Buffy smiled watching it play out through her son's eyes. "My sweets, take your friends back to their rooms. There's a passage in your room that leads to mine. Come to me, I'll be waiting." Buffy kicked off her pants, leaving the room in only the diaphanous shirt.
After she left, everyone snapped out of their orgasmic haze. "Wow, you think she'll do that at every meal. I'm not sure I brought enough clothes." Jason asked as he stood. A stain marked his pants over his groin. He started laughing since everyone else not wearing leather had the same stain.
While walking back to their room, Jean-Claude heard a shuffling sound and went to investigate. He found Anita having sex with a man against a wall. She held him to her breast, with her legs wrapped around his waist. Jean-Claude saw him bite into her breast viciously, thinking he was hurting her, he stepped forward.
Asher pulled him away. "She isn't hurt, mon aimé. She's riding the pain. Oh, mon dieu, that's Balthasar."
Jean-Claude felt the fury hit him remembering his time in Balthasar and the Traveler's tender care. The years of being held captive by them, so they could be together. "Anita, do you fuck anything now?"
She looked up but could do nothing as her body overrode every other sense. Her eyes closed as she smiled, it was a very satisfied smile. As Jonathan left Balthasar, Buffy jumped into Anita. She could leave memories or none at all. A person's body and mind were her playground.
"Yes, Jean-Claude, I do. You gave me this gift so whoever's handy is just fine. Isn't he gorgeous Jean-Claude, he feels wonderful."
Jean-Claude walked away. He remembered learning how to handle the arduer. It was hard, but it hadn't affected his feelings toward anyone he cared for. In fact, it brought his true feelings closer to the surface, which is what Balthasar had used to torture him.
"She doesn't know what she was saying, mon cher." Asher tried to soothe his lover.
"Non, Asher, I believe that's exactly what she feels, what she meant. Do you not remember how it was? Your true feelings rise with the arduer. I have tried to help her with this burden but obviously, it's no longer a burden to her. I'm tired of her games, her demands, and the selfishness of her actions. No, mon chardonette, I cannot take it any longer."
"But, Jean-Claude, the Triumvirate, your power."
Come to me, my children. I feel your pain and sorrow. I will heal your wounds. Come tell me what has happened. I'll fix whatever ails you. Her voice caressed their minds. They looked at each other then arm-in-arm walked into Jean-Claude's room, locking the door behind them.
They watched as a large painting slid into its frame, revealing a doorway. Walking forward, it was dark as they stepped inside. Each step they took caused a torch to light. They followed the lights to another doorway. Stepping through they saw Buffy lying on the bed nude. The bed was large enough for ten people to sleep comfortably. She was leaning on her arm facing them. Candles were lit throughout the vast room casting golden shadows on her body. With a wave of her hand, the door closed behind them as the torches went out.
"You are like the sun and the moon, my dark princes. Come here so we can do all the things we long to do. I have tasted your spirits, now I want to taste your flesh."
They dropped their clothes on the floor, then crawled to her across the large bed. Jean-Claude and Asher mirrored each other's movements as their hands touched her warm golden skin.
"Your skin is like satin warmed by the sun. Whatever wonder led us here do not let it stop." Jean-Claude bent down to take a breast in his mouth. Asher captured her mouth in his.
Buffy held their firm flesh in each hand, her movements slow, languid as her hands moved up and down. "Come my sweets, come and taste what you long for the most. I can show you the pleasure you yearn for." They sunk their fangs into her neck; Buffy moaned at the pleasure building in her own body. "Yes, drink be strong. I promise you'll need it to last the night with me."
Colors burst behind his eyes as her blood slid down his throat, Jean-Claude couldn't describe the taste, the pleasure found there in her blood. As they released her, Buffy smoothly bent forward engulfing him in her mouth. She positioned herself in front of Asher and he gladly sank into her warm, wet depths. Her throat and inner walls were the ones in control as she used muscles others didn't have to bring pleasure to her two lovers. Asher and Jean-Claude leaned forward kissing and caressing above her.
This is the way it should be a never-ending circle. They both shared the same thought as they looked into each others eyes smiling. Buffy brought them both to climax when she found her own. They lay wrapped together in each others arms.
