Ruling Rue Royale
Chapter Six
Louis went to Mojo and shocked David by petting the dog and speaking softly to him in French, telling him not to be afraid and several other things that David did not quite catch. After a bit Mojo laid down on the floor and whined. Louis lifted him and put him back into the warm water.
Louis rinsed him and then let the water out of the tub as David applied the fur conditioner. Louis rinsed Mojo with clean water from the hand held shower head. David took the dog from the tub and laid him on one of the towels spread out on a dry patch of the bathroom floor. Louis rubbed him briskly with another. Mojo had stopped whining.
David clucked his tongue at the amount of fur left in the tub. "Mojo there is a whole other dog in there. Look at that."
Louis looked over the rim and laughed. "That must feel better, hmmm?" he asked Mojo.
Mojo declined to comment. A good sulk is not to be wasted.
Louis reached for the canine toothpaste and Mojo's toothbrush. David was certain that this would never fly, but refrained from telling Louis so. David took up position on the side of the dog, holding his body still and his head up.
Louis attempted to open Mojo's mouth. Mojo growled dangerously. Louis took his hand away. "Do you want all of your teeth to fall out?"
Mojo gave a bark which could only be interpreted as an affirmative.
"Well, I don't," Louis told him. He succeeded in prying the dog's mouth open and doing a fairly decent job of it.
Mojo threatened to tell Lestat, call a lawyer and contact the ASPCA, but to no avail.
Next was the pedicure. David tried his hand at this while Louis held Mojo. It wasn't nearly as difficult as David imagined it might be. Once his claws were clipped and filed, and the lotion worked well into his pads, Louis released him. He and David threw a few more towels on the floor and each gave Mojo and final rubdown. Then Louis switched on the heat lamps and the two of them made a quick exit.
"Well, I believe I'll need to wash away the effects of that bath." David said, pulling off his sopping shirt.
Louis laughed, "So shall I."
The both of them trudged up the stairs and retired to their respective bathrooms. After performing their own ablutions and changing into clean dry clothing they met again downstairs. Louis went to the bathroom and carried a nearly dry Mojo to the parlour. He put a very large towel on the floor and laid Mojo on it. David brought the brushes and they sat on either side of Mojo, brushing him.
"Do you think it is warm enough in here for him?" Louis asked David.
"I would say so, but I'll turn up the thermostat, it won't hurt anything. Where is it?"
"The far wall." Louis pointed toward it.
David walked over to the indicted wall but didn't see a thermostat. He searched it again. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Louis looked up from Mojo, puzzled. "Oh, David, I am sorry. It is under the wall sconce."
David looked to the candleholder. It appeared to be flush against the wall. "This, you mean?"
"Yes, lift it from the bottom."
David put his fingers under the golden plate and found to his surprise a hollow square behind it with a thermostat setting inside. "How very clever!"
"Lestat was adamant about having all such modern things hidden."
"So that is why I haven't seen any telephones, except in the office," David said.
"I'll show you where they are once I've done with Mojo," Louis told him.
"No hurry," David said, coming back to brush Mojo again. "Someone has to keep this dog livable. God knows Lestat just lets him run wild."
"I am just worried that something will happen to him. He'll take ill or some such and Lestat would be crushed," Louis said.
Mojo yawned and laid on his back, exposing his underside, which meant, 'In my infinite mercy, I have forgiven you. Now scratch my belly.'
"Quelle beau chien," Louis cooed, obliging him.
"I doubt Lestat will even recognize him," David said. "That water was black as tea."
Louis smiled. "Oh, I am sure he will manage to be just as filthy by the time Lestat is taking notice of such things again."
"What do you mean?"
"He has started writing, didn't you notice?"
"Oh yes, but surely he'll come out sometimes," David said.
Louis shook his head. "Not until the book is finished. He will wake, hunt and write until dawn, at which time he may or may not return to his room for the day."
"How long will it be?"
"It varies."
"I see." David sighed.
"This is much better," Louis said, petting Mojo's coat, which true to the advertising, was clean, shiny and slightly rose scented. Louis collected the brushes and took them into the bathroom to clean them, and try to do something about the mess they had left.
When he returned to the parlour, Mojo was snoring happily and David had taken a seat on the divan. Apparently he'd found the remote control, as he had opened the doors to the hidden television and was watching CNN.
Louis soundlessly grabbed a book from the shelves that lined one wall and sat on the opposite end of the couch.
