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As the professor's voice trailed to a stop, Astoria startled from her daze and frowned with consternation at the blank page before her. Familiar dizziness blurred its edges, and as she sighed and fumbled for her supplements, she was forced to acknowledge that 'twould not be sustainable for her to continue on this current path.
Every species on Etheirys had their quirks, but in her opinion few were as inconvenient as those of the vampire. Though their need for aether was, at its root, not any different from the other spoken races, the form it took meant there were no few stigmas surrounding their diet and habits. Moreover, 'twas painfully inflexible for the only viable source to be blood taken fresh from a living body, the astringence of which made the unfortunate few who detest the taste dread every feeding.
Though she had but only recently come into her maturity, Astoria was already feeling her sanity worn thin with the frequent hunger-induced haze and headaches which manmade compounds alone could not remedy. And as her weekly visits to the Rising Stones morphed into sessions of forced feeding and curling up on the couch trying not to throw up, she found herself shirking from previously treasured time with friends and family.
"Perhaps you should not be so quick to dismiss the alternative," had been Y'shtola's assessment as the older vampire patted her shoulder. "Though I understand the prospect might be daunting, especially to one unpaired."
She spoke of the conventional knowledge that the blood of a partner in heat had a much sweeter taste, and was so potent in aether that a single feeding could sustain one for a moon. And certainly 'twas an advantage much exploited, so much that over the eras vampire venom developed the ability to incite heat in certain spoken races.
Astoria had balked at the suggestion, but as exams neared and the disruptions became severe enough that there was a real risk of failing, she grew desperate enough to reconsider.
It certainly helped that this year she had met someone who seemed in all aspects the perfect candidate.
"Are you alright? You're looking a bit faint."
The Miqo'te who approached her had chanced to sit near her at the start of term, and his friendly disposition and impressive knowledge of the course concepts (not to mention, an admirable patience for teaching) resulted in an uncharacteristicly fast friendship. 'Twas those same traits that made her wonder if he'd be equally understanding of her dilemma, and as far as she was aware, he had no prior engagements which might forbid such arrangements. It did not hurt that he was easy on the eyes, and at the very least seemed to enjoy her company enough for frequent study sessions.
Astoria smiled sheepishly as she looked up into worried crimson eyes. "Sorry, G'raha. I'll be ready in a moment." She tossed her belongings haphazardly into her bag, her mind a jumbled mess of how she might broach the topic. "Shall we?"
G'raha Tia pursed his lips, his hand hovering over her elbow as if to steady her, but he nodded and followed her without further protest.
As the term neared its end, every day brought more students to the library, and today, the slim picking of seats meant that they were huddled much closer to each other than was wise given her current state. Ritual runes appeared no more than scribbled lines, dates of historical events forgotten the moment she passed over them. But the swell of G'raha's throat as he swallowed water between explanations she recalled most vividly, and the warmth of his arm against hers lingered long after contact. She bit her lip, thinking to herself if smell translated to taste, perhaps G'raha would be the one exception where the idea of a meal tempted rather than turned her stomach.
A term's friendship might not amount to the enormity of the favor she wished to ask, but somehow, Astoria felt confident that G'raha would not scorn her even should he be unwilling to aid in her quandary.
"G'raha?" she whispered, trying her best to appear nonchalant."Do you want to come over to my place instead?"
He blinked at her, his cheeks tinting an appealing shade of pink and making her wonder if he had perhaps seen through to her ulterior motive.
"It's getting so noisy here that I don't know if I can concentrate," she explained, even if the crowd was in reality the least of her distractions.
For a long moment there was no response, and she stared into his eyes, trying to parse whether he was searching for a polite way to decline.
"… if you don't mind me intruding," he whispered back at last, just as Astoria considered retracting her invitation.
The cold air of dusk swirled around them as they walked in awkward silence to her building, but despite the chill Astoria felt sweat prickle the back of her neck. She clenched and unclenched her hands, strained her mind for a topic to distract. She found naught, and G'raha, too, curiously had no further threads of discussion to offer. As her front door came into view, the background worry of whether she remembered to clean her place gave way to the delayed onset of panic as her hunger-addled brain at last registered what she means to attempt.
Would G'raha Tia allow her to feed?
