~1749~

It had now been nearly thirty-five years since Erica’s death. and nearly twenty-five since Claire’s addiction was ended. Due to their inherent love for one another she and Sean did manage to repair a lot of the damage done to their relationship over those last few decades. A contributing factor to their ability to very slowly reconnect was the fact that Taylor had allegedly found her own place to stay up the coast from Haven’s home, and Awsha spent an abundance of time there as well. So there were at least two less constant distractions. There was of course plenty of stress still provided by the serpent, but all in all, their marriage had become much more stable in recent years.

On this particular summer night, Sean and Claire had just removed their fangs from one another’s necks after a long, passionate mutual Kiss. The two lay entangled with one another atop the bed, trying to regain any composure at all after the single most passionate contact they could ever provide one another with since their deaths over 150 years earlier.

While they each were recovering there in their home that warm night, there was another Kiss taking place under one of the docks further up the beach from Haven’s home. Haven had continued the habit of stationing at least one Kindred at the busiest dock which was nearest to his house. While the other docks scattered up the coastline were also controlled by Haven; they were mostly used for smaller ships that would deliver the more common goods to the rest of the settlement, rather than the more expensive wares that always passed through Haven’s home before going to market. And since they were only secondary docks, he usually just left them to be watched after by a rotating group of blood bound servants, like the ones who watched the main dock during the day when no Kindred would be likely to cause any difficulties.

That night, beneath one of those secondary docks, Taylor was finishing her night’s meal out of the line of sight of the servant who watched the scattered houses in the night for any sign of approaching danger. Taylor’s chosen meal that night was a young dock worker who she had managed to coax into joining her under the dock that night since somehow he and the servant both seemed to think she was a girl from the nearby tavern and no real threat at all.

Of course, once Taylor lured him there and started kissing him, the kiss soon changed to a completely different sort. A few moments later, she was dropping his lifeless corpse into the water where the tide quickly carried his body off to join the bodies of so many other meals she had enjoyed since coming to her new home there on the coast, years earlier.

After enough time had passed to convince the servant on guard duty of what had actually been taking place under that dock, Taylor emerged again. She was still in the guise of the tavern girl, and had with her what appeared to be the man she had gone under the dock with earlier. Both emerged from underneath with a smile up at Haven’s servant before disappearing back down the beach together. Or at least that’s what the servant thought he had seen, in any case.

Once she made her way down the beach and out of sight of that night’s blood bound dock guardian, Taylor faded back into her natural appearance, and ‘the man’ who had been with her, just faded completely out of existence at all. She smirked to herself as she headed back in the direction of Haven’s home where she was to meet Awsha that night.

Upon arriving on the beach outside their Prince’s home, Taylor just caught sight of a rather handsome gentleman with black shoulder-length curls and dark eyes heading from the dock to Haven’s home. Taylor narrowed her eyes after this new arrival as she moved up the beach toward the dock as well. As she passed by Larkin’s eldest childe, a burly Brujah by the name of Ford, he scowled at her. He was on guard duty at the dock that night, as he had been on many other nights since their entire clan was almost always up for some kind of fight; which was just one of the many differences between them and their Prince’s Toreador clan mates.

Smirking at Ford’s scowl, Taylor simply adjusted her breasts behind the corset to deliberately push them almost completely out from behind the constricting material and blew Ford a kiss as she glided past him. Of course his only response was a deeper glare and a shake of his head as she followed the new arrival into the house.

As she stepped through the door, she found the man who she had followed inside now standing in the door to Haven’s study, speaking to Haven who still sat inside the room “so, if I’ve been here before, do I still need to come present myself to you again, dear great grandsire” he asked Haven in a teasing manner and a velvety British accent.

“Technically, yes” Haven smiled up at Aidan “welcome back” he added.

“Hopefully it will be a slightly more pleasant stay than last time” Aidan returned with a trace of sadness as Taylor quietly waited in the main room listening to their conversation.

“Well, if you came here for a stress free visit with your beautiful sire, you may be disappointed” Haven warned.

