What Price Pleasure
But, but....

BY: Cassy

Disclaimer: This was cobbled together from some roleplaying IMs between Lyza, Kash, Gigs and myself. You all know and recognize LKH's creations, we just borrowed them for a while...still debating on whether or not we'll return them. *grin*

Lyza and Tamara were visiting, talking about an incident that had happened a couple of days earlier. (Asher and Damien had "abducted" them and taken them to one of Asher's little hideaways on that little adventure. It was a new one...caverns that had been renovated into a sort of seraglio. Suffice to say that harem-girl costumes and velvet ropes had been involved.)

"I don't know *what's* brought this on," Tam complained after returning from what must have been her fourth or fifth trip to the "porcelain altar" that day. "I've been having these bouts of nausea fort he past few days now."

Lyza gave her friend a worried look, noting that her color was off. "I hope you haven't picked up anything," she said.

"Maybe it's just my period," Tamara rationalized, "deciding to make me nauseous instead of giving me cramps. It's happened before. *Has* been awfully light this month, though. Just a couple of bouts of flooding, then basically just spotting the rest of the time...weird." She shook her head, dismissing the puzzle from her mind. "Anyway, where was I?"

"You were telling me about how you and Gigs were paying Asher back for his part in our little adventure," Lyza reminded her friend. "Although, why *Gigs* thought he needed to be punished is beyond me. I think she just likes to 'punish' him." She shared a knowing grin with Tam.

"She was more miffed that there wasn't a costume in green laid our for *her*," Tam laughed. Her laughter was abruptly cut short by a queasy sensation in her gut. "Ew...I'll be glad when this gets out of my system."

"Anyway," she continued, "we ended up with Asher tied spread eagle on the living room floor. Then gigs fetched a tray with strawberries, *real* whipped cream (not that non-dairy, freezer fluff), and a really good white wine. Had to cut Asher's clothes off, since we forgot to remove them *before* we tied him up. When Jean-Claude wandered in, he nearly freaked at the sight of Asher's cut and torn clothes lying in a heap...until he walked around the couch and saw what we were doing."

Lyza chuckled, "He always seems to show up when you three are 'misbehaving.'"

"Doesn't he though?" Tamara grinned back.

"Still, he seems to be playing with the three of you an awful lot lately," Lyza went on. "I don't think Anita will put up with it for much longer if she finds out."

"Jean said she gave him permission to be with Asher...and to feed his ardeur with Gigs and myself," Tamara said. "Asher would know if he was lying...," she broke off, a kernel of doubt gnawing at her mind. Jean-Claude was a master at manipulating a grain of truth into a falsehood if it served his purposes.

Another wave of nausea passed through her, but didn't last long. She made a face, then went on with the gossip. "I wasn't feeling too good then, either. Gigs asked why I wasn't more active and Asher was pouting about it too...when Gigs wasn't distracting him. Once Jean saw what was going on, he proceeded to strip to join us. Asher complained aloud that there was plenty to share with Jean, since I wasn't partaking." A lustful light shone in Tamara's eyes, and she giggled, remembering what happened next. "We got a classic JC moment. He scooped out a handful of the whipped cream and trailed it slowly down his chest and belly, then slathered himself *there* quite thoroughly...all the while lecturing me in the most seductive voice about my duty to my master to keep our strength up by eating properly...so of course, I told him that since he put it that way I guessed I *should* eat something."

"That sounds like him," the vamp-kitty hybrid agreed.

"So, how's your story coming along?" Tam decided to nag her friend. "Gonna have a few more chapters up for us soon?"

Lyza grimaced, "It's slow. I need Damien's input on this next part, and he's just not being talkative."

"Tell him if he doesn't hurry up and help you out, I'll *bite* him," Tamara teased.

"Oh yeah...that'll get him going all right," Lyza laughed, rolling her eyes.