Her concentration was no less abysmal in the privacy of her dwelling. A bell crawled by before she gave the session up as lost and apologetically poked G'raha in the arm to suggest a dinner break. She waved off his protest and ducked into the kitchen, hoping that a Miqo'te happily fed would be more amenable to feeding her in return. But even without that added incentive, the sight of his eyes lighting up at the first bite, of him devouring the noodles she made with gusto, made her heart feel full with fondness.
"Thank you for the meal," G'raha said as he downed the last sip of broth. "Please, let me take care of the dishes-"
"The dishes can wait," she blurted out. "I have a favor to ask of you."
The bemused expression on his face would have made her giggle, should her heart not be jumping out of her chest.
"O-of course, what is it?"
What sort of question was can I trigger your heat in order to feed? One of a madwoman, she suspected, but was she really so far from crossing that line? "…are you familiar with vampires?"
Whatever the Miqo'te had been expecting, it was apparently not this. He blinked at her, frowning thoughtfully as he considered her question. "Many members of the Allagan nobility had pacts with vampires, so I'd say that I am not wholly ignorant of their customs. However I do not doubt that there are many nuances privy only to those with first hand contact… If that is the direction you're considering for your thesis I'd advise you to reach out to the guild-"
"I don't need a contact," she hastily interrupted. "I am one."
G'raha sputtered. "My apologies- I didn't mean-"
"And I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to form a blood pact with me."
"A blood pact," he repeated faintly. "But that would imply-" He broke off mid sentence and stared at her, his whole face reddening as words seemed to have abandoned him.
"A pact sounds more formal than it really is," she hurried to reassure. "'Tis more of a mutual understanding. The vampire gets better sustenance, and the partner-" Her voice quivered despite her best effort. "-I have heard it is an enjoyable experience…"
"E-enjoyable? Dare I ask-" He was looking anywhere but her now, fumbling for the cup of tea she had served with dinner.
"Blood tastes sweeter when the source is in heat— or so they say— and in return the vampire would satisfy what they started."
G'raha choked on his beverage.
"… was that not in the records?" Astoria asked weakly.
"That was- Mayhaps it had been… Allagan scripture had always been… risque. Perhaps that led me to miss their implications." G'raha swallowed, and she held her breath waiting for his response as his lips parted and pursed without words. "…I don't think. I don't think I should," he said at last, his voice equally unsteady. "Having never experienced a heat without suppressants, I would not consider myself a good choice, particularly given-" he broke off and stared at his feet.
Given…?
Oh, that was a rejection. Astoria swallowed her disappointment (and to be honest, the sting of wounded pride. Y'shtola had always made it sound so easy, but was it truly so surprising that she would fail in this aspect of being a vampire as well?) "I see. Please forget I brought this up then."
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
She shook her head. "Don't be." Nevertheless silence once again hung between them. 'Twas embarrassing that she had been so distracted by her hunger that she had not even stopped to consider what to do should he deny her request. She cast her eyes about the table; perhaps a refill of tea could be a sufficient excuse. "-fruit. I forgot to bring out the fruit!"
Astoria did not wait for her guest to respond before she fled the scene, letting out a shaky breath once ensconced in the sanctuary of her kitchen.
'Tis fine. She paced around the modestly sized room. There are other options.
Had she even remembered to slice the citrus before hand?
Her heart was a cacophony with the staccatoed clatter of knife against the cutting board, the clang of clumsily fetched plate for a haphazard spread. Astoria stared at her muted reflection on the porcelain surface as she absently reached for the handle. Y'shtola said she had some candidates, perhaps this weekend-
She did not expect to open the door into a solid body. G'raha yelped and jumped back from the entrance, balancing haphazardly on one foot. His eyes, watery from presumably a stubbed toe, and his tail, fluffed up in shock— the sight was so bewildering she felt the tightness in her chest fade to naught.
"Are you okay…?"
"Yes," he gasped. "I'm sorry for lurking. 'Tis just, you've been gone for a while and-" G'raha shook his head at her mumbled apology, wringing his hands as she set the plate on the table. " -shameless though it is, I must ask. Are you planning to ask another…?"
Astoria wondered if he decided to take this chance to remedy the gap in his knowledge. "I'm afraid I'll have to." Laughable, given how long she had struggled against the idea.
