AN: I gotta agree with some of you guys, lol. What kind of crazy story is this where sexual assault is cute? It's insane, lol. Still, I have to admit, I'm quite proud. There's nothing I strive for more in my stories than uniqueness and this one is certainly unique. :)

Chapter 28:

The topic of feeding from humans wasn't approached again for the rest of the day. Irena had to go out again that night and Kate had a date with Leah to prepare for which once again left Bella and I alone together. The mansion had a gigantic library with shelves over twice the height of Bella herself and Bella and I spent the evening browsing the volumes. Given her distaste for opera I was rather surprised that my darling mate had a taste for classical literature. Yet not as surprised as her to find out that I had never read Pride and Prejudice. As an old English vampire she seemed to assume I'd be well-versed in the literature of the times, but honestly, I had been more interested in butchering young girls and burying their raped bodies in the woods than reading books.

Until now, that is. The discovery of Bella's passion for Jane Austen's novels made me quite eager to share it and soon we were cuddled up on a red velvet settee together, reclining under an antique lamp and reading from the same volume. Bella was holding the novel and I was holding Bella while she read aloud for me. Following the words over her shoulder. Smiling. Enjoying her warmth and her scent. Her voice had perfect cadence and inflections. She even managed a British accent for some of the dialogue which made me giggle and love her even more than I already did. Every now and then I would kiss her hair and nuzzle my cheek against her. Such a lovely girl. So perfect. My eyes fell shut and I just listened to her beautiful voice. I didn't open them again until she broke off the narrative and spoke to someone else who'd entered the room.

"Oh, hey, Tanya," she said. "Vicky and I were just borrowing a book, hope that's okay."

Tanya smiled and shook her head as if to say it was perfectly fine. She was standing in the doorway and she looked like she might've been there for a moment or two, just watching, before anyone had noticed. She was dressed in a beige turtleneck and vaguely I realized it was the same sweater I had borrowed from her a few days ago.

"Ah, Tanya," I said, smiling at her, still reclining on the settee with my arms around Bella. "Home at last, hm?"

She had been gone all day and it was past nine o'clock at night. She entered the room and gave a little shrug. "The shoot ran overtime and afterwards I had drinks with a colleague," she said. Then she smirked a little and added: "Well, she had drinks. I only flirted."

I smirked as well. "There's no reason you could not have had a drink as well," I mentioned innocently. "Of her blood, that is."

She smiled and didn't reply. The smile wasn't particularly encouraging. There was no judgement in it or restraint. Nothing to grapple with and overcome. It reminded me of what Kate had said this afternoon. That for Tanya it wasn't even a matter of restraint. She just couldn't do it. It didn't bode well for my ambition of rekindling her lust for human blood. How could I break her restraint if she had no restraint to begin with?

Tanya turned her smile to Bella.

"How are you feeling, Bella?" she asked.

"Great," Bella said cheerfully. "Me and Vicky were fucking all day, so I'm ready to be gangbanged again whenever you guys want. Right, Vicky?"

I resisted the urge to facepalm. She was a dear, of course, but really. Could she not have phrased it in a way that made her sound less of a whore?

Tanya chuckled as if the girl were only cute. "That's wonderful news," she said. "Although after such a strenuous day together I don't suppose you would be interested in joining me in my bedroom tonight, would you?"

Bella's face lit up with a grin and she spun in my arms to look at me. I smiled as well. As much as we'd enjoyed our time alone together these last couple days perhaps it would be nice to be alone together with Tanya as well.

"Don't be silly, Tanya my dear," I told her. "We'd love to."

"Yeah," Bella agreed enthusiastically.

Tanya seemed flattered and demure at the same time and she might've blushed if she were able. "Well," she said. "I'd be very pleased to see you, but it's perfectly fine if you'd rather be alone. I'll be prepared in an hour or so if you're feeling up to it."

The older woman's hesitance seemed to confuse my young mate a little but she nodded with the same enthusiasm.

