Master of The City: Danilo Parts 9-12
May. 6th, 2005 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jessara40k_ljAnd this is the other thing I hadn't put up earlier.
Notes: The title of this section says it all, they’re a threesome folks. But they aren’t violent or anything, I just thought I should warn you that it wasn’t just a couple, and it’s Asher/Jean-Claude/Anita.
Part IX – Ménage Trois
Asher lifted me off the couch and carried me through the corridors to Anita’s bedroom. I designed it to showcase my beauty, but it does equally well to display Anita’s, so when she became Master of the City this was the room she took. She never has slept in a coffin and I’m not sure if she ever will, she seems determined to hold on to what humanity she has left. Once we got into the bedroom he lowered me onto the bed, I lifted my hands to my shirt, to begin undressing for him, but he grabbed my wrists and stopped me.
“No, I want to undress you myself. Don’t move, not at all but let me move you however I want.”
“As you wish.” I murmured, Asher wasn’t particularly happy at my reply, but he accepts my submissive tendencies a lot better than Anita does, even if he can’t really understand them, after all I never showed them when we travelled Europe with Julianna. I lay limp and pliant in his grasp as he unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off me, caressing my now bare chest. Then his hands moved down to my waist and he began unfastening my pants, the only problem with leather is that it can be difficult to get out of. Once he’d got them open he lifted me to my knees so he could pull them down around my thighs. Then he laid me back down on the bed and pulled them down off my legs, licking gently at my ankles as he did so. Then he stood up and took a step back.
“You can undress me now.”
I smiled and stood myself to move behind him and take his cream linen jacket from his shoulders. Next I walked around to stand in front of him while I began unfastening the buttons on his pale blue silk shirt, sinking to my knees as I did so. I had to stand again to remove his shirt, but I also took the opportunity to bow my head to his right collarbone and trace a path along it, feeling the scars beneath my tongue. Then I sank to my knees again to remove his loafers, kissing each foot as I bared it and raised up a little to unfasten his pants, matching the jacket. They were straining at the groin a bit, so it was fortunate that he had decided to wear boxers underneath. I slid his pants down his legs to the floor and he stepped out of them, then we repeated the act with the boxers and I ended knelt on the floor bowed over my knees.
Asher lifted me from that position and carried me to the bed then lay down, pulling me on top of him. He held me against his chest with one arm, then let his free hand roam about my body, not that I had any objections. Our heads turned together so we could see Anita as she entered the room, she wouldn’t be displeased to see us together, she had given permission for at least this much – but it still made me nervous. A smile spread across her face as she took in the scene before her.
“You two are beautiful, and you look so good together, I think I want to just watch for now. Jean-Claude, go and get some oil, vanilla scented I think.” She glanced to Asher for approval, and when he nodded she gestured for me to move.
I hurried to obey and went to my knees beside the bed, offering the bottle to Asher.
“Ah, no Jean-Claude. I don’t want to watch Asher fuck you, I want to watch you fuck him. Asher, lie on your side, facing away from Jean-Claude, and Jean-Claude, lie behind him.” I was shocked, I’d only penetrated Asher when he asked me to, or when Belle Morte had ordered it, before, and he hadn’t asked me to this time – hadn’t since I became Anita’s personal pet. But she is my master, and so I obeyed, and hesitantly began to touch Asher, run my hands over his body, leaving the bottle of oil lying behind me.
“Enough foreplay, Jean-Claude, prepare him.” Asher was relaxed against me as I moved to obey, and he let himself relax as I worked first one finger in then gradually added more. After a while he began thrusting back against me, when Anita saw that she stopped me.
“That should be sufficient preparation Jean-Claude, is it not Asher?”
“Yes, Anita.” Asher’s response was a whispered breath of lust and need, he wanted this, and I didn’t understand why he hadn’t asked me for it instead of playing these games.
“Jean-Claude, enter him, but just enter, don’t move inside him until I tell you to. And keep your hands on his hips.” When I had obeyed Anita came to lie in front of Asher, I’m not sure what she did although her hands brushed mine on Asher’s hips and I think she might have guided him into her. “You can thrust now, hard.”
I obeyed, and Asher’s body moved with the force of my thrusts, he lay limp between us as I kissed along his neck while Anita kept his hands pinned in front of his body and beneath hers, kissing him full on the lips. It was a violent kiss, when she broke from it his lips were bleeding and I could hear his moans of pleasure mingled with just a little pain. Anita climaxed first of course, then we both climaxed at about the same time, I remained inside Asher until I was given permission to withdraw and then rolled onto my back. Anita climbed over Asher to kneel above my face, his seed dripping from inside her body, obviously she had taken him inside her.
“Lick me clean Jean-Claude. And Asher, I want you to clean him up – but don’t let him come.” She lowered herself onto me and I began to lick at her, first cleaning her thighs while Asher’s tongue explored my groin. Once I’d cleaned her thighs I moved on to more intimate areas and ended by pushing my tongue inside her to clean the last traces of Asher from her body, taking pleasure in the taste of him, while he took me into his mouth. She convulsed in orgasm as I worked on my task, clutching at my shoulders and throwing her head back. Then she climbed off me to sit at my side, opposite Asher.
“Enough. Asher, lie back down and let Jean-Claude use his tongue and mouth on you.” I glanced sideways at Anita to check that she was pleased when I began to work on Asher, first licking him clean, then taking him in my mouth, sliding up and down. She seemed to be enjoying the show and she was using her fingers to take her own pleasure.
“Don’t make him come yet, Jean-Claude, wait until I tell you to.” She stiffened for a second just after she’d spoken and shivered slightly, then she crawled out of the range of my vision. After a few seconds I felt her fingers at the entrance to my body, covered in oil and felt her push them inwards slowly. The first time they brushed my prostate I bucked under her fingers and she withdrew them to slap my buttocks. I held still under her probing fingers after that until she pulled her fingers out and pulled me down into her, it was difficult to maintain my rhythm under the circumstances, but I did manage.
“Get back up to your hands and knees.” She ordered after she’d wrapped her legs around my waist and plunged her fingers back into me. Once I’d done that she started to move up and down using her legs, whispering to me to remain still. Her fingers played inside of me while she moved around me, and my breath was beginning to come in short bursts, making it a little more difficult to fellate Asher.
“You can come as soon as I do, and so can Asher.” She thrust herself up against me more vigorously and when I felt her begin to contract around me I let myself come and pulled Asher deep into my throat until I felt him spill his seed into my mouth. She let herself drop to the bed afterwards and I lay down to one side
“Asher, clean me up then you can take Jean-Claude with you for the rest of the night, and you can keep him tomorrow night as well.” I dressed quickly, in loose silks as Asher obeyed, she guided him roughly with his hair until she’d come again, then he dressed and lifted me from my feet. I don’t quite understand why he likes to carry me, but he does and it is nice to be protected like that.
He decorated his rooms in warm colours, red-browns and dark yellow, his bed, where he laid me, is made of cherry and the sheets are cream silk. He lay down beside me and just held me to him for a while, he didn’t even bother to undress, or to undress me. Eventually I managed to speak to him.
“Asher, if you wanted me to penetrate you why didn’t you just ask?” I didn’t speak very loudly, kept my voice intimate, but I let him hear the puzzlement.
“Because I wasn’t sure how you’d react. I didn’t want to upset you, and you’ve been showing your emotions a lot more since you gave the city up to Anita.”
“She likes it when I show emotions, and I’d do anything that pleased you or her.” Asher left it at that and began to kiss me, we spent the rest of the night making love.
xxXxx
Part X – Velvet Glove
Jean-Claude wasn’t very happy about my request to visit Velvet Glove, but he had promised to show me anywhere I wanted once Liao and Ji gave me freedom of movement, and he kept to his promise. It would be two weeks until Mab came to visit and I wanted to see the place we’d be greeting her beforehand.