David hadn't even noticed him, so when he looked over, perhaps thirty minutes later, he was startled to see Louis sitting there. "Oh, Louis, I didn't hear you come in."
Louis looked up from his book. "I didn't want to disturb you."
David smiled. "You aren't a disturbance at all. Do you mind CNN?"
"Not at all, please watch what you wish, David."
"Do you follow the news?"
"I read the papers but I admit, quite a lot gets by me. Every time I encounter a map all of the place names have changed."
"I make it a point to follow the news and the same thing still happens to me, Louis."
Mojo stood, stretched and walked to Louis's chair, putting his front paws on Louis's legs.
Louis put his book down on a side table. "What Mojo?"
Mojo leapt into Louis's lap. Louis calmly put him back down on the floor. "Forgive me for pointing it out, Mojo, but you are not a lap dog."
Mojo laid at Louis's feet and quietly looked pathetic.
Louis was lured down to the floor and began petting Mojo, who attempted to kiss him in gratitude. Louis avoided the dog's tongue, but did kiss the dog between his ears. "Good boy."
David pretended not to see this canine manipulation.
Mojo had Louis pet him, rub his belly and eventually through some leaning, light head butts and gentle persuasion, Mojo got Louis's back against the couch and situated himself in Louis's lap, which was where he had wanted to be in the first place. If he could ever get a little cooperation around here he wouldn't lose near so much sleeping time.
David found that Louis had inadvertently sat himself right in front of him, between his legs to be precise. David noticed that Louis had not re-braided his hair. It was still a bit damp and curlier than usual. David noticed these things much more now than before. Partly it was due to his heightened vampiric senses, but his new body contributed as well. He still expected to see his pale seventy-six year old face and his thin grey hair in the mirror. It continued to shock him to encounter his caramel colored skin and thick brown head of hair instead, framing his unlined, unfamiliar face. He was still trying to memorize his own features and this led to a greater awareness of those around him. He had found himself following the curls in Lestat's hair, the shape of his eyebrow, the length of his eyelashes. And now he was doing the same with Louis. But they were both like great art. He discovered something new every time he looked at either of them.
David listen to the CNN newscaster describe the horrific conditions somewhere, due to something, and what someone thinks somebody should do about it. It didn't hold any interest for him tonight, and Louis was obviously ignoring it completely.
"Do you mind if I change channels?" David asked Louis.
"No, I don't," Louis said, his attention still on Mojo.
David took up the remote control and was curiously flipping through channels when he noticed Louis's head come up. David stopped and looked to see what had caught Louis's attention. It was two men in suits and ties have some sort of discussion.
"All in all, how does the season look for the Saints, Pat?"
"Well, if Mora the miracle worker can pull anything near the performance of the 1987 season out of them, they may come up even."
"Coming out of last season with an even 8 and 8, isn't there a chance for a winning season for the Saints?"
Both men began laughing, David thought he might have even heard the camera crew laughing as well.
"A what?"
David deduced it was some kind of sports broadcast, but he wasn't familiar with American sports or teams. Louis had a bit of a frown on his face, so apparently the news wasn't good. The broadcasters moved to another subject and Louis lost interest. Mojo walked to the kitchen to get a drink. David resumed looking through the channels, finally stopping on a documentary about the Titanic.
There were historians, families of victims and survivors, divers, sailors and various experts, each giving their views on the question of salvage. Should the Titanic be left as it rests, inviolable, as a tomb? Would it be more respectful to rescue the artifacts and display them in memorial, than allow them to eventually be buried on the sea floor, forgotten forever? What questions can be answered by raising the Titanic? Is it worth the time and expense? Would any attempt to raise the ship destroy the debris field, and isn't that more telling than the ship itself? Will anyone profit by it? Should anyone profit by it? What is ethical? What is moral? Whose decision should it be? To whom does the Titanic belong?
David pulled his legs up and stretched them out along the cushions. He put his elbow on the arm of the divan and leaned his head on it so that he could see Louis better. Louis was listening to the debate with a detached interest.
"What is your opinion, Louis? Display or decay?"
"I should think that if they bring up items for museums, there will be lawsuits from descendants."
"I don't know, isn't it finder's keepers under maritime law?"
"I confess that I am not familiar with it."
"Do you think that they should leave the wreckage, then?"
"Oh David, it seems so pointless either way, doesn't it?"
"What do you mean pointless? Perhaps there are many secrets still held by the artifacts."