"Okay," she said. "We'll be there in an hour."

Tanya nodded at that, as if to say anything would be fine, and then she smiled and turned and left the library.

Bella watched her go with a puckered brow and then she turned to me.

"Did she seem a little weird to you?" she asked.

I nodded vaguely, still staring off toward the doorway in the lamplight where the lady of the house had disappeared. "A little," I said. "Perhaps her colleague stirred up some more wistful feelings inside her. A thousand years is a long time to live without a mate. I think she might be a little more vulnerable than she lets on."

Bella nodded as well. "She must be so lonely."

I looked at Bella. At her beautiful face and her huge brown eyes. Then I cupped her cheek and smiled and kissed her. She closed her eyes and moaned and the novel slipped from her hands and slapped shut on the floor.

After making out for a little in the library it was time to return to our room and prepare for our night with Tanya. While going down the corridor upstairs we bumped into Kate. She was wearing a skyblue sundress with a pink jacket and her face was pretty with makeup and she was surrounded by an enticing scent of perfume. I couldn't help smirking and I had a feeling Leah was going to love her. A perfect little femme for Leah's semi soft butch.

She saw us and she seemed surprised and happy as if she had been on her way to find us.

"Oh hey," she said. "I was just about to head out to meet Leah. How do I look?"

She smoothed down the skirt of her dress. For a thousand year old vampire seductress she actually seemed a little nervous. Perhaps she didn't have all that much experience with other girls or perhaps her phone conversations with Leah had triggered somewhat of a crush.

Bella looked her over with great excitement and said:

"Cute. As. Fuck."

Kate grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Bella confirmed.

Kate giggled and instantly the nervousness was gone and replaced by a perky kind of confidence that suggested Leah would be getting laid tonight if she even vaguely agreed with Bella's assessment of Kate's outfit.

"Okay, thanks," Kate said, already in a hurry. "I'll let you know how it goes!"

She waved back at us and disappeared down the stairs. Bella and I shared a smile and continued to our room.

We weren't entirely sure what Tanya had in mind for tonight but we figured it couldn't hurt to sexy ourselves up a bit. First we went for a shower and fooled around a little under the warm water but only a little. We then got dried off and blowdried our hair before I sat Bella down on the rim of the tub and changed the gauze on her neck. I was slightly distressed that all the oral she had performed in the morning had agitated the wound a little and I made sure to warn her to be careful tonight. She promised she would but I could tell from the sparkle in her eyes that it would take more than stiches in her neck to supress her gusto for pussy.

We then went back in the room to select some lingerie. It had been a long time and we were both quite excited. We owned a whole range of colors but in the end we couldn't resist color coding ourselves as we usually did. Red for me, black for Bella. It was simply our colors and we kept our outfits matching as well. Lace bras, lace panties, and lace garters with long sexy stockings with lace trim. Afterwards we each slipped on a pair of heels as well and I took a moment to pose in the large goldframed mirror. My body was looking particularly lush and magnificent with my gigantic breasts cradled in those scarlet colored bracups while the red band of my panties curved over my ample hips. Bella was grinning and she too looked incredible. Pale and soft with only small scraps of black lace covering her breasts and pussy. We each wore a bit of makeup and a puff of perfume and we were both quite eager to put our bodies to use for the pleasure of our host.

It had already been over an hour and we hurried so we wouldn't be late, scampering down the corridor in our heels and underwear with grins and giggles. I knocked on Tanya's door and a soft voice said for us to enter.

It was dim inside and the room was covered in candles. You could feel a warmth from them. Candles on the mantle over the fireplace, candles on the dresser, the sideboard. Tanya was wearing a white satin nightrobe that concealed whatever she was wearing underneath and she was lighting the last of the candles with a longstemmed match. She hadn't seen Bella and I yet. We watched her, our arms linked, enjoying the romantic ambiance. She held the match to the last candlewick and watched it take fire and then she lifted the match to her lips and blew it out in a small wisp of smoke. She then set the burnt match down and turned and looked at us.