“Oh dear. What tragedy are we dealing with now?” Aidan returned.

“Same nuisances, but with alterations; different decade though” Haven shrugged tiresomely as he moved to get up from his seat and walked toward the doorway to place a gentle hand over Aidan’s shoulder. It was then that his eyes moved to where Taylor had taken a quiet seat on his sofa in the main room “speaking of nuisances” Haven mumbled as his eyes fell on the blonde girl, which immediately caused Aidan’s eyes to turn her way.

“You say the sweetest things, my Prince” Taylor returned with an insincere smile.

“And who might you be?” Aidan allowed a wary smile, torn between her obvious beauty and Haven’s obvious disapproval of her presence.

“I might be anyone” Taylor couldn’t help answering.

“And that’s probably the first true thing she’s said in nearly twenty years” Haven returned bitingly. He then turned his attention back toward Aidan “I must head upstairs to offer a bit of nourishment to some of my servants, but I do hope you find some way to enjoy your stay” he then nodded to Aidan before moving up the stairs.

“So, ‘anyone’ is a rather strange name” Aidan replied as he moved his eyes over her with another smile.

“Funny” she returned his smile, “and most call me Taylor” she then glanced at the staircase once more before speaking “and did I hear you call our Prince your great grandsire?”

Aidan nodded “yes, you did.”

“And something about your beautiful sire?” she pressed.

“Yes, my beautiful sire would be Haven’s beautiful grandchilde, Claire” he offered the information easily.

“Claire? Sean’s Claire?” Taylor returned thoughtfully.

“Maybe she should legally have her name changed to that” Aidan stated with a shake of his head.

“Is that a tiny a bit of jealousy I hear?” Taylor added with further interest.

“Just old animosities. They’ve been long buried honestly, though” he assured.

“So who is it that you had a hankering for? Claire or Sean?” she couldn’t help asking, further amused by the thought. And she honestly would have believed either answer, especially after finding out that he was a Toreador as well.

“Now that would be amusing” he shook his head “but yes, Claire and I had a few… shall we say… moments, before my embrace” he added conversationally as it was practically common knowledge by this point, or at least it seemed so when he had visited last.

Taylor narrowed her eyes at that bit of information “wasn’t she with Sean then, like she’s always been?” she had to ask.

“It is a rather complicated story” he chuckled “but as I haven’t seen her for nearly thirty-five years, I am rather eager to do so. But we must find time to speak again” he told her with a charming bow before moving toward the door.

“I’m sure we will” Taylor replied, more to herself, as he exited the house.

The next evening, Aidan rose from his slumber in the guest room of Sean’s and Claire’s new home and sighed slightly as he looked around his surroundings. Of course he couldn’t help letting his mind move to the last time he had stayed with them in a different home, in a different decade; a home they had shared with Erica. Forcing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he decided to distract himself with his unpacking instead.

About a half an hour after waking, he turned at the sound of his bedroom door opening. As he turned, Claire offered him a slight smile before stepping into the room “Something on your mind, mum?” he teased as he moved to finish sliding some clothing into the dresser at the side of the room.

“Well, we haven’t seen each other for so long, I figured we must have a lot of catching up to do” she stated simply as she closed the door behind her.

“I’m sure England wasn’t nearly as interesting as it’s been here, considering the Kindred guards at the docks and all” he returned as he finally gave up on his unpacking and turned back to where she had taken a few more steps into the room.

“Haven has been a little worried about safety after some more unpleasant business at the docks a couple decades ago” Claire offered the explanation as she moved closer, her eyes moving over him.

Aidan narrowed his own eyes slightly but moved on “well, I’m guessing the serpent still has yet to be found, then?”

“Is that really what you want to talk about, after this long?” Claire replied as she moved to a spot mere inches from where he stood next to the bed.

“You’re the one who was talking about us having catching up to do” Aidan reminded her with a slightly wary smile.

“Maybe I wasn’t specifically referring to conversation” she whispered as she leaned in close to him, speaking so close to his ear that his black curls tickled her cheek.

