Impressions of Three Men in Black - A Poly!Volturi Kings tale
Chapter Fourteen (13 doesn't count)
Quid pro quo
Celeste and Aro have a meeting of minds, while she prepares to spend time with Caius. At least Aro isn't shooting eye daggers at them this time.
*Alert for just a little bit of smut*
00000000000000000000000000
Chef Emilio had saved the leftover pastries in the refrigerator, in case Celeste would want to eat something later. When he saw Aro and the pretty young human enter the kitchen, he pulled the tray of desserts out of the ice box and poured her a glass of cold milk. "Here you are, Miss Celeste. I was hoping you'd be wanting the rest."
Aro held out a chair for Celeste at the metal prep table, then sat himself next to her. He ignored the vampire chef, who seemed to take such a delight in pleasing Celeste with his array of human foods.
Celeste ate the remaining sweets, taking a drink of milk between each bite, until the small tray was clean. "Chef Emilio, that was so good. I swear, my clothes feel tighter. I really need to stop eating."
"But tonight we are having Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. It is la mia specialità. My specialty."
"Well, I won't stop eating yet, and I can't wait to taste it. Until this evening then, and thank you, Chef." Celeste rose from the chair and gave Emilio a smile. She felt Aro's arm move around her waist, feeling him gently pushing her as he led her from the kitchen.
Wanting to make something clear to her vampire mate, she stopped walking and faced him, saying, "Aro, I'm going to be spending the bulk of today with Caius, but before then, I need to talk with you." Celeste gave him a smile to let him know she wasn't angry. She took her mate's cold hand in hers and led him to her cabin. She shut the door once they entered, then sat on the bed. She patted the spot next to her, waiting for Aro to comply.
"What is it, cara? Is anything wrong?" Aro's expression was one of real concern. He assumed, and rightly so, she hadn't brought him here to be pleasured by him.
"Nothing's wrong, Aro. Not really. There's just something I need to talk with you about."
Aro wondered what she had to tell him in all seriousness, at this point in their relationship.
Celeste studied her mate, his face pale, his eyes deep red, his expression tender, and his mouth...oh my god, his mouth called to her to smother him with her kisses. She cleared her throat. "Aro, I think there's something you need to know."
His brows raised as he waited to see what she had to tell him.
"I love you. I also love Marcus and Caius."
"As it should be, my love. And?"
"Your jealousy has proven to be a...well, a pain in my ass. And the fact is, you have no reason to be jealous, because truth be told..." Celeste gazed at Aro. "I happen to love you more. I mean, I love you more than either Marcus or Caius. So you see..."
He interrupted her, the smile bright on his flawless face. "Cara, are you being serious?"
"You have been the most difficult for me to understand. We clash, you and I, but then when we mesh, it's the most wonderful feeling I've ever had. Maybe since we don't always see eye-to-eye, it draws me to you. It makes me want to understand you. I want to know everything about you. Marcus and Caius make no bones about who they are, and they share that with me. They hide nothing. You may think you share with me, but you don't. Not everything. Maybe some day you'll feel comfortable enough with me to do so."
Aro listened to her words. Perhaps she was right. It hadn't occurred to him until she brought it out into the open. He raised his hand to touch her face, his fingers ghosting over her cheek. His thumb brushed over her lips, causing her to inhale suddenly. Aro could hear her heart rate increase at his touches. His hand entangled in her hair, pulling her head closer, his mouth capturing hers in a deep kiss. She was his, but he had to share her with his brothers. Still, she loved him more, by her own admission.
"Are we good then, love?" Celeste managed to ask when Aro finally pulled back.
Aro rose to stand, his hands taking his mate's and pulling her up off the bed. "We are, cara mia." He embraced her, his body pressed against her as close as possible, his arms around her. He buried his face in her neck, the emotions he felt overwhelming him. Emotions he had once felt ages ago, but which were now foreign to him. He never wanted to lose this woman, this human who had stolen his lifeless heart. He would have to convince her to accept the change soon after they returned home.
"We will be united forever, cara..." Aro said, "...once you are like us."
"And how long is forever, Aro?" she asked. "Do you ever ask yourself that?"
"No, we don't. A hundred years or a million years, it doesn't really matter, does it?"
She had to agree with him. Whatever time they had, she would take. "No, it doesn't. As long as a meteor doesn't hit the Earth or we get swallowed up by a Black Hole."
Aro stared at Celeste. "You are strange for a human, my dear. Strange indeed."
Once both had decided the discussion was finished, Celeste gave her beloved mate one last kiss, then they left the cabin together. Aro excused himself to go to his cabin and change, while Celeste went up on deck. "I'll see you later," she said smiling, before heading up the stairs.
Seeing Caius and Marcus sitting on the loungers, she leaned down to Caius, giving him a kiss. Then she went to Marcus and bent to kiss him too. "Thank you for the idea, Marcus," she whispered low into his ear while hugging him.
