This You Can Keep, 7/14. NC-17.
Title: This You Can Keep
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: NC-17 (language, graphic depictions of violence, noncon/dubcon and actual con)
Pairing: Ariadne/Cobb (chapter 1 only), Ariadne/Arthur/Eames
Disclaimer: Everyone here belongs to Christopher Nolan and not to me. His toys are fun to play with!
Spoilers/Warnings: Post-movie. For the
inception_kink meme prompt in round 7: Vampire!AU Ariadne is a newbie vampire hunter Cobb is training. Arthur and/or Eames are vampires.
Summary: Training with Cobb was hard, but she had expected it to be that way. Getting caught by vampires was nothing like what she expected.
Prior chapters:
One - Knowing Truth
Two - Entering The Nightmare
Three - Half Sick Of Shadows
Four - Telling Tales
Five - Dreaming Like A Ghost
Six - Nothing Is As It Seems
"I don't think we should go back just yet."
Eames looked over at Arthur from where they were lounging beside the hotel pool. Ariadne was swimming, petite frame lithe as it moved gracefully through the water. "Why?"
"We like the house, but it probably holds bad memories for her."
"Can't avoid it forever. Unless you'd rather uproot us all and head for a new city."
"I've been thinking of doing that," Arthur commented. He had a cell phone in his hands; it had originally been Ariadne's, though there were no indications of which contact names were hunters or not. She hadn't purged its memory; contact numbers still remained for Mom, Dad, Dad Office and Home, which wasn't the loft she had been staying in. He could only guess that recent numbers might be hunters, but she had changed her settings so that there was no call log saved into the phone's memory.
"What are you doing with that?" Eames asked, snatching it from him. "I thought you wanted to get rid of it."
"I thought it might be useful. Phone numbers, something like that."
"God. Look at you!"
"What?"
"Mooning over her phone like a lovesick puppy. And you make fun of me for that shite?" Eames asked with a laugh, dangling the phone just outside of Arthur's reach. He laughed as Arthur snatched it from him. "You could always just tell her."
"She doesn't want to hear it."
"So? I've told her a dozen times by now." Eames tucked his hands behind his head as he lounged on the chaise. "She's gotten used to hearing it."
"It's still unwanted, you prick."
"What? I think that's one of my more flattering features," Eames replied with an easy grin. "She certainly appreciates it as much as you do."
Arthur thought about backhanding Eames, but decided against it. That would be messy, as he was likely going to split Eames' lips over his teeth again, and Eames would interpret it as foreplay. They were leaving Monaco in a few days, and he would rather not be thrown out of their current hotel. "Shut up, Eames."
"Ooh. So unoriginal," Eames taunted. He leered playfully at Arthur. "You are definitely distracted by our luscious little pet."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Eames? Honestly. Shut it."
Eames laughed and watched Ariadne swim. "You called someone, didn't you?" he asked after a moment. "Phone's still charged and paid for."
"Miles," Arthur admitted after a moment.
Eames lofted an eyebrow at Arthur. "I thought you planned to avoid all that."
"Oh, I do. But I figured an inquiry into what happened about a year ago wouldn't hurt."
"Lovesick bastard."
"Shut up."
Ariadne slowed as she approached the end of the pool and slowly hauled herself up and out. She flashed the two of them a wan smile, then moved to grab a few towels to dry off. Eames and Arthur both tracked her movements. "What did he have to say?"
"I asked about fledglings in his territory. It's a fairly broad question, you know."
"Fucker, you know more than that."
"Well, I did get into specifics."
"Ah. There we are with the specificity. And?"
"And what? Miles hadn't gotten back to me yet."
"Huh. It's not as if there are really that many fledglings, are there?"
"Officially or unofficially?" Arthur asked in arch tones.
"Good point," Eames replied with a nod. "Why are you looking, really?"
"She needs closure."
"And you need to grow a sack and just tell her, Arthur. Otherwise, she'll think you're still fucking with her."
"Aren't we?"
