Astarion finally felt good again. He wasn't coughing at all, his nose was clear, and his strength had come back. Tav's hand was in his as they walked down the street, the sun setting above them.
He was taking her on a date. A REAL date. NO feet. He was taking her to Bloomridge Park. He had a blanket, a bottle of wine, and a mix of fruit in the pack over his back. A small pouch, cinched at the top, was in his pocket. They were going to eat, drink, and talk. He was going to ask her an important question and begin planning his life. HIS life. Not Cazador's. He had full confidence in whatever Tav had planned.
They crested the hill and he led them through the park gates. The street lamps were lit and the park was awash in amber light. The green of the grass around the blanket Astarion laid down was muted and held the scent of fall. Crickets chirped and whispered trysts occurred behind trees.
Astarion unwrapped the brown paper from around the grapes, cherries and strawberries and laid them on the blanket.
Tav sat next to him, her hand covering her mouth and eyebrows raised in surprise.
"No one has ever done anything like this for me," she finally spoke. She plucked a grape off the bunch and slipped it between her lips.
"A crime, but I aim to correct it," Astarion said while uncorking the wine. He sipped it then passed it to Tav. "I wanted to thank you."
"For what?" she asked, taking a swig.
Astarion rolled his eyes.
"For taking care of me while I was ill, darling. You brought a dozen people to their deaths to keep me alive. You barely slept for a week and I wanted to treat you. To a NORMAL date."
"This is very normal, I'll give you that," Tav chuckled. "This is… I don't even know what to say. Romantic?"
"I was going for romantic, yes," Astarion nodded. "Can I tell you something?"
"Of course."
"I lived in this city for 200 years, the way I am now. Vampires eventually die, yes, but we tend to live very long lives. The future becomes so vast you can't possibly plan for it, and there is no point in planning when someone else is in control of you. There is nothing in front of you, and you run from what is behind you because looking back is painful."
"I woke at dusk every evening, if I had been allowed to rest, and was expected to complete the same task every day. I heard music while I danced to deceive and saw flowers close their blooms under the moon."
Tav nibbled on a strawberry, enchanted with the story he was telling her.
"Who I was at my core was still there, but he was smashed down so deep inside me I had to forget him. I couldn't exist as a man who enjoyed reading a book in the morning light and one who ripped people apart by a single command. I became a series of instructions that were carried out."
"When I woke up in that forest, the instructions weren't there. I couldn't hear Cazador's voice screeching in my ear to go find more. Always more. I heard nothing. I couldn't hear my own voice in my aching head."
Astarion accepted the bottle of wine handed to him by Tav and drank. Talking about this was easier than he thought it would be. Tav just listened. This wasn't a conversation. This was a piece of very personal information being shared.
"I began traveling with you and the others and I had to find my own voice again. I had to hear my own thoughts and figure out who I was on my own. Did I like talking to others and socializing? No. Not at all. The galas I had forced myself into were horrid. I liked one on one conversations."
"Did I like killing? I was afraid I did. I knew vampires were seen as reprehensible for their flippant attitude around murder. I didn't want to be anything associated with Cazador and the hell he put me through but I realized I still got a rush out of it. I don't care about some faceless stranger. Not because of Cazador, but because of who I am."
"I worried I was broken. Defective. I was out of his control and I shouldn't like murder anymore. I felt like I should have been able to change myself to be better, and better was whatever Cazador was not. Then, you showed up in my tent. You talked to me. You walked with me and talked about your patron. You grinned ear to ear as you spoke about disemboweling people. You certainly weren't broken. You were incredible."
He drank.
"I saw you put fledglings back in their nest after they had fallen out of a tree. I saw you scoop up spiders that had wandered into your tent and hurl them back out instead of crushing them under your heel. You had your own voice and you heard it very clearly. You knew what mattered to you, what was important, and what wasn't. So I started listening to myself instead of trying to direct myself."
"I didn't care about the birds and could take or leave the spiders. I missed reading so I started looting books. I heard my own voice in my head as I looked at the words. I still liked killing, but for myself. You asked me if I wanted your help finding victims, and I didn't know. I knew I liked your company."
"My voice told me I liked you. It told me you were trustworthy and that you wouldn't judge me for being lost. It told me you weren't looking to take advantage of me and that there was something in the both of us that was the same."
"For the first time in 200 years, I have a future ahead of me. I go to bed at night knowing that I will have a tomorrow, and that tomorrow is mine to deal with. The worms and Cazador are problems to be solved. There will be something after them. Can I ask you something now?"
"Sure," Tav said, her head spinning. She had learned what he really thought of her, he knew her for who she was, and he liked her. It was strange to hear.
Astarion took her hand between his.
"Will you be part of that after with me? I don't know when it will come and I can't promise anything but myself."
"Of course, I couldn't…" Tav said, trying to clear her tight throat. She felt tears burning under her lids. "I couldn't imagine life without you now."
"Thank the gods, I don't have to return this then," Astarion muttered, fishing around in his pocket and pulling out the pouch. He opened it and dropped a bright silver ring out of it. "It's not much, I hope to find you something better soon."
