Vol.1 Ch.12 – That Time I Took My Date To See The Mermaids

Chapter 12: That Time I Took My Date To See The Mermaids

Ophelia was an immortal terror of the night. She should not have been this nervous about spending alone-time with a human, even if that human was so sexy it made her heart flutter.

Yet here she was, fretting. She was standing next to the vending machine, trying very hard not to look like she was waiting for someone.

Elaine wasn't late. Oh no, Elaine was nothing if not punctual. Ophelia was just way too early and trying to convince herself it wasn't because of nerves. She'd heard some rather interesting noises from Alexis' room the previous evening and she was starting to feel left out. Sure, of the three of them Ophelia had been the first one to bring Elaine to orgasm but now she was also the only one of the three who hadn't actually been intimate with her.

Ophelia wasn't jealous. She knew she wasn't jealous because she kept telling herself she wasn't jealous.

She was just... aware of the fact. Another fact she was aware of was that Elaine had apparently been okay with being with both Alexis and Evelyn and so she was hopeful that Elaine would also be interested in her. No, scratch that, she wasn't hopeful. Ophelia didn't do hopeful.

She was confident that Elaine would be falling over herself to get a piece of her. She just needed to be the tempting seductress she'd been before, except... maybe while being a little more honest about her feelings.

**

Elaine felt like a creep. Two days ago she'd been too embarrassed by the thing between her legs to start something with any of her teammates and now she had something going on with two of them and was about to spend time with the third, who she knew was interested in her. She was turning into one of the futa protagonists of her doujins and she found she didn't like it as much as she thought she should have. On the one hand, being with multiple girls was awesome, especially since they didn't seem to mind sharing, but on the other hand she was scared of undervaluing any one of them. A relationship required commitment and she was spreading her commitment mighty thin between three girls. The best part about this kind of relationship was that she didn't have to break anyone's heart by rejecting anyone but if she couldn't get her shit together she might end up breaking all of theirs through sheer neglect.

But she wouldn't let that sour her time with Ophelia. The two of them were both avid readers, she knew, so at least they had something to talk about.

As she rounded the corner she saw Ophelia waiting for her next to the vending machine as promised, looking surprisingly nervous.

“Sorry, did I make you wait long?”, she asked the raven-haired vampire.

Ophelia shook her head, letting her long straight hair fan out. “Not at all, I just got here”, she lied. “So, did you have anything in mind?”

“I thought you might be curious where your blood is coming from so I thought we could go visit the mermaids”, Elaine said. It was a little risky, taking a girl she was interested in to meet other women but she was reasonably sure that Clio and Jane wouldn't try anything. Themisto, though? Eh, it would probably be fine.

“You know where they are?”, Ophelia asked in surprise. “I've been really curious about them but I didn't think they'd be easy to find.”

“They're our monitoring division”, Elaine explained. “Supplying you with blood is something they do on the side. They have regular jobs here and everything.”

Ophelia frowned. “I haven't ever met a mermaid, but how does that even work? Do they have waterproof computers or something?”

Elaine grinned. “You'll see.”

“Cryptic, much?”

“Don't want to spoil the surprise. So, shall we?”, Elaine said, then held out her hand for Ophelia to take. Ophelia blushed just a little, which looked really cute on her pale skin, and took the offered hand.

**

On the way they talked about their favorite books. Ophelia, it appeared, was into YA novels, especially fantasy novels and especially especially fantasy novels without vampires in them. She explained she'd gotten bored of reading about vampires after becoming one and finding out that most authors knew jack shit.

“I used to think all YA was horribly written, but then I stumbled upon The Inscrutable Machine and The Demon's Apprentice”, she told Elaine. She knew from that first trip that Elaine had read the former, but...

“Never heard of that last one”, Elaine said.

Ophelia stopped. “Seriously? But it's like, right in your ballpark.”

“I might have skipped past it, the title is kinda edgy”, Elaine said.

Ophelia snorted. “Yeah, a little, but it's not like that. The main character's father sold him to a demon but the story begins with him breaking out and then swearing to make amends for all the shit he had to do under the demon. And after that it turns into YA Dresden Files.”