The tall vampire looked up at Celeste and smiled. He said nothing but only nodded. It had been his idea to let Aro think Celeste loved him more than either he or Caius. Hopefully, his jealousy would ease, his ego now secure. What no one thought of was the only reason it would fool him was because Celeste did love Aro a bit more than the others. If he read her any time soon, he would see that.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Celeste had already leaped into the ocean by the time Aro joined the others on deck. The three vampires joined their mate in the water, swimming slowly around her.
"How fast can a vampire swim?" she asked them out of curiosity. She assumed they didn't swim much if at all, before she arrived into their lives.
"Let's show her how fast we can swim," Caius said, challenging his brothers. With that, he took off. Water, being thicker than air, did slow Caius down. But he was still faster than any human. He stopped and came back, heading right for Celeste. When he reached her, he grabbed her up in his arms and spun her around.
This time, Aro didn't find her laughter unpleasant. He had not yet come down from the high he felt at knowing she loved him the most.
After spending enough time in the water to get a bit pruney, Celeste used the ladder to climb back onto the yacht. She noticed the three vampires didn't look pruney at all. That marble-hard flesh of theirs, she thought.
Drying off her hair with a towel, Celeste lay on one of the loungers, letting the sun finish drying her body and swimsuit.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Celeste had gone to her cabin to take off the still damp suit. She had barely slipped on a robe when Aro was behind her, his hands encircling her waist. He pulled her back into his cold hard body, something she never resisted. He inhaled her scent, nuzzling the back of her neck.
"Don't you ever knock?" Celeste asked, pretending to be put out.
"As I said, you are my mate, so why must I knock."
"You're right, dear heart. I was only teasing you." Celeste had come to accept her number one mate would do as he pleased, without explanation or permission.
For her part, Celeste leaned back against Aro, her heart beating, she felt at times, only for him. She loved Caius and Marcus for different reasons, but with Aro, she knew she would aways be loyal to him and would always belong to him, as he would always belong to her.
"Marcus had a wonderful idea, didn't he." He continued to nuzzle her.
Celeste froze.
"Did you think to fool me, my dear? But it worked. And do you know why? Because it's true. I see it every time I hold you. You love me more." He smiled, used to being the first in all things. "And I have no need to feel possessive of you ever again, when you're already bound to me."
Celeste turned around in his arms, facing Aro. "All right, so Marcus thought if I told you I loved you more, you'd relax and stop with the jealousy bit. Caius agreed. But...you know. How?"
Aro smirked, then laughed. "No matter how low you two whispered, I heard everything. Then, when I touched you, it was confirmed. It's all right, my love. I think I finally came to understand the pain I was causing you. I won't again."
Giving Aro a kiss, Celeste said, "Thank you, amore mio. And thank you for not killing Chef Emilio. I really do love his cooking. Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. Can't wait." She kissed her mate until Aro began to reciprocate, devouring her lips in his desire.
Before she ended up starting something she couldn't finish, Celeste disengaged herself from Aro. "I have to get ready for supper."
Later, all four sat at the dining room table. Chef Emilio brought a large flat bowl filled with his spaghetti specialty. He served Celeste until she held her hand over her plate.
"It looks and smells wonderful, Chef." She took her fork, winding the noodles around the utensil. Putting it into her mouth, she swallowed, the flavours of the spices and sauce exploding on her tongue. "This is marvelous, Chef Emilio. Thank you for making it for me."
"The wine I chose to go with this dish especially." He watched while the steward filled the lone glass on the table. Both left with slight bows.
Celeste ate with gusto, knowing her access to real food was going away soon. But she had been told her newborn blood lust would take over any desire for human food. She would ask the trio more questions about vampires once they had returned to Volterra. Obviously, it was nothing like what she had read in novels or seen on TV. And if they refused, she'd go to Felix. The tall vampire seemed to like her ever since he had dragged her inside from the garden.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Once her meal was over, and everyone had talked their last, Caius took Celeste's hand. She gave both Aro and Marcus a kiss, then followed Caius to her cabin. They stripped off their dress clothes and jumped into the shower, where Caius pleasured his mate with both his hands and tongue. She returned the favour on her knees, providing Caius with two orgasms. Celeste thought she was getting pretty good at that. He wasn't complaining, at least.
Once they were dried off and were still naked, Celeste ran and jumped on the bed, rolling over, all smiles and laughter. Caius joined her, lying next to his mate.
"Caius, I took some pictures of you and Marcus and Aro to save to my phone, but Aro said it was not safe to keep them. If the phone fell into human hands, he...well, he told me I could keep one of each of you. So go through these and pick one you like." She handed Caius the phone, showing him how to scan through the photos, in case he didn't know how.
"I like this one," he said, peering down at a picture of himself.
"You're smiling in this one, so I very much agree. I can see you scowling anytime," she said teasingly.
Caius looked at Celeste. "I'm smiling because I was looking at you at the time." He gave her back the phone, which she placed on the side table.
Without a word, she reached up and pulled Caius down atop her. "You know how to make me love you more each day, Caius. That first day I met you, you were scary, and not very nice."
