When Doves Cry
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
5
Views:
1,916
Reviews:
2
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
5
Views:
1,916
Reviews:
2
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), or the Anita Blake world and/or series, nor any of the characters from them. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Maybe You're Just Like My Mother; She's Never Satisfied
When Doves Cry
By Ebony Silvers
Chapter 4
"Maybe You're Just Like My Mother; She's Never Satisfied."
Siskiyou Coast, Oregon
Saturday 3:04 am
August 4, 2018
Baby pressed the “end” button and put the cell phone away. René’s last words echoed and rolled through her mind. “Je t’aime, aussie.” She closed her eyes and shivered. When his physical pain had burst across her mind she’d been terrified. The thought of René hurt and possibly dying scared her more than her own death. Tho heo hear his voiceer aer all these months… to open their consort bond and truly feel him… she felt the fragile equilibrium she’d built crumble. How could she face eternity without him?
Jack wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him. His new bond was stronger than his previous link to her. Now that he was her companion, he felt her emotions and physical sensations more completely. He’d caught the echo of René’s injury and the full force of her reaction. Anxiety still radiated from her. “What did Beaumont say? Is he okay?”
She nodded. “He's okay. He said he loves me, too.”
Jack held her as she stared out into the darkness. She’d finally told him about Beaumont and her uncontrollable love for the Cajun. She’d told him just about everything about her life over the last couple of weeks. But when she’d explained about Beaumont and told Jack that she’d never take another consort, Jack knew she truly intended to keep him with her forever. At some point in the not-too-distant future, she’d honor her promise and turn him and they would hunt the night together evermore. He would become her son and her sole companion. His was the deepest bond she was willing to form any longer. He wasn’t sure if she’d eventually set up a kingdom of her own as Spike had done or if she’d simply wander the earth as Wesley and Drusilla did. He didn’t care. If she chose to build an empire, he’d help her rule it. If she chose to drift as they’d been doing since they left New Orleans, he’d see the world. He would have immortality and fom aom and the taste of warm blood. He could think of nothing else he required.
He drew a deep breath, wondering when that would become a matter of choice rather than a necessity of life. He doubted if he would miss breathing. He listened to the waves pounding the rocks at the base of the cliff, the swirling waters eating away at the rock and earth the way time ate away at his life. Unlike the cliffs, the surf would not wear him away to nothing. He’d defeat time and Death. He tightened his hold on her. She was his key. She’d give him that victory. His gratitude was boundless. He gazed out at the ocean and wondered what the night looked like to her.
“Do you want to go into town and hunt for a while?” he asked.
She shook her head. She trembled still, racked with the aftermath of emotions that swirled like the riptides below them. “No. I don’t feel like killing anyone. Except maybe Angelus.” She took a deep breath. That brief connection with René, that momentary opening of their consort bond, burned. René was a fire inside her heart. When she’d felt his injury she’d nearly ordered Jack to drive her to Mobile. She shivered again and tried to get the vision of René being hurt by Angelus out of her mind. It wouldn’t stop. If she hadn’t heard his voice and had that brief moment of contact to assure her that he really was all right, she’d be frantic. It took all her self-control even now to keep from going to Mobile just to touch him and see for herself that he was fine.
Jack didn’t need to be psychic or bound to her to know what she was thinking. “You can go see him if you want to.”
She shook her head. “I don’t dare,” she answered. “If I see him, I’ll never be able to let him go again.”
He shook his head. He didn’t understand all the permutations of her convoluted relationships with her husbands and didn’t really want to try. He couldn’t understand why she was here with him. If she loved Beaumont so desperately why didn’t she just say screw it and go to him? Why do this to herself when the answer was so simple?
“It’s not,” she told him when he asked. “It’s not simple at all.”
“Isn’t it?” he asked. “The way I understand it, Spike’s found someone new. Why should he care if you’re with Beaumont? He doesn’t seem to care if you’re with me. Why is this different? Why is sex with me okay but sex with Beaumont is forbidden?”
“You’re not a threat to Spike. René always has been.” She thought for a moment. “There’s something running really deep there that even I don’t understand. I sometimes think it goes beyond me. I think sometimes that Spike feels René is the only one who can challenge him. Angel’s always had the same reaction to René. There’s something about René that both of them find threatening.” She covered Jack’s arms with her own, pulling him tightly to her. “I think René was born to conquer and rule and they can feel it. I think they’re afraid he’ll take it all away.” She watched the night sparkle. “They don’t understand that’s not what he’s all about.”
