Knock, Knock...

[Gates]

Gates stood in the full blast of the heated shower. His muscles centuries ago gave up aching from travel. Yet he found a shower after the the drive through the darkening night of Texas or anywhere for that matter a luxury he was wont to do without. He had sent a missive to Nadine alerting her to their arrival he hoped that she would meet them as planned at midnight.

The lines of contact between them over the course of the intervening span had seemed to fall away. Most of their missives having been relayed through intermediaries. He hoped that she was well and able to conduct a visit. If not he would quickly arrange their departure. the airport in Waxahachie sat awaiting his call as it was.

The arrival of Katrinas liaison sent shivers of foreboding along his spine. The timing of her arrival spoke of something ominous on the encroaching front. It was all the more important to have strong ties with each of the cities he had begun dialogue with. Closing his mind away from those thoughts he did his best to not reach out to Antoinette. As usual he failed.

She had become something very special to him. She wasn't a compunction as it would have been if she had attempted to usurp his mind. It was something wholly new to him. They were truly in concert no master merely equals in their exchange. He had never before heard of such an arrangement amongst his kind or any other. He searched for the end of the novelty of it and found no such boundary. Every time he probed at the bond between them he found its borders even farther removed.

There was no other way to explain it save that they were well and true friends...

[Antoinette]

Having booked an adjoining room to the one Gates resided within now and decided to enjoy in the luxury this room with held. Now standing beneath the water jetting into the large 'antique' claw foot tub she reminisced over the happenings of the past few months. Taking particular notice of her bonding with Master Gates.

She smiled softly to herself as she thought of him, feeling him within the next room. His presence could be most distracting for her. She had yet to know the delight of flesh but the mind was far more sweeter.

He was a true gentlemen, a quality some of the old had even lost. So while it wasn't a huge factor or the fruitful friendship she savored it for it preciousness. She was surprised at how she hadn't worried about leaving Lily still within the confines of New Orleans, trusting her dear friend Constance with her care. Lily had not liked that she had to leave for a time but she knew that she would be fine especially with her new pet to occupy her.

The scorching hot water created a thick mist within the room as she stood beneath it. The temperature enough to scald and burn a mortal but she found it comforting. The heat soothing muscles that had started to tense after sitting for so many hours. She would have rather flown in of her own power but knew that for negotiations it would probably be best to rely upon technology then.

Finally she shut the water off and stepped out of the deep tub. Her form that of a goddess as her obsidian hair fell around her shoulders and too the small of her back in light waves even now wet. Wrapping a dark burgundy towel around her torso and waist, it reached past her knees, she decided to give into a whim she crossed to the adjoining door and crossed the threshold into Gates room. She brushed his mind with her own very softly in only a tiniest of whispers to alert him of her closeness.

"Monsieur Gates?" she said it as if a question as she gently knocked upon his bathroom door and stayed on the outside. She had questions about their stay in Dallas and wanted to know what his thoughts were. She would never admit that she merely wanted to be within his company something she found a little disconcerting as to how much she was pulled by the urge ever since their bonding.

[Gates]

Gates heard Antoinettes water end as he had prepared to end his. A sa futile act of rebellion he did not shut off his water he instead decide to stay a moments longer as a way to prove for the umpteenth time that he was indeed at least Master of himself. The waters pleasure stolen by the fantasy that instead of cooling beads of water they were instead the trail of Antoinettes fingers.

Shaking his head as thoughts of such a nature came more often just since their touch down at the private airfield some forty miles outside the city. The cooling temperature of Texas's night stirring feelings he hoped would dissipate. he knew that for more than their bonding that Antoinette was forbidden fruit. He knew that he would fall forver into her embrace if he opened that door way.

While her face had launched a thousand ships her persona would have launched ten score times that much in the defense of her. Again he shook his head as he could all but feel Antoinettes presence so close that he could have reached out and touched her.

It wasn't until the knock at his door that he realized that his waking dreams were in fact reality. She was close enough to touch the thin paper mache door of the bathroom the only separation between them. Clearing his throat, Gate spoke to Antoinette. Shutting off the water as he did so he moved to the bathroom mirror to begin shaving. His facial hair frozen as it was every night at five o'clock shadow. Lifting the straight edged razor he conveyed the elation he felt with her nearness.