"Tell me what happened. I don't like it when you are sad, Jean-Claude, either of you. That's why I healed you, my golden one. My Belle has been punished for not caring for you better, I'm sorry for that. I didn't raise them to be cruel, but she's the baby and I was gone. I've taken care of it, she'll bother you no longer."
Asher's head lay on her breast as she caressed his hair. "Thank you, Buffy. Oui, having Asher with me again makes me happy. I've missed him greatly. It is, it is Anita."
"Your human servant, correct."
"Oui, she inherited the arduer. It has changed her. I, I found her with someone she didn't even know. She gloated and threw it in my face. This was a person that wronged me in the past. She couldn't have found any else that would have wounded me more."
"But, Jean-Claude are you sure she has changed? I don't know her, but you know how the arduer works. Perhaps, you're seeing what has been there all along. Let me think on this perhaps there's someway I can help with her problem. You must think back over everything you know about her, since you've met. If it isn't the arduer, but her true feelings, I'm sorry, my prince, I can do nothing. Now, let's not talk about this anymore. We're here together; let's enjoy each other as only we know how."
Her hazel eyes became a luminescent green as Buffy crawled on top of Jean-Claude, sliding down his shaft. She sliced her chest with a nail, then licked away the blood. His hips rose to meet her slamming up into her.
"Asher, please, join us, my pet. We'll love the night away as one, all of us always joined." He moved behind her sliding into her.
"Ah, yes, I prefer your real flesh, ma chère, you grip me like a vice," he whispered huskily.
He and Jean-Claude worked in tandem to push and pull from her body. Buffy threw her head back and deep throaty laughter wrapped her lovers closer. Her body held them tight as her blood wove a spell about them. She closed the web tight. They were hers now in every way, whether they realized it or not.
She left them sleeping like babies exhausted in her bed. Walking through a separate passage, Buffy made her way toward the oasis. She knew the other weres would eventually find their way there; after all, it was where they came from. Buffy found Richard, throwing rocks into the clear cool water.
"Are you all right?" she asked quietly. Startled he turned to see her standing there wrapped in a short robe.
"Yes, I just needed somewhere to think."
"I can leave if you like."
"No, stay. It's okay. What is this place? My beast likes it here."
"It's your birthplace, Richard."
"I don't understand." He looked at her in confusion.
"It's a long story are you sure you want to heat it. I didn't think you cared for your history, or your ancestors." Buffy challenged him, looking him in the eye.
"Please, I want to know."
"When I came here a long time ago there was nothing..." Buffy talked for over an hour. "Hannah is still with me even now. She was the shewolf. Her children are your ancestors. So, you see, you're all my children in a way. That's the real reason they call me the Mother of Darkness."
"Then why have the weres been treated so badly in the past?"
"They weren't before I slept. I taught my children to protect them, love them. I'm sorry you and you pack were hurt. I've taken care that it will never happen again. Padma was punished, for his crimes. I oversaw it myself. I have a question for you. If you could get rid of the beast in you would you?"
"There isn't a way to do that, but yes I would if I could. I just want to teach kids, get married and have some of my own. I only got it because of the vaccine; otherwise that's what my life would be now."
"Who would care for your pack if you aren't the Ulfric?"
"It wouldn't be my problem anymore. I'm sorry, but I'm tired of monsters in my life. If I could, I would leave St. Louis and start over. No vamps, no weres, just me."
"What of your Triumvirate? Are you not still in love with Miss Blake?"
"I would gladly break the Triumvirate. Never wanted it to begin with. As for Anita, I loved her but well maybe I never knew her. Like I said I'm tired of monsters."
Buffy's eyebrow rose at that. "Miss Blake is a monster to you? Why?" She watched different emotion play across his handsome face.
"She has become harder, colder. It used to seem as if killing bothered her. It was her last resort, but now, she kills first and asks questions later. I think, I think she has a taste for it, gets off on it." Richard looked out over the blue water unable to meet the hazel eyes that seemed to look into his soul.
"I've seen that happen many times in my long years on this earth. Power is seductive, if you aren't careful, it will swallow you whole. I'm glad we talked. I'll see you later, Richard."
"Thanks for listening, uh, Mother."