No-one spoke to us as we came into the club – well none of the employees anyway – the people waiting in queues to get in were outraged that we just walked up to the head of the line and into the club and they made their outrage known. It was surprising inside the club, the walls were hung with embroidered velvet and all the seating was padded with velvet. The colour scheme was black and dark midnight blue – almost matched to Jean-Claude’s eyes, any exposed wood was ebony. Velvet hung from the ceiling to divide the main room into smaller areas, a trick copied from the living room at the Circus. What we could see was very tame, a few sculptures of bondage, but no living exemplars and there was someone on stage reading poetry – erotic poetry but still poetry.
“His voice is piped throughout the club, at least the lower section – on the upper floor you have to request it. Do you want to go straight to the upper floor where we’ll be meeting Mab, or do you wish to explore this floor?”
“Show me what’s downstairs first, please.”
“Very well. There are no restrictions on where anyone goes downstairs, they haven’t paid for privacy. But upstairs we can only go into rooms where the table beside the door doesn’t have a glove lying on top of it. Is there anything in particular you wish to see?”
“Whatever’s most extreme down here.”
“Very well, the rule down here is not too much blood, for that you have to go upstairs, but some of the rooms upstairs are designed for an audience, if the guests want to be watched.” Just about everyone in the club stared at us as we walked between the tables, sometimes close enough that they could reach out and touch us – touch me rather, everyone in St. Louis seems to know that Jean-Claude belongs to Anita. Which shouldn’t be a surprise, it was announced on national television – the feeds were even picked up in France. He was wearing dark blue tonight, leather pants dyed to match his eyes exactly and a heavy silk shirt. His collar and cuffs were a flash of silver against his skin at the open neck of the shirt and at his ankles and wrists. I was only wearing tight leather pants, in dark red and my feet were freezing – the cold doesn’t really affect us normally, but that’s mainly because we ignore it, not because we don’t feel it.
The first place Jean-Claude led me to was near the back of the club, it had a young man naked chained up against the wall spread-eagled. There was a whip leaning against the wall beside him and an older woman lay on one of the couches watching him and us. He had a few whip marks on his body but nothing too serious, nothing that would scar.
“Would you like to try him?” She smiled at us, with an element of mockery but far more lust. She clearly didn’t expect either of us to accept, so I decided to surprise her.
“Why not?” I gave her a smile of my own, equally predatory and bent to pick up the whip. Jean-Claude dropped to the floor and curled up to watch.
“Just don’t do any damage that will scar, I want his skin to heal so it’s as perfect as it started off.”
“You don’t like scars?” Jean-Claude asked her from where he had curled up.
“No, I prefer to see flawless skin under my hands.” She stood and stalked over to me, running her hands along my sides. “Flawless skin like yours.” I stepped away from her and gave her pet a few lashes, just to see how he’d react – I hadn’t expected that he wouldn’t even make a pretence that he didn’t enjoy it. I threw down the whip in apparent disgust and jerked Jean-Claude to his feet by an arm.
“Why was she surprised that I accepted her offer?”
“She assumed that Anita had lent me to you and you’d want a chance to play with me, or that you were submissive, because you’re half naked.”
“I wouldn’t do this for any other Master of the City, not even for Belle Morte, but the sort of reputation Anita has – it’s worth being pet to my inferiors, at least for a while.”
“Are you expecting her to take you into her bed then?”
“I’d like her to, but I’ll settle for a chance to take a normal position in the local hierarchy. I can’t spend more than ten years in this position, at the most, or I’ll find it almost impossible to become independent again. Don’t you have a similar problem?”
“No, I am perfectly content to belong to Anita until I die. I don’t really want to be independent again – and if I ever have to I’ll probably have gained enough power to claim a city somewhere.”
The next place we visited had a woman crammed into a tiny cage, the bars cut into her flesh. After a few more little curtained alcoves like that I asked Jean-Claude to take me upstairs – to be honest I was mainly interested in the layout, not the entertainment, and I admitted that to him. At least this time I was interested in the layout, I fully intended to return here when I was able to – I never was averse to games like these.
xxXxx
I didn’t quite understand why Danilo wanted to visit Velvet Glove, but I had said that I’d show him wherever he wanted to visit in the city, and I would not go back on my word. Once he’d explained that it was more the layout of the club than the entertainment that interested him I understood better, I wouldn’t want to go to a meeting with someone I feared unless I knew about the exits either. I don’t really like Velvet Glove, it reminds me too much of my past – for all my reputation I prefer more or less conventional sex – I’m not normally into pain and I’ve been tortured to give someone else sexual kicks far too often.
“There are two staircases for use by customers, and another two that can only be used by staff – or one of Anita’s favoured followers. I’ll take us up one kept for staff, you’ve got total access in any of Anita’s clubs because you’re a personal pet, even if you aren’t hers. I don’t really like this place – if you wish me to I’ll give you a guided tour...but I’d rather just show you the audience chamber then stay there while you explore as you wish.” I couldn’t keep a plaintive note out of my voice, and I hated it – but it seemed to please Danilo. He smiled at me and ran his hand along the side of my face, unconsciously I leaned into his touch – no-one but Anita, Asher and Damian touch me anymore and I miss it. I’ve always longed for affection more than anything else, and I associate physical contact with affection.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you. I’ll do any exploring I want to do by myself while you wait for me, you’ve already told me which rooms to stay out of – is there anything else I need to know?”
“If you find someone bound with a green collar around their neck then they can be freely used by anyone who enters the room – otherwise you can’t touch someone who has been left bound without specific instructions from their top. Of course I’m assuming the Liao and Ji haven’t forbidden you to lie with anyone else.” As I spoke I led Danilo to one of the back stairs – plain oak rather than black marble such as the main stairs are made of.
“No – they haven’t forbidden me to lie with others. I’m not entirely sure I’d obey them if they did and I don’t think they wanted to push me.” He sounded startled at the idea, what he did with his new masters was no concern of mine and I put it from my mind.
“Anita made sure that there would be an audience chamber in each of her new clubs, the ones she decided to invest in rather than the ones she inherited from me. This is the audience chamber for Velvet Glove, it’s the most impressive one she has except perhaps for the Circus and Anita isn’t going to permit Mab to visit her there.” I pushed open one of the double doors leading into the audience chamber then moved across the room to curl on one of the cushions scattered at the foot of Anita’s throne. It isn’t over ornate, carved with leopards from ebony, but it was built to fit her and only her. The cushion and padding were of red velvet and I leaned my head on the seat watching as Danilo took in the room. I suppose it is dramatic, the ceiling is nearly fifteen feet high and draperies of red silk hang from it. There isn’t much furniture in the room besides Anita’s throne, three lesser chairs made of beech and a lot of cushions in red and black velvet. The carpet is thick and deep in midnight blue and there are tapestries on the walls behind Anita’s throne – she commissioned them especially. They depict some scenes from her history, in a semi-abstract form – for instance you can’t really tell who’s tearing the Earthmover's head off, unless you already know – Anita’s hair wasn’t that long at the time, either.
He prowled the room for almost an hour, checking everything he could about it, and then he made to leave, pausing as something occurred to him.
“You said that if I wanted to screw someone left in a green collar I could – are there any people I’m permitted to feed from?” A logical question I suppose, after all Velvet Glove is vampire-owned, and a surprising number of people enjoy being fed on.
“No, not if they’ve been left. If it is requested you are free to accept or refuse the offer as you wish.” He nodded and left, telling me that he’d return for me in three hours at most. I did not like being so far from Anita and anyone who belongs to her, but she had been so pleased when I made my suggestion that I serve as Danilo’s guide, and I wanted to make her proud of me. I didn’t go looking for someone to reassure me, instead I shut my eyes and remembered some of the things we had done in bed.
xxXxx
Part XI – Human Servant
Asher knelt at my feet, he’d requested and been granted a formal audience with me in private and he seemed to think this was appropriate. We were in my study, he’d walked in and knelt in front of me then waited for me to speak.
“Get up. Why did you request audience?” He stood before me with his head bowed.
“I have found a woman that I wish to mark as my human servant. I requested audience that I might ask your permission to do so.”
“Why do you need my permission?”