Jack leaned his cheek against the top of hea head. He’d see her through this and any of a thousand future hard times because she’d given him everything he’d ever wanted. He concentrated and sent his support through their link as she’d taught him. “What’s he all about then?”
She turned in his encircling arms and pulled his head down to kiss him. She could feel him offering his strength, mental and physical, for her to lean on. She slid her hands inside his jacket and sought out his warm skin. He shivered at the coldness of her hands and tipped her back onto the leaves and grass. The echoes of René’s love and need seared her mind and inflamed her veins. She fed that need to her Companion. She’d lose herself in Jack and accept the solace he offered. It was all she had left. As Jack bit her shoulder hard enough to cause her to gasp, she answered his question. “Love. René’s all about love.”
~~~~~
Mobile, Alabama
Saturday, 9:25 am
August 11, 2018
Jean gasped and threw his head back as René’s hand tightened. “Oh God.” Jean smiled down at his brother. “I’ve missed you so much.”
René’s answering smile warmed Jean more than living blood. “I missed you, too, m’ frère. I don’t think I realized how much until now.” He slid one hand possessively across Jean’s body while he repeated his earlier action with the other. Jean gasped again and moaned softly. “You like that, don’t you?” René purred. “That’s good, huh?” Jean bit his lip and nodded. René laughed quietly. He hadn’t lied when he said he hadn’t realized how much he missed Jean Claude. He’d been in Mobile for over eight years now but he still longed for those halcyon days when the core of the family had been together in New Orleans. He’d never been happier than he was when his parents, he, Claudia, and Jean had been together at la Maison du Rouge s'Elevé. In his heart, the house on Rue Royale was still home and a large part of the reason he felt that way was because Jean was there. For René, a bit of home resided wherever Jean was. Maybe Mobile would finally feel like home now that Jean was here, in René’s house, in his bed.
René’s smile grew as he shifted his hips against Jean and watched pleasure flit across his brother’s face. Over the past week he had discovered that driving Jean completely to distraction was immensely fulfilling. He had never imagined that possessing Jean, taking the initiative, could feel ood.ood. Giving Jean pleasure had become René’s priority. Seeing to Jean’s needs and wants now filled René’s days and nights. Jean had become René’s reason for being. He had sworn his existence to seeing that Jean was happy again. There was only Jean and Cordelia. Nothing else really mattered anymore.
Jean opened his eyes and took in René’s smiling face. He could barely believe he was here. He had wanted this for so long.ing ing in René’s house, acknowledged as René’s lover, spendeacheach night in his brother’s company and each day in his bed, was all Jean had wished it could be. He was afraid to go to sleep each morning, fearful that he would awaken to discover it was a dream. He shifted forward and kissed René with all the love he felt.
René’s smile remained in place when Jean withdrew from his lips. The glow in those brown eyes was worth more than the most expensive what-not in René’s house. It was worth more than the house and everything in it. He pulled Jean’s hand to his mouth, kissing it gently before releasing it. The pure love that flowed from Jean was sweeter than anything René had ever felt. He wanted to return that love. He wanted Jean to know how he felt. He wanted Jean to feel his love. He reached down and wrapped his hand around Jean again, his fingers sliding easily over Jean’s flesh. Jean sighed in bliss. It felt good to not have to make all the decisions, to not be the one responsible for everything, to be the one who was cared for, for a change. He’d surrendered himself to René and gloried in allowing his brother control. It didn’t matter that René was the one lying beneath Jean; René was in complete control of Jean’s body at the moment. Jean shivered at René’s touch. That one hand, so recently crushed and broken, now ruled Jean’s existence. Jean’s world had narrowed to the feel of René beneath him and that one hand bringing him such ecstasy. Jean bit his lip as René continued to manipulate him, making him tremble and pant.
René gently guided Jean further back, positioning and pressing Jean against him, and watched Jean’s eye grow round and fill with disbelief. He smiled tenderly at his lover. He lifted his hips insistently, pressing against Jean. “Push, Jean,” he whispered. He brought his hand up and caressed Jean’s cheek, silencing his brother’s questions before they were spoken. “Push.”
With wonder lighting his face, Jean complied, easing into his beloved René until they were completely joined. He stilled, simply resting, locked in his lover’s body, overcome by the feel of René around him. He’d never believed René would allow this. René had been so adamant for so many years that no man ever touch him this way. Jean had long ago given up any hope of ever sharing this sort of oneness with René. He was besieged by sensation and overwhelmed by emotion. He could only stare at his brother as his heart filled his chest to near bursting.
