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charmandabear · 12 hours

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Life Essence🩸

Pairing: Spawn!Astarion x namedFemale!Tav (my Tav, Evelyn)

Rating: 18 +, Explicit

Word Count: ~6.5k

Warnings/Tags: Sexually explicit content, period sex, period blood, menstrual symptoms, menstrual discomfort, mentions of pregnancy and miscarriage/pregnancy loss, sexually aggressive Astarion, a bit of blood-play, Astarion struggling with intimacy a little bit, tender loving aftercare, slight in-game spoilers (The Underdark)

Summary: Evelyn finds herself without her usual tonics and to subdue her menstrual symptoms just as the party arrives down into the Underdark. With no merchants in sight as of yet, Evelyn realizes she must endure the pains… that is, until her vampire lover offers a more creative solution.

A/N: Just because my revelation on Astarion’s love for period blood was more… scientific, doesn’t mean I don’t believe that Astarion also just adores this because he gets to have sloppy, messy period sex with his lover. ;) Please enjoy my requested take on this delicious trope!

And of course, a massive thanks and shout-out to the best beta-reader a girl could ask for, @herdarkestnightelegance! ✨❤️ always a pleasure to work with you, friend!

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Oh Gods…

Evelyn froze, the pain blooming from her lower belly seizing her mind and muscles. Her armored boot hung in the air mid-step as she found herself stuck in place, fearing movement would exacerbate the awful pain that rolled through her like a wave.

Please, not now, not now…

“Darling? Why have you stopped? What are you doing?” Astarion stopped as well, raising an eyebrow at her and eyeing her strange pose. Evelyn finished her step, smiling at him sheepishly.

For a moment she considered telling him, but … Gods, it was far too early in their… relationship? Arrangement? Fling? She didn’t know what they had but whatever it was, it was too early to discuss such… delicate subjects with him. Even if it did involve an area of her body he knew very well at this point. She’d had her cycle once before on this journey, but thankfully she’d had the tonics she needed to hide her symptoms and lessen the flow of blood.

“Oh nothing! Sorry, I just uhm… remembered something I was trying to recall earlier today,” Evelyn scrambled to say, her voice unconvincing even to her own ears and her smile awkward. She then turned to address the whole group. “Why don’t we call it quits for the day? Set up camp on that ridge over there?” She pointed to a nearby short plateau overlooking the lake beside a tall crumbling tower. It seemed safe enough to set up a quick camp.

“But we just made it down here? Shouldn’t we move at least a bit farther into the Underdark before we rest again?” Karlach asked.

“Uh- no I think maybe we should be refreshed and ready for all the other creatures we’re bound to run into. I can feel my magic running quite low after dealing with that Beholder,” Evelyn offered pathetically. The other members of the party all glanced at each other, shrugging and nodding with obvious confusion coating their expressions. Except for Astarion, who was looking at her rather sharply. The Godsdamned vampire knew her too well at this point. Evelyn could tell he knew she was lying about something – he just didn’t know what she was hiding.

After what felt like an eternity, the camp was set up, a fire lit, and Evelyn was heartbroken to find she just was not feeling well enough to admire the strange yet enchanting glow and charm of the Underdark. Instead she retired to her tent immediately, politely turning down a hearty dinner from Gale - much to the wizard's surprise - as nausea relentlessly gripped her stomach. What a contrast from the ravenous hunger she’d felt for the last tenday.

Evelyn stripped down to her freckled skin and muttered a quiet curse at her body when she saw just how heavily the crotch of her underwear was soaked a deep, dark red. There went a perfectly good set of underwear – she’d have to be more vigilant in tracking her cycle to avoid losing too many pairs before they arrived at Baldur’s Gate. With a wave of her hand, she conjured some fresh water in a bucket she had stolen from the camp trunk on her way back to her tent and began to soak the ruined undergarments. The linen of her favorite nightshirt was cool against her heated skin as she pulled it over her head, and she was thankful for the icy chill of the Underdark. After putting on a spare pair of underwear, protected by her last clean rag, she made a mental note to collect some moss in the morning to fill the empty pad she had stuffed deep in her pack and huffed a frustrated sigh. Lying back on her bedroll, she prayed sleep would overtake her quickly, if only to spare her being conscious for the cramps that continued to roll through the lower half of her body relentlessly. She stifled a groan of pain as she scrunched her eyes shut. They’d have to find a merchant with a tonic for these pains soon if she was to be able to walk properly and not be a burden to the party.

