. 23

~~Natasha~~

"Sire," she said.

"Natasha." Daniel looked down at her, then to Athalia. "Athalia, do you--"

"Speak with your childe."

The sheriff adjusted his glasses, a single finger against the bridge, same as always. "I'd prefer you stayed for a while."

Athalia rolled her eyes. "I... will, ok? Jesus, I'm not going to explode or anything."

Natasha tried to meet Athalia's eyes, but the moment the tall, dark-skinned woman looked at her, Natasha looked down. Those weren't eyes she wanted to look into, not now, not yet. Just the thought of what Athalia must have been feeling was enough to have Natasha on the verge of tears; not that she could cry while not Blushing, but still. The poor woman.

Athalia didn't go far, just a few steps back. Other than Daniel, Fiona was the only person at the ball Athalia would want to be near, and Fiona was with Damien. It'd been an adorable sight, Fiona trying to walk while drunk, in high heels, dragging Damien around the ball. The twinkle in the drunk girl's eyes said everything: she wanted to have sex with her dark, mysterious, well-dressed vampire. That meant she couldn't be a social anchor for Athalia, while Daniel could be.

Natasha peeked past her sire at the woman again, before nodding to him, and then nodding toward Jacob in the distance. "Um... is that ok?"

"You tell me. You took her over there."

Samantha had asked Tash to introduce her to Jacob. She had, stuttering up a mess, but she had. Then she'd backed off, and did her best to casually join Daniel, to get his take, or at least get his eyes on Jacob.

"I d-don't know. I... have a hard time trusting Jacob. I can't t-t-tell what he wants."

"Wants from what?"

"From... life? Or unlife?"

Daniel sighed, nodded, and watched Jacob with cold eyes. "He's up to something, Natasha. Keep an eye on him."

Keep an eye on Jacob, right, like she wasn't already doing that with extreme prejudice. The man was terrifying, and it blew her mind that Samantha didn't seem to care. Despite her warnings, and Antoinette's warnings, Samantha was content to talk to the man, like she had with Athalia. Even more surprising, was how Jacob looked happy to talk to her. Samantha's body language grew calmer, as did Jacob's, and the two laughed as Jacob told some sort of joke.

Samantha adjusted her hair and shifted her weight from foot to foot a little, in a subtle but not too subtle flirt. Natasha frowned. Jack was not going to like this.

Natasha looked across the ball to her boyfriends, who were hanging with Avery and Clara. Sex surrounded them. Not actual sex, since no one had penetrated anyone yet, but the room was filling with soft moans, as arousal began to soar. The poor werewolves, surrounded by hormones, and unable to control their own.

The music changed to something a little less classical, and a little more... jazz? Slow, but pleasing, and almost naughty sounding. Something Antoinette had picked out probably, and told the musicians to play when things began to heat up.

She looked to her right, and sighed as she watched a male kine, now completely naked and lying on a table, begin to cum onto his stomach and onto a woman's breasts. Two women were around him, Kissing him, and a third one strolled up like everything was perfectly normal, and sank her fangs into his wrist. A female kine was in a similar boat, lying on a table as well, and being devoured from all directions, including between her legs.

Several of the waiters and waitresses had been robbed of their clothing, left to walk around in their underwear and bras. Those would be gone soon, once a hungry Kindred decided to partake of them, instead of the unfulfilling glasses of old blood. And from the looks on the waiters' and waitresses' eyes, and from their erections and hard nipples, they were eagerly anticipating that moment.

Natasha squirmed as she spotted Mason through the crowd. It was hard to see him past all the shoulders, but between moving bodies, she managed to spot him with his girlfriend Tilly pressed to a wall. He wasn't just kissing and fondling her. He was fucking her.

Things quickly devolved from there, as people noticed the hungry werewolf had actually penetrated his girlfriend. While these balls had a habit of being very sexual, with thralls and ghouls being caressed and massaged first, then kissed and fondled, then Kissed and treated to fellatio, cunnilingus, and everything up to, just not including, actual sex. The Kindred didn't indulge themselves to orgasm at these parties, usually. That came when they took the kine home after the party, or they rushed out to find unsuspecting kine to hunt, Kiss, and fuck into comas.