René continued stroking Jean’s face with his thumb as he said, “You always told me that what happened to me was wrong and that it wasn’t the way it should be.” His smile was as loving as any Jean had ever seen on René’s face. “You always told me that if it happened with someone who cared, if it happened with love, it could be good.” He took Jean’s hand again and kissed it. Ocean-blue eyes inundated Jean’s senses and a whisper-soft voice filled Jean’s being. “Make it good for me, Jean.”
Panting with emotions he could barely contain, overwhelmed with the trust René had in him, Jean kissed René’s hand before lacing their fingers together. “Oh, I will,” he promised shakily. “I’m gonna make it so good for you. I’m gonna be better than anyone you ever had.” Jean had never wanted anyone more than he wanted René at that moment. He was astounded that René trusted him so much and he intended to prove to René why he was worthy of that trust. Holding tightly to his lover’s hands, never looking away from that adored face, he began to move gently and slowly. Jean Claude DuValliere was accounted the best lover, male or female, in all of south Louisiana and he intended to use every skill at his disposal to show René how good loving this way could be. He swore that René would have no regrets for giftgift of trust and love he was giving Jean.
When the stars themselves exploded for René and he cried out his love for his brother, Jean’s joy was boundless and he knew he had everything he could ever want.
~~~~~
René held Jean closely, stroking his face, his shoulders, with dulcet fingers. “Jean? Are you really mine?” He shifted so he could look at his lover. “Did you mean it all those times you said you wanted to be completely mine?”
Jean opened his eyes. “I am yours. I always have been, heart, mind, and body.”
René reached under his pillow. “Then will you wear this?” He held out a gold ring, fleur de lys circling the band. “Your hand looks funny without a wedding ring,” he continued. Jean looked up from the ring and was caught by René’s eyes. There was fire in their teal depths. “I want to see my ring on your hand,” René said intently. “And my mark on your neck.”
Jean gasped.
“Will you, Jean? Will you wear my ring and my mark?” René’s eyes never wavered.
The force of that deep aqua gaze held Jean immobile. “Yes,” he breathed. “Gladly. Proudly.”
Never breaking that contact, René slipped the ring on Jean’s left hand. “Then listen to me. I swear I will love you for as long as I walk this earth. You are m’ amant, m’ époux, m’ mari. I swear that you always be a part of me.” Jean was drowning in that intense teal gaze. “Whether secretly or for the whole world to see, you mine. You belong to me.” He bit into his wrist and held it out to Jean. Jean broke contact with René’s eyes to stare at the dark blood welling from torn flesh. The scent of René's blood filled his nostrils and he took the proffered limb, lowering his lips to the wound. "No one and nothing can take you from me. M'appartient." René began to breathe raggedly as Jean drew blood from the twin gashes. “For all eternity you’ll be part of me. Forever." He kissed a spot over Jean’s heart before moving to his brother’s throat, rubbing his face against Jean for a moment before his bones shifted and his fangs appeared. “Les miens!” He sank his teeth into Jean’s artery and drank, joining them in a bond that only death would dissolve. Jean’s cry of completion echoed through the house.
~~~~~
René tossed in his sleep. In his dream, he held Jean as he had only a few hours earlier, that same joy filling him. But now an edge of unease stole in, marring his bliss. As he spoke the binding words that made Jean his consort, the body he held began to change. Jean’s hair turned long and red, his face and body softened until it was Baby René held. Love greater than any he’d ever felt flooded him. He could feel her body tight around him, her arms holding him to her. He could smell the scent of her hair and her skin. He could hear her soft voice encouraging him, begging him to make hes. s. As he lowered his head to her throat and bit deeply he felt her sharp teeth sink into him and the pull as his blood flowed into her. Her blood filled his throat and his seed filled her body. He felt her inside his heart and mind. Elation such as he’d never known filled him and he lifted his head to see her eyes shining with love for him. He pressed his lips to hers, focusing their love in that kiss. He needed only this to make him complete.
“Traitors.” The hurt and loathing in that one word reverberated in the featureless room.
René turned his head and met Spike’s pain-filled eyes. Jean stood two paces behind his father, desolate. “Traitors,” Spike repeated beforrninrning away and vanishing. Silent tears flowing from his sable eyes, Jean followed.
“No,” René protested softly. “No, it’s not like that…” Baby’s weeping slashed René’s heart and he reached to comfort her but, with anguish twisting her face, she melted away, leaving him alone in the tangled sheets. Only the echo of her sobs reverberating in his chest remained, leaving him hollow and empty.
