Gifting Night

Gifting Night Ch 3: Traded Destinies

Please note this is chapter three of a continuing series...There will be more to come, and I highly recoomend reading the previous chapters...

Thanks to everyone who asked me to continue the saga of the Dhase,it's been fun writing and I have discovered a whole world to explore...More will come...

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It is said there are places where even gods fear to tread. Chris stared ahead and believed he truly had found one. Despite his fears, or perhaps in concert with them, he felt his desire growing.

And how not? How can I stare at that and feel anything but lechery?

He would not enter, but neither could he leave.

Christoph Halley, Chris to friends, was certainly formidable. He had studied a countless number of martial arts ~weapons and unarmed combat alike~ and was a master at all. He stood a very well built six feet tall. More importantly than his size or skill were the muscles, now capable of far more than human strength. He was a 'vampire' by mortal reckoning, more akin to the eastern myths than those bastardized in Europe. As a Dhase he could drain the very life force from his attacker, should brute strength and skill prove fruitless. Legends told even dragons and giants had bent knee to his kind. They were just legends but he knew the true strengths he would eventually attain.

So what could possibly scare one of such power? Chris ignored his dread, giving in to his desire, as he watched.

A blond woman lay naked across the bed in the room before him. She writhed and screamed. It wasn't pain, or torment, that made the well built woman scream. As one who leached off the life force, the aura, of the living Chris could sense her powerful emotions from even this distance. From almost twenty feet away he could taste the innocence of her euphoria as clearly as if his tongue was between her legs. The bliss she exuded brought him wishes that he was there drinking in her succulent juices as he filled himself with the purity of the energy it created within her.

Between those thick, muscular, legs rested a shock of bright red hair. Some of that hair spilled forward, veiling the face beneath from sight as she practiced her new arts. Red hair mingled with an uncontrolled tangle of fine blond fuzz across skin as white and smooth as milk. Chris' gaze wandered down the white legs and froze, seeing the perfect breasts in silhouette peeking out from behind the glorious calves. Each sloped smoothly down the top until they reached large areola and taught nipples, from there they curved under enticingly. The chest and red hair, the only parts of the woman visible, shone with a brilliant aura, such as he had never seen before.

She, the redhead, was his near-sibling. She was his ideal, perfect woman. Her body followed not the modern image of beauty, holding too much weight in her stomach ~any at all these days seemed too much~ but she still maintained an hourglass figure. Hers was a real beauty, and not the duplicity of modern style. That was the lesser of her perfection however. Chris had never seen anyone who's aura pulsed and shined as vividly as hers. Even the newly created Dhase lost some of the brilliance of their life force, hers had gained in strength since that night, almost half a year before.

He aided in making this goddess, Katherine, into one of his kind. Being the youthful partner involved in her recreation as a Dhase, she was called his near-sister. As her near-brother he was responsible for teaching her of life among their kind. If she failed to comprehend, or even obey, it reflected poorly on him. Fortunately her skills at etiquette and diplomacy proved an easy match for the those of her tongue, as she demonstrated upon the writhing woman.

Katherine absently swiped the hair from her face in a nervous gesture and Chris could see her blessed face as she dove forward once more. Out the dark pink muscle darted, caressing and tormenting soft folds he could not see. The blond woman froze momentarily before her joyful protestations redoubled. That would be her third of fourth climax of the session, given the time they had been within the room. Katherine's lips slid forward and lightly grasped the precious bud, pressed slightly, twisted a little, before finally releasing it to be further subjected to torments of the tongue.

The blond glowed as bright as a thousand suns, imperceptible to herself, but brilliant to the three others within the room. The third Dhase, a woman with long, silken, brown hair, knelt on the other side of the bed, and faced Katherine across the bountiful flesh stretched between them. The smaller woman needed to hold herself high, even leaning slightly over the bed, in order to reach the blond as she wished. A single hand effortlessly clasped both of the tormented woman's high and tight. The poor blond was completely immobile in her ecstasy, save the little release gained through shifting hips and quivering breasts. Even one of those breasts was denied motion, the brunette carefully twisted and brushed one of those firm nipples with her free hand.

