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Always the day after a full moon.
You always found some weird little thing outside your room door the morning after a full moon.
At first you hadn't realised they were deliberate, even after a marble caused you to almost fall when you stepped out of your room.
Then you started to notice, a shiny wrapping bow, a key, a particular beautiful magnolia flower. That one you treasured, and immediately placed the stem in some water by your bedside.
You assumed maybe a child was leaving these little offerings, but there were no children in the company you kept, none of your friends had children, nor did you interact much with the kids of the congregation.
The gifts were an almost monthly event, but after a day or two, you had forgotten it for the time being. Going on with your routine, which had only gotten busier with the arrival of Frater Imperator's twin brother.
Papa Perpetua was a rumour more than a man. A leader in name only. He had yet to make an appearance at mass. Never sat down to eat in the refectory. The only time most of the congregation had seen him was in the music videos. Even his brother had yet to meet him.
You had seen the ghouls around the Abbey, and where there were ghouls, there were Emerituses for sure, so you assumed he must be in the building somewhere. But why remain hidden?
The whole tour had passed and Papa had not once done an interview and only a couple guest performances. You had been in awe of the production of Bohemian Rhapsody. Pole dancing pope had not been on your bingo card this year. Ok, so he wasn't really pole dancing, but grinding on a mic stand like that counted for something. It had certainly awakened a little flutter in the nether regions for sure, but you had told that horndog to calm down. Perhaps, if he were to appear and invite you to confess your sins... pah, as if that would happen.
Today you had been assigned to clean out a few storage spaces in the basement. Lovingly known as the Crypt, the basement had never actually seen any burials, but in a building as old as the Abbey, there were bound to be a few deaths in its time. Right? Best not to think about it too much. The Crypt was the oldest part of the building still in use, dating back at least 500 years. It was one of your favourite places to hide from the heat of summer. Always cool, and maybe a little too dark in some places were the light from the windows couldn't reach, but you had never felt unsafe down here. It was filled mostly with boxes of old books, a bike or two, whatever forgotten belongings siblings sometimes brought with them and no longer found need for in their new life. Your pride and joy though, a secret only you knew, was a small nook you had discovered about a year ago when you were first assigned Crypt cleaning duty. By your calculations it was underneath the kitchen, and the scent of cooking often filled the air. It was about 2 metres by 2 metres in size, and a small window sat high in the wall, casting green tinted light from the lawn outside. You had no idea why it was built apart from the main cellars, but it had become your oasis of calm. Little by little you had secreted away books, pillows, blankets. Sometimes you would sit for hours working away on that novel you had running through your mind. A self indulgent romantasy, with a braver than you could ever be main character, and an aloof but loyal love interest. Of course the main character was determined but insecure, and of course the love interest was a high elf who was perhaps a little yandere, but you could fix them. Your mind was focussed on the next scene, itching to be written as you made your way through the labyrinth of clutter. The door almost concealed by an old 1950s kitchenette.
There was a man in your nook.
A sleeping, rather very handsome man.
You froze with your hand on the doorknob.
He had an arm thrown over his eyes as he slept, but the dark hair that curled around his collar, and his shapely jaw showed you enough to get a little hot in the face yourself.
He was dressed in a black silk shirt, and black trousers, but the arm tossed over his face, had hitched the shirt upwards, exposing a portion of abdomen just above his waist band... the very low waistband, with a bat-like buckle. A trail of black hair ran the length of the exposed area, beckoning your eyes towards the laced closure and what lay underneath. Down long slim but toned legs, and the neatly placed shoes. Tucked away in the corner, and very much not on the rug that you had placed on the floor so that you wouldn't be directly on the stone flagstone. How respectful and polite.
When you looked back up to his face, the hand had moved to reveal one green eye staring straight at you. His left eye still covered.
"Sorry to have woke you." you all but whispered. "I didn't know anyone else knew about this spot. I was just going to do some writing, but I can come back." It wasn't like you owned the room, and you were actually meant to be working.