One thing Evelyn didn’t consider in her rush for comfort though… was the smell of the blood blooming into the water of the bucket in the corner of her tent - and how it might attract the one person she truly wanted to avoid for the night.

It didn’t take long before Astarion, sitting quietly by the campfire with the rest of the party, found his head snapping up, his nose instinctively sniffing the air aggressively like a tracking dog.

Blood. And a concerning amount of it.

His aquiline nose led him to turn towards Evelyn’s summer green tent,fear gripping his mind as he stood without a word, moving quickly to follow the delicious and concerning scent. Why did he smell a large amount of her blood from her tent? Was she hurt? Had she sustained injuries from the Beholder she hadn’t informed anyone about? Godsdamn her altruistic nature, her fear to burden anyone with her needs. If she had been seriously hurt and didn’t tell anyone, especially him, he’d throttle her. He whipped open the flap of her tent without announcing himself, fully ready to rip into her.

“Evelyn Hale, why do I smell-?” he growled before falling silent mid-sentence. Evelyn lay hunched over on her side in the fetal position, her freckled cheeks tear stained. Astarion fell to his knees immediately. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?" His ruby eyes were flitting to each part of his lover’s body in panic, checking for wounds or blood.

Blood.

The smell, it was just so … overwhelming. He felt himself salivating, his hackles dangerously beginning to rise as his instincts fought for dominance. AsEvelyn opened her eyes Astarion’s heart broke at the pathetic sadness, the pain in them. But it did nothing to soothe the beast that snarled within him, desperate to drink every drop of blood he could find. That delicious, fresh blood. As he traced the rest of the tent with his eyes, they came to rest on a bucket in the corner and he wondered why his nose would lead him to a random vessel of dark water. Unless … Was that the blood he was smelling? Had she been soaking her used bandages in it?

“I’m alright, Astarion, just leave – please,” she begged quietly, gripping her abdomen. Fear paralyzed him. Was she pregnant? He’d fucked her well and good several times now but… dhampirs were so statistically unlikely and she’d already told him she’d began taking a tonic to prevent pregnancies after their first night together. But what if …? Hells had he really fucked up that badly with her already? No wait, if she was pregnant there wouldn’t be all this blood… unless… Oh Gods, no…

“Evelyn, tell me what’s ailing you right now, you’re frightening me,” Astarion demanded, his own voice sporting a rare layer of fear. “Should I fetch the cleric?”

His mind began to race. Was it safe for him to be in here with her like this if she was bleeding profusely? Would he be able to resist draining her while exposed to so much of her blood?

Evelyn’s sucked in a gulp of air between her teeth just as another wave of pain gripped her. “I’m fine it’s just… it’s my cycle,” she whimpered, and Astarion felt his tense shoulders drop with relief. “I have horrid pains the first few days and I just… I didn’t want to trouble you with my… monthly issues. I normally have a tonic to manage my symptoms, but I drank my last one back on the surface and we haven’t yet encountered any mercha-,”

“Darling, you really didn’t think Shadowheart would have something for this?!” Astarion interrupted her indignantly.

“Well she has her own cycles! I didn’t want to take away from her supply, what if she needed it?!”

“But you need it now! And besides - it’s not like I haven’t scented both your cycles before! Honestly, why didn’t you tell me?! Why don’t you ever ask for any Godsdamned help?!”

“I’m in pain Astarion, I don’t need this shit right now!”

