Time: Immediately after the Conclave, and following "Mutual Wants", the rest afterwards.
Cash and Morgaine stroll up the back staircase arm in arm, nearly identical silly sated smiles on their faces. Julian, coming up the broad front stairs, is grinning too. For such a stressful meeting and for all the urgent issues confronting the prince and his councilors, the "encounters" after the meeting have made all the stress worth it.
The two lovers stop at the end of the upper hall to exchange a kiss. Julian, having seen Thorne on his way back to the Chantry after their encounter, comes up the front stairs in time to see his lovers wrapped in each other's arms.
Julian is adjusting his clothes as he hits the hallway landing; his tie is draped around his neck, the shirt still only half buttoned. He smiles at the sight of Cash and Morgaine, happy that his sibling has apparently calmed Cash of whatever it was that was bothering him. It's unusual for Julian to be so out of touch with Cash's feelings, his needs, but the prince's mind has been elsewhere this past week. At this moment, his mind is processing the sheer passion he has experienced at Thorne's hands. [Never thought I'd want a Tremere,] he muses, [but that one's damned good.]
Breaking the kiss, Cash looks over at Julian. "So, beloved, everything work out with the wizard?" A glint of sly teasing in the Gangrel's eye tells Julian he hasn't heard the last of this. Morgaine's quick wash of mild disapproval also echoes in Julian's mind, she'll have something to say on the subject as well.
Even without knowing how much Cash disapproves of Thorne, Julian can read between the lines on that one. Best not to pursue the matter, he thinks to himself. "Yeah ... fine," he says with just a hint of a smile. Moving toward them, he greets his sibling first, with a quick kiss to the cheek and a whisper. "Thanks, sis. I owe you one."
[That's an understatement, Julian. *You* should have been up here comforting Cash, not me.] Morgaine keeps the thought between them, not letting her irritation with the prince leak through to Cash any more than it already has. "I think our Gangrel is ready for his big day," she says aloud. "He's going to make a wonderful sire."
[Why do I feel a lecture coming on?] The smirk is nearly evident on his face as the thought crosses Julian's mind as he turns his attention to Cash. "So, I hope she was able to settle things, lover." He wraps his arms around the Gangrel, pulling him closer. "You need to start thinking about Frank now, and getting ready for the Embrace. Anything I can do?"
[Oh, yeah, Julian, ask now.] Morgaine would slap him if Cash weren't standing right there, but she's biding her time with a smile. She lays her head against Cash's shoulder, keeping him close.
The Gangrel wraps an arm around each of the Ventrue, relaxing against them. "I'll be OK, I think. It was just that the hassle of the Conclave on top of fasting ... I went a little overboard on that, I think. " [Don't worry about me and Frank, we'll be OK. Just be there tomorrow.]
Julian leans in to claim a kiss from Cash, "Come to bed?"
"I'm gonna check on Mic, see if he needs anything. I wondered if we were going overboard to have a guard on Frank, but after that damned Cameron..... You know, Julian, I would have cried a challenge on him if it hadn't been in the Conclave. But you don't need to hassle of having your primogen fighting on top of everything else. And we don't need another new Brujah boss; Cam's a snake, but he's a *known* snake." Cash is sure he could take out the oily Brujah in a fair (or even unfair) one on one fight. [My witch, you gonna sleep with Julian? If so, I'm gonna crash on the sofa in Frank's suite. I'm beat.]
"Forget about Cameron. I'll deal with him if it comes to that." Julian is sometimes a bit overprotective of his lover, even though he knows the Gangrel could slit the Brujah's throat in a heartbeat. "No, I don't need my primogen fighting amongst each other. It's hard enough to know who Lillie's siding with these days." He shakes his head at the thought of the she-devil who has been alternately lover and royal pain for nearly a century. Then he quickly changes the subject with a deep smile. "I'll be there tomorrow. Don't fear. Nothing could keep me from your side."
Morgaine steals a final kiss from the Gangrel. [He may throw me out later, but I'm starting in bed with him.] She moves to behind Julian and drapes her arms playfully over his shoulders. "Come to bed, my prince."
Cash yawns a huge yawn and stretches his arms out. [Gods, I'm tired. I could just crash on the carpet right here, curled up on Julian's threshold like a big dog.] The big clock in the entrance hall chimes, "BONG, BONG, BONG." [Only 3 am? - feels later. I'll just check on Frank. Damn Cameron, anyway. The brass balls on that guy to threaten ANOTHER of my potential fledglings and to my face!]
Cash quietly opens the door to the anteroom. Mic the Irishman looks up and nods to his primogen. "Everything quiet?" Cash whispers. The Irish Gangrel nods. Cash goes to the door to the sitting room, the couch looks damn inviting. "Think I'll crash here for a while, Mic. That damn Brujah primogen came *this* close to challenging me over this mortal." Cash holds up thumb and forefinger. Mic just shakes his head, what a fool, for all his short stature, Cash is a hell bent fighter.
