The usual disclaimers: I don't own the characters, I don't make money
from them
X rating
The Gift
(by Gairid)
(Lestat talks about their first Christmas together after their
reunion)
We had been together for about six weeks, in New Orleans
for perhaps four, when I awoke one evening to find myself alone in our bed.
This in itself was startling
not to mention that it was the first time I
ever remembered Louis waking up before me. The bed was still warm where he had
been lying, so I knew that he hadn't been up for very long. I could hear him
speaking on the telephone in the office, and from the muffled sound of it, the
door was closed. I was more than a little curious.
I rolled from the
bed, and went down the hall. Before I could open the office door, however, it
swung open, and Louis was hanging up the phone. He came into my arms, his mouth
seeking mine, and for several wonderful minutes I forgot my curiosity. When he
finally released my mouth, I smiled at him.
"Up early tonight, my
darling." I remarked, leaning my forehead to touch his.
"A little,
yes", he said. He was dressed. "I'm thirsting, Mon coeur", He said, slipping
from my arms. "I will not be long." I caught hold of him, and pulled him to me,
kissing him deeply. When I finally released him, he was panting.
"What
was that, my love? Incentive to make me hurry"? He said, smiling.
"Just so. And I know that you are up to something, Louis. Thirsting!" I
sniffed. "If anyone should be thirsting here, it's me. No wonder I woke up
after you."
I was probing my wounded throat with my fingers as I said
this, wincing. Louis had been voracious the evening before. And now, he had a
somewhat smug look of satisfaction on his face. He kissed me sweetly on the
mouth.
"Be a good boy, Lestat, and let me be on my way. Christmas is
coming, you know, and if you are not careful Pere Noel will be leaving you
nothing but lumps of coal in your shoes." He ducked under my arm, and went
lightly down the stairs.
"I won't be long, Mon ange!" He called, and I
heard the door shut behind him.
Of course I knew he was planning some
sort of Christmas surprise
I myself had yet to choose a gift for him, even
though I had gone to look several times. Nothing was right. And it didn't help
that I couldn't seem to stay away from him for very long.
When he
returned, he had indeed fed, and rather heavily, for him. He'd been gone a
while but I said nothing about it
I was far too distracted by the slow
little striptease he did for me as he walked ahead of me to our bedroom. By the
time he got me in the bed, I had forgotten all about how long he'd been gone
from me.
And then, two days before Christmas, upon awakening I reached
for Louis. He kissed me lovingly and got up from the bed.
"Come back
here, Louis," I said, making a grab for him. He dodged me easily.
"Get
dressed, my darling. We have somewhere to be. The car will be here at any
moment." Louis said, headed for the closet.
I didn't move, stretching
myself languorously. I kicked the covers off, and when he came back out, half
dressed, he stopped for a moment, gazing at me.
"Where are we going,
Louis?" I asked him, dragging a nail down my chest. I was not in the mood to go
anywhere. He licked his lips.
"Lestat, please
"
I could
see him breathing me in, his mouth open slightly, his nostrils flared. I sat
up, smearing the blood across my chest.
"Well," I purred. "If you are
absolutely certain you'd rather go out somewhere."
He reached a hand
to me, smiling.
"I am. Yes. At least... I think I am." He leaned to
lap the blood from my chest. I could feel a little tremor run through him. He
licked me clean and then he grinned, looking at me through his hair.
"Put some clothes on, cher...something comfortable."
I did as I was
told. Imagine my surprise when we arrived a little while later at the airport.
The driver dropped us off at our private hanger, where the pilot we employed at
that time greeted us.
"You weren't kidding when you said we were going
out tonight, were you?" I said. "Will you tell me now where we are headed?"
We were already in the air. Louis was sitting on my lap, his arms about my
neck.
"We're spending Christmas in France, Mon ange." He said, his
breath tickling my ear.
"France?" I asked, surprised yet again. And
then, suddenly, I was stricken.
"Whatever is wrong?" he asked,
immediately concerned.
"Louis, you should have told me where we going"
I said, crestfallen, "Because I've left your Christmas present at home..."
He laughed, all the anxiousness leaving his face.
"Never mind.