"You know what I mean, arsehole." Eames got up from the chaise as Ariadne approached. "Ah, and you look utterly magnificent in that cute little bikini," he said with a charming smile, sliding his hands around her waist. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Quite a lot of swimming."
"It's good to clear my head a little bit."
Eames extended his arm in a gallant gesture, and she took it delicately. "Shall we head back up to the room, then?"
"You two go on up," Arthur said, sitting up. "I think I'll try that. A few laps might do me some good." He smiled at Ariadne, who seemed almost shy while looking at him. "I'll be up in a little bit. I'll be in time for dinner."
Eames shrugged and escorted Ariadne upstairs; he figured Arthur might want to call Miles again or some kind of rot like that. He wasn't usually a demonstrative kind of fellow, and he was going farther with Ariadne than he had with anyone else Eames had ever seen. "Doing all right, love?" he asked her as he shut the door to their room behind him.
Ariadne shrugged and stepped out of the bikini. There was no point in being shy with either of the two vampires, really. "Best that can be expected, I guess."
He slid his hands along her arms. "What had you wanted out of life, then? What did you want to be when you grew up?"
Her lips twisted into a caricature of a smile. "I still haven't."
"Then we're in good company," he replied with a genuine smile. "But what had you wanted?"
"It doesn't matter now."
"Sure it does."
She twisted out of his loose grip and headed to the dresser to pick out clothes. "No, it doesn't. I was a liberal arts major at the university. That just means I decided fuck-all about my future. I never even got a chance to finish the degree. I was two months from graduation when..."
Eames came up behind her and slid his hands down her torso, fingers brushing against her flat belly. "I'm sorry, love. I really am."
"It doesn't matter now," she muttered, eyes sliding shut. "That's what Arthur says, right?"
"It matters," Eames replied softly. "It's not what Arthur says, you know that. He can't erase the past for you, no matter how much he might want to." He pressed his lips down against the curve of her neck. "Was there anything you did want? Anything we could still give you?"
She turned in the circle of his arms, her expression lost. "I wanted kids and a family and to be happy. You can't give me those things."
Eames seemed almost stricken as he cupped her face in his hands. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah. We both are, aren't we?"
He kissed her, trying to erase the bitterness of her tone. She was still against him, impassive even as his tongue slid across hers. He pulled back, sadness in his eyes as he clasped her face in his large eyes. "Ariadne. I can't give you a child and neither can Arthur. Was it a baby you really wanted or a family of your own?"
"It's the same thing," Ariadne had said, shaking her head as she tried to pull away.
"No, it's not. Family isn't only made of blood." There was an intensity in his gaze that Ariadne hadn't let herself see before. "I feel alone when I don't see you. There's an emptiness I didn't know I had until I got to know you. That's family, too."
"Eames..."
"Arthur can't bring himself to say the words. He's lost too much over time. Trust me when I say that he loves you, too, Ariadne. We'd be your family. We'd be with you forever if you'd let us."
"People don't promise to kill their family members," Ariadne replied tartly.
"Sure they do. I did that all the time with my uncle, that rotter. Dead several times over now, but he used to take a switch to my back and beat me bloody and senseless. So of course I promised to kill him at least a dozen times over."
"And?"
"I did," Eames replied with a shrug. "He was a drunk and easy to kill. Just tripped him and he tumbled down the stairs." Eames slid his arms around her. "It was a long time ago, poppet. He wasn't a good man. Then again, neither was I."
"Eames..."
"I'm still not, if you think about it," Eames continued, sliding his hands along the curve of her back until he reached the rise of her buttocks. "But goodness is overrated. Goodness dies. It fades, it gets corrupted, it gives up. Better to stick to the fence, I say. Middle of the road lasts forever."
"Stop it," Ariadne whispered, pushing at his chest ineffectually. "Stop trying to convince me to stay with the two of you."
"We want you to stay," Eames murmured. He pulled her flush against him. "Stay with us, Ariadne. Be part of us."
"I..." Ariadne began weakly, turning away from his intense gaze.
"Sleep on it," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her neck. "Don't decide just this minute. But think on it. We want you to stay."
"You were bored, you said."