“You are my Master of the City, it is required that I ask your permission. Some would not permit their followers to take a human servant, particularly when you do not have one.”
“I might not have a true human servant in the same sense as the Traveler has Balthasar, but Micah and Nathaniel are linked to me in exactly the same way – even if I can’t taste food through them.”
“Still, it is tradition – and the woman I wish to mark, Arianne, is a witch of some power, so I thought it best to ask permission. She also took a master’s degree in Magical Theory.”
“I take it you are sleeping with her, after all I never forbade you to take other lovers. I wish to see her first, then I will give you my decision. But do not expect it to keep you from my bed.”
“I had not planned to take her to my bed, and I am quite content with the three lovers I have already: you, Jean-Claude and Elaith. Actually I suspect that she prefers women to men in her bed, or at least likes both men and women, I’ve seen her watching more than one woman. She is awaiting your decision in my room, I will send her to you now if you wish.”
“Do so. Oh and Asher – I might be a possessive bitch but you aren’t property to me, not the way the rest of my harem are. If you choose to take another lover you can do so freely – provided you are discrete.” And what did it say of me that I thought of most of my lovers as property?
“Thank you Master.” He whispered the words as he left my study to send this Arianne to me. I already knew what my response would most likely be. I would permit him to mark her provided she seemed capable of accepting vampire society, particularly if I liked her.
I glanced up as she entered my study and knelt before me, she made it seem natural – I didn’t think she’d have any problem playing vampire politics, or at least pretending to defer to her master. She kept her head bowed and I looked over her. I could sense that she was a powerful witch – about as powerful as Marianne, but something about her power told me she was a lot more traditional than the witches I knew. Hopefully she’d know some techniques that I could learn from, it was getting a bit awkward for Marianne to teach me. I scared her a little and in theory I seemed to be Master of the City for her pack’s territory as well – at least that was how vampires seemed to treat me. I would have to do something about that at some point, perhaps put one of the masters who serve me in charge of that territory, under my control of course. She was shorter than I am, 4’9”, and slighter, none of the muscles I developed fighting shapeshifters and vampires, instead she looked almost waif-like, the fashionable modern figure, with just enough breast that you could tell she was female. Her hair was the amber shade that walks the border between blonde and brown and cut in a crop feathered at the ends.
“Look at me.” She lifted her head and I could see her face for the first time, it was almost triangular and dominated by a huge pair of green-gold eyes. There was hunger in those eyes as she watched me stand and walk over to her, a hunger I usually see from men, not from women. “You may stand, and speak if you wish. Tell me do you wish to lie with Asher?”
“Not really, he is beautiful, and I can appreciate that in the abstract – but on the rare occasions I chose a male lover it is always one who looks more feminine than does Asher. I like muscles on a female lover, but my men I prefer to be slender, and slight of build, somewhat effeminate. He’s too tall for my taste.”
“Do you find any of my harem appealing then?”
“Not truly, they belong to you anyway, and I would never take something that belonged to another. And they are all active, they will all be muscled, in different ways I expect, but still, even men muscled like gymnasts are not to my taste.”
“If you do not desire Asher sexually, why do you want to be his human servant?”
“It was his idea actually, but I was more than willing to agree. I want to live forever. It’s not quite that simple, but that’s what it boils down to.”
“Explain.”
“I have a family tendency to develop a form of insanity after the age of about thirty. That means that I’d probably use my magic to kill someone and as a result be executed. Our form of insanity tends to be homicidal in nature, and I’m the most powerful witch my family has ever had. If I become Asher’s human servant then I won’t age, and if I don’t age I won’t suffer from that particular form of insanity. I might end up going insane some other way, but I’m sure it won’t be as damaging as what I could do if my family curse kicks in. And if I belong to Asher my insanity would be under some degree of control.”
“What tradition are you trained in?”
“The Sumerian tradition – my family is old, and they have long records. We were cursed about the time that the epic of Gilgamesh was written. Actually I’m not the most powerful we’ve ever had, what I meant to say is that I’m the most powerful since the birth of Christ.”
“And how long have you been trained for?”
“Since I was three years old, when my power first manifested, that makes twenty-five years. Please, if you will not grant Asher’s petition would you ensure that when I do go mad I do not harm anyone; kill me before I can start a murder spree.”
That plea was what decided me in her favour; she was so desperate not to hurt anyone – or rather not to hurt anyone if they didn’t deserve it. But I didn’t plan to let her know my decision straight away, and there were a few more questions that I wanted to know the answers to. Considering that she’d trained in a tradition I’d never even heard of she was almost certain to be able to teach me something new.
“Do you have some philosophical objection to killing then?”
“Only to killing innocents and that’s what I’d do if I succumbed to the family curse. I know that becoming a master vampire’s human servant negates it, because that happened once before, she was unwilling, but once she passed fifty and remained sane she realised just how much reason she had for gratitude.”
“And how would you feel about teaching me your style of magic, it would be interesting for me, and help me gain greater control over my other abilities.”
“I would be honoured if you chose me as a teacher. I would hope to do well in that role. My family do not approve of the fact that I have not yet borne offspring, and I refuse to teach the younger witches because I fear to harm them with my power. You have more power than I so it would be a joy to teach someone, rather than study alone.”
“One final question. I can taste your desire for me; do you expect me to take you into my bed?”
“Only if it pleases you.”
“Very well. I grant permission for Asher to take you as a human servant. But understand, if Asher wishes you to share his bed you must make it clear that you refuse because his height and build do not appeal to you, not because you are disgusted by his scars. It is forbidden to kill another vampire’s human servant, but there are worse things than dying, and I will ensure you suffer one of those fates should you hurt Asher.”
“I understand, and I would never hurt him. I might not desire him, but I do care for him. He is strong and kind and he accepts me in a way my family never truly did. They were always wary of me; because they feared what sort of damage my magic could do when I went insane. And when I refused to bear children to suffer from this curse, or adopt any of the orphans created in their mother’s madness – it is only the women who go insane, and the men do not even pass the curse on – they saw me as rejecting my family. But I would not risk killing or leaving behind my children, of the body or the heart, when I run mad.”
“Very well. Go, and tell him that I grant my permission.”
She turned and left immediately, I might actually call her to my bed at some point, but not just yet.
xxXxx
Notes: this section includes dubious consent to sex, and rough play, it also includes descriptions of mild torture, no details and refers to prior sexual abuse.
Part XII – Memories
For once Anita was making an issue of the fact that she owned me, not that I blamed her, power-plays with a strange master often have to be very clear to work effectively. I was wearing one of my more ornate collars with cuffs to match, they were made of silver and set with onyx. I was also heavily veiled and wearing a loose tunic and pants in heavy black silk, so my body was fairly obscured, the effect was actually more sensual than walking about half naked. My hair fell loose down my back and when Anita deposited me in her audience chamber at Velvet Glove to wait while she dealt with some administrative problems I took out a brush from a hidden compartment to tend to it.
I glanced up when I heard someone entering the room. It was Richard, so I put my brush aside and waited to see if he would wish to command me.
“Do you never get tired of preening yourself, Jean-Claude?”
“No, it gives me something to do, to occupy my mind, and often in the past it was the only thing I was permitted to do, save pleasure my master or whoever he sent to me. But, I had thought Anita said you could bring some of your wolves as bodyguards, to help put on a show, if you wished. Did you decide not to do so, and why not?”
“And have her look at me as if I were a coward? Not a chance.” I stood from replacing the brush in its hidden compartment, and suddenly Richard had me pinned against the wall, his now clawed hand at my throat. “She told me that she was upset at the way I bedded you when she lent you to me. You complained about it to her – didn’t you?”
