Gifting Night Ch 02

Chapter 2: Second Awakening

Daphne smiled down at the two. She stood on the second floor balcony of the club and watched Christopher and Katherine on the dance floor. Her hands rested on the railing, entwined, and she used them to pillow her chin She was content as she hadn't been for, literally, centuries.

No,

she admitted to herself,

Christopher did his best, and I was content then.

Now she was truly happy.

The pair of lovers,

her

lovers, were easy to find amidst the crowd. Katherine's aura shone like a beacon, and in her presence Chris' grew noticeably larger than the humans surrounding them. Even those crowds could sense the difference. Unlike in myths and legends, however, humans did not react with an instinctive fear for a predator. Instead the mortals responded to the empathic projections emanating from the Dhase. The two on the dance floor were so full of sexual tension that Daphne was surprised the poor, defenseless, men and women surrounding Kat and Chris retained their clothes. It was especially possible when she considered the social mores of this 'modern era'.

Daphne had lived for thousands of years. Like the two dancing, she was Dhase; a vampire. She had seen the rise and fall of many civilizations and knew that this one was becoming more conservative again, after a short period of anarchy and a seeming complete lack of inhibition. Of course it was all relative, and for all she could fathom the society was already swinging back towards liberal mores once again. The pendulum swung faster and faster with each advancement in communications, after all.

Daphne was one of the oldest of her kind, but still enjoyed watching the children at play. In truth, it was more than play. Christopher was teaching Katherine how to 'hunt,' although it appeared he was being taught the newest dance steps. Perhaps Katherine was simply attempting to seduce him yet again. The girl seemed to have an insatiable appetite for sensation, driven even further by her recent transformation into an immortal.

The two finally staggered off the dance floor. Daphne turned back to the table and her waiting drink. Although the drink was sweet, she coughed at the harsh taste of the alcohol. While the mixed drink had been expensive, at least the bartender hadn't skimped on the hard stuff. "Sex on the Beach, huh?" The bartender had been flirting with her, perhaps this was his means of propositioning her?

Daphne could sense the pair as they ascended to the balcony, long before she could see them. Katherine's insatiable nature seemed to have infected Christopher and both were very amused by each other's antics. Daphne could relate. She hid her smile behind her drink as the two came into view.

They were nowhere near as mismatched physically as Daphne knew she looked when standing next to the boy. Both clearly seemed to be in their late twenties or early thirties. Katherine stood over five and a half feet tall, matching his six feet much more closely. Both carried a little extra weight for their broad bodies, but neither excessively much. Daphne, on the other hand barely stood five feet tall, and was very slender from top to bottom. While their bodies would be trapped as adults, she would forever appear to be a perpetual teenager.

Both were incredibly attractive in heir semi-formal club attire. Katherine had chosen a short, black dress ~making some form of joke with a cultural reference Daphne missed~ that revealed her long legs well and dipped low enough in front to demonstrate her other assets. Chris wore black pants and a black, button-up shirt with a gold, silk tie that shined slightly in the light. Typically Chris favored silver to gold, however the tie set off his lightly tanned skin remarkably well.

Daphne remained seated, smiling, as the two collapsed into seats opposite her. "It's good to see you two having fun." She took another sip as they grinned foolishly in response. "I was thinking we could go out to get something to eat? I know a great Chinese buffet a couple of blocks from here." The youths turned to look to each other, at the same moment, and burst out laughing. Neither had been surprised by her suggestion but both nodded their acceptance.

All three tossed back their drinks and headed for the door, picking up their thick coats on the way out. Daphne marveled at the change that had come over her in the last few weeks. She knew, from experience, to expect the resurgence of emotions, but could never have anticipated the extent. The world seemed to come alive. The very pulse of the city roared through her, invigorating her in ways she had never imagined as a youth.

Of course the cities were quite a bit smaller back then.

She laughed, causing the two to look back in amusement. Daphne knew she was actually grinning. She couldn't help it. The young, so full of energy, found it easy to feel the threads of human life around them. While the elder Dhase gained in other ways, like extending their powers over greater and greater distances, they lost touch with the essential nature of their very souls. If only other elders could find someone to reawaken their essence, as Katherine had done, they would be able to feel entire cities as well. Of course Daphne couldn't feed from that 'pulse' but it was certainly enough to intrigue her and keep boredom at bay.