Chris wanted nothing more than to join in the glorious festivities arrayed before him. It was more than the power her orgasm fed to her. Mortals were so easy to bring to extremes of emotion; the more emotion the more power they gained. Modern scientists attributed it to endorphins and adrenalin, but whatever the cause, it meant more energy to feed from. He was a relative youth of a Dhase, only fifty seven years among their kind, and still near enough to his former life to feel the desires of the flesh. Seeing the three women naked and in the throws of passion brought forth an almost unbearable desire in him.

This night had begun as a lesson to Katherine not to feed too much. If a Dhase took only a portion of the available energy the person would not only survive, but rebuild quickly. There were humans who gladly gave themselves over as the willing 'sex slaves' to the ever skilled Dhase to be fed from, and impassioned, for nearly the entirety of their natural lives.

Unfortunately, there were a, blessedly few, of his kind with more perverse tastes. He could feed off of more than just joy and lust, they all could, he could feed from anger fear and hatred. Most of the deviants believed they gained more energy from these than from more pleasurable affairs. Chris knew this wasn't true. While it was quicker to bring someone to a powerful state of anger or fear, there was simply no limit to the heights of rapture to which one could aspire, if considerably more slowly. He thought them simply impatient.

There were even a few among that minority who claimed to enjoy the 'taste' of those darker emotions.

Katherine's patience proved equal to the challenge as her lips once more sealed around the soft protrusion. Instead to twisting and pressing, she sucked in, drawing the sensitive mound free of all protections, exposing it to the most extreme torments the redheaded goddess could determine with her tongue. The screams grew louder still and the brunette redoubled her own efforts, single handed still, with the presented nipple.

Chris' need pulsed between his legs. Raw, primal, joy rolled across him like a wave. He could feel the blond's uncounted climax, and the Dhase women couldn't help but project their own bliss. There was simply too much within the room to contain so they unconsciously threw it at the other body present. His knees buckled and he screamed. Never before had watching brought him to the edge. He knelt before the three as if in prayer.

The dam burst. He fell backwards as every nerve in his body exploded with sensation. He writhed, unbeknownst, in perfect harmony with the woman on the bed. The ambient and unwanted energy alone had brought him to finish and beyond. His hips bucked up and down as hers would, were it not for the woman holding them firm. Fully clothed, he thrust and thrust. The passion suffusing the room felt a hot cocoon, cradling him. Their scent, the taste of them clung to his lungs and throat. He could feel himself sliding down their throbbing, pillowy, depths.

Trapped in a warm blanket of their unending orgasm he finally found the release of Morpheus.

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Feral eyes stared up at him hungrily.

Dear GODS! Does she never get enough?

Katherine's green eyes weren't looking for his. She knelt at the end of the couch, by his feet, and stared at what he was beginning to fear would be a permanent erection. In her crouch she reminded him of nothing more than a feline prepared to pounce. By the look in her eyes, she wasn't fearing it was a permanent alteration but rather hoping it was.

Instinctively he scurried back, pressing his body into the far corner of the couch. One at a time her hands crept forward as she stalked along the furniture. Chris had come to learn that Katherine had relatively few relationships in the seclusion she had created of her nearly three decades of life. As often happens with women, most of the sexual encounters had left her completely unfulfilled. When he, and later Daphne, the elder, brunette Dhase, succeeded in bringing her well beyond orgasm, each, Katherine became something like a mystic. Thankfully she had accepted death as a fair compromise for such a complete experience. That acceptance led her to awaken once more in the morning, his near-sister.

Katherine's crawl across the couch spread her naked form until she draped herself across the length of the soft cushions. Her hands drifted absently along his hip and side, thankfully still clothed in the jeans and t-shirt he wore when he passed out. Her head rested on his thigh and hungry eyes continued to stare at the bulge in his pants. "Chris?" Her voice was tentative, unsure of herself, or possibly his answer. "Why did you choose me?" As those brilliant green eyes shifted to meet his he witnessed their transformation. The primal nature bled from her as the severity of the question plagued her. "Don't get me wrong! I'm more than grateful you did, but why

me

?"