I shuddered in his grasp, it wasn’t my place to push him from me, and this brought back memories of the one night we were together.
xxXxx
He had come to me in anger – an argument with Sylvie over proper applications of force, I had not inquired too closely as I knew that my sympathies would lie with her and I did not care to anger him further. I had sensed his approach at Danse Macabre where I had been watching the dancers, ma petite’s Damian is one of the best, but he had travelled with her to Omduman so she would have more support as she raised Belle Morte’s husband from his grave – although we had both hoped that she would fail in this task if the truth be known. I turned to look at him when he entered my range of vision and he walked up to me, reaching to lay his hand against the side of my face. We didn’t need to speak, and he tends to refuse me the intimacy of sharing his mind with me, but I could read his sudden hunger, composed of equal parts lust and rage, in his eyes. The rage scared me, but I am well accustomed to appeasing such things through sex, and I hoped that if I lay with Richard I could learn whether it was love or but desire I felt for him.
I nodded and we left the club together. I half expected him to just take me in the first suitable place he found, instead he led me to his car and waited until I had settled in the passenger seat before he spoke.
“Would you rather I took you back to my home for this, or would you prefer the Circus?”
“I have oils and such to make it more pleasant at the Circus, so unless you wish to take me home with you...”
“No!” The force in that one word startled me, he seemed so angry out of proportion to my suggestion.
“You are angered, Richard. Would you care to tell me of what has so displeased you?” I kept my voice low and soothing, made sure that my body language was deferential and supportive. He took a single deep breath before he spoke.
“Sylvie thinks I’m too gentle. I don’t inspire enough ‘respect’ in the pack. If I have to fucking torture people to get respect...” I’d set him off on a rant, and instead of calming him as I’d hoped it sent him further into a rage with every word he spoke. I quietly interrupted him once we’d reached the Circus, and he remained silent as I led him to my bedroom.
“What is your preference, Richard?” I spoke as soon as I shut the door behind us, it didn’t matter what we did, no-one would hear us and our reputations would be safe. Placing a spell on my bedroom so nothing could be detected from outside once the door was closed had been Anita’s first attempt at classical witchcraft, a spectacularly successful one. She had only intended to ensure that we had somewhere to talk without any risk of being overheard, instead when the door is closed almost no-one even realises the room is there.
He didn’t answer in words, rather he threw me up against the wall and kissed me hard. I felt an instinctive fear at the barely leashed violence I could sense in him and forced myself to relax, hoping it would appease him. He did calm slightly and began to strip me swiftly, then lifted me and tossed me to the bed, I knew better than to resist. Instead I twisted so I fell face up and watched him. He removed his own clothes just as swiftly and came to sit by my head. He took hold of me by the hair and pulled my face into his groin – I could have prevented it, but Anita had given him permission to lie with me, so I had to please him. Instead of resisting I began to work him to erection taking him into my mouth, covering my fangs with my lips, careful not to cut him, that would not be likely to improve his mood.
He pulled out just before he climaxed covering me with his seed, not that I minded that, but I would have preferred some show of affection - even a single touch would have sufficed. Anita had always made some show of affection when we were together, and I had grown accustomed to it, she had spoiled me in a way. She never realised just how much I needed affection, how desperately grateful such little shows of affection as a gentle touch during sex, or a hug that doesn’t seem to have any reason make me – at least not until she spent the time she was waiting to rise as a vampire for the first time in my head. I didn’t want her to, I didn’t really want to give her more power over me than I had to, not at the time, I’d accepted her as my master, but I was still nervous of her, afraid she would tire of me.
“On your belly.” His voice came as a growl, he’d obviously come close to shifting, I had plainly pleased him. “Where’s that oil you were talking about?” His voice became more normal the more he spoke, as if it was pulling him back to himself. I’d obeyed him immediately and I turned my head towards him to reply.
“In the small chest beside the door.” Once I’d answered the question I laid my head down on my crossed arms, shutting my eyes, hoping that he’d be gentle, not that I held much hope of that, the mood he was in. I heard him move about the room behind me and felt it as he sat beside me on the bed. I forced myself to stay relaxed, calm, as he began running his hand up and down my back, it was exciting, but it was also slightly disturbing. I shouldn’t have been afraid of Richard, he was the gentlest of the three of us, but in this mood he could also be the most dangerous, because he’s completely unpredictable when he’s really angry. Finally he rested his hand on the nape of my neck, pressing slightly, letting me feel his strength, a threat of sorts.
“Open your eyes. Look at me.” His voice was low and menacing, but totally human and that was scarier than the growl of moments earlier. I complied, doing my best to hide the sudden fear that engulfed me. Neither of us were Anita’s equals, but Richard was a lot closer to it than I was. “I’m going to shapeshift on top of you. You don’t mind do you?” A mockery, it didn’t really matter whether I minded or not, he just wanted me to salve his conscience. I’m over 400 years old and I never reached a point where I had any real choice in my lovers. The only lover I ever truly chose was my master, Anita, and I only did that in the hope she’d kill Nikolaos, because she was so powerful, and I’d be safer belonging to her than otherwise. I shook my head, smiling up at him, I don’t think it hid my fear, but if Richard noticed it, he gave no sign.
He didn’t prepare me properly, only poured oil onto himself and me for lubrication, so it hurt when he thrust into me, but I managed to hide it and after he hit his pace it was actually very good for me. I achieved my own climax before I felt him shape shift on top of me. He did retain enough humanity that he only shredded the mattress on either side of my body, but I was covered in the fluid that lycanthropes give off when they change form. He changed back as soon as he’d climbed off me then went into the bathroom.
“I’ll just clean myself up, then I’m going to leave, all right?” He called it back at me over his shoulder. I was just glad to see he wasn’t going to hurt me, I plainly had not pleased him very much, nor had I succeeded in calming him.
“Of course. But...could you send someone in to clear this up before you leave?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Once he’d left I spent an hour soaking myself in the bath, then went to Asher and asked to share his bed during the daylight hours.
When Anita asked about what happened between us after she returned I didn’t dare tell her everything, but I knew that I had only had a crush on him for a while, and I would never sleep with him again unless Anita ordered it.
xxXxx
“No, I would never presume to complain to my master about someone she chose to lend me to. But I must answer her questions truthfully. She would be displeased to find you threatening what is hers, you are aware of that are you not?”
He pressed me closer to the wall and almost growled the next words. “But she isn’t here, is she?”
“No, but I am.” I shot a grateful glance at Danilo, who’d just come in through the door Richard had so carelessly left open. He was a thousand years old, and he’d be able to protect me, I’m weakened more by the loss of the triumvirate than Richard is, and Richard could hurt me badly, even though he didn’t really understand just how much power he had until very recently.
xxXxx
I heard Richard threatening Jean-Claude as I reached Anita’s audience chamber, I was really grateful for Jean-Claude’s influence on my formal wear even if Liao and Ji had insisted on fucking me hard before they’d let me leave. I moved to intervene, catching the gratitude in Jean-Claude’s eyes as he looked at me.
“No, but I am.” I stalked towards Richard, putting all the menace I could into my movements. He released Jean-Claude immediately and turned away.
“Have him, if you want him then.” Jean-Claude turned to me, shaking slightly.
“Are you alright?” I reached out to him and pulled him into an embrace, as much for my comfort as his, I was not looking forward to encountering Mab again
“Yes, thank you. And you, how are you dealing with having to see Mab again?”
“I’ll cope, most of what she did wasn’t too bad, the only time she really hurt me was after I brought my daughter over without her permission.” I slid back into my recollection of how she had punished me for that.
xxXxx
All I could think of was blood. I didn’t know how long it had been since my master had permitted me to feed, how long she had kept me chained here, crosses sapping my strength. All I knew was the need to feed. Suddenly I was released from my chains - and there was something small, smelling of sweet human blood just in front of me.
Dimly I registered that it was making a wailing sound but I couldn’t understand what that meant. I leapt on it and fed, crushing it between my hands in my eagerness to get at the blood. When I returned to myself it was to find that I had just killed a baby barely a month old. I was licking its blood off my hands – and my daughter was watching me with undisguised horror.
I had only recently brought her over, Mab had not granted me her permission and so she chained me up here, where any who wished to could see, as punishment. But this was my true punishment, to slaughter an infant to appease my hunger under the eyes of my beloved daughter, making her think me, and by extension herself, a monster.