"I was also fucking with you, love," Eames murmured, scraping her skin lightly with his teeth. She shivered in his embrace. "I've been honest recently, though."
Whatever she would have said was swallowed up in the gasp she made as he slid his fangs into her carotid artery. Ariadne clung to him, and Eames cupped his hands around her buttocks, lifting her up. He turned and moved so that she was propped up against the wall. After he licked the wound shut, he continued to kiss and lick the skin. She made a soft whimpering sound deep in her throat, and kept her eyes shut as he kissed her neck.
The door opened and Arthur came inside the room. He approached them slowly, running a hand along Eames' shoulders. He pressed his lips against Ariadne's temple, making her remember Eames' words about him. "Come to bed, both of you," Arthur murmured.
Ariadne accepted this as her reality. They were tangled on the bed, their teeth in her neck as they lapped at her blood. Arthur pressed his wrist to her mouth after biting open an artery, and she swallowed it down as Eames spread her thighs and began to lick at her folds. Ariadne caught Arthur's gaze as she drank from him, his forearm clutched desperately in her hands. Trembling, Ariadne tilted her head up and accepted his kiss.
Eames slid his fingers inside her slicked heat, thumb at her clit. She shifted position to make it easier for him to slide his fingers inside of her. "I want to taste you," he rasped, moving his fingers inside of her. "I love how you taste." Ariadne whimpered, tightening around his fingers.
"More," Arthur whispered softly, his eyes locked to Ariadne's. "She needs more."
Eames moved harder and faster as Ariadne cried out. Limbs loose and trembling, she lay limply in Arthur's arms. She faced Eames, still kneeling with his head between her thighs. "Eames," she whispered in a breathy voice as he traced her slick folds with his tongue. "Good as this feels," Ariadne gasped, "I need you to go harder." Eames slid his tongue into her slit at those words, and she whimpered softly. "Yes," she hissed, her eyes sliding shut. "God, yes."
Arthur moved to kiss her again, tongue sliding into her mouth. She grasped hold of his shoulders, fingers tight and digging in. Her entire body shook as she came again under Eames' mouth and fingers, and Arthur moved to lie down on the bed. He pulled her over him, guiding his cock into her. Eames pressed his slicked fingers into her backside, and Ariadne whimpered at the feel of them working her body to a fever pitch.
The intensity that had been in Eames' gaze was in Arthur's eyes. She shivered at the sight of it, at not knowing what it truly meant. He was so closed off in some ways; she at first had wanted to keep that as it was. It would be easier to kill him then. She hadn't wanted to like him, hadn't wanted to crave his touch. But he was full and thick inside of her, his hands sliding across her skin in ways that made her writhe and whimper and scream in pleasure. Eames pressed into her, his hands cupping her breasts and rolling her nipples between his rough fingers. She see-sawed between them, nearly sobbing at the sensations they were coaxing out of her.
"Let go," Arthur whispered, hands moving to support her. They brushed against Eames' hands on her breasts, and Ariadne looked down at him as she struggled to breathe. The look in his eyes was almost uncomfortable to see. "Come for us, Ariadne," he whispered.
With a cry, Ariadne came again. She collapsed down, supported by their tangle of arms as they thrust a few more times. She could feel them twitch inside of her when they came as well, and she made soft sounds when they pulled out of her. She was sensitive and stretched out, her chest feeling like a gaping wound.
She could say that she felt like an empty shell, but that wouldn't be true. She didn't know what the hell she was going to do.
Eames was playing with her hair as Arthur stroked her belly, his lips pressed to the curve of her shoulder. It terrified her to feel comfortable like this, to feel as though this was natural. She could live like this, fucked out and adored, but everything that came before would cease to matter. The loss of her family, even Cobb, had to mean something. If she accepted this life as their human pet, it would be like saying that her losses were superficial things.
That was something she couldn't do, no matter what.
***
"You could book a visit at the spa," Arthur said, going through the brochures on the desk as Ariadne changed into pajamas.
