Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

A Little Taste

A/N: This is a scene from Belle Morte, rewritten from Gideon's point of view. You may notice there are some differences between this story and how the scene played out in Belle Morte - that is due to changes that I have made to the published version of the book.

Modern Day

Gideon couldn't concentrate. Phoebe was talking to him, her hands fluttering animatedly, but he barely heard a word she said. His eyes kept straying over her shoulder, to the blond boy on the other side of the dining hall.

The boy that Gideon had barely said two words to, and yet couldn't stop thinking about.

Jemima Sutton, Lady of Nox, had arrived in Belle Morte earlier that day, along with five of her vampires, and Ysanne had arranged an informal welcoming party for them. Vampires and donors mingled all around Gideon, including some of the most beautiful people in the world, and he only had eyes for Jason Grant.

But that was nothing new at this point.

From the moment he'd first seen Jason, all beautiful blond hair and angular features and sparkling blue eyes, Gideon had been able to think of nothing but sinking his fangs into that perfect throat and tasting Jason's blood.

Sometimes he dreamed about it, imagining how Jason would taste, or how his body would feel beneath Gideon's hands. In the dreams, a bite always led to something more, and they usually ended with Gideon abruptly waking up, hard and aching, clutching at the covers.

In real life, he never dared ask Jason to be his donor.

He was afraid that if he tasted Jason's blood, then he would have to taste his mouth too, and that could never happen. Even without the Council rule that banned vampires and humans from being together, there could never really be anything between Gideon and Jason.

Jason was a donor, which meant that once his contract expired, he would leave Belle Morte and he wouldn't come back. Gideon would never see him again. Besides, Gideon Hartwright had realised a long time ago that there were no happy endings for him. He'd been alone for a very long time. It was better that way.

But he still couldn't stop looking at Jason.

"So what do you think? Would you participate in the show?" Phoebe asked.

Gideon pulled himself back to the conversation that he hadn't been listening to, trying to piece together what Phoebe was asking him.

Jemima was here so she and Ysanne could discuss the possibility of a UK version of Vampire Dates, a hugely popular American reality TV show in which people competed to win a date with a vampire. Gideon suspected Phoebe had been explaining to him exactly how the show worked.

"Absolutely not," he said.

Being a vampire in the modern world meant that a certain level of fame was inevitable, even for the more camera-shy among them, like Ludovic and Gideon himself. It was the price they paid for not living in the shadows any more, and Gideon accepted that.

But the thought of taking an active, prominent role in a vampire television series? Not a chance in hell.

"Really? I think it could be fun," Phoebe said.

Gideon glanced at Jason again.

Lydia, one of the vampires visiting from Nox, suddenly moved up behind Jason. She pushed his head to one side without asking, and sank her fangs into his neck.

Gideon stiffened, his own fangs starting to slide out of his gums.

Jason's lovely face had pulled into a wince when Lydia bit him, and though he didn't pull away, his whole body was rigid with discomfort. A vampire's bite could be intensely pleasurable, but Lydia's obviously wasn't for Jason, and she hadn't asked him first.