Clove : Book 4 of Lord Emperor Vampire Series

It’s short. It does absolutely nothing to forward the plot. After the huge bits of drama, I think a little fluff is in order. My kink level is curious but low. I’ve never experienced a real show, so please forgive my ignorance or faux pas.

K: You seem to be the only one who picked up, well at least commented about it, that Azrael tried to drown Claudius. The fact that Az only ended up with a mild concussion and a knife through the upper arm is a testament to Claudius new found character.

Ayachan: Orel Wessel is like a vigilante group. They started out as humans opposing the Vampires and the other Blood Races using them as snack packs. From there they got organized and have focused their efforts on the Vampire Nation, the Royal House in particular. The name is a mix of German and latin (there was some debate about it) but I want it to basically say “Golden People’s Army” It is there mission to bring down the House of Von Drachenfeld and a little vampire research on the side doesn’t hurt them.

Thanks again for the reviews and observations. They are really appreciated especially when writing difficult chapters. Surprizingly this one is very very wordy. Hmmm, hope you like it. Fleur; dramastarelf;laur; duelriel; rosemary; rosei; ATOI (x2); milkxness (welcome); Dark Avenger; meadows_peak; marin liliz; Spirit; Natana; ayachan (thanks to catching up!); k; nihara and Yaya.

NOTE:Oops. I forgot to list the dance. It is a real dance called "Black Almain" that is used in SCA. (Yes, I ran around 'freakin the mundanes' in medieval garb in my younger days.) This is from SCA Dance Cheat Sheets: Pennsic XXVII verison (July 31, 1998) by Gregory Blount. My favorite dance was "trench war." It's quite something to have 80 people running up and down the hall in medieval style clothing to live music. TAH!

Chapter 165: Best in Show

Step step, pause, pivot, pause, step step…don’t fall over. I have no idea why the hell everyone was screaming. I was fully dressed. For once. Frederick and his partner Oscar, …haha, wilde…I get it now, got together and pulled together this little art show that was tacked on to the end of the event. Apparently this is more than just a fashion show, it’s a celebration of all things deviant. Well, I was in the right venue. The group who was supposed to be the finale was all pissy that “SEX” stole their thunder. Azrael watched their ‘show’. He wasn’t impressed. You needed more than just to strut and have attitude. Arashi has more attitude than those wuzzies.

I got to the end of the cat walk and let Shade and Snowflake cross in front of me, their tails twitching so they caught the front of my long white cloak flap and did a peek-a-boo slip. I couldn’t see a damned thing beyond the lights. My main concern was not to trip over my own feet, not to fall over a hellcat and to not step off the stage. Oh, and be smoking hot while not doing any of that.

The theme of our little role fetish play was court shenanigans or something like that. I did a little turn, sending the white wool cloth flying out in a circle, showing the while faux fur underneath that was making me sweat to death. It showed off the white silk stockings and my white Docs. Oscar had found heels but I vetoed that. So now my white docks had a big white ribbon lacing everything together. Gay. Gay, gay, gay. I was just glad I had a mask on otherwise I would have on “Bloody Mary’s Goth Foundation”. Compared to that stuff, I was a pink cheeked baby. As it was I was in glitter, pale blue lipstick and pale blue eye shadow behind this white mask.

I patted a Hellcat head and they headed back toward the back of the stage and settled down to look impressive. Which meant, Snowflake took a cat nap and Shade laid down her head and just watched laughing at me in that Hellcat queenly way of hers. She was having a rip roaring time.

In our little scenario, I was the naïve fairy prince. Yah… I stalked back toward the curtain. Haley jumped out and grinned at me. Okay. The gang’s all here. Frederick was supposed to be there to catch the cloak. I unhooked it and whipped it off, did a final turn and tossed it at the Lycan. He caught it and staggered backwards three steps. His eyes widened. Well, I had gotten stronger.

Now that the cloak was gone, the audience could see me in all my kink splendor. Different strokes for different folks. I was in pale baby blue leather breeches with matching waistcoat and embroidered coat of an 18th century courtier, complete with white silk stockings and white linen frilly shirt. I had ruffles up the heehaw at my neck and wrists. My snow white hair was pulled back off my face and secured with a matching blue ribbon. Oscar had just been beside himself as my self-appointed dresser. Finally he approached with me a fake black mole to accent my best feature.

The bobsey twins were being cute again and basically informed Oscar that my best feature was my ass and a mole wasn’t necessary because no one was going to see it if their last name wasn’t Von Drachenfeld. Azrael was not impressed with that and told Marcus in no uncertain terms that the aforementioned mole was going to end up somewhere else that didn’t see sunshine. Which is why Armor suddenly appeared beside me, taking my hand and bowing over it in the manner that was his youth. Armor tightened his hold on my hand to steady me as I returned his bow and almost fell on my ass.