“I feel I’ve missed a few things in the last thirty-five years” he replied skeptically, though couldn’t help the smile, as his attraction to her had never been a secret, even before she granted him his heart’s desire to become Kindred.

“Sean and I have barely touched each other in those thirty-five years. So, believe me, I’ve missed a few things too” she purred as she moved in closer to run her lips over his neck, her breasts pressing against his chest as she closed the remaining distance between their bodies.

“And how did that ever come to be?” he asked with some combination of wariness and desire as her cool lips grazed his neck.

“Do you really want to talk about my love life? Or would you rather participate in it…again?” she added as her hands moved to the waist of his shirt to begin pushing it up over his chest.

He was more than a little thrown by that blunt offer. He mentally reminded himself to ask her exactly what had happened between her and Sean whenever he was in full control of his faculties again. For that moment though, he started with “And where exactly is Sean, right now?” he managed, though the words were choked as she pulled his shirt over his head.

“Not here” she stated simply as she roughly pushed him back on the bed and began untying the laces that held her corset over her breasts.

“And you’ve apparently become a lot less submissive too” he had to tease, referencing their short-lived career as owners as well as performers at their Midnight Club.

“Is that a problem?” she asked in that same purr as she pulled the corset open, and began slowly sliding the dress down around her waist.

“I’m sure I should be trying to think rationally right now, but my god have I missed your body” he returned hoarsely as the dress fell to a heap upon the floor below her now completely nude body.

“And I’m pretty sure I’ve missed yours too” she assured with a grin as she moved to finish undressing him, tossing the trousers to the floor near the bed he still laid back upon.

In another moment she was atop Aidan’s hips, sliding him inside her as she began moving above him with an intensity he never remembered seeing in her back during those ten years when she was his mistress while still so obviously longing for the nearness of her husband despite that role.

As she continued to move above him, her pleasure became clearer, and more vocal as the human variety of orgasm approached. As her moans intensified, Aidan just barely managed an attempt to shush her while also trying to force his own volume to remain low, despite that same pleasure her body was providing him right then.

Though the attempt was apparently in vain as she let out another loud moan just as the door was pushed open in response to the sound of their lovemaking. Both of them immediately turned to see the look of utter shock, anger, and despair all at once that Sean now graced them each with. Aidan immediately grew even paler as Claire brought her hand up to cover her mouth, hiding the ever so slight smile before either man could note it.

His voice shaking so much he barely managed to form words, Sean spoke “Well, at least you both appear to have quite recovered from Erica’s death. How nice for you” Sean nearly growled the last bit as he turned away again, slamming the door behind him as his footsteps retreated up the cellar stairs.

In many of his own kinds of shock right then, Aidan moved to push her off of where his previous state had completely gone now “not here?” he exclaimed, as he shook his head back at her, moving to rise from the bed and locate where his pants had ended up.

“Well, he wasn’t here…in the room anyway” she returned with a failed attempt at hiding that smile again.

“You are amused by this?” he retorted with further disbelief as he yanked the pants up off the floor “I’m very likely going to be murdered tonight; and you’re amused?” he repeated with even more disbelief.

“You seemed pretty amused when you thought we wouldn’t be caught” she returned wryly.

“Who are you?” he asked with another shake of his head as he pulled the pants up so quickly the material nearly ripped, and then moved to reclaim his shirt as well.

Claire just scoffed “Who are you? Someone who forgot that we have an open marriage?” she returned smartly.

Aidan just scoffed with further disbelief “That didn’t look very open, Claire” he just shook his head once more before leaving the room in the hopes of somehow fixing any of this. Though he seriously doubted Sean would offer any such mercy. But he had to try, since this new version of Claire obviously didn’t seem to have the slightest interest in helping repair this most likely irreparable damage.

Upon hearing Aidan slam the door as he left the room; that was when ‘Claire’ became Taylor once more, not able to stop the giggle that passed her lips as she lay back on the bed in contented amusement.