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It had been a long, long day.
So much new information, enemies multiplying, and more problems to solve. It seemed that everyone wanted a piece of Tav or someone in her camp. She felt as if she was being pulled in at least 10 different directions, and the bustle of the city certainly wasn’t helping her make rational decisions. It wasn’t as if the stakes were high or anything.
She had decided that tonight would be a special treat for her and her men. She’d worship them as they deserved and have her mind a bit scrambled in the bargain as a welcome reprieve from having to figure out how to save the world.
The only one she could rely on not to need anything from her was Halsin. The bear provided a calming, grounding presence that she sorely needed now that they had made it to the Gate. And, now that the shadow curse was lifted, he gave much more than he took – and those gifts were generous. Within his big arms, nothing could reach her. She could spend hours upon hours with him, not talking, just lying and listening to the world go on around them. But even he was not unaffected by the tangled web they all found themselves in. The past few days in the city, Tav had seen how he tensed, how he lost focus sometimes, as if trying to sort through the cacophony, how his face fell around the refugees when he thought no one could see. He needed Tav just as much as she needed him, though he would not admit it.
But first, she would check in with her lovely Astarion. Tav found him bent over his boots, painstakingly cleaning the dust from the leather and every grommet. One cannot sneak up on a vampire, but she made a good impression on her light feet. His head turned slightly into her as she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him from behind.
She placed a quick peck just underneath his ear and murmured, “Hello my love. Is this to be nightly chore for you?”
“Well,” he huffed, “You know what they say about cleanliness and godliness and all that.” Still focused on his work, he went on, “Wouldn’t want my siblings to find the prodigal son looking anything less than perfect.”
“Ah, the necessities for brutally murdering a vampire lord.”
“Delicious.”
She sighed at that, weighed down by the multiple looming threats over their heads, “The taste has gone bitter lately.”
Astarion looked over his shoulder at her, quirking up an eyebrow, “Something the matter?”
Tav should her head, “Nothing.” She turned her head away in a subconscious effort to deflect from what was weighing down her heart, “I’ll be with Halsin tonight. But after, maybe we could spend time together?”
A bark of laughter escaped him, “Gods, that man has been so tense since we entered the city, creaking like a tree in a storm. You’ll do him some good.”
She smiled, glad to know he’d noticed Halsin’s troubles as well. It warmed her heart to see that he cared for Halsin in his own way. She had worried at first how he would handle their arrangement, but their relationship hadn’t changed. If anything, Astarion had been more casually affectionate.
He interjected on her thoughts, “As for after, I’ll see you sooner than you think.”
The pause and low tone of his reply made Tav quirk her lips, wondering what he was up to. He could simply mean he’d join the two of them, but she doubted that was his intention. Still, she gave a playful, gentle nip to the tip of his long ear as she stood to leave, a silent invitation for him to indeed join if he felt up to it. It was the unspoken signal between them on her nights with Halsin. Mostly, he abstained, but a few times since she and Halsin and started their relationship he had quietly watched. The first time was from the shadows; Tav sensed his eyes tracking Halsin’s large fingers as they encircled her neck, lifting her off the grass. He brought her to his mouth as he pistoned into her, their panting breaths mixing and clouding above their bodies in the cool night air. Astarion’s eyes roved all over them both. It was almost as if he were studying them, trying to perceive and understand the connection between them beneath the lust, the something more. The first time he watched openly, he sat silently on a tree stump, not speaking or touching but burning Tav with his gaze. No jealousy or sense of possession lay in those eyes, only curiosity and study. Like he was reacquainting himself with how two people could truly enjoy each other. He watched their hands, their eyes, their lips, the way Tav’s hips met Halsin’s, and how they lay together afterward. Tav was happy to let him be a part of their relationship in whatever way he wished, and she would welcome him tonight as well.
But tonight, Astarion had other plans that simply watching. He knew Tav was hanging by a thread as she tried to lead this merry band of weirdos to their impending doom, or preferably, their salvation. She deserved something more.