The music changed. Not to anything remotely like the 1700’s but something that you could waltz to – if you were so inclined. Armor was in the same get up except his was the shade of butter toffee. Hmmmm, toffee. Crap, short attention span. Armor transferred his hold to lift my hand from below. We were going to have to have a chat about me always being the woman.

The heavy guitar faded out and was replaced with “My favorite things” by Big Brovas.

In our little play, Armor is the Prince’s betrothed – a perfect Consort in tan and browns. Damn this was the rigidly choreographed dance. Armor slid beside me took my right arm and gently pulled me forward in double steps four times. He turned and I could see his dark brown eyes behind his golden stag mask sparkling at me. He was waiting for me to mess up and do that little spaggy dance I did back in Joker’s Wilde basement. He turned us so we faced each other. He lifted our hands and pressed a kiss to the back of my palm then dropped my hand. He double stepped backwards from me. I mirrored him. He double stepped forward then quarter turned to the left, our shoulders even and our eyes matching as I turned in the opposite direction

Oh my god…I forgot what comes next. What….

/double step forward, pivot to your right and double step back to place./ Shade’s voice rang in my head.

Armor knew something was going on. We brushed shoulders again, “Cheater.”

I smiled sweetly at him. X went absolutely gaagaa over a waltz with his big red monkey. Wasn’t seeing it. Well what I was fucking up wasn’t really a waltz. Everyone laughed about it nowadays calling it old fashioned and boring This thing were dancing now was the norm. You didn’t touch your partner or if you did, it was fleeting. Your eyes could speak volumes but your hands were fingers together and hands above the waist. It was a big tease and a way to show off your clothes. Again, heavy leather under hot lights equals I’m-melting, I’m-melting, all-my-wonderful-wickness. The waltz was the lambada, the lapdance of its day.

/Face your partner, men will turn in place….not you Sex./

Armor was elegant. Then again, this would have been his normal everyday clothes. I thought I looked way too effeminate to be wearing about seven rows of ruffles at my neck but on the big guy, it looked good. Not good enough to draw X forward. I do believe his exact words were “No fucking way.”

/Turn./

I think X was expecting cock rings and leather straps. Truthfully, I was too. Not going to linger too long if I was disappointed that we were cosplaying nobility. Well, we weren’t really pretending because we were Blue Line. I caught Armor’s hands and we exchanged sides. We took four steps forward. Switch back to original position four steps back. Drop hands, double step backwards, double step forwards.

Okay, my turn to turn. We repeated skipping up and down the walk way. Just when I thought we were losing their attention, I felt him come on stage. I didn’t need to turn and see him. My whole body just tingled and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Sasha. My Sasha.

This was the dashing dangerous interloper. The rival. The unsuitable suitor. I knew it was Sasha because the audience gave a collective gasp. I didn’t need to look at him, because I did the same damn thing when Oscar gestured him out of the change room. Well Azrael had more control over the knees, because I just wanted to drop down and worship his dark loveliness.

It’s no wonder that Azrael screwed himself into place until just before we had to go on. I wanted to muss Sasha up. I wanted to get my hands on that coin bouncing worthy ass. Mess up that jet black hair that was pulled back with a pale blue ribbon. Whereas Armor and I had on white silk stockings held up with garters, Sasha had on black leather boots that tucked in his black leather breeches that was covered by a plain black leather waistcoat that hid his rock hard abs. You would think that lace would just detract from his beauty. You would think. I wanted to shove that lace out of the way and sink my fangs into his river of life. Clove of my heart. He had on an unadorned frock coat that was vaccum sealed to his body.

Resist…have to resist…for now anyways.

We were supposed to do a couple more of these promadedy things before he cut in, but I don’t think Sasha waits for anything. Armor was in the middle of a fancy bow when Sasha cut in. Armor was off balance and crashed to the floor. Haley bounced up and made a show of trying to help him but I think he was actually holding him down. Well Armor was allowing Haley to hold him down.

Blue flame danced in his eyes as he looked down at me from behind a black leather mask. “May I have this dance?”

“You can have anything you want.”

“Naughty.”

“Not yet.”

“How much media coverage do you want?”

“This isn’t enough?” I sighed. I was growing up. In the past I would have jumped him no matter who was watching. “We don’t want to embarrass Claudia or the kids…”

“Yes…so, we’ll just be a little bit o’ decadent.” Sasha took my jaw in his hand and pulled my face up for a lip lock worthy of Lanseng. I think my eyes crossed. I know damn well something was stirring below. Holy crap…I think I like Sasha unbound. “Waltz like you mean it.”