A smile spread over her mouth at our costumes. A smile of excitement and perhaps something else. Affection. Admiration. Her robe was tied around her waist and for now she just let her eyes absorb us, the amber orbs of them flickering over Bella's pale form and then over mine. They lingered slightly on the swells of my breasts for a moment before lifting to take in my red hair and red eyes. It was my own body that seemed to receive the bulk of her scrutiny and I couldn't help feeling just the slightest thrill of triumph.

"You came," Tanya said at least. "I was hoping you would."

I chuckled jovially. "Did you honestly doubt us, Tanya dear?"

"No," she admitted coyly. Then she smiled. "But I'm happy all the same. You needn't have taken the trouble to wear anything special, though."

She gave our scanty outfits another appreciative gaze. I chuckled as her eyes sent warm waves of flattery all over the exposed areas of my skin.

"Nonsense, it's our absolute pleasure," I told her. "Isn't it, Bella?"

Bella nodded eagerly. "Sure."

Tanya smiled and began to untie her robe. "Well, I suppose I can only hope you find my own costume as pleasing as I find yours," she said. "I've been very eager for us to spend some time together."

She opened the robe and slipped it from her shoulders.

My mouth fell open.

Underneath she was in all white. The satin robe had dropped without a sound behind her and I was capable of no sound either. All white. White panties of perfect lace, white stockings. White leather high heels. A white corset that bundled her breasts into twin hills of sensualness. There was a diamond necklace around her neck and diamond bracelets around her wrists and in the soft light of the candles she looked like some heavenly creature composed of craving itself.

"Wow," Bella said grinning. "Holy fuck."

Tanya chuckled in a womanly fashion. "I take it you approve, Ms Swan?"

"Fuck yeah," Bella said, nodding, staring.

I recovered myself and scolded my heart for beating so fast. "I must say, I find myself rather embarrassed," I said. "Suddenly I feel like I'm wearing rags."

Bella giggled at that and Tanya sauntered a few steps toward us.

"You are much sexier than I am, Victoria," she said. "As you're well aware."

She stopped and looked at me. I almost became uncomfortable from the flush that came over me but then she turned her attention to Bella.

"But, of course, neither of us compare at all to Ms Swan, do we?"

I chuckled and agreed wholeheartedly. "No, we certainly do not."

Bella blushed prettily in the candlelight, knowing that we were mostly just flattering her but greatly flattered all the same. "I just wish I didn't have this stupid gauze," she said, touching her neck with her hand.

Tanya took the hand and lowered it and held it, her eyes roaming all over the younger girl's lingerie clad body. "I hardly noticed," she said. "You're just so exquisite everywhere else. Victoria is a very lucky woman."

Bella blushed some more and glanced at me. "I think it's me who's the lucky one."

I laughed at the two of them. "Actually, perhaps it's Tanya who's the lucky one. After all, here we are, hm?"

"Perhaps," Tanya said with a smile. Then she turned back to my mate and let her eyes linger on the younger girl's face. "Although I doubt I'll ever have what you two have."

I didn't quite know how to respond to that. It seemed a little off key in our playful flirting but not actually uncomfortable. Tanya was still gazing into Bella's face, almost as if she had forgotten I was there, and now she cupped Bella's cheek. She caressed it softly and she smiled in a way that was very familiar to me. A smile provoked from the warmth and softness of humanity. The smoothness. The look in her amber eyes was longing and perhaps in my mate's warmth she felt some faint echo of her own mate dead these thousand years.

"Your warmth is truly wonderful," she whispered. "It's a shame it'll have to be extinguished when you become a vampire."

I smiled in agreement. "True, but a necessary sacrifice. Humans don't live forever. Time will extinguish her warmth whether we turn her or not. The most we can do is enjoy these last few precious days of her humanity as much as we can and look forward to the perks of how durable she will become."