"Ooh. You could get yourself all prettied up and pampered during the day, then show off everything when you get back," Eames said with a leer. "Ow!" he cried as Arthur smacked the back of his head casually. "What the fuck?"
"Be nice," Arthur said sweetly.
Ariadne turned and looked at the two of them. "Was there something specific...?"
"Goddammit, Arthur," Eames grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "I am nice. I'm a bloody charmer next to your stoic ass."
Arthur cleared his throat. "I was thinking you might like the hot stone massages and the steam baths," he said, handing over the brochure as she approached.
"Ooh. Look at that," Eames said, snatching it up before Ariadne could read it. "Hot wax. Sounds kinky. That would be fun, wouldn't it? Waxing all the hair off of your body. I can't wait lick up all the skin," he added with a leer as he handed over the brochure. "Can I watch?"
"No," Ariadne said sweetly as Arthur smacked Eames on the back of the head again. She couldn't help but giggle when Eames tipped Arthur out of the chair he was sitting in, sending the older vampire to sprawling across the floor.
Arthur pulled on Ariadne's leg, causing her to fall on top of him. For a terrifying, electric moment, Ariadne thought he was going to say something along the lines of "I love you," as Eames had done a dozen times over. Instead, he gave her a chaste kiss and a happy grin, making her stomach do strange flip flops.
Eames lowered himself to the ground and flopped down on top of Ariadne, making the breath rush out of Arthur. "I'll book the appointment for you. It'll be fun."
The moment was lost, and Ariadne merely tucked her face against Arthur's chest. She was being stupid. She was losing her mind.
She went to the spa appointment and did enjoy the massages and steam baths as Arthur had thought she might. Just for Eames, she let the beauticians do whatever they wanted and waxed more things than she thought could possibly be waxed. They fussed over her, and for a while she felt like a goddess.
Ariadne lay between them in the bed afterward, her arms around each vampire. They napped during the day as she slept. It shouldn't have felt as comfortable as it did. It shouldn't have felt as right as it did. It shouldn't have felt like something she wanted.
She didn't know what she wanted to do anymore, and that terrified her more than anything else.
***
***
To chapter 8!
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: NC-17 (language, graphic depictions of violence, noncon/dubcon and actual con)
Pairing: Ariadne/Cobb (chapter 1 only), Ariadne/Arthur/Eames
Disclaimer: Everyone here belongs to Christopher Nolan and not to me. His toys are fun to play with!
Spoilers/Warnings: Post-movie. For the
inception_kink meme prompt in round 7: Vampire!AU Ariadne is a newbie vampire hunter Cobb is training. Arthur and/or Eames are vampires.
Summary: Training with Cobb was hard, but she had expected it to be that way. Getting caught by vampires was nothing like what she expected.
Prior chapters:
One - Knowing Truth
Two - Entering The Nightmare
Three - Half Sick Of Shadows
Four - Telling Tales
Five - Dreaming Like A Ghost
Six - Nothing Is As It Seems
"I don't think we should go back just yet."
Eames looked over at Arthur from where they were lounging beside the hotel pool. Ariadne was swimming, petite frame lithe as it moved gracefully through the water. "Why?"
"We like the house, but it probably holds bad memories for her."
"Can't avoid it forever. Unless you'd rather uproot us all and head for a new city."
"I've been thinking of doing that," Arthur commented. He had a cell phone in his hands; it had originally been Ariadne's, though there were no indications of which contact names were hunters or not. She hadn't purged its memory; contact numbers still remained for Mom, Dad, Dad Office and Home, which wasn't the loft she had been staying in. He could only guess that recent numbers might be hunters, but she had changed her settings so that there was no call log saved into the phone's memory.
"What are you doing with that?" Eames asked, snatching it from him. "I thought you wanted to get rid of it."
"I thought it might be useful. Phone numbers, something like that."
"God. Look at you!"
"What?"
"Mooning over her phone like a lovesick puppy. And you make fun of me for that shite?" Eames asked with a laugh, dangling the phone just outside of Arthur's reach. He laughed as Arthur snatched it from him. "You could always just tell her."
"She doesn't want to hear it."