Slipping into the suite, Cash gently opens the bedroom door, Frank is curled around a pillow, black silk pjs stretched across his shoulders. Cash smiles and shuts the door. The couch beckons, and the Gangrel sighs as he sinks into the softness. He sheds his boots with practiced ease and pulls an afgan off the back of the sofa, snuggling in as sleep overtakes him, a long day finally catching up with him.
Frank Kouhanek is sound asleep, but fitfully. Only now does he slip deep enough to dream at last...
He is lying on the ground, a cathedral of great trees above, and his arms are full of something furry. It is a wolf, its muzzle buried in his neck, just nuzzling him. The furred body lays at length against his naked one, positioned on top of him like a big dog, its fur bristly and soft at once against his bare skin. Then the fur begins to melt away, the body lengthening until he is holding a man in his arms.
It's Cash! Equally naked, the Gangrel lying on him is caressing his face and shoulders, kissing his neck, shifting position on him so that their groins are aligned, their cocks side by side. Frank, his hands grasping Cash by the ass, holds him steady, moving already with him. Then the Kindred lifts his head and captures his mouth, emitting a soft, delighted growl as he kisses the mortal.
Tongues entwined, mortal and Kindred thrust against one another, hot against cool. Then the Gangrel is pulling away from his mouth, making more pleased wolf noises, as he slips off onto his side. He rolls Frank over onto his stomach. "Kneel up for me, buddy, let me get you ready," Cash growls, kissing him on the ass, his hands already caressing. As Frank kneels up for him, Cash moves to kneel behind him, between his legs. Sitting back on his heels, he reaches under Frank's legs to pull his ass up and toward him.
Frank groans as he feels the light licking in his most private part as Cash rims his anus, running his tongue around the pucker then pressing inward to open him. The Gangrel tongue-fucks him for a minute, then growls again, pleased, as the mortal relaxes his sphincter for him.
Then the Kindred rises up and - since anything is possible and painless in a dream - enters his ass smoothly, caressing his hips as he begins to move within him. "Mine," the wolf-voice growls as he fucks, "mine to fuck, mine to possess, mine to Embrace."
"Sire," Frank moans as he gives himself over to the pure, shuddering sensations of being well-fucked. "My sire, my brother," he gasps.
"My childe," Cash sighs, slowing and deepening his strokes. "and my brother, already Gangrel, Frank, my brother-wolf, my wild one... so good..."
In minutes the Kindred howls like a wolf and comes hard. Snarling, he falls on the shuddering back and bites the mortal on the shoulder, side of the neck, back, and every time he bites, Frank cries out in ecstasy, pushing up into the fangs in his mortal flesh. A Kindred tongue swipes each wound clean, and in seconds they heal over as he comes down from his orgasm. Withdrawing, he shifts, pulling Frank back to his position.
"Now, me, brother, come in me!!" Cash grunts, assuming the position he's just pulled Frank out of. Eagerly the mortal delves in, and soon he is fucking his sire-to-be, making his own, poor, mortal's attempt at the growls of a wolf.
Frank is flooded with incredible sensation, the man's channel so tight around his cock. It is his first time to fuck another man, and he grows so excited that he comes all too quickly, gripping the Gangrel hard about the waist as he comes in his ass, moaning his pleasure.
When he withdraws from him, they each pull the other close, their slickened bodies together. Frank does not even heed the smeary blood-tinged sweat of Cash, needing him close anyway. Getting a glance at his lover, he is amazed and excited to see that Cash is very much aroused, his eyes a burning silver, his fangs down. "It's okay, man," Frank whispers harshly, aching for him, "bite me again. Embrace me, Cash..."
Fangs this time sink into his throat, sinking deep, and the Gangrel begins to drink...
Frank wakes with a start, his heart racing and... his cock hard, to his amazement. He was dreaming... of...? But just as he thinks about it, the memory of the dream sifts away like fine sand and is gone. [Damn, it must have been a good one,] he thinks and pads off to the bathroom.
Upon returning, his heart and cock settled down, Frank glances at the door to the sitting room. [Hopefully my guard is still there protecting me from the hordes of Brujah out there,] he smirks to himself, but decides to take a look. Quietly he moves to the door. He opens it with a soft click. Peering into the darkness, he waits until his eyes adjust... [This, too, will change...] and then sees the form asleep on the couch. With a rush he realizes *Cash*, not the Irish, is asleep there, the final frontier before his door this night... morning?