Elaine let out an exasperated groan and Ophelia swiftly amended:

“Except it's actually good. The achingly diverse main cast is a bit weird considering the story takes place in small town USA, but whatever, still a fun story with a quippy protagonist.”

“The whole 'making amends for things he was forced to do' thing sounds good”, Elaine said, “but I'm not sold yet.” In truth it did sound interesting, but she loved how cute Ophelia looked when she annoyed her.

“Alright, smartass, you tell me of a good series.”

Elaine grinned. “Alright, if you want. The Alex Verus novels. The author only just managed to release the final novel before the Invasion happened so I've got a physical copy of the only printing it'll probably ever have.”

“So what's it about?”

“The main character is a diviner, a mage who can see the future. He works in London and is caught in a struggle between the Light council and the Dark mages.”

“So classic good and evil?”, Ophelia asked. “Meh.”

“No, it's more like order versus chaos and both sides are scumbags, one side is just more honest about it. He has to find a middle ground without compromising his morals and while keeping his friends safe. Oh, and the reason I'm recommending it to you: You won't get bored reading about vampires.”

Ophelia perked up. “Alright, you've sold me. But you have to try The Demon's Apprentice. I promise you'll like it.”

Just then, as they walked, someone bumped into Ophelia, sending her bouncing off against a wall.

“Brain-dead bimbo”, the guy called after her as he walked off.

“Heartless bastard!”, she yelled after him.

Elaine was already turning around to give the guy a piece of her mind.

“It's okay Elaine”, Ophelia told her.

“He can't talk to you like that!”, Elaine said.

“It's just friendly ribbing”, Ophelia explained. “He's a werewolf. It's a running joke between our two species.”

“What do you mean?”, Elaine asked.

Ophelia sighed. This was a conversation she'd had a dozen times and she'd probably have it a dozen times more. “See, us vampires, we can survive a lot of abuse. So long as our hearts stay intact we can survive even a decapitation, not that I'd like to test that out. So, since we don't need our brains to live werewolves call us dumb or brain-dead. Similarly, werewolves can survive basically anything so long as their brains can still give the signal to regenerate. So since they can survive without hearts we call them heartless.”

The corners of Elaine's lips turned up into a smile and as Ophelia noticed she said:

“And yes, it's funny because most fantasy media portrays vampires as heartless but smart and werewolves as nice but dumb, well done noticing.”

“How did you even know he's a werewolf?”, Elaine asked.

“Thermal vision”, Ophelia said, tapping the side of her head. “Therianthropes have a resting body temp of a hundred and eight, which for a human would count as hyperpyrexia. So if I see someone with very elevated temperature who doesn't look sick they're probably some sort of Were.”

“And how did he notice you?”, Elaine asked. She had noticed that, by contrast, Ophelia's skin was just a little cold. Not 'room temperature' cold, but cooler than her own.

“Smell. Vampires have a really distinctive smell”, Ophelia explained.

Elaine couldn't help herself. She leaned into Ophelia and sniffed her neck. “Distinctive is right”, she said. “But I have no idea what it's supposed to remind me of.”

“Incense and burned skin”, Ophelia said, trying really hard not to get flustered that Elaine had just casually leaned in and taken a whiff of her. “I think of it as the smell of a pyre or of burning at the stake.”

Elaine winced. That description sounded a lot less pleasant than the scent she'd just taken a whiff of warranted. It was earthy and warm, with hints of spice and, yes, now that she knew what to look for, a hint of bacon. Then her eyes widened. “Is that why you're so careful never to get too close to Jeanne?”, she asked.

Ophelia gave her a wry smile. “Sometimes I'm amazed at how perceptive you are. True, I do my best to stay well away from her. I didn't want my scent to trigger any bad memories for her. If she truly is that Jeanne, that is.”

“Pretty sure she is. She has no reason to lie about it. I'm not even sure angels can lie.”

“Fair enough.”

“Ah, here we are”, Elaine said and knocked on a door reading 'Monitoring'.

“Yes?”, a woman's voice asked.

“Sergeant Caldwell and Private Devereux. The lady is curious where her blood is coming from.”

