Heirot

Vlad's breath caught in a tight moan. This didn't seem normal...it felt so good. He wasn't even touching himself, and he was twitching with more than just arousal. It was flat-out pleasure, as if they were touching him and not just each other. He leaned deep into the headboard, panting. What in the world had that crazy girl done to his body? Each time Atul's hips thrusted inside her, the sensations grew stronger. "Yes," he groaned. His fingers dug into the sheets. "Hahh.....fuck..."

Atul alternated between strong, powerful, earth moving thrusts, and a soft sensual touch that could move even the stoniest heart. He was as tender with her as he could be, and as rough as she wanted when she wanted it. He kissed her lovingly, showing her how much she pleased him with every part of his being.

"Look at how much it pleases him," Atul whispered huskily into her ear.

Tenele turned her gaze on Vlad, smiling at him.

Atul thrust more thoroughly then, earning a slew of vulgar commands that tightened everything in his body and drew her attention back to him.

Vlad didn't move to touch himself. It would make about as much sense as trying to reach down and touch himself in the middle of making love to them. The feelings were stronger, and better. He was a little unsettled by just how good they were. His attempts to swallow his cries became more and more useless, and before it could occur to him to realize it, he was gearing up to come. To come, without even touching his own body or being touched by them. "Shit," he moaned, longing to kiss them and suddenly unsure if he could move and still control himself.

"Atul!" Tenele cried, hooking an arm around his neck. His arm looped around her waist and he pulled her to sit up with him, bucking his body into hers. She threw back her head as she came, and the feeling of her body tightening around him was all it took to break the walls of his own composure. He roared, pumping furiously as his mind went white.

When the blinding sparks of pleasure subsided enough for him to understand what reality he was still part of, he was lying on his side with Tenele's legs tangled around his waist. She was twisted with the other half of her body draped across her husband's thighs, her tongue dragging across his leg, eager to taste him.

Vlad heaved a thick breath. The weight of Tenele in his lap, and her warm tongue on his legs, was all the contact it took to shatter his control. He bit down on the inside of his cheeks and came, hard, until his stomach was slick with the evidence. "Yes," he gasped, tangling his fingers in her hair as needfully as if she'd just sucked him to his limit.

Tenele slipped away from Atul enough to snake up Vlad's body. She dragged her tongue across his stomach, cleaning him. When she was finished she straddled his waist and trailed soft kisses along his chest and nuzzled her face into his neck.

Atul curled against Vlad's side. Exhausted. Gods, how did she have the energy to move...

"I love you both," Vlad murmured into her hair, wrapping an arm tight around her back while his other arm stroked Atul's hair and neck. Euphoria washed through him. He didn't know how it was even possible to come without being touched. Apparently that was his compensation prize, until his mind grew stronger and he could overcome the block with Tenele.

And they'd accepted him. He wondered why he even bothered to worry anymore. This was not the Tenele of the past few months, her interest delicate and changeable. This was his wife, and his future husband. They needed him. And they would love him, and make love to him, in whatever way would work, until he could do better for them.

He never wanted to stop becoming better for them.

"We love you," Tenele whispered to him, letting all of her weight rest against him. Her skin was slick, her breath not quite recovered, and she didn't want to admit that while she was content... she wanted Vlad.

But, Vlad wasn't ready.He might not be ready for a very long time. So for now, she was content to cuddle with him.

Tenele eventually found herself wedged between the two men, tangled in their arms and legs. She sighed happily as she ran her fingers over any part of their body she could touch.

"I am a very safe woman," she thought aloud, admiring their protective cage around her. "The safest woman in the world."

Vlad closed his eyes and relished the heat of their bodies and the quiet rhythm of their hearts. "That you are," he approved. His arm was wrapped over her body and Atul's neck. He massaged the base of the man's hairline with his thumb. "Which is good, because our relationship is about to attract a lot of attention. Does the palace know yet, Atul?"

"Yes," Atul replied, his voice heavy and lethargic. "Everyone knows, but a formal announcement hasn't been made to the people. I still have some advisers that are fighting me." Atul burrowed his face into Tenele's hair. "They'll get over it. Things will work out. We'll get married and Tenara will formally be recognised as being also my child. I bet she'll enjoy being a princess, she's pretty much treated as such already."

Vlad smiled. "Before we share any more, we'd best invite Queenie for a boat ride. Sinead made me a member of her high court just before I left. I think she finally realized that her nobles will never accept me as a member of the court. It's not the same in Ighten, not the way it is here. The politics and the people are both entirely different. But in the end, Sinead is my master and Tenele's mother, and I in particular will need approval to marry." He smiled playfully. "I'm rather looking forward to it."

Atul hadn't even thought of that. He'd been so wrapped up in his happiness that he hadn't even considered the thoughts of his ally. "What if she doesn't approve?" he asked softly, brushing his fingers along Tenele's neck. "Will you defy her?"

Vlad shook his head lazily. "Sinead took the place of my vampiric sire. Normally, our kind can't survive without a link to older blood, so the mandate to serve a master is ingrained in our nature. Sinead is my master. I literally could not disobey her if I tried."

Atul frowned into Tenele's hair. He went a very long time without speaking as he gathered his courage to ask the question that he did not want to know the answer too. "So you will have to leave if she forbids our union?"

He felt his heart shatter. He'd thrown caution to the wind. He'd stopped feeling fear. Everything seemed so certain, and Vlad had seemed so certain, but now... It could all end with just a simple word from the Queen of Ighten. He'd have to marry Espha and he'd have to live apart from them. Why did he let himself believe otherwise? Why did he let himself be convinced by their beautiful words.

Vlad's thumb paused its calm circles on his skin as he noted the anxiety jumping into his lover's heartbeat. He pushed up on his elbow and leaned over Tenele, framing Atul's cheek in his hand. "Hey," he murmured. "Listen. Do you have a problem with your husband serving in two courts? It would essentially make me a royal ambassador."