To Have and To Hold
Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864
Astra held the tea cup in her hands as she watched the flames in the hearth dying away, Stefan sitting on the couch beside her. She couldn't help but to remember when she had been sitting there with Damon and his father had walked in one them, making them feel like a couple of adolescents caught in the act.
"How has your family been?" Astra asked softly, drawing Stefan's attention away from the ambers. "I haven't been here for a while."
"Father has been very busy lately," Stefan began, eager for the chance on a new topic of conversation. "We hardly see him here because he's always with the other founding families." Astra felt a swell of curiosity, but pushed it back down and simply nodded her head. "I keep asking if I may join him, but he keeps telling me that I am still young yet."
Astra smiled with sympathy, reaching out and patting his hand. "You will get your chance soon enough, Stefan. Someone must take your father's place someday. I don't think Damon is very much interested in the council," she assured, getting a thankful smile from the younger of the two. "Is he still on bad terms with your father?" she asked carefully, feeling the jab in her heart when she thought back to the day that Damon had arrived back, stepping in the back garden with Katarina on his arm.
"They speak these days, but it is not the same as it was before," Stefan admitted regretfully. "He misses father and…he misses you." Why is it that the conversations all come back to the topic that she wishes to avoid? Can Damon not stay free from one simple discussion between her and Stefan?
"I miss him as well," Astra breathed. "I…I don't know what I'm going to do, Stefan," she finally admitted brokenly, her eyes burning with tears. It was all happening again, she was losing the man that she loved all because of lies and deceit. She was no better in a way, pretending to be human and lying to Damon and Stefan every moment that she was within their presence.
Moving closer to her, Stefan wrapped an arm around Astra's shoulders comfortingly, pressing a kiss against her hair to try and bring her to peace. Taking in deep breaths, Astra tried to stop herself from crying, she hated the feeling of crying. For too long had she been weak and wept. Stefan's warmth was comforting against her side, a feeling that she had begun to miss through her and Damon's time apart.
"I am sorry, you should not be seeing me in such a state," she laughed humourlessly, wiping beneath her eyes to make sure there were no lingering tears.
"You are a dear friend to me, Astra. I will always be here for you," Stefan vowed, pulling her closer. Leaning into him, Astra turned to smile her gratitude, tears still shining in her eyes but no longer threatening to fall. "You will get through this, I know that you will. Someone so strong and beautiful could never give up so easily." A true laugh passed her lips at his words, feeling only slightly better.
Placing a hand to Stefan's cheek, he smiled in return to her as she spoke. "Too good you are to me, Stefan. Someday you will have a beautiful woman sitting where I am, loving you with all her heart. I am sure of it. You deserve nothing less than perfection." She only smiled more broadly at the flush that came to his cheeks, making his appeared the sheepish young boy again. He was so innocent at times, it was endearing to see.
"I do feel that I love Katherine," he admitted quietly, looking into the amethyst of Astra's eyes. "But I…for Damon to…I just do not know anymore."
Stroking Stefan's cheek with her thumb, her smile turned sad. "It seems we're both much too confused on our feelings and futures." Stefan didn't say anything, left to stare into her understanding eyes. She was the exact opposite of Katherine in nearly every way. Not only in appearance but personality; he would admit that it was kind of a reprieve to be around the blonde woman again, letting him regain his grasp on normality. The feel of her pressed into him was something new, however. Never before had they sat so close, only sharing quick hugs or a kiss on the cheek. She was smaller than she appeared but still retained a demanding persona around her.
Without thinking on it, Stefan leaned forward a pressed his lips to Astra's. In reaction she immediately tensed up against him, her thoughts racing as she tried to think of a way to get him to back off without hurting him physically or emotionally. It was so strange, the boy that she considered to be a good friend kissing her like a lover. She did not have to make the hard decision, however, because Stefan seemed to return to himself and pulled back with a jolt, releasing her and moving back to his original place on the couch.
"I-"he stuttered, unable to think of what to say. "I am so sorry, Astra. I did not-"
"That is alright, Stefan," she assured, still shocked and flustered. "I understand that you…miss Katherine."
"I should not have put myself upon you in such a way," Stefan grieved quietly, his head falling into his hands in regret. "It was horrid of me, Astra. I took advantage of the situation-"
"Hush now, Stefan," Astra whispered softly, gently tipping his head up to look at her with her fingertip beneath his chin. "You did nothing wrong," she stressed as she looked into his eyes, watching as a dreamy, awed look came to his face as the compulsion took hold. "Alright?
"Yes, nothing wrong," he agreed. She smiled before releasing his mind, drawing back her hand just as the door opened at the front of the Estate. Astra and Stefan both rose from where they had been sitting, their cold teas still sitting on the table in front of them. Damon and Katherine's laugher reached them from down the hall, making Astra's blood boil at the sound. Any sense of peace that the distraction Stefan had accidentally made was gone within a second of hearing them.