"I'm sorry, il mio cuore. I never meant to frighten you, and I wasn't very sure why you were there, in the castle, with us." His hand caressed Celeste's arm, kissing the warm skin of her bare shoulder.
"There's nothing to apologise for," she said, trying to reassure him she was not offended anymore. "It was a long time ago."
"It wasn't even two weeks ago," Caius replied, smiling, his attention now being drawn from talking to kissing his mate. Celeste's scent drove Caius into a needy desire. He pressed his hips against her lower body, forcing her legs to part for him, nestling himself between them comfortably.
"Hmmm, I like that. Dry humping, we call it." He was driving her mad with need with his movements, his hard length apparent. She reached down to grasp his firm ass cheeks. When Caius began to kiss her neck, sucking on the soft flesh, her breath came in pants while she whispered his name over and over.
Caius changed the direction of her thoughts when he went back to kissing her, one hand sliding down her outer thigh.
Once Caius reached the center of her heated core, his fingers worked their magic on her. He smirked when Celeste squirmed beneath him, begging for relief.
"In me now, mister. Don't keep me waiting." When she felt no instant compliance, she whined, "Caius..." Suddenly, she felt the intrusion of his cock, filling her with no warning and causing her to cry out the name of her mate more loudly. Her nails tried to gain purchase on his back, but it was useless. Instead, she wrapped her legs around Caius' hips, thrusting up into him.
Vampire and human joined together, neither caring about their differences. Celeste came hard, bucking upwards, then Caius came, feeling her muscles gripping his cock before filling her with his cold seed. She had barely gained her breath, when Caius flipped her on top of him so she could ride him. His hands gripped her thighs, guiding her when she rose off him, then fell back down.
Celeste and Caius loved one another physically for several hours, until she begged him to let her rest. She lay next to him, the back of her hand caressing his chest. They both looked up at the ceiling until Celeste turned on her side and closed her eyes, Caius still holding her in his arms. He listened to her steady breathing, until he noticed a bruise forming on her shoulder. Caius knew Aro was going to be furious at him. He had tried to be careful with his human, but he couldn't help it when he was in the throes of passion. He simply lost control.
While Celeste and Caius were alone in her cabin, sharing each other's company, Marcus watched Aro while he sat on his lounger. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Aro smiled and turned to Marcus. "I am, brother. I am extremely happy with our situation. Once we are home, however, we will have to discuss important matters, all four of us."
"The matter of her transformation," Marcus remarked without emotion. This would be the difficult part. Explaining to Celeste the process, and the pain that came with it.
"That, among other things," Aro replied, his thoughts on something he wanted to mention to Marcus and Caius alone. "We'll explain it to her together. Fear would be her worst enemy. It's normal to us, having experienced it, but she has to know once it's over and the transformation is complete, we will be as one forever. There is one other thing I want to speak with you about, Marcus. Later, we can include Caius."
Back in her cabin, Celeste sighed and stretched. She winced in pain, seeing several bruises on her body. But this was expected with Caius. He was less careful with her, enjoying their love-making fully. It was something she would not deny him. She laughed to herself. Once she was a vampire, HE would be the one to watch out.
Caius also saw the multiple bruises he had given her. "I am sorry, cara mia. I really had not meant to do this." His fingers gently caressed her skin.
She kissed her mate, saying, "Don't worry about it, my darling. In time, it won't even be an issue for us." Getting out of bed, Celeste went to the bathroom to clean up, then returned to bed to find Caius waiting for her. She climbed in and snuggled against her mate. "Will you stay with me while I sleep?"
Caius kissed her cheek, then her lips. His mouth roamed down to one breast, laving it into hardness. "Of course I will. And in the morning, I will get you breakfast."
She looked up at Caius and smiled. "Well, maybe I won't be going to sleep right away after all," she mused, his hands already on her.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Celeste woke to a foggy morning. The captain had slowed the boat down instead of stopping and dropping anchor, knowing there was still a schedule to keep. The boat's radar was adequate in watching for any objects fore or aft. His crew were also keeping watch with their vampiric eyesight for anything amiss.
Caius had brought her breakfast on a tray and sat with her while she ate. Afterwards, they showered together again, before dressing and going up on deck.
The fog was thick, muffling all sound. Celeste tried peering into the heavy mist and could see nothing. It reminded her of a horror film she had seen years ago, and she stood closer to Caius, her arm snaking around his waist.
"Frightened, little human?"
She smiled at his latest nickname for her. "I am, somewhat. I don't like it when I can't see what's around me."
Caius held her tighter. "Stay away from Alec then," he said, smirking.
More hands rested on her back. Both Aro and Marcus came up behind and to her side. She found their touch comforting, and wished it to always be this way.
A/N : Celeste has finally made peace with Aro. She hopes. The cruise is almost over, and then it's back to Volterra with her three mates. Once they're all home, she hopes her new life can begin with little fanfare or grief.