Conclave (Hypernaturals 3)

What Morgan Wants

"Oh. That."

Morgan looked up, appearing to not find my answer what she expected exactly. "Yes. That. It does not bother you?"

I smiled, trying to put her at ease. "No. I don't usually spend time thinking about it anymore. It's hard to explain, but let's see if I can get close. You know I can see into the upper ends of the Infrared, and the lower ends of the Ultraviolet. That it could be pitch dark in here, but I could still count the goose pimple flesh on your nipples if were you cold. Sitting here, when I concentrate, I can hear every air conditioner on every little cabin. Road noise from the highway. Your heart beating. I can concentrate on your heart, and I can see its warm shape throbbing inside you. The flush of blood when you think about sex, flowing to your breasts and genitals. If I focus, I can see all that, hear all that, scent all that on anyone. All that input would make me crazy if I had to absorb it all at once, but the Vampire brain rewiring makes it so I need to think about it to notice it. The fewer people around the easier it is to filter things. Most things. Scent tends to bypass the mental filters, because of the way the sense of smell is wired directly into the brain. Even then, I have learned to not pay attention to it when it comes with no meaning."

That earned a head tilt. Her hair flowed out into the water. "I smell like I know I smell, and you know to whom that scent is directed. Only you and I here. That has no meaning?"

"Poor word choice. That you are sexually interested in me in any way is the highest compliment. One I do not feel worthy of, honestly. As a male, my reaction is to respond in kind. As a man who likes and respects you, and is attracted to you, my first inclination is to respond even more in kind. We have talked about it, and it has no bearing on our relationship. You don't do Poly. You will not consider a married man, or at least this one. I am not so honorable as you, and I would absolutely make love with you. As soon as I get to a more polyamorous place in my life, but that is, oddly, a goal now. I do truly believe that love is love. That one can love more than one person. I could love you without reservation. Your reservation, combined with where I am in my journey into the new world of Vampiredom means it is a non-starter. Not no meaning then, but no meaning I can take action upon."

I tapped the water where the scents simmered. "So I filter it out. I try not to think about it. I keep my normal physical reaction under control. I am on total lockdown. Otherwise, I'd be sitting here with a hard-on and as I know who your scent is directed at, you would know to whom my physical response is directed at. Only two people here. Worse, for you, if I let my attraction to you cause me to emit pheromones. That would make it a foregone conclusion about what would happen next. I do not mean to sound cocky about that, but you are human. If I released them, in this small space? We would be having sex in seconds. With all your self-discipline and control, you still would not be able to resist. You would cave to my desire like a mobile home in a tornado. Two reasons why I think that. One is that you are already interested so I would be making existing interest and desire into a compulsion. Second, my thinking on intelligence and sex. You are super smart. You are Hetero as hell. My pheromones amplified by your orientation and your brainpower? No way you can control that. It would be a long and glorious night you would regret."

I smiled as reassuringly as I could. "That you are interested without me putting the scent-whammy on you is humbling. In the hot tub back there, Iris and Tammy and all the rest? They were interested, but it was not a compliment. That it is YOU makes it what I said before. It's an honor, and it is not a thing I would ever abuse. There are a few people on this planet whose respect is important to me. You are one of them."

"Thank you for that. I do not like that idea that I would not be able to control myself in such a situation. I do not believe that it is true, however. I control me. If you used your pheromone here, and I responded by wanting to have sex with you, it is as you say: I am already interested. I would not give in to my body like that. I control me."

I did not contradict her. I could show her. Then we would be lovers. She does not want that.

She lifted her hand out of the water in an offhand way "This is all why you are nothing like William. I am not saying he would find me attractive, but I am fairly sure, all things being equal, he would not resist temptation. To put it more succinctly, if he wanted to fuck me, he would just rape me. I would have little say in the matter."

I tried to not laugh derisively. "He would have to be dead to not find you attractive. I would question your judgment if you were to be sitting naked in a hot tub with him, but that is another matter."

It is just a feeling, but I trotted it out in the open to look it over with Morgan's help. "I am not sure he would jump every woman he could get to say yes, or that is weak enough that saying no meant nothing. Vampire perspective. Surely he would have learned in all his years the value of delayed gratification? His scheming side would be more powerful than his physical needs or desires. His pheromones don't work like mine it seems. As a human, you might find him sexually interesting, but it seems to me they are designed to make you like and trust him. Or fear him. Not lust after him."

"I will have to take your word on that. I have only experienced him, not you. You are no doubt correct. I was trying to get a shot in even when I scented him. They cannot be that powerful."

"You were not close up. Pheromones are very powerful, but they are limited distance. The lobby is a wide-open space. I also wonder about that genetic variability thing. What if his work better on Vampires than humans?"

Morgan pinched her nose. "All the same, I think I'll try and at least have a nose clip with me at all times, so I can keep my wits about me."