He woke with a start. He sat up on the side of the bed and ran a hand through his still-too-long hair. He sat silently for several moments before he leaned over and kissed Jean’s hair. Rising, he pulled on a pair of pants and looked back at his sleeping consort. He snatched two bottles of tequila from the Chinese armoire and headed for his study, closing the bedroom door soundlessly behind him.
~~~~~
Santa Monica, California
Saturday, 2:43 pm
August 11, 2018
Baby sat up in bed with a gasp. She clenched her fists in her hair, pressing her arms tightly to her head, and screamed. Jack rolled over and gathered her to him. He held her as she shivered and didn’t ask why she had awoken screaming René’s name. She’d tell him when she was ready. When she calmed enough, he made her a cup of tea and brought it to where she sat curled on a sofa staring out at the bougainvillea that covered the patio across the way. She smiled fleetingly up at him as she took the cup. He sat down beside her and pulled her against him. He knew his body warmth gave her comfort. He held her in silence as the clock ticked away and the tea turned cold beneath their s. s. Rising he dumped the untouched tea and refilled the mug. He returned and settled them both in their previous positions. “You feel like talking yet?”
“René’s claimed Jean,” she said flatly.
He thought of her screams on waking. “And that’s bad?”
“I don’t know.” She looked down at where his hands rested on her stomach. “Part of me thinks it’s wonderful. They belong together and always have. But part of me is terrified that they’re going to get hurt. Especially Jean. I’m afraid for Jean.” She looked back out at the flowers across the narrow path from their hotel room. Hesitantly, then with more animation, she told him about the dream.
“Any idea what it means?” he asked after she finished her description.
“It means I was right to leave,” she said sadly. “It means I can’t ever go near Spike or René again.”
He placed his hands over hers where they were wrapped about the mug. She was shivering with a coldness that had nothing to do with the temperature of the air. “Are you going to be able to do that?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
She shook her head and leaned back onto him. “I don’t know, but it looks like I don’t have any choice.” She drew a shaky breath. “How did I let it get so messed up, Jack? What happened?”
He shook his head. “You’ve never told me. I know about Beaumont but I don’t pretend to understand any of the rest of it.”
“You think love should be enough. You think that if you just love each other enough it should get you through anything, but it doesn’t.” She set the tea aside and curled up more closely to him. “It just makes it worse. The harder you love, the harder it hurts. And the more people you hurt.” She lay her head on his chest and let the tears she’d been holding back since she left New Orleans flow. “Don’t love me, Jack. Like me all you want to. Desire me and want me but for God’s sake, don’t love me.”
~~~~~
New Orleans, Louisiana
Saturday, 6:00 pm
August 11, 2018
“Spike?” Anne was surprised to find him in Baby’s office. The Master had studiously avoided his wife’s private rooms since she’d left him. He’d walked out on a meeting an hour and a half earlier without a word to anyone. She'd been searching the house for him. She never expected to find him here.
“I’m all right, pet.” He stood at one of the windows, staring out at the courtyard. “The garden doesn’t look well. It needs attention,” he said. “The gardener can’t seem to get it to flourish like it used to.”
“The garden looks fine. The flowers are glorious.” she said gently. He continued to look out at his courtyard. “This isn’t about the garden, Spike.”
“Yes, it is. It’s dying without her here.” He turned to face her. “And she’s dying away from here.” And he was dying without her. A bit at a time, they were both dying. “She’s crying. I can feel it.” He turned back to the window
Anne went to him and held him, lying her head against his back. “She’ll be all right. You’ve told me how very strong she is.”
The impressions flowing through him weren’t indicative of strength, but the heartache of a broken woman alone and far from home. "She's not strong without me. I'm her strength. I always have been. She told me so back when I was her world." He was silent for several long minutes. “I wish we weren’t joined, Anne,” he said desolately. “I honestly wish Baby and I weren’t a part of each other anymore.” If they were separate, perhaps she could find some peace. Maybe he’d be able to let her go and they could both find some sort of tranquility. Or at least, surcease from the eternal ache that gnawed at them both.
She nodded. “So do I. She’s hurt you so badly,” Anne said.
“And I’ve hurt her,” he whispered to himself.
“You shouldn’t stay here like this. It isn’t good for you.” She took his hand. “Come outside. It’s time for tea.
He let her lead him from the room and into the waning day. Anne looked back at him. She’d prove to him that his garden was very much alive and he needn’t worry so. She looked about. The flowers were beautiful, rainbows of color flowing against soft foliage. Ferns fringed the fountain and ringed the small pool. Even in the heat of a New Orleans summer it was cool and inviting here. It was a beautiful garden. Spike had to see that.