It was ten years before she would even speak to me, and when I took her from Mab she was displeased by the prospect. I had reached 500 before we again returned to being friends, and even then it was tainted by the fact that I was her master.
xxXxx
Notes: The title of this section says it all, they’re a threesome folks. But they aren’t violent or anything, I just thought I should warn you that it wasn’t just a couple, and it’s Asher/Jean-Claude/Anita.
Asher lifted me off the couch and carried me through the corridors to Anita’s bedroom. I designed it to showcase my beauty, but it does equally well to display Anita’s, so when she became Master of the City this was the room she took. She never has slept in a coffin and I’m not sure if she ever will, she seems determined to hold on to what humanity she has left. Once we got into the bedroom he lowered me onto the bed, I lifted my hands to my shirt, to begin undressing for him, but he grabbed my wrists and stopped me.
“No, I want to undress you myself. Don’t move, not at all but let me move you however I want.”
“As you wish.” I murmured, Asher wasn’t particularly happy at my reply, but he accepts my submissive tendencies a lot better than Anita does, even if he can’t really understand them, after all I never showed them when we travelled Europe with Julianna. I lay limp and pliant in his grasp as he unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off me, caressing my now bare chest. Then his hands moved down to my waist and he began unfastening my pants, the only problem with leather is that it can be difficult to get out of. Once he’d got them open he lifted me to my knees so he could pull them down around my thighs. Then he laid me back down on the bed and pulled them down off my legs, licking gently at my ankles as he did so. Then he stood up and took a step back.
“You can undress me now.”
I smiled and stood myself to move behind him and take his cream linen jacket from his shoulders. Next I walked around to stand in front of him while I began unfastening the buttons on his pale blue silk shirt, sinking to my knees as I did so. I had to stand again to remove his shirt, but I also took the opportunity to bow my head to his right collarbone and trace a path along it, feeling the scars beneath my tongue. Then I sank to my knees again to remove his loafers, kissing each foot as I bared it and raised up a little to unfasten his pants, matching the jacket. They were straining at the groin a bit, so it was fortunate that he had decided to wear boxers underneath. I slid his pants down his legs to the floor and he stepped out of them, then we repeated the act with the boxers and I ended knelt on the floor bowed over my knees.
Asher lifted me from that position and carried me to the bed then lay down, pulling me on top of him. He held me against his chest with one arm, then let his free hand roam about my body, not that I had any objections. Our heads turned together so we could see Anita as she entered the room, she wouldn’t be displeased to see us together, she had given permission for at least this much – but it still made me nervous. A smile spread across her face as she took in the scene before her.
“You two are beautiful, and you look so good together, I think I want to just watch for now. Jean-Claude, go and get some oil, vanilla scented I think.” She glanced to Asher for approval, and when he nodded she gestured for me to move.
I hurried to obey and went to my knees beside the bed, offering the bottle to Asher.
“Ah, no Jean-Claude. I don’t want to watch Asher fuck you, I want to watch you fuck him. Asher, lie on your side, facing away from Jean-Claude, and Jean-Claude, lie behind him.” I was shocked, I’d only penetrated Asher when he asked me to, or when Belle Morte had ordered it, before, and he hadn’t asked me to this time – hadn’t since I became Anita’s personal pet. But she is my master, and so I obeyed, and hesitantly began to touch Asher, run my hands over his body, leaving the bottle of oil lying behind me.
“Enough foreplay, Jean-Claude, prepare him.” Asher was relaxed against me as I moved to obey, and he let himself relax as I worked first one finger in then gradually added more. After a while he began thrusting back against me, when Anita saw that she stopped me.
“That should be sufficient preparation Jean-Claude, is it not Asher?”
“Yes, Anita.” Asher’s response was a whispered breath of lust and need, he wanted this, and I didn’t understand why he hadn’t asked me for it instead of playing these games.
“Jean-Claude, enter him, but just enter, don’t move inside him until I tell you to. And keep your hands on his hips.” When I had obeyed Anita came to lie in front of Asher, I’m not sure what she did although her hands brushed mine on Asher’s hips and I think she might have guided him into her. “You can thrust now, hard.”
I obeyed, and Asher’s body moved with the force of my thrusts, he lay limp between us as I kissed along his neck while Anita kept his hands pinned in front of his body and beneath hers, kissing him full on the lips. It was a violent kiss, when she broke from it his lips were bleeding and I could hear his moans of pleasure mingled with just a little pain. Anita climaxed first of course, then we both climaxed at about the same time, I remained inside Asher until I was given permission to withdraw and then rolled onto my back. Anita climbed over Asher to kneel above my face, his seed dripping from inside her body, obviously she had taken him inside her.
“Lick me clean Jean-Claude. And Asher, I want you to clean him up – but don’t let him come.” She lowered herself onto me and I began to lick at her, first cleaning her thighs while Asher’s tongue explored my groin. Once I’d cleaned her thighs I moved on to more intimate areas and ended by pushing my tongue inside her to clean the last traces of Asher from her body, taking pleasure in the taste of him, while he took me into his mouth. She convulsed in orgasm as I worked on my task, clutching at my shoulders and throwing her head back. Then she climbed off me to sit at my side, opposite Asher.
“Enough. Asher, lie back down and let Jean-Claude use his tongue and mouth on you.” I glanced sideways at Anita to check that she was pleased when I began to work on Asher, first licking him clean, then taking him in my mouth, sliding up and down. She seemed to be enjoying the show and she was using her fingers to take her own pleasure.
“Don’t make him come yet, Jean-Claude, wait until I tell you to.” She stiffened for a second just after she’d spoken and shivered slightly, then she crawled out of the range of my vision. After a few seconds I felt her fingers at the entrance to my body, covered in oil and felt her push them inwards slowly. The first time they brushed my prostate I bucked under her fingers and she withdrew them to slap my buttocks. I held still under her probing fingers after that until she pulled her fingers out and pulled me down into her, it was difficult to maintain my rhythm under the circumstances, but I did manage.
“Get back up to your hands and knees.” She ordered after she’d wrapped her legs around my waist and plunged her fingers back into me. Once I’d done that she started to move up and down using her legs, whispering to me to remain still. Her fingers played inside of me while she moved around me, and my breath was beginning to come in short bursts, making it a little more difficult to fellate Asher.
“You can come as soon as I do, and so can Asher.” She thrust herself up against me more vigorously and when I felt her begin to contract around me I let myself come and pulled Asher deep into my throat until I felt him spill his seed into my mouth. She let herself drop to the bed afterwards and I lay down to one side
“Asher, clean me up then you can take Jean-Claude with you for the rest of the night, and you can keep him tomorrow night as well.” I dressed quickly, in loose silks as Asher obeyed, she guided him roughly with his hair until she’d come again, then he dressed and lifted me from my feet. I don’t quite understand why he likes to carry me, but he does and it is nice to be protected like that.
He decorated his rooms in warm colours, red-browns and dark yellow, his bed, where he laid me, is made of cherry and the sheets are cream silk. He lay down beside me and just held me to him for a while, he didn’t even bother to undress, or to undress me. Eventually I managed to speak to him.
“Asher, if you wanted me to penetrate you why didn’t you just ask?” I didn’t speak very loudly, kept my voice intimate, but I let him hear the puzzlement.
“Because I wasn’t sure how you’d react. I didn’t want to upset you, and you’ve been showing your emotions a lot more since you gave the city up to Anita.”
“She likes it when I show emotions, and I’d do anything that pleased you or her.” Asher left it at that and began to kiss me, we spent the rest of the night making love.
Jean-Claude wasn’t very happy about my request to visit Velvet Glove, but he had promised to show me anywhere I wanted once Liao and Ji gave me freedom of movement, and he kept to his promise. It would be two weeks until Mab came to visit and I wanted to see the place we’d be greeting her beforehand.
