighed and gave a very embarrassed nod. “Art turned on the laptop camera while I was having sex with her. Jessy watched.”

Fiona groaned and bounced in her seat. Considering the environment he was trapped in, Damien figured it was only reasonable he noticed his girlfriend’s large breasts jiggling in her tight dress as she expressed her frustration over not being included.

“Do ye vampires just, trade sexy things like that all the time? How come I dinnae get to see anything?”

“Probably cause you’re dating a priest,” Art said with a smirk.

“I’m not a priest. I’m a bishop. And the Testament of Longinus makes it clear that the word of God and His commandments are for kine, not Kindred.”

Art raised a brow at that, before he leaned forward and set a single elbow on the table. A slightly aggressive posture, one Damien recognized from Jessy’s playful side, and one he recognized from drunk men.

“So it’s cool if Fiona sees what we show Jessy?”

Damien sighed, shrugged, and slipped an arm around Fiona’s shoulders. “When in Rome, I suppose. I have no issue with Fiona wanting a peek.” And it wasn’t like he hadn’t taken plenty of peeks in his second life with his telescope.

“Yay!” Fiona leaned up, kissed his cheek, and then climbed onto his lap. Not much room for her, between him and the booth table but she made it work, sitting on his lap and leaning forward over the table. She looked like she was about to say something, but took another drink instead.

Matthew put up his hands though. “Natasha’s in charge of distribution. I don’t mind being naked on camera, neither does Art, but Natasha—”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Sighing, Natasha shrugged and gestured to the table. “We’ve all seen each other n-naked to some d-degree or another.”

Art raised an eyebrow. “Damien—”

“Has spied on the city for fifty years,” Antoinette said, a touch of cold edge in her voice that made Damien freeze. “I know he uses telescopes from vantage points, as well. No doubt he has seen many of you naked.”

Jessy laughed and elbowed him, thankfully with less force than she did Eric earlier. “Bet you saw me doing all sorts of shit with my dudes.”

“Yes, I did.” Hopefully the disgust in his voice would get across that he did not enjoy doing that. Though, now that he was free of Lucas’s suggestion, he had to admit, some of those nights had been intriguing. “If you do not wish to be seen, close your curtains.”

Everyone laughed again, the elders especially.

“But,” Jessy added, “the only person who’s been seeing Elaine naked, is Jack and the Prince. How about you Tash? Boys? I bet you’ve seen the Prince with Jack, but seen Elaine?”

The three of them shook their heads.

Elaine laughed, a sultry sound, and met eyes with the Gangrel. “It is your turn to question, after all.”

“Ha! Alright, truth or dare? Dare you to dare.”

“Dare it is, child.”

“Pfft. Take out your tits.”

Jack winced. Antoinette chuckled. Damien and Natasha shared a glance that spoke volumes: this was not an environment for Mekhet. And yet, here he was, with a bubbly, fun, drunk woman who every much thrived in this environment, on his lap. Being here with her made it fun, despite the pains. Natasha was likely in a similar boat with her boyfriends.

Everyone’s jaw dropped as Elaine, without hesitation, reached behind her, lifted up on the white strap hooked behind her neck, pulled it up and past her blonde hair, and let it fall to her waist underneath the booth table. Eric gulped and tried to inch away from her, but Jessy did the opposite, and leaned in closer to the topless woman, pushing Eric toward her. Those were some very large breasts.

“Jesus. Why can’t Michael be as fuck-around free as you?” Jessy said.

“Because he is Invictus.” Elaine shrugged, and Damien forced his eyes down from the sight of her enormous, pale breasts rippling with the motion. Fiona did no such thing. “I am sure the man sits on a throne with a dozen thralls kneeling at his feet, stroking his ego as much as his cock. But he likely does so in private.”

Jessy utterly erupted, laughing until everyone was, even Jack and Damien. Though, poor Jack, was doing his best to avoid looking at Elaine’s breasts. Difficult to do, considering how massive they were, and how they hung as heavy teardrops and half nudged into his shoulder and chest.

“Come now Elaine, do not insult my Primogen,” Antoinette said once the laughter was done.

“If your Primogen had joined us, I would play nice. But they are not here.” Elaine grinned, lifted herself up a couple inches, and sat back down with impact. The jiggling effect was massive, and everyone, Jack included, watched the rippling of her bust. “And they are missing out. This is a fun game. It has been ages since a young Kindred has had the gall to be so forward with me.”

“My girlfriend,” Eric said, voice a half groan of something between annoyance and delight, “is definitely forward.”

Chuckling, Jessy pushed herself into Eric’s side. They were all already squished, but she squished him even harder, making sure her breasts pressed into his side, and that Elaine’s closer breast pressed to his shoulder.

“Do not be so uptight, silly children,” Elaine said. “They are breasts, nothing more. We all have them, men included. There is little to be embarrassed by.” Well, she certainly had the elder outlook Antoinette had.

Art and Matt looked at each other, and without saying a word, both took off their shirts, set them on the table, and then downed more of whatever they were drinking. Jessy and Fiona both moaned openly, and Damien coughed before flicking his girlfriend in the leg. She giggled, reached back, pat his cheek, and pointed.

“Come on, they’re so big! I have to look.”

“You are utterly adorable,” Elaine said, and she leaned forward enough for her huge breasts to press down on the table with their weight, as she grinned at Fiona. “How strange it is, for a monster of nightmares such as yourself, to be the most jovial of us all.”

Fiona beamed, a big, bright smile, and Damien’s annoyance with the whole situation vanished. Of course, Fiona being Fiona, and very drunk at that, didn’t hesitate to slip her shoulder straps down and pull her dress’s chest down to her hips, exposing her breasts for all. More giggles. She brought her hands up to her chin in tiny fists, pushed her breasts together with her forearms, and bounced a few times on Damien’s lap, obviously trying to mirror Elaine’s playful bounce earlier. And it worked. Everyone stared at Fiona’s equally huge, jiggling breasts for a moment, Damien included. He probably should have been putting the drunk woman’s dress back on, but, for some reason, he didn’t.

“Is this the plan?” Jack said. “We strip? I—”

Groaning, Eric slipped out of his shirt, and set it on the table. When Jack looked at him, eyebrow raised and obviously disappointed, the man shrugged.

“When in Rome, right? Vamps pay my paycheck.”

Jessy cheered and gave her man a hard slap in the chest. “Totally hot.”

“Aye!” Fiona said, blushing when she glanced Eric’s way. But before Damien could feel jealousy over that — the two had dated, after all — she grabbed Damien’s hands, set them under her breasts, and leaned back onto his chest. “Hold these for me.”

He rolled his eyes, but when Fiona turned and set a kiss on his cheek, he turned and returned it, without thinking. And, without thinking, he looked down over the small woman’s shoulders, at her large, pale breasts, at how her freckles lessoned the further down he looked, and he shivered over how their bottom-heavy teardrop shape spilled over his palms.

“This,” Jessy said, “is the best night ever.”

“You’re all a bunch of horny kids,” Jack said, folding his arms across his chest.

“Agreed,” Damien said, and he leaned his head over Fiona’s shoulder a bit to offer his friend a smile. Jack returned it.

“Come now Jack,” Antoinette said, and she leaned down over him to kiss his ear. “The freedom to express the body casually is something I have fought for in my city. It delights me to see these silly individuals be comfortable enough to disrobe.” Her hands roamed over his chest, and undid a few buttons as seamlessly as a magician. “Besides, you have made great strides in controlling your curse. There is nothing to stop us from simply enjoying tonight, silliness included.”