She didn’t notice that the sun didn’t penetrate Baby’s garden and the flowers she so admired grew and flourished in the shade. She didn’t realize that too much exposure to sunlight would kill them.
~~~~~
TBC
By Ebony Silvers
Chapter 4
"Maybe You're Just Like My Mother; She's Never Satisfied."
Siskiyou Coast, Oregon
Saturday 3:04 am
August 4, 2018
Baby pressed the “end” button and put the cell phone away. René’s last words echoed and rolled through her mind. “Je t’aime, aussie.” She closed her eyes and shivered. When his physical pain had burst across her mind she’d been terrified. The thought of René hurt and possibly dying scared her more than her own death. Tho heo hear his voiceer aer all these months… to open their consort bond and truly feel him… she felt the fragile equilibrium she’d built crumble. How could she face eternity without him?
Jack wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him. His new bond was stronger than his previous link to her. Now that he was her companion, he felt her emotions and physical sensations more completely. He’d caught the echo of René’s injury and the full force of her reaction. Anxiety still radiated from her. “What did Beaumont say? Is he okay?”
She nodded. “He's okay. He said he loves me, too.”
Jack held her as she stared out into the darkness. She’d finally told him about Beaumont and her uncontrollable love for the Cajun. She’d told him just about everything about her life over the last couple of weeks. But when she’d explained about Beaumont and told Jack that she’d never take another consort, Jack knew she truly intended to keep him with her forever. At some point in the not-too-distant future, she’d honor her promise and turn him and they would hunt the night together evermore. He would become her son and her sole companion. His was the deepest bond she was willing to form any longer. He wasn’t sure if she’d eventually set up a kingdom of her own as Spike had done or if she’d simply wander the earth as Wesley and Drusilla did. He didn’t care. If she chose to build an empire, he’d help her rule it. If she chose to drift as they’d been doing since they left New Orleans, he’d see the world. He would have immortality and fom aom and the taste of warm blood. He could think of nothing else he required.
He drew a deep breath, wondering when that would become a matter of choice rather than a necessity of life. He doubted if he would miss breathing. He listened to the waves pounding the rocks at the base of the cliff, the swirling waters eating away at the rock and earth the way time ate away at his life. Unlike the cliffs, the surf would not wear him away to nothing. He’d defeat time and Death. He tightened his hold on her. She was his key. She’d give him that victory. His gratitude was boundless. He gazed out at the ocean and wondered what the night looked like to her.
“Do you want to go into town and hunt for a while?” he asked.
She shook her head. She trembled still, racked with the aftermath of emotions that swirled like the riptides below them. “No. I don’t feel like killing anyone. Except maybe Angelus.” She took a deep breath. That brief connection with René, that momentary opening of their consort bond, burned. René was a fire inside her heart. When she’d felt his injury she’d nearly ordered Jack to drive her to Mobile. She shivered again and tried to get the vision of René being hurt by Angelus out of her mind. It wouldn’t stop. If she hadn’t heard his voice and had that brief moment of contact to assure her that he really was all right, she’d be frantic. It took all her self-control even now to keep from going to Mobile just to touch him and see for herself that he was fine.
Jack didn’t need to be psychic or bound to her to know what she was thinking. “You can go see him if you want to.”
She shook her head. “I don’t dare,” she answered. “If I see him, I’ll never be able to let him go again.”
He shook his head. He didn’t understand all the permutations of her convoluted relationships with her husbands and didn’t really want to try. He couldn’t understand why she was here with him. If she loved Beaumont so desperately why didn’t she just say screw it and go to him? Why do this to herself when the answer was so simple?
“It’s not,” she told him when he asked. “It’s not simple at all.”
“Isn’t it?” he asked. “The way I understand it, Spike’s found someone new. Why should he care if you’re with Beaumont? He doesn’t seem to care if you’re with me. Why is this different? Why is sex with me okay but sex with Beaumont is forbidden?”
“You’re not a threat to Spike. René always has been.” She thought for a moment. “There’s something running really deep there that even I don’t understand. I sometimes think it goes beyond me. I think sometimes that Spike feels René is the only one who can challenge him. Angel’s always had the same reaction to René. There’s something about René that both of them find threatening.” She covered Jack’s arms with her own, pulling him tightly to her. “I think René was born to conquer and rule and they can feel it. I think they’re afraid he’ll take it all away.” She watched the night sparkle. “They don’t understand that’s not what he’s all about.”
Jack leaned his cheek against the top of hea head. He’d see her through this and any of a thousand future hard times because she’d given him everything he’d ever wanted. He concentrated and sent his support through their link as she’d taught him. “What’s he all about then?”
