Astarion didn't return to the fire.
The others, one by one, fell into slumber, but not Hope. She waited, gazing up at the starry sky until her nerves were too frayed to wait any longer. The prospect of that hunter had him spooked, and she, well…she was worried.
It probably wasn't the best thing for her to feel, but it wasn't something she could help either.
Before she could think better of it, Hope found herself following his familiar scent from the lakeside and into the forest beyond. She followed the same trail to the river where she'd been earlier that morning, and sure enough, there he was — perched on the boulder.
He still wore his pants, but his shirt had been cast aside as he glared at the rushing water.
"If you've come to bombard me with questions, I'm not in the mood."
Placing her hands against the boulder, she looked up at him and frowned a little. "Actually, I came to check on you."
Astarion's gaze slid slowly sideways to her, but his usual smirk was gone. Instead, he seemed puzzled. "Have you?" He asked, his features softened a little. "Well, that's...sweet."
"Hm," she brought her lower lip between her teeth and moved so she was in front of him. With her hands against the flat stone, she nestled between his knees. "You're running from someone."
"I thought you weren't going to ask questions."
"It was a statement."
It earned a slight scoff, but his lips curved back into a smirk as he sighed, "Alright. If you must know, I've spent my vampiric days enslaved to," he snarled the name, "Cazador. I did everything he asked of me…everything. Until now, when I was taken away and fed a parasite. Now? Now, I walk in the sun. I'm free of him…" He furrowed his brows and swallowed as his voice lowered to a whisper. "Yet, he hunts me."
"I take it Cazador sent the hunter?"
"Possibly," he shrugged, "No way of really knowing, but I imagine it would be him. If only I knew why."
Hope patted his knee lightly, "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe."
"You?" Astarion let out a laugh, almost mockingly, if it wasn't for the affection in his gaze. "And what, pray tell, will you do?"
Grinning a broad, tooth-filled smile, a wicked gleam streaked through her eyes. "Lose my temper."
"I'm afraid you'll need more than that, my dear."
Hope gripped lower on the stone for more purchase and pulled herself up, "Educate me, then. How do I go about helping you slaughter your old master?"
His eyes dilated with sudden arousal, and Hope couldn't stop the flutter that enveloped her ribcage. "You want to help me kill him?"
"Nothing would bring me greater pleasure," she murmured and let her voice take on a bit of smoke as she glanced down at his lips and back up.
Astarion flashed a grin, his fangs glinting in the moonlight. "I think I could think of something that would."
"Well, now I'm intrigued."
He slid down, hands on her arms as he rotated them, so his back was to the water. "Take it off."
"What?"
"Everything."
Arching a brow, she smiled as her heart skipped a beat. A thrill of excitement pulsed through her as she reached under the hem of her shirt and slipped it off, followed by her socks, shoes, and pants. Standing there in her underwear, which she honestly wished were a little more appealing than they were, she reached behind her and unclasped her bra, all while following his hungry eyes, which now lingered on her breasts.
Astarion lurched forward before she could let her panties drop to her ankles, as if the distance was suddenly too great. In that instant, their mouths crashed together in a heated, panting mess. Parting her lips, she let his tongue sweep in and meet hers as her hands cascaded down his shoulders and back. There, she found the ridges to the markings she'd noticed before. At first, she'd thought they were tattoos, but now she knew better.
They'd been carved.
She wasn't about to ruin this with questions he might not want to answer, so she dragged her tongue across the tips of his fangs instead. The tang of her blood filled her mouth, and Astarion groaned as his hands tightened around her waist.
Skin to skin, Hope threaded her fingers through his pale hair and allowed herself to be pressed back against the boulder. It was flat but had a sloping shelf, so when he lifted her slightly, her back was flat against the side while her hips were inclined at an angle where her feet still touched the ground.
As the heat of his lips coasted down the flesh of her throat, his fingers snagged the hem of her underwear and yanked it down. She wasn't sure where he tossed them to, but she didn't care as he lavished her chest with hot, wet strokes of his tongue. Hands firm on her hips, Astarion sucked her peaked nipple between his lips.
Shuddering, a new wave of arousal pooled between her legs. She throbbed with need and tried to press her hips against the fabric that covered his thigh — to no avail. He chuckled against her, the warmth of her skin as he kissed his way down and lightly skimmed his nose along the ridge of her hips.
Hope peered down at him and met his gaze as he placed his hands on her knees and pried them apart, exposing her to him.
Then, Astarion feasted.
Releasing a sharp cry, she clawed against the flat surface of the boulder as his tongue lavishly devoured her, sucking and licking as though she were the remaining chocolate on a dish. Instinctively, she tried to close her legs, but he was stronger than she'd given him credit for. Hope couldn't avoid the onslaught of intense pleasure where her nerves screamed with both resistance and joy.
"Oh, fuck…" Hope shuddered, watching him lick circles around her clit as the pressure welled inside of her. Her brows came together, panting as she clenched her hands into fists, and her toes curled, and the electricity of her oncoming orgasm sent spiderwebs of electricity through her every nerve.
She came hard, throwing her head back as his body warped into a new, unnatural-looking position, but that dastardly tongue didn't pause even as she cried out with exertion. Suddenly, his lips were on hers again, swallowing her cries of pleasure as he lined his head with hers and entered her with a harsh thrust.
"Go as fast as you need to," she gasped breathlessly against his mouth, "I won't break."
Astarion grunted, and holding her torso in a cage to keep her still while his mouth clung to the pit of her shoulder, he fucked her with such ferocity she suddenly couldn't feel her toes. Mouth agape, she took every inch of his hard, fast thrusts. She could feel that rise from within again, but this time it was deeper.
She was going to lose herself in him all over again, but it was when his fangs found their mark and sank in that she threw herself into insanity. The combination of him feeding and fucking was too much, and she came again, this time while wrapped around his swollen cock, which twitched inside of her as the waves crashed over her.
"Oh…oh….gods," Astarion squeezed his eyes shut as she quivered and throbbed around him, triggering his own orgasm and bringing him over the edge with her.
Hope felt him come inside her, now with her heels digging into the small of her back and her fingers tangled in his hair, and let every pulsing wave that crashed over her send her into a new world of ecstasy.
When the high was over, when she could finally breathe, Hope carefully lowered her legs and rested her head back against the stone with a soft, satisfied sigh.
"Twice?" She asked out loud. "Once is usually a blessing on its own."
Astarion chuckled against her ear as he dragged his tongue across the mess he'd made of her neck. "Not with me, darling. Never with me."
Smiling, she let her head rest back and bask in the soft, licking kisses as he cleaned her skin under the glow of the moon.