You can give it to me on New Year's Day. And you know that I have what I want
right here, and indeed, all I'll ever want...."
He stood up, sliding
the widow screen closed, and led me to the bed.
"Take off your
clothes, my Beauty. Let me look at you, " He said, his voice very soft. He sat
down on the edge of the bed to watch. I did as he asked, shedding my clothes
slowly, until I stood before him naked, and also highly aroused. His face was
serene, but I could hear his rapid heartbeat, his short breaths.
I
reached my hand to him, and he stood up.
"Now you." I whispered,
running my tongue along his upper lip. He unbuttoned his shirt, and shrugged
out of it as I nursed at his lips. He freed himself from his trousers, and I
reached to take his cock in my hand. Silky hardness...gods, how good he felt. I
dropped to my knees still holding him in my hand. Slowly and deliberately
running my tongue down the hard length of him. Nuzzling between his legs and
taking his balls into my mouth, loving him, sucking and humming. Reveling in
how the muscles of his thighs thrummed and trembled under my hands. The satiny
skin of him in my mouth, the soft, dark downe wet with my saliva. I could hear
him moaning. I released him, and pushed him backward onto the bed.
Moving him back so that I was lying with my head still between his legs,
pushing his legs up and apart, I spread him open with my fingers. My mouth was
awash...I was so hungry for him. I licked delicately at the silky skin before
pushing my tongue into him, teasing him there, and sinking my fangs into his
taut flesh. The taste of him filled my mouth and I dimly heard him cry out.
Thrusting into him with my tongue as his blood ran into my mouth, it made me
delirious. His body was shaking. I let go of him, and raised my head to look at
him...
Demon-angel. His mouth was stained red with his own blood, he'd
bitten through his lips during his frenzy. His hair stuck to his neck and his
face, damp with sweat and his blood. His green eyes were huge in his face, as
he gazed back at me, my name in his mouth, barely recognizable. He was
snarling.
I bent my head down and took his cock into my mouth,
enclosing him slowly, scraping my teeth over him. His hips jerked convulsively
and I had him. My mouth, my throat....filled, my tongue sliding over his cock,
around it, around *him*, listening to his growling moans. He was thrusting
helplessly into me, fucking my mouth. Blood from both of us now, mingling, my
mouth bruised and torn, blood in my throat from his exquisite hardness. My
teeth scraping him raw. He came hard, his groaning cry vibrating the cabin
itself, as I suckled him, swallowing over and over, his essence blazing through
me, searing me.
When I finally released him, he reached for me with
one hand, soft growls still rumbling in his chest. I moved up and took him into
my arms, lapping at his closed eyes, at the red tears that streaked his face.
Licking at his torn lips. He was still in my arms as I did this.
After
a little while he opened his eyes and looked into mine, threading his fingers
through my hair.
"Is this part of your plan to drive me mad? Because I
can assure you it's working," He said, a satisfied smile on his face.
"It's no plan, Louis. We are, both of us, quite mad. Surely you knew that?" I
chuckled.
He wriggled up on top of me, pushing his knee between my
thighs, and pressing his cock up against mine.
"You *might* be right
about that. I know one thing, though, " he said as he sat up, straddling me,
his hand curled around my cock.
I pushed into his hand.
"What's that, cher?" I said, moaning a little as he began to stroke me.
"If I don't have you inside me soon, I really *will* go mad."
He
lifted himself over me, and impaled himself slowly upon me, taking me inside of
him a little bit at a time, keening as he did so. The tight wet heat of him,
the sounds he made...and his beautiful face twisted in lust and pain and
ecstasy. Madness, yes. It's a madness we have for each other. He leaned back,
and I was all the way inside of him. He stayed that way, long, breathless
moments, and then he pulled me up so that he was sitting on my lap, and he
wrapped those long legs of his around me, and his hungry mouth sealed to
mine.
We rocked together, and he squeezed my cock with his inner
muscles, clenching and releasing rhythmically, bodies and mouths melded
together. We released each others' mouths only to drink from one another, and
all the while I was slowly moving inside of him, rocking as he gripped me.
Hours locked together this way, in the swoon, minds touching, feeling each
other, part of each other. I came inside him several times, and when I did, he
climaxed too... our bodies were slick with his blood.