No-one spoke to us as we came into the club – well none of the employees anyway – the people waiting in queues to get in were outraged that we just walked up to the head of the line and into the club and they made their outrage known. It was surprising inside the club, the walls were hung with embroidered velvet and all the seating was padded with velvet. The colour scheme was black and dark midnight blue – almost matched to Jean-Claude’s eyes, any exposed wood was ebony. Velvet hung from the ceiling to divide the main room into smaller areas, a trick copied from the living room at the Circus. What we could see was very tame, a few sculptures of bondage, but no living exemplars and there was someone on stage reading poetry – erotic poetry but still poetry.
“His voice is piped throughout the club, at least the lower section – on the upper floor you have to request it. Do you want to go straight to the upper floor where we’ll be meeting Mab, or do you wish to explore this floor?”
“Show me what’s downstairs first, please.”
“Very well. There are no restrictions on where anyone goes downstairs, they haven’t paid for privacy. But upstairs we can only go into rooms where the table beside the door doesn’t have a glove lying on top of it. Is there anything in particular you wish to see?”
“Whatever’s most extreme down here.”
“Very well, the rule down here is not too much blood, for that you have to go upstairs, but some of the rooms upstairs are designed for an audience, if the guests want to be watched.” Just about everyone in the club stared at us as we walked between the tables, sometimes close enough that they could reach out and touch us – touch me rather, everyone in St. Louis seems to know that Jean-Claude belongs to Anita. Which shouldn’t be a surprise, it was announced on national television – the feeds were even picked up in France. He was wearing dark blue tonight, leather pants dyed to match his eyes exactly and a heavy silk shirt. His collar and cuffs were a flash of silver against his skin at the open neck of the shirt and at his ankles and wrists. I was only wearing tight leather pants, in dark red and my feet were freezing – the cold doesn’t really affect us normally, but that’s mainly because we ignore it, not because we don’t feel it.
The first place Jean-Claude led me to was near the back of the club, it had a young man naked chained up against the wall spread-eagled. There was a whip leaning against the wall beside him and an older woman lay on one of the couches watching him and us. He had a few whip marks on his body but nothing too serious, nothing that would scar.
“Would you like to try him?” She smiled at us, with an element of mockery but far more lust. She clearly didn’t expect either of us to accept, so I decided to surprise her.
“Why not?” I gave her a smile of my own, equally predatory and bent to pick up the whip. Jean-Claude dropped to the floor and curled up to watch.
“Just don’t do any damage that will scar, I want his skin to heal so it’s as perfect as it started off.”
“You don’t like scars?” Jean-Claude asked her from where he had curled up.
“No, I prefer to see flawless skin under my hands.” She stood and stalked over to me, running her hands along my sides. “Flawless skin like yours.” I stepped away from her and gave her pet a few lashes, just to see how he’d react – I hadn’t expected that he wouldn’t even make a pretence that he didn’t enjoy it. I threw down the whip in apparent disgust and jerked Jean-Claude to his feet by an arm.
“Why was she surprised that I accepted her offer?”
“She assumed that Anita had lent me to you and you’d want a chance to play with me, or that you were submissive, because you’re half naked.”
“I wouldn’t do this for any other Master of the City, not even for Belle Morte, but the sort of reputation Anita has – it’s worth being pet to my inferiors, at least for a while.”
“Are you expecting her to take you into her bed then?”
“I’d like her to, but I’ll settle for a chance to take a normal position in the local hierarchy. I can’t spend more than ten years in this position, at the most, or I’ll find it almost impossible to become independent again. Don’t you have a similar problem?”
“No, I am perfectly content to belong to Anita until I die. I don’t really want to be independent again – and if I ever have to I’ll probably have gained enough power to claim a city somewhere.”
The next place we visited had a woman crammed into a tiny cage, the bars cut into her flesh. After a few more little curtained alcoves like that I asked Jean-Claude to take me upstairs – to be honest I was mainly interested in the layout, not the entertainment, and I admitted that to him. At least this time I was interested in the layout, I fully intended to return here when I was able to – I never was averse to games like these.
I didn’t quite understand why Danilo wanted to visit Velvet Glove, but I had said that I’d show him wherever he wanted to visit in the city, and I would not go back on my word. Once he’d explained that it was more the layout of the club than the entertainment that interested him I understood better, I wouldn’t want to go to a meeting with someone I feared unless I knew about the exits either. I don’t really like Velvet Glove, it reminds me too much of my past – for all my reputation I prefer more or less conventional sex – I’m not normally into pain and I’ve been tortured to give someone else sexual kicks far too often.
“There are two staircases for use by customers, and another two that can only be used by staff – or one of Anita’s favoured followers. I’ll take us up one kept for staff, you’ve got total access in any of Anita’s clubs because you’re a personal pet, even if you aren’t hers. I don’t really like this place – if you wish me to I’ll give you a guided tour...but I’d rather just show you the audience chamber then stay there while you explore as you wish.” I couldn’t keep a plaintive note out of my voice, and I hated it – but it seemed to please Danilo. He smiled at me and ran his hand along the side of my face, unconsciously I leaned into his touch – no-one but Anita, Asher and Damian touch me anymore and I miss it. I’ve always longed for affection more than anything else, and I associate physical contact with affection.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you. I’ll do any exploring I want to do by myself while you wait for me, you’ve already told me which rooms to stay out of – is there anything else I need to know?”
“If you find someone bound with a green collar around their neck then they can be freely used by anyone who enters the room – otherwise you can’t touch someone who has been left bound without specific instructions from their top. Of course I’m assuming the Liao and Ji haven’t forbidden you to lie with anyone else.” As I spoke I led Danilo to one of the back stairs – plain oak rather than black marble such as the main stairs are made of.
“No – they haven’t forbidden me to lie with others. I’m not entirely sure I’d obey them if they did and I don’t think they wanted to push me.” He sounded startled at the idea, what he did with his new masters was no concern of mine and I put it from my mind.
“Anita made sure that there would be an audience chamber in each of her new clubs, the ones she decided to invest in rather than the ones she inherited from me. This is the audience chamber for Velvet Glove, it’s the most impressive one she has except perhaps for the Circus and Anita isn’t going to permit Mab to visit her there.” I pushed open one of the double doors leading into the audience chamber then moved across the room to curl on one of the cushions scattered at the foot of Anita’s throne. It isn’t over ornate, carved with leopards from ebony, but it was built to fit her and only her. The cushion and padding were of red velvet and I leaned my head on the seat watching as Danilo took in the room. I suppose it is dramatic, the ceiling is nearly fifteen feet high and draperies of red silk hang from it. There isn’t much furniture in the room besides Anita’s throne, three lesser chairs made of beech and a lot of cushions in red and black velvet. The carpet is thick and deep in midnight blue and there are tapestries on the walls behind Anita’s throne – she commissioned them especially. They depict some scenes from her history, in a semi-abstract form – for instance you can’t really tell who’s tearing the Earthmover's head off, unless you already know – Anita’s hair wasn’t that long at the time, either.
He prowled the room for almost an hour, checking everything he could about it, and then he made to leave, pausing as something occurred to him.
“You said that if I wanted to screw someone left in a green collar I could – are there any people I’m permitted to feed from?” A logical question I suppose, after all Velvet Glove is vampire-owned, and a surprising number of people enjoy being fed on.
“No, not if they’ve been left. If it is requested you are free to accept or refuse the offer as you wish.” He nodded and left, telling me that he’d return for me in three hours at most. I did not like being so far from Anita and anyone who belongs to her, but she had been so pleased when I made my suggestion that I serve as Danilo’s guide, and I wanted to make her proud of me. I didn’t go looking for someone to reassure me, instead I shut my eyes and remembered some of the things we had done in bed.
Asher knelt at my feet, he’d requested and been granted a formal audience with me in private and he seemed to think this was appropriate. We were in my study, he’d walked in and knelt in front of me then waited for me to speak.
“Get up. Why did you request audience?” He stood before me with his head bowed.
“I have found a woman that I wish to mark as my human servant. I requested audience that I might ask your permission to do so.”
“Why do you need my permission?”
“You are my Master of the City, it is required that I ask your permission. Some would not permit their followers to take a human servant, particularly when you do not have one.”