The door opened all the way and a gorgeous woman with sea green hair opened the door. She was barefoot and wearing a sheer white dress, which seemed odd in the military complex where everyone was walking around in uniforms. More oddly, the hair didn't have the sheen of a wig or a hair dye, it just looked natural despite the distinctly unnatural color. The woman looked them both up and down and then smiled at Ophelia.

“So you're one of the vampires”, she said.

“Yes, ma'am”, Ophelia said. She sounded a lot less sure of herself than normal.

“Ouch. Ma'am?”, the woman asked. “Do I look that old?”

“No, I meant it as a title, ma'am.”

“I'm just messing with you, Private. What's your name?”

“Ophelia”, she replied.

“There, that wasn't so hard. And I already know Elaine here. I'm Clio. Come, I'll show you to the others.”

Clio turned and gestured for them to follow as they walked into the back of the room. The room was a large box and had three work stations arranged against one wall. Desks with comfortable chairs, computers, in-trays, the usual. But the most distinctive feature was the large tank of water in the middle of the room, the sides easily twelve feet tall. It looked like a huge saltwater aquarium, sand at the bottom and rocks covered in barnacles and corals dotted around. A few fish were swimming through it as well as something that was too large to be a fish.

Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a woman with the lower body of a fish, the lacy fins on her lower half reminiscent of a veiltail goldfish. The fish half was white with red spots, the fins snow white and her hair the same brilliant red as the spots. She had a serene look on her face as she swam lazily through the water. Eventually she opened her eyes and spotted Elaine and Ophelia, then swam close to the glass and pressed her hand against it, smiling at Ophelia. Ophelia smiled back and placed a hand against that of the mermaid. Then the mermaid began humming. Clio looked upset about it and Ophelia's facial muscles went slack. Elaine stuck her fingers in Ophelia's ear, shutting the siren's song out.

Ophelia shook herself out of it and the mermaid chuckled, then swam away. “What was that?”

“That was Themisto”, Clio explained. “She likes teasing people. She has siren blood somewhere down her bloodline and her voice is magical.”

“What was she trying to do?”, Ophelia asked.

“Make you strip and then jump into the water with her”, Elaine explained. “She tried that with me when I first came here. I was halfway out of my clothes before Clio stopped me.”

“That sounds dangerous”, Ophelia commented.

“She doesn't hurt people, she just likes to mess with them”, Clio said.

Ophelia looked the mermaid up and down. “So...” Ophelia began but Clio cut her off.

“You're wondering why she has a fish tail and I don't.”

“Yeah”, Ophelia said.

“Because she's in the water and I'm not”, Clio explained. “We only have the fish tail when in water.”

“That sounds practical”, Ophelia said.

“It is”, Clio said. “When swimming is involved. We need to go for a swim at regular intervals or we dry out, so that's why we need that huge aquarium there.”

“So, do you all have Greek names?”, Ophelia asked. Then they noticed that at the third work station someone was sitting and waving at them... with her middle finger.

“No, not all of us. Meet Jane”, Clio said, then turned to Jane. “Get over here, we got visitors, one of the vampires we're supplying.”

Jane was tall and blonde with a killer figure and she, too, was wearing a dress, though hers was fluted.

“Oh, it's the girl”, Jane said as she approached, disappointed. “I was hoping the hunky one was here.”

“Sorry?”, Ophelia said, slightly put off.

“Oh don't mind her”, Clio said. “She's just a skank.”

“And proud of it”, Jane added. “Sorry, hon, you're really not my type. I'll do my best to keep you both fed and happy though, no worries.”

“Oh fuck off, she's cute”, Clio said.

Jane looked Ophelia up and down. “If you're into that kind of thing, I guess.”

Elaine cleared her throat. “So, what are you doing here?”, she asked, her tone of voice making it clear that she knew and was asking for Ophelia's benefit.

Jane explained: “We're working on the sensor arrays, making sure nothing bad is approaching the base, that sort of thing. We're also sifting through the data you all produce so that the Professor only gets what's relevant to him. Oh, and we're keeping tabs on the other enclaves of humanity that are still left and close enough to keep contact with.”

