Gideon did look a little disappointed, but he quickly hardened once more.

"Well, I’m sure that you can just recall it and tell it to me at a different date." Gideon said stiffly, and Cass felt his eyes widen. He wanted to hear that story? Edgar, who was still wrapped up in Cass’ arms and very much not complaining about it, chuckled.

"Giddy is getting excited about Cass’ dirty novels. That’s cute. Are you trying to schedule a date with him, Giddy?" Edgar teased and Gideon’s gaze narrowed as he glared at Edgar.

"I would make it more clear if that was the case and ask him out formally. I just thought that since he liked the novel so much, it would bring him joy to explain it. I know that I like to do that when I find a novel I enjoy." Gideon said stiffly. Edgar’s chuckle was all warmth and affection and even made Cass feel warm.

"Oh, I recall. Who do you think got to experience it first?" Edgar asked, teasing Gideon. The man wouldn’t make eye contact with the two on the bed, his face scalding.

"You don’t have to say it like you hated it." Gideon muttered, clearly getting the wrong message. Edgar’s face fell.

"I wasn’t saying it-I would never! I loved watching you babble on cutely about what you’d been reading." Edgar protested, and that only made Gideon flush even more. Edgar was even blushing at this point. Cass had to fight the urge to smile.

"Either way," Cass interrupted, giving both of them a break, "we need to get back on track. The reality of the situation is that I think I’m getting more hungry. Which is a good and a bad thing. Good, because I think it means that...I’m getting to a kind of equilibrium where my body is telling me that it’s hungry instead of freaking out all the time. Bad because it means that I need more semen. That’s just the truth of the situation, and I agree with Gideon that getting semen brought to the mansion isn’t smart. Even if we brought men here to feed me, it still would cause rumours to spread." Cass gave a shrug. "Whether we wanted it to or not." Cass added. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Your grandfather is right next door." Gideon added. "While he hasn’t had an active hand in everything, he has." Gideon’s serious voice was the truth. His grandfather just fed the flames and let the others go crazy. He was ’too old’ to get his hands dirty anymore.

Cass knew that wasn’t true, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have to be aware of what he was doing. It wasn’t like Cass had stopped trying to undermine his authority. With the power display he had shown at the King’s ball before they had entered the dungeon had apparently been a good thing for his threats. It showed that Cass was a powerhouse and that he could show up when it mattered.

Cass wasn’t sure how many of the nobles had come over to his court, but he knew that if he wanted to do this the ’noble’ way, it wasn’t enough yet.

If rumours of Cass calling for random men to come to his estate, even if it wasn’t for him, it would be a disaster. His credibility would be gone, and also the rumours about his demon blood would be amplified. He just knew it. It was a low ball, but it was one that worked.

It was also one that his grandfather loved to project.

"Exactly. So, with all that being said, you need to go explore yourself Gideon before we can consider asking for your help. I want you to know who you are for yourself first. It’s important, because I know Edgar wants to corrupt you." Cass told him. "Hell, there is even a part of me that wants to do the same, but, I also understand that I would rather wait a little bit, and be hungry, then force you into anything you don’t want to do." Cass told him.

Gideon stared at Cass, his green gaze wide and he watched as Gideon let out a soft sigh. His shoulders relaxed, his green eyes focusing on Cass for a long, quiet moment.

"Cass, I promise you this, I appreciate that you are concerned for me and want me to experience my body for myself, but I will not waste anything either. I am just caught up in the teachings of the temple, the false ones, and on top of this, you are also the hero. It is my job and my duty to take care of you outside of any attraction I feel towards you. As long as I don’t hurt you, I am happy to give away anything I can produce." Gideon said carefully. "So I promise. I will always offer any part of my body to help you. Even if it makes me...change." Gideon’s words were serious, sincere, and Cass should have stopped him.

"I don’t want you to force yourself." Cass muttered, and Gideon gave a laugh.

"You don’t want me to force myself? Cass, I’m not." Gideon told him but Cass wasn’t sure if he believed him. After all, like Cass’ regretful decision to even suggest that Byron and Sam get bonded just to ease Cass’ mind, Cass had done the same to Gideon. He had forced him to sign a contract that had terrible terms for Gideon.

While he knew that Gideon had been okay signing it at the time, it did make Cass feel a little conflicted now that they were discussing Gideon joining Cass and Edgar in bed.

"I just don’t want you to have any regrets." Cass told him seriously. Edgar squeezed Cass, Gideon’s expression softened.

"I won’t. In fact, I’ll go prove it. I’ll go touch myself now so that we can get this moment out of the way, and then you can test to see if you get hurt from my semen. We can do two things at once, while you and Edgar can relax, wait, maybe even read a book together while I do so. When I come back we can discuss more." Gideon said.

