"Now, if there's nothing else?" Jean-Claude started to pick up his prize.
"Wait!" Anita knew she didn't want them to leave yet.
"Yes?"
The word held such impatience that Anita felt it from across the desk. "Uh, RPIT expects me to report something about this. What should I say about her?"
"Her has a name, its Buffy Summers. Why do you have to tell an armpit about me, whatever that is? I haven't done anything wrong, and it isn't anyone's business that I'm here." She sat up, looking Anita straight in the eye with her chin set at a hard angle, daring anyone to disagree with her.
Jean-Claude laughed, sending a tickle down both women's back. Buffy glared at him, pulling his ear close to her mouth. "If you do that again, I won't be held responsible for what I do in front of your friends." She whispered, then nipped his ear. He shivered as her husky whisper and teasing bite flowed over him.
Richard put an arm around Anita, pulling her close. "Anita, I think we should leave and continue our date," he whispered in her ear. He overheard Buffy's words, and quickly tried to get his girlfriend out of the room. Knowing that Anita still had unresolved feelings for the Master of the City, Richard decided to do whatever he needed to keep the woman he wanted as his mate. He ran a hand down her back, leaking power into his touch.
Buffy gasped, turning to stare at him. "You shouldn't do that without a warning."
"You could feel his power, chère."
"Duh, he leaked it out all over the place."
"I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional." Richard had the grace to blush.
"Okay, just don't do it again."
"Why? What's the big deal? You can't handle it?" Anita couldn't stop the sarcastic remark from slipping out.
Buffy felt her tight guards fall away as her body automatically responded to the challenge from the other woman. Jason and Nathaniel rolled on the floor as the power started their change.
"Jean-Claude, stop her." Anita gasped, feeling her control over her necromancy slipping. Too late, it broke free to fight against Buffy's power.
Jean-Claude and Richard helplessly watched as their own shields weakened. The Weres in the Circus shifted and raced straight for the office. Buffy's power brought everyone except Jean-Claude into submission before snapping close. She slumped into Jean-Claude's arms as the door swung open, and the Weres bounded into the room. They headed for Buffy, pushing to reach her, surrounding her and Jean-Claude until only their heads showed. Richard attempted to dominate the wolves to no avail. Buffy roused when a tongue licked her hand. She looked up from Jean-Claude's lap to see the waiting faces moving close, crawling inches to get to her.
She stood shakily before sitting on the ground. The Weres surrounded her, brushing against her and licking her hands or face. One large leopard licked her bare back causing Buffy to giggle. Jean-Claude, Anita and Richard stared in amazement as she petted, scratched or hugged each one.
"Aren't they beautiful, Jean-Claude? They're so sweet, look how they gentle they are." Buffy laughed like a little girl playing with kittens and puppies, rather than large pony-sized wolves and leopards.
Jean-Claude knew he was lost in that very moment. He had never seen anyone who accepted people no matter what they were, just as they were, with no restrictions, misgivings or fear.
Anita watched her former lover, and knew that she had lost him to this little woman-child. Looking at Buffy sitting on the floor as she pet and tickled the Weres, Anita admitted she couldn't blame him. Buffy was warm and giving, regardless of the power she held. Maybe if she got to know Buffy, she could learn her secret about how she had accomplished that.
"Jean-Claude, we're going to go. Tell Buffy if she'd like someone to talk to, I'm available."
"Merci, Anita, have a nice night." He smiled at her, but his eyes kept returning to the tiny blonde.
Anita and Richard left, quietly closing the door. Richard turned to Anita. "Do you regret us, Anita? If you want him, leave before I give you so much of myself there isn't anything left."
"No, Richard, I love you. He has who he needs. Somehow, I think even if we had been together, I'd have lost him to her. Let's go home, I think it's time we lay our cards on the table." Anita took his hand as they left the Circus.
~~~~~
Jean-Claude said nothing as the woman, who was supposed to be his world walked out with another man. His eyes returned to Buffy who sat cuddling Jason and Nathaniel. The other Weres had returned to their human forms except for these two. He suspected they didn't change on purpose. After watching her coo and cuddle them, he couldn't say he blamed them.
Cherry, a wereleopard, asked, "Who is she? Her power called to us, but it felt different from Gabriel's. It felt as if she was telling us to come to her and she would protect us from anyone - you, Marcus, Raina - even Gabriel."
He listened to Cherry as Buffy's previous life flashed before him. He saw her protecting innocents even at the cost of her own life. Looking closer at the Weres in his office, it dawned on him that they all needed protection. Ah, mon petit cadeau, such a large task for such tiny hands.