"So? I've told her a dozen times by now." Eames tucked his hands behind his head as he lounged on the chaise. "She's gotten used to hearing it."
"It's still unwanted, you prick."
"What? I think that's one of my more flattering features," Eames replied with an easy grin. "She certainly appreciates it as much as you do."
Arthur thought about backhanding Eames, but decided against it. That would be messy, as he was likely going to split Eames' lips over his teeth again, and Eames would interpret it as foreplay. They were leaving Monaco in a few days, and he would rather not be thrown out of their current hotel. "Shut up, Eames."
"Ooh. So unoriginal," Eames taunted. He leered playfully at Arthur. "You are definitely distracted by our luscious little pet."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Eames? Honestly. Shut it."
Eames laughed and watched Ariadne swim. "You called someone, didn't you?" he asked after a moment. "Phone's still charged and paid for."
"Miles," Arthur admitted after a moment.
Eames lofted an eyebrow at Arthur. "I thought you planned to avoid all that."
"Oh, I do. But I figured an inquiry into what happened about a year ago wouldn't hurt."
"Lovesick bastard."
"Shut up."
Ariadne slowed as she approached the end of the pool and slowly hauled herself up and out. She flashed the two of them a wan smile, then moved to grab a few towels to dry off. Eames and Arthur both tracked her movements. "What did he have to say?"
"I asked about fledglings in his territory. It's a fairly broad question, you know."
"Fucker, you know more than that."
"Well, I did get into specifics."
"Ah. There we are with the specificity. And?"
"And what? Miles hadn't gotten back to me yet."
"Huh. It's not as if there are really that many fledglings, are there?"
"Officially or unofficially?" Arthur asked in arch tones.
"Good point," Eames replied with a nod. "Why are you looking, really?"
"She needs closure."
"And you need to grow a sack and just tell her, Arthur. Otherwise, she'll think you're still fucking with her."
"Aren't we?"
"You know what I mean, arsehole." Eames got up from the chaise as Ariadne approached. "Ah, and you look utterly magnificent in that cute little bikini," he said with a charming smile, sliding his hands around her waist. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Quite a lot of swimming."
"It's good to clear my head a little bit."
Eames extended his arm in a gallant gesture, and she took it delicately. "Shall we head back up to the room, then?"
"You two go on up," Arthur said, sitting up. "I think I'll try that. A few laps might do me some good." He smiled at Ariadne, who seemed almost shy while looking at him. "I'll be up in a little bit. I'll be in time for dinner."
Eames shrugged and escorted Ariadne upstairs; he figured Arthur might want to call Miles again or some kind of rot like that. He wasn't usually a demonstrative kind of fellow, and he was going farther with Ariadne than he had with anyone else Eames had ever seen. "Doing all right, love?" he asked her as he shut the door to their room behind him.
Ariadne shrugged and stepped out of the bikini. There was no point in being shy with either of the two vampires, really. "Best that can be expected, I guess."
He slid his hands along her arms. "What had you wanted out of life, then? What did you want to be when you grew up?"
Her lips twisted into a caricature of a smile. "I still haven't."
"Then we're in good company," he replied with a genuine smile. "But what had you wanted?"
"It doesn't matter now."
"Sure it does."
She twisted out of his loose grip and headed to the dresser to pick out clothes. "No, it doesn't. I was a liberal arts major at the university. That just means I decided fuck-all about my future. I never even got a chance to finish the degree. I was two months from graduation when..."
Eames came up behind her and slid his hands down her torso, fingers brushing against her flat belly. "I'm sorry, love. I really am."
"It doesn't matter now," she muttered, eyes sliding shut. "That's what Arthur says, right?"
"It matters," Eames replied softly. "It's not what Arthur says, you know that. He can't erase the past for you, no matter how much he might want to." He pressed his lips down against the curve of her neck. "Was there anything you did want? Anything we could still give you?"
She turned in the circle of his arms, her expression lost. "I wanted kids and a family and to be happy. You can't give me those things."
Eames seemed almost stricken as he cupped her face in his hands. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah. We both are, aren't we?"