"Buffy's fine and you're welcome. Everyone needs a friend sometime. I'm glad that I could help."
As Buffy walked away, Hannah joined her. "What do you think, Hannah?"
"He's too far gone. If he were my pup, I'd drown him. He's dangerous to everyone around him. Let him go, Mother. I don't one such as him pulling on my line."
"Hannah, straight to point as always. I have to talk to my prince first. He has to understand that I'm doing this for him not against."
"Those two make you happy, Buffy. There's a sparkle in your eyes, I haven't seen in a long time. Do whatever you must to keep it there." The two old friends walked back to Buffy's rooms arm-in-arm.
Cherry and Nathaniel woke up in Belle's bed. The beautiful vampire lay still beside them. They looked at her then each other and smiled. "Was my daughter good to you?" A soft voice spoke from the darkness.
They froze as Buffy stepped into the room. "Uh, are we in trouble," Nathaniel asked.
Buffy laughed. "No sweet kitties, come talk to me." She held her arms open to them. Cherry and Nathaniel crawled off the bed down to the floor. She sat on the floor as they crawled close to her and started to purr.
"You're happy this morning, Cherry? No regrets?"
Cherry shook her head. "It was wonderful, wasn't it, Nathaniel?"
He looked at Buffy with his lavender eyes full of happiness. "Oh, yes, please don't make us leave."
"Why would I do that? I just wanted to be sure that you were all right. I didn't approve of Belle's former lover but you two; I think are just what she needs."
They snuggled closer and Buffy let her robe fall away. "Here my children eat. It will make you strong. You'll see there's nothing to fear." Like two baby kittens, they latched onto her nipples. Their sharp fangs pierced her smooth skin as they drank. Buffy lovingly held their heads, rubbing their ears while they nursed. When they pulled away, they looked at her in wonder. "All better now?" They nodded afraid to say anything that might break the spell. "Good, now crawl back up there and keep my baby girl warm. I'll tell you a secret. As strong as she like to pretend to be, she likes being dominated, as well. A good spanking sends my girl right over the edge. There are lots of toys to play with here. Surprise her, chain her up and make her do your will. You and I both know she could get free if she wanted to. I think you'll all be surprised at the changes in yourselves."
Buffy saw the abuse and domination in their past as they drank from her. The best way for them to move forward was to get to drive occasionally. Looking at them curled around Belle, she mentally nudged her daughter. "Treat them well baby girl, it doesn't appear as if anyone else will."
Anita woke up in bed alone; strangely, the arduer didn't rear its head. She felt almost saddened by the fact. Throwing back the covers, her breath caught when she saw her body. There were bite marks and scratches all over her. She got out of bed carefully, and walked to the bathroom. Her back burned with every move she made. Turning on a light, she looked at her back. Anita's hands shook and she grabbed the counter. There were lash marks covering her back as well as fingerprint sized bruises. Looking closer, she saw what were two different no three different sets of prints.
What, the hell, happened last night? Where is everyone? "Micah, Nathaniel, anyone, someone." They just left me here alone. Was I drugged, did someone rape me? Why can't I remember?
She put the water on scalding hot and stepped into the shower. While Anita scrubbed her body, the night came back to her in flashes. Running down the corridor, some man, Balthasar that was his name. Oh no Jean-Claude. She saw herself walking with this perfect stranger to a room. There were two other men there, but she couldn't see their face. She saw herself step out of her clothes, then walking in front of one man only to drop to her knees and take him into her mouth. The flashes sped by as the memories returned. She had sex with three strangers, did things she couldn't even name. She allowed them to whip, bite, and scratch her while she ordered for more.
"What have I become? I won't wake up and this be a dream. I wanted it; I enjoyed the pain, all of it. What's happening?" She sunk to the shower floor, crying as the water fell down on her battered body.
Jean-Claude woke in Buffy's bed, snuggling into Asher while his thoughts ran to Anita. More specifically, Buffy's words that maybe he never saw the real Anita. He let his memory wander back over the last two years. Everything seemed so different, why hadn't he seen it before. Even Richard saw what I would not.