He slid the ring over her finger, silently relieved it fit. Trying to cram it onto her would have been humiliating.
"Wait, are you asking me to marry you?" Tav asked, shocked.
"Well, yes, love. I thought that was implied. Is that alright?"
"Yes, of course, I…" Tav stared down at the ring in disbelief. She knew he loved her but she couldn't get over the fact that someone actually wanted to marry her. "I just can't believe it."
"Darling, I'm absolutely crazy for you and certainly not shy about it. Surely you saw this coming."
"No, definitely not," she said, laughing and shaking her head.
"I didn't think I'd come to this day either, and I never thought I'd see you speechless," Astarion smirked. "It's not a bad look on you. I'll have to surprise you more often."
"Can I tell you something now? I don't think you're going to believe me, though," Tav said while digging through the pocket in her robe.
Astarion nodded, watching her. She pulled the item out and took his hand in hers. He felt a ring slide over his finger.
"I found this moments before we met. It was on the beach and sticking out of the sand."
Astarion held his hand out. A wide, onyx band.
"Something told me to pick it up and hang onto it. It's not worth much and isn't anything special, but then I met you. Something in my head knotted that ring and you together. Do you remember that night in the woods? When Gale almost caught us?
"Of course."
"I wanted to give it to you then. When you were carrying me through the trees to find somewhere quiet. Do you remember when I told you I loved you?"
Astarion was trying not to cry. He nodded.
"I wanted to slip it on your finger then. I know I'm rough and a lot of what we do is absolutely horrid but…" Tav sighed. "I feel like you understand it. There is a lot of lust between us but I don't think that would be there at all if I didn't absolutely adore you. There is something so incredibly unique and wonderful about you and I was stupid and afraid to scare you away."
Nodding, Astarion wiped his eyes.
"You're too pretty the way it is. Stop crying," Tav teased gently, running her finger over the band on Astarion's.
"You can't say all that and expect me not to cry," Astarion said, sniffling. "You should say things like that more often. I'll put out more."
"I'll keep that in mind the next time you're holding out on me," Tav laughed. "That's a big issue for us."
"Good. I'm going to be frigid as soon as we get the papers signed," Astarion joked. "You'll have to bring me jewelry and wine to get me to open my legs. Only from the shop near the gate. And only on your birthday."
"Is this what happens when you put a ring on someone? They start making demands?" Tav asked, rolling her eyes.
"You wouldn't last a day if I stopped putting out," Astarion sniggered.
"You're right. I wouldn't," Tav answered, serious. She leaned closer to him. "Our very normal date is about to end, I'm afraid. Thank you for a very lovely, very normal date."
Tav shoved him to the ground, berries crushing underneath him.
"Thank the gods, one normal date is enough for me," Astarion sighed.
Tav looked over her shoulder. They were in a fairly secluded corner, and the only eyes on them would be engaging in the same act. A communal agreement of silence. She undid her robe and slipped off her boots, nude in the night air.
"Strip," she said, narrowing her eyes on Astarion. He felt like a piece of meat in a market. He obeyed. He'd be a steak for her. A flank. He laid back down, the berries giving way under him.
She climbed on top of him and slid over him, taking all of him at once. She pressed her hand to his chest and rode him for a moment, grinding her hips against him. She could smell the grass and dew around her.
Astarion exhaled deeply, trying not to feel overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of her around him. Her fingers pressing into his chest. Feeling her climaxing within moments of mounting him. She sighed into the night, grinding slower as her orgasm ended. He placed his hands on her hips, enjoying their warmth.
"Astarion?"
"Yes, love?"
"Thank you. For everything."
"Of course," he said. "I'd do anything for you."
"Ride me?"
"Absolutely," he grinned. He rose and Tav laid where he had. The berries were sticky.
Astarion took her knees over his shoulders, a position he knew she liked. He could kiss her thighs this way. And smell her better.
He slid himself in her, rested his head on her plush thigh, and watched his cock glide into her. Sliding out, he watched her lips cling to him, almost unwilling to let him go. He thrust himself upward into her, rubbing the tip of his cock against her delightfully textured walls. He felt her shudder.
"It's nice having you do the work," Tav said breathily. "Great view, too."
"You're doing plenty," he grunted. "Do you know how hard it is for me not to lose it and fill you on the first pump?"
"I don't, tell me," Tav purred.
"The way you smell alone… it's like an invitation with my name on it," he spoke, thrusting slowly. "The moment my cock touches your cunt it's soaked… you just cover me in you, before I'm even inside. You drip and it's wonderful… I wish you'd drown me in you…"
Tav squeezed her cunt around him, bringing him back from his derailing thought. He moaned.
"Your lips are so pretty and soft, and I see your clit there and I want my tongue on it. I want to suck on it, and I start thinking about you around my tongue…" he continued. "And when I'm inside you it's the heavens themselves wrapping my cock in divinity. You're so tight and wet around me it's almost unfair…"
"And then I look down and see your face. Your eyes are closed sometimes but your lips are parted and I'm making you feel good. It's me doing it. I'm the luckiest man to have ever lived."
Astarion pumped harder, watching her face. He felt himself getting dangerously close to the edge.