"Quite right," Tanya said with a smile. Her eyes hadn't left the other girl's but now she looked slightly at me. "May I?"

She was still cupping my lover's face and I gave them a nod. "By all means."

Bella smiled at that and silently acquiesced to whatever we had in mind for her. Tanya lowered her hand from Bella's cheek and took Bella's hand instead. Bella allowed herself to be guided toward the bed and I watched them both climb onto the mattress together.

I didn't move to join them. Not just yet. Tanya was smiling and she was sitting back against the pillows arrayed against the headboard and she was arranging Bella in her arms as if she only wanted to cuddle. Bella let herself settle between our host's stocking legs, smiling at her in the candlelight as if swept away by the other woman's beauty and gentleness.

Tanya stroked some dark locks of hair from Bella's face and continued to gaze into her eyes.

"Mmm," she murmured as if the sight itself were a pleasure. "You really are a beautiful girl, aren't you Bella?"

A small smirk tilted Bella's mouth. "You don't have to flatter me anymore. I'm already going to fuck you."

Tanya chuckled at that. "I don't usually respond to such vulgar flirting, but you really do make it seem so adorable. I'm going to fuck you as well. I'm going to fuck every last inch of your warm little body."

I watched as Tanya's hand lowered to Bella's thigh and caressed the flesh just above the black lace trim of her stocking. Bella gave a sultry little chuckle.

"That's what I'm here for," she said impishly.

Tanya giggled and gave me a glance as if to check if what she was doing was acceptable. I gave them a smile and leaned against one of the bedpillars to continue watching.

Tanya turned back to Bella.

"How soon would you like Victoria to turn you?" she asked softly.

"As soon as possible," Bella responded right away.

Tanya smiled at that and began stroking her body, her thigh, her side. "I thought as much. In truth I've been somewhat afraid to broach the subject because I'll know you'll need a supply of blood. Fresh blood."

She looked into Bella's eyes for Bella's reaction. Bella gave a smirk and a tiny shrug.

"What's wrong with that?" she asked with a certain cockiness, as if murdering people was fine and anyone who thought otherwise was kind of stupid.

"Nothing at all," Tanya said. "For you or Victoria. For me, however, it makes me a little uncomfortable. But I did promise to pledge our support and I fully intend to come through for you. We'll keep you here at the mansion for a time after you've turned and we have a cellar downstairs where we can keep some fresh victims for you. And after a week or so your newborn lust ought to be satisfied enough for you to control yourself in public in order to hunt on your own. Or with Victoria."

She glanced again at me. I was still leaning against the bedpillar, watching them thoughtfully. I wanted to learn more about our host's aversion to human victims so that I would know better how to persuade her. Bella glanced at me as well and then turned back to Tanya.

"What about you?" she said, still cuddled there in the other woman's arms. "Me and Vicky would love to hunt with you guys."

Tanya smiled and looked down at Bella's body. By now her hand was cupping one of the girl's soft little breasts and massaging it through its black lace bracup.

"I can't speak for the others," she whispered, "but hunting from humans no longer has any thrill for me."

Bella snorted playfully at that. "That's bullshit. I know how much you loved drinking my blood the other night. I know you want more."

"More blood would be very nice," Tanya agreed. Then she smiled and added: "It's death that I've had too much of."

Bella smile faded a little. Mine did as well. I had been observing our host very closely in the candlelight and for the first time I almost felt perhaps that the other woman's motives to never again feed from humans were altogether too noble to meddle with.

Almost.

Tanya chuckled at the moment of awkwardness she'd created and the chuckle dispelled it.

"But come, let's not talk about that tonight," she said. "Tonight let's merely make some love together, hm?"

That made my mate smile again and she glanced at me for permission. I nodded, of course, and instantly she turned back to Tanya and pressed their mouths together.

I moved to the other bedpost, which was closer, and leaned again to continue watching.

