Roux
Roux carefully examined her reflection in the mirror that hung on the wall in the room she shared with Ludovic, and smiled. The dress she'd chosen for tonight was a soft, muted gold, plunging low in the front, to the rope of twisted gold satin around her waist, before rippling down to her feet. She wore no jewellery – the dress was enough of a statement.
A shiver of excitement ran through her.
This was the first Valentine's Day that she and Ludovic were actually celebrating together, as well as the first major event that Belle Morte had hosted since picking up the pieces after Etienne and Jemima's betrayal last year.
Usually Christmas was a time for balls and events and functions, but Ysanne had surprised everyone by sending the donors home in December. Aside from security, Jason had been the only human in the house. The vampires of Belle Morte had celebrated Christmas as a family, away from the media circus, and maybe that would be the last time they'd get to do that, or maybe it would become a permanent thing. Roux didn't know yet. She wasn't sure even Ysanne knew yet.
Tonight's event was the prize in a charity auction – winning couples were invited to be wined and dined inside the mansion – with all proceeds going to charities that benefitted war widows. Ysanne had lost two husbands to war, back when she was human, so Roux guessed this was a subject close to her heart.
Roux smoothed her dress one final time, then snapped a quick picture of it in the mirror. Most vampires still had little interest in social media, but Roux had been determined to use her own accounts to show Belle Morte in a more informal light, away from the staged sets and professional camera crews. Ysanne had been cautious at first, but even she'd had to admit that it had helped renew interest in the vampire houses after all the blood that had been spilled inside them.
"And send," Roux murmured, uploading the photo.
Almost immediately comments started pouring in – her followers gushing over her dress, her makeup, her relationship with Ludovic – but Roux put her phone down before she could read too many. The overwhelming majority of them were positive, but there were always a handful of people who seemed to enjoy leaving nasty comments under every post she made – telling her she wasn't good enough for Ludovic, or that she should have died instead of coming back as a vampire, or criticising her appearance.
Roux knew she was beautiful.
She also knew that even the most beautiful woman in the world would be considered ugly by some people. Everyone had different tastes, and that was okay. She just didn't understand why anyone thought it was acceptable to tell strangers that they were ugly or flat-chested or too skinny, or all the other things that people said to her.
She left her phone behind as she walked out of the room.
Ludovic was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, and Roux had to pause at the top, drinking in the sight of him. Wearing a dark grey suit, with his blond hair tied at the nape of his neck, he was the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. She'd fancied the pants off him from the second she arrived at Belle Morte – before then, really, because she'd known who he was since vampires revealed themselves – but that attraction had deepened into something so raw and beautiful that it sometimes made Roux's chest hurt, like that emotion was too big to contain.
Ludovic looked up and saw her, and his eyes widened. "Roux," he breathed.
She would never get tired of seeing that awed look in his eyes.
Roux swept gracefully down the stairs and offered her hand to Ludovic. He kissed her knuckles, and a camera flashed on her left.
"Don't mind me," Isabeau said, grinning as she snapped another photo.
"I hope you're getting my good side," Roux teased.
"All your sides are good," Ludovic said.
He held out his arm and Roux took it. She was aware of Isabeau taking another picture as they walked away, heading into the parlour on the left side of the vestibule, and from there to the dining hall and then the ballroom, where tonight's event was taking place.
"This looks amazing," Roux said, gazing around the room.
She'd seen it during Belle Morte balls, filled with dancing vampires and guests, sequins and suits flurrying through the space, and she'd twice seen it become a battlefield, the floor of concentric marble circles running red with blood, and thicker things painting the walls.
But she'd never seen it like this.
Round tables had been brought in – more than Roux could count – and they were carefully positioned around the room, each one just big enough for two people. The tables were covered with crisp white cloths, gleaming chinaware and polished silverware, with crystal champagne flutes and tumblers, and flickering candles – some sitting on golden candlesticks, some inside gold-etched glass holders. Dotted throughout the ballroom were smaller tables that looked like they were made entirely of glass, and each one was overflowing with red roses. The smell was amazing.
Ysanne swept up to them. Her petite frame was hugged by a black glittering dress, with a cape of the same material falling from her shoulders to her feet. Small sections were cut out of the shoulders of the cape, exposing ovals of pale skin, and her blonde hair fell in a poker-straight sheet down her back. She looked beautiful and remote, but Roux thought her face softened fractionally as she saw them.
"Thank you for coming," Ysanne said.
Since this was Belle Morte's first major event in a year, people probably expected big things, but the vampires who lived here weren't obligated to attend. Still, most of them had, and Roux smiled to see Benjamin and Alexandra holding hands across their table. For almost a year before Etienne and Jemima's takeover, Vladdict sites had been rife with speculation that Benjamin and Alexandra were more than just friends, and Roux was suddenly catapulted back to the first Belle Morte ball she'd attended, when she, Renie, and Jason had been donors. She remembered asking Renie if she thought the rumours about the two vampires were true, and Renie had told her that friends didn't look at each other the way Benjamin and Alexandra did.