Jean-Claude compared Buffy and Anita, seeing the similarities and the huge differences. Anita went after the monsters, as she called them, as a job and her own personal war. She helped people, but it was normally after the fact. Buffy, from what he saw and felt, searched out the innocents. She focused on the victims, not the monsters she fought. Buffy protected people first and was a warrior second. Anita was a warrior, who protected people as a side effect of her focus. Who was right he didn't know, but something told him if it came to a choice, he would want Buffy on his side.
He was about to see why as Gabriel and Raina walked into the office. They shoved their power into the room, causing the Weres to shrink back in fear. Buffy's head snapped up, her eyes turning feral as they focused on the Nimir-Raj and Lupa. The two Were leaders looked her over with malicious smiles. Raina, a tall voluptuous redhead, whose face wasn't classically beautiful, but interesting in its uniqueness. Strong cheekbones, large green eyes and plump red lips insured that no one would forget it once they saw it. Gabriel's tanned skin, dark hair and eyes created a beautiful package. His face caused you to think of sex, with his heavy lidded eyes and full sensual lips.
Their tight hold, on the pard and pack, was undeniable. They used their partnership in pornographic snuff films to control their respective groups through vindictive, cruel and sadistic means. Raina, especially, enjoyed breaking in the male members to her idea of fun and games. The Ulfric of the pack, Marcus, loved her and let her do whatever she liked. He ignored her beating, torturing and raping the pack members. Gabriel was no better, and many times allowed his pard to be the raped in the films or forced them to rape unwilling pack members.
Buffy immediately knew that she didn't like these two people or Weres, as she now knew to call them. She felt their power pushing at the people in the room. She wasn't in control last time, but she felt she understood it better now. Here goes nothing. Buffy focused her power at the two and pushed. Raina and Gabriel gasped as it hit them. They opened their shields to fight back, but it was no use. Buffy forced them to shift; not like the others, this was an act of total submission or nothing. She pushed harder, the closer she got until they shifted. Gabriel tried to jump at Buffy, but she swatted him away as if he weighed nothing. Everyone froze when Buffy continued walking to Raina's bowed wolf form. The others knew how dangerous the Lupa could be when cornered or - any other time. Buffy grabbed Raina by the scruff of her neck and shook her like a naughty puppy.
In a hard, cold voice, Buffy told her. "You won't hurt them ever again, do you hear me, BITCH!" Raina whimpered letting out a sharp whine, her wolf body took a submissive stance even in the air. "I don't know what you two have done to them but it stops right here, right now." She leaned in close to Raina's ear. "I know you're the ring leader, and from one bitch to another. I'll smile as I tear you apart with my bare hands."
The Lupa howled, not in triumph, but as a wolf acknowledging another as her better. Buffy threw her across the room, before turning to Gabriel. He lay on the ground where he landed. Gabriel crawled on his stomach as Buffy bent down to him ordering, "CHANGE." He morphed back to his human form.
"You, I can imagine what you've done. If you value your assets, then you'll keep your paws off my kitties. They're mine to protect are we clear?"
Gabriel nodded before his head shot up realizing that he just gave his pard away. "Jean-Claude, she's human, she can't take my pard." He looked to the Master of the City for support.
"Gabriel, you're wrong. She's far from human. Mon amour, turn so that he can see your back." Buffy did as he asked without question. She trusted Jean-Claude with everything inside her.
The Nimir-Raj saw the tattoo at the base of her spine. "What does that mean, Jean-Claude? Surely, it's something she did to herself."
"Non, Gabriel, look closer. I know you aren't a stupid man. Have you ever seen a tattoo such as that anywhere? If you don't recognize it, I'll assist you. Buffy's tattoos are done as they were done in ancient Egypt, long ago when they worshipped Osiris and as it was done in ancient Greece when Hecate was worshipped in Athens as a major goddess. Non, Sombre idiot, mon petit cadeau is far from human."
Buffy looked at the dark haired vampire as understanding about her tattoos dawned on her. "Then the kitties are mine, right? He gave them to me wrapped up with a bow."
"Yes, mon amour, they're yours. We're all witnesses." He smiled at the glorious smile that spread across her face.
