Title: Anniversary 
Author: Khylaren
Contact: khylaren@yahoo.com
Fandom: AB
Rating: R for language
Warnings: implied sexual content, slash
Beta: None
Spoilers: takes place sometime after Cerulean Sins

Notes: This one is just for Alex. I only wish I’d gotten it done sooner.

Also, merci to Cinnie for her help with the French. 

~*~

It’s been a year, almost to the day. Tomorrow celebrates the first night I officially welcomed Asher into our bed.

A lot has changed since then.

The first time, I’d invited Asher to join myself and Jean-Claude, I did it to protect him from Musette and Belle. If I claimed him as ours, mine and Jean-Claude’s, he was off-limits to his former mistress and any of her minions. If he was ours, he could no longer be used as a pawn in anyone’s political or bedroom games. 

But while those were very good, very valid reasons for inviting a third into our bed, they weren’t the most important. 

I invited Asher into our bed because I loved him, and because Jean-Claude loved him. And we didn’t want him to leave us. 

Jean-Claude had loved him first.  Once, long before I was even born, they had been lovers, sharing each other and Julianna, Asher’s human servant. Since I’d been on the scene, they had shared the bed with me, but not each other. I’d refused to let them have that, namely because I was squeamish, but also, I think, because a part of me worried that if they resumed that aspect of their previous relationship, I would be left out in the cold. 

I’ve learned a lot in the past year with them. Let’s just say that some of my attitudes have changed for the better.

My two vampires were speechless when I presented my gift to them, a rare thing indeed. I couldn’t keep from smiling at the identical looks of surprise on their faces.  

It was Jean-Claude who found his voice first.

“Ma petite…you…are you certain of this?” His voice held a raw edge, full of suppressed emotion. His beautiful face warred between uncertainty and wondrous disbelief. Asher shifted beside me, his long hair automatically falling like a curtain of gold to hide his face. His expression was almost painfully neutral, but I could sense the tense line of him; expectant, hopeful.

“I won’t know for sure until we try,” I admitted, reaching out to both of them with my hands. “But I want to try. I want this for us, for you both.”  I turned to Asher, moving my hand from Jean-Claude’s to brush Asher’s hair away from his face.

“You do not know what you are asking, ma cherie,” Asher said, searching my face intently. “It is not as simple as you are thinking.”

I shrugged, looking from him to Jean-Claude. “Do you want him?” I asked bluntly.

The barest hint of a smile curved his lips. “Oui, ma petite.”

I turned back to Asher, raising an eyebrow. “Do you still want Jean-Claude?”

Asher shook his head, a ghost of his usual smile peeking out. “Oui, cherie. I have never truly stopped. But, what of you? What of your…reservations?”

I smiled then, and leaned close, until my lips were just brushing his ear. “I think it will be pretty fucking amazing to see you two together, the way Belle Morte showed me. In fact,” I said, pulling back to look at his face. “If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I’d have ever considered it.”

Asher’s mouth dropped open in surprise before he laughed, his arms pulling me close. “Ma cherie…je t'aime, et tu ne cesse jamais de me stupéfier,” he whispered, still laughing softly.
 
I heard Jean-Claude’s soft laughter as he slid behind me on the bed, effectively sandwiching me in between them. “Oui, mon chardonneret; so I have said myself, many times.”

Asher laughed then, soft and wondrous. The sound raised goose bumps and made me squirm against Jean-Claude. “There is only one problem, mes amies,” he said, looking at Jean-Claude and myself before shaking his head. 

Jean-Claude raised an eyebrow and I frowned. “What is that?” I asked, worried that my plans were about to fall through.

Asher reached out, his hand sliding down my shoulder to the ties that held my robe closed. His other hand reached for Jean-Claude. Leaning forward, Asher murmured against my lips, “You are wearing far too many clothes.”

-Fin