G'raha winced at her response, his brows furrowing as she had oft witnessed when considering a difficult question, and when he spoke again his voice came out so faint that she would have lost the words had she less acute senses. "In that case… would you still be okay with me?"
Astoria felt her lips twitch. "It's sweet of you to worry about my virtue, but that's not necessary."
"No! I mean, that wasn't why- I just," he took a deep breath, "needed a moment to digest the information."
Carefully, she studied his expression. She wished his had been an unambiguous answer, so she did not have to wonder whether she was inadvertently pressuring him into something he would later regret. His eyes burned bright and red as usual, and she could not ascertain the meaning of the ardent blush on his face, so (understandably) flustered he had been the entire encounter.
As another wave of nausea turned the edges of her vision white, Astoria bit her lip and decided to take her chances. "That'd be a great help, thank you."
If naught else, she would have one month of clarity should G'raha decide to change his mind after her first feeding.
'Twas a surreal sight, G'raha Tia walking out of her shower with naught but a towel around his waist. He looked as embarrassed as she felt, with a blush that spread down his neck and a tail that swished uneasily behind him. "How should I, uh," he stammered.
"You can just sit down on the bed." She sounded much calmer than she felt, and for a moment she was almost proud of that, until the narrowing space between them stirred her heartbeat to frenzy. She nervously tugged at her pajama shorts, ran a hand down the front of her camisole. "Should I have put on something sexy?"
"No- this is fine," he choked, before clearing his throat. "You look lovely."
Astoria felt her cheeks heat as she knelt down on the bed besides him. 'Twas distracting, the warmth of the muscle beneath her palm, but the unpleasant churning in her stomach bid her focus on the task at hand. Carefully she brushed his damp hair from his neck and slowly leaned in.
He shivered as her breath fanned across his skin, triggering hunting instincts she did not even know she had. In her mouth her fangs lengthened to strike. "Here I go," she whispered against his pulse.
His voice was so tight she wondered if he was still breathing. "Please."
G'raha gasped as her fangs pierced skin. She did her best to ignore the unpleasant tang and recall Y'shtola's instructions. Venom gathered and seeped into the puncture, further heating the skin beneath her fingers.
Theoretically, that was all it took, though she was uncertain how soon she should expect its effect to take hold.
Astoria pulled back and studied his reddened cheeks. "Did it work?" she asked dubiously, reaching for the tent in his towel. He was aroused, but was that all which constituted a Miqo'te's heat? "How do you feel?"
G'raha stared at her with glazed eyes, his chest heaving with heavy breathing.
"G'raha?"
"I think it did," he murmured.
"Oh good," she sighed, smiling at him in a burst of accomplishment. "Then… if you don't mind." She pressed her lips back to the wound and, after a moment of hesitation, begin to feed.
Her eyes widened in surprise. 'Twas indeed sweet now, his blood, though rather than a change in taste it was the potency of the aether that demoted the usual metallic tang to a faint aftertaste.
The relief that she at last had something palatable to feed on was dizzying. Astoria hugged his warm body to her, leaned into him until she was all but straddling his lap.
With each sip she could feel the persistent ache in her temples receding, her senses sharpening, until the thump of G'raha's heart became as clear as her own. It took all her willpower to pull away and check that she had not, in her enthusiasm, taken to his detriment.
His color seemed healthy enough, though the unevenness of his breath and his continued reticence worried her nevertheless. "I didn't make you feel faint, did I?" she asked sheepishly.
His eyes snapped to hers at the sound. A twitch of his lips that she thought was meant to be a smile. "Was that enough?"
"I might have overindulged," she mumbled. "But if you'd like to take your turn now-"
The world spun as she was pinned down to the mattress, his hands, frantic, grabbing at her waistband. He was heavy, she realized, all wiry muscles usually hidden by his oversized clothes. He did not budge an ilm when she pushed at his bicep, and the ease with which he ripped fabric from her body was both impressive and mildly terrifying.
Then he was kneeling between her legs and spreading her folds with his fingers, staring between them with such intensity as to make her feel faint. His towel had fallen off, and it was impossible to take her eyes off his swollen, glistening cock.
Would he fit...? Should she have prepared herself whilst he was in the shower? Was he still sound enough of mind to take her condition into account?
Things she should have considered before offering her body like this, she thought nervously. Embarrassingly, her body began to tremble, and she knew not whether it was more from fear or anticipation.