"Cool, now you, Gaby, was it? You aren't welcome here, anymore. I don't want you near them. Do you hear what I'm saying?" She leaned in grabbing his ear with a low growl, which surprised everyone. "I'll tell you like I told Rainman, over there. You, I would enjoy killing with a song on my lips. Think of all the bad things you've done in your life, all the pain you've dealt out, multiply that by ten, that's what you will feel before I let you die. You catching, what I'm throwing, Gaby?" He nodded his head. "Good, now leave." Gabriel moved quickly out the door.
Buffy walked over to Jean-Claude giving him a stern look. "We'll talk about your choices in friends later, babe." She turned her back on him to look at Raina.
Jean-Claude grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. "Ma chère, you're very stimulating like this." He held her back to his chest as he pressed the evidence into her backside.
She looked over her shoulder with a wicked grin then turned back to Raina, subtly wiggling her rear closer to him, causing Jean-Claude to groan. Buffy giggled softly. "So, Rainman, I think you should leave, Gaby's probably waiting for you."
Raina resumed her human form to looking down at Buffy. "This isn't over, you made a huge mistake little girl."
Jean-Claude snarled, surprising everyone, including himself. "You just made one yourself, Lupa. Do not forget who the Master here is." He pushed his power to call her beast, forcing Raina to slam into the floor once more. "I believe you were asked to leave." Raina crawled from the office. Damian closed the door after her with a soft smile on his otherwise stoic face.
The leopards swarmed around Buffy, pushing to get closer, as they bowed in front of her. "Uh, guys, you don't have to do that, okay." One by one, Buffy pulled them to their feet. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Could someone help me out?"
"You're our pard's Nimir-Ra, the leader. We have to do whatever you say," Cherry explained.
"Well, how about this? Tell me your names, so I don't have to give you numbers, then we'll figure the rest out together. I'd only tell you what to if you were in danger. I know that I don't like people telling me what to do, so I'm not much on dishing it out. Now, who is who?" Buffy gave them an encouraging smile. Jean-Claude laughed watching her try to learn their names and occupations. When she found out that Cherry had been fired from her nursing job because of her Were status. He got to the count of two, before Buffy exploded. "That's just, just, stupid. That's what that is." She ranted pacing the room. "You can't catch it. It isn't a disease; it's a condition. What's the matter with people here? Can't they see you're just people, who happen to be Weres or vampires? It isn't the other way around; I mean you have souls. Being a human isn't the end all, be all, on who's better."
"You can feel our souls, ma chère?"
"Of course I can, can't you?" She stopped pacing to look at him in confusion.
"Non, mon petit amour, many believe we don't have one."
"That's just stupid. I mean that's the same way they used to treat people with AIDs." Jean-Claude picked her up, heading for the door. "What're you doing?" Buffy looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"Mon petit cadeau, listening to your speech is very amusing. I thought that I would take you up on your threat if I were to start laughing." He gave a throaty chuckle, sending shivers down her spine.
Buffy's eyes went wide, then heavy-lidded with passion. "Yeah, we should talk about this in private, mon sombre amour." The last she said in French. She didn't know how she knew to say the words, they just tumbled from her lips. At this moment, it didn't matter to her how she understood everything that Jean-Claude said to her, or that she could talk to him in his native tongue, all that mattered was that she could.
His steps quickened as Buffy whispered French love words in his ear. He arrived at the bedroom in record time, lowering Buffy to the bed, just as she bit his ear lobe. Jean-Claude growled, ripping the halter from her body, baring her golden breasts. Buffy raised her arms to him, welcoming him to her arms and her heart. Something about this man called to her, and Buffy decided she wanted to answer that call. Jean-Claude smiled, a real smile, as he lay down in his golden ones arms. She was like coming home. Everything would be all right as long as he was in her arms. He pulled his shirt off, so that he could feel her, skin to skin. Buffy sighed when their skin touched; it was what she needed, what she craved. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. Her tongue asked entrance, and Jean-Claude welcomed her inside. He buried his hands in her hair, holding her in place as he swept her along. His power pushed forward, begging to be let out. Buffy's answered him as her own broke its tethers.
Jean-Claude's inherited his power for passion as part of the incubus through Belle-Morte's line. It took years for him to learn how to control it. In mere minutes, Buffy's surge of power demolished his control. "Mon dieu, mon petit cadeau, I don't know what this might mean for you, for us."
"Jean, let's find out together, mon amour." She pulled her legs up around his hips, pressing her bared womanhood against his leather pants. "I think we have too many clothes on, Jean."