We were flying
east and the dawn was near, I could feel the cold lassitude creeping into me.
We released one another only to rearrange ourselves under the blankets, and we
fell into the deathsleep twined together.
*****************************************************
I woke up first,
my face buried in Louis' hair. I could hear the soft whine of the air
circulating through the plane, and Louis' even breathing. I could feel him
moving against me, his arms tightening somewhat as he, too, began to awaken. I
moved my head back so that I was looking at his face as his eyelids fluttered,
and then opened....he said nothing, just moved to take my mouth in a warm
kiss.
He moved back, kicking off the blankets and arching his long
body, catlike, before my appreciative glance. I ran my hand down his chest and
over his taut belly.
He rolled away from my searching hand and sat up,
smiling at me.
"Later my darling. Come now, let's get off this plane.
There should be a car waiting for us."
"Where are we staying, Louis?
The Hôtel de Lauzun?" I asked, stretching in turn as I watched him open
the small case he'd brought with a change of clothing for each of us.
"We aren't in Paris, Lestat," he said, a little smile on his mouth.
"Oh? Well, then where are we?" I grabbed the trousers he tossed my way and slid
into them.
"Clermont-Ferrand." he answered, buttoning his shirt.
"You'd better wear the coat hanging in the closet there. I found out before we
left that it's beastly cold out."
I was staring at him, with my mouth
open. I regained my aplomb.
"Of course it's beastly cold. Why ever are
we *here*, Louis?" Although I thought now that I knew.
He came to me,
putting his arms around my neck, and planting little kisses on my jaw.
"I would like to see where you came from, Mon ange." he murmured into my
ear.
I locked my arms around his back.
"That's fine, Louis.
But it really is a much nicer place in the summer." I answered. Imagine. Louis
had brought me back to L'Auvergne.
"I wanted to see it as you first
described it, Lestat. " He said, drawing away from me, and taking the coats
from the closet.
An hour later we had put Clermont-Ferrand behind us,
headed for the mountainous region where I had been born. Not much around us
looked familiar to me...why should it? When I'd left I had not come this way,
and until I had gone to Paris I had not been more than twenty miles from the
place where I had grown up. Not to mention the modern changes time had
wrought.
In spite of myself, I felt a little twinge of anticipation. I
knew that the castle where I had lived was nothing but a ruin now, and that the
village that had been nearby was no longer in existence, but the thought that
he wanted to see these places made me feel absurdly pleased.
Louis had
his head on my shoulder, dozing lightly as I gazed out the window and made
occasional answers to the talkative driver, a little man with thick dark hair.
His accent was similar to the one I'd grown up with, and so his words had a
lulling effect. I could see the shapes of the mountains, collapsed cones of
long-extinct volcanoes, actually, black against the cold, moonlit sky.
Suddenly, though, the outlines were familiar, their contours falling magically
into place, meshing seamlessly with my memories of my first home.
We
were still some miles from the site of the castle, but I knew where we were.
The road we were traveling was more or less in the same place as the dirt track
I remembered. Louis woke up, feeling me shifting, and he smiled at me as I
turned to look at him.
"Beginning to look familiar, Mon Cher?" he
asked.
"It's sort of comforting that at least the mountains have not
changed," I agreed.
The driver turned off the road, and followed a
steep track. Bare tree branches hung across the narrow road, tunnel-like, and
so when we emerged from beneath them at the top of the grade, it made the sight
before us all the more dramatic.
Nestled at the base of a formidable
cliff was lovely old chateau, its windows glowing warmly with what could only
be candlelight. The driver pulled up to the front door, and stopped the car. I
opened the door and stepped outside, breathing in the cold air, spiced with
woodsmoke. Louis handed the little driver an envelope, and I could hear the man
thanking him profusely, showering us with blessings and wishes for a joyous
Christmas, until Louis gently closed the car door. The car headed back down the
drive, and we were alone.
Louis took my hand and we walked together up the broad,
low steps.
"No luggage, Louis?" I asked, watching as he unlocked the
door with the large key he'd withdrawn from his coat pocket.
"Everything we could possibly need is already here, Mon Cher." He said,
smiling.