“Whoa whoa”, Ophelia said. “What do you mean the data we produce? I don't remember sending out any data. Do you mean you're monitoring everything we're doing with our CARDs?”

Jane chuckled and asked: “Worried I'll tell everyone about the weird porn you watch?”

“I don't... I...”, Ophelia stammered out before Jane told her:

“Relax, I'm messing with you. We look at your combat data. The kind of stuff you scan, how your stats evolve, that sort of thing. We aren't looking at what else you're doing with your CARD.”

Ophelia relaxed.

“Well, that's not quite true”, Clio added. “There are certain red flag words. If you start googling those we're notified and actually can look at what you're doing.”

“Like?”, Ophelia asked, suspicious.

“If you were to look for easy ways to commit suicide we'd know and would direct you to a counselor”, Clio explained. “If you were to look into bomb building and we don't see that you have a Soul Shard that makes that a reasonable interest we'd keep a closer eye on you. Stuff like that. We don't care what porn you watch or who you send what messages to or anything.”

“But you still have access to our personal data?”, Ophelia asked.

“No”, Jane said. “We literally cannot access your personal data unless your device detects those red flags. And just between us, that means we also can't see what kinds of half legal things you're doing with the CARD so if you're like Clio and love reading or watching shows just download everything you have the slightest interest in before society gets fixed and they reinstate the anti-piracy laws.” Jane winked at that last part.

Ophelia gave a quick predatory smile, then changed the subject: “So, those bases you have contact with. Where's the closest?”

“Rochester and Buffalo, New York. They're deep in hiding, both cities are mostly overrun, but they both have resistance groups that are still holding on, waging guerrilla warfare against the Outsiders. The Professor and the Lieutenant General haven't explicitly said so but I'm pretty sure they're biding their time until you guys have all gotten a good bit stronger and then they want to take both cities back. And once we've taken Rochester we'll have a much better starting point to keep going towards New York City and Washington.”

“It's great to know that we have a plan”, Ophelia said, when there was a splash behind them.

Themisto had pulled herself out of the water tank, her legs already fully human, and was wringing her hair out, then she pulled a white dress on and joined them. She stroked Ophelia's cheek and said, in a musical voice: “Sorry for teasing you. I couldn't resist. You're cute.”

Then Ophelia felt Elaine's hand on her shoulder, squeezing just a little.

“Yes, she is,” the brunette agreed, an ever so slight growl in her voice.

Ophelia wasn't sure if Elaine had meant to stake her claim like that but the mermaids sure interpreted it that way and Ophelia couldn't help but feel warm. She kind of liked the possessive type.

Finally they left, with Clio and Themisto asking them to come visit again since it was getting lonely for them all cooped up in their room, and Ophelia asked Elaine if they could go to her room. Elaine was fairly certain she knew what Ophelia had in mind so she accepted.

In Elaine's room they kept talking about their favorite novels a little more but there was an elephant in the room, one they were both well aware of, and thanks to it their conversation felt stilted.

Finally Elaine gave up trying to pretend and asked: “Would you like to drink my blood?”

Ophelia swallowed but then caught herself and asked, a mischievous smile on her face: “Are you sure that's a good idea? We're all alone here and nobody can come to save you.”

Elaine chuckled and told her: “Very convincing, I'm trembling in my boots. No, seriously, I understand what you're doing. You want to make sure that whatever system is in place knows that I trust you enough to let you do this, to make sure it raises our Bond Level. But I do trust you, Ophelia. You're a shockingly good person, you're just trying to hide it for some reason.”

Ophelia blushed and looked away. “Maybe I'm not quite as trustworthy as you think”, she said. “I've been having difficulty controlling my urges around you.”

Elaine smiled. “The vampire urges or the regular ones?”, she asked in a low voice.

Suddenly Ophelia was on her. Elaine had almost forgotten that Ophelia was still preternaturally fast and strong so it took her by surprise when Ophelia blurred towards her, shoved her backwards onto her bed and then used her super strength to keep Elaine pinned.

“It's not just my urges, though, is it?”, she asked Elaine, then leaned close and whispered into her ear: “I know I made you cum when I drank your blood.”