He conveyed a wealth of things but what was said was "Come in its open..." He was just using the act of shaving as a way to keep from being taken by her beauty and proximity right a way. He had found that if he kept his hands busy and eyes from immediately running to her that he could make through a conversation without losing thoughts to her glow.

It was a good idea in theory... But like most words the theory failed as she opened the door standing there in her towel. Water soaked hair cascading about her. Like a greedy guppy Gates had no chance...

[Antoinette]

Entering the bathroom she was not fazed by the humid fog that hung in the air. Beading into drops upon her skin. Her hair still wet from her shower and now curling at its tips. She could feel his closeness like a delectable fruit upon her tongue as she sat down gently upon the closed and unused toilet. Her towel rising and opening slightly to reveal the long line of her pale thigh.

She couldn't help but take in his appearance as he too stood there in nothing but the small hotel towel that was wrapped around his waist. An unconscious gesture for her modesty she was sure. Even as she noticed this she couldn't fend off the dark thought that had begun to invade her mind all the more often then normal since they had arrived in this foreign land.

Thoughts of replacing the beads of water that ran over his perfect chest and back with her fingers and tongue. Her eyes darkened to a molten amber as her thoughts turned to such. She had fed the ardeur well before their travels and knew that it was still lying dormant and sleeping like a well fed cat deep within her. No this was the makings of something much worse she feared. Something she didn't understand and therefor making it worse then the arduer. No it was a bonding....a bonding unheard of amongst their kind. Even now as he went through the well practiced motions of shaving something that was futile for as the new sun set the stubble would once again reappear.

Oh to run her fingers through the course hair.....she started to think an invisible blush raising to her cheeks thankfully hidden in this thick fog. She had all but thought such human things were lost to her until her bonding with Gates. Now it seemed such foolishness as a blush was more common for her but only with him. Something she hated to admit but admit it she would if asked.

Even then she wanted to go to him and run her hands over her shoulders as dark impulses long thought gone became her ever present thoughts. Her earlier questions long forgotten as she admired his dark flesh and simmering eyes.

Lost to her own thoughts she was proud of the sheer fact that she had not gone to him then and there. She only hoped he would not sense her blush or her dark thoughts as she weakly shielded from him even if it was more merely out of habit then desire.

[Gates]

One of the common myths which prevailed despite facts to the contrary was that vampires cast no reflection in mirrors. Gates had never been more thankful for the error of wives tales. Holding the herringbone straight razor in his hands he was a lucky man that he could shave in his sleep. As the razor slid across and over his face in smooth strokes bidden by muscle memory not his control.

His eyes were locked on the near ethereal vision that sat behind him. The one whom even the mirror image was a pale comparison to the water soaked fleshly original a few feet behind him. He empathized with the poor misguided fools that would have destroyed the known world to be with her but one moment more.

He empathized with them, yet here he was fighting what was a foregone conclusion. He would go to her. He would lose himself in her touch. He so far removed from the immediate bonds of his Kiss could risk what the fires of Hades for a small bit of happiness. The question wasn't whether he wold go to her but how soon.

He could feel the waves of heat coming off her skin as well as the feel of that which was coming from her. Just her. She did things to him that no other had. She was a rarity as true as ever had been.

Stilling his thoughts and his hand. Nearly overwhelmed by the feelings that assailed him from with out and with in. Gates forced his eyes away from the pale road to heaven that peeked from her towel. Try though he might his eyes would have their fill. He finally corralled those nefarious ne'er do wells by closing his lids.

Clearing is throat as he couldn't initially trust his voice. It would be too heavy laden with the sound of lust. As she was intimately acquainted he knew that she would have known as he did now hat the only question in his mind now was not if he could remain strong against her formidable charms but how soon would he give himself to her.

