The Divine Gambit

15. The One With The Dialogue

Opening the door to the apartment, I was greeted by a nervous Evgenia. Her uncharacteristic send-off made much more sense with the context that she knew she was being shifted into my House beforehand. As I tried to come inside, she bowed deferentially and then attempted to help me doff my jacket. As this wasn't a routine behavior, I stumbled uncomfortably with the limited space she left me, and she fumbled with the jacket, looking terribly ashamed afterward.

"What's this about, Ev?"

The raven-haired woman bowed her head and answered, "It would be unbecoming for the gracious patriarch of my house to deal with such trivialities."

I nodded to avoid saying anything, mostly to appease Ev and try to get inside the apartment. I was internally reeling, absolutely blindsided by the change in her behavior. She smelled even further afraid of me, which made me concerned about the drastic shift in demeanor. Combined with Bob's words, I had a conclusion I didn't like. Before, with the questionable contract, she could still appeal to someone else if she felt wronged. Now, even without the absolute control the contract provided, I was the one she would appeal to, and Aisling had given her to me in two different ways. There wasn't anyone she could petition. She was terrified of the potential overreach of authority I could enact and was looking to get ahead of it and reestablish herself as... useful?

It made me uncomfortable and was frankly painful to watch. Given what Bob had explained to me during the meeting, a few things became clear. Someone, at some point, had hurt Evgenia permanently. Given her confusing behavior whenever I entered a room and her apparent desire to always be visibly doing something, I assumed they were connected. Even when she didn't have any work to do, and there was no reason to invent work except for appearance's sake, she was shuffling papers or, like now, doing something that was actually prohibitive to my goals.

My blind guess was that someone had viciously reprimanded her in the past inconsistently. Based on Bob's vague hints, I could only imagine it was very shortly after she became a vampire, and was long before she came into his care. Her tendency to always be seen doing something, even if she didn't know what that something was supposed to be because I hadn't clearly requested anything, reminded me of my summertime jobs in high school. When the boss came around, you always wanted to be doing something, even if there wasn't anything that needed to be done, just to give the illusion that you were needed and to avoid any spontaneous reprimands. Being efficient was actually a negative because it looked the same to someone from the outside as being lazy instead.

Ev had regularly said she was going to the office to work on things, but I hadn't actually seen any results -- which was fine, given that the only actual request I had was open-ended and probably more suited for Cynthia or Antonin. She seemed like she was just inventing things for herself to do to please me because someone else had beaten the habit into her a long time ago.

"Ev, we need to sit down and talk about what this means. You don't need to treat me any differently--"

"But we aren't in the same situation anymore. I wouldn't dare treat you the same."

"I'm the same guy I was six hours ago, the same as I was yesterday. I don't need to be waited on hand and foot, especially by someone who has more to offer. Just, relax, for today. I need to talk to Sam and Beth about a lot of things, including you, and then I need to talk to you after I touch base with them. Because I already did need to before this and had been procrastinating it. Just, tomorrow. Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Yes, my liege."

I exhaled in exasperation, "No, none of that, please. Just 'James,' nothing more. Look, I don't mean to blow you off, and I appreciate your efforts, but I can't handle this right now."

"What should I do until we discuss our future?"

I sighed, feeling frustrated at how hard I just wanted to tell her to do whatever she wanted to while knowing that would be an utterly valueless suggestion given the circumstances.

"Do you have a replacement contract draft prepared?"

Her eyes lit up in excitement momentarily, before she scrunched her eyebrows in thought. "Will I still need one now that you're my benefactor?"

"Yes. Yes, absolutely, yes. Even if I'm your representative, for your work with me, you will need a contract for your own sake."

She nodded dutifully, "Alright, I'll work on getting that for you."

With that uncomfortable experience out of the way, I crashed into my bedroom and found Beth and Sam in pajamas, sitting on the edge of the bed, various beauty products spread around them. A video playing on a second laptop was explaining how to properly apply... something. I did a double take when Beth turned her face towards me because the nearer half of her face was completely clean, looking like the girl I had gotten to know after the first night, while the other, previously obscured, side had a mess of conflicting styles of makeup haphazardly applied in small sections.