At first they were only moaning and making out with each other, a scene of utter beauty in the soft orange glow of the candlelight, the two of them arranged against the shimmering white satin pillows as Tanya's hand wove into Bella's long dark hair and her tongue entered her mouth. I had no desire at all to interfere. Not yet. We had all night and there seemed to be something special occurring between them. Bella in black, Tanya in white. Tanya seemed to be losing herself in Bella's warmth and Bella seemed to be losing herself in Tanya's experience and sexiness. Her body responded to every touch of Tanya's hand and Tanya manipulated her body perfectly.

Eventually my mate was placing kisses on Tanya's collar bone and then further down on Tanya's breasts. Tanya's eyes had opened and she smiled at me as Bella shifted lower to her panties. I smiled as well and smiled some more as Tanya's face winced in the pleasure of Bella's hot wet tongue. Bella had peeled aside the white lace of her panties and she was now licking at her entrance. I watched her a little while, making sure she was being careful not to reopen the wound on her neck, and then I looked back to Tanya. She was smiling in the candlelight and reclining against the pillows with her legs open, clothed in white like some scanty angel who retained her purity even in the indulgence of this earthly lust. I smiled at her, half mesmerized, and finally moved to join in. She received me eagerly and the first thing I did was cup her face and kiss her lips. Softly. My mouth was not as warm as Bella's but Tanya appreciated the kiss all the same. I kissed her for a while, stroking her hair, and then I pulled down one of my crimson bracups and offered her a nice swollen nipple to suckle on while my mate licked her to an orgasm.

I had watched the climax occur in her eyes and afterward she smiled and thanked Bella very much. Bella, predictably, said it was her pleasure, and judging from the pussyjuice smeared all over her smile she was telling the complete truth. I took her face in my hands and licked that smile clean before bending my head to the source. Tanya's vagina. There was a nice scent coming from it and it tasted just lovely. Tanya tried to object, not wanting to be selfish, but Bella had the same sensibilities as I did in these situations and she smiled at Tanya and told her to relax as I continued to lick her. Tanya was our host. She had invited us into her bed and it was more than our pleasure to show her our gratitude. Tanya yielded the issue, reluctantly but with some very pleasurable moans, and I smiled into her netherlips and kissed them and nibbled at them and licked her to an other climax.

We had a very long night together and a very lovely one as well. Tanya, of course, was the centrepiece. Bella and I would have it no other way. In many ways perhaps the other woman was like a sex toy or perhaps another piece of lingerie. Something we wore for the occasion to spice things up a little. We kissed her and suckled at her nipples and went down on her at the same time, our tongues vying for every drop of wetness that accumulated like honey between those gorgeous thighs. By now we had both lost our bras and Tanya had lost her corset. When she came she came with a loud groan that lifted her spine from the mattress. Bella and I chuckled and continued to lick at her in turns and then we rose up and straddled one each of her legs and began to grind our clits against her kneecaps while smiling at her wantonly. She relaxed and returned the smiles and watched us until we climaxed as well.

The candles soon began to burn down and Bella was becoming exhausted. A blood stain had appeared in the gauze around her neck and I knew she had reopened the wound slightly. I would have to attend to that later. The bedroom was now filled with a soft scent of blood but Tanya seemed almost as disaffected as I was. Her eyes had darkened to a coal black but aside from that there was nothing to tell of her darker lusts at all. She didn't even mention it. Neither did I and Bella herself seemed not to notice at all. She just smiled and giggled and asked Tanya if she would like to be double-tongued. Tanya felt that might be asking too much of us but we assured her that once again it would be our very great pleasure and finally we persuaded her to lift a stockinged leg—the foot of which still wearing a white leather high heel—to allow access to both of her lower holes. Bella took her ass, of course, and I took her vagina. We began to lick at both entrances and to insert out tongues inside them and soon the woman was experiencing a very voluptuous orgasm.

