I can only imagine what we looked like emerging from the forest into the little clearing the humans had set their campsite up in. Two men. One smelled delightfully of the forest in which they were encamped, the other sneezed as we approached.
"Damn allergies. I love nature, but nature hates me." The voice was somewhat nasally and Alexndre let a small chuckle roll through the clearing, announcing our presence. The two men jumped and turned, the one with the delightful forest smell had a sharp knife in his hands and had been whittling a couple of short, thick stakes to sharp points. I had a brief moment of intense amusement, even though I could see they were being made to tack down an extra tarp, it was still almost like a bad joke. Vampires and stakes.
"God damn! Where did you two come from?" Cursed the man with allergies. Alexandre's gaze moved to his.
"Oh we were just hiking through, we live nearby and smelled the smoke, so decided to stop by and say hi." Alexandre purred. The man's eyes began to glaze over. Seduction it was then.
"In those clothes?" The forest-smelling man asked incredulously.
"Ah you know, we're rich." I shrugged as if it explained it all, walking slowly towards the man, licking my lower lip. In my mind I was urging him to submit to me, looking deep within his eyes as I did so. His gaze lost focus slightly, and he also licked his lips. I heard Alexandre already murmuring behind me to the other man. The foresty one refocused on me slightly, shaking his head as if to clear it. Damn, he was a strong-willed one.
"It's ok." I purred. "We're just all going to sit down and have a nice chat together, hmm?" The man's eyes lost focus again slightly as I circled him. "Oh look, you have an injury here. You must have gotten snagged on something in the woods, right?" I cooed. He hummed softly as I brushed his neck with his fingertips. "Next time you'll have to be more careful ducking those branches, hmm?" I murmured, my lips brushing against his skin. His heartrate spiked and he moaned.
"That's a good boy. This is going to be a wonderful dream for you later that you forget all about, right?" I pressed my lips to his neck, pulling his broad chest against mine. He immediately tangled his fingers in my hair, knife and stakes abandoned and forgotten on the forest floor. His other hand found the small of my back, pressing me against him. I heard Alexandre hiss slightly. I let my teeth graze my new friend's neck, just nicking the surface, tasting the blood as it beaded up. He groaned and I felt his hips jerk against mine. Alexandre made another sharp noise behind me. The man had an odd flavor, bitter like chewing pine needles in a way, but somehow full of sunshine and warmth regardless. I had once bitten into a stick when eating a roasted marshmallow and this man reminded me of that flavor. Very green. He groaned and gripped me tighter, rubbing himself against me as I bit down harder and began to draw from the wound. Alexandre's sharp intake of breath and heartrate spike told me he was aroused well before the scent hit me. I moaned this time, which made the man in my arms slide his hands to my hips and jerk me against him, thrusting at me through our clothes.
"Our friend here seems rather excitable." Alexandre remarked, pacing around us suddenly. "Should we give him a little taste?" Alexandre purred and I moaned again. Alexandre was there in an instant, sliding his hands over my body, undressing me.
"What about the other man?" I groaned, pulling myself from the camper's neck as Alexandre freed himself and the camper of their trousers.
"Asleep. Had quite the pleasurable time himself, if I do say so myself." Alexandre licked his lips. I could imagine. The camper's arousal was now pressing more insistently at my bare skin. Alexandre stood behind him, fondling him while eyeing me.
"Alexandre wait-consent." I murmured, and Alexandre nodded. "Non-coerced." I urged as the man's hands gripped my buttocks. Alexandre turned the camper's head and some of the haze cleared from his eyes.
"Do you want to help me pleasure my mate?" Alexandre purred. The man's eyes shot to me.
"Oh God yes." He moaned. "This is the hottest dream I've had in ages."
"Does that actually count as consent?" I asked Alexandre as I looked around the man, but the camper stole my lips, shutting me up as Alexandre guided him closer to my entrance, teasing me with his fingers as the man kissed me passionately, hands running over my body.