Clearly, Sam had been spending more time exploring options for Beth, and she had been practicing applying and layering different products. Unfortunately, since each product and practice section was a small segment of Beth's face, she looked like a paint swatch. I giggled reflexively at the thought of Beth covered in tiny stripes of body paint, a human flag representing our new kingdom. She must've gotten some depiction of the idea from my mind because she burst out laughing a moment later, interrupting Sam as the redhead tried to brush a powder into a clean space on Beth's cheek.

Sam looked at the two of us in confusion, but I bypassed her to sit at the head of the bed, moving the pillows against the headboard to act as a backrest. Beth's laughter progressed into a full-on giggle fit, leaving her red-faced and out of breath. When she finally explained why the two of us had broken up, Sam just shrugged, the verbal explanation missing the visual to land the humor.

Sam started collecting her things to put them away, but I interrupted her, "You don't need to stop on my account. I'm not quite ready for bed physically, but I am mentally tired. I have a couple bombs to drop on the two of you tomorrow, after I've had a moment to digest them, but I'm perfectly content to sit here and enjoy listening to the two of you."

So they continued for another 90 minutes, practicing and refining Beth's ability to do her own makeup. They tried dozens of different things, finding exactly what kind of emphasis the petite woman would want for various events, how to reinforce certain emotional portrayals, and different formality levels. When they had used all of the space around Beth's eye while testing eye shadows and lash products, Sam was delighted to use her newfound magical resources to conjure gentle streams of water to wash the other girl's face. Their supply of disposable towelettes was quickly stained with the running makeup, but neither woman seemed to mind the growing pile of consumed toiletries.

It was interesting to see just how much Beth's face had changed even in only the week that I had known her. Her nose was no longer notched with a visible misset break, and the pocking from acne scars had completely evened out. It was also compelling to see that Sam's face had slightly changed, which altered my perception of the magic. I had assumed that Beth's glow-up was due to the years of malnutrition, poor care, and questionable hygiene being repaired and undone, but seeing Sam altered made me wonder. She wasn't changing anywhere near to the same degree, but her cheekbones were a hair higher, her cheeks were slightly leaner, and her lips were a touch fuller.

The most remarkable change for me personally was that the smattering of freckles over her nose and cheeks had increased in density and visibility, popping brilliantly when the redhead blushed. I wasn't sure if Sam had noticed, but I didn't feel it was necessary to bring it up unless I saw something more significant or less pleasant develop. The changes were subtle; even in side-by-side photographs, you could miss them. I only noticed because I had spent years watching her, confused by why she alternated pushing me away and pulling me back as teenagers, committing her features to my memory forever. Falling asleep with her finally in my arms was one of the most satisfying conclusions I could've ever imagined.

~*~*~*~

Waking up chilled and uncovered was an abnormal experience. One that I certainly wasn't expecting when I had laid down to sleep with Beth and Sam together. I wasn't sure about who would be waking up first in the future -- I was reasonably consistent once I had a schedule set, Sam seemed to be a naturally early riser, and Beth's deep, nearly catatonic sleep would likely normalize once she caught up on the decades of restless nights -- but even if I was last, I would've expected to be left the sheets.

My thoughts were interrupted when my mind fully stretched out, and I took stock of my incorporeal bonds with my girlfriends. Beth was feeling mildly aroused, but mostly... philanthropic? Sharing, perhaps. Focused, certainly. Sam was feeling determined, attentive, and running as hot as a space shuttle during reentry. I couldn't tell exactly what she was focused on, as her connection was still less precise than Beth's, but she felt compelled to do something while Beth helped her.

I was about to open my eyes and ask what was up when the mattress shifted, and I felt it. Warm, soft, wet, gentle, and surrounding my dick.

So I did open my eyes and lifted my head to look down the bed, finding four looking back at me. Two verdant green ones, looking at me conspiratorially, and two sky blue ones piercing my heart with absolute devotion plainly displayed that commanded all of my attention.