Elaine swallowed.

“Did you hope for that to happen when I wanted to come here?”, Ophelia asked. “Tell me, does the thought get you all hot and bothered?”

Elaine squirmed under Ophelia. Her breath against her ear tickled and she was so close. Elaine had spent the last two days fooling around with beautiful women but, somehow, being pushed down by Ophelia still excited her. “Yes”, Elaine finally said in a whisper.

“Does it make you hard?”, Ophelia asked in the same tone.

Lost in a haze, Elaine replied: “Yes.” And then she realized what she'd just admitted. Her eyes flew open and she saw that Ophelia had leaned back and was facing her.

“Gotcha”, she said, smugly.

“How...” Elaine began and Ophelia finished for her:

“Did I know? Oh, I've had my suspicions from the start. When you were standing at attention during the introduction I thought I saw a bulge in your pants. Then you were moving awfully suspiciously when I drank your blood, as though you were trying to push down on something. And finally, I'm a vampire with a superhuman sense of smell and the scent of cum is unmistakable.” She said the last part with a smile on her face. “I actually got off that night on the memory of making you cum in front of Alexis.”

Elaine looked away, blushing. “You're not disgusted?”, she finally asked.

Ophelia chuckled. “Take off your pants, Elaine. I don't want you to soil yourself again when I drink your blood.” She paused. “Unless you no longer trust me now that you know what kind of person I really am.”

Elaine reached out to touch Ophelia's cheek and said: “I do still trust you. I appreciate you. And I still want to give you my blood.”

Ophelia's eyes went watery. “Why? Why are you so nice to me? I'm showing you my worst and you don't even care!”

Elaine reached out with both hands now and wiped her tears away before they could fall. “I do care. I'm grateful that you showed me your ugly side. You already found out about my shame and were still nice to me. Now, if you'll let go of me I'll cut my finger for you.”

Ophelia pulled back, shaking her head. “Sometimes I can't tell if you're incredibly naive or if you're really just that kind”, she muttered, then said: “Pants off, I meant it.”

Elaine was still hesitant. Even if Ophelia hadn't been disgusted so far that might still change. But finally she just took off her pants, including her boxer shorts.

“Oh my”, Ophelia said when she saw it. She pulled out a tissue and held it at the ready as Elaine got to work cutting her own finger open.

Ophelia liked sex. She liked doing it with men and she liked doing it with women and the sight of how well endowed Elaine was had almost made her mouth water. But the beast inside her was at least as strong as her libido and when she saw the red ambrosia welling up on Elaine's finger nothing else mattered to her. She had to have it, had to feel the warm, sticky stuff run down her throat.

Elaine noticed the look. She gently grabbed Ophelia by the throat, pushing her to look up as Elaine held her finger over Ophelia's mouth, just out of reach. Then, slowly and with great care, she pushed her finger into the warm, wet and inviting hole. The symbolism was not lost on her and it instantly made her cock harden even before the rush of pleasure hit her. She had been too zoned out to notice before but it was clearly the vampire's saliva that was doing it. The moment it hit her wound it caused pleasure to radiate through her entire body. When Ophelia licked along the length of the cut Elaine's mind transported her back to when she still had a pussy, because it felt exactly like having a warm, wet tongue licking along her slit. She writhed and moaned on the bed, the feeling almost unbearable, but this time it wasn't quite enough to make her cum. Her dick was twitching, almost there, but not quite.

Ophelia, meanwhile, was all but going wild. The last time she had taken what she wanted and teased Elaine doing so, but the way Elaine was holding her by the throat now, applying just enough pressure to tell her who was in charge, was driving her crazy and the divine taste of Elaine's blood certainly didn't help calm her down. She lapped and suckled and swallowed and couldn't get enough. To her immense surprise the tissue she held out for Elaine to cum into remained dry and she was feeling slightly offended that she couldn't make Elaine cum again.

That can be fixed.

Ophelia pulled her mouth off of Elaine's finger and slid lower, until she was in between the brunette's legs. She swallowed the delicious blood left in her mouth and then, without pausing, took Elaine's rock hard dick in her mouth.