“I might not have a true human servant in the same sense as the Traveler has Balthasar, but Micah and Nathaniel are linked to me in exactly the same way – even if I can’t taste food through them.”
“Still, it is tradition – and the woman I wish to mark, Arianne, is a witch of some power, so I thought it best to ask permission. She also took a master’s degree in Magical Theory.”
“I take it you are sleeping with her, after all I never forbade you to take other lovers. I wish to see her first, then I will give you my decision. But do not expect it to keep you from my bed.”
“I had not planned to take her to my bed, and I am quite content with the three lovers I have already: you, Jean-Claude and Elaith. Actually I suspect that she prefers women to men in her bed, or at least likes both men and women, I’ve seen her watching more than one woman. She is awaiting your decision in my room, I will send her to you now if you wish.”
“Do so. Oh and Asher – I might be a possessive bitch but you aren’t property to me, not the way the rest of my harem are. If you choose to take another lover you can do so freely – provided you are discrete.” And what did it say of me that I thought of most of my lovers as property?
“Thank you Master.” He whispered the words as he left my study to send this Arianne to me. I already knew what my response would most likely be. I would permit him to mark her provided she seemed capable of accepting vampire society, particularly if I liked her.
I glanced up as she entered my study and knelt before me, she made it seem natural – I didn’t think she’d have any problem playing vampire politics, or at least pretending to defer to her master. She kept her head bowed and I looked over her. I could sense that she was a powerful witch – about as powerful as Marianne, but something about her power told me she was a lot more traditional than the witches I knew. Hopefully she’d know some techniques that I could learn from, it was getting a bit awkward for Marianne to teach me. I scared her a little and in theory I seemed to be Master of the City for her pack’s territory as well – at least that was how vampires seemed to treat me. I would have to do something about that at some point, perhaps put one of the masters who serve me in charge of that territory, under my control of course. She was shorter than I am, 4’9”, and slighter, none of the muscles I developed fighting shapeshifters and vampires, instead she looked almost waif-like, the fashionable modern figure, with just enough breast that you could tell she was female. Her hair was the amber shade that walks the border between blonde and brown and cut in a crop feathered at the ends.
“Look at me.” She lifted her head and I could see her face for the first time, it was almost triangular and dominated by a huge pair of green-gold eyes. There was hunger in those eyes as she watched me stand and walk over to her, a hunger I usually see from men, not from women. “You may stand, and speak if you wish. Tell me do you wish to lie with Asher?”
“Not really, he is beautiful, and I can appreciate that in the abstract – but on the rare occasions I chose a male lover it is always one who looks more feminine than does Asher. I like muscles on a female lover, but my men I prefer to be slender, and slight of build, somewhat effeminate. He’s too tall for my taste.”
“Do you find any of my harem appealing then?”
“Not truly, they belong to you anyway, and I would never take something that belonged to another. And they are all active, they will all be muscled, in different ways I expect, but still, even men muscled like gymnasts are not to my taste.”
“If you do not desire Asher sexually, why do you want to be his human servant?”
“It was his idea actually, but I was more than willing to agree. I want to live forever. It’s not quite that simple, but that’s what it boils down to.”
“Explain.”
“I have a family tendency to develop a form of insanity after the age of about thirty. That means that I’d probably use my magic to kill someone and as a result be executed. Our form of insanity tends to be homicidal in nature, and I’m the most powerful witch my family has ever had. If I become Asher’s human servant then I won’t age, and if I don’t age I won’t suffer from that particular form of insanity. I might end up going insane some other way, but I’m sure it won’t be as damaging as what I could do if my family curse kicks in. And if I belong to Asher my insanity would be under some degree of control.”
“What tradition are you trained in?”
“The Sumerian tradition – my family is old, and they have long records. We were cursed about the time that the epic of Gilgamesh was written. Actually I’m not the most powerful we’ve ever had, what I meant to say is that I’m the most powerful since the birth of Christ.”
“And how long have you been trained for?”
“Since I was three years old, when my power first manifested, that makes twenty-five years. Please, if you will not grant Asher’s petition would you ensure that when I do go mad I do not harm anyone; kill me before I can start a murder spree.”
That plea was what decided me in her favour; she was so desperate not to hurt anyone – or rather not to hurt anyone if they didn’t deserve it. But I didn’t plan to let her know my decision straight away, and there were a few more questions that I wanted to know the answers to. Considering that she’d trained in a tradition I’d never even heard of she was almost certain to be able to teach me something new.
“Do you have some philosophical objection to killing then?”
“Only to killing innocents and that’s what I’d do if I succumbed to the family curse. I know that becoming a master vampire’s human servant negates it, because that happened once before, she was unwilling, but once she passed fifty and remained sane she realised just how much reason she had for gratitude.”
“And how would you feel about teaching me your style of magic, it would be interesting for me, and help me gain greater control over my other abilities.”
“I would be honoured if you chose me as a teacher. I would hope to do well in that role. My family do not approve of the fact that I have not yet borne offspring, and I refuse to teach the younger witches because I fear to harm them with my power. You have more power than I so it would be a joy to teach someone, rather than study alone.”
“One final question. I can taste your desire for me; do you expect me to take you into my bed?”
“Only if it pleases you.”
“Very well. I grant permission for Asher to take you as a human servant. But understand, if Asher wishes you to share his bed you must make it clear that you refuse because his height and build do not appeal to you, not because you are disgusted by his scars. It is forbidden to kill another vampire’s human servant, but there are worse things than dying, and I will ensure you suffer one of those fates should you hurt Asher.”
“I understand, and I would never hurt him. I might not desire him, but I do care for him. He is strong and kind and he accepts me in a way my family never truly did. They were always wary of me; because they feared what sort of damage my magic could do when I went insane. And when I refused to bear children to suffer from this curse, or adopt any of the orphans created in their mother’s madness – it is only the women who go insane, and the men do not even pass the curse on – they saw me as rejecting my family. But I would not risk killing or leaving behind my children, of the body or the heart, when I run mad.”
“Very well. Go, and tell him that I grant my permission.”
She turned and left immediately, I might actually call her to my bed at some point, but not just yet.
Notes: this section includes dubious consent to sex, and rough play, it also includes descriptions of mild torture, no details and refers to prior sexual abuse.
For once Anita was making an issue of the fact that she owned me, not that I blamed her, power-plays with a strange master often have to be very clear to work effectively. I was wearing one of my more ornate collars with cuffs to match, they were made of silver and set with onyx. I was also heavily veiled and wearing a loose tunic and pants in heavy black silk, so my body was fairly obscured, the effect was actually more sensual than walking about half naked. My hair fell loose down my back and when Anita deposited me in her audience chamber at Velvet Glove to wait while she dealt with some administrative problems I took out a brush from a hidden compartment to tend to it.
I glanced up when I heard someone entering the room. It was Richard, so I put my brush aside and waited to see if he would wish to command me.
“Do you never get tired of preening yourself, Jean-Claude?”
“No, it gives me something to do, to occupy my mind, and often in the past it was the only thing I was permitted to do, save pleasure my master or whoever he sent to me. But, I had thought Anita said you could bring some of your wolves as bodyguards, to help put on a show, if you wished. Did you decide not to do so, and why not?”
“And have her look at me as if I were a coward? Not a chance.” I stood from replacing the brush in its hidden compartment, and suddenly Richard had me pinned against the wall, his now clawed hand at my throat. “She told me that she was upset at the way I bedded you when she lent you to me. You complained about it to her – didn’t you?”
I shuddered in his grasp, it wasn’t my place to push him from me, and this brought back memories of the one night we were together.