The two of them were so overwhelmed and desperate, him to aid her in the haze of his hunger and her to simply get him out of the tent, that they were just talking incoherently over each other instead of listening. Astarion began to scramble for ideas, wanting desperately to help her as she helped him most nights, feeding him her blood. Gods, was he that useless? That he couldn’t even help her while she was bleeding profusely from her-

Oh. Ohhhhhh. He knew exactly how he could help.

Astarion couldn’t help the loud laugh that bubbled from his throat as the realization hit him. The panic dissipated from his mind as the irony sunk in. That starving beast within him seemed to simmer as the idea occurred to him. He licked his lips as a different type of hunger began to emerge within him.

Evelyn’s freckled cheeks flushed as she shot him a deep frown before turning her back to him with an angry pout. The childish reaction only encouraged more adoring laughter from him.

“Pet, I’m only laughing at the irony of it all – I should have been the first person you came to.”

Evelyn noticed the sudden change in his tone and half-sat, propping herself up on one hand and stretching out her long legs beside her. She turned to face him over her shoulder before wincing in pain at the cramp the movement elicited.

“Why?”

“Because, my little sorceress, who better to provide you with delicious relief than someone who will gladly… take care of all that delicious blood of yours? I don’t even have to bite you,” Astarion purred with a grin, his eyes sliding down her body to the apex of her thighs.

The blush that overtook the top half of Evelyn’s body, even visible in the tent’s dim light, was so tantalizing to Astarion, it took everything in him not to jump her bones on the spot.

“...What?!”

“Oh, don’t act so scandalized,” Astarion rolled his eyes. “It’s the perfect solution! The pleasure I bring you will help you with those awful pains, you spare yourself a clean rag for the night, and I get to have the meal of my undead life. Tasting both your arousal and your blood simultaneously? I can think of no better treat.” Astarion felt himself growing hard at the thought of that delicious combination. And Evelyn could see that he meant it. her golden eyes snapping down to the proof of his honesty growing rapidly between his legs.

“You… truly want to?” Evelyn asked cautiously. Astarion having his fill of her blood this way would be entirely new territory for her and sharing something new with Astarion was also new territory. He’d gone down on her before but never during her cycle - no one ever had. It wasn’t something her past lovers had ever been interested in… but then again … she’d never had a vampiric lover. She’d never felt so laid bare to anyone before and she would never be able to face him again if it went badly between them after this. So Evelyn supposed this was a very… definitive test of her trust in him.

“Darling,” Astarion sighed seductively. He pulled her hip back down toward him, bringing her to sit fully on the ground with her legs stretched in front of her. In the same fluid motion, he shifted himself to kneel between her legs and leaned forward, beginning to crawl over her like a cat stalking its prey. “I don’t believe I’ve ever wanted anything more…”

Astarion tilted his head to hover his mouth just a hair’s breadth apart from her own. Evelyn’s lids grew heavy, her lungs straining for air as it suddenly grew so very heated in her tent. But despite the heat between them, she could feel the familiar iciness of his skin and breath already cooling her flushed, aching body by just hovering over her. Relief flooded Evelyn at the thought of that frigid tongue anywhere on her body, especially at the source of her pain. She’d never had an outlet for the way her sexual desires always seemed to spike or how painfully sensitive her body became around the start of her cycle. But this felt like far more than an outlet. This, with him… it felt like sinful indulgence.

“Well? What do you say, my love?” Astarion whispered.

That huff of cold breath carrying nothing but words of pure temptation snapped her self-restraint in half. Evelyn crashed her lips against his, shifting her weight to one hand behind her as she used the other to tightly grip into his silver curls, locking him against her. The kiss grew sloppy and open-mouthed quickly as both of Astarion’s hungers enveloped his mind. He felt himself growing feral and growing even harder as his tongue swept into her mouth, claiming her. Her moan was loud, unrestrained, desperate.

Astarion pushed her down onto her back, her head landing with a soft thud on the pillow of her bedroll behind her as he lunged down onto her, immediately suckling and nipping at her earlobe - her favorite weak spot. Their hips rolled against each other forcefully.

“Oh darling, you have no idea how thrilled I am for this,” he whispered in her ear.