It looked like she'd been right.
"Your table is this way," Ysanne said.
She led them to the far right corner of the room, and Ludovic pulled out Roux's chair for her. When she sat down, he brushed a kiss against her forehead, before taking his seat on the other side of the table.
For a moment neither of them said anything, then Roux giggled. "This feels weird, doesn't it?"
"A little," Ludovic agreed.
It was probably stranger for Roux, she thought. Belle Morte had been Ludovic's home for eleven years, but Roux's for only a year, and her experience of it had been different to his. She'd come here as a wide-eyed human donor, but the sparkle of the vampire world had worn off once she'd become tangled up with the mystery of what had happened to Renie's sister. Then Roux herself had been turned into a vampire, and had chosen to stay in Belle Morte with Ludovic, rather than returning home to her family. But this was her first big event as a vampire, and it was jarring to see it transformed like this, to see strangers sitting at the tables around her – the couples who had won their tickets. Some of them stared openly at the vampires – Roux and Ludovic included – and Roux reminded herself that a year ago she probably would have done the same thing. Until now, she hadn't realised how different it was to be on the other side of the fence.
"We don't have to stay if you don't like it," Ludovic said.
"I want to support Ysanne," Roux said. "And I do actually want to be here."
A young waitress came over to their table, carrying two champagne flutes filled with blood.
Roux's lips twitched. At previous Belle Morte events, donors had been given flutes of champagne, while vampires took quick sips from their necks. She'd never imagined those two worlds overlapping like this.
She sipped from her glass. The blood was warm and sweet, better than any champagne she'd ever had.
"This is a little different to our first date, isn't it?" she said.
"When did we have a first date?" Ludovic asked.
"Back when I was human, remember? We went to that pub to track down Delia Sanders? I ordered fish and chips, and then we danced together."
"That wasn't a date," Ludovic said.
"It kind of was."
"We were pretending to be on a date."
"Yeah, but it felt real, didn't it?"
Ludovic smiled. "I suppose it did." He swirled the blood in his champagne flute. "Do you mind that we can't do normal human dates?"
"If I wanted normal and human, then I wouldn't be with you, would I?" Roux said, gently clinking her glass with his.
"What was the best date you ever went on?" Ludovic asked.
Roux twined her fingers with his. "I'm on it."
"Are you trying to flatter me?"
"I'm actually not. The best dates I had as a human can't compare to a date with you, and that's the honest truth," Roux said.
"Your worst date, then."
"Oh, God," Roux said, biting her lip. "There are two that I'll never forget."
"I'm listening."
"So one time, I went to dinner with this guy, and he seriously started chatting up the waitress in front of me. I thought I was being paranoid at first, but nope. He kept finding excuses to call her over and talk to her, even if it meant interrupting me mid-sentence. The fifth time he did it, I quietly texted my mum to tell her he was a douchebag, and then he started lecturing me about being rude. Apparently it was totally okay for him to hit on another woman in front of me, but not okay for me to tear my attention away from him for two minutes. Unsurprisingly I didn't see him again."
Ludovic looked disgusted. "What an idiot. He was lucky enough to have the most beautiful woman in the world at his table."
"Now who's the flatterer?" Roux teased.
Ludovic reached out and cupped her cheek. His fingers were gentle. "It's not flattery, it's the truth."
Roux melted inside.
"What was the other worst date?" Ludovic asked.
Roux grimaced. "Believe it or not, that one was even worse. We went for a couple of drinks in the evening, and at one point he disappeared to the bathroom. Nothing wrong with that, obviously, but he texted me while he was in there."
"Saying what?"
"I'm sorry, babe, but I'm still stuck at work. Don't wait up, I think it's going to be a late one."
Ludovic frowned. "I don't understand."
"He didn't mean to text me. That message was meant for the girlfriend I didn't know he had, and the fact that he was warning her not to wait up suggested that he thought he'd be late home because he was going to get into my pants. I was gone before he got out of the bathroom, and I never spoke to him again."
"Sometimes modern dating sounds like a nightmare," Ludovic commented.
"It can be." Roux caressed his fingers. "But it's not something I have to worry about anymore. I found my Prince Charming."
"Is that what I am?" Ludovic said, looking amused.
"You are to me."
Movement caught Roux's attention – waitstaff were bustling into the ballroom carrying plates of starters, and Roux caught a whiff of garlic cream and asparagus.
"Did Ysanne really hire a Michelin-starred chef for tonight?" she asked.
Ludovic nodded.
Roux sighed. "Why couldn't she have done that when I was alive?"
"I want to tell you that missing food does get easier, but food was pretty terrible when I was human, so there wasn't much to miss. I suspect it's different for you," Ludovic said.
"I think I'll always miss it, but I'm also sure it will get easier." Roux gazed into Ludovic's eyes, such a deep blue that it was like looking into the heart of the ocean. "Even if it doesn't, I wouldn't change a thing. I lost food, but I gained you, and there's no competition. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Ludovic de Vauban."
Ludovic kissed her hand again.
