Claire knew that Lucian would need time to process everything that had happened nearly as much as Kirielle would. In an effort to give them each that time, she took it upon herself to contact Sean and fill him in on all that had happened as well. Sean of course wasted no time in calling the search teams back and sending someone to take care of Reeve’s body before it could be found by any mortals, possibly endangering all of them.

When Claire returned to the living room later that night, Lucian was still seated there on the sofa as he had been when she had left him earlier. His dark eyes stared out at the night through the living room window, listening sadly as Kirielle still sat in her room humming that same tune over and over.

Claire paused a moment in the doorway between his bedroom and the living room, pondering whether she should say anything more, and what she even could say. She tried to put on a brave face for both of them as she slowly moved to take a seat on the sofa as well.

“I... let Sean know... everything,” she settled on, her tone sympathetic.

“What?” Lucian asked, finally turning his eyes from the window and back to her as though startled by her presence somehow.

“Sean. I told him what happened, with her,” she added the last two words, not sure they were even necessary, but considering how far away Lucian seemed right then, she decided some clarification may be needed.

“Right...” he said as he looked away again, some strange color flickering through what she even could make out of his aura that night. But after all he had been through, his emotions were likely all over the place anyway right then.

She looked sadly toward Kirielle’s room, where the continued humming could easily be heard through the door. “Wanna sit in the other room for a while? Just to get a break from...” she simply nodded toward the door again.

Lucian cast his eyes downwards again, “Will it ever stop?”

“The music she keeps hearing, or the humming?” Claire asked sadly.

Lucian attempted a scoff, but even that nearly died in his throat, “Either?”

“Well, her mother wasn’t doing that, so I assume the humming will eventually stop. As for the noise in her head...” Claire looked down then as well.

“Claire?”

She sighed as she reached for his hand to help him up from the sofa. Upon leading him to his own room, at least a bit farther from Kirielle’s, she guided him to a seat at the edge of his bed with her.

“I also asked Sean to find out anything else he could about her clan,” she looked down again, “I suppose the good news is that it seems like the only real trait they get from their Malkavian side is the music.”

“What? How is that a trait from... them?” he looked back at her in confusion.

Claire swallowed, “Sean looked for any information he could find on them, and most of it agrees that that’s their weakness; like us getting entranced by incomprehensible beauty. The Daughters, they always hear that music in their heads, forever,” she finished softly.

“Forever?” his voice broke slightly as he looked away. “Permanent auditory hallucinations? I guess that would be a gift from Malkav,” he just shook his head, biting back his emotions once more.

“I suppose there are worse gifts,” Claire whispered, moving to squeeze his hand comfortingly.

“At least she makes the tune sound beautiful,” Lucian responded, finally losing his iron grip on his emotions as the red tears slid down his cheeks at last.

“I’m so sorry,” Claire’s voice quivered as well upon seeing his despair.

She then slid close to him, wrapping him in a tight embrace, letting him have that moment. He easily returned the embrace as the two sat there upon the bed, clinging to one another for several more long moments.

When they finally raised their heads to prepare to end the embrace at last, their eyes met. That was when he pulled her close again, covering her lips in a desperate kiss. Claire was a bit startled at first, but knowing her own struggles with feeling so lost so many times throughout her long life, it was easy to see why he’d want to feel anything else but despair in that moment.

It wasn’t long before they were laying atop the bed now, the kiss continuing as Lucian pulled his royal-blue dress shirt free from the waist of perfectly tailored black slacks. When his hands moved to start on his shirt buttons, Claire knew then that things were likely about to go far beyond just kissing.

It had been nearly fifty years now since the two of them had spent their one and only night together. Though his flirtations had only grown more frequent in recent years, which made this turn of events not too terribly shocking. Though the timing of it still allowed the tiniest bit of hesitation into her muddled thoughts as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it down his arms, dropping it to the floor next to the bed, all the while continuing to kiss her passionately.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

She couldn’t help wondering if his despair was somehow blurring into the desire he had long held for her. It was possible that upon giving in to their mutual attraction, he would then feel regret or shame for allowing himself any moment of happiness in light of what was now happening in his life.

“Lucian, are you sure?” she had to make herself whisper through the continued kisses.

She felt his lips curl against hers in the tiniest smile as his hands moved to the shoulders of the long, deep red mermaid dress she had worn tonight. It had a scoop neck, more modest than her usual low cut, corseted Victorian ensembles. The black lace half sleeves tickled her upper arms, making her porcelain skin look that much paler. The dress itself was embossed with shiny black flowers that covered the dress down to her knees, where the blood-hued material flared out around her ankles.