"My thoughts did not trouble you..."
It was as much concession as Gates would verbally speak of their bonding aloud. Before the words had time to be processed in his head Gates forded on. "I believe I might need your help," he asked eyes still closed. He would master himself. He knew that he had now thrown down the gauntlet. More for himself but also for the Mistress. They were alone hear for now but the secret of their joining was one that would make the rounds soon as anyone gained wind.

As well as the fact that if given his druthers Gates would spend the entire time away in Antoinettes Reign...

[Antoinette]

Brought out of her thoughts by his voice she looked up to him her own eyes concerned. Standing she went to his side swiftly her hand hovering over his shoulder. Their energies meeting and playing off of each other.

"My help? You have it" she said finally bringing her hand down to touch his felsh. The touch of skin sending a invisible shiver up her psyche. She felt so much more free now that she was outside the confines and watching eyes of the kiss.

Wanting so much to go to him and soothe him she finally ended up running a smooth soft hand over his temple, down behind his ear, softly tracing the line of muscle in his neck and over his shoulders. Her carress soft and gentle, holding affection. "Your thoughts did not trouble me...for it is hard to be troubled by something that is echo'd within yourself" she whispered very softly.

She watched as he fought something as her cheeks maintained their soft blush hinting at a good feeding prior to their visit. Her towel securely in place for which she was almost annoyed with as images of lost towels in the steam flashed through her mind.

[Gates]

Gates closed eyes kept the vision of Antoinette gliding to him a mystery. Though he couldn't see nor hear her approach he felt her draw near in ways that no living man could withstand. Things tightened of their own accord. Gates was mid congratulating himself prematurely for his control when her hand landed like a flash of lightening. His eyes fluttered open in time to feel her hand trail a line of goose flesh down from his temple.

He could barely stand the sweet blaze of her touch. She excited him in no way he was familiar. Even as she spurred him on she through their connection grounded him. He held firm and fast yet his hands clenched and unclenched of their own bidding. He was at her whim. retrievingthe dropped razor he hand it to Antoinette. it was as close to a complete submission as he could ever come in deed. In spirit he was already heres as much as she was his.

They were wholly entwined and enmeshed. raising his head allowing her a better vantage from which to shave him Gates held perfectly still fighting the impulse to seize her. The need would never leave him but he was more a part of her now than he was sure anyone had ever been...

[Antoinette]

She gazed at him her eyes darkened with her own affection and lust as she was given the razor. The look in his eyes as they met her tightening things low in her body. In moments like those she was glad she needed not to breath for her breathe would have caught.

Unconsciously she lightly bit her lower lip before confessing, "I have never shaved a man," as she looked down at the straight edged razor in her hand with a tiny pout.

She was ever amazed at how one person could remind her of a humanity she had thought she lost so long ago. Looking at his face within the mirror she paused and let out a soft breath. More and more images flashing through her mind of that which she wanted to do more and more since their landing.

Raising her hand she gently began to move the blade in down ward strokes a look of concentration upon her face. She repeated this action one, two and threes times until she accidentally nicked the skin just upon his jawline. Without hesitation she raised upon tip toes and licked the blood from his flesh in a smooth delicate flick of her tongue.

Licking the small cut not once but twice until it closed. She had placed the razor on the sinks edge unconsciously. The smooth licks soon turning into soft whispers of kisses along the plane of his jaw bone her left hand on his shoulder as if to steady that which was already a mountain and the other over the razor on the edge of the sink.

Her insides where like fire as she acted shyly upon her thoughts. Something most unlike her normal forward nature. But this was unsteady ground never tread and something she actually wanted. Having not wanted something for herself since before she was made.

[Gates]

"Its quite easy just lightly skim the blade along my skin. A light touch as it is a keen blade." Gates said. His breath heavy with the emotions bombarding him. Antoinette standing so close he could feel the warmth of her feeding. He had taken the precaution to sustain himself prior to their departure. Yet he felt the pull of his craving exponentially explode through him.

She was an aphrodisiac to his senses. She enlivened him like few things ever had. The electricity that hummed through him set his neurons aflame. Having given himself to her in everything but deed this was just another gift of him to her.

