Cat's Choice (20 page)

“Yes, that’s right. I’ll be right back,” a nd Tripp quickly left the room.

While he was gone, Orfeo decided to grab a quick shower to wake him up a little and tame his hair. Perhaps a cold shower, Tripp was a beautiful man.

***

Tripp ran up the stairs,
wow that guy looked good right out of bed.
Coming off of last night’s frustration, I wish I could take another cold shower.
He entered the living room and saw all the women gathered together. Cami was giving out the order of events.

“So, we’re going to hit the shops first. Caterina, you need more clothes, and Willow sent me a text that she just loaded new stock.” When all the other ladies let out an ‘Ooh’, she went on, “Yes, I know! And Isabella is going to be mated, so she needs something special too.”

Tripp cleared his throat to get her attention. “Oh good, did you get it?”

“Yes,” he said, but instead of handing it to Cami, he walked over to Caterina. “When Orfeo heard that you were going shopping, he asked me to give you this. He says that you can b u y anything you want. I’m quoting here, ‘clothes, a car, a house, a horse, a puppy - whatever your heart desires , with no strings’. The only other thing he asked is that you purchase a mating gift for Isabella, and a hostess gift for Cami or actually, anyone else you’d like. The card has no limit. Remember, no strings, he was very particular about that. He doesn’t want to buy affection. He wants to show generosity and let you make the decisions.”

Isabella seemed to be able to follow along with what he was saying, and she nodded. “Yes, like he says. Signore Orfeo is molto generoso, egli e molto macho - he is very macho. Only his mama, the Signora, she rules the roost; this is the correct thing?” A t Caterina’s nod, she continued, “You know the Italian way. The men they bluster, then they see your smile, and anger is gone, yes? The Ambr o setti men, very much they are like that. Big emotion with the arms waving and the loud voices, then they want the comfort of their woman . To sooth e them, yes?”

“All right, I’ll take the card. I’m not promising that I’ll use it. I still have a little money from when I was with Adolfo . No, I don’t. The accounts are probably all frozen now. It wasn’t my money anyway. Adolfo paid for everything to keep me safe. I’ve been taking from others, one way or another, since my parents were killed. I never had the chance to settle down, get a career of my own,” s he said.

Trip went down on one knee beside her chair. “Cat, I’m sorry as hell that all this has happened to you. I hope you can start putting the past behind you now. You know you can be anyone you want to be and do anything you want to do. I’ll help, and I think Orfeo will help too, even if you don’t choose to mate with him. He loves you already; I can see it in his eyes. He agrees with me though, that you don’t eat enough. You’re too skinny, so make sure you have a good lunch,” h e added to make her smile and was glad when she did. He handed her the card and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Have fun, get something foolish or silly, will you?”

Tripp got up to go back to Orfeo. As he was leaving, he heard Cami saying something about waxing. Not wanting to hear anything else, he quickly left the room. A few minutes later, he was back knocking on Orfeo’s door.

Orfeo opened the door. Tripp could tell he had recently showered; he looked gorgeous with his bare chest showing through the gap in his silk robe. He wore matching silk lounging pants.

“Hello again,” said Tripp. “She accepted the card, though she didn’t want to at first. Isabella went to bat for you. So it’s probably a good thing that they’re going to lunch together. I do want things to work between all of us. I just wanted to tell you that everything depends on Caterina . I promised her we wouldn’t gang up on her that I would be on her side while she decides. I think she needs my support more than you do right now.”

Tripp’s words meant a lot to Orfeo. It meant that at least one of his mates had not rejected him out of hand. He reached forward slowly with one hand , tracing the scar on Tripp’s face. “Tell me why has this not healed?”

“I know my face isn’t much to look at,” Tripp started to say when Orfeo interrupted him.

“You misunderstand, to my eyes you are perfection . It is difficult to know you were in pain. I wish I had been h ere to help you, or comfort you, “ Orfeo slowly stepped closer, bringing up his other hand, running it up Tripp’s arm, over his shoulder, and down his chest. He slowly leaned forward and kissed his cheek, over the scar. Beginning near his eye and placing kisses down the line of the scar to his lips.

By the time his lips arrived to Tripp’s mouth, they were both breathing heavily. Tripp took over the kiss. He grasped Or f eo ‘s waist in his own arms, closing the distance between them until they were chest to chest. He then turned his head so their mouths met and thrust his tongue into Orfeo’s mouth.

Bringing one arm up between Orfeo’s shoulder blades to hold him close, and sliding the other arm down to grasp his ass, Tripp held Orfeo close to him as he plundered his mouth over and over again. Orfeo responded with a low groan.

Orfeo pushed his hands into Tripp’s hair, loosening it from the band that held it in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He caressed the thick strands with one hand as he massaged Tripp’s head with the other.

After a few moments, they stopped kissing. They drew back from each other to look in each other’s eyes. “Gra z i e , Tripp , you kiss like a dream.”

“So do you. I could feel your fangs. I have fangs too, so for me; it was kind of a turn on. I’m not sure how I feel about you taking my blood though. It makes me a little uncomfortable,” s aid Tripp.