He looked beautiful, his black hair blown back from his face
by a sharp gust of wind. Once inside, shut away from the cold, I looked around,
enchanted. The foyer gleamed with candlelight, and old wood. Elegant furniture,
and all about us the scent of hot beeswax. We shrugged out of our coats and
Louis lead me down a wide corridor to what must once have been the dining hall
.At the far end before the high windows, stood an enormous Christmas tree,
unlit, but decorated with hundreds of glass ornaments that reflected the light
from the many candles that graced the room. The hearth held a blazing fire, and
before it was a long, comfortable-looking old Chesterfield sofa, strewn with
matching pillows, and a soft-looking woolen throw.
I stood still in
amazement.
"How did you ever plan all of this, my darling?" I asked,
incredulous. I knew he had, though. The details were purely Louis. He knew
exactly what I would like to see in such a place.
"It was *not* easy.
But never mind the details, Mon ange." He took me into his arms and kissed me
hungrily, his hand tugging at my hair. Releasing my mouth, he drew me to the
couch and we sat down together.
"So, Lestat. What say you? We can be
comfortable here for a little while, non?"
He pulled his legs up and
laid his head in my lap in one graceful movement, capturing me with his
iridescent eyes.
"Oui, " I caught his hand in mine and pressed a kiss
to his palm. " I think we can manage here quite nicely." He caressed my face
gently, and then brought his hand down, letting it lie upon his chest. I found
myself staring at his fingers; the long, elegant nails on them.
"Lestat?" he said. "Tell me the story of the time you hunted the wolves."
I looked at him, smiling a little.
"You already know the story,
Louis." I put my hand over his.
"I have *read* the story, yes. But I
should like to hear you *tell* it to me." he looked into my eyes. "You have
never spoken to me of your life before we met," His voice was soft.
He
was right. Louis had known next to nothing about me, and I offered none of my
life to him, back in those days, so long ago. And since we had been back
together, this was the first time it had been mentioned And so, I told him the
story, and he lay quiet, listening and watching me until I finished the
tale.
"That was the start of it, wasn't it? Lestat does a brave and
foolish thing, and from that single action, we were brought, at last,
together," he said, as he put his arms around my neck. I pulled him fiercely to
my chest.
"That was the start of it, yes," I murmured.
"And
now, here we are. And one night, you will show me this place, won't you? I want
to see it." Louis said this as he pressed warm little kisses against my
chest.
I held still beneath the pressure of his teeth and lips and the
movement of his fingers as he unbuttoned my shirt.
"Certainment, mon
ange," I breathed, as he slid the shirt from my shoulders.
"And
tomorrow, Christmas day, we shall visit your ancestral home." I could hear the
note of humor in his voice.
"Such as it is. I have been told that
there is not much left to visit." I smiled down at him. "Tell me, Louis, should
I be prepared now for some of your Marquis comments?" I asked, fumbling as I
strove to free my arms from the sleeves of my shirt.
He bit sharply at
my nipple, and I could hear his low chuckle.
"Indeed, yes, my Lord."
he said, rolling off my lap, and going down on one knee before me. "Please
allow me to remove your boots, mon beau Marquis..." He murmured, looking up at
me, fluttering his eyelids, and then widening his eyes worshipfully. He tugged
off my boots, and placed them with exaggerated care side by side near the fire.
"So they will be warm should my lord need them." He said, eyes downcast. I was
giggling uncontrollably, trying to pull him to his feet. He skittered
backwards, looking at me from beneath his hair.
"Come here, Louis, " I
said, still laughing, and reaching for him.
"Oh, non, my lord, it
would be highly improper for a lowly servant, such as myself to sit beside your
most august self." He glanced at me and then lowered his eyes again. I could
see him bite his lip to stop it from twitching. I'd seen the laughter in his
eyes.
"Perhaps *you* should grace the boards, Louis, " I said,
breathlessly. I had finally managed to remove my shirt, opting to just pop the
buttons from the cuffs. I was weak with laughter.
He murmured
something under his breath, so low that even *I* could not make it out.
"What was that?" I asked. My god, the heat in those eyes of his as he
raised his face to look up at me.
"Oh, I couldn't say, mon Marquis..."