Katherine veritably skipped back to stand at Daphne's side as they walked. Christopher, more subdued and refined, waited for the women to catch up, before flanking her on the other side. Each took an arm of the smaller woman. For some reason, exuding amusement, he began to sing, "we're off to see the wizard..." Katherine burst into laughter. His song quickly broke down as he fumbled to sing between gales of laughter. Daphne didn't understand and her confusion only strengthened their amusement. She shook her head, smiling.

She felt a hand caress her butt and turned to scold Christopher. She stopped before a sound left her mouth. Both of his hands were curled protectively around her arm. The tall, dark, man was ginning. By the twinkle in his eyes, he may have had something to do with it, but it had not been his hand.

Daphne shuddered as a knuckle trailed lightly up her spine. Her hips froze with the contact, as every muscle between clenched with desire. She spun with eyes wide. Katherine's hand had already returned to her arm but she wasn't fooling anyone. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be trying, as her 'innocent' whistle broke into laughter, much as Chris had with his singing.

Daphne already desired Katherine and now, with those briefest of contacts, her loins literally ached for the woman. Beyond the first night, when necessity dictated Daphne had to be the source of the woman's pleasure, she had removed herself from the sessions. Newly reawakened, she wanted nothing more than a night with the delectable redhead. She stayed back, afraid the contact might drive Katherine away. Still, she couldn't help but wonder, as the taller woman playfully teased, if her mere presence awakened so much, how much more would sharing pleasure with her bring? Katherine cupped, then squeezed this time, before she playfully ran ahead.

Chris maintained his regal bearing by Daphne's side. She turned to look at him. Their empathy flowed both directions speeding along the conversation. "She's ready." Chris responded to her question, asked by a sense of curiosity. When the sensation intensified he responded empathically. As the heat rolled over her, she almost gasped as tense depths tightened further.

She had to stop walking. Her thighs quivered and her hips ached, as muscles strained against them. She focused her mind, then shifted to release the involuntary muscles. In a moment she was walking again, comfortably.

She focused her concern to almost pinpoint precision and targeted him. Christopher, and young Dhase in general, could not control their emotions sufficiently for that technique; another example of the expanded power of elders. Unfortunately, most elders required that precision as they focused an almost negligible amount of emotion into the effect. While it could be used for communication, as Daphne did now, it could also be used to influence others.

"She's more than ready. She was asking earlier today, with a hint of sorrow I might add, why you no longer joined us." Christopher had correctly identified the source of her concern. "I suggested she make a pass and see what happens?" His tone was light and playful. Obviously he understood the situation well, and how not? He had been with her for nearly five decades. He grew slightly more serious. "You might want to make sure to confirm your desire though."

Daphne laughed. "Well, I certainly think she'll know after the flash she caused in me!" Seeing his expression darken slightly she grew slightly more serious. "Of course, if you haven't been doing your job properly..." Frustration and embarrassment spiked in the man. "You haven't been teaching her to read people!?"

The embarrassment shifted to anger and she stopped in surprise. Seldom, if ever, would Chris' anger be directed at Daphne. "She can't!" Daphne's eyes widened. "I've even tried focusing them and directing them at her. I'm far below your skill at it, but even when concentrating she can't read through her own aura." Chris smiled and waved to Katherine, who was busy buying ice-cream, of all things, for the group. The woman had grasped the most basic tenet of immortality; 'enjoy it.' Daphne, too, smiled and nodded to the youth.

It was strange to see a Dhase, such as Chris, showing one emotion while projecting the opposite. It felt even stranger to dissemble. Daphne turned back to Chris, hoping to finish discussing the new development before reaching the woman. "So her aura is too strong to pierce?" He nodded somberly. "Then she is blind?" There was a note of panic in Daphne's voice. It was too easy to draw on the strength of others to not understand what emotions she drew forth. She could become a monster, without a conscience to guide her.