And then Sam moved and I forgot everything else. I knew not where we were or who else was with us. With her eyes glued to my face, she cautiously bobbed her head, her lips sliding along my rapidly hardening cock. Her soft tongue fluttered as I grew in her mouth, and there was a momentary flash of panic in her eyes as she brushed me with her teeth while adjusting to my changing size. It wasn't intentional or particularly unpleasant, and it's very likely that I would've been distracted by the experience and have missed it entirely if I hadn't seen her reaction. I brushed Sam's cheek with my hand, briefly spellbound by the combination of the physical sensation and the magnitude of emotion she was broadcasting.

Then she pressed slightly further down my now fully erect shaft, trying to take as much of me as she could. Her eyes must have been bigger than her mouth because she almost immediately reversed course, pulling off me entirely to cough several times.

The interruption broke the spell I had fallen victim to, and I felt compelled to say something. "Sam, not to look a gift beautiful woman in the mouth, but, you don't have to do this."

She looked at me, eyes watering but steel in her spirit. Rather than answer verbally, she lowered herself back, grasping me with her smooth, perfectly manicured hands and taking my head back in her mouth.

"Are you --"

Beth, who only now as she spoke was I noticing had been sitting beside Sam, carefully pulling strands of her hair to the side, interrupted my question. "James, don't take this from her. Let her do what she wants."

As Beth finished scolding me, Sam curled her tongue underneath my head, overwhelming me with a barrage of sensations, flooding my brain with too much pleasure to process. Any hesitation I had was lost in the brief moment it took for her to drag her tongue along my most sensitive spot, flooded out of my mind and overpowered with bliss.

If my rational mind had remained connected in any functional way, I would have acknowledged that Sam's blowjob wasn't the best I had ever received. After all, she had no experience giving them, having no suitors she wanted to entertain before me. Even with Beth whispering suggestions in her ear, Sam didn't have the practice that would've made her truly excellent at this. She wasn't taking me far into her mouth, leaving her hands plenty of real estate to take care of, and while her tongue hit the bullseye initially, she wasn't always on target. The momentary taste Beth had taken the other night had been objectively more impressive, as she had taken my entire length almost immediately.

My rational mind was dead, short-circuited the moment Sam had enveloped me. Some of it had to do with our shared emotions -- once it was clear I was no longer trying to put the brakes on, Sam effused dedication to my enjoyment to the point that it became blindly reverent. She didn't have any experience, but she was using everything she was capable of to worship my body, using her mouth to produce as much pleasure as possible. Feeling her emotions, knowing with unquestionable certainty that this was what she wanted, numbed the doubts lingering in the back of my mind. Recognizing that she desperately wanted to do this allowed me to just enjoy her gift, not worry about her intentions or consequences.

The even more significant reason was that I was looking down and seeing Sam venerate my dick, her eyes fixated on my face for any hints of my reactions. Sam was the one making me feel this way. Sam! I had gone to sleep the previous night, euphoric to have her in my arms, no more confusion or ambiguity separating us. And now the girl who had left me wanting for years was unequivocally mine.

It didn't matter to me that her attempt was objectively amateurish. It didn't matter that Beth would've given me a better blowjob physically. The idea that it was Sam dedicating herself around my cock, seeing the desire in the depths of her blue eyes, and feeling her rhythmic nursing, made this one of the best experiences of my life. There was a decade of prelude leading to this moment. This may not have been the first time we were intimate, but it was the moment it sunk in: Sam was mine, and I was hers, and there was nothing in the world that would change that.

Which tipped me over the edge. Knowing that she was mine and there would be no more questions, I felt great relief, a burden released by my heart, and my body responded. I went from enthusiastically enjoying Sam's touch to moaning out, "Oh, fuck, Sam, I'm --" and cumming into her mouth in a fraction of a moment.

I couldn't tell you how long it took for my mind to return. I had crested hard, body and soul and heart pleasured to their breaking point by the one I had spent years idly dreaming about, wholly lost to the sensation she shared with me.