"Mon chère, do not beat yourself up. You were lonely, oui. She appeared as something she was not. Please, wake our beautiful lover up; I need to speak to both of you." Buffy stood at beside the bed, staring down at them. Asher scooted up in the bed as she joined them. "I have spoken to your wolf, my prince. I can remove his beast from him. It's what he wants more than anything."
"What of the Triumvirate, it will kill or weaken Jean-Claude."
"My sweet Asher, do you think I'd tell you if that was my plan. I'm sorry Jean-Claude, but the Triumvirate was voided by your servant. When Belle tried to mark her, Anita used your link, waking me instead. Because of her actions, my power sped through the link to you. It marked you Jean-Claude, it marked you as mine."
"That is impossible. We can't be marked."
Buffy laughed, sending shivers of pleasure racing across their skin. "My dark prince, as I told Belle, you're young. There are many things you don't know."
"They no longer carry my marks?" Jean-Claude asked with a worried look upon his handsome face.
"Try to call to them, they won't answer. Then call to me."
Jean-Claude sent his power racing out, but neither Anita nor Richard answered. He dropped his shields completely and she was there inside; he could feel her. It was more power than he had ever thought possible.
Buffy smiled at the wonder written across his face. "Do you believe me now? Lay back Jean-Claude, let me show you what I offer." She dropped her robe and climbed onto the bed. "I offer you all that you have already tasted and more. I've walked this Earth since its beginning. I don't want to walk it alone anymore and won't if you take what I offer." As she talked, she drug her fangs up his body nipping him, then licking the blood away.
Jean-Claude felt as if he was about to burst. He was already hard from sharing power with her, now he rode it to the edge of pain. For a vampire, it was the ultimate situation for sex. The craving to feel your power be dominated. She sucked on his balls taking them into her mouth one after the other. Her small hands ran up his body to slip inside him. Each movement was slow, deliberate, as she expertly played his body. Her fangs sank into him as her fingers stroked him. Every point on his body that could give pleasure received the same treatment.
Asher watched them; somehow, it was enough at this moment. What was happening in front of him was so erotic; he felt as much a part of it, if he had participated in reality. He watched the muscles play under her skin as she played Jean-Claude's body to a fevered pitch. Buffy sent reassuring comfort to Asher as she continued to devour Jean-Claude. She moved further up to take his straining cock into her mouth. As she lifted her head up, she pulled her fang lightly along its length. Before he could cum, Buffy applied pressure to its base cutting off his release. Her hand stayed on him as she continued to work her way up his beautiful body. She looked down at him, taking in his heavy eyes and rapid breath. Buffy bent forward to kiss him deeply as she slid down his length. Tightening her inner walls, she held him in place, only rippling her vaginal walls every so often. She offered her breast to him, which he hungrily devoured, as he tried not to move his hips.
"Jean-Claude, do you want to belong to me? Tell me, my prince, what do you want?" Her voice wrapped around him, much the same way that her body held him tightly inside her.
"I want you, mon amour, I want all of you."
"Then you shall have me." Her hips began to slam down on him at a hard rapid pace. When he was on the edge of his release, Buffy bit into his neck. Jean-Claude copied her and sunk his own fangs into her small neck. He rolled her over as they continued to fuck and feed for what seemed like hours.
"Mon chèr, mon amour, tre avec moi est le mien. (My dear, my love, be with me, be mine.)" Jean-Claude murmured to her in French, almost incoherent from the power and pleasure that rode his body.
"Je vous aime, Jean-Claude, toujours (I love you, always)." Buffy responded in kind. "You are bound to me forever. What we've started here, no one can change." She put her hand out to Asher. "Come my golden child, come and join us. We'll be as one, bound tightly together, one body, one heart, together as we are meant to be."
He went to her as she pulled him to her lips. Jean-Claude laid on her other side, understanding that it was his turn to watch. Buffy's hands sunk into Asher's long golden hair as her body came into alignment with his. He slid into her waiting heat and felt as if he had come home. There love play was more urgent, more hungry, than her games with Jean-Claude.