Evelyn’s golden eyes rolled back in their sockets as he suckled on that soft, sensitive flesh. Her breath hitched as he brought his mouth down to lick at the scars that were beginning to darken her neck with each passing night. He wouldn’t need them tonight, but it felt wrong not to pay his usual homage to those two little marks on his way to tonight’s meal.

As they worked together to slide her nightshirt off over her head, Astarion could barely manage to restrain his blood- and carnal lust enough to place kisses down her body as he normally did, pulling her underwear down off of her as he migrated down her bare torso. But he knew there was a stop he just had to make. Ruby eyes drank in the sight of Evelyn’s peaked, bright pink nipples before wrapping his lips around one and swirling his tongue in languid circles around the sensitive nub, his cool hand palming the other fully as his fingers dug into the soft flesh to caress that glorious breast - desperately needing to feel every inch of it with his entire hand. Evelyn’s back arched as she reveled in the pleasure shooting throughout her entire body from her over-sensitive nipples. Gods, how his touch made them ache in the most delicious way.

“Oh Gods, Astarion…” she cried out, not realizing how unrestrained the volume of her cries were. She heard someone clearing their throat loudly a small distance away from the tent and her body locked up with embarrassment.

“Ignore them, my darling,” Astarion said against her skin. “It’s just you and I…”

Evelyn waved her hand and with the flick of her wrist, she whispered, “Silencio”, as a purple shield molded itself to the inside of her tent, effectively locking in their shameless sounds of passion. Evelyn knew she wouldn’t be one for restraint tonight if the way her breasts felt in that moment was any indication of the pleasure she was about to enjoy.

“You are just the most resourceful little sorceress, aren’t you, pet?” Astarion purred with a sinister smile. Evelyn only smiled in response, closing her eyes once more to encourage him to return to his ministrations. Astarion eagerly obliged.

Astarion quickly relinquished his time with her breasts to finally focus on the main event of the night for him. As he spread her thighs, his mouth went dry at the sound of her slick folds parting. The sight of her was… exquisite to say the least. Deep, thick, bright red blood coated the folds of her sex, dripping from the entrance of her cunt and staining the fair, freckled skin of her inner thighs. Astarion wondered briefly if this was what love felt like. He brought his face closer to her and shamelessly inhaled the scent of her… of her arousal… of her true lifeblood. Astarion throbbed in his breeches so painfully, his erection so strained and large at the scent that he thought his cock might burst. He took a moment to sit up once more, kneeling between her legs, ripping off his shirt and eagerly unlacing his pants to free that painful erection. He almost cried at the relief it brought him to let his length spring free. As he knelt there, she stared up at him, open and waiting as he dragged his eyes from her own, down her breasts to between her legs…

This was the most erotic moment of Astarion’s existence.

Licking his lips like a predator, he brought his head back down between her legs as he stroked his cock, unable to restrain himself or the pearlescent fluid that leaked off the tip onto the bedroll below. Evelyn watched his hand for a moment, her golden eyes hazy and hypnotized with lust, before finally bringing them up to meet his own ruby irises. She could see it in his eyes… in the dim light of the candle in her tent, the expression in his eyes was darker than she’d ever seen - those rubies practically glowing with hunger, glinting in the candlelight like round, sharp mirrors. Astarion’s mind was charged with pure animal instinct. And she’d never been more excited to be his prey.

The first taste of her was so divine, Astarion thought he’d been staked in the ribs and mistakenly sent to the Heavens. All self-restraint was but a memory as his tongue tore into her. Astarion whimpered and groaned as he dined, his tongue lapping up every single drop of her he could take. He thanked whatever Gods were listening for removing his need for oxygen because he would have gladly relinquished the air he breathed rather than tear himself away from her delicious, bloody cunt.

But although he was eager for the meal, he couldn’t forget his part of the deal as his tongue pressed hard fast into her clit, his lips closing around it and sucking hard on the little bud.