"No." Chris' expression was thoughtful. He had calmed much already. "She can, apparently, sense the strength of someone's life-force with ease. She simply cannot taste the flavor of it."

"But that could almost be worse. Without feeling the pain she inflicts, she could find the speed and ease of torture and suffering enticing. With an ability to gauge strength she would forever know how long before she needed to stop. She could hold someone in suffering almost indefinitely, providing them only enough time to recuperate."

He smiled, genuinely this time. "She never will. She can read expressions and inflections better than most humans. She can even learn to determine a lie. She only lacks our superior capabilities." Daphne nodded her understanding. "She enjoys the pleasures of life with such innocence. But most of all, she has no lack of compassion."

Both understood the end to the discussion as they came upon Katherine with her dairy bounty. Daphne had never had ice cream before she met Katherine. Even Christopher, the devoted friend who had kept her from falling into depression or insanity for the past fifty years, had never thought to suggest it. Katherine had requested it during one of their frequent trips to the area's various Chinese restaurants. Somehow, the proprietor had devised a method of deep frying the frozen treat, and Katherine was excited to try it. Daphne had demurred, sampling a single bite before instantly ordering another each, for herself and Chris. Since that day Katherine had introduced them to Friendly's, Hagen Das, Ben & Jerry's, Baskin & Robins and so many more.

Daphne loved the sweet, creamy, treat, little caring that the desert was only slightly colder than the ambient temperature. While Dhase, like the vampires of legend, cared little for most climatic effects, they did not reflect them either. Their bodies were not simply dead tissue, to imitate the environment, but fully living once more; ever regenerating, so long as the will remained within.

She looked up. Katherine walked, backwards, a few steps ahead. As she watched the redhead's tongue play across the top of the cone, her muscles tensed with desire once more. Through licking alone, Katherine created a furrow in the pink ball of ice-cream. The very same tongue now traced suggestive paths along the length. Daphne's breath shortened and she couldn't meet the probing green eyes that stared at her. She couldn't help but watch the excruciating tongue caress the delicious cream. Each tender pass brought to mind exactly the images the young woman intended, to judge by the desire pulsing throughout her aura.

Daphne fought her desire all through dinner. None of the three gained sustenance from the food but each enjoyed eating. The entire affair was a hedonistic endeavor, from the delicate and spicy seasonings, to the calculated precision of the limited service.

Throughout it all Katherine continued with her innuendos. Lo-mien noodles slurped noisily into pursed lips. A finger swept sweet-and-sour sauce from the plate, only to be sucked clean. The tongue returned to sample and seduce, as she utilized a stray pea-pod. All of it was directed at Daphne. Occasionally Chris would lean over and whisper in her ear, placing suggestions which would make Katherine grin hungrily.

Finally Daphne held up her hands. "I yield!" She flagged the waiter and quickly left a few large bills on the table to more than cover the tab and tip. Off into the night once more, this time in search of Chris' car. Daphne and Katherine both owned cars as well, however only his was large enough for all three to fit comfortably. As the women climbed into the back seat, each being guided by Chris as he opened and closed the doors, Daphne reflected how nice it was to have Chris driving.

She looked over, just in time to see the other woman sliding discreetly across the seat. "You haven't returned to be with us." Daphne couldn't tell if it had been intended as a question or a statement. Whichever the whispered comment had been, it needed an answer. Round, green eyes watched helplessly as a hand hovered the last inch before reaching the elder. Raw need burned within the youth, shining so brightly Daphne was in awe that the mortals on the streets surrounding could not see it.

Daphne's hand caught the tentative gesture. Moving with speed and grace composed through millennia she brought the hand to the small of her own back before enfolding hers around the woman. Her head surged forward, almost too quickly. Lips found each other, connecting, pressing, thriving in the passion shared.

Chris had tried, bless him, for nearly half a century to inflame her desire. He was very well intentioned but simply lacking in her most fundamental needs. His passion matched that of the soft features parting her lips and the careful tongue questing inside. She could think him attractive, after a clinical fashion, but he could never grant her the serenity that the woman before her could.