When I opened my eyes again, Sam still had her mouth around my head, her eyes closed and nose pumping air into her lungs. Her cheeks were slightly bloated, my essence filling her palate. She wasn't moving, though she was moaning mutedly into my dick. Muffled as it was with a full mouth wrapped around my shaft, I didn't need the sounds to tell me what was happening when the vibrations connected directly into my hypersensitive post-orgasm dick.

Beth mirrored her, actually clinging to the older woman as they were both caught in their own rapturous releases from the aftershocks of mine. Sam had told us that this was an outcome that occurred when I got off, and it had happened during our first time, but it was still surreal to watch. It made me wonder why it happened. What advantage was gained by forcing releases out of nearby females when I climaxed?

Before I could ration an answer out of my still cloudy mind, Sam recovered enough to open her eyes. She looked at me again and then glanced sideways at Beth. A dutiful smile crept onto her face, as much as possible considering she still held me in her mouth. She carefully withdrew from me, her lips a seal around my skin, keeping everything she had collected in her mouth.

With an impish glint in her eyes, Sam turned suddenly, grabbing Beth behind the neck and pressing her mouth into the startled teen's. This resulted in an unbelievable scene where I could see Sam pushing some of my seed into Beth's mouth, their tongues dueling in the neutral space between their lips. I was awestruck as they passed it back and forth, each taking a small portion of the total before returning it to the other woman.

Eventually, all of my cum had been consumed, and the two separated, a strand of my juices and their spit lingering between them for a moment. Sam giggled mindlessly and it snapped as she jiggled. My connection to her felt fuzzy again, less imprecise than after our first time together but along the same trajectory.

With the provocative scene before me now concluded and enough time having passed that my head was no longer ringing with the effects of Sam's efforts, my thoughts were able to return. While I didn't want to do anything intense today, I had a few discussions I needed to have, and Sam's impromptu alarm actually added a little one I should have with her. Before they could settle back into the bed and delay my day by burdening me with snuggling, I made a request of Beth.

"Beth, could you go run the bath for us? I need to talk to you two, but I want to be comfortable and clean."

She smiled, pleased with herself at just how effective her instruction had been, and quietly left the room. Sam and I stayed in silence for a few moments, only our breathing audible in the room.

As my brain returned to me, I found the question I wanted to ask Sam, although I wasn't very graceful in my delivery. "Did she push you into that?"

Sam furrowed her brow and looked insulted at me, "No. When I said I hadn't ever given one in passing last night, she suggested waking you up with it and told me she would walk me through it. She felt indebted after monopolizing Mom this entire week, and then more so after I helped introduce her to the magic of makeup, so she wanted to be by my side to walk me through it to make sure it was good for you. She wanted me to blow your mind. But she didn't push at all. I wanted to do it. She just gave me a bunch of tips, and helped reassure me that I could do it in the first place. I wanted to do it, not just because you've, uh, tasted me already, but because it felt strange to have given you my virginity before doing that. It felt out of order."

I winced at how my words affected her. "Sorry, I thought that's what happened, but I wanted to make sure. I don't want you to feel like you have to --"

"I'm going to cut you off right there. Beth might have issues with that line of thinking, but I don't. I don't think I have to do things for you; I need to do them for you, for myself. I know that you're not pressuring me, and neither is she. I am. I want to be the girl I was this morning for you."

"Okay, but --"

"Enough, J. This isn't one of your two bombshells, so we need to go get in the bath and talk for real. I will tell you if I have a problem. I promise."

Suitably chastised, I licked my lips in defeat and nodded. When I raised my arm to allow Sam up, gesturing towards the door, she made a show of pouting and sitting still, so I picked her up and carried her naked form to the bathroom where Beth was waiting for us. I internally winced at the steam rising from the tub, almost regretting my decision to have Beth start it, before realizing I had a perfect solution: shifting my skin from the waist down to be coated in my scales. Protected from the heat, I climbed directly into the tub, still holding Sam in my arms, settling on the bench as she clung to me, her head resting on my shoulder. Beth followed us into the tub, wrapping her petite leg over my thigh to straddle my leg, pinning Sam to me. Sam sighed gleefully when Beth added her arm underneath mine, sharing in holding the redhead.