***
In the late hours, Astarion found Tav and Halsin already indulging in each other, Tav on her knees with the bear’s beautiful cock in her mouth. It was an inviting scene, the two of them beneath a thick canopy of weeping wisteria, the ground beneath their knees a plush mix of grass and tiny clovers. The blooms created a space that felt like their own secret hideaway, just for the two (or three) of them. The sun was nearly set, the last few rays peeking through the blooms to stripe their skin in orange and red.
The gooseflesh rising along Tav’s naked spine signaled Astarion’s arrival, but her eyes were locked on her bear’s face as she swallowed him deeply. His eyes were heavy-lidded, breaths coming in soft pants. She had ambushed him immediately after entering the thicket, rounding on him to take his mouth with hers, her fingers deftly untying the laces of his trousers. He only chuckled, letting her take the lead. Now, she reached his thick base and held there for a moment, squeezing with her throat, her hands digging into the globes of his ass. A soft, hoarse croak left him, and she felt his fingers gently tug at the roots of her hair, coaxing her off his length. As she released him and licked her lips, he dropped down onto his knees, hunching over and forcing Tav to bend back, taking her mouth in a fierce kiss. His tongue danced with hers as he chased his flavor in her mouth.
“You are ravenous tonight, my heart,” he growled into her throat.
Tav’s hand continued to pump him as she caught her breath. With a nip at his lower lip she managed, “Too much?” before he was back at her mouth again.
“I fear I could never have too much of you.” He hunched down further and griped the back of her thighs, poised to lift her, “I must taste you.”
Tav nodded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck as he hoisted her up to his chest easily. He gently set her down on the soft grass, his mouth immediately roving across her skin, moving south with determination. He wasted no time situating himself between her legs, pulling her to his mouth with a quick yank on her thighs, her back arching with the pleasure of his forcefulness and how his mouth absolutely devoured her sex. A playful smile crossed her cheeks. Tav loved how he handled her, as if she weighed nothing. Her fingers dug into his scalp as his tongue followed a long line from her folds to her clit, circling it slowly in the way he knew made her squirm, then sucking firmly. Gods, if he thought she was ravenous – Tav gasped as he teased her entrance with the tip of his tongue, then repeated his earlier pattern, sucking on her clit a bit harder this time. He rumbled against her mound as she writhed in his hold, but he pinned her hips down with a bruising grip, determined in his task. That wicked tongue kept teasing her, circling, probing, then thrusting inside suddenly.
“Gods, Halsin!” she shouted, gripping his hair harder as her hips tried to start up a rhythm on his tongue, the need for more nearly overwhelming her. To make matters worse, his tongue withdrew again and swirled around her clit, making her whimper with the sudden change in sensation.
He slowed, and she felt two of his thick fingers slip inside her dripping wet cunt as his mouth pulled away to rasp, “I don’t think I will ever tire of this taste.”
She propped herself up on an elbow as she watched his fingers pull out and up to his mouth, that damned tongue licking away her slick. She bit her lip and tried to meet his mouth with hers, but his big hand planted her firmly back on the grass, his eyes locked on hers with a feral shine as he lowered himself back down to her aching sex, fluttering and aching for more. This time his mouth focused on her clit while his fingers thrust back inside, starting a slow rhythm that had her panting and whining. He sucked and laved at her clit in time with his fingers, pushing and pulling, and she was just about to lose her mind with his teasing until she heard soft footsteps coming closer.
“Give her what she needs, bear. I have more plans for her,” that silky voice lit up her heart and she whipped her head in Astarion’s direction, reaching out to him.
“You’re here,” her breathy whine sounded embarrassingly needy in her ears, but he had never come this close, never spoken let alone suggested his involvement. His ‘plans’ for her sent an anticipatory thrill up her spine, adding deliciously to Halsin’s still-thrusting fingers.
Halsin glanced up at Astarion and gave a small smile and nod, some understanding passing between them that had Tav perking up out of her lusty delirium. What were they up to? She sensed that perhaps her idea of how this night was to transpire was about to shift dramatically.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Halsin’s fingers crooking into her to rub just right on her front wall, sending her back into an arch as his lips returned to her clit and his tongue flicked steadily. Heat and ecstasy flooded her body, flushing her skin; she squeezed her eyes shut to the onslaught of pleasure from Halsin’s practiced tongue and fingers. Her orgasm thundered to the surface, bursting with a firm swipe of his tongue across her sensitive nub, her muscles contracting with the force of it, bowing her up and wrenching a long, high moan from her throat.