"Stop for a moment," Tav said softly. "I want you to taste me."
Astarion slid himself out of her cunt, anguished, and lowered himself to the ground.
He buried his tongue in her, swirling it to taste as much as possible. He rubbed the tip of his nose against her clit, inhaling deeply. She flooded his senses. He stroked himself, precum leaving a trail down his cock.
Tav grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged. He moaned into her, his tongue vibrating wonderfully inside her. She pulled again. He moaned, louder this time. She yanked his hair and his moan lasted longer. She watched his shoulder move and he pumped himself harder, harder, then slowing.
"Did you cum?" she asked.
He looked up at her, his face buried in her cunt, and nodded.
"I didn't tell you to cum yet," she said, sitting up and pushing his face away. She grinned.
Astarion whimpered. He wanted more. She hadn't cum on his tongue yet. But he was excited.
"On all fours."
He obeyed.
Tav rummaged through the bag Astarion had brought, hoping to find something she could use. Nothing else was inside, but a stick had fallen off a nearby tree. Thin and spindly. Not ideal, but functional enough. Close enough to the right length.
Tav kneeled behind Astarion and fondled his ass roughly. She spit on her thumb and pressed it against his tight asshole, pushing slightly enough to feel inside him. She picked up the stick and traced it over the back of his thigh. She tapped him with it, causing him to jump.
Astarion had no idea what was going on behind him. Her thumb felt good in his ass and he wanted her to push more but knew she had other plans. She didn't grin like that for no reason.
Tav swished the stick through the air and planted it against Astarion's white skin.
"Fuck!" he yelped, his arms shaking.
"Too much?" Tav asked.
"No!" he shouted, then spoke softer. "I deserve it."
Tav felt her eyes roll back in her head for a moment. She couldn't have asked him to say anything better. That was perfect.
She struck him again. He arched his back and stuck his ass out to her. Was she dead? Was this what her patron had for her after her hard work?
Her patron's voice boomed in her head.
"No. Leave me out of this."
"More," Astarion whined, impatient with the delay between strikes.
She swatted him again, still inside him. She flexed her thumb down, finding his sweet spot. She hit him harder, the stick snapping in her hand.
"No," Astarion whined.
Tav looked around. No more sticks. Her hand would work just as well.
Pulling her arm back, she smacked him on the ass as hard as she could.
"Yes, yes, yes. Please make me remember this. I won't forget."
She spanked him again, then paused to speak.
"I didn't know you liked impact play."
"What the hell is that?" Astarion asked, gasping.
Tav laughed and slapped him again lightly. She flexed her thumb repeatedly, timing her strikes with the movements. He jumped beneath her with every touch. She could feel his arms trembling.
"I think you're going to remember this for a few days," Tav said, admiring her work. His white ass was bright red. She spanked him again.
"Tav," Astarion gasped.
"Hm?"
"I'm going to cum if you hit me again and I can't help it. I'm trying not to," he whimpered. "I can't help it."
"Really? I haven't even touched your cock and you're that close already? You're so sensitive."
Tav massaged his ass with her free hand, continuing to stimulate him with her thumb. Astarion felt his face flush with shame.
"That's normal for you, though. I just breathe in your direction and you're hard as a rock."
Astarion felt his elbows shake. He gasped for breath.
"Astarion."
"Yes?" he whined.
Tav said nothing and lifted her hand. She felt him tremble. She struck him as hard as she could, then dug her nails into his flesh. She worked her thumb inside him.
"Yes! Yes!" he cried. "Gods!"
As he climaxed, his words gave way to high pitched wails. His arms finally gave out and he lurched forward. His face fell into the grass, his ass still in the air. Tav slid her thumb out of him and gently massaged his reddened skin.
"I'll find you some ice tonight," she promised, placing a kiss on the forming welts.
"Okay," Astarion sighed dreamily. "Tav, that was wonderful. It's always wonderful but that was… just… wonderful."
His post orgasm haze dissipated and he rolled onto his back. The stars were bright over him. His ass stung and he was happy. So happy. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the night air and… Tav. He could almost taste her in his mouth. He sat up.
"Can I try again?" he asked.
Tav leaned back and spread her legs, welcoming him with a wave of her hand. He returned to her. She dripped onto his lips and chin. He placed his hands on her thighs and pushed them together, closing him off from the world around him. He closed his eyes and slid his tongue over her clit. He traced his tongue around it, feeling her legs twitch. Sucking her hood, he slid a finger inside her and pressed against her sweet spot. She pressed her thighs, thick and soft, harder against his head. He couldn't hear anything. He was in paradise.
When she came, he heard his blood rushing in his ears. She gripped his finger and rocked against it, heightening her pleasure. He sucked her clit until she shuddered. He slid his finger out and filled her with his tongue, drawing her sweet nectar out and drinking it down.
Tav ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his curls through her fingers. She stared up and watched a wispy cloud drift over the half moon. An owl hooted in the distance. Leaves silently fell from branches buffeted by a cool breeze. Minutes passed in silence.
"Astarion?"
Astarion opened his eyes and lifted his head.
"Yes, darling?"
She could see her juices wet on his face.
"I love you."