Tam snorted, "Yep, I can just picture him quaking in fear...." A particularly violent twist in her stomach halted her jibes. When it passed, she managed to speak weakly, "Hum, extreme playfulness interspersed with bouts of nausea...that can't be good."

Lyza looked at her friend with concern. "No, it can't...are you all right? You don't look so good." She reached a hand towards the other woman, who seemed to be swaying.

Tamara shook her head, trying to focus. There were three images of the vamp-kitty before her now. "I don't feel so...," she said as her vision grayed.

Lyza caught her friend just as she collapsed, falling with her and cushioning her from the floor.

Asher burst into the room suddenly. "MA ROSE!" he shouted. Spotting his servant's unconscious form in Lyza's lap, he demanded, "I felt something wrong force me to rise early. What happened?"

Lyza looked up at him from the floor, worry plain on her face. "I don't know," she said. "We were just talking. She'd complained about nausea any time she got 'playful.' It happened first when we were talking about you, then about Jean-Claude's...and just now, Damien...then she just...collapsed."

Asher gathered his servant into his arms, lifting her off Lyza. He sat on the couch, cradling Tamara to him and reaching out through the marks to scan for what the problem was. What he found was enough to stun him. "This is not possible," he whispered. "She was mensing....."

Lyza quickly grasped what had his so unnerved. Placing her ear to Tam's stomach, her preternatural hearing confirmed the diagnosis. A smile lit her face, amazed at what she was able to hear.

Tamara stirred in Asher's arms with a soft moan. "Asher? What are you doing up? What happened?" she blinked in confusion. looking down to the warm pressure she felt, she wondered why Lyza had her head pressed to her stomach.

Asher continued to stare off into space, absently stroking Tam's hair. "Mon Dieu...she's going to kill me...but she *can't* be...she was *mensing*!"

"What are you talking about? Who can't be what?" Tamara was becoming agitated and nervous. "Who was mens...SHIT! No! Asher...please don't tell me I'm...," panic started to set in.

"Asher, if you think she's going to kill you, maybe you better put her down," Lyza half laughed. "Tam, since you don't want Asher to tell you, I will, baby. You're going to have a baby. You'll want your doctor to confirm it, but between Ash and myself, we're pretty sure you *are...."

"But she was *mensing*!' It was the closest to panic either woman had ever heard the master vampire get.

"Asher, I hate to burst your bubble," Lyza told him gently, "but lots of women can and do menstruate during their first trimester." A frightening thought occurred to her. "This had to have happened recently, so there's no chance of Damien or Caleb being the father. Can you sense a connection with the child this early, Asher?" she asked. "Could it be Jean-Claude's?"

Asher concentrated...it seemed to take more effort than he expected. Finally, he looked back up. "Non, I can sense that the sire was vampire, but nothing beyond that. It is very difficult for me to detect the child," he stated. "Odd, I could sense the triplets almost from the moment Kimberly conceived."

Tamara was still trying to digest the news. Her mind and emotions were in a haze.

Asher was already recovering. "I will need to let Jean know about the possibility...and Kimberly will need to be told as well...if she has not already sensed it." He looked at the woman in his arms. In a carefully neutral voice, he told her, "I know this is not something you'd planned on, ma rose. I will understand if you do not wish to continue this pregnancy."

Tamara tried to draw back from him, her eyes filling with tears and the beginnings of anger. His embrace remained firm...frightening her further. Lyza watched from where she sat on the floor, a troubled expression on her face.

"How COULD you suggest that I'd want to kill this baby, Asher?" Tam asked, her voice trembling, caught between fear and rage. "I will *not* murder an innocent simply because I don't want to take responsibility for my careless behavior!"

Life flooded back into his being at her words, bringing with it relief. He hugged her gently. "Bon," he told her. "I am glad that you will keep the child, even if I may not be its father. I just didn't want to force you into something you weren't ready for, cherie. The choice of whether or not to have this baby is yours and yours alone to make."

Lyza smiled with relief, glad that the discussion hadn't gotten ugly.