“First, remember I won’t ever take blood; it is always a gift, or it has no meaning. The giving of blood is very pleasurable to the donor. The taking of blood is a violation and very painful for the victim. The two things are very different, are seen as different acts by Vampire s as a race. Second, I would not ask you to give blood until you are ready, and I would not accept blood from either of you until both of you are ready to mate with me. Once your blood and Caterina’s flows through my veins, I will then be able to walk in the sunlight without injury. Then, at some time in the future, I will partake in a ceremony where I pass this gift to the others in my clan. I will give them my blood, the mixture of all of our blood. At no time ever will either you or Caterina ever be asked or expected to donate blood to any member of my clan. For us, the donating of blood and the drinking of blood will become a sexual thing. Not always, perhaps only once a week. But it does increase the pleasure and enhance the orgasm of the donor. Do es not your bite do the same?” a sked Orfeo.

“My bite has a similar effect during mating and to a lesser extent after that. For us werewolves, it’s instinctual, and sometimes we can’t help ourselves from biting our mates. Are you saying that Vampire s don’t have the same urge?”

Orfeo walked over to sit on the corner of the couch, leaving one leg on the floor. He raised the other, and bending it at the knee, resting it against the back of the couch. He motioned for Tripp to come and sit between his legs and lean back against his chest. Once he was settled in place, he put his arms around him and answered his question.

“It’s true that we do have the urge to claim blood from our mates. Remember though that blood must always be a gift; to take, would bring pain to our mate. And because the happiness and welfare of our mate is stronger than our urge for blood, we are able to hold off and wait for them to offer. Are you considering making an offer, my mate?” asked Orfeo.

“I’d like to be able to reassure Caterina that it’s not painful,” said Tripp.

“You are very brave. And it is bravery, as I can feel that you are not ready. You are also my mate; therefore, your happiness and well-being are just as important to me as Caterina’s . I will only accept the gift of your life when you are truly ready to give it,” he said and then leaned over to give Tripp a kiss on his neck. He then reached over and plucked a grape from the plate of fruit that Tripp had brought by earlier. “I forgot to say, thank you for the nice fruit when you were here earlier. It was very generous of you to brin g it. Would you like a grape?” h e asked.

Obviously talking about blood was now off the menu,
Tripp thought. The two of them began cuddling on the couch and exchanging stories about their lives, adventures they’d gotten into as young men, and what they were currently involved in now.

Tripp explained about the Rogue wolves. And the battle they had had last year, all the difficulties that the New Council had faced when they got started. They knew they still had an enemy and were in a state of limbo waiting for the next attack.

Orfeo explained in more depth about what it was like to grow up as a born Vampire . And what the differences were between a born Vampire and made Vampire . They traded stories back and forth on the different laws between shifters and Vampire s.

After a while, Orfeo’s hands began to wander over Tripp’s neck, chest , and torso. Tripp also was taking the opportunity to touch Orfeo on his legs and arms , every once in a while tipping his head back to share a kiss. All the while, they kept up their conversation while slowly their arousal grew and grew as they became more comfortable in each other’s company.

Then Orfeo reached for the opening on Tripp’s jeans. “Do you want this , Trip p? Do you want my hands on you?”

“Yesss,” he answered.

So Orfeo opened the clasp and slowly drew down his zipper, then reached his hand inside to take hold of Tripp’s cock. They changed position on the couch, Orfeo climbing over and positioning Tripp leaning against the back of the couch as he went down on his knees on the floor in front of him. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite …yet.”

“Now is not the time to make me laugh,” s aid Tripp on a groan, as Orfeo l icked the end of his cock.

Orfeo then proceeded to use all his skill to give Tripp as much pleasure as he could and make it last as long as possible. He laved and sucked, squeezed and pumped. He used one arm to pull Tripp to the edge of the couch to give himself better access to his balls. He let out a growl and pulled Tripp’s jeans down to his ankles. Widening Tripp’s thighs, he ran one saliva soaked hand around to pull on Tripp’s balls and hold back his orgasm a little longer. He reached back farther and began rimming his anus, circling and then pushing in a little , repeating the movement again and again as he picked up the pace, his head going up and down faster.

Tripp couldn’t help himself; he grasped Orfeo’s head in his hands and began thrusting his hips. Twice now he thought he was going to come, both times Orfeo was able to hold it off. He’d never felt sensations this powerful, they built and built. Finally, he exploded with the longest and hardest orgasm of his life, shooting his cum into Orfeo’s mouth.

Orfeo swallowed every drop of Tripp’s cum. It was ambrosia to him.
I am so lucky to have found my mates, he thought. He sat back on the floor with a big grin on his face, totally ignoring his own painfully hard erection.

After Tripp regained his breath,
damn I almost blacked out, he thought .
He raised his hea d from where it rested against the back of the couch. He looked down at Orfeo’s face, grinning like he’d won the lottery. Then he let his gaze travel further south to his lap.

“Give me another minute to recoup my strength from the most amazing orgasm and best head I’ve ever had, and I’ll return the favor,” h e said.

He frowned as Orfeo shook his head. “Until we mate fully, the three o f us, it cannot be. If my lust grow s too high, I will need to consummate the mating. I cannot do that individually, I need for all three of us to mate together. At least for the mating, after that, we can do whatever you’d like.”