Evelyn jolted upright - Oh, never had she felt something like this before. Could she pass out from pleasure, she wondered, as she laid back down, clawing into his hair with magic instinctively sparking at her fingertips. Gods, Astarion loved when even her magic responded to his touch – the snapping and crackling so loud in his ears, it only egged him on.

Never had noises like this escaped Evelyn’s mouth before. She’d never made such pathetic, desperate sounds in her life but the way each jolt of pleasure throughout her sensitive body erased the pain, then her thoughts, then her consciousness… she wasn’t sure she’d settle for tonics to take away her symptoms ever again.

Astarion dipped his tongue down towards her entrance, sliding into it and hooking it up to gather as much of her blood as he possibly could before eagerly swallowing. As it slid down his throat, he registered her taste, the nutrients, the potential of life in her menstrual blood flood him like an elixir. He hadn’t felt this alive since he had… well… been alive. It was invigorating. He began to stroke himself harder, moaning against her cunt. Evelyn relished the rumbling sensation it sent throughout her core, her body. She glanced down at her vampire lover and the sight practically drove her insane with lust.

Astarion’s eyes were on his prey, boring into her very soul with his intense attention narrowed to her face, watching her through his thick, dark lashes as he licked up every drop of her juices and blood that he could reach. Splotches and smears of her blood reached up to his elegant cheekbones, just below those eyes still glinting like deep red orbs of glass. His silver curls hung over his forehead, a few of them stuck down against his ivory skin with the sweat that dripped down his brow to mingle with the smudges of blood on the lower half of his face. He’d never looked more predatory, more primal, more beautiful. Evelyn wished she could capture the view just so she could pleasure herself to the image for the rest of her life.

Astarion growled, low and deep as he closed his eyes, picking up his speed against her clit again. Evelyn ground her hips against his mouth, riding his tongue as she moaned. Tears of pleasure formed in the corners of her eyes as she felt that coil tighten deep in her belly. It wound so tight within her, every gasp of air felt like her last as her mouth fell open in an ecstatic smile as she gripped his curls tighter.

“Fuck, fuck Astarion – Astar- d-don’t stop! Don’t stop! Please!” Evelyn mewled, her hips beginning to shake and stutter with each roll against his face.

When the white-hot wave of pleasure crashed into her, Evelyn curled in on herself as she cried out. But Astarion’s arms wrapped around her thighs, his hands slamming her hips down onto the ground to lock her in place, his tongue unrelenting as she convulsed with release. Oh Gods, her overly sensitive body now being overstimulated with the most intense orgasm she’d ever had, it blanked her mind, draining it of all logical thought.

After the final throes of her orgasm had passed, Astarion continued to lick lazily around her still-throbbing clit, sucking up every drop of her blood and essence he could reach with that glorious, skilled tongue of his. Evelyn’s gasping breaths finally slowed to a long, deep tempo as he continued to feed between her legs, like he had all the time in the world. He hummed with pleasure as he rose up on his elbows eventually as he watched her breasts rise and fall with each breath.

It took Evelyn a moment to realize her pains… they were gone. Completely gone. Not even the most expensive tonic she’d ever taken had been able to eradicate the pain like this. She was in awe as she thought to herself how every woman should be so lucky to have a vampire lover – at least once a month.

“Darling, you … you taste… divine isn’t even a sufficient word,” Astarion panted with an amazed, almost awed grin spreading over his bloodied face. “I’ve never tasted anything like that… I think I may have just fallen victim to an addiction.” He brought his body back over hers, dragging the tip of his cock to prod at that sensitive bud between her legs. She quietly moaned at the sensation, at his words. “You’re never allowed to menstruate without me again. I might just sequester you here in your tent until your cycle passes.”

Evelyn couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous the words might have seemed coming from anybody else. Astarion’s smile softened for just a moment at the sound. His undead heart tightened in his chest, knowing that his actions, no matter how defiling and deviant they had been, had brought her back to this state, to being the shining, joyous woman that he knew he was beginning to care for so, so deeply.