"I only mean that if they do not excavate and remove objects, some other grave robbers will, especially as everyone knows now where the wreckage lies. Do the descendants feel that the memories of their ancestors would be better honored by millions of the morbidly curious parading past their luggage, dishes and other effects, or by slowly being buried beneath the sand and waste products of the ocean? The plain fact is that the Titanic's passengers died of hypothermia or drowning and their remains were eaten by sea creatures, just like millions of others who have been lost at sea. They are beyond caring one way or another. Unfortunately, through the skewed priorities of society, their deaths have rendered their property even more valuable than it was originally. Historians, family members and the like will weep and wail all they want, but greed will win out."
"I hope you never become cynical, Louis, because that would be a shame," David observed.
Louis laughed. "Cynicism is the acid sting of a blackened heart and a bitter soul."
"Is that so?" David asked, reaching to stroke Louis's hair. "Or is it the scar tissue of wounded innocence?"
Louis looked at David, then looked away. "I don't know what you mean."
David eased himself to the floor, beside Louis. "Louis, yes you do."
Louis looked back at him. "David, this . . . attraction between us . . . it cannot be."
"But it is, Louis. Denying it will not diminish it."
"David, I love Lestat."
"Louis, so do I."
"Then how can we feel this way?"
"Perhaps there isn't any explanation."
Louis watched David's face silently for a long while. "I know that I will never replace Lestat in your heart."
"Nor will I in yours. I know that as well."
"We understand each other then, David?"
"We do."
Louis was silent again for a time, pondering. "Then we cannot hurt each other."
"Not unless we ask nicely," David returned. It was a bold thing to say. The sort of thing he used to say in his youth, to shock a virginal lover.
Louis gave a short soundless laugh, and the smile stayed on his face. He leaned toward David, slipped his arm around the Englishman's back and slowly brought his mouth to touch David's. He brushed softly against those lips and then kissed them. David closed his eyes and opened his mouth. Louis sucked gently on his tongue. David pressed into the kiss. Louis put a hand to David's chest and eased the younger vampire down onto his back. David yielded to him. Louis kissed the warm tan skin of David's face and throat. David nuzzled into Louis's neck, but as Louis felt the very points of fangs against his skin, he drew back. He pushed himself up on his hands and looked down into David's eyes.
"I will not drink from you."
"I know," David nodded.
"And you will not drink from me."
David's eyes grew wider, he thought to protest, but knew he had no right. He couldn't prevent a small groan of longing and disappointment escape his throat.
Louis continued to look at him, his face serious, his eyes demanding.
"I will not drink from you," David finally whispered.
Louis nodded once, and then lowered himself back down to rest against David. He licked at David's skin. David pressed his body up against Louis. Louis responded, melding himself into David's curves and hollows. The held each other, rubbing, undulating, creating friction in one spot and relieving it in another. The sensitivity of their skin making any contact at all a sensuous and even sexual pleasure. David ran his tongue up Louis's throat. Louis bit David's earlobe, not breaking the skin. This sharp, unexpected point of pain made David gasp with pleasure.
"Davide," Louis whispered into David's ear, his accent thickening, transforming the name to a romantic endearment. It sent lovely chills through David's body.
David moved his leg beneath Louis's . He tried to raise his knee, to place it between Louis's legs and rub against his organ. Louis continued kissing him, but wouldn't open his legs. David tried again. Louis crossed his ankles and David heard a teasing laugh from behind the kissing lips.
"Oh, it's to be that way, is it?" David asked, with a grin. It had been a long time since he'd been up to a challenge. "Well," he whispered. "We'll see about that."
Louis gave a muffled giggle and rubbed himself across David's pelvis. David moaned and reached to pry Louis's legs apart with his hands. Louis wiggled out of his grasp, a sensation which David enjoyed immensely, then put his hand beneath David's shirt.
The mere brush of Louis's fingertips sent vibrations all through David's chest, which seemed to pulse through his nipples. The feeling was incredible. Louis continued his slow, feather light explorations, enlivening every inch of David's skin. He circled David's navel and then poked into it with one quick deep jab. It was like an electric shock. David arched his back and threw his head to the side.
"Again," David breathed.
But Louis kissed his nipple, over his shirt, and answered, "Non."