The man moved silently, like an owl in flight, his limbs made no sound as he lifted a silver half mask from beside him, placing it over his eyes with practised ease, and stood just as silently. He bent to retrieve his shoes from the corner, and passed you in the doorway. You watched, a little slack jawed as he gave a small bow, and elegantly glided through the basement and out of sight.
You had just had a brilliant idea about the high elf. Working with this new muse before it would fly away, you eagerly scribbled down your thoughts in the old notebook stashed in a neat pile of books in the corner where the shoes had just sat.
You hadn't even time to consider that these books may no longer have been for your eyes only, nor that you knew only one man who wore a mask.
xxx
Her scent was intoxicating. It had grabbed him by the nose and the balls from the moment he entered the Abbey. He hadn't known then who she was, only that she was the most intense and desirable thing he had ever scented.
Perpetua had learnt early on after his change, that the part of him that was no longer human, made people uncomfortable. Even the upper Clergy did not like to be reminded of the beast he was. They sanitised his urges, outsourcing his care to ghouls, provided him with "acceptable" blood, neatly packaged in clinical bags, and covered up the mishaps that occurred as he was coming to terms with his new powers and being. However they were quick to punish too. Never letting him forget that this side of him, although a gift from Lucifer himself, was dangerous in the wrong hands, and he could not become the wrong hands. They taught him to summon his ghouls, who would serve him as Papa. Storm, the largest summoned since Aether, had proven useful during the full moon. He was strong enough to handle him if his mood swung too beastly.
He had learnt who he became during those shifts. The snarling teeth, piercing talons, powerful wings, it was still him beneath it all, but perhaps a little more animal, driven by hunger, lust, fear, rather than logic, reason, whimsy.
Which is why it made sense to his hindmind to court the delectable sister with the irresistible scent. His full moon transformations once spent locked away in a bunker under the Ministry, were now full of the hunt for a worthy gift to his chosen mate.
He had first brought back a mouse, then a pigeon, before Storm, and Haze had advised that humans were unlikely to respond positively to dead animals, unless cooked first. Haze was the one to suggest trinkets. "Humans like pretty things." she said helpfully. "Maybe you could bring her something shiny?"
"Have you ever actually seen her? Do you know what she looks like? What she might wear?" Storm asked.
In his beastly form, he could not form human speech, although he could still understand clearly. He shook his head with a low grunt, pointing a long talon to his nose.
"Only scented her huh? Well, your nose knows!" Haze said perkily.
That night he present Haze with a large blue glass bead he had found, for her approval. She gave a him a double thumbs up.
"Atta boy! I'm sure she'll love it. Shall we go leave it by her door?"
He nodded enthusiastically and bounded off on all four limbs, his tail whipping behind him as he felt the wind through his wings, galloping through the cloisters of the Abbey in the still of the wee hours.
A curfew was in place during full moon nights long before his arrival, so he clambered freely, safe in the knowledge nobody would see his shame. He led the ghoulette to your door, and carefully placed the bead in front of it. He gave a huff, a long sniff to take in the concentrated scent, before rubbing his head and neck against the doorframe to make sure his scent stayed behind. And thus the ritual had begun.
One late night, technically early morning, he noticed the musky, sweet scent of his human, had taken a new path, down the worn and uneven steps to the cellar. He followed his nose to a hidden door. He opened it to find a bundle of pillows, blankets, and books. "A nest!" His hindmind supplied with joy. Yes, for all intents and purposes his mate had built a nest. Careful not to bring outside dirt into it, he took off his shoes, and crawled into the blanket, patterned with ghosts and flowers, and covered in human hairs. "This must be mate's hair!". He was so overcome with excitement about holding between his fingers something of his mate, that he quickly stuffed it in his mouth. Eager that they be joined as one in some way, not matter how small.
