He didn’t speak, just collapsed forward onto their bed andchangedinto his hare. Emmy crossed to him, her hand brushing his soft ears a few times, then sat on their bed and scooped him into her lap, his small body warm against her.
He stayed as he was for several long minutes, letting her pet him, before hechangedback to human, still in her lap.
And she just sat and held him, the two comfortable with the silence.
Rhea had slipped out once Felixchanged, so they were alone until Toby strolled in, still damp from his shower, wearing sweats and a t-shirt.
“Is there a wait for the showers?” Emmy asked him.
“Yeah, but there were just two waiting when I left. Probably be mostly clear by the time you get your stuff together.”
He sat and tied his shoes, told them he was starving and he’d see them soon, and he was out the door.
Felix climbed out of her lap. “He’s right. Sooner we shower, sooner we eat. Thanks for that.”
“Anytime. I heard you a few times, sounded like painful enjoyment. I hope that was the case.”
“Oh, it was. Could’ve done with a normal cane instead of a damned walking cane, but it had its appeal, too. A deep pain I could enjoy after a while, just more than I’d have preferred.”
She grinned. “But submissives at your level don’t get to decide how many, or how hard.”
He shrugged. “Not here. I’m still deciding how I might want that in a relationship though, you know? Do I want that kind of control? Sometimes I think I might, other times I think it might spoil it.”
She frowned. “I didn’t think you were looking for a relationship yet.”
“Oh, I’m not, but eventually, I will, and it’s important I figure out what I want.”
She shrugged. “I figure it’ll depend on who your true love ends up being. It has to be about what you both want and need.”
“Yeah, maybe, but if they want something completely different than what I need, then they probably aren’t my true love.” He sighed. “Logically, I want a say in how much I can be hurt, but in my heart, I know it’ll spoil everything if I have the power to do that. I don’t want power. That’s kind of the point.”
“Then you’ll need to be sure you trust whoever it is enough to decide that for you both.”
He considered that, nodded, and gathered his things.
She softened her tone. “Whoever ends up with you will be the luckiest sadist on the planet.”
They walked to the door with their shower bins, and he said, “You ever think it’s weird that we feed vampires every night but … like, they’re just these faceless bloodsuckers?”
“That’s kind of the point of the frenzies, isn’t it? We’re the product they paid for, totally impersonal. I never thought the objectification of it would work for me, but it does, in this specific instance.”
“Yeah.” He looked thoughtful. “But I wonder what it’d be like if it was …more.”
They walked into the bathroom and discovered Toby had been right about the showers, because the line was gone. There were three spots open, but none together, so she and Felix separated to get clean. Emmy let the hot water ease her tired muscles, and used the handheld to rinse all over after she soaped her entire body.
She dried off, donned soft cotton panties, sweats and a t-shirt, then put her towel-dried hair into a messy bun.
The two dumped their shower bins and towels in the room and headed upstairs to the cafeteria, where Rhea and Toby were already digging into plates. The kitchen had gone Roman tonight, so the carnivores got porchetta, slow-roasted juicy pork belly with rosemary and cooked onions, while vegetarians had puls, a savory, creamy spelt porridge with leeks and olive oil.
Emmy and Rhea tore into the pork, moaning at the fat’s melt, while Felix and Toby spooned up the puls.
“That virgin scene,” Rhea started, eyes sparkling, “Emmy, you sold the scream — hottest part.”
Emmy grinned. “Thanks, but Zander and Spence’s desk act? That initial thrust nearly made me come without anyone touching me.”
Felix chuckled, wincing, “Oh, the last act, with the slave and the cane? That one nearly did me in, and then I got to feel it for myself later. The damned thing hurt fuckingdeep.”
Toby swallowed his bite, voice low and satisfied. “The whole thing was fire. Sex and decadence, and I ended upwith the vampire chick who wore all the rubies for Dante’s Hell.Damn, her bite nearly did me in. I came until I was empty.”