“That’s it,” Astarion whispered somewhere above her.
He had kneeled and cradled the back of her head, his thumbs brushed against her cheeks as Halsin’s fingers continued a languid rhythm, leading her back down from her high, relaxing her muscles. Tav’s head lowered onto Astarion’s knees, eyes drooping, panting to catch her breath.
“Don’t give out now, darling. We have yet to truly begin,” he said with a sinful croon.
“Just give me a second,” she replied hazily.
She was vaguely aware of Halsin moving over her, licking her slick from his fingers again. The sight was so lewd that it sobered her immediately, especially with the sound of his slurping as his hand pulled away from his mouth. A new flush rushed up her neck and she squirmed beneath him, eliciting a short, deep, humorous rumble from him as he rested his elbows on either side of her shoulders, hovering his face over hers.
“She is ready for more,” He smirked before he took her lips in a drugging kiss.
In no time at all Tav’s body was ready for them again. Her arms gripped around Halsin’s shoulders as her chest arched up to meet his. Her lips chased his greedily, turning the kiss into a feverish grapple, the breaths between them loud in the quiet of the night, with only the wisteria to hear.
Halsin’s left hand trailed down to seize Tav’s squirming hips, his fingers digging into the soft flesh at the base of her spine. He pulled away for air and latched himself to her neck, sucking and nipping down to her collarbones.
“More,” she gasped into the air, pleading toward Astarion above her, to both of them, for anything they could give her. Tav’s emotions were beginning to swell just beneath the surface of her control, threatening to overwhelm her. Having them both so close was unexpectedly sweet, and she wanted to savor every moment, not worry over their futures on this journey for once.
Halsin reached her breasts, and she felt a nipple being tugged into his mouth while another was flicked gently by his thick fingers.
“More!” she pleaded again, a more obvious undertone of desperation in her voice as her breath rasped against the top of Halsin’s head.
“Don’t fret, love. We’re just getting started,” Astarion crooned to her, petting her cheek with the back of his hand, a cool contrast to her flushed skin.
He rose and stepped back, “All right bear, on your knees. Take her and face her to me.” He stood just to the side, waiting patiently but with a predatory glint in his eyes, his lips twisted up into that practiced smirk.
Halsin hoisted Tav up off the ground into his arms, kneeling and placing her bottom on his thighs.
“Are you ready?” He whispered onto her lips, caressing her inner thighs with his palm.
“Yes. Please.”
He guided her to straddle him in reverse, holding her weight in his hands as she notched his thick cock against her slit. Tav guided him in gently, sinking down at her own pace, lying her head back on his shoulder as they both sighed at the feeling of being joined.
As she seated herself fully, Halsin squeezed her hips reassuringly, “Whatever you need of me,” he rumbled next to her ear, kissing her shoulder.
Tav turned her head to kiss his cheek, but her chin was grasped firmly in cold fingers, wrenched forward to stare into dark crimson eyes that stole her attention entirely.
“Start slow,” Astarion directed Halsin, keeping her gaze locked to his. “Let's hear her beg again.”
She felt Halsin’s hips start to move, his cock sliding slowly in and out of her as she was held fast by two sets of hands. The glide of Halsin’s cock against her puffy slick walls was just enough friction to ignite an inferno in her, but not enough to push her over the edge. The intensity of Astarion’s stare had her biting her lip. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of begging so soon, but she was so sensitive after her earlier hard orgasm. She rocked her hips, partly to move in rhythm with Halsin, but also with a need for more; more friction, more sensation, more anything.
Astarion’s thumb gently parted her lips to dip inside her mouth briefly, dragging it across her lips, wetting them with her spit. A whimper escaped her as his hand retreated, her tongue flicking out to chase the taste of him.
“That’s it, love. Beg,” he coaxed.