It tasted disgusting of course, like keratin, and shampoo, but his mate had grown it, and cared for it, and so he would love it.
This nest should have made him uneasy. It was a small space, much like the bunker they used to cage him in. Only one way in and one way out. Everything he had avoided as soon as he had agency of his own. However, surrounded by soft furnishing, and a familiar scent, it was more of an embrace, a womb, than a cage. Here he felt at ease. Through the window he had a clear view of the walled kitchen garden, and if he opened the window just slightly, he could smell the lavender in the flowerbeds. No wonder she had picked this place. His eyes passed over the stack of books in the corner. Some novels, and a notebook. He picked them up out of curiosity and the chance to know you better. "Pride and Prejudice, a classic. Wuthering Heights, hmm. Nietzsche? Good grief that is weighty." The notebook was thickened by crinkled pages, it had a name written on the front. Your name he would assume. Like a homework book from school. He thumbed through absently, before he realised, this wasn't a diary, nor homework. This was a manuscript. A rather saucy one judging by the scene he had turned to. His ears and cheeks burst into flame, turning bright pink beneath his paints. He couldn't look away though. He read every word, absolutely hooked, barely even realising he had been holding his breath. When the scene ended, he became aware that the sun was rising, and he needed to be back in his chambers, ready to practice with his band. He made sure everything was as she had left it before he inched out the door, taking it in once again, happy that he knew her a little more.
xxx
There was a note in your nook the next time you entered it. You were hiding from Sister Vespera who had been rounding up siblings for an evening of hedonism and debauchery in the spirit of the church.
It was neatly folded, and sealed with a purple wax seal, the impression of a bat pressed into the middle.
Without delay you unfolded it. Whispery handwriting danced across the page.
"You have bewitched me from the moment I entered the Abbey. I hope you have liked the gifts I have been leaving you. I'm sorry we haven't spoken yet, you startled me when we met here. I had not meant to fall asleep, but this nest you have made has been a place of peace unlike any other I have found.
Please may we meet in person? I will wait for you in the orchard after sunset.
Yours,
Perpetua"
You gasped. Was this a joke? No, the seal would be too elaborate to fake. You read it again. Of course! The masked man! You should have recognised it from the press photos. But he wasn't wearing the papal paints.
You took a deep breath to gather your thoughts, a little like herding cats though it was, by the second breath out, your mind was calmer. Did you want to talk to him? Here he was confessing his attraction, you had to admit from the little you had seen, there was definitely an interest on your side too. The gifts he had left you? Oh, so it wasn't some child, or a crow leaving treasures by your door? Well... the intention was there, even if it was a little unorthodox. Flowers and chocolates would have sufficed. Actually, a nice pair of fluffy socks would be better. You shook your head to focus again. The orchard after sunset. You had a couple more hours till then. You had to find a ghoul. They knew him better than anyone else. And at this time of the evening, you knew exactly where to look.
The music was getting louder as you approached Sister Vespera's chamber. The bass mixing with the moans behind the oak door. Seeing no point in knocking as it would go unheard, you poked your head around the old door. Bodies writhed on the sofa, on the rug, the bed. Some were standing around the punch bowl, cup in one hand, sandwich in the other. One body in particular caught your eye. Phantom was sitting cross legged on a bar stool in the corner. Pupils dilated and tail thrashing back and forth in interest as he observed the orgy. You waved from the door, trying to catch his eye. One of the men at the punch bowl waved back. You shook your head, he deflated slightly but shrugged it off and downed his cup of punch. Picking your way between couples and throuples, and whatever 4 is called, you poked Phantom in the shoulder.
"No thanks, I just want to watch." He said
"I'm not here to join in." you replied.
"Oh it is you sister!" Phantom's face lit up. "How can I help?"
"Perpetua wants to meet me in the orchard."
"Yes."
"What is he like?"
Phantom tore his attention away from the foursome reluctantly and slid from the bar stool. He lead the way out to the corridor, and closed the door.