Isabeau flitted through the tables, light from the chandeliers sparkling off the silver detailing on her dress, camera in hand, snapping photos. Roux spotted her take a picture of Ysanne when Ysanne wasn't looking, and she hid a smile.
After the starters, the main course was brought out, and Roux briefly closed her eyes as the ballroom was filled with the smells of buttery lobster, rare steak, and herb-crusted lamb. No one knew how vampires existed – how they could be dead and alive at the same time – but it was a particularly cruel twist of fate that they could still crave the food that they could no longer eat.
Then she opened her eyes and looked at Ludovic again, the quiet, steady centre of her entire world, and all those delicious smells faded away. Maybe she'd always miss food, but she wasn't lying when she said it was worth giving up for the man sitting opposite her.
Roux had been turned into a vampire against her will, but if she'd been given the choice, she would still have chosen this life, she would still have given up everything human to be with Ludovic.
He was worth it.
After the chocolate souffles had been eaten, and the champagne had been drunk, Roux and Ludovic slipped away from the ballroom before the human guests could start to leave.
When they reached their bedroom, Ludovic hung back slightly, letting Roux push open their door. She stopped dead in the doorway, her mouth dropping open.
Roses were everywhere.
Not the red bouquets that had filled the ballroom – these roses were white, spilling out of glass bowls and vases or scattered loose across surfaces. The floor and the bed were seas of white petals.
"Ludovic . . ." Roux couldn't manage another word.
He put his hands on her shoulders. "Do you like it?" he said.
Tears pricked her eyes. "It's beautiful. Oh my God, it's so beautiful."
Ludovic gently nudged her further into the room, then closed the door.
"How did you do all this?" Roux asked.
Ludovic just smiled.
Roux kicked off her shoes, wanting to feel the soft petals under her bare feet. "This is the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me."
Ludovic leaned down to kiss her, and Roux sank against him, trembling a little.
"I love you," Ludovic whispered.
Words failed Roux again, because saying I love you didn't seem enough to convey what she was feeling. The sun was in her chest. The stars were in her eyes. The world was at her feet.
She pushed the straps of her dress off her shoulders, letting the front fall away. She wore no bra, and Ludovic's eyes flared red. His hands settled on her hips, quietly possessive, before he pushed the dress down until it fell into a gold satin puddle at her feet. Beneath it, Roux wore the tiniest lace thong she'd been able to find, knowing how much Ludovic loved seeing her like this.
He shook his head as he gazed at her, as if he couldn't believe she was real.
Roux stood on tiptoes and kissed him. "This is the part where you take your clothes off," she whispered.
Ludovic ripped open his shirt so fast that buttons flew across the room. The rest of his clothes suffered similar rough treatment, as did Roux's thong when he tore it from her with one hand. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, and Roux couldn't stop touching his face as he carried her over to the bed and laid her down among the rose petals.
He kissed her eyelids, her nose, her mouth, her throat – barely-there touches of his lips that made her writhe with need until she gripped his neck and whispered, "Please."
Then he finally slid into her, slowly, inch by inch, one hand clasped to her cheek so she couldn't look away from him. The sun in Roux's chest flared brighter and hotter and she couldn't help a little sob because it shouldn't be possible to love someone as much as she loved Ludovic.
She locked her ankles around him, pulling him harder against her, urging him to move, and he did. His hips surged against her, hard enough that it might have hurt if she'd still been human. As a vampire, she felt only raw pleasure.
She clung to the back of Ludovic's neck, her nails digging in, hard enough that a couple of drops of blood trickled down his skin and onto the white petals that surrounded them. Ludovic didn't seem to notice.
He kissed her, passionate and demanding, his fangs grazing her lower lip, and Roux squeezed her eyes shut as sweet pressure started to build deep inside.
Petals flew like confetti as Ludovic moved in her, and Roux gasped his name, over and over again, the only word she could find, until that blissful wave crashed over her and the world turned fuzzy at the edges. Drifting, boneless, on a cloud of euphoria, she felt Ludovic reach his own peak, and the weight of him collapsed across her, his mouth at her ear.
"Happy Valentine's Day," he whispered.
All Roux could manage was a little moan.
Ludovic leaned on one elbow to look down at her.
"I think you broke me," Roux said.
"In a good way?"
"In the best way."
"Good." Ludovic gently nibbled Roux's throat.
Roux pulled a petal out of Ludovic's hair. The smell of roses was stronger than ever, coming from the petals crushed beneath her back.
"See? I wasn't wrong when I said this was the best date ever," she said.
Ludovic's fingers trailed down Roux's thigh. "We're just getting started."
"Oh, good!"
Ludovic kissed Roux's throat against, and sweet heat started stirring to life again.
"I'm not going to get any sleep at all tonight, am I?" she said.
"Not a second of it," Ludovic agreed.
"Who needs sleep anyway, right?"
Ludovic smiled.
Roux scooped up a handful of petals and gently blew them in his face. "I'm ready for you to take me back to heaven."
Red glinted in Ludovic's eyes. "As you wish."
It was, Roux thought, going to be an exquisitely long night.
3/5