He had come to me in anger – an argument with Sylvie over proper applications of force, I had not inquired too closely as I knew that my sympathies would lie with her and I did not care to anger him further. I had sensed his approach at Danse Macabre where I had been watching the dancers, ma petite’s Damian is one of the best, but he had travelled with her to Omduman so she would have more support as she raised Belle Morte’s husband from his grave – although we had both hoped that she would fail in this task if the truth be known. I turned to look at him when he entered my range of vision and he walked up to me, reaching to lay his hand against the side of my face. We didn’t need to speak, and he tends to refuse me the intimacy of sharing his mind with me, but I could read his sudden hunger, composed of equal parts lust and rage, in his eyes. The rage scared me, but I am well accustomed to appeasing such things through sex, and I hoped that if I lay with Richard I could learn whether it was love or but desire I felt for him.
I nodded and we left the club together. I half expected him to just take me in the first suitable place he found, instead he led me to his car and waited until I had settled in the passenger seat before he spoke.
“Would you rather I took you back to my home for this, or would you prefer the Circus?”
“I have oils and such to make it more pleasant at the Circus, so unless you wish to take me home with you...”
“No!” The force in that one word startled me, he seemed so angry out of proportion to my suggestion.
“You are angered, Richard. Would you care to tell me of what has so displeased you?” I kept my voice low and soothing, made sure that my body language was deferential and supportive. He took a single deep breath before he spoke.
“Sylvie thinks I’m too gentle. I don’t inspire enough ‘respect’ in the pack. If I have to fucking torture people to get respect...” I’d set him off on a rant, and instead of calming him as I’d hoped it sent him further into a rage with every word he spoke. I quietly interrupted him once we’d reached the Circus, and he remained silent as I led him to my bedroom.
“What is your preference, Richard?” I spoke as soon as I shut the door behind us, it didn’t matter what we did, no-one would hear us and our reputations would be safe. Placing a spell on my bedroom so nothing could be detected from outside once the door was closed had been Anita’s first attempt at classical witchcraft, a spectacularly successful one. She had only intended to ensure that we had somewhere to talk without any risk of being overheard, instead when the door is closed almost no-one even realises the room is there.
He didn’t answer in words, rather he threw me up against the wall and kissed me hard. I felt an instinctive fear at the barely leashed violence I could sense in him and forced myself to relax, hoping it would appease him. He did calm slightly and began to strip me swiftly, then lifted me and tossed me to the bed, I knew better than to resist. Instead I twisted so I fell face up and watched him. He removed his own clothes just as swiftly and came to sit by my head. He took hold of me by the hair and pulled my face into his groin – I could have prevented it, but Anita had given him permission to lie with me, so I had to please him. Instead of resisting I began to work him to erection taking him into my mouth, covering my fangs with my lips, careful not to cut him, that would not be likely to improve his mood.
He pulled out just before he climaxed covering me with his seed, not that I minded that, but I would have preferred some show of affection - even a single touch would have sufficed. Anita had always made some show of affection when we were together, and I had grown accustomed to it, she had spoiled me in a way. She never realised just how much I needed affection, how desperately grateful such little shows of affection as a gentle touch during sex, or a hug that doesn’t seem to have any reason make me – at least not until she spent the time she was waiting to rise as a vampire for the first time in my head. I didn’t want her to, I didn’t really want to give her more power over me than I had to, not at the time, I’d accepted her as my master, but I was still nervous of her, afraid she would tire of me.
“On your belly.” His voice came as a growl, he’d obviously come close to shifting, I had plainly pleased him. “Where’s that oil you were talking about?” His voice became more normal the more he spoke, as if it was pulling him back to himself. I’d obeyed him immediately and I turned my head towards him to reply.
“In the small chest beside the door.” Once I’d answered the question I laid my head down on my crossed arms, shutting my eyes, hoping that he’d be gentle, not that I held much hope of that, the mood he was in. I heard him move about the room behind me and felt it as he sat beside me on the bed. I forced myself to stay relaxed, calm, as he began running his hand up and down my back, it was exciting, but it was also slightly disturbing. I shouldn’t have been afraid of Richard, he was the gentlest of the three of us, but in this mood he could also be the most dangerous, because he’s completely unpredictable when he’s really angry. Finally he rested his hand on the nape of my neck, pressing slightly, letting me feel his strength, a threat of sorts.
“Open your eyes. Look at me.” His voice was low and menacing, but totally human and that was scarier than the growl of moments earlier. I complied, doing my best to hide the sudden fear that engulfed me. Neither of us were Anita’s equals, but Richard was a lot closer to it than I was. “I’m going to shapeshift on top of you. You don’t mind do you?” A mockery, it didn’t really matter whether I minded or not, he just wanted me to salve his conscience. I’m over 400 years old and I never reached a point where I had any real choice in my lovers. The only lover I ever truly chose was my master, Anita, and I only did that in the hope she’d kill Nikolaos, because she was so powerful, and I’d be safer belonging to her than otherwise. I shook my head, smiling up at him, I don’t think it hid my fear, but if Richard noticed it, he gave no sign.
He didn’t prepare me properly, only poured oil onto himself and me for lubrication, so it hurt when he thrust into me, but I managed to hide it and after he hit his pace it was actually very good for me. I achieved my own climax before I felt him shape shift on top of me. He did retain enough humanity that he only shredded the mattress on either side of my body, but I was covered in the fluid that lycanthropes give off when they change form. He changed back as soon as he’d climbed off me then went into the bathroom.
“I’ll just clean myself up, then I’m going to leave, all right?” He called it back at me over his shoulder. I was just glad to see he wasn’t going to hurt me, I plainly had not pleased him very much, nor had I succeeded in calming him.
“Of course. But...could you send someone in to clear this up before you leave?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Once he’d left I spent an hour soaking myself in the bath, then went to Asher and asked to share his bed during the daylight hours.
When Anita asked about what happened between us after she returned I didn’t dare tell her everything, but I knew that I had only had a crush on him for a while, and I would never sleep with him again unless Anita ordered it.
“No, I would never presume to complain to my master about someone she chose to lend me to. But I must answer her questions truthfully. She would be displeased to find you threatening what is hers, you are aware of that are you not?”
He pressed me closer to the wall and almost growled the next words. “But she isn’t here, is she?”
“No, but I am.” I shot a grateful glance at Danilo, who’d just come in through the door Richard had so carelessly left open. He was a thousand years old, and he’d be able to protect me, I’m weakened more by the loss of the triumvirate than Richard is, and Richard could hurt me badly, even though he didn’t really understand just how much power he had until very recently.
I heard Richard threatening Jean-Claude as I reached Anita’s audience chamber, I was really grateful for Jean-Claude’s influence on my formal wear even if Liao and Ji had insisted on fucking me hard before they’d let me leave. I moved to intervene, catching the gratitude in Jean-Claude’s eyes as he looked at me.
“No, but I am.” I stalked towards Richard, putting all the menace I could into my movements. He released Jean-Claude immediately and turned away.
“Have him, if you want him then.” Jean-Claude turned to me, shaking slightly.
“Are you alright?” I reached out to him and pulled him into an embrace, as much for my comfort as his, I was not looking forward to encountering Mab again
“Yes, thank you. And you, how are you dealing with having to see Mab again?”
“I’ll cope, most of what she did wasn’t too bad, the only time she really hurt me was after I brought my daughter over without her permission.” I slid back into my recollection of how she had punished me for that.
All I could think of was blood. I didn’t know how long it had been since my master had permitted me to feed, how long she had kept me chained here, crosses sapping my strength. All I knew was the need to feed. Suddenly I was released from my chains - and there was something small, smelling of sweet human blood just in front of me.
Dimly I registered that it was making a wailing sound but I couldn’t understand what that meant. I leapt on it and fed, crushing it between my hands in my eagerness to get at the blood. When I returned to myself it was to find that I had just killed a baby barely a month old. I was licking its blood off my hands – and my daughter was watching me with undisguised horror.
I had only recently brought her over, Mab had not granted me her permission and so she chained me up here, where any who wished to could see, as punishment. But this was my true punishment, to slaughter an infant to appease my hunger under the eyes of my beloved daughter, making her think me, and by extension herself, a monster.
It was ten years before she would even speak to me, and when I took her from Mab she was displeased by the prospect. I had reached 500 before we again returned to being friends, and even then it was tainted by the fact that I was her master.