"He is quiet, keeps to himself. He has been..." he searched for the right word, "misunderstood. Mistreated. That isn't my story to tell. But he is a good person I think." He nodded. "I think it best he tells you himself about, well about everything. I know you have an open mind and an open heart, and he will not abuse that."
"Thank you bug. I value your input." You gave him a warm smile. He tilted his head towards you, awaiting a pat. Once received he skipped back to the orgy.
You headed down to the refectory next.
Decisions are best made on a full stomach. They had a lovely potato and leek soup today, and always fresh bread. You put together a plate of bread, cheese, some sliced meats, and a few tomatoes, just in case Papa had not the time to eat before meeting in the orchard. He had certainly never been seen in the dining hall. The letter in your pocket was a telltale heart. You could feel it far heavier than it really was. By meeting him, listening to him, your life would change. You knew it. Something deep within urged you to go him, and it wasn't just your cunt. She had one glimpse of that happy trail and that belt buckle, and was not about to let you forget it. You checked your period tracking app. Yup, ovulating.
With a sigh you watched through the dining hall windows as the sky turned pink. The siblings' chatter filled the air like white noise as you rose with plate in hand and made your way through the cloisters, into the walled garden, humming with bees, and through the rose covered moongate into the orchard. You were alone as far as you could see in ever direction. You decided that the sun had only just gone down, you could wait a few more minutes. You turned your head to the last of the pink in the sky, watching it deepen to purple. The stars beginning to appear, and the night's chill sinking in.
"You came." A voice, soft like a dream, startled you. You turned, and there he was. Perpetua, easily a head taller than you, so close you had to crane your neck to make eye contact with that infamous mismatched gaze.
"Hi" you squeaked. "I um, brought food, in case you were hungry."
"Praecantrix." He hissed, and if you weren't standing almost chest to chest, you wouldn't have heard it. "Mi dispiace, I am hungry, but man cannot live on bread alone. You can leave that if you like. Let us walk." He strolled through the lines of trees, with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Your eminence." you called after him, causing him to pause.
"No no, you may call me Vee if you like." He smiled softly. You set the plate down, and hastened to match his pace.
You spent the night talking. He told you about his childhood with what he later learnt was his adoptive family, how the church found him, learnt of his twin brother. His entry to the ministry. But you could tell he was holding back.
"What are you not saying Vee? This isn't the whole truth."
He stopped walking. Looked to the moon rising over the mountain, waxing gibbous.
"You caught that huh?" he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. He met your gaze with the wettest eyes you had ever seen.
"I'm... I'm a beast. A creature. All my life I had these urges. I couldn't help it. The full moon is the worst. I become something else, and I don't know if it is a blessing or a curse, it simply is who I am." He looked at his hands, "these, become claws, so I can hunt." He pointed to his mouth, "I have fangs! I grow a tail, wings, more." He covered his face with his hands, but you pulled them into your own.
"Vee, Perpetua. Does it hurt?" You ask.
His head whips up to look at you.
"No, nobody has ever asked that before. No, it doesn't hurt." He croaks.
"Is it dangerous?" You press on.
"Not anymore, when I was younger, I had no control. But now... I'm still me, just a little more... beastly, feral. Storm is good at helping. I get my blood from a bag."
You blanch a little at that. "Blood?"
"Yes, I need it. Need to consume it. I've tried, but food alone isn't enough. I get weak, I get desperate." He sniffs. You rub your thumbs over the back of his hands.
"There is no shame in that."
"But there is. I can smell you. From the moment I entered the Abbey, your scent has a stranglehold on me." His voice was darker now. "It has bewitched me, mind, body, and soul. I have stood by your door every full moon, hoping you would accept my courtship gift, even though I did not even know your name, your face. Even now, I can smell you. Your estrus is upon you, and the full moon draws so near." He stepped closer. Your breath hitched as you could feel his upon your cheek.
