Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

Celeste: Part Two

Isabeau collapsed on the bed, pure pleasure washing over every part of her, wrenching a scream from her throat.

Celeste crawled up her body, her eyes red with lust and satisfaction, and settled onto the pillow beside her, one hand resting on Isabeau's stomach.

Two months had passed since the night that they'd met, when Celeste came to her home and gave her a new life, and Isabeau had never been happier.

Celeste had warned her that becoming a vampire would be painful, and she hadn't lied. After the initial pain of the bite, Isabeau's stomach had been wracked by a relentless ache, eased only by the blood that Celeste fed her. But it hadn't lasted long and Celeste had remarked that she'd never seen anyone come through the change so quickly. To Isabeau, that was a clear-cut sign that she had chosen the right path.

She was meant to be a vampire.

Celeste had taken Isabeau to her large home on the edges of Paris, and Isabeau had never left. It was the perfect place for her to learn how to control her new abilities, and Celeste was a patient teacher.

For Isabeau, the time they spent together wasn't just about learning to be a vampire. It was about simply being with Celeste.

For the first few weeks, there was no suggestion that Celeste wanted to kiss her again. Instead she focused on teaching Isabeau, to the point that Isabeau wondered if she'd imagined the spark between them that first night.

But gradually, as Isabeau had made it clear that she was a fast learner and that being a vampire came surprisingly naturally to her, things changed between them. Celeste would always stand a little closer than she needed to. She would find excuses to touch Isabeau, and her hands would always linger. When she was looking at Isabeau, her eyes seemed to shine that much brighter.

Isabeau had eagerly waited for the day when Celeste would kiss her again and when that day finally came, it had been better than she imagined.

Celeste did not stop at kissing.

Within a week she'd taken Isabeau into her bed, and Isabeau had discovered she had more to learn than just being a vampire.

But she was a very fast learner.

Now, barely a day went by when they didn't make love.

Isabeau felt like she was in a dream, one she never wanted to wake up from.

"I sent Renee to make enquiries about your sister," Celeste said.

Her hair was splayed out around her, tangled with Isabeau's curls, the sweet smell of her filling the air.

Isabeau tensed just a fraction.

A week after she was turned, she'd asked Celeste to check on her family. Isabeau was sure they were better off without her, but she needed to know if they thought that too. Celeste had warned her that she might not like the answer, and Isabeau knew that was true, but she still needed to know.

Celeste was right.

Isabeau had not liked the answer.

The sudden disappearance of Henri Aguillon's eldest daughter was the scandal of the month. Most people seemed to think that Isabeau had eloped with some secret lover, and Isabeau didn't care about that. Gossip and rumours couldn't hurt her now.

What did hurt was that her family really did seem . . . happier now she was gone.

Her parents focused all their attention on Henriette, and Henriette herself no longer had to contend with her disgrace of a sister.