He said, looking away. I stood up. I was still laughing, but there was more
here now, I'd caught it when I saw the fire in his glance. I stood up and
reached my hand to him. He took it and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
"Please rise," I said, keeping his hand in mine. He did so. "Now. Repeat please
what you said. I didn't quite catch it.
"I said, " He murmured, moving
very near to me, his mouth close to mine, almost brushing my lips, "that I
would rather grace my lord's *bed* than grace the boards..." He whispered.
I caught another glimpse of a smile, as he put a theatrical hand across
his mouth, and again backed away from me, bowing deeply.
"A thousand
pardons, my lord. I cannot think what possessed to me to be so
forward...so...wanton. I beg your forgiveness." His shoulders were shaking with
suppressed mirth.
As for me, I was torn between my longing for him,
and my delighted hilarity at this little drama he had chosen. As you might
imagine it was my desire that overtook me, and I swept him into my arms. I held
him tight against me, pushing my leg between his.
"Should I pardon you
for wishing to share my bed? There is nothing to forgive, mon petit. There *is*
one small problem, however..." I said, pushing my face beneath the raven silk
of his hair. His hands were running hungrily over my shoulders.
"And
what might *that* be, mon Marquis? " His voice was in my ear, accompanied by
his rather ragged breathing. I ran my tongue down the sensitive veins in his
neck, tracing each one, as he pushed his hips hard against me.
I
raised my head to look into his eyes.
"A rather delicate problem,
Louis." I breathed, nibbling on his bottom lip.I felt the tip of his tongue
play across my mouth.
"Please tell me...my lord. Perhaps I may be of
some help?" His cock was so deliciously hard against me.
"It's rather
embarrassing." I murmured. I could feel the laughter I had finally gotten under
control, threatening to overtake me again. I quelled it by giving my darling a
lingering kiss.
"The problem is...I have no idea where my bed *is*." I
confessed with an exaggerated sigh. That undid Louis, and it was his turn to
collapse against me, his body shaking with laughter. He caught me off guard and
we both fell in an ungraceful heap backward upon the sofa, howling with
laughter. It was the sort of laughter that feeds upon itself, and it was quite
sometime before it finally passed, leaving us both exhausted for a little time.
We sat quiet for a while, arms about each other. I remember that I felt so damn
*good* right then, like all our trouble was behind us finally.
Naturally he was pleased to show me to to the bedroom, and of course
we made love until the deathsleep took us. The next evening I woke first,
looking about the room curiously. I had not noticed very much about it when we
entered it the evening before. One thing I noticed now, was that it was cold. I
rose from
the bed, and put several logs onto the bed of embers in the
fireplace, helping them am along with a thought, until they were burning
merrily. I got back into the bed, pulling the blankets up over us, as I
gathered Louis' still form into my arms.
Night comes early in the
deep, cold month of December, and with the darkness of winter come also the
longest nights. That's the best part about winter...we have more time *awake*.
I could feel him stirring as he climbed to consciousness. He opened his
incredible eyes.
"Joyeux Noel, mon cher." I said, kissing him.
"Joyeux Noel, Lestat. " He echoed, snuggling close to me.
We
spent a little while kissing and caressing, but before I could become more
amorous, he spoke.
"Time enough for that later, my darling." He said,
his voice teasing. "We have places to go."
"And what are your plans,
my own?" I asked. "Midnight Mass in the village?"
He smiled, rolling
from the bed.
"We can if you like. We have time enough, I'm thinking.
But there is somewhere I want to go first."
He opened the heavy oak
wardrobe and pulled out various articles of warm clothing,
"You still
wish to visit the site of the castle, do you? " I said, dubiously. I could hear
the tick and patter of snowfall on the windowpanes. I got up and padded to the
window, pulling open the heavy drapes and peering outside. It was snowing, and
rather heavily.
"Yes, I do." He said firmly. "You'll barely feel the
cold, anyway, and you know it."
I began dressing. He seemed so set
upon it...and I wanted to please him. He had planned this whole trip after all.
And he was right. We don't *like* the cold, but it does not really *affect*
us.
When we finally dressed, we went out through a side door and into
a heated garage. There were several vehicles there, one a Land Rover.