“Am I sure?” he whispered against her lips as he gently pulled the dress down from each of her shoulders. “I’ve spent the fifty years since we were together, just thinking about making love to you again. Is that sure enough for you?”

Neither of them said anything else then, despite Claire’s worry that he would regret his emotion-fueled impulsiveness once his mind was finally clear again. Though it was rather hard for either of them to speak when he pulled the dress the rest of the way down over her petite frame, exposing all of that alabaster skin to his dark, desire filled eyes once again.

He took a long moment to look down at her, taking in every inch of that body that had plagued his thoughts every time he had seen her since she had originally shared it with him. Not able to ignore the way he could feel her body heating just as his now had, Lucian moved his hands to pull himself free of his trousers then as well.

He then returned to his spot laying above her once they were both freed of all clothing. He placed another kiss over her lips before moving his mouth to her breasts. He at first teased her by gently flicking his tongue over one then the other. Before too long though, he needed more. He then closed his lips over her now hardened nipple and gave into the desire they were both feeling when he let his fangs graze her smooth, pale skin, causing a loud moan of desire as the dagger-like fangs just barely scratched her flesh, the tiniest trace of her blood touching his tongue.

Trying to recover from the pleasure even that tiniest penetration of his fangs had caused, Claire looked up at him with wide emerald eyes. “Lucian, my blood...” she whispered, the ability to form full sentences escaping her for the moment.

“One night does not a bond make,” he whispered back, licking another drop of blood from her breast.

She looked up at him with a smile of disbelief, as he was technically correct, but drinking even a drop of blood from another Kindred was something that all of their kind were extremely cautious about, and for good reason.

Though, he was not through shocking her for the night. Moving his attention from her breasts, he began trailing his kisses downward, over her stomach. Claire looked down at him, trying to form thoughts as best she could right then, convincing herself that he couldn’t possibly be about to do what it seemed like he might.

“Lucian...” was all she managed.

“Think of it as an apology for any transgressions I may have made in the past,” he smiled before continuing to move his lips downward.

He then immediately began teasing the part of her that was now completely inflamed with desire, causing another moan mixed with another sound of disbelief. She could barely harbor any other guess as to why he was truly risking this, as his tongue worked to start those tiny tremors. He seemed to be purposefully aiming to bring her to a state of ecstasy, regardless of even more of her blood dampening his lips then. He seemed truly determined to make sure she would never want to wait another five decades for his touch again.

Despite his desire to spend the rest of the night taking in every inch of her with his hands and lips, his urgency to finally have her again easily won out once the pleasure his mouth was giving her rocked her entire body in that final moment of release. His initial goal achieved, he then moved to a spot above her once more. Before she even had time to recover, or think, his lips covered hers as he plunged himself deeply inside her, both of them moaning loudly as that connection was made once again, for the first time in nearly fifty years.

When they had reached the peak of their pleasure that night, Lucian collapsed above her with another long kiss and an appreciative smile, Claire finally found her voice. “I know you’re in a bad place right now, Lucian, and I just don’t want you to regret this. All of this,” she added pointedly.

Lucian let out a small chuckle, “I’d hardly consider this a ‘bad place,’ Claire,” he smirked slightly with a pointed look down at where he was still inside her.

“I meant emotionally,” she clarified, though couldn’t help a small chuckle of her own at his words.

“Darling, I’ve waited so long to make love to you again...” he just shook his head down at her with another smile, another kiss. “Alas, it is almost morning, now. So I suppose I should check in on, her, one more time,” he sighed softly as he finally pulled himself out of Claire, both of them letting out a small sigh as that connection was severed at last. Pushing himself up onto his hands above her and placing another kiss on her lips, he added, “And perhaps my patients too.” He then smiled as he finally moved from the bed to get back into his clothing whilst Claire curled herself around his pillow, her eyes watching as that perfect body of his was hidden from her once more.

After checking on Kirielle and sighing heavily at her continued state of what he could only diagnose as shock, he moved back through the living room and into the front office of his adjacent medical practice.

He glanced back toward the patient rooms with yet another sigh, and moved to take a seat at the front desk in the still darkened room. Then grudgingly, he focused his thoughts as though to contact someone in that special way their clan could.

When that connection was established, he let out a heavy sigh before transmitting his thoughts to whomever was on the receiving end of them. If you really want me to go through with this, then you have to give me something. Some proof that she’s actually still alive. Let me see her, hear her, something. He pleaded through his thoughts.

A moment later, the telephone next to him rang obnoxiously in his ear.