That wasn't what was happening tonight. Maybe it was because of the Uratha, and Mason's actual willingness to fuck. Maybe it was larger than that, tensions having finally given way since the hunters were no longer a threat. Or maybe it was the spice of having some of those very hunters in the ball, who Tash could see were slowly getting more drunk, and more aroused. Something had snapped in the crowd, and Kindred began to indulge more than Natasha had ever seen.

Brianna suddenly had her two vampire friends pressing their bodies against hers, from front and behind, and the one in front of her pulled his pants down, took out his cock, and sank it into her. Not exactly the best position for her to enjoy, except, from the expression on her face, she looked like she came instantly the moment the man entered her. He pressed his body tight to hers, as did the man behind her, hiding the fact they were having sex, though her skirt was still pulled up over her hips, and her panties were gone. She hugged the man in front of her, ground her pelvis against his, and shuddered as the two men continued to slowly drown her in pleasure with the Kiss.

Natasha gulped and looked around some more. According to her boss, balls used to be like this, before Lucas, and before Garry rose to be a covenant leader. When Dolareido was still young and a lot smaller, and light bulbs hadn't become a thing yet, Kindred would gather in a big room in a mansion, filled with thralls and ghouls, and everything would descend into a feast orgy. In the darkness, lit only by gentle candlelight, kine would be Kissed and fucked until utterly exhausted. And when they were, Kindred would fuck each other.

No candles this night, and a lot more people. She doubted it'd turn into a full orgy, with everyone fucking everyone, but that didn't meant it wouldn't get very, very close.

She licked her fangs, and looked around a little more. The hunters were defeated, unable to resist the approaching vampires, or the tingle of alcohol in their veins. Isabella's troupe had likely used some Majesty on them, but it'd be temporary, and as much as Natasha didn't necessarily like being that forceful with kine, she could see the three hunters were enjoying themselves immensely.

Both Dennis and Harcourt each had two women on them, kissing and Kissing. One of them pulled up her skirt, lifted a leg, and leaned into Harcourt, encouraging the man to hook her leg with his arm, while she looked him in the eyes, and talked to him, a casual conversation Natasha couldn't hear. Poor guy was way too nice, and drunk, to say no, and the moment he gave in, Dennis found himself in the same situation.

Marge had three men on her. Natasha was tempted to interfere, since Marge looked like such a small and innocent thing, but after looking at her for a few seconds, Natasha quivered. It was like looking into a mirror. Much as Marge was clearly being forced into a super embarrassing and overwhelming situation she didn't seem to want to be in, Natasha recognized the sweet hunger in her eyes, those 'oh please don't ravage me, I'm too sweet and innocent' eyes. She wanted to be ravaged. It may not have been what she expected to happen tonight, but that didn't mean Natasha couldn't see the obvious desire on her face.

One of the vampires leaned in and sank his teeth into her neck, and she melted instantly, mouth opening and eyes rolling upward. She struggled, tried to get away, but it was a weak attempt, and not because of the Kiss, but because she didn't really want to escape. Natasha squirmed as she watched the small woman disappear between the three men, but between two of their bodies, she could see a sliver of the woman, and the trembling of her body, as one of the men slid his hand under her skirt. Her tiny squeaks were audible, and as she started to quiver in bliss, a few more of Isabella's troupe turned to watch the hunter orgasm.

Humans were slaves to their hormones, and it wouldn't take much from any Daeva to break them. Well, maybe it would, since the hunters had tattoos and stuff that supposedly fought off vampire Disciplines. If those tattoos were working, then either they weren't working very well, or the hunters found themselves giving into the erotic atmosphere naturally, same as the thralls and ghouls.

It took a moment for Tash to realize she'd lost track of time, and had spent the past ten minutes watching people have sex. She snapped her head back to Samantha, except, there was no Samantha. She blinked several times, leaned forward, and tried to see past as many shoulders as she could.

"Um, sire, where is--"

"Samantha's outside, with Jacob."

"What?"

"He hid them both in his Cloak, and now they're outside."

"What!?" She stepped in close to her sire, and elbowed him in the side. Not the smartest move on her part, irritating her sire, but this was an emergency. "G-Go after them!"

Daniel let out a quiet sigh, set a finger to his ear, and touched the earpiece there. "Report on the warlock?... alright." He looked at Natasha, adjusted his glasses, and smiled slightly. "They're sitting on a bench and talking, not far from the ball. Samantha probably felt uncomfortable with..." He gestured to the growing eroticism.

"I... can't b-believe she's talking to him."