He smiled sadly at her, thinking briefly of the news that had drawn him to witness the unimaginable scene. "You are flawless. You are a beautiful woman; to both Daphne and I." Her eyes widened. For a moment he thought she would try to deny it but she finally, simply, accepted it. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. "But really it's more than that. I've never seen anyone with as much vitality as you have. I don't think Daphne has either and she's one of the oldest among us."

It was damnably hard to kill one of their kind. The stories of vulnerability to sunlight and fire, silver and garlic, crosses and wood stakes, were all false. There was only one way for a Dhase to die; apathy. Apathy meant starvation to them. This could be brought about slowly, with extreme age, or more quickly by depriving them of contact for an extended period of time. The quickest method, however, was for a Dhase to maliciously feed off of another, to the point of death.

Even with such few methods Dhase died with alarming regularity. The Gift needed to be accepted. Only if the chosen, the fledgling, accepted their death, as their life force was drained away, would they too become Dhase. Unfortunately, those that chose to accept death once often fell into melancholy and apathy more quickly, embracing death again. The ultimate irony of their existence meant their numbers remained few compared to the number of people on Earth.

Of course they could partner with the young, as Daphne had. This allowed the younger partner to remember, and draw out, the higher powers of thriving emotions; living vicariously through the children and their paramours. Alternately the elders could feed more frequently or from animals. Only apathy, the complete lack of desire for life, overrode survival instinct to starve them to death.

His hand came over to cup the back of her head and he began to smooth her unruly hair, using her warmth to dispel the chilling contemplation. She continued to dye it red but he knew her natural color. He thought briefly of the silk curls between her legs. When he met her, on Halloween, she had trimmed all but a very small portion. Now, at his and Daphne's urging she let them grow out. She still shaved around her glorious temple but beginning an inch above was a field of platinum clouds.

He looked down at her, finally, and found her asleep. The face, so filled with need moments before, looked pristine in its serenity. His heart leapt to see her like this. That was her power, the true nature that called to the two from another city. Even as Dhase she called forth desire as easily as she breathed. "No other can create energy as you do. When we feed, even as our actions build energy within our lover, we drain their life. Somehow with you, it grows." It had grown, beyond control to overpower him earlier.

Carefully he slipped from beneath her, placed a pillow beneath her head, and quietly crept from the room. Daphne sat, in silent meditation, in the sparsely appointed den. As she looked up he saw the concern in her eyes and stopped cold. Regardless of how long he had been unconscious her ability to feel should have diminished to near nonexistence. She had fed only indirectly from the earlier session, the most fulfilling only when they were the direct cause of the heightened state. Now she not only felt his despair but worried over it.

"Christopher, what's wrong?" He was Christopher to Daphne because she felt Christoph was too cliched. It was a name Hollywood would give a vampire, so she refused it.

"Bridget." The name instantly hardened her eyes. "She called to collect your debt."

"She knows then." It wasn't a question. He didn't need to ask what she knew. Chris understood.

"She does." He felt her heart harden; the first stages of apathy setting in, the stages he'd spent nearly five decades holding at bay, the apathy that Katherine's addition had begun to push back entirely. "She never said it in so many words. She never even broached the subject obscurely, but I could tell. She asked me," he shuddered, merely remembering her voice, "to remind you of your debt to her."

"There could be no other reason then. The timing is to perfect to be a coincidence." Daphne's sigh held little emotion. "Then it is as it must be."

"No!" Nearly dead eyes leveled on him. A faint trace of emotion, confusion or determination, left in them. He rushed across the room and skidded to a stop on his knees before her. She allowed him to take her hands in his, joining all four and pressing them to his breast. "I won't let you."

"If I don't, I will break a vow. I will be destroyed and both of you will end up on the streets. She would have free reign to take you as her own." The was a pulse of faint love from her; motherly, but love nonetheless. He had always know she was drawn to women over men but he couldn't help but love her, even if unrequited. "Most would not take you, but you know she would."