The looks that appeared on both of their faces once they rounded the corner gave Astra a deep routed sense of pride. Fear.
Yes, fear me.
"Hello, Damon. Katherine. Damon, may I borrow Katherine for a moment?"
Damon, looking flustered and out of sorts, immediately agreed and stepped aside. Katherine had gone stark white, just as she had many times in the past when around Astra. Showing no emotion, as blank as a piece of parchment, Astra stepped forward and caught Katherine's eye before moving passed her, listening for the other woman to follow.
As soon as they had stepped into the empty study across the hall and Astra had closed the door, Katherine tried to gain the upper hand, picking up the letter opened that was sitting on the desk nearby. Astra easily disarmed her, letting the silver object drop, and took a bone breaking hold on her jaw, forcing her to meet her eyes. "You are a conniving bitch that I will enjoy draining," she hissed out. "Forget about Nicklaus and Elijah, I'm going to kill you myself and savour every second of it." Katherine's eyes were wide with fear, her hands grasping at Astra's arm, trying to free herself from the other vampire.
She tried to speak, but Astra's grip on her jaw made it impossible to even open her mouth.
"Are you as stupid as this, Katherine? After years of surviving, running away from the Originals, you are foolish enough to sign your death slip by pissing me off?" she growled out. As Katherine continued to try to speak, Astra finally released her grip enough for the other woman to open her mouth.
"It was his own will," she gasped out, both in pain and fear. "Damon, I never compelled him. He came of his own will!"
ᵻ
Roman Empire, Pompeii, 78 A.D.
Heart fluttering erratically in her chest, Astraea had a faint thought in her head that she might be hurting Elijah, but with another glide of his tongue against her throat her hands tightened in his hair, pulling the strands even harder as she gasped. His hands roamed along her legs, pushing up the material of her improvised dress, as he lay between them. Tugging his hair again, she guided his lips back to hers and began a hungry kiss, her entire body beginning to heat up.
Using her legs on either side of him, she was able to roll Elijah onto his back while she moved to straddle him in one fluid motion. Her blonde curls fell down above his face, taunting, as she smiled down at him with her hands falling to his chest. He had been able to hike up her dress until it was around her hips, bunched up and leaving her legs bare.
Elijah's hands found her sides, thin against his palms, and pulled her down to him again to press more open mouthed kisses along her neck. Sighing happily, Astraea's fingers hooked down into Elijah's tunic and tugged lightly, revealing more of his bare chest to her. Her heart had not slowed since he had first kissed her, instead only gaining more momentum with every caress of his fingers along her flesh.
Moving his hands up along her sides to her back, Astra couldn't help but to arch toward him at the sensation, curving her spine. His hands only stopped when they reached the start of her dress, beginning to pull on it. The wideness of the collar allowed him to easily slide it past her shoulders, bearing more and more skin to him. Only hesitating a moment, Astra soon pulled her hands back and continued to lower the collar past her arms, freeing them and exposing her naked torso.
Rolling them over again, Elijah pressed more kissing along her neck as his hands slid along the skin that was now exposed to him, touching all along what she offered to him. "You are beautiful," he whispered against her ear. She shivered at the depth that his voice had reached, her hands tugging at the tunic he was wearing. Without waiting, Elijah easily pulled the shirt free from his belt and over his head, exposing pale skin that was pulled taught over hard worked muscles.
Her fingertips ghosted over his skin, feeling along the perfect muscles of his chest and abdomen. Marvelling as the muscles tensed beneath her fingers, she lifted herself up to press a kiss against his lips, wrapping her arms around him to continue her explorations of his back as she pressed her breasts against his chest.
"Make love to me," she whispered into his ear, her fingers moving along his skin so lightly that it felt like the brush of a feather. Once she reached his hair, she began to play with the long strands, twisting them inside her fingers and pressing a series of kissing along his cheek and jaw. Elijah groaned softly against her skin and dropped his hands to begin removing the rest of the dress from her hips.
Her skin felt like silk beneath his palms, wanting to stroke her all over. The teasing glimpse that he had been given the night of the festival was nothing compared to the privileges that he had now. Kisses were planted along her shoulders and chest, getting soft sighs of contentment as she ran her fingers through his long hair, marvelling in the silky touch. As soon as the dress was tugged down his hands were everywhere, drawing a chocked moan from Astraea as she threw her head back and trembled beneath him.
The fire across the room didn't seem as needed as it had before, the heat that was spreading across their skin all that they needed for warmth. Elijah pulled back enough to look into her eyes, his hands rising up to frame her face. She smiled at him in that moment, still holding onto him tightly. Leaning down to catch her lips in a kiss, he rolled his hips forward in the same moment and swallowed her gasp, groaning in pleasure.