Elaine was about to cum already just from Ophelia's mouth on her finger so when the vampire took her dick in her mouth Elaine could do nothing but throw her head back and start gasping obscenities. She bucked her hips, which made Ophelia chuckle, creating pleasurable vibrations all over Elaine's dick, bringing her even closer to the edge. Elaine knew she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer and she was about to tell Ophelia as much when she felt Ophelia gently massaging her balls.

Having not been born with a penis and only having had one close up experience with one she had never really grasped the concept of balls. She knew getting hit in them hurt like hell but she hadn't really known what else could be done with them. So even after literally growing a pair she hadn't really played around with them. A mistake, as it turned out, because so close to cumming Ophelia's gentle touch on them drove her wild, making her cum with a groan.

Ophelia did not pull back. If anything she pushed Elaine's cock deeper into her mouth and down her throat, swallowing in time with the spasms of Elaine's ejaculation.

The moment Elaine came down from her high she grabbed Ophelia under the armpits and pulled her up to eye level, then kissed her desperately. She could taste the iron taste of blood, her own salty cum, and the sweet cherry flavor of Ophelia's lip gloss, and their kiss continued until they both had to come up for air.

“That was incredible”, Elaine breathed.

“Glad you liked it”, Ophelia muttered.

Ophelia had to rest a moment, cuddled up against Elaine who had her arms wrapped around the much smaller vampire. Finally, she continued: “Kinda miffed I didn't get more than one Bond Level though. I thought that was pretty intense, all things considered.”

“Oh, it was, but I know why it's not growing more”, Elaine said.

“Oh? Why, then?”

“You've seen me at my most vulnerable. I've trusted you to let that happen. But you're still as guarded as ever.”

“I'm not---”, Ophelia cut off, then looked away. “I guess I am.”

“Why?”, Elaine asked.

The question was simple and her voice was quite gentle but Ophelia still struggled with the answer. “I'm... not good at showing my feelings. I enjoy teasing the people I like. And you're so happy with Alexis and Evelyn and I... I'm scared you'll tell me you don't like me that way, so I decided to just mess with you, to save myself the heartache.”

“Would I be willing to let someone I didn't like do all this to me?”, Elaine asked.

Ophelia snorted and then used her supernatural strength to push Elaine down again. “It's not as if you could stop me”, she said.

But Elaine had noticed something. Ophelia was strong. Unbelievably strong. With their stat boosts all of them were now stronger than any human could hope to be, but Ophelia was still stronger by far. But Ophelia was also a rather slim girl. A noticeable hourglass figure but not an ounce of excess fat on her. She was a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet so Elaine used her own superhuman strength to buck Ophelia off, flip her over and pin her to the bed by her wrists, her arms pressed into the mattress. Ophelia was incredibly strong but without leverage none of that mattered a damn bit.

“I can stop you, Ophelia”, Elaine told her. “But I didn't. I trusted you. Will you trust me?”

Ophelia looked into Elaine's eyes for a long moment, then nodded.

Elaine leaned down and kissed Ophelia again, quite gently, then started unbuttoning her shirt and took off her pants.

“Blood red lingerie, huh?”, Elaine said.

What Ophelia was wearing underneath her uniform couldn't be described as underwear. It was bedroom cosplay. Her bra was lacy and had vertical slits that left her nipples exposed and the panties, while not having the same exposing slit, were so thin and lacy they were hiding absolutely nothing.

“What can I say”, Ophelia said. “I undress to impress.” It would have made for a nice quip if her voice hadn't quavered so much.

Elaine noticed and pinched both of her nipples. “You're weak when someone else takes the lead, aren't you?”

Ophelia moaned at the delicate touch Elaine was subjecting her to. When she replied she tried to sound aloof but it came across as bluster: “I'm only letting you to do this to me. I could stop you any time I wanted.”

Elaine kissed down her neck and then focused on Ophelia's marvelous breasts, massaging them, licking and kissing the taut yet soft skin, nibbling and sucking her delicious stiff nipples, eliciting more and more moans from Ophelia before she asked: “Then why aren't you?” Then she kissed her way lower, kissing and licking and nipping at her smooth stomach.