Richard found himself once more at the oasis, staring into the clear blue water. He heard something approaching and it caused his beast to growl, then whimper when a wave of power hit him. His body arched. He felt his beast being pulled forwards against his will. He started to change and couldn't make it stop. Richard pulled on the marks, but couldn't feel Anita or Jean-Claude. He pulled harder on his own inner strength, yet he still couldn't stop the beginning of the change. It was harsh and painful, causing sweat to pour off his body while his bones began to shift into place. He fell to his knees and screamed just as the largest wolf, no werewolf he'd ever seen broke through the trees. It changed as it ran forward from its wolf form into - a woman. He never knew a were could change that smoothly. Richard lay on the ground in a partial changed form. He tried to force himself into his human form. The woman growled and he stopped. Not even when Raina and Marcus ruled, had he felt this submissive. He crawled forward to crouch at the woman's feet. She stood almost as tall as him. Her eyes had remained the amber of her beast and coal-black hair tipped with white hung down her back. She was leanly muscled and moved with a grace only a were could achieve.
"I had to judge you for myself," she said cryptically, before she proceeded to walk around him. Richard felt like an animal at an auction and wondered if she would check his teeth. "My name is Hannah and I am the beginning of your line. You do not appreciate Mother's gift do you?"
Richard knew from his own mother that when a woman took that tone they didn't want an answer. The best thing to do was to keep your mouth shut and don't even breath loud if you could help it. Hannah continued to circle him. Her hand lashed out in a blur; Richard expected a blow, but surprisingly she brushed his hair back from his face. She sniffed the air and realized the truth behind his discontent.
"You didn't become one of my line from the vaccine, did you boy? What happened?" She barked out the question, expecting an immediate answer.
Richard's head snapped up and his eyes turned amber once more, this time by his choosing. Could she smell the difference on him?
"I'm waiting boy, I want you to tell me, what I already know." Hannah's voice was soft, but her beast lashed out, forcing its power onto Richard.
"Fine, just stop it please." His breath came in heavy pants with sweat pouring down his back. "I got it from my wife. We were just out of high school and in love. She never told me, but I found out the hard way the first time we made love. It was too much for her to control and she changed. She was horrified by what she had done. I was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. They gave me the vaccine at the hospital. It was new back then and we told them that my injuries were from a car wreck. The shot was given to everyone who hadn't already been immunized. Sarah didn't say anything to my parent's when I tested positive in the hospital. I woke up, roughly a week later to hell. My parents didn't know what had happened and I couldn't get in touch with Sarah. I knew that something was wrong, checked myself out of the hospital and found her in the tub. She slit her wrists with a silver knife. Sarah was only eighteen years old. She had caught it from a cousin that she was babysitting, who accidentally bit her. My parent never knew about Sarah or me. They sent me away to college and I never returned, never went back to see them or Sarah's grave. I settled in St. Louis, teaching school. I had always dreamed about having a marriage like my parents, and children, lots of children. So yes, I hate my beast. I lost everything to him. When I thought I had finally met a woman that could love both sides of me, she left after I killed the old Ulfric for her and changed on top of her."
"What else happened? I can smell your emotions," Hannah coaxed Richard to tell her the rest. Her amber eyes looked deep into his heart and saw the hurt lost boy hidden there.
"She left me only to crawl into Jean-Claude's bed that same night." The anguish and anger was clear in his voice.
"You have not had an easy time of it, Richard." Buffy stepped out of the shadows.
Richard jumped, he hadn't heard or smelled her approach. She moved forward to wrap her arms around Hannah, her trusted friend and the first female she ever made love to, all those years ago. She kissed Hannah's dark brow. "I will take care of this, Hannah. My conclusions were correct. Go and gather the others, Richard and I will join you in a few moments." Hannah kissed Richard's cheek, then Buffy softly on the lips. They always knew what the other planned to do, almost the moment they did themselves.
He watched Hannah turn and in an instant become the she-wolf once more. Her coat was coal black with white-tips. Richard turned back to Buffy, who studied his face carefully. She stepped closer to him and her hand caressed his cheek. His eyes closed at the warmth and tenderness he felt from her touch.
"I'm going to set you free, Richard. You've suffered enough and deserve your chance to fulfill your dreams. Follow me."
Buffy walked past him into the dense foliage beyond the waterfall. He followed her into a hidden clearing with a look of wonder on his handsome face. Everywhere he looked there were mythical animals - unicorns, centaurs, and - a sphinx.