She turned in his encircling arms and pulled his head down to kiss him. She could feel him offering his strength, mental and physical, for her to lean on. She slid her hands inside his jacket and sought out his warm skin. He shivered at the coldness of her hands and tipped her back onto the leaves and grass. The echoes of René’s love and need seared her mind and inflamed her veins. She fed that need to her Companion. She’d lose herself in Jack and accept the solace he offered. It was all she had left. As Jack bit her shoulder hard enough to cause her to gasp, she answered his question. “Love. René’s all about love.”
~~~~~
Mobile, Alabama
Saturday, 9:25 am
August 11, 2018
Jean gasped and threw his head back as René’s hand tightened. “Oh God.” Jean smiled down at his brother. “I’ve missed you so much.”
René’s answering smile warmed Jean more than living blood. “I missed you, too, m’ frère. I don’t think I realized how much until now.” He slid one hand possessively across Jean’s body while he repeated his earlier action with the other. Jean gasped again and moaned softly. “You like that, don’t you?” René purred. “That’s good, huh?” Jean bit his lip and nodded. René laughed quietly. He hadn’t lied when he said he hadn’t realized how much he missed Jean Claude. He’d been in Mobile for over eight years now but he still longed for those halcyon days when the core of the family had been together in New Orleans. He’d never been happier than he was when his parents, he, Claudia, and Jean had been together at la Maison du Rouge s'Elevé. In his heart, the house on Rue Royale was still home and a large part of the reason he felt that way was because Jean was there. For René, a bit of home resided wherever Jean was. Maybe Mobile would finally feel like home now that Jean was here, in René’s house, in his bed.
René’s smile grew as he shifted his hips against Jean and watched pleasure flit across his brother’s face. Over the past week he had discovered that driving Jean completely to distraction was immensely fulfilling. He had never imagined that possessing Jean, taking the initiative, could feel ood.ood. Giving Jean pleasure had become René’s priority. Seeing to Jean’s needs and wants now filled René’s days and nights. Jean had become René’s reason for being. He had sworn his existence to seeing that Jean was happy again. There was only Jean and Cordelia. Nothing else really mattered anymore.
Jean opened his eyes and took in René’s smiling face. He could barely believe he was here. He had wanted this for so long.ing ing in René’s house, acknowledged as René’s lover, spendeacheach night in his brother’s company and each day in his bed, was all Jean had wished it could be. He was afraid to go to sleep each morning, fearful that he would awaken to discover it was a dream. He shifted forward and kissed René with all the love he felt.
René’s smile remained in place when Jean withdrew from his lips. The glow in those brown eyes was worth more than the most expensive what-not in René’s house. It was worth more than the house and everything in it. He pulled Jean’s hand to his mouth, kissing it gently before releasing it. The pure love that flowed from Jean was sweeter than anything René had ever felt. He wanted to return that love. He wanted Jean to know how he felt. He wanted Jean to feel his love. He reached down and wrapped his hand around Jean again, his fingers sliding easily over Jean’s flesh. Jean sighed in bliss. It felt good to not have to make all the decisions, to not be the one responsible for everything, to be the one who was cared for, for a change. He’d surrendered himself to René and gloried in allowing his brother control. It didn’t matter that René was the one lying beneath Jean; René was in complete control of Jean’s body at the moment. Jean shivered at René’s touch. That one hand, so recently crushed and broken, now ruled Jean’s existence. Jean’s world had narrowed to the feel of René beneath him and that one hand bringing him such ecstasy. Jean bit his lip as René continued to manipulate him, making him tremble and pant.
René gently guided Jean further back, positioning and pressing Jean against him, and watched Jean’s eye grow round and fill with disbelief. He smiled tenderly at his lover. He lifted his hips insistently, pressing against Jean. “Push, Jean,” he whispered. He brought his hand up and caressed Jean’s cheek, silencing his brother’s questions before they were spoken. “Push.”
With wonder lighting his face, Jean complied, easing into his beloved René until they were completely joined. He stilled, simply resting, locked in his lover’s body, overcome by the feel of René around him. He’d never believed René would allow this. René had been so adamant for so many years that no man ever touch him this way. Jean had long ago given up any hope of ever sharing this sort of oneness with René. He was besieged by sensation and overwhelmed by emotion. He could only stare at his brother as his heart filled his chest to near bursting.
René continued stroking Jean’s face with his thumb as he said, “You always told me that what happened to me was wrong and that it wasn’t the way it should be.” His smile was as loving as any Jean had ever seen on René’s face. “You always told me that if it happened with someone who cared, if it happened with love, it could be good.” He took Jean’s hand again and kissed it. Ocean-blue eyes inundated Jean’s senses and a whisper-soft voice filled Jean’s being. “Make it good for me, Jean.”