Daphne's body seemed to explode as tongues danced and twirled, caressed and entwined. In her veins raged and inferno. Her skin faltered as feathers trailed across her body in the form of a window breeze. Deep within her, between hips aching with need, she wept, as the two began their explorations. Each sought, inch by treasured inch, to know the other.

Her hands began to shift, sliding across the soft velvet of the black dress. One began to trace unknown designs, appreciating the gentle material and wondering as it shifted across supple flesh. The other hand snaked around to clasp the woman's side, pulling her gently closer until, finally, the larger woman rested on the elder's lap. Heat radiated from Katherine's loins, infuriating the blaze already alight, and yearning, beneath her.

Nothing existed for Daphne save the throbbing presence before her. The world consisted of nothing more than two straining bodies enveloped in the pulse of vitality. The energy was life and creation. It swept all concerns aside.

Katherine's hands began to wander. One traced Daphne's spine once more which sent a shuddered thrill that sparked across her flesh. The other hand trailed forward, sliding along the silk of her dress, to her side. From there it traveled down to her hip and continued along her thigh. Intensity redoubled, pouring between united lips. Satin flowed against silk as bodies entwined and sought a more full connection.

Daphne gasped as her nipples, strained already against the thin fabric, caught along the seam of Katherine's dress. Pure invigoration gripped her body, relishing the accidental torment. Moments later Katherine gasped as her writhing body brought about another such unintentional delight. Daphne shifted and straightened, using her strength to gently lower her lover. Nipples, pressed outward against taut fabric, collided as her body swayed back and forth.

Katherine grinned and snarled. The warm cloak of desire suddenly unraveled, transforming rapidly into something far more feral. Lust blossomed and flared from her. It raced outward, sank into the fiber of Daphne and pooled easily in the most primal centers of her body; groin, breasts and the base of her skull. Everywhere it touched pressure built, seeking a hasty release that she hoped would be denied.

Daphne's blood coursed in molten tides. It roared in her ears, drowning out all but the other woman's soft panting and quiet mewls of pleasure. It pulsed in her neck where teeth began to caress and lips began to suck. It flashed behind lids, forming red lightning across black vision. Most of all, it sped between her legs and engorged her delicate presence.

Enshrouded in sensation, they floated. Hands that began tentatively gained momentum, spurred by desperation. The caress of breasts broke as fingers interposed. They tickled, flicked and pinched, as they found each other easily; hardened flesh provided beacons beneath the expensive fabric. Daphne wandered farther, her desire consuming her more quickly for the length of her despair.

Katherine's back arched as a finger found the strained flesh just above her inferno core. She released her lover to grasp at the beatific agony, only to encounter the woman's other hand. Daphne captured the two hands in her own and pulled them, gently, above their heads. Fingers on all three hands clutched at the satin sheets as their bodies spread to accommodate their desires.

Daphne looked up, the haze that obscured her reason lifted briefly by the unexpected sensation. Chris was quietly leaving the bedroom. She blessed him once again for his kindness, retrieving them from the car to this, more comfortable, location. Katherine mewed pathetically as the distraction robbed Daphne's attention from the mounting release beneath her control. She smiled at the glory beneath her and gave herself, once more, to the timeless embrace of their mutual need.

Fingers slid with ease, moistened by Katherine's honeyed depths. Daphne gained speed, her touch more firm. She lifted a thigh across the woman's legs to pin her in place. Her foot, shoes kicked off absently at some point, circled back to lift one of the captured legs, to spread the fledgling to further rapture.

Katherine moaned. Her body contorted between the immobile stanchions. Daphne felt the thread of frustration weave through Katherine's aura. Her own pulse quickened as the energy, unspent due to physical restraint, surged from the tormentor to captor unbidden. She gasped as the purity flooded her. Her tempo faltered momentarily, only to intensify as her body responded to the pleasure she created.

Daphne shifted slightly as her head bent. Tenderly her mouth quested lower until she discovered a sharp nipple through the thin velvet dress and lace bra. Teeth carefully bit and tugged at the swollen flesh. Katherine's moans became soft screams of pleasure. Daphne's mouth continued to torment the inflamed nipple as her fingers beat against the woman's resolve. Katherine shifted and writhed, almost constant screams issued from her.