How can you waltz like you don’t mean it? Whoa! Sasha plastered me to his chest and held his upper body in rigid dance position and began a vicious Viennese Waltz. Vicious meaning, the laws of centrifugal force were in play. My ribbon was gone so my white hair flew everywhere. I could feel my coat flaring out behind me showing off my form fitting blue leather breeches. We got to the end of the catwalk and Sasha halted, dragging me up in front of him, chest to back, facing out to the audience. I shivered as he ran a hand from my waist up the front of my waistcoat to my ruffles and throat. He turned my head to the right and kissed me there right in front of a capacity crowd of 3000. Baby blue and white, mingling with the blackest of jet. I could feel the heat of flash bulbs going off.

Maybe we weren’t the most original, but we were the hottest. I sucked on his tongue.
I want to go home….there’s no place like home….wait. I don’t have a room. Sasha doesn’t have a house now. Damn it.

Sasha ripped my mask off. That wasn’t supposed to happen. “We need to show your face so Orel Wessel cannot deny that it is you.” He whispered into my ear. Okay, I can go with that. He ran his hands down my chest, took a firm grip on my waistcoat and ripped it open. Sasha took a firm hold of my hair and turned my head into a parody of the damned kilt photo from long ago. His other arm came around and he buried his last two fingers into the waistband of my breeches. Can you say, strike a pose?

And the crowd goes wilder. Cloves and black leather. That should be a candle scent.

Okay, time to wrap this up. I’m hot. I’m sweaty. I’m now half naked and I’m horny as hell.

The ending was supposed to be elegant. Can’t do elegant when my jacket is half off, my waist coat is wide open and I looked like I just survived a sexual cyclone. I could be the picture that would explain the word debauched. Sasha swept me back toward the stage in a little gentler waltz right up to Armor. I ended up in a spin with the toffee tinted Vampire.. Sasha stepped and we all crashed together and it turned into a tug of war with me as the little flag marker. I said flag. Holy crap. I was gratefully that they had a hold on my leather coat because they ripped it in half right off my body. My waist coat ended up in a puddle at my feet. I was going to end up stripped here.

Nope, ended up as the jelly in a vampire sandwich. Sasha was good to go and he pulled my hips back against him.. Armor caught face and looked into my eyes. “Master your flame, Sex and you will rule the world.” He looked past me into Sasha’s eyes. “You can have Xavier’s and my room tonight. I will stay in Marcus’chambers.”

He leaned forward, brushed my hair from my forehead and placed a chaste kiss there. I was well aware of the number of eyes on us. He was supposed to do that courtier bow. He took three steps back and dropped down into reverence pose. His hair had loosened and hung around his bowed head sweeping the stage. I could feel X’s appreciation on how the big guy filled out a pair of breeches.

The man had class.

He took off his mask and left it laying on the stage before Sasha and me. He rose and regally walked back behind the curtain leaving us all of front stage. The music was winding down. Sasha wrapped me in his arms, his head falling forward so his black hair cascaded down my white linen shirt like link, staining me. I twisted in his arms and ended up in a deep dip almost horizontal. He was so strong. I reached up and pulled his mask off stretching my arm up and away to place it just as artistically as Armor had left his. The music died. The lights dimmed for a second and Sasha hoisted me in his arms and hiked us off stage. Snowflake and Shade had already gone back to the limo. Haley bounced up and down just behind the curtain. When the lights came back on the only signs that we had been there were three masks, a ruined leather embroidered 1750’s style coat.

Sasha kissed my temple and brushed this thumb over my push button start. Gack. Didn’t need help there. I caught his hand. He tongued my ear. I smiled and angled my head away which then exposed my pale expanse of neck. Frederick ghosted by us. “You’re scaring the straights.”

Hummm? I opened my eyes and saw that we were the center of attention of the performers. I elbowed Sasha in the ribs. He turned his intended bite into a hickey. I thought we did okay for pulling something out of our ass in three hours. Two of which was finding clothes and getting glittery. The audience outside was clapping in unison demanding an encore. The performers around us started doing the same thing. To say I was alarmed was an understatement. I backed up into Sasha.

“I want to get out of here.”

“They want an encore.”

“Tough noodles.” I was still sweaty and hot…but for a different reason now. “I’m not going back out there again.

Marcus came walking up minus his butter toffee coat and embroidered waistcoat. He had tied his hair back again and in his hand he held a violin. “Father, Brother. If you would permit Haley to be my bodyguard, I will cover your retreat.”

You could see the ears and tail wilt as Haley looked over at Marcus. “I’ll do it.” You could hear the unspoken add on “But I won’t like it.”

I reached out and scratched his head. He jumped at me and knocked me back into Sasha. I got a kiss on the lips and he grinned at me. “You looked so good out there. You need to dance more often, Alpha. With your mates, just not your litter.”

“I’ll work on it, Pup.”

“You are the only one who still calls me Pup. I like it. Be happy, Alpha.”