“Now,” Evelyn said with a devious smirk that made his blood boil and a tone that made him feel so desired. “Get down here and kiss me.”

“Let me just-,”

“No… Don’t clean it off,” Evelyn hummed, surprising herself with her next words. “I want to taste it. I want to taste it from your mouth… from your tongue”

Astarion’s mind sparked with excitement. This side of his half-elf sorceress lover always caught him off-guard, always kept him on his toes with how unpredictable its appearances were. Yes, she was openly sexual and erotic when it was just the two of them, when they fucked, but this aggressive side, this hungry vixen – she was a rare treat, and his favorite one at that.

“As you wish, my love,” he whispered as he lowered himself onto her body, pressing the full weight of himself onto her and Evelyn groaned into his kiss as the iciness of his skin cooled her back down to equilibrium.

Evelyn swept her tongue into his mouth and reveled in the taste that washed over her senses. The bittersweetness of her own taste, the metallic tang of her own blood, and the intoxicating taste of him that she knew so well. It truly awakened something in her and she reached down to massage his length nestled between them. Astarion whimpered as he began rutting against her hand.

“You’re such a generous vampire,” Evelyn whispered against his mouth. “Astarion, the consummate, dedicated lover…”

“I aim to please, my dear,” he replied with a suave smile against her lips. “I’d do anything for you…”

Astarion's stomach flipped as the words left his mouth. The truth behind them… horrified him. But Evelyn didn’t snag on the words the way he did as she reached down just a bit farther to massage his balls. Astarion gasped as her fingers grasped him, massaging them between her fingers as the icy skin of his chest pressed into hers, cooling her heated breasts.

“I don’t think it would be too daunting of a request for you to fuck me now, would it?” Evelyn asked, feigning an innocent pout.

“How very naive of you to think I’d ever refuse you while you hold two prized possessions of mine,” Astarion crooned with a smirk. Evelyn squeezed his balls playfully, causing him to jump a little, before she released them to grip his cock once more. As she guided the tip of his cock to her entrance, it glided effortlessly through her bloodied slick and his mouth began to water again. “But regardless, I’ll always fuck you, darling…” He hovered his mouth just above hers, both of them sharing a breath as he slid into her, drowning his mind in the obscene squelching noise that came from between Evelyn’s legs. “Oh Gods….”

The way his cock slid into her, bottoming out without anything more than minimal effort from his hips sent shivers down his spine. Astarion’s eyes rolled back in his head as he pulled out to thrust back in, those lewd, wet noises filling the tent again. He slowly slid his hand between their bodies, dipping two fingers into her folds to run over her clit. Evelyn twitched at the touch, that bundle of nerves still settling from earlier. He ran his fingers along her slick, swiping up a coat of new blood onto his dexterous digits before holding them up in front of his mouth. Locking eyes with his lover, he popped the bloodied fingers in his mouth to loudly suck on them as he simultaneously thrusted back into her once more. Evelyn shivered with arousal, watching him lick his fingers clean with starving eyes. Her body shook with that thrust of his hips, her breasts bouncing up toward her face with each time he fucked her. Gods, the way his cock slammed into the end of her channel, stretching her, filling her so completely, she couldn’t even remember her pains anymore - only the sensation that shot up her spine with each thrust as he hit her raw cervix.

“Evelyn, my darling,” Astarion moaned in her ear before biting down on it. The noises, the taste that lingered in his mouth, the smell – the pressure built up in him quicker than he wanted it to. His hips began to move faster, of their own accord but he didn’t want this to end, he didn’t want to stop.

Evelyn crashed her lips into his again, craving more. She bit into his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and began to suck on the small cut. A groan escaped his lips as she hummed with pleasure, tasting his blood mingling with hers.

“My little vixen, are you actually hungry for me?” Astarion said quietly, followed by a grunt as he thrust himself into her. “Have I awoken the little vampire in you?” His voice was low, deep - that tone that always sent shivers down her spine.

“Seems only fair,” Evelyn panted with a mischievous smile. Astarion slammed his lips back against hers, chuckling against the kiss. Evelyn reveled in the rumbling she felt in his deep laughter against her chest, the small vibrations stimulating her nipples again.