"She doesn't know Jacob, like we do. To her, the man is an intriguing figure."

Well, Jacob was intriguing, Tash had to agree with that. But he was also terrifying. She'd dealt with elders for a couple decades, when her skills had launched her career in the Invictus, and soon earned her a position as a Right Hand. Of the three elders she'd dealt with dozens of times, Viktor had been the most intimidating, sometimes outright horrifying to speak to, but even he didn't scare her like Jacob did.

Which, now that she thought about it, wasn't really fair. Jacob was terrifying because she knew he was powerful, possibly the most powerful vampire in the city, and he was very unpredictable, but his actions weren't all that horrible. As far as she knew, he'd never actually done anything to directly harm the Prince, the city, or even actively fought to acquire territory. Jacob was content to do his own thing, and barely involve himself in the Danse Macabre. And, even more strangely, the Prince considered him to be something of a friend.

Natasha was more concerned with Samantha talking with Jacob, than the Prince would be, or than Daniel apparently was. If Jacob wanted to get his hands on Samantha, it wasn't like the elder couldn't just sneak-sneak and kidnap her. He might even protect her, if a circumstance arose that meant Samantha was in danger.

Or, he could slip her some of his blood, addict her to vitae, addict her to him, and turn her into a bound thrall, a vampire trapped in the Vinculum. Well, true as that might be, it wasn't like Samantha had the acting skills to hide such a condition.

The more Natasha thought about it, the more she couldn't find a circumstance where letting Samantha talk to Jacob was a real problem. If Jacob was doing nasty things, things that the Prince would want to stop, Samantha talking to him would hardly change that. And she wouldn't be able to stop Jacob from kidnapping, enslaving, or killing her anyway, if that was his goal. Better yet, if Jacob wasn't actually an enemy, the two becoming friends would be good for relations. Minerva had been friends with both Antoinette and Jacob, after all.

So, the best course of action, was to trust Jacob... a little. And that was a very hard thing to do.

"So you're going t-to let her go?"

"She has a phone, my childe. I am sure she will contact the Prince to let her know what's happening."

Tash frowned. "Do you... w-want to let her go?"

"No. I trust Jacob less than the Prince does. But you know as well as I, that if Jacob wished to strike us through Samantha, we could hardly stop him... only retaliate." And, retaliation would mean Jacob's death, judging from the stone cold glare her sire gave her.

Tash doubted her sire trusted anyone except for the Prince. The two had worked together for centuries, and were huge figures in the Ordo Dracul. An unbreakable pair. A shame Jacob had no one like that for support.

Sighing, she nodded. "I'm going to t-talk to Beatrice. Maybe... maybe."

Daniel nodded. "Maybe."

Maybe Triss could give her a hint about Jacob's intentions. A long shot, especially since Jacob told his witches less than Antoinette told Tash, and Tash only knew a little about the Ordo Dracul.

She found the witches, and walked over to them. The quiet one, Aaron, was gone, or maybe hanging out where she couldn't see him. Maybe he went outside, like she wanted to, cause parties were overwhelming. Moving through the crowd was horrible, and she shuddered as she brushed shoulders with people. Way, way too many people for her to be comfortable. Once she talked with Triss, she'd go get her boyfriends, and they'd leave.

All around her, the sex continued. This was crazy! Never ever had these parties gotten so out of hand before. It wasn't just the kine getting treated to Kisses and orgasms, it was Kindred as well. While plenty of Kindred were now actually having sex with kine, some Kindred were having sex with each other. More than a few of the Carthians had taken advantage of each other, when one was busy Kissing a meal. A feeding vampire was a momentarily helpless, very horny creature, and a horny friend could easily turn that into a sexual situation. And they were.

Beatrice, Jennifer, and Sándor were near the stairway, where they could stand beside it so they had at least one flank not surrounded by sex.

"Hi Triss. J-Jen. Sándor," she said once she got close.

"Tash," Triss said at her, smiling. It was always a little disturbing, Triss's smile. Such a beautiful face, but the crocodile teeth where cheeks should have been always threw her off, until she adjusted. But, it was great to see the young Nos smile again. "Surprised you're still here. Your boys are, uh, yeah." She gestured toward Matthew and Arturo.

