#lestat does it as well though lestat has louis round once and says our next rug should be persian

[mossycakes]

armand is for the lesbians because he met louis and said youre my companion and soulmate and ive never said i love you to anyone else and louis said yeah its casual i mean we have fun together but thats as deep as it goes

[danielmolloystits]

break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored (2/2)

Summary:

“Armand?” Lestat looks at him very seriously, then. “He has neglected you?” Daniel laughs, though there isn’t much humor in it. “That’s one fuckin’ word for it, sure.” “Oh, mon ami.” Lestat’s eyes are round and wet like an animal’s. “A prize such as yourself does not deserve this terrible treatment.” He shrugs. “You get used to it.” “No.” Lestat grabs one of Daniel’s hands in both of his own, making such intense eye contact with the journalist that it starts to grow uncomfortable. “You deserve better. You must understand this.” “Okay,” Daniel agrees, shifting a little in his seat. Anything to move past this point in the interaction. “I deserve better.” “Good,” Lestat says, nodding resolutely to himself. “This is why you should let me fuck you.”

Pairing: M/M (Daniel/Lestat, Armand/Daniel) Rating: E WC: ~3,200

Daniel’s first thought after his climax is that Armand is going to kill him, for real this time, and his cock is still going to be twitching from the aftershocks when he does.

He thinks it’s probably indicative of something deeply, deeply wrong with him that it makes a spark of renewed arousal alight in his gut.

Quietly, he scrambles to pull his boxers and t-shirt back on. The other two vampires don’t appear to notice.

“Lestat,” Armand says, voice devoid of any emotion whatsoever. And, wow, Daniel really gets what Louis meant when he’d described this expression as ‘half-blank, half-apocalyptic.’ “It would be a good idea for you to leave now.”

The blond just raises an eyebrow at him, still holding Daniel in his hand, still absolutely covered in the mess Daniel made. “Can you not see that I am a little bit busy here?”

Armand’s jaw is clenched so tight that Daniel can hear the creak of bone on bone. “Now.”

“My apologies, mon frère, but someone has to ravage your fledgling, and if you’re not going to do it—”

In an instant, Lestat is flung off of the bed and into the wall at speed, the plaster buckling from the force of the impact. Daniel is grateful, suddenly, that their team sprung for a nice hotel; if this were a Motel 6, Lestat would be clean into the next room, easy.

“Guess we’re not getting our deposit back,” He says, because he can’t help himself. Because he’s never had even an ounce of self-preservation. Armand’s eyes cut to him briefly, his irises vibrating like a dragonfly’s wings, and Daniel’s stomach bottoms out. Mostly from fear.

Lestat, meanwhile, huffs a pained laugh and stands. “Well, I can see when I’m not wanted,” he says, his hands spreading in a gesture of appeasement. “Monsieur Molloy, do you mind if I borrow your room for the evening?”

Wordlessly, Daniel tosses him the key card.

“Merci, darling.” Lestat bows, then begins to take his leave. He pauses, however, as he passes by Armand, swiping two fingers through the stickiness that decorates his cheek and presenting them to the other vampire. “Parting gift?”

A muscle above Armand’s lip spasms in an aborted snarl.

“Fine then,” Lestat says with a shrug, popping the digits into his mouth instead and grinning once they’ve been sucked clean. “More for me.”

Then, he exits, closing the door soundly behind him, and Daniel and Armand are alone together for the first time since...well, since.

“So,” Daniel says, drawing out the vowel sound sarcastically as he sits up against the headboard. “The last time my dad walked in on me with a boy was a pretty long while ago—I forget, are you supposed to ground me now, or do we just pretend it didn’t happen and never bring it up again?”

Armand opens his mouth to speak, but Daniel doesn’t let him.

“Or is this more of an infidelity situation? Because I’m gonna be honest with you, Armand: I didn’t realize we were together. On account of how you fucked off immediately after turning me.”

“You’re angry with me,” Armand says, and it’s insane how quickly he melts from predator back into prey, all slumped shoulders and big, wobbly doe eyes.

“You think?”

The other vampire isn’t meeting his gaze, his own fixed somewhere on Daniel’s cheek like he can’t bear to look straight at him. “I didn’t want you to hate me. For what I did to you.”

“And you thought abandoning me to figure this shit out by myself was a good way to prevent that?” He asks, incredulous. “News flash, Amadeo: it wasn’t.”

“I’m here now,” Armand points out—hopeful, fragile, as though he’s afraid the words will shatter in his mouth if he isn’t careful.

“Yeah, and why is that?” Daniel asks, lacing it with all the righteous indignation he can muster. But despite his best efforts, he finds himself losing steam in the face of Armand’s complete and utter supplication. “Don’t tell me it’s because you’re into me.”

The other vampire finally looks at him head-on, his eyes piercing straight through to the core of Daniel. To the knot of uncomfortable, complicated feelings that sits just beneath his breast. “Is it really so difficult to believe?”

“Kind of,” He says, reflexively shifting under the weight of Armand’s stare. It’s ridiculous, he thinks, how easily the man sets him off-kilter. How easily he comes in and turns Daniel’s life upside down, as though it’s nothing to him.

Armand stalks towards him slowly, then, managing to appear at once like the nervous rabbit and the cat hunting it from the bushes. Like both the thing to be eaten and the one doing the eating, like both the consumer and the consumed. He approaches the bed until he arrives at the edge of the mattress, sitting down delicately atop it and never once looking away from Daniel as he does. His expression is painfully open; achingly earnest.

“You have no idea the things I’d like to do you,” he says, and Daniel understands why he was so cautious earlier, because the words come out cracked and fractured, the edges of them sharp enough to cut.

(Belatedly, Daniel wonders when exactly his life turned into a trashy harem romance novel. He thinks that maybe he ought to be more upset about it.)

“Hard to know when you don’t tell me,” he replies, his voice a lot rougher than it was mere moments ago. It’s humiliating, he thinks, the obviousness of his desire. The fact that he even still wants the fucker after all the shit he’s put Daniel through.

Armand slides the rest of the way onto the bed, crawling forward on his knees until his body cages Daniel’s from above. His gaze falls to Daniel’s lips. “I could tell you now, if you wanted.”

And he is simply too weak to say no to that, so instead he murmurs, “Yeah,” his hand reaching up to tangle in Armand’s hair. “That might be good.”

Armand ducks his head down to lay a kiss beneath the sensitive skin of his ear. “I want to claim you,” he whispers, before dragging his tongue over the spot his lips just brushed, “I want to make you mine.”

Daniel gasps, his fingers tightening in the silky black curls. “What else?”

“I want to taste you.” As he speaks, he grazes the tips of his fangs down until they rest at his pulse point. “I want your blood to fill my mouth; I want to stain my teeth red with the very life of you. I want to memorize how it flows over my tongue.”

“Is that all?” He means it to sound cool, nonchalant, but the attempt is belied by how each exhale grows quicker and quicker with every teasing touch.

“No.” He can feel Armand’s smile pressing into his neck. “I also want to fuck you,” he starts, his hand snaking down to palm at Daniel’s hardening cock through his underwear, “until you forget the name of every other person who has ever touched you.”

Daniel moans, hips canting into the contact; Armand rewards him by