How could an empathic race engage in something as base as slavery? They only can if they are one of the darkest of deviants. Bridget was the darkest. "There is another way." She looked up, hope drawing forth a little more of the priceless emotion; confusion. "She has not asked yet. She has just reminded you of your debt."

Sensing his depression, terror and resolve all fluttering together her eyes widened. "You can't! She would never accept!"

"She has yet to name the terms. If you name them first, and they are fair, she cannot refuse without disavowing the debt."

"She wants Katherine."

"Yes, she does." His voice broke with sorrow. "Your debt, however, is worth the services of a youth. As you now have two, she can claim her debt." He turned away. She would still be able to feel his emotions, but at least he had the pride of keeping her from seeing his tears. "Offer me to her and she can't refuse."

The hand that came to rest on his shoulders was cold. "You know what she is like. She would be content with either of you. For her purposes you are the same."

"And for that reason, I have to go." He stood and walked to the door. His mind was decided. Daphne was no deviant, to own another, so she could not deny his choice. "We both know the choice is not indifferent for her. We know which would hurt you more and that is the reason it must be me." He stopped at the door and looked back. "Because it's part of a deal, she can only hold me for a limited time. She cannot take me as a slave. When the time comes she must release me or break her own oath."

They both knew he would never survive to see that day. If, by some miracle, he survived her attentions for long enough she would kill him the day before the contract ended. He didn't expect to live that long.

He stepped into the livingroom. Katherine sat on the couch, clutching the pillow. She saw Chris and her face brightened. He had to ignore the twinkle in her eyes. "Are you feeling refreshed enough yet?"

His smile was false, but Katherine was to new to sense the truth. The very power of her own emotions would drown out her sense. Quite possibly she would never be able to sense, losing herself to apathy before she lost enough strength to feel others. "Kat. I need to move on. My arrangement with Daphne was to find a fledgling more suitable to her desires. Have you not noticed she enjoys herself more with you than me?"

Confused eyes met his. Chris never expected to need his ability to dissemble again. His eyes told only the story that he wished. Dhase would know the truth, even mortals feeling some of his subconscious projections. Katherine was different. She couldn't feel him as others did. All she could read in his eyes was determination, and his smile kept her from seeing the grim reality. "I guess so. I mean I've never really seen just the two of you." She paused. His smiled turned to genuine amusement as he watched her work through to the inevitable conclusion. "You mean she..."

Christoph laughed and nodded. "Yes, dear one. She prefers women." There was a twinkle in Katherine's eyes which declared she was not horrified by the revelation. He knew she didn't care, she cared only for the sensation, the sensuality. Katherine needed both men and women, and Chris knew Daphne would remember and together, they would bring home men as often as women.

He brought a hand to her cheek. "Take care of her. As elders go she is one of the best. Too many forget they are supposed to care, long before they stop altogether. Daphne struggles to remember. I wish you both nothing but happiness." After a single caress of her cheek, he strode over to the side door. He looked back with a smirk. "I think she would be hard pressed to forget with you around. I will," he had to pause and collect himself. "I will see you again in time." In a moment Christoph Halley was out the door and in his car.

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Katherine looked up to see Daphne standing in the doorway to the den. She was hurt and angry. She cared for Chris. He was a talented and attentive lover, and more, he understood the modern world in a way Daphne was still trying to come to grips with. He had been a good friend over the last few months. Katherine had never quite connected with the elder in most of the ways she had Chris.

Rage pulsed from her. Daphne flinched as if struck by the almost palpable wave. "Did you send him away? Did you do this so you could have me to yourself?" She ran across the room to beat on the smaller woman. The punches landed but had all of the effect of hitting stone.

Daphne stood, impassive, until Katherine began to cry. Her arms could rend steel, yet when they rose to encircle the younger woman they were as soft and gentle as they appeared. When she spoke it was in hushed, soothing tones. Despite her aura, regardless of her appearance, she still could feel. "It was business. Chris has debts to repay. Eventually we all do. No one can be completely self-sufficient. In time everyone needs something they cannot attain. This is how our kind survive the centuries. We tally and track our debts."