She yelped as G'raha yanked her legs over his shoulder and buried his face between them. His breath was unimaginably hot against her core, which, she realized with a mix of relief and embarrassment, grew slick at the attention. Her hips jumped as he licked down the length of her sex, twisting to and away as his tongue slowly but firmly pushed inside of her.
Astoria slammed her hands over her mouth at the high pitched noise that escaped her. Her face burned as she felt herself clench and drench around the invading organ, heard the whimpers she could not suppress as the roughness of his tongue rubbed against her walls.
With each erratic motion her muscles grew more pliant, until she was no longer squeezing to push out but to hold on. "G'raha, G'raha," she chanted, resisting the urge to thread her fingers through crimson locks.
Then suddenly, the thrusting stopped, pulling from her an involuntary questioning whine. Astoria peered up and found herself looking into eyes so dark they appeared to be simmering blood. Despite the eternal flush over his cheeks, G'raha seemed a stranger, as expressionless as he was as he crawled over her naked body.
"Sorry," he rasped as he gripped his erection and began to press inside, holding her hips in place with hands she had never noticed were so large.
Astoria felt tears gather in her eyes, mortified and aroused at the same time by the foreign sound and sensation of her body, bit by bit, submitting to his cock.
G'raha's pants in her ear were all she could hear, and when he at last bottomed out, the loud growl he let out sent levins down her spine.
One slow, testing pump that touched every ilm of her insides, making her gasp and moan his name. Then all hells broke lose, his hips slamming frantically into hers without rhyme or reason.
"Oh gods", "so good", "wicked white" —incoherent phrases and garbled prayer, uncharacteristic cursing that sent her heart racing. His iron grip locked her hips in place, such that even when he drove in too deep she had no manner of escape.
"No, ah-" she tugged at his hair. "Slow down," she sobbed.
"Sorry," he mumbled, raining hot kisses down the side of her jaw. "So sorry," yet his pace decreased not at all.
Her thighs burned with the strain of being spread wide apart. Every thrust felt deeper than the one before, as if her muscles were slowly melting in the onslaught. And she never quite knew when he would hit a particular spot, turning her whimpers into wails and sparking white spots in her vision.
As he did again with a visceral grunt, before shuddering and releasing deep inside her. The feeling of his seed, much hotter than she expected, growing and spreading inside of her became her undoing.
G'raha grunted as she convulsed around his softening member. Then as she laid there, panting, she felt him swelling again and fitting his hands around her waist and-
-that same spot inside of her, much too sensitive in the aftermath of her climax, prodded and slammed into until she was a sobbing mess. She did not even register when she'd come again, or when he did, knowing naught but that her core had no strength left, that her limbs shook uncontrollably, that there was too much leaking from where G'raha continued to labor, wet and sticky on the sensitive skin of her inner thighs and lower belly.
Another gush, the wet slap of skin against skin, hot lips that continued to mouth at her neck's tender skin.
"G'raha" she gasped, "I need a break".
'Twas a different kind of weakness from the hunger than had been her companion, a bonelessness as she pushed ineffectively at the sweat soaked muscles of his chest. His grip on her waist loosened to grab at her hand, and the effort to twist herself free beneath him took every bit of strength she had left.
She clenched instinctively as he popped out of her and tried her best to ignore the fluids dripping from her hole as she wriggled for the other side of the bed.
There was not even time for protest as his hands caught her hips and slammed her back onto his cock.
At her surprised cry, he let out a heavy sigh of satisfaction, pulling her earlobe between his lips to suck and taste. With his weight and a muscular arm wrapped around her belly, the Miqo'te trapped her beneath him, rocking snugly against her to turn her complaints to whimpers.
Despite her exhaustion, Astoria felt herself begin to drip again, and when a hand slid up to knead her neglected breasts, to scrap against a swollen nipple, she could not help but squeeze as if she too was demanding another round.
Then there was nothing but the impossible task of holding her body up as all her nerves melted into raw sensation, as the convulsions of her next climax coaxed another load into her body.
Her shoulders crashed against the pillow even as G'raha's arm kept her hips up at his crotch, as if the night had stripped her of her strength and her psyche, leaving naught but her cunt for her partner to work off his heat.