By now it was quite late but Bella refused to let her exhaustion cut things short. We told her that vampires have infinite stamina and that she would eventually have to stop sometime but she wouldn't hear of it. The most we could persuade her to do was relax for at least a few moments while I took care of Tanya by myself. Bella agreed to that, claiming that she wanted to watch anyway, and laid her head on one of the pillows. The candles had dimmed a little by now and Tanya and I made sure to give her something beautiful to watch. Kneeling in the bed, face to face. Kissing each other. Cupping each other's faces. Stroking each other's breasts. Our bodies were glistening from the arousal we had all smeared on each other and we became quite lost in each other. Bella at first was whispering how beautiful we were but then her blinks became very slow as she laid there on the pillow. Tanya and I watched her discreetly, smiling and sharing kisses, and after a while Bella's eyes fell closed and they didn't open again.

Tanya and I gently pried apart and moved to examine her. She was laying on her side and all she was wearing was her black stockings. Her naked breasts were heaving softly in the candlelight with each deep breath and her face was a perfect porcelain mask of dreamless serenity.

"Poor thing," I murmured with a smile. "She tries so hard keep up but in the end she's only human."

Tanya smiled at her and reached to touch the hill of her hip gently. "Not for much longer," she whispered, stroking her softly. Then she looked up and smiled at me. "A scary thought, hm? If she has this much stamina as a human, imagine how voracious she'll be as a vampire."

The thought made me grin. "I can hardly wait. I'll be sad to lose her warmth but I expect the compensation of appetite will be a more than adequate trade."

Tanya smiled and looked down at her again. She looked at her for a long time, watching the soft shapes of her breasts rise and fall as she stroked her hip. Something about the girl seem to fill her with pleasantness, or perhaps envy, and a soft chuckle came out of her before she turned back to me.

"Would you like to take her back to your room?" she asked softly.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Let her sleep. In the meantime, why don't we take some air on the balcony? I think we may even be able to see the moon."

Tanya nodded and climbed off the bed to fetch up the embroidered bedcovers from the floor. Bella was still wearing her black leather high heels and now I took them off for her. Gently. Tanya and I then covered her with the quilt and tucked her in, careful not to wake her. Tanya watched as I smoothed down her hair and leaned to kiss her and then we crossed the room together in the candlelight and went out onto the balcony.

The balcony was on the upperstory of the mansion and it overlooked the gardens. Carmen spent hours every day tending them and she did a very good job. There were flowerbeds and hedgerows and statues of angels and cherubs and a few fountains. All of it dark and bluish under a sky that was black and mostly clear. There were several stars out and the moon was almost full and only partly concealed behind a dark chunk of cloud.

Tanya and I had emerged onto the balcony with linked arms and now we looked up at the moon and smiled as if those cold moonrays were somehow soothing on our naked bodies. Her arm was hooked around mine and it was slim and cooler than Bella's. I petted it as we gazed up in silence and then I turned and looked at the blonde woman beside me. Her perfect features were ghostly in the moonlight and even through her smile I thought I could see the same sadness that had preoccupied her all night.

After a while she noticed me looking at her and she turned to look at me herself. I smiled gently and decided it was time for us to speak of that sadness.

"There's something I must confess to you, Tanya," I told her gently, as if to prepare her.

She raised a perfect blonde brow inquisitively. "Yes?"

I turned to face her with my body, still with her arm folded around mine. "Irena told me the real reason you won't feed from humans anymore," I said. "About your mate that you lost."

The inquisitive smile that had been on her face faded. I could feel her arm go slack. Then something moved in her throat as if she had swallowed a lump and she drew her arm away from me. I touched her shoulder instead.

"It made me feel so sorry for you," I whispered.

At first I thought she might've been angry—and she would've had every right to be—but first and foremost Tanya was a lady. The smile came back to her face, diplomatic and without joy, and she took the hand from her shoulder.

"You couldn't feel more sorry for me than I do for myself," she said.