She shook her head as much as his hold on her chin would allow, but Halsin’s slow and steady thrusting continued to drive up the pressure with no release in sight. Her control was fading fast, and she whined Astarion’s name before she could clamp down on her lips. His hand at her chin slipped to the back of her head in a tight grip in her hair, angling her head back slightly as his mouth crashed into hers. His kiss was almost enough to send her over that edge she was dancing on, and every breath had her whimpering as he devoured her. His sweet, slightly coppery taste focused her senses on him for the moment, a small feeling of surprise at his unleashed passion registering in the back of her mind amidst the haze of lust. His tongue dominated, swiping and curling in her mouth, like he was trying to catch the sound of her voice and take it for himself.
“My name has never sounded as good as it has from your mouth just now,” He mumbled against her lips as he finally pulled back. “Ask, pet. Beg me. Tell me what you want.”
Tav groaned in frustration as her hips attempted to pick up the pace for Halsin, beginning to bounce on his cock to relieve the growing ache in her core. Halsin’s hands on her hips slowed her somewhat as they gripped harder, but his panting breaths at her ear only spurred her on.
She knew what she wanted, what she wanted to ask if they wanted to make her, but this night was supposed to be for them. But their attentions touched her heart in a way she’d not thought possible until then. She needed them, she realized. More than physically. She loved them. She needed them closer, needed them safe, and the threats against them in addition to trying to resolve their tadpoles had weighed on her more than she wanted to let them see. Tonight, just for tonight, maybe she could open the lid on those emotions a little.
She shuddered and moaned as one of Halsin’s big hands enveloped her breast, kneading the soft flesh but purposely avoiding the nipple. He wouldn’t pinch and flick like he knew she loved, helping Astarion tease her to get her to beg. His breath puffed against the back of her neck, and she felt his warm, wet tongue slide up from her shoulder to the base of her skull, underneath Astarion’s hand in her hair.
He grazed his teeth there as he growled in her ear, “Whatever you need, my heart. You have only to say it,” He gave her breast a firm squeeze for good measure, and she moaned softly in his hold.
On her other side, Astarion licked along her jugular vein, following from her clavicle to the hinge of her jaw, tightening his hold in her hair slightly. His mouth moved to her ear, and she could feel the wicked smile on his face as he rasped, “You want him hammering into this needy cunt, don’t you? He’s been a good bear, holding back so well, just waiting for you to say the words.”
Her resistance melted at his goading, torn through easily like the fragile barrier that it was.
“Yes, yes, yes, please. Fuck me, please.”
Astarion chuckled, “Good girl,” and released her hair after a quick peck to her lips.
Halsin immediately adjusted their positions, releasing his hold on her hips to grip her knees and hold them wide as he began pounding into her. He groaned lowly into her ear, panting breaths tickling the shell of it. This angle and his powerful thrusts created an intensity she had no hope of withstanding. High-pitched whines left her with every slap of Halsin’s hips against hers. She could hear and feel how wet she was by the noise of his cock sliding in and out of her with ease.
“Gods, you’re both such a sight,” Astarion praised. “You’re dripping, love, and you take his cock so well.” His eyes were riveted between Tav’s thighs where Halsin crashed into her.
“Come for us,” he purred.
All it took was the lightest brush of Astarion’s fingers against her clit for her to shatter, a long high moan of relief bursting from her throat. It was cut short by Halsin twisting her head to him and swallowing it like a starved man. His hand splayed over her throat, fingertips gently set at her jaw to keep her turned into him. They groaned into each other as he continued to slam into her, slower now but with greater force, keeping her stoked for more pleasure. Her mind was lost to him for a moment, clouded with his woodsy scent, his salty taste, the scorching heat of his body, the tickle of his hair as it escaped its leather restraint. Her bear, hers. Tav’s cunt fluttered, her body shivered and shook with his deep thrusts; it was all she could do to turn her head just enough to gasp for air.
“He’s losing himself in you, pet,” Astarion said softly. “I think you can give one more for us before we let him have you, though. What do you think?”
He moved closer and reached out to her. His finger trailed across her jaw where Halsin’s fingers lay, touching them both at once.
Tave broke away from Halsin to take in great gulps of air. This vampire and his wicked words. He was Tav’s too. He was hers to protect.
A flash of possessive energy took over her. Turning her head away from Halsin, she grabbed the collar of Astarion’s shirt, bringing him inches from her face, “Mine,” she rasped, then more clearly, “You are mine. I won’t let him have you, Astarion. I swear it.”