Panting with emotions he could barely contain, overwhelmed with the trust René had in him, Jean kissed René’s hand before lacing their fingers together. “Oh, I will,” he promised shakily. “I’m gonna make it so good for you. I’m gonna be better than anyone you ever had.” Jean had never wanted anyone more than he wanted René at that moment. He was astounded that René trusted him so much and he intended to prove to René why he was worthy of that trust. Holding tightly to his lover’s hands, never looking away from that adored face, he began to move gently and slowly. Jean Claude DuValliere was accounted the best lover, male or female, in all of south Louisiana and he intended to use every skill at his disposal to show René how good loving this way could be. He swore that René would have no regrets for giftgift of trust and love he was giving Jean.
When the stars themselves exploded for René and he cried out his love for his brother, Jean’s joy was boundless and he knew he had everything he could ever want.
~~~~~
René held Jean closely, stroking his face, his shoulders, with dulcet fingers. “Jean? Are you really mine?” He shifted so he could look at his lover. “Did you mean it all those times you said you wanted to be completely mine?”
Jean opened his eyes. “I am yours. I always have been, heart, mind, and body.”
René reached under his pillow. “Then will you wear this?” He held out a gold ring, fleur de lys circling the band. “Your hand looks funny without a wedding ring,” he continued. Jean looked up from the ring and was caught by René’s eyes. There was fire in their teal depths. “I want to see my ring on your hand,” René said intently. “And my mark on your neck.”
Jean gasped.
“Will you, Jean? Will you wear my ring and my mark?” René’s eyes never wavered.
The force of that deep aqua gaze held Jean immobile. “Yes,” he breathed. “Gladly. Proudly.”
Never breaking that contact, René slipped the ring on Jean’s left hand. “Then listen to me. I swear I will love you for as long as I walk this earth. You are m’ amant, m’ époux, m’ mari. I swear that you always be a part of me.” Jean was drowning in that intense teal gaze. “Whether secretly or for the whole world to see, you mine. You belong to me.” He bit into his wrist and held it out to Jean. Jean broke contact with René’s eyes to stare at the dark blood welling from torn flesh. The scent of René's blood filled his nostrils and he took the proffered limb, lowering his lips to the wound. "No one and nothing can take you from me. M'appartient." René began to breathe raggedly as Jean drew blood from the twin gashes. “For all eternity you’ll be part of me. Forever." He kissed a spot over Jean’s heart before moving to his brother’s throat, rubbing his face against Jean for a moment before his bones shifted and his fangs appeared. “Les miens!” He sank his teeth into Jean’s artery and drank, joining them in a bond that only death would dissolve. Jean’s cry of completion echoed through the house.
~~~~~
René tossed in his sleep. In his dream, he held Jean as he had only a few hours earlier, that same joy filling him. But now an edge of unease stole in, marring his bliss. As he spoke the binding words that made Jean his consort, the body he held began to change. Jean’s hair turned long and red, his face and body softened until it was Baby René held. Love greater than any he’d ever felt flooded him. He could feel her body tight around him, her arms holding him to her. He could smell the scent of her hair and her skin. He could hear her soft voice encouraging him, begging him to make hes. s. As he lowered his head to her throat and bit deeply he felt her sharp teeth sink into him and the pull as his blood flowed into her. Her blood filled his throat and his seed filled her body. He felt her inside his heart and mind. Elation such as he’d never known filled him and he lifted his head to see her eyes shining with love for him. He pressed his lips to hers, focusing their love in that kiss. He needed only this to make him complete.
“Traitors.” The hurt and loathing in that one word reverberated in the featureless room.
René turned his head and met Spike’s pain-filled eyes. Jean stood two paces behind his father, desolate. “Traitors,” Spike repeated beforrninrning away and vanishing. Silent tears flowing from his sable eyes, Jean followed.
“No,” René protested softly. “No, it’s not like that…” Baby’s weeping slashed René’s heart and he reached to comfort her but, with anguish twisting her face, she melted away, leaving him alone in the tangled sheets. Only the echo of her sobs reverberating in his chest remained, leaving him hollow and empty.
He woke with a start. He sat up on the side of the bed and ran a hand through his still-too-long hair. He sat silently for several moments before he leaned over and kissed Jean’s hair. Rising, he pulled on a pair of pants and looked back at his sleeping consort. He snatched two bottles of tequila from the Chinese armoire and headed for his study, closing the bedroom door soundlessly behind him.