Evelyn, full of surprises when she was in these moods, suddenly flipped Astarion onto his back and slammed herself down on his cock. He gripped her breasts, needing something to hold on to as she rode him, his hips slamming up into her hard and fast.

“Gods yes, that feels – so – fucking – good,” Evelyn cried out, punctuating each word with the drop of her hips. Astarion slid his hands down to those hips, adding to the force of her bouncing on him, thrusting himself deeper and deeper and deeper. Astarion watched eagerly where they joined, hypnotized by the sight of his blood-soaked cock disappearing into her and reappearing. It was an image he’d never forget.

Evelyn gasps began to come faster, her breaths grew shorter as his length dragged against that spot within her. She leaned forward, bracing her hands on his chest but he pulled her down flush against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist as he pounded up into her hard, fast, relentlessly. Release barreled toward Evelyn with each slam of his cock against her cervix. She mewled as her second orgasm flooded her senses, washing away every memory of her having felt any pain at all this evening.

Astarion needed more of the sound, the smell – he didn’t want to be done with her, not yet. But he grunted, her cunt clenching around him bringing him to his own edge as he felt his hips stutter, his thrusts growing jagged and sloppy… and he came – harder than he ever had before. Astarion pushed his hips up flush against hers as he threw his head back, letting out a moan that came from deep within his soul.

For a short while, there was nothing but the sounds of content and exhausted panting filling the air. They laid there, simply holding each other, Evelyn’s cheek snuggled against his chest and Astarion’s lips buried in her chocolate brown hair as he planted soft kisses to the top of her head, both of them coming down from their highs. It was a few moments before either of them spoke.

“How in the Hells are we going to leave this tent to get cleaned up without the rest of the camp seeing us smeared with all this blood?” Evelyn chuckled quietly, her sheepish voice returning as that vixen receded back within her. She pulled her face away to examine her lover, taking in the absolute mess all over his mouth, his chin, his cheeks,his body and even in those silvery curls of his - she couldn’t help but laugh. Astarion smiled up at her, unable to help how he reacted to the sound of her laughter for the second time in such a short while. Oh, he began feeling like he was in such trouble with her as that happy golden gaze melted his frozen heart.

Evelyn gave his lips a quick kiss before pushing off of him, separating them in one fluid motion as she sat back on her heels beside him, looking down at all the blood all over her own body as well before chuckling again to herself.

“Well, I could… lick you clean,” Astarion grinned, propping himself up on his elbows. “Everyone is always saying I behave like a cat – so I might as well clean you like one, darling.”

Evelyn gave him an amused smile.

“An interesting proposal, but I believe that would lead to more of a mess,” Evelyn quipped.

“Exactly,” Astarion’s grin widened, and Evelyn threw his shirt at his face, earning a laugh from him. He slid the shirt off his face and laid it on the ground beside him.

“Well, I… suppose I’m stuck sleeping in here tonight…” Astarion said slowly as it dawned on him that he had never literally slept with Evelyn before. Evelyn seemed to freeze up, looking over at him slowly to analyze his reaction to the realization. He kept on his cool, calm mask as he waited for her to speak. They both sat there for a moment, reading each other.

“Is that… is that okay?” Evenlyn asked. Worrying that it might not be okay, she had an idea. “Oh- wait! I know,” she exclaimed as she removed her soaked, ruined underwear and now clean rag from the small bucket, lifted the back of her tent, dumped the bloody water out onto the ground and conjured new, clean water. She soaked the newly cleaned rag in the bucket for a moment, and then reached out to begin cleaning Astarion’s stunning face.