Buffy unzipped her skirt with one hand while Jean-Claude toed off his boots. He sat her on the bed while he pulled off his pants. His hands swept the little scrap of leather from around her waist. Buffy half-stood on her knees, nude for her lover. She scooted back as he crawled toward her. Their eyes lit with the flames of desire. When he captured her in his arms, her hands smoothed over his unblemished chest. She leaned up to tease a nipple with her tongue, causing Jean-Claude to purr.
Buffy laughed, "So, you're just a big kitty. Let's see if we can make you roar."
She shoved him back, then pounced, taking his hard length in her mouth. Buffy relaxed her jaw, trying to take all of him, but he was simply too large. Her hand captured what her mouth couldn't. She stroked in sync, with her sucking mouth, her fingers teased his balls on her downward stroke. She rolled the soft spheres in her hand. Buffy teased the hair as her fingers ran over them back and forth. She lightly used her teeth to nibble her way up, biting slightly harder on the engorged head. Jean-Claude threw his head back with a roar as her hands and teeth brought him to a climax. She swallowed, licking him clean like an ice cream, but as she finished he was anything but cold.
Jean-Claude scooped her up, pulling her to his mouth as he kissed her. He tasted himself on her tongue and lips. Buffy's tongue swirled in his mouth as she played with his fangs, then she did it. Pressing her tongue to fang, she pierced her tongue and offered up her blood for him to feast on. He sucked on her tongue ravenously, pulling it down into his own. Buffy's sweet powerful blood hit him like a jackhammer. Jean-Claude's threw his head back to shout out once more. He threw Buffy down to the mattress, immediately following her. His hands roamed her body, like a blind man learning someone's face. His hand slipped between her thighs finding her hot, wet and ready. Jean-Claude slid a finger inside and closed his eyes trying to catch his breath.
"Mon amour, you're like the warmest honey, my finger slides into your waiting heat, so easily. The same way, I'll enter you, smoothly, slowly, inch by inch until I'm seated inside you. All of me held in your body's warm embrace. I'll hold myself still not moving only feeling. Feeling you surround me, squeeze me in your tight channel. The movement must be savored before I pull back until we're almost separated. Then I'll plunge forward until I'm once again home, only to repeat it over and over until you can take no more. Then we will go longer still, waiting for the perfect moment to feel the petite mort. Oui, the little death will be ours, mon petit cadeau. My body will slap against your beautiful hidden pearl, causing it to swell and open. When it's ready to burst then my body will respond taking us to the lover's grave. Come, mon amour, let us begin our journey." His beautiful smooth voice wrapped around them as his hands played her body like a master. They never stopped touching, teasing or giving pleasure while he talked.
"Montre-moi ton amour, Jean. Show me you want me, need me as much as I need you. Start our journey my love, start it now." Buffy used her strong legs to pull him forward, seating him inside her in one smooth movement.
Jean-Claude's eyebrows rose as if he were surprised to find himself in this position. Then he bent forward to capture her breast, teasing it with tongue and fang. Buffy arched her back to give him easier access; his hand went to her back providing more support. He held himself buried inside her looking into her eyes.
"Now, chère let us chase the petite mort."
He laid her down on the bed, then caught her legs in the crook of his arms. His hips slowly pulled away from her until only the head remained. Buffy clenched her walls around him, he moaned, pushing forward in one smooth thrust . He slid inside, filling her completely. She held him tightly as her walls clenched and released him.
"Ah chère, you feel so good. You hold me tightly within your beautiful body. " Jean-Claude leaned forward, catching her bottom lip between his teeth as his tongue swept between her pouting lips. He continued his pace never quickening just slowly moving in and out, over and over.
Buffy was on the edge, her body felt tight, full and ready to burst. "Jean-Claude, take us there," her voice husky with passion.
He bent forward licking her neck as Buffy turned her head, baring her neck. For the first time he noticed the scar there, and an uncontrollable rage overtook him. He stopped moving, to accuse in a soft whisper. "You have another's mark here, chère."
"There's only us here, remove the mark and replace it with your own." She said while her hips moved against him, demanding that he continue.
With a roar, he sank his fangs into her neck. Buffy screamed his name as her hips became frantic as he drank from her, her back arched, and her arms held him to her neck the same way she held him tightly within her body. Jean-Claude's pace increased as his climax rushed through his blood. He pulled away from her neck roaring her name, carrying her up with him as he poured into her body. Buffy pulled him back to her neck. He sank his fangs back into her neck, and Buffy bit into his neck with her own dull teeth. Jean-Claude felt her little teeth bite him and his eyes rolled back in his head. She drank a sip of his blood, causing her to climax again while he continued to drink.