~~~~~
Santa Monica, California
Saturday, 2:43 pm
August 11, 2018
Baby sat up in bed with a gasp. She clenched her fists in her hair, pressing her arms tightly to her head, and screamed. Jack rolled over and gathered her to him. He held her as she shivered and didn’t ask why she had awoken screaming René’s name. She’d tell him when she was ready. When she calmed enough, he made her a cup of tea and brought it to where she sat curled on a sofa staring out at the bougainvillea that covered the patio across the way. She smiled fleetingly up at him as she took the cup. He sat down beside her and pulled her against him. He knew his body warmth gave her comfort. He held her in silence as the clock ticked away and the tea turned cold beneath their s. s. Rising he dumped the untouched tea and refilled the mug. He returned and settled them both in their previous positions. “You feel like talking yet?”
“René’s claimed Jean,” she said flatly.
He thought of her screams on waking. “And that’s bad?”
“I don’t know.” She looked down at where his hands rested on her stomach. “Part of me thinks it’s wonderful. They belong together and always have. But part of me is terrified that they’re going to get hurt. Especially Jean. I’m afraid for Jean.” She looked back out at the flowers across the narrow path from their hotel room. Hesitantly, then with more animation, she told him about the dream.
“Any idea what it means?” he asked after she finished her description.
“It means I was right to leave,” she said sadly. “It means I can’t ever go near Spike or René again.”
He placed his hands over hers where they were wrapped about the mug. She was shivering with a coldness that had nothing to do with the temperature of the air. “Are you going to be able to do that?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
She shook her head and leaned back onto him. “I don’t know, but it looks like I don’t have any choice.” She drew a shaky breath. “How did I let it get so messed up, Jack? What happened?”
He shook his head. “You’ve never told me. I know about Beaumont but I don’t pretend to understand any of the rest of it.”
“You think love should be enough. You think that if you just love each other enough it should get you through anything, but it doesn’t.” She set the tea aside and curled up more closely to him. “It just makes it worse. The harder you love, the harder it hurts. And the more people you hurt.” She lay her head on his chest and let the tears she’d been holding back since she left New Orleans flow. “Don’t love me, Jack. Like me all you want to. Desire me and want me but for God’s sake, don’t love me.”
~~~~~
New Orleans, Louisiana
Saturday, 6:00 pm
August 11, 2018
“Spike?” Anne was surprised to find him in Baby’s office. The Master had studiously avoided his wife’s private rooms since she’d left him. He’d walked out on a meeting an hour and a half earlier without a word to anyone. She'd been searching the house for him. She never expected to find him here.
“I’m all right, pet.” He stood at one of the windows, staring out at the courtyard. “The garden doesn’t look well. It needs attention,” he said. “The gardener can’t seem to get it to flourish like it used to.”
“The garden looks fine. The flowers are glorious.” she said gently. He continued to look out at his courtyard. “This isn’t about the garden, Spike.”
“Yes, it is. It’s dying without her here.” He turned to face her. “And she’s dying away from here.” And he was dying without her. A bit at a time, they were both dying. “She’s crying. I can feel it.” He turned back to the window
Anne went to him and held him, lying her head against his back. “She’ll be all right. You’ve told me how very strong she is.”
The impressions flowing through him weren’t indicative of strength, but the heartache of a broken woman alone and far from home. "She's not strong without me. I'm her strength. I always have been. She told me so back when I was her world." He was silent for several long minutes. “I wish we weren’t joined, Anne,” he said desolately. “I honestly wish Baby and I weren’t a part of each other anymore.” If they were separate, perhaps she could find some peace. Maybe he’d be able to let her go and they could both find some sort of tranquility. Or at least, surcease from the eternal ache that gnawed at them both.
She nodded. “So do I. She’s hurt you so badly,” Anne said.
“And I’ve hurt her,” he whispered to himself.
“You shouldn’t stay here like this. It isn’t good for you.” She took his hand. “Come outside. It’s time for tea.
He let her lead him from the room and into the waning day. Anne looked back at him. She’d prove to him that his garden was very much alive and he needn’t worry so. She looked about. The flowers were beautiful, rainbows of color flowing against soft foliage. Ferns fringed the fountain and ringed the small pool. Even in the heat of a New Orleans summer it was cool and inviting here. It was a beautiful garden. Spike had to see that.
She didn’t notice that the sun didn’t penetrate Baby’s garden and the flowers she so admired grew and flourished in the shade. She didn’t realize that too much exposure to sunlight would kill them.
~~~~~
TBC