Watching the blood disappear to reveal his beautiful ivory skin… it was so satisfying and so… intimate. His eyesb were locked on hers throughout the tender process. She couldn’t help herself as she placed a kiss to each cheek once they were clean, and to his lips once they were clean as well. She dunked the rag once more before going to work on the rest of his body and he sat there, letting her clean her own blood off of him. He watched her quietly, letting the moment become something deeper than awkward silence. He took in how her golden eyes glazed over lightly as they dragged down his body, drinking in every line and curve of him. He let the closeness of the moment wash over him, let the intimacy of her ministrations sink into him with an uncomfortable weight because he found he wanted to bear that weight… with her.

“So…,” he finally said, breaking the silence as she wringed the rag one last time to finish off the last of the blood on the inside of his thigh. Evelyn’s golden eyes flitted up to his, waiting for him to continue. “I’m free to return to my own tent, then…”

Astarion watched her closely for a reaction, for anything that signaled she might protest, that she might want him to stay. She looked down at his chest for a brief moment before cleaning off a small spot she’d missed… right over his heart.

“Well, you don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” Evelyn offered, her voice soft and quiet.

“Do you… wish for me to stay?”

“I want you to feel free to do whatever you’d like to do, Astarion.”

A careful answer.

“That’s not what I asked,” he replied just as cautiously.

Evelyn met his eyes once more, beginning to clean off her own body, but he stopped her. Astarion gently took the rag from her hand and began to clean her himself. He’d never done this before… the aftercare. Never received it either. Even if there had been the time with all those other lovers… he didn’t think anyone would have cared to do it for him.

But Evelyn did.

Astarion found himself fantasizing about it, all the times he might do this again with her in the future and instead of fear… he felt a warmth spread throughout him. Because Evelyn would be there every day after they slept together, or didn’t. She would never be dragged off to her death, kicking and screaming his name in anger and betrayal. She’d be there with her bright golden eyes shining up at him every morning as she’d greet him, and every night as she’d bid him sweet dreams. The certainty of it was starting to anchor itself within him, heal over those wounds left by all those lost lovers… he wondered if maybe a God had answered all those pathetic, hopeless prayers after all, in saving her for him until this magical tadpole gave him this strange glimpse of freedom, maybe even … for when his was all over, and he was completely free of Cazador.

“I would… like it quite a bit if you did stay,” Evelyn said slowly, carefully. “But I don’t want you to feel obligat-,”

“Then I’ll stay.”

“I don’t want you to stay only because I want you to.”

“I do not do anything I do not want to do anymore, Evelyn.”

Her name on his lips still felt so weighted, so serious. Evelyn knew now it was a tell for when he was being completely serious – no games or pretenses. He was addressing her and only her when he used her name.

“Alright,” she smiled gently.

Once they both were finally clean and Astarion had made a few jokes about actually drinking from the bucket of bloodied water like it was fine wine, they settled into her bedroll together. Astarion laid on his back, lifting his arm for her to tuck herself into his side. As she laid her head down on his chest, he couldn’t help but notice the way her body fit against his… like a puzzle piece meant just for him. He couldn’t discern his emotions at the thought. Warmth mixed with panic and stretched his mind in too many directions and just as that protective veil began to creep over his mind, Evelyn shifted her hair. That natural perfume of hers, jasmines and warm vanilla, it settled him, grounded him.

Oh, Astarion was certain right then… he was so fucked.

Evelyn felt herself blush as Astarion stood a little closer to her the next morning as the group decided what direction they’d head in to further their journey. She almost giggled when he hooked his pinkie with hers, giving her a small smirk as he looked down at her out of the corner of his eye. When they finally came across a merchant that day in the Myconid Colony, Astarion called her over as he stood before the female gnome with Shadowheart at his side, picking out ingredients for elixirs and potions of healing.

“Darling, which ingredients would you need for your monthly tonic? We’ll have to brew it ourselves.”

“I uhm… I don’t think I need it,” Evelyn whispered. Astarion quirked an eyebrow at her, and she blushed as she continued. “I think I uhm… prefer your solution.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you two!” Shadowheart laughed as she paid the woman and walked away shaking her head.

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Taglist: @pursuitseternal (I teased you with this one for a little while there LOL 😅❤️)

#oh this is absolutely debaucherous #and absolutely fucking perfect

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