You stepped back, and felt your shoulder collide with an apple tree.
Perpetua stepped back into your space again, leaning one hand up on a branch, caging you in. Your heart thumped in your chest like a rabbit being chased by a fox, but you weren't scared. You were excited.
Perpetua leaned closer, the moonlight caught in his white eye, the pupil wide with unmistakable arousal. You were sure your own gaze reflected the same.
From the moment you saw him sleeping in your blankets, you had imagined a moment like this. When he might look at you again, and this time, he looked at you the way a starved man might see a feast.
"What will you do then?" you dared to poke the bear.
"What would you have me do to you? Do you wish me to chase you? I could. Wherever you would hide away, I would hunt you down. I would taste you, first the sweet nectar dripping down your thighs, and then, if you would be so kind, the blood running through your veins." He grinned.
Your breath was coming fast now, heaving in your chest.
"It scares me that I would let you." You admit.
"If there is no shame in my true nature, then there is no shame in admitting yours."
And with that you placed both hands around his neck and pulled him to you. The kiss was desperate, sloppy, and when you pulled away you just knew you had black face paint all over your chin.
"I know the perfect place for us to take this. You can chase me if you want, but I can't run very far." You warned before taking off towards the Abbey. The blood pounding in your ears as you shrieked with glee or terror, you couldn't quite tell.
Perpetua clearly gave you a head start before giving chase. Catching up with you just shy of the last row of trees in the orchard. With an elegance disguising a predator, he scooped you up with a growl. You threw your arms around his neck to steady yourself.
"Now, where were you thinking?" he grinned
"The first place we met, of course." you whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He growled once more, the noise shooting straight to your cunt, before he sprinted towards the basement steps.
You were almost dizzy with the speed he kept, until suddenly there was the door. You reached down to twist the handle, he set you down, another hungry kiss pressed into your mouth, his teeth running over your lip, as he closed the door behind you. His hands exploring your waist, your hips, gripping your ass and pulling you flush against him. With a gasp you feel the hard flesh pressing against your stomach.
"You feel what you do to me dolcessa? You drive me mad with desire." he groaned. You ground against him just a little.
"Be a good boy and show me then." you pulled at his shirt, working the buttons loose.
"I warn you, I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't."
"I will want to breed you."
"and I like that idea, but it's ok, you won't. Not until I say so." You promised with a bite to his bottom lip. You pulled away to throw the dress you were wearing over your head wherever it landed. Kicking off your shoes and ripping off your socks.
Perpetua was similarly stripping himself. The violent desperation of it, all while maintaining eye contact with other each was intimate in a way that stripping each other could not match. It was like two tigers circling each other not willing to be the first to attack, but it was inevitable that one would sooner rather than later. When Perpetua fumbled his lace up trousers just a second too long, you took the opportunity to lunge. You pushed him to the floor,and yanked them free in one fluid motion leaving him totally and suddenly bare. He crawled backwards until his back hit the wall.
You sank to your knees, and crawled the length of his long legs. Stopping as you reached the junction of his thighs, you looked down to see his cock already proud and weeping. It curved slightly towards his abdomen, and you knew it would hit that spot inside you just perfectly.
"Look at you, I bet you were made for this." you purred, as you reached out and grabbed one of his hands, placing it over your covered breast.
He shuddered out a breath of a noise. His hand moving in a circular motion against the soft flesh almost touching his.
"Take it off me then." You encouraged.
He leant forward, cradling you with a large hand across your back, as his lips met yours once more. You sank down gently, skimming your clothed core over the fervid heat of his cock, as it bobbed with every movement. He peeled each strap from your shoulders, fingertips barely tracing your skin, making your hair stand on end. The clasp was no match for his dexterous fingers, and soon the bra joined the growing mess of clothing on the floor.
He hooked his fingers next in to the crotch of your underwear, and pulled them taut against your clit, pulsing his cock against the soaked fabric. You gasped into his mouth, the action sending a lightning bolt of desire through you, stealing your breath.