Alexandre and I stopped twice more to sate our lust before we made it home after leaving the campers with the command to forget us. I had a bit of blood from both and some of Alexandre, so was feeling quite sloshy and full. I raced Alexandre home, until he reminded me of the need for stealth, at which point he gripped my hand again, tugging me along like an errant kite. Once inside, I heard Mina's laughter with Cornelius' and Rory's voices, and two things struck my heart at once. First, I had forgotten all about poor Luc, and second, I wondered if Rory and Cornelius would be able to have children of their own. Would they be interested in adopting, or would the virus allow for surrogacy? Whatever they decided, they deserved it, but the virus tended to complicate things.
"What's the sudden frown for, love?" Alexandre asked softly, kissing my temple with an arm around my shoulder, tugging me against him.
"I just-I think I'll go see Luc. Want to come with?" I asked. Alexandre's expression hardened slightly, but he nodded and we wandered towards the medroom, only to find that Luc was not there. Panic struck me like a hammer striking an anvil. I tugged free of Alexandre's embrace and lifted my nose in the air, sniffing for Luc's scent.
"Damn it, he smells so much like you, especially now that we're feeding him your blood!" I almost screeched.
"Carys, Carys love, please calm down. Let's talk to Cornelius first. They're very calm for something dangerous to have happened." Ever the voice of reason, Alexandre had grabbed me before I could dash off through the house. I growled, but jerked my head in a nod, and raced towards the nursery, followed swiftly by Alexandre.
"Cornelius!" I yelled, bursting into the nursery. "Luc is-" I stopped mid sentence as I saw my baby girl sitting on her own, Rory's hand hovering protectively so when she weaved or bobbed he could catch and right her. Each time she slipped sideways or back there was a 'whoopsie' and she'd laugh uproariously. Cornelius was crouched in front of the two, and I'm not sure who he was watching more raptly, until my outburst had the two adults turning swiftly towards the door. In an instant, Rory had snatched Mina up off the floor and half turned, using his body as a shield while Cornelius stepped in front of his mate and my child to protect them.
"She.. she was sitting." I gasped and the two men partially relaxed, though I noted Alexandre had taken up a protective stance beside me for a brief moment as well in case one of them attacked without looking first. Like a room full of startled cats, I thought to myself grimly.
"What's going on with Luc?" Cornelius growled. I snapped back to attention.
"That's what I was going to ask you-he's not in the medroom!" I said in a panic.
"Oh." Cornelius relaxed. "That's all."
"When we came back, I checked in on him." Explained Cornelius. "Mind you, he's still quite wasted away, lots of muscle atrophy that will take some time to reverse. But the poor fellow practically begged me to be moved to a room with better entertainment options. Or at least different wall paint he could stare at." Cornelius chuckled. We passed through the library to the second floor and down the long, deserted hallway.
"I hope you don't mind Xan, but I had some people by to set him up a space. I loaned him some of Rory's and my things, since we've combined rooms. We ordered replacements for some of the stuff we didn't have extras of, Luc needed them more than us. I know that was bold of me, but-..." Cornelius offered. Alexandre placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Congratulations, my friend. I'm happy for you. Consider it a partnership present of sorts." Rory, who had been trailing behind blushed slightly.
"We don't want you to think we're going to mooch off you forever. We've been talking about finding a place of our own soon. As soon as Luc's back up on his feet we thought..." Rory stated, tickling Mina. My heart squeezed. I wasn't sure I could let them go-but they did deserve a life of their own. I looked at Alexandre helplessly and swallowed around the lump in my throat, tears forming in my eyes. He pulled me against him as Cornelius stopped in front of a bedroom door.
"And here we are." He knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Called Luc's hoarse voice.
"You have visitors." Cornelius answered, pushing the door open. As soon as Luc saw me, his face brightened.
"Carys!" He cried, and then he spotted Rory with Mina behind me and his face became radiant. "Mina.." He whispered reverentially.