He kissed her, trying to erase the bitterness of her tone. She was still against him, impassive even as his tongue slid across hers. He pulled back, sadness in his eyes as he clasped her face in his large eyes. "Ariadne. I can't give you a child and neither can Arthur. Was it a baby you really wanted or a family of your own?"
"It's the same thing," Ariadne had said, shaking her head as she tried to pull away.
"No, it's not. Family isn't only made of blood." There was an intensity in his gaze that Ariadne hadn't let herself see before. "I feel alone when I don't see you. There's an emptiness I didn't know I had until I got to know you. That's family, too."
"Eames..."
"Arthur can't bring himself to say the words. He's lost too much over time. Trust me when I say that he loves you, too, Ariadne. We'd be your family. We'd be with you forever if you'd let us."
"People don't promise to kill their family members," Ariadne replied tartly.
"Sure they do. I did that all the time with my uncle, that rotter. Dead several times over now, but he used to take a switch to my back and beat me bloody and senseless. So of course I promised to kill him at least a dozen times over."
"And?"
"I did," Eames replied with a shrug. "He was a drunk and easy to kill. Just tripped him and he tumbled down the stairs." Eames slid his arms around her. "It was a long time ago, poppet. He wasn't a good man. Then again, neither was I."
"Eames..."
"I'm still not, if you think about it," Eames continued, sliding his hands along the curve of her back until he reached the rise of her buttocks. "But goodness is overrated. Goodness dies. It fades, it gets corrupted, it gives up. Better to stick to the fence, I say. Middle of the road lasts forever."
"Stop it," Ariadne whispered, pushing at his chest ineffectually. "Stop trying to convince me to stay with the two of you."
"We want you to stay," Eames murmured. He pulled her flush against him. "Stay with us, Ariadne. Be part of us."
"I..." Ariadne began weakly, turning away from his intense gaze.
"Sleep on it," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her neck. "Don't decide just this minute. But think on it. We want you to stay."
"You were bored, you said."
"I was also fucking with you, love," Eames murmured, scraping her skin lightly with his teeth. She shivered in his embrace. "I've been honest recently, though."
Whatever she would have said was swallowed up in the gasp she made as he slid his fangs into her carotid artery. Ariadne clung to him, and Eames cupped his hands around her buttocks, lifting her up. He turned and moved so that she was propped up against the wall. After he licked the wound shut, he continued to kiss and lick the skin. She made a soft whimpering sound deep in her throat, and kept her eyes shut as he kissed her neck.
The door opened and Arthur came inside the room. He approached them slowly, running a hand along Eames' shoulders. He pressed his lips against Ariadne's temple, making her remember Eames' words about him. "Come to bed, both of you," Arthur murmured.
Ariadne accepted this as her reality. They were tangled on the bed, their teeth in her neck as they lapped at her blood. Arthur pressed his wrist to her mouth after biting open an artery, and she swallowed it down as Eames spread her thighs and began to lick at her folds. Ariadne caught Arthur's gaze as she drank from him, his forearm clutched desperately in her hands. Trembling, Ariadne tilted her head up and accepted his kiss.
Eames slid his fingers inside her slicked heat, thumb at her clit. She shifted position to make it easier for him to slide his fingers inside of her. "I want to taste you," he rasped, moving his fingers inside of her. "I love how you taste." Ariadne whimpered, tightening around his fingers.
"More," Arthur whispered softly, his eyes locked to Ariadne's. "She needs more."
Eames moved harder and faster as Ariadne cried out. Limbs loose and trembling, she lay limply in Arthur's arms. She faced Eames, still kneeling with his head between her thighs. "Eames," she whispered in a breathy voice as he traced her slick folds with his tongue. "Good as this feels," Ariadne gasped, "I need you to go harder." Eames slid his tongue into her slit at those words, and she whimpered softly. "Yes," she hissed, her eyes sliding shut. "God, yes."