"Are you fond of this pair?"
You shook your head, unable to make words.
"Good." The sound of tearing fabric filled the room before you could register what had happened. The press of his cock exchanged to the press of his hand, running back and forth through the slick flesh now exposed.
You grasped his hand away as you readjusted, "Not yet. I'm in charge."
You leant back to allow for more space, as you skimmed your hand down his toned chest, to that thatch of dark hairs, running careful light fingers up the length of his cock, as you pressed it against your cunt. The warmth of it a beacon of lust, in this dark room, only the moonlight spilling across the floor. You moved your hips, up and down, every movement coating him in your arousal, almost catching at your entrance before the head of his cock met your swollen clit.
You could see the restraint he was exercising. His eyes focused, watching where you played with him, his white eye glowing more brightly with each moment.
"Please." he choked out, "Please."
"Please what?"
"Please let me in." He begged, panting, his eyes desperate. Your movements slowed, you rose up once more, hovering, his tip pressed just to the soft giving entrance of your core. You dipped down ever so slightly. Hissing in enjoyment at the pressure and stretch it promised to give. Up again. He was almost sobbing. Down a little further, taking the entire head of him inside. You paused, relishing the feeling of the stretch, before slowly sinking down entirely, until you sat flush in his lap, feeling him all the way in.
"Good boy." you rumbled, kissing his jaw,a hand running through his hair. You began to ride him, shifting back and forth, trying to catch your clit against his pelvis. It just wasn't working and your thighs were quickly tiring.
"Fuck me" you whispered, and like something within him had been unlocked, Perpetua had you on your back, and was driving into you like the creature he promised. You shrieked in pleasure when his thumb thrummed across your clit. He played you like an instrument he had practiced his whole life. All the while the steady, heavy press of him against you had you seeing stars.
You had never been so vocal, frankly you didn't know you could make such noises. He kissed you as much as he growled. The heavy slap of his balls against your ass accompanied the delicious slick noise of his cock in your cunt. You clenched harder each thrust with every lewd squelch.
"Look at me." Perpetua growled out. You hadn't even realised you had closed your eyes. You wrapped your feet around his ass, and your fingernails dug into his shoulder.
"Mate." he ground out. "Mine. Knot. Breed."
Each thrust felt a little more. You were chanting his name now, begging him not to stop. "Please" you repeated, but you weren't sure what you were asking for exactly. Your moans grew higher in pitch until with a final thrust, you fell over that abyss, with a long keening wail, clamping down hard, as Perpetua stilled inside you. Your cunt pulsed against the hard flesh as you came back to your body, feeling the pleasant aftercurrents wash through you, and becoming aware of the heat filling you, the kick of his cock deep against your inner walls, and the pressure of something large against your entrance.
"Knot, mate" Perpetua explained as best he could as he pulsed deeper against you. You reached down to feel where you two had become one, and felt your flesh stretched taut around him as he came. You rubbed your clit through the aftershocks, fluttering against him as he whined.
"Told you, you wouldn't hurt me." You said as you pressed kisses against his exposed neck.
"Next time, I'll bite." He promised.
"I might bite back." you parried, causing him to buck his hips. He pulled you close and rolled you to your sides. The tug of his stuck knot against your entrance caused you to giggle as you stared at him. He pressed a kiss to the tip of your nose and gave a yawn.
You pulled a blanket from the pile behind him, and with team effort covered yourselves from the chill of the Crypt. The effort to keep your eyes open was too much, and you drifted off in post-coital bliss.
xxxx
The next night, in the glow of the full moon, Perpetua bounded to your door with his gift of a garnet earring, only to be met with a gift of his own. Carefully lifting the box in his claws, he opened the lid. The smell of your scent had him salivating as his forked tongue darted out to lick a stripe along your ruined underwear. Next month he would beg you to keep your door unlocked.