Surprise burst over Astarion’s face, rendering him speechless. Tav’s other hand reached back to grip Halsin’s hair as she leaned her head back toward him, “Both of you,” she panted, “You are mine. No one will take you from me.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of golden light from Halsin’s eyes, his previously low growl rising in his throat as he continued to slowly drive his hips into hers. She squeezed her eyes shut and rested the weight of her head on his shoulder, reveling in this chaotic high. That lid on her emotions broke wide open, her control falling away entirely. They were hers, yet she wanted to be theirs as well. She realized she wanted to hear them say it, but never had the courage to ask, to let herself be claimed in that way. She had not had a moment to fall apart since the nautiloid, and she could feel herself crumbling. At the back of her mind, she had been wishing that she could have someone pick her back up for a change. Tav needed them both to help keep her together, but more than anything she wanted to know that they wanted her just as much she wanted them.
Tears shone in her lashes as she whimpered, “I am yours, right?”
Astarion’s surprise finally cleared, and a soft knowing look took its place. He pulled her head forward gently, a hand at the back of her neck.
“That’s what you need, isn’t it? You need to hear it from us. You need to be claimed.”
She only whined in response, not able to form the words.
A hardness entered his gaze, locked with hers, his grip firm in her hair, “I believe you, you know. That you won’t let him take me.” His next words came slow, and deliberate, “You are mine.” He dipped to lick along her jugular vein again, “This blood is mine. He won’t have you either, I swear it.”
Halsin groaned in her ear, “My heart, I am yours.” He turned his head, his nose rubbing against her cheek as he spoke lowly, “I had thought my feelings were clear when we began, and through our actions,” he nipped at her cheek at the last, “But I will speak it plainly for you.” Growling deeply, punctuating each word with a thrust of his hips he spoke, “I am yours,” and that beautiful golden light flashed again, “and you are mine.”
His hips stuttered, picking up speed momentarily, but he held himself back.
“Go on, bear,” Astarion sneered, stepping back.
With that permission, Halsin unleashed himself, pushing them both forward until Tav’s chest was cushioned against the soft grass, his chest flush against her bowed back. One hand gripped her hip firmly against him as he rutted wildly into her, the other fisting the grass above her head. She was forced forward slightly with every hammer of his hips against hers, the blades of grass against her breast crumbling beneath her. His light seeped from between his half-lidded eyes as he lost himself in his lust. Through her erratic whimpers and whines Tav could hear him mumbling “mine” to himself. It was everything she wanted, everything she needed. The crude slap of their passion and the promise of delicious soreness in the morning drove her screaming to her final climax. Distantly she registered Halsin roaring above her, her head being pushed into the earth, the stringent smell of crushed grass in her nose, and a sharp pain in her shoulder. She knew that pain, the pain of teeth.
Halsin’s teeth sank into her flesh as his hips shuddered and stilled. Tav felt his cock throb in time with the heartbeat in her wound, her blood leaking down her chest in a thin line as he spent himself inside her. For a time, there was only this, the heat and blood and beating between them. Their breaths gusted out of their chests, their muscles unlocking from chasing pleasure, and some semblance of thought re-entering Halsin’s mind. His teeth slowly retracted from her shoulder, shock blooming at the back of his mind as the taste of her blood flooded his senses. What had he done?
Tav felt coolness at her back as Halsin lifted himself away, “Oh my heart, how I’ve wounded you.”
Tav rolled to her back, still catching her breath and reveling in a haze of bliss. She was lucid enough, however, to catch Astarion moving to grip Halsin’s jaw. He pulled the druid into him and licked her blood away from his lips, not leaving anything behind.
“Waste not, want not,” he murmured. “I also recall claiming her blood as mine, bear.” he quirked his brow as he released Halsin, “But I suppose we can share this as well.” Halsin appeared caught between the shock of Astarion initiating contact with him like this and what he had just done to Tav.
“You marked me,” Tav slurred.
“I lost control, I-”
“I liked it.”
Halsin turned away from Astarion and reached out to Tav to sit her upright, his eyes fixed to the broken semi-circle of angry red marks he’d left in the muscle between her neck and shoulder. His hand hovered over it, emitting a warm glow and stifling the comfortable sting she felt from his wound.