Arthur moved to kiss her again, tongue sliding into her mouth. She grasped hold of his shoulders, fingers tight and digging in. Her entire body shook as she came again under Eames' mouth and fingers, and Arthur moved to lie down on the bed. He pulled her over him, guiding his cock into her. Eames pressed his slicked fingers into her backside, and Ariadne whimpered at the feel of them working her body to a fever pitch.
The intensity that had been in Eames' gaze was in Arthur's eyes. She shivered at the sight of it, at not knowing what it truly meant. He was so closed off in some ways; she at first had wanted to keep that as it was. It would be easier to kill him then. She hadn't wanted to like him, hadn't wanted to crave his touch. But he was full and thick inside of her, his hands sliding across her skin in ways that made her writhe and whimper and scream in pleasure. Eames pressed into her, his hands cupping her breasts and rolling her nipples between his rough fingers. She see-sawed between them, nearly sobbing at the sensations they were coaxing out of her.
"Let go," Arthur whispered, hands moving to support her. They brushed against Eames' hands on her breasts, and Ariadne looked down at him as she struggled to breathe. The look in his eyes was almost uncomfortable to see. "Come for us, Ariadne," he whispered.
With a cry, Ariadne came again. She collapsed down, supported by their tangle of arms as they thrust a few more times. She could feel them twitch inside of her when they came as well, and she made soft sounds when they pulled out of her. She was sensitive and stretched out, her chest feeling like a gaping wound.
She could say that she felt like an empty shell, but that wouldn't be true. She didn't know what the hell she was going to do.
Eames was playing with her hair as Arthur stroked her belly, his lips pressed to the curve of her shoulder. It terrified her to feel comfortable like this, to feel as though this was natural. She could live like this, fucked out and adored, but everything that came before would cease to matter. The loss of her family, even Cobb, had to mean something. If she accepted this life as their human pet, it would be like saying that her losses were superficial things.
That was something she couldn't do, no matter what.
***
"You could book a visit at the spa," Arthur said, going through the brochures on the desk as Ariadne changed into pajamas.
"Ooh. You could get yourself all prettied up and pampered during the day, then show off everything when you get back," Eames said with a leer. "Ow!" he cried as Arthur smacked the back of his head casually. "What the fuck?"
"Be nice," Arthur said sweetly.
Ariadne turned and looked at the two of them. "Was there something specific...?"
"Goddammit, Arthur," Eames grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "I am nice. I'm a bloody charmer next to your stoic ass."
Arthur cleared his throat. "I was thinking you might like the hot stone massages and the steam baths," he said, handing over the brochure as she approached.
"Ooh. Look at that," Eames said, snatching it up before Ariadne could read it. "Hot wax. Sounds kinky. That would be fun, wouldn't it? Waxing all the hair off of your body. I can't wait lick up all the skin," he added with a leer as he handed over the brochure. "Can I watch?"
"No," Ariadne said sweetly as Arthur smacked Eames on the back of the head again. She couldn't help but giggle when Eames tipped Arthur out of the chair he was sitting in, sending the older vampire to sprawling across the floor.
Arthur pulled on Ariadne's leg, causing her to fall on top of him. For a terrifying, electric moment, Ariadne thought he was going to say something along the lines of "I love you," as Eames had done a dozen times over. Instead, he gave her a chaste kiss and a happy grin, making her stomach do strange flip flops.
Eames lowered himself to the ground and flopped down on top of Ariadne, making the breath rush out of Arthur. "I'll book the appointment for you. It'll be fun."
The moment was lost, and Ariadne merely tucked her face against Arthur's chest. She was being stupid. She was losing her mind.
She went to the spa appointment and did enjoy the massages and steam baths as Arthur had thought she might. Just for Eames, she let the beauticians do whatever they wanted and waxed more things than she thought could possibly be waxed. They fussed over her, and for a while she felt like a goddess.
Ariadne lay between them in the bed afterward, her arms around each vampire. They napped during the day as she slept. It shouldn't have felt as comfortable as it did. It shouldn't have felt as right as it did. It shouldn't have felt like something she wanted.
She didn't know what she wanted to do anymore, and that terrified her more than anything else.
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To chapter 8!