She pushed gently on his chest, a silent urging, and Elijah willing rolled onto his back as he smiled up at her. Returning the smile, Astraea blushed heavily as she slipped the remainder of her dress off her body, leaving her naked before him. Her hands found the metal and silk that made up his belt and began to carefully untie it, pulling the material loose. With the lack of something to hold it up, the kilt that he wore slackened enough for her to begin pulling the material lower, revealing the v of his hips. Leaning down, she began pressing kisses along the dip that went down between his abs, poking her tongue out occasionally to taste his skin.
"Come here," Elijah whispered, drawing her up along his body until he could kiss her again, feeling as she gasped for air against his lips.
Pulling her flush against his body, Astraea felt her stomach tighten and her heart race inside her chest, Elijah's fingers tangling in her hair and keeping her lips moulded to his. He inhaled deeply, the smell of her blood beneath her skin so strong with her proximity and he was forced to pull away from the kiss before he cut her with his fangs. Turning his head to the side, Astraea tensed up as she looked at him in confusion.
"Elijah?" she asked carefully, only able to see half of his face.
"I apologize, Astraea," he mumbled, still turned away from her. Slightly worried, she reached out slowly and gently guided him to look at her, meeting his eyes once more. She gasped and jolted at the sight of the demonic red that surrounded his eyes, much the same as they had been the night she ran from the room before her parents caught her coughing. His lips were parted just enough for her to see the fangs had also appeared, the same ones that had torn into her neck. "I will not hurt you," he assured.
Swallowing thickly, she reached out again and traced her fingers beneath his eyes, feeling the veins that stood against his skin. His skin was still just as soft as before. Looking down to his fangs, she couldn't stop herself from reaching for them next, dipping her fingertip between his parted lips and feeling the smooth, marble like teeth. Taking in a deep, calming breath, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"Astraea, you must understand that…it is sometimes hard to control," he admitted softly. "I fear that I may bite you accidentally." His confessions brought both worry and love to her, because she knew that he truly was afraid of such a thing happening accidentally. Leaning forward again, she pressed a quick kiss to his lips, moulding her body against his.
"I trust you."
His face still in what he referred to as his 'demon form' Elijah kissed her again, rolling them over for the last time so that he rose to be on top. He was mindful of his fangs, not wanting to cut her for both the reason of causing her pain and that he didn't think he could control himself if he smelt anymore of her blood. He had shamelessly licked off the blood that had been on her neck and chin already, and now that he had the taste in his mouth he was desperate for more.
In order to distract both himself and Astraea, he rid himself of the kilt that hung loose on his hips and lay down on top of her, their bodies touching from their lips down to their feet. She seemed mindful of her throat as she fought the impulse to drop her head back at the sensations, rolling her hips up to meet with his shyly and pulling a hiss from Elijah as he returned the action in favour.
The room was silent aside from the heavy breaths that passed between them, interrupted once by a sharp cry of pain that Astraea muffled into Elijah's shoulder, causing him to tense and hold his breath to fight against the urge to bite. But as she relaxed against him, his blood lust was replaced by a very different lust. A lust for the body. The soul. The heart.
He wanted more than just her blood.
I tried to get this chapter out yesterday, but I wasn't at my computer so that would have been quite difficult…
I know that some of you wanted a steamy sex scene, but I have digressed for specific reason, you will know why soon.
Also, in reply to a guest review I got from someone that picked the name 'Re View': I will cuss out who I want, and I do not consider them my readers because they are not reading. Skipping over chapters is basically saying 'fuck it, I want to know what happens at the end'. It's like turning to the last couple of chapters of a book simply because you want to know the ending and are too lazy to read about how they got there. So FYI, it's insulting and pointless. More happens in many past chapters than half of the present chapters. Have you written stories? Would you understand? I don't do this to give my fingers a work out on the keyboard, I write for the readers, but they don't even appreciate that much.
Chapter 32 – Flipside
"You see, he may not know how to detect these things but there are very few things that my nose can miss."
"You're not allowed to hurt us," Bonnie reminded, getting a chuckle from Astra.
"Honey, I'm not the one you've got to worry about. How do you think Jonas, the over protective, powerful warlock father, is going to react when he finds out that you drugged and manipulated his son?" she asked, leaning in close to Bonnie's face. Jeremy moved to separate them, but Astra flashed him a look that promised pain and he sunk back down into his chair. "Listen well, little witch, you and your friends have been given apt warning on crossing Elijah and those he works with to protect all of you. Strike three, Ms. Bennett."
Rising from the chair that she had placed down, she easily moved it back into place as though there had been no discussion at all. Elijah's voice drifted from the other side of the room, but she kept her attention focused on the two sitting at the table. Moving over to Jeremy, she leaned against the back of his chair so that she was whispering in his ear.
"I hope you enjoyed your time playing hero, but the game is over."