Cass blinked, Edgar froze, and Gideon looked like he had just come up with the best idea ever.

"What?" Edgar said and Gideon nodded slowly.

"That’s a great idea. I’ll just go into the bathroom and you two can relax." He repeated while Cass blinked slowly.

"You want to do this now?" Cass asked and Gideon gave him a serious look.

"We shouldn’t delay this. We also spoke of testing it sooner, but haven’t. Now is the perfect time. Two birds, one stone."

"One stick, more like it." Edgar muttered, and Cass squeezed Edgar in warning. Edgar gave a soft laugh. "Sorry, sorry." He muttered. Gideon glanced between them.

"I’ll go do that now before you attempt to persuade me out of it. Edgar, make sure he relaxes. I’m sure he has a book he needs to finish. Maybe you can convince him to lie down and read, or recline and read." It was not lost on Cass that he kept involving reading.

"Have fun, Gideon! Don’t be afraid to call us if you have any questions. Oh! And take a cup in with you so that you don’t make a mess." Edgar told him and Gideon nodded.

Before Cass could say anything else, Gideon was moving around the room, grabbing a goblet that had been set up next to one of Edgar’s bottles of wine and then marched towards the bathroom. Gideon paused at the door, his cheeks flaming as he turned to look at the two beings with good hearing.

"I’m going to be as far away as possible. You should do the same. I would like...some privacy." Gideon muttered. Cass nodded, Edgar doing the same, and Cass was glad that neither of them responded with their voice.

That meant that they hadn’t really agreed if they got too curious.

Gideon stepped into the bathroom, the door closing with a resounding slam. Edgar turned to look at Cass.

"You...wanna make out or do you wanna read?" Edgar asked.

~

Cass got a little bit of both.

While they waited for Gideon to uh, finish up exploring, Cass had a naked Edgar laying across his lap, stretching like a cat, while Cass used his body to rest his book on to read. They were on the couch, the cushions soft against Cass’ bare ass as Edgar sprawled across him. Edgar’s feet touched the other end of the couch, curling up towards his chest as he let out a heavy sigh.

Edgar had negotiated what he considered a fair trade while they waited for Gideon to come out. Every page flip that Cass made, Edgar would get a kiss. It was a good deal, because Cass was a fast reader.

Speaking of, Cass had finished another two pages and Edgar’s eyes lit up as Cass bent, giving Edgar his requested kiss. Edgar’s lips were soft, welcoming, practically begging Cass to kiss him more.

Cass was learning that he had willpower as he pulled away, flipping the page over. Edgar pouted, stretching, clearly trying to distract Cass enough that he could give up on his book and focus on Edgar.

Both were trying to ignore the soft sounds that they could hear from the bathroom. The room was too silent for them to be able to not hear Gideon, but when they were kissing, it was harder to focus on it.

"Come on. Another kiss please?" Edgar asked, blinking his big, blue eyes. Cass chuckled.

"Oh alright." Cass muttered, leaning down to press another soft, careful peck against his lips. Edgar tried to deepen it, his tongue slipping out from his lips and running along the seam of Cass’, but Cass pulled away, smiling. Edgar pouted.

"You’re a tease." He accused and Cass chuckled, turning his attention back to his book.

"Oh, I’m the tease? Well, if that’s the story you want to go with." Cass said, glancing at the cock that was twitching to the right of him. Edgar wasn’t hiding a single damn thing, the same way that he was sure that Edgar could feel how Cass was just as eager as he was, underneath him.

Cass and Edgar were having a soft moment, Edgar being more of a cat then a vampire, when both heard what they could only assume was the end of Gideon’s exploration. Both of them tenses, their ears big as they heard the grunt from Gideon in the bathroom.

Cass’ hand paused on the edge of the paper, Edgar’s eyes glowing slightly for a second before he calmed himself down. Cass swallowed.

"Give him a minute." Cass whispered and Edgar nodded. He didn’t move, didn’t get up, but Cass watched as his cock twitched slightly. "He’s human, Eddie." Cass whispered and Edgar jerked his gaze towards Cass.

"Did you just call me Eddie?" He stared up at Cass in awe. "Do it again." Cass felt his face warm.

"It’s just a name." Cass muttered but Edgar clearly didn’t think the same. His eyes were bright.

"If you can call me Eddie, you can call me a pet name. Go on, call me Honey." He demanded and Cass’ face burned.

"I’m not really into pet names." Cass muttered, flustered, and Edgar chuckled.

"Oh, it’s easy, isn’t it Bunny? Cassy Baby? Sweetheart?" Cass’ face burned as Edgar found delight in his reactions. Tragically, this was a great distraction for the both of them from Gideon and his...mission.

Cass was the sacrifice.