I couldn't reply to that. The honesty of it took me off guard. It wasn't often a person was aware of their self-pity and even satisfied with it.

Tanya was holding my hand and now she looked down at it and caressed it. Another smile moved her mouth very slightly and she spoke without lifting her eyes.

"He was a young man," she whispered. "About Bella's age. Hardly a man at all. But he was fond of me. Very fond. I would have kept him with me forever. But one night…"

Her voice thickened and stopped. When she looked up I could see how badly her eyes longed for tears to wash away this sorrow that seemed as fresh as the day it came to her. She blinked rapidly a few times. Then she shook her head and dropped my hand and forced another smile.

"So now you know why I can no longer bring myself to feed from humans," she said, trying very hard to be nothing more than jovial. "Dare I hope knowing the truth will make you less aggressive in persuading me to join you for a hunt?"

My face hardened with a fierce sympathy and I looked at her steadily.

"Of course not," I said. "How could I give up on you now?"

She chuckled, softly, sadly, and looked away. I drew her into my arms and held her in the moonlight. The embrace had taken her a little by surprise and it was a moment before she returned it. I could feel our breasts touching together, heart to heart, and I stroked her back for a while before whispering into her ear.

"I understand how you feel, Tanya," I said. "I felt the same way when I lost James."

She didn't answer. I released her so that I could see her face.

"James was everything to me," I told her. "After I lost him it was all I could do to struggle from day to the next. The only thing that kept me going was Bella. And then I came to love Bella. And then I realized that James was not my mate at all. Bella was."

I said this as if she could learn something from it but she only smiled as if she had discovered a flaw in my speech.

"If he was not your mate," she said, "then how could you know how I feel?"

My stomach tightened. I knew what to say but I was loathe to hurt her feelings. "Because this boy you speak of was not your mate either," I told her gently. "If he was…you wouldn't be able to live without him."

Once again her smile simply seemed to fade. The was a breeze in the night and the wind stirred her hair even as she stood like a statue all immune to the cold.

I could tell she would require more convincing and so I spoke again.

"If I had accidently killed Bella during one of our more amorous nights together," I said, "do you know what I would've done?"

"Yes," she whispered without looking at me.

"I would've soaked myself in gasoline and lit a match," I told her bluntly. "Because that's how much she means to me. More than James. More than anyone. My existence is forever bound to hers. I contemplate no life without her—vegetarian or otherwise."

Those last words actually made her reel, as if from a wave of dizziness or perhaps the wind. She shook her head in distress, as if she didn't want to believe that, and again her eyes where filled with those phantom tears she would never be able to shed.

"Not everybody is the same," she said meekly.

I hated what I was doing to her but I believed I could help her and I went on with conviction. "No, but the fact that you've been able to go on living without this boy you thought was your mate proves at least he was never essential to your existence. You moved on. You found companionship with Kate and Irena and Carmen. And now with myself and Bella. Yet you continue to honor him in this small way by refusing to feed from humans. Why, Tanya? Does the wound left by his loss truly still throb these thousand years hence?"

"Yes," she said in almost a sob. "It does. I killed him, Victoria. He didn't deserve to die. He was just a boy."

"A boy who died a man in the arms of the woman he loved," I concluded for her.

Tanya looked at me, lost and hopeless. I took her hand and squeezed it firmly.

"I can heal you if you let me," I hissed to her urgently. "I can remind you what it's like to hunt again. To lust again. To…"

"…love again?"

Her eyes looked up at mine. In the moonlight they were pale yellow, like faded topaz, no trace at all of hunger or lust or anything but sincerity. I smiled at her, still holding her hand, and with my other hand I cupped her face and caressed her cheek fondly.

"I think you already know what it's like to love again," I whispered. "Even if it might not be returned."

I thought my words might wound her but she smiled as if they were a relief to her. A sad smile and yet her most genuine smile since we had come out onto the balcony. I smiled as well and leaned and placed a kiss on her lips. I held it for a moment, letting her feel how much I cared for her, and then I broke away.