The noise that came from David was half laugh, half groan. Louis rubbed David's chest muscles. He moved himself lower and sat up on David's knees. He then ran his hands down David's sides, massaging his hips and thighs, purposely avoiding the heart of David's sex. David knew that he had never felt such sweet need as a mortal. As a mortal, all orgasm was centered on his wick, but now his entire body trembled with building desire, though his always erect organ was still most sensitive and was a definite point of sensation.
"Louis," David heard himself say, he couldn't have controlled his voice if he wanted to. "Louis, please."
Louis let himself fall forward, giving David a little jolt as the weight hit him, and then slithered down David's body. Reaching the feet, he popped up and soundlessly ran as fast as he could for the stairs. By the time David opened his eyes, Louis was halfway up.
'Mmmm, a chase,' David thought, as he quickly pursued him.
Louis ducked into a guest room which overlooked the courtyard, thinking that if need be, he could jump from the window without much danger of arousing the neighbors. But in a second, David was through the door and upon him with a growl. He threw Louis to the bed and pinned him. The green eyes danced up at him, surprised but not frightened. David was almost overcome with the desire to drink.
Louis saw the predatory look in David's eyes. He brought his knees up and kicked him as hard as he could. David fell off of the bed with a soft thump. Louis laughed and jumped up to leap across him and to the door.
But David was up far quicker than that. He grabbed Louis in mid-air and threw him over his shoulder.
Louis landed with a "Uhmph."
Then David laughed. He carried Louis into his own room and locked the door. Once more Louis found himself pinned to a bed.
"You are clever, Louis, and quick. I'll give you that."
Louis smiled. "Merci, David, and you are fast as well." He sat up and kissed David.
David let himself fall into the deep kiss, but kept his arms tightly around his prey. David caught Louis's wrists in one hand and held them over his head. Louis tested David's grip but didn't struggle when he felt David's strength. The escapes were only to heighten the passion, he wasn't trying to acquire any crushed bones.
"Now," David said, forcing his knee between Louis's legs. Louis gritted his teeth and clenched his muscles as tightly as he could, he wanted to know that he had prolonged the foreplay as long as was at all possible. But David had strength and leverage on his side. He easily maneuvered his knee into the crevasse and brought it up to rest just under Louis's manhood. Louis gasped and moaned at the contact. David had never heard a sound even close to this kind of desire come from Louis. It inflamed him even more.
He unbuttoned Louis's shirt and pulled it off of him. Louis cooperated, neither of them wanted ripped clothes or lost buttons. Then David unfastened Louis's jeans.
"Wait. Not yet," Louis said quickly.
David laughed loudly and bounced his knee against Louis's most sensitive spot a few times. "When you are the one holding me down, then you may say when. But," David pulled down Louis's zipper and reached inside. Louis cried out in pleasure. "When I am the one holding you, I make the rules." David lowered his face to Louis's. "Understand?"
Louis eyes held lust, fear, excitement, pain, need. "Yes, David."
"Very well." David kissed him. Then he sat and removed his own clothing. He finished pulling Louis's pants off, finding with delighted surprise that Louis wore no underclothing.
Louis slid down beneath him and sucked at David's nipples. David pulled the Creole vampire back up and crushed himself down upon him. Their skin tingled and throbbed. David buried his face in Louis's silken hair. Louis writhed beneath and David writhed above. They pushed and pulled at each other. They kissed and licked and massaged and pinched. It felt better and better. It built for nearly two hours. The agony was delicious.
Abruptly David took a strong hold of Louis and flipped him onto his stomach. Louis was shocked for a moment and fought to turn over. A sharp slap to his derriere brought him back to the moment and David. He relaxed as David began kissing his neck. He smiled as David continued down his spine.
David filled his hands with Louis's rounded flesh. He licked the soft indent at the tops of the thighs. He was sweating. He would swear that his erection had grown larger and thicker, but he knew that it hadn't. The blood pounded up and down his body, out to every fingertip and toe. Louis was quivering beneath him. He lifted Louis's hips. Louis didn't seem to know how to proceed.
"Pull your knees up, love." David guided him gently. Louis did so. David rubbed into the warm cleft. He saw Louis's back muscles relax. He pushed at the hard muscle-ringed opening. Louis gave a high pitched gasp. David kissed his back and then drove in fast, deep and violent. Louis was caught off guard and tightened around him, trying to push him out. It was delicious. David laughed a deep pleasured laugh.
Louis was rocking with every thrust, driven by David's rhythm, but feeling his heartbeat in his groin. The pounding there, matched with the repeated impaling from behind mingled and washed feeling through him, leaving his legs weak and his mind blank to all but the pleasure.