“Haley, if you could get my mask.” The little Lycan had absolutely no problem rushing out on stage in front of 3000 revelers who were dressed less than the entertainment and gathered up all the props and handed everything back to Oscar. His face was comically tragic when looking at the ruined leather coat. Oh, X would be getting the bill for that. I cast an eye over my Black Death as he watched Haley tie the gold stag mask back on Marcus. We were definitely buying that outfit. Every scrumptious inch of it. Rowr, rowr, rowwrrrr.

He looked back at us and bowed his head then gestured for Haley to get the curtains. Sasha snagged my hand and began to pull me in the opposite direction. “Wait a minute.” Marcus walked out on that lone stage, blinded by the lights and the deafened by the crowds. I took a few steps toward him. Sasha caught me and pressed me back to his chest.

“He does not need your help, Fallen. This is Marcus. This is his arena. He has always shone as a bright star when he desired to take the stage. Music soothes the savage beast. Listen to him tame the tiger.”

Marcus walked out passed the main stage out to the narrow strip of catwalk and paused. He lifted his violin to his shoulder, took a deep cleansing breath and began to let his fingers make that inanimate object cry, and wept and tell a story. I recognized the tune but I had never heard it played by the violin before. “Fallen Grandeur” by Midnight Syndicate. It was hauntingly beautiful.

“We had best leave, Fallen, while he has the crowd ensorcelled.”

We had a complement of ten men in black escort us of the building into the waiting limo. I was hovering around lust level five but I shook it down to one to do a sweep of the area. Twenty-four eyes were great but as X had pointed out so poignantly; I had something to live for. Three little ones sound asleep right now were the priority. I deserved sand in my ear. There were tons of people here. I wasn’t getting the let’s kill the white haired freak vibe though. I felt Sasha doing his own sweep around us. I grabbed his hand and he squeezed me reassuringly.

I was expecting it. I bounced on the back seat of the limo once and my black haired man of my dreams as all over me. In a good way….uuummmmm, a damn good way. I caught his hands as I got stroked through my short pants. His other hand sneaked down my plumbers crack. Damn it, how many hands have you got Sasha.

“Sasha…..” Kiss, smooth, hint of fang, finger tips tapping on the tops of my ass cheeks. “Sasha….huh….” His wrist flicked sending his fingers brushing over my well covered portal . “Sasha….”

“Fallen…” I opened my eyes and looked up my lover. He was so beautiful. I almost gave in to temptation. I knew once was never enough for either of us. “Arctic beauty…a rare and precious thing…”

While Sasha was waxing poetic, I shoved us off the seat onto the floor. I now straddled his hips and sat on his straining erection. I leaned forward placing my hands on either side of his head. His eyes flared blue but settled on a slow simmer with just a narrow strip of flame dancing around his iris. “Armor once told X, we are better than coven fledglings who rut where they can find it. There is a bed awaiting us at home.”

“Home.” Sasha reached up and tucked a few strands of my hair back behind my left ear. “Home is wherever you are, my Fallen Angel. Would you marry me, Sex?”

I stilled and looked down at him, “Aren’t we married?”

“We exchanged gifts. Yes we are. Allow me to rephrase that. Will you marry me in public, before our families and friends. I would like to exchange tokens with you.” I reached out and touched the base of his throat. The locket filled with our braided hair, symbolizing the intertwining of our lives was still there. Tears filled my eyes.

“I shouldn’t have taken it off. I shouldn’t have run outside…”

Sasha sat up so now we were facing each other. “What is done, is done. It cannot be undone or changed. It is the past. Let us look to the future, Sex. As you said, my promises have been dropped to the wayside so I will leave my actions to show you just how loved you are. So, Sigmund Edward Xavier, number one brother and savior of my heart, body and soul; will you marry a peasant boy who has finally done some good with his life.”

“On two conditions.” I looked at him sternly. “You will never call me Sigmund again.”

“Agreed. How about my love?”

“That works.”

“And condition number two?”

“You wear what you have on now as your wedding suit.”

His lips quirked up into a smile, “You like this?”

“I like it a lot.”

“Done.” Sasha made to move me off him. I frowned down at him. “What?”

“I said we have a bed at home. I never said you couldn’t get to second base.” I got a laugh and light fanging for that. I squirmed on my backside as his tongue lapped at my nipples. Marcus’ nipple shield had kept my little soldier standing tall all afternoon and evening. Sasha tortured me sucking on it like it was penny candy. I shivered and let the sensations run over my body. When we got to Von Drachenfeld, I was going to cherish him to exhaustion and I was going to share that with him. There would be no more misunderstanding with him. He transferred his talent over to my push button start. I groaned and arched up into his tongue.

Everything was finally coming up Milhouse.

* * *