A few women had approached the two werewolves, and were blatantly flirting with them. The three vampires had fed, judging from the smiles on their faces and warm tints in their skin, and all three were likely looking for someone to satisfy their Blush-awakened urges. Jealousy crept up Tash's spine, but she dismissed it with a shrug. She trusted her boyfriends, and it was only natural that the werewolves would be feeling the impact of the bubbling sexuality in the room, more than the other races.

Once she left the party with them, she knew what was going to happen. They were going to take her, pin her down, and do naughty things to her, even if she said 'no, please, stop', just like Marge. Which sounded horrible! Horrible, bad, mean, and... tantalizing.

"They'll b-be fine. I wanted to... um, I d-don't know. Check up on you? I missed the fight, and I feel guilty."

Triss laughed and shrugged. "It wouldn't have mattered. Everything was finished by Jack, in the end. And Sándor, I suppose." She gestured to the man beside her, his arm still locked with Jen's.

Sándor's expression wasn't too different than Tash's. He didn't want to be at the party either. But, unlike Tash, it looked like he was uncomfortable with all the sex. Not that Tash was comfortable with it, but considering the twists and turns her life had taken lately, being in a ball that was evolving into an orgy, was not all that overwhelming. Being almost shoulder-to-shoulder with them was overwhelming, but the fact many were half naked, and fucking either thralls, ghouls, or each other, only hit a six or seven on her embarrassment scale; it would have hit a nine, just a few years ago.

Sándor was a gorgeous man. A little tall, and thinner than her boyfriends, but since his shirt was open, she could see he was nothing but muscle. His buzzed dark hair, dreamy blue eyes, and hard chin, combined with the dark gruff on his face, were very attractive, and she smiled at him as they made eye contact. He looked away a second later, eyes yanked by the sounds of moans and groans. The Kindred did a good job of being quiet as they Kissed and fucked. The humans and the werewolves, not so much.

Tash watched the Begotten for a few seconds, analyzing. He seemed very closed off, stoic even, and it only added to his attraction. No wonder Jennifer seemed so intent on cracking his shell. And there was the gargoyle monster too, Natasha remembered that well. It'd been enormous, imposing, terrifying, and strangely majestic, even handsome, in a 'oh god it's going to eat me' kinda way.

"Look at this, look at this," Jennifer said, looking to the hunters. Isabella's troupe had surrounded them, to the point it looked like a bunch of lions circling prey. Dennis and Harcourt each had hands down their pants, the hands of female Kindred, and several of them at that. Marge still had three men with their hands inside her dress, fondling, massaging, fingering.

"Think we should... d-d-do something?" Tash said

Jennifer shook her head. "Oh come now. They're perfectly safe, and the least they can do to repay Antoinette and Jack for sparing their lives, is share their blood. Though, I suspect by the time the ball is over, the three of them will be catatonic."

Tash rolled her eyes, but watched a little longer. The way the three men pushed themselves onto Marge despite her weak struggles, and the obvious pleasure in her eyes, was just too damn erotic, and familiar. It was giving her ideas for her next movie.

"How are you, Sándor?" Tash said. "Uncomfortable? Me t-too."

"This is..." The man looked around at the evolving sexual display, and carried a tiny frown for a second, before he turned into stone again. "I'm not used to so much open sex."

"You said you were a lot older than you look," Beatrice said. "I'm sure you've been around vampires before."

"Yes, but... never this close." Sándor nodded his head slowly, but his eyes flicked around to some more sexual displays. Brianna was still being fucked, and she wasn't too far from them, around the corner of the staircase where it met the wall. She had her hands on the Ventrue's shoulders, still standing, still penetrated from the front, still with her breasts pressed to his chest. The Gangrel ground against her ass, not penetrating, but Tash could see his pants were open, and his cock was wedged along the crack of her ass.

"No wonder Samantha left," Triss said, laughing. "Holy shit, this place just exploded, didn't it?"

"She left... to speak with J-Jacob."

"Ah, right." The Nosferatu nodded, and stepped in a little closer to Natasha. "I suppose you wanted to ask what that's about?"

"Y-Yes. I worry about her." Samantha was far too nice and naive to be in the Ordo. Considering who her sire was, Samantha would have plenty of time to grow up into tougher, smarter Kindred under Antoinette's protection. But she did have to grow up. In the mean time, Natasha had to worry about her fellow, young dragon. "Has Jacob spoken t-to you about her?"

"He mentioned her once. Said he thought she was cute, and interesting, cause of her eyes."

"Her eyes?"

Triss nodded. "She has Jack's eyes."