Curious, he moves into the room stealthily, edging closer to see the Gangrel primogen. Cash is sleeping, his roughly handsome mug even more youthful in repose than usual, and usually, he looks very young, far younger than Frank's 32 years. [He's just a kid... NOT. A wolf in a cub's skin?] Then Frank smiles, remembering the talk out in the woods. [He's good, a good one,] Frank thinks, then sobers, remembering. [Tonight...]
Abruptly Frank sets that thought aside. [Not now...] Fortunately, a thought of a different sort occurs to him as his glance falls to the man's mouth... the line of his throat... the lean, compact body... Then the dream comes back to him suddenly... the very *erotic* dream about being with Cash...
The mortal swallows, his throat dry. [Damn, and we have to wait... won't come soon enough, I want him so bad... but Cash can't risk himself, has to fast. Damn...]
Cash's subconscious, perhaps responding to the scent of Frank's arousal or at least his presence, prompts him to wake. One hand goes instantly to the blade at the waist of his jeans. Then full consciousness arrives. "Frank?" the sleepy voice inquires.
"Hey, Cash," Frank replies, halfway turned back to the door, uneasily hiding for a few necessary moments the fullness in the front of his pajama bottoms until it subsides again. [DAMN! He probably scents me...] "I woke up, just checking on my guard, you know. I... didn't expect it to be *you*."
"Just want you to be safe, man. Mic's still awake outside." Cash yawns, stretching his feet over the sofa arm.
Frank notices the awkward position the Gangrel is sprawled in on the couch, too short for his full length. "That can't be comfortable to sleep on, man..."
"I've slept on worse, this is at least soft." Cash chuckles.
The mortal, pauses, then decides. Sighing, he turns to Cash and comes all the way over. "You need your sleep, though, a good one. You'll get a better one in there..." he hooks a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the bedroom, "with me. Come on..." He extends a hand to the Gangrel to help him up, smiling a little.
Cash reaches up, a sleepy smile on his lips. Hooded, hazel eyes contemplate Frank for a long minute. "Sleep it is, my brother, and just sleep. And Frank, let's sleep in... no more 7 a.m. pacing, okay? You gotta get used to Kindred hours."
Frank locks his hand with Cash's, smiling more broadly, more relaxed. "No more pacing. Sleep. Kindred hours. Got it..." He catches himself from adding "sire". Frank aches to call him that, but knows well he has no right to, not yet. It will come. He pulls him up, drapes an arm around his shoulder as they move toward the bedroom.
"You know, I used to sleep in these rooms, when I was first in Archon's household."
"Yeah?" Frank replies, tossing a pillow into place on the other side of the king size bed. "Somehow I don't think this is a bedtime story, Cash..."
Cash pulls his sheathed knife out from the back of his jeans and slips it under the pillow. "It's had its moments, Frank. It wasn't all bad by any means." Cash decides that losing the jeans will be more comfortable and skins out of his tee shirt too. Perhaps in deference to the Conclave tonight, he is wearing briefs. After a moment's thought, he decides to leave them on. [Let's not tempt the fates.]
Frank risks a look at the lean body of the other, then sighs. [Julian, look what you started in me... ah, well, hopefully just a few days to wait...] "That's good," he replies to Cash's words. Feeling warm, he sheds the silk pajama top but leaves the bottoms on as he climbs in on his side.
Cash is less abashed in his appraisal of Frank. Smooth muscled chest, not much hair, just a hint at the belly button that dives under the silk of the pajama bottoms, a runner's slimness. "I learned what Stevie didn't teach me. In this house I learned control, and many other lessons. Most of them I'll teach you." [But not all of them, not all the pain-filled ones. Just the ones you need.]
"I know," Frank murmurs, feeling sleepy again, "but not tonight. Sleep. Get in bed, man." He smiles, just enough awake to enjoy Cash's open look-over of his body.
Cash crawls into the other side of the bed, enjoying the soft crispness of the linens and the warmth of the mortal beside him. "Get the light, man. Gods, I'm ready to crash." He touches Frank's hip lightly. "Just shove me over if I get too close. Julian says I cuddle."
Frank snicks the light off, then turns onto his side, facing the other. "No way am I shoving you over, Gangrel. Get over here." He pulls the smaller man over to the middle as he shifts closer, spooning up behind him. "Need you close, told you. Sleep." He folds his arms around him, and adjusts his pillow beside his.
Cash growls, a deep purring noise in his chest. "Who's the fledgling here?" But he snuggles back, loosely holding Frank's wrist against his chest. "Dark Dreams, my brother." A long sigh heralds the Gangrel's descent back into sleep.
Frank feels a profound peace settle over his heart, the dream forgotten again. "Dark dreams, you wolf," he murmurs, settling his head on the Kindred's cool shoulder, asleep in moments.
The end