David pursued his pleasure. Gripping Louis's hips, he thrust faster and faster until it felt as if he might explode, not just the old mortal feeling of orgasm which threatened to blast through the organ, but a vampiric, whole body, experience of overwhelming release.
It came for them both, simultaneously. They tensed, every muscle, even their eyelids, tight with the building pressure, and then a release from the tip of the organ outward, frenzied rapture that shook their bodies for at least fifteen minutes before releasing them to a tranquil afterglow.
David, pulled out of Louis and rolled over beside him. Louis pulled himself up onto his side and they lay exhausted and panting in each other's arms.
They had not had the ultimate pleasure, the bloodsharing. But this was a fulfillment of sorts, in its own way.
Louis curled himself around David's body and fell into a peaceful mortal sleep. David cuddled close to him and closed his eyes for just a moment.
He awoke three hours later, alone. Louis had left a note. It was cordial and informal, but not a lover's note. It was a message for a friend.
David,
That was very enjoyable.
I look forward to the next time.
I hope you will forgive me for leaving before you woke,
but I must hunt.
Louis
David almost collapsed with relief. He should have expected that Louis would know just how to handle this, as he seemed to know how to behave in every situation. David didn't know what he would have done if he had read some sort of "Oh Darling, it was heaven. The earth moved. La la la, etc." This was going to work out. This was going to work out well.
David showered and changed his sheets. The sweat stains were tinged a bit pink but not enough to arouse suspicion, so he threw them down the laundry chute. Lestat had arranged through an agent to hire a day staff while they were in Rio. It made David a bit nervous to think of mortals being in the house while they slept, but it didn't seem to bother Louis and Lestat at all. David supposed that they must be very used to the situation from their previous years together.
David dressed and went downstairs. Lestat was still tapping away at his computer. David wondered if he knew what had happened.
'He must not, or he would have come busting in either ready to kill or demanding to join.' David decided. He checked the clock, 2:30 am, two hours until dawn.
'Louis should be home soon.' Just as that thought formed, Mojo went running to the front door, and he heard Louis enter.
"Hello Mojo! My, what a clean boy you are, yes!"
David heard Louis close the door and come up the hall. He tensed, wondering what he would say. Louis entered the room, and handed him a newspaper.
"I thought you might like the London paper. Lestat isn't subscribing to it at the moment."
David was put at ease immediately. "Thank you, Louis. How thoughtful."
Louis was a very healthy color, and David could feel the warmth in his skin. "Not at all," Louis answered.
David thought of asking where he'd hunted, but decided right away that it would be a rude question. Instead he turned to the old standby, weather. "Did you notice if it was going to rain?"
"Yes, it is forecasted."
"Should we ask the day staff not to let Mojo out?"
Louis looked up from his Times-Picayune. "That is a consideration, isn't it? But he must go out. I'll leave a note for them to dry him off if he gets wet."
"And clean the mud from his paws." David added.
Louis nodded. He went to his desk and wrote the note, leaving it then on the kitchen table. He returned to the parlour and they read their respective papers in a companionable silence. Once finished, Louis folded his and put it into a plastic box marked 'Recycle'. "Well, David, I must retire for the day, if you'll excuse me?"
"Of course, rest well." David answered.
Louis bent and kissed his cheek, "And the same to you."
David returned the kiss, then watched his friend walk down the hallway to Lestat's office. Louis rapped softly on the door. "Bonjour, Lestat."
There was no answer. This didn't seem to bother Louis. Perhaps he hadn't been expecting one. He then ascended the stairs to his room.
The next night Lestat awoke with his story in his mind. He had written four chapters, the previous night, all the way through his suicide attempt in the Gobi. He rose from the floor and immediately began typing.
It was striking midnight when I reached Talbot Manor.
He didn't think of hunting. He didn't think of Mojo. He didn't think of his fledglings. He wasn't in his town house in the Rue Royale. He was in the middle of an English winter, with his still burnt skin. He was going to David, who was still mortal, still 76, still so very near death. He typed and the words flowed out of him in a torrent. He didn't sense the passage of time. He didn't feel any cramps in his fingers or his back. He continued re-living his story as he poured it into his computer, until dawn, when he collapsed once again on the floor. The same as he had done the night before. The same as he would every night until the tale was told.
Ruling Rue Royale - Chapter Seven
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