“Don’t,” she murmured, covering his hand with hers, “I want it.”
Halsin searched her eyes before removing his hand and pulling her into his lap. Absently, he brushed away her hair from her face, appearing to consider the creature in his arms in a new light.
“Don’t be ashamed of it, because I am not,” Tav insisted. She could see his mind working, that he would look at this scar and be ashamed of its origin, of his lack of control. “I love the idea of being marked by you; even more that it is your bite.”
“And we all know how much you like biting,” Astarion added.
Halsin chuckled, a bit apprehensively, “If this is what you want, I will cherish it with you. I only regret the way it happened.”
“I don’t,” Tav smiled, “I rather like when you lose yourself.”
“She is right. You are exquisite,”Astarion agreed, a small teasing smile on his lips as he met the druid’s eyes. They both held there a moment, perhaps considering each other with fresh eyes after this night.
Tav smiled inwardly at this new development. She was eager to begin stealthily pushing the two together, but she had one more indulgence in mind for tonight.
“Will you add yours, Astarion?”
“Hm? My what?”
“Your mark.”
Astarion’s considering gaze shifted to his lover’s, his crimson eyes asking the question of her again. Truly? She would ask this of him?
“Yes, Astarion,” she whispered, as if she could hear the same dark whispers of his mind, “I want your mark.”
He had no words for her, they all seemed inadequate. He only nodded and reached for her cheek, leaning in and taking a gentle kiss for himself. His mouth lowered to her collarbone, where remnants of her blood had trailed. His tongue licked her clean, tracing up to Halsin’s bite and feeling his wounds, the tip of his wicked tongue dipping inside the shallow pools, seeking more of her there. More of this impossible creature, more of this feeling he didn’t think he deserved. He moved to her other side, kissing up her throat to the sweet song of her pulsing vein. Before he struck, he breathed onto her skin, “Thank you,” and drank deeply, savoring the slide of his fangs inside her flesh anew. This bite was one of so many, but it was the only one that would not heal. The only one that marked her as many things to many people, but to him... she would be everything.
***
Tav awoke slowly, registering all of her limbs one by one, blinking away clouds from her eyes. A wall of heat was at her back; she burrowed into it further, a large arm snaking up between her breasts to secure her there. Halsin’s other arm cushioned her head as they lay in the grass on their sides. She hovered there in the warmth, her eyes closed, her breaths even, a sense of calm she had not felt in months settling over her.
Cold lips met her fingertips. She opened her eyes to see Astarion lounging in front of her. A soft smile bloomed across her face – she couldn’t imagine a happier awakening. Her bear and her villain surrounding her and safe.
“Did we ruin you?” Astarion whispered.
“Destroyed,” she answered back, raising her eyebrows playfully.
“Was it fun?”
“I think it was a little more than that,” her playful expression turned somber, contemplative. “Was it fun for you?”
“You know... it rather was.”
Astarion considered for a moment, his gaze passing over her shoulder across Halsin’s relaxed form. His eyes were closed though he did not sleep, perhaps giving them both a moment alone. Beyond Halsin the wisteria swayed in the night breeze, the sun having long abandoned them. The moon was full, he noticed, shining through the petals. That was some sort of sign, wasn’t it? If he were the sort to believe in those things.
He turned back to Tav, setting those thoughts aside, “You’ll have to be more careful, now,” he nodded toward her neck.
“I don’t care,” Tav replied firmly, “Let them think what they want, say what they want. We’re about to save the world, among a whole host of other things. I think I can handle a little prejudice.”
He snorted at that, finally releasing her hand to reach out and tuck back a stray lock of hair.
“You are astonishing,” he said, exasperated and fond all at once. “You can ask us for anything, love. Don’t hold back again.”
“No promises, but I will try,” she nodded.
“Good. Now, shall we have Halsin carry you back?”
She shook her head, closed her eyes, and settled into the heat at her back and the sound of Astarion’s voice, “Not yet... I want to stay a little longer.”
“Anything for you,” Halsin mumbled at her back, tightening his hold on her, “Rest now.”
Astarion ran his fingers through her hair, “Rest, pet. We’ll be here for you.” He bent down to place a gentle kiss at her temple and whispered, “Ours.”