A heat which seemed to her neverending, but perhaps, at last, was beginning to wane, as words more coherent than her name passed through G'raha's lips.
"Can't believe ," he bent over her collapsed body and groaned into her ear, "you'd allow me to do this." Then a brutal thrust. "That you'd want this."
A nip at her nape, a grunt when she shivered and clenched in response. "Squeezing me like your cunt was made for me…"
A light smack on her ass, his large hand kneading the flesh as he pulled out. She could not decide whether to be relieved that the storm had passed for the night, or mortified that she could still be aroused by such teasing. "The obscene, beautiful sound you make every time I fill you up…" Then he was hugging her to him again, pressing on her stomach to spill more of his spent onto the sheets.
Her face flamed from his remarks, though thankfully he seemed more to be talking to himself than requiring a response. Wordlessly she waited for him to pull back, so she could flee to the bathroom.
His fingers danced up her thigh, delving into her in what she thought was an attempt at clean up. Until she felt him once more, hard and hot against her hole, pushing in so deep she could hardly breathe. She had not an ilm of resistance left, could only cry softly as he wrung another climax from her body.
"I can't anymore," she pleaded. "G'raha…"
"Almost…" he groaned, grinding into her. it was then she first felt it, the swelling at the base of his cock, though she knew not yet what it meant. "Gods I could die happy like this."
Astoria shuddered as G'raha shoved his hips forth one last time, his canines pressing hard enough against her nape she wondered if he'd broken skin. The arm around her stomach tightened almost painfully, forcing her hips up and flush against his.
Then all she felt was spurt after spurt of hot liquid, duration and volume both exceeding what he had taught her body to expect. With each stuttered gasp in her ear, the organ inside her grew bigger and bigger, until it became impossible for him to pull out and for her to escape. His knot locked her to him, stretching her cunt and leaving no doubt as to by whom she had been claimed.
Tears of overstimulation filled her eyes; her mind blanked from both sensation and shock. Anecdotes could not have prepared her for the sense of vulnerability so intense it knocked the air out of her, nor the sense of belonging that softened her body to fit around him like a glove.
"Mine now," she heard as the weight of the warm body above collapsed onto her, and held her in such a tight, comforting embrace that all other considerations became lost.
'Twas the most peaceful sleep she had experienced since her maturity.
As she blinked to awareness the next morning, more refreshed than she had felt in ages, Astoria felt the sheets shift around her as the warm body behind her slowly, carefully, pulled away.
Viscous fluid trailed down her thighs, adding to the general sticky mess. She desperately needed a shower, and there was no chance the bed linens did not need to be washed as well.
But for now, the lingering warmth of sleep and company was too comfortable to resist. Astoria nuzzled the hand gingerly brushing her hair from her face and was rewarded with a startled yelp.
"I- that is. I mean, morning."
She twisted around to look at him, blinking at the distress on his face. "Is something wrong?"
G'raha shook his head. "No! I mean, yes. Maybe? How- how do you feel?"
"The best I've felt in recent memory," she sighed contently. "Or I will with a hot shower and these sheets in the laundry."
"Not in any pain? Discomfort? I- I remember you crying-" His ears flattened against his head. "I- I apologize that I was such a brute- I didn't even-"
Astoria flushed at the reminder. "F-forget that. Are you alright? The wound did heal, right?"
G'raha blinked at her. "The- ah, I'm sure it did." He was watching her with such concern that she felt compelled to get up and demonstrate that she was fine, but the pleasant lethargy in her limbs kept her on her side. "I'm truly sorry. If there is any way I can make it up to you-"
"Stop apologizing," she huffed. "Lest you forget this is a favor you're doing me."
"That doesn't excuse my atrocious behavior-" G'raha bit his lip. "Are you able to get up? There is a bathtub, if I remember correctly. I'll go run the water-"
She caught his wrist before he could dart from the bed. "B-before that… was last night good for you?"
"I- Pardon?"
"Would you be willing to do this again? In about a moon?"
His eyes widened, his lips parting in surprise. "Would I be- Yes! For as long as you'd have me-" He broke off. "I- I mean, yes, I'd be happy to help."
Astoria looked into his earnest ruby eyes and recalled the words he had whispered lost in reverie.
"Then you're mine, G'raha Tia," she told him, and his answering smile was sweeter than even his blood.