“Because I don't want you to stop”, Ophelia finally admitted.

“Good girl”, Elaine purred, then slipped Ophelia's panties off.

Ophelia was soaked, her lips reddened and puffy and ready. Elaine had the unbearable desire to force her cock into this hole that was practically begging her to fuck it but she quashed the impulse. Elaine was about to push her fingers into Ophelia's mouth, to make her get them all nice and wet before pushing them into the vampire's needy little pussy, but then she remembered that Ophelia had swallowed her cum moments before. She didn't want to risk any of her semen getting into Ophelia's pussy and so she refrained from doing so, instead rubbing her fingers along the vampire's slit until they were all nice and lubed up with her slippery juices. She circled around them, not pushing inside, making Ophelia desperate.

The vampire rolled her hips, trying to follow Elaine's fingers, trying to hurry her up, but Elaine was going at her own pace.

“Please”, Ophelia whimpered and that's when Elaine pushed her fingers inside her awaiting wetness.

Ophelia was incredibly tight and soaking wet and as Elaine thrust with her fingers she couldn't help but wonder how her silky smooth insides would feel wrapped around her dick. But she again ignored it, focusing on her partner's pleasure instead. She bent her fingers in a come-hither motion, rubbing against her g-spot, making Ophelia grab her shoulders and squeeze as she let out a gasp.

“Do you like the way I work your pussy?”, Elaine asked and Ophelia could only nod in response.

She was beyond words already. It'd been months and months since someone else had touched her and over a year since someone else had taken control. She loved submitting to her partners but ever since she'd become a vampire there had been precious few partners who could make her submit. But Elaine was managing just fine. She had overpowered her and was now owning her in bed. She felt a slight disappointment that Elaine had chosen to finger rather than fuck her but Elaine was so obscenely good with her fingers it hardly mattered.

Soon enough Ophelia was bucking her hips so hard she was actually lifting her butt off the mattress with every thrust and Elaine told her:

“Come for me, baby. Show me how gorgeous you look when you go wild.”

That did it. Ophelia couldn't hold on any longer and came screaming around Elaine's fingers, squeezing down on them so hard it almost hurt.

“So pretty”, Elaine cooed as she rocked Ophelia's body through the shudders.

Silent tears were running down Ophelia's cheeks but the smile on her face showed Elaine they were no cause for concern, so Elaine just wrapped her in her arms and held her.

**

Stollos was in a good mood, all things considered. New test subjects were on the way, one of them even a new Awakener candidate, and his most promising candidate for the Oath of Crystal Tears was at a 95% chance of success and climbing. He had come to agree with Jeanne's assessment, though. 98% should be the minimum at which they should undergo it, as the risk of losing his test subjects was unacceptable.

So, he decided to speak to Jeanne and share his latest suggestion with her.

As he entered the armory he noticed that she was not alone, but was speaking with Lieutenant General Hayworth.

Stollos had initially dismissed Hayworth as a jarhead and not worth talking to. Then, when he realized that Hayworth was in fact more than competent he had been worried the man would be a constant thorn in his side. But now he had come to appreciate the man for the blessing he was. He knew he was in over his head and needed to defer to Stollos on all matters of project procedure but was keeping the compound running efficiently otherwise and leaving everything he didn't understand to those who did.

“General”, Stollos said, nodding to the Lieutenant General, then turned, nodded to Jeanne and said: “Protege.”

“Professor”, the Lieutenant General said. “Good, I was wanting to speak to you later as well.”

“Is something the matter?”, Stollos asked.

“The Lieutenant General and I were just speaking about sending a strike team to the town of Albion”, Jeanne explained.

Stollos' eyes widened. This was almost too good to be true.

“What did you want to talk about?”, Jeanne asked.

“Ah, this is highly convenient, actually. Jeanne, remember the matter we spoke of a few days ago?”, Stollos asked.

“The Oath, yes”, she replied.

“Are you talking about the Oath of Crystal Tears?”, Hayworth asked. “As I understood it that wasn't worth worrying about until much later, wasn't it?”

“I found a candidate for it who is at a 95% success rate and climbing”, Stollos admitted. No use playing coy.