As she gently shaved him he felt the bite of the blade. Yet he held himself still ignoring the call of blood. Feeling her tongue upon him then her lips the dam broke. His hands sought her form. They were frustrated in their efforts by the hotels sumptuously thick towels. Flinging both towels away in a flash of passionate annoyance. Flesh found flesh. The cool passion of skin against skin exciting him to higher heights.

His hands exploring the unchartered lands he lusted after. Hands gliding cupping lips touching tasting vowing promises...

[Antoinette]

Bliss at his touch her mind left her for she cared not about anything except the man before her. His godly form under her searching fingers massaging and seeking to know his body and leave nothing uncharted.

Kissing him with passion that she had not known in all her undead life. True passion not altered or affected by the still amazingly dormant ardeur.

Her back pressed tight against the icy cold tile of the bathroom wall as she wrapped her long legs around his firm waist her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him passionately and with fervor. Her body as well as mind now his as she gave herself to him. Something she had never thought of doing or even thought possible. All of her shields between his mind and her own down.

Her hair falling down and clinging to their damp bodies a hand reaching up and playing with his hair as the other trailed across his back. Her arms still around his shoulders as she was pressed firmly into the wall as they kissed with abandon.

[Gates]

Lost in the realm of the senses Gates floated gently on the shared passion between them. He cold not truly cipher which thoughts or emotions were his nor which were Antoinettes. In truth he didn't care as each fed into the next creating a tapestry of passion. A shield against the cold long centuries. Gates knew of love and true passion but as an empath he had never truly experience the welling of such emotions from no source but his own heart.

His own aching heart constantly washed in the emotions of others was made new again. He could immediately tell the difference from the pale ghosts in which it was usually washed and the bright vibrant pulsing beat of true emotion that covered him now. His memories her memories combining into a miasma of lives ill spent. The flower of love was a delicate bloom within his chest yet one in which he was willing to water with his very lifes blood.

Following the dictates of his heart Gates lips traversed the Antoinettes form. Each butterfly kiss a declaration each pressing full soul searing kiss a promise. His lips moved in concert with his hands each set on one task the full expression of his want, his need. Lifting Antoinette into his arms seeking to meld with her body as well as soul Gates stepped into the now dormant shower. Her body pressed against his Gates sought to encompass as much of he flesh absorbing as much of her into him as his soul could hold. She filled him to the bursting point and yet he sought more. A cup filled yet able to hold more was what Gates had become.

In the exchange of passion the water had been turned on. The water cascading over them stoking the flame of lust with him. His need becoming a palpable presence in the room with them. Its incessant whisper a spur to more. It guiding his hands and mouth. Its drive setting the pace. From bosom to mound of Venus and back again. Covering every inch between them. His ministrations a careful applied science of need. Lust as his shadow need his clarion call Gates lips, tongue and hands mere tools to his twin guides...

[Antoinette]

Feeling consumed she gave into the feeling of him. All of him as she rode the passion and finally gave into that which she had wanted since their bonding.

Her passion a needful thing as her hands and mouth roamed his body as they joined and her sounds of pleasure filled the air. It was magical and grounded contradiction but both true. She felt her love explode for this man wanting to keep him with her forever. She knew not how much of it was the bonding and that which was what she had grown over time and many still new memories together.

She gave herself to him while trying to keep her power from exploding the room to travel past its walls. She no longer could managed as her passion reached its peak exploding over her in a pleasurable mind and body overwhelming wave that she shared with the many her body was now joined with. His blood still upon her tongue.

[Gates]

The interplay between them held the wish fulfillment of fantasy and the promise of tomorrow. Gates had not felt the true touch of such in the entirety of his life. Having it now rose the specter of doubt. Was the feeling overwhelming him his own, Antoinettes, a combination of both of their hopes, a by-product of their bonding, or something wholly unaccounted for.

He couldn't be sure nor in truth did he care. What mattered in the here and now and as far into the future as he could fathom was that the feelings Antoinette elicited were something he could and would kill for to maintain. He needed Antoinette in his life. He could see the glowing light of her aura even with his eyes closed. She would be the star to which he hooked his sails.

Giving release to that which grew within his chest Gates set about devouring as he was devoured...