"Come," I whispered. "Let's go back to bed. There's still hours before morning although we'll have to be quiet. Bella needs her rest."

Tanya looked back toward the room through the open balcony doors. The curtains were stirring in the breeze and you could see the small shape of the girl under the covers in the dim orange candlelight.

"I envy you both so much," she said. "She reminds me of him a great deal."

"Your mate?"

"Yes."

"What was his name?"

She turned back to me and again she smiled with that same sort of relief. "I don't remember," she said. "I think I've deliberately tried to forget as much as possible in order to spare myself the pain. The only thing I can never erase is how much I loved him."

I nodded. Mate or not, this boy had clearly been very special to her. She smiled again, her memory wandering, and then she chuckled softly.

"You would've liked him as well," she said. "I bet the four of us could've had so much fun together."

There was something teasing in her voice, as if to test my orientation, and I returned her chuckle noncommittally.

"Yes, well," I said. "He'd be a very lucky boy if that happened."

She could see through my tactfulness but she didn't hold it against me. She smiled and gave me a kiss, wrapping her hand around my neck and pulling my into it ardently as she moaned in the moonlight and arched her perfect body into mine. Then she pulled back and smiled at me.

"Thank you, Victoria," she said. "I'm very glad I met you. And Bella."

"As are we," I told her, and then kissed her again.

Most of the candles had burnt to under half their length and we went about the room blowing them out until we were in total darkness. We then climbed into the bed, careful so as to not wake Bella, and began kissing each other quietly and stroking each other's smooth porcelain bodies. Tanya's skin felt so different from Bella's but not worse. It gave me heart that after Bella became a vampire I would still enjoy her body just as much without the warmth. Possibly even more. Tanya and I were toying with each other between each other's thighs, my lover and mate snoring softly beside us, and soon we were climaxing with gentle gasps into each other's mouths.

All night and into the morning we continued to share orgasms without a word. The sun rose and shone through the open balcony doors, the curtains stirring softly in the breeze. I stole some glances at Bella but Bella continued to sleep and Tanya and I were still having so much fun. Last night had increased the intimacy between us tenfold and I felt like I had found a sort of sister in her. I hoped she felt the same way. I moaned into her mouth and tongued her deeply, showing her how much I liked and admired her, and together we orgasmed once more with mingled breath.

A giggle came from beside us. Bella was awake and she had been watching for a while. We smiled at her and then we smiled at each other and then we took Bella and pulled her toward us under the covers and fingered her to her own little orgasm.

It was still early morning but Tanya wasn't working on a Saturday. We stayed with her for a while more but soon Bella really did have to pee and Tanya insisted we return to the comforts of our own private room. We thanked her for wonderful night with lots of kisses and we scooped up our discarded underwear from the floor before blowing her a few more kisses where she reclined in the bed. She blew us a kiss back and winked and told us we were welcome in her bed anytime and we giggled and scampered out into the corridor.

Where we bumped into Leah.

All three of us froze, shocked at this unexpected meeting. Bella and I were completely naked, clutching rags of lace and high heels in our hands, and Leah was hastily dressed in a black tanktop and jeans that weren't buttoned. She had smudged lipstick on her mouth that wasn't her own and her hair was messy and unbrushed. She stared at our nakedness and at the lingerie in our hands and we stared back. We were silent for a moment, the three of us intercepted in two different walks of shame, and then Bella giggled and I grinned.

"Told you you two would really hit it off," I told her.

Leah chuckled sleepily and rolled her eyes and pushed past us and continued down the corridor.

Bella and I shared a glance, giggled, and continued to our room.

AN: I really like this chapter, lol. It's got fluff, cuteness, a little angst, and special bonding between two characters I love. Not to mention the lemons, lol. I love lingerie and high heels so much. :)

Hope you liked it too. Bella will become a vampire very soon, don't worry. :)