“You want to ask whether I'm willing to assist, then?”, Jeanne asked.

“Not quite", he said. "I have thought over what you've said and I found myself agreeing with you. 98% sounds like a much better number, maybe even 99%. However, I thought you might want to vet the candidate yourself.”

Jeanne thought about it. “I would, yes. Who is your candidate?”

“Sergeant Caldwell”, Stollos said.

Jeanne paused. “Elaine, huh? I hadn't expected her to have come this far. I mean, she's good but I expected this to take a few weeks longer at least.”

“Wait, so you want to use the procedure on Sergeant Caldwell?”, the Lieutenant General asked. He sounded a little queasy even though he was doing his best to sound neutral.

Before the Project had begun Stollos had had to brief what remained of the Pentagon on the Oath of Crystal Tears, with delegations from Heaven and Hell present to make sure he wouldn't leave anything out, and so Hayworth knew well what the Oath meant. And how horrible the consequences of failure could be.

“If she reaches at least 98% and is willing, then yes”, Stollos replied. “So if you want to send a strike team to Albion I would suggest that team be Sergeant Caldwell's squad and Jeanne to accompany them. That way Jeanne could see for herself whether the Sergeant shows the necessary motivation and we could rest easy knowing that the scouting mission is being handled by people who have all proven their competence.”

Lieutenant General Hayworth thought about it for a minute, then turned to Jeanne and said: “If you are willing, I think it sounds worth doing.”

“Elaine's squad plus me should be enough firepower to take out anything short of a Necromancer”, Jeanne said. “Honestly, if we're assembling a strike team she would have been my first choice, Jordan's team being second place. They've been training like mad ever since their run-in with the Demi-Lich.”

“Well, if everyone's happy with this, then I guess we should be doing it this way”, Stollos said.

“Hold on. I've seen the consequences of a failed Oath of Crystal Tears”, Hayworth said. “I need you to promise you won't force that on one of our soldiers.”

Stollos wanted to chuckle but he understood the seriousness of the situation and so he merely nodded. “Of course not, Lieutenant General. As I've said to Jeanne before, so long as the situation does not escalate there is no way I'd be willing to risk any of my test subjects. And the Oath wouldn't work on an unwilling test subject anyway.”

“Good”, Hayworth said. “In that case, you have my blessing.”

**

After they had calmed down a bit, Ophelia and Elaine spooning on the bed, the vampire decided to check what skills her new Bond Levels had in store. As she looked at the skills, she noticed a new color. In addition to the red, green, blue and white spheres they'd seen before there was a new color: Two of the new spheres were pink. Ophelia shifted to list view to see what that was all about.

“Support, huh? Never seen that before”, Ophelia commented. “Have you?”

Elaine thought about it a little, then said: “Yeah, the Professor mentioned that once, said they were pretty rare. Support skills increase Luck, Intelligence and Agility. Which would be an amazing boost for your skill set, even if we ignore how great those skills are.”

“True, but my favorite is probably Umbral Embrace. It doesn't have that shadow requirement anymore, it just gets stronger if the requirement is fulfilled”, Ophelia said.

“Yeah, but don't you have a skill that can cloak you in shadows now?”, Elaine asked.

“Sure, with one second of concentration and even then I either stand perfectly still or it starts dispersing quickly”, Ophelia explained.

“Maybe Consuming Shadow will fix that?”, Elaine suggested.

“Hopefully”, Ophelia said. “By the way, I didn't really dare to ask this before but... what did this mean for us?”

Elaine stroked her cheek. “Alexis and Evelyn are both fine with sharing, so if you are, too...”, she let it hang in the air.

“And what if I want you all to myself?”, Ophelia asked and Elaine froze. Ophelia waited a moment and then chuckled. “You should have seen your face. Don't worry, I don't mind sharing either.” Elaine let out a huge sigh. “But I hope you're not planning to keep us all separate. You can't really date three girls and then expect them not to mess around with each other.”

That idea conjured up a wealth of images for Elaine that almost had her drooling.

Ophelia smiled, placed a single finger under Elaine's chin, and used it to shut her mouth.