"Think you can find your way there after all these years, Mon ange?" Louis
asked, as we climbed in. I started the engine. He pushed the garage door opener
and we went out into the white night.
"Of course I can." I said. It's
not that far."
It didn't take me long to find it, even with the snow
falling. It was, of course a shell of its former self, sitting there nearly at
the top of a long, low hill. I could see it quite well, in spite of the blowing
snow. On of the tall round towers was still standing, relatively intact, and
the two gate towers were also still upright. The circling wall was mostly gone,
from what I could make out beneath the blanket of snow. We got out of the car,
and climbed up toward the ruined gate.
The wind was high, and
bitterly cold, but I scarcely noticed, gazing about at the ruins of what had
once been my home. I felt no sorrow, more a sort of curiosity. That castle had
stood for nearly ten centuries. It had been in my family for five of those
centuries, as far as I knew, and in a mere two hundred years it was now
crumbling, falling in upon itself. We reached the twin gate towers, where once
there had been a heavy iron portcullis, raised and lowered by an enormous
windlass and chains. We stood in the relative shelter afforded by the wide
towers, and looked beyond into what had been the bailey. I pointed out to Louis
where my chambers had once been, and showed him the chapel. I showed in which
direction the village had once stood, but we could see nothing in that
direction. The storm was worsening, and I said something to the effect that we
should leave, that if he wanted, we could return another time. Before we could
move to the Rover, though Louis laid a hand upon my arm and stopped me.
"A moment more, Lestat. " he said reaching inside his coat. "I want to
give you your Christmas gift. "
I smiled quizzically at him.
"Here? Louis, it's freezing." He was holding a thick envelope toward me.
"It is, " he agreed. He nodded at the envelope, and I took it from
him, and broke the wax seal upon it.
There were official looking
documents inside, a sheaf of them, but the first page told me what they were.
It was a deed. Reading quickly, I found that it was a deed to this very castle,
and to the surrounding countryside, all in my name, complete with the title
Marquis D'Auvergne. I folded the pages carefully and slid them back into the
envelope. I raised my head to look at Louis. He was watching me closely. I
looked about again, and then drew him into my arms. I was unable to speak,
overcome as I was with feeling. I'd seen the date that the deed had been passed
into my name. It was a full ten years before I had emerged from my long sleep
in the earth. He'd known. And he'd been waiting for me.
I pulled back
slightly, still unable to form words. Instead, I kissed him, kissed his
beautiful mouth as we stood there in the frozen darkness beneath the ruined
castle gate, the snow whitening our clothes and our hair, oblivious to
everything but each other.
When we finally broke the kiss, I could
murmur but one thing to him, over and over again.
"Je t'aime, mon
Louis. Je t'aime."
I remained quiet during the ride back to the
chateau, and Louis was content with this. He understood, I think, how
overwhelmed I was. When we had made ourselves comfortable before the fire on
that sofa, I held him to me.
"Such a marvellous Christmas gift, my
darling." I said. "I can't begin to thank you. And I can't begin to tell you
what it means to me, that you would go through the trouble of acquiring all the
land back for me. And I notice that you did this years ago."
He smiled
at me.
"It should be yours, Lestat. While I waited for you to come
back to me it was a good way to pass the time. "
He said this
offhandedly as if it were something ordinary.
"You knew I was alive."
I whispered, marvelling. "And you did this lovely thing for me."
"I
thought I might need a little leverage when you awoke, Lestat. I knew you'd
find my little book, and perhaps be a little put off by it " He quipped.
"Well, I really didn't much care for it when you said you were loathe to
get in the coffin with me that first night I brought you over." I said, a
little sourly.
We'd been over this ground before, and it had afforded
us quite a bit of hilarity. I smiled as he turned in my arms and pushed me
sideways into a reclining position. He made himself comfortable on top of me,
pulling the blanket up and over us. We were in our clothes, both of still cold
from our little trip.
"Never mind all this joking, Louis. " I said,
running my hand through his damp hair "You've made this a wonderful Christmas.
I had no idea that it would mean so much to me to have the land back. But
you
*you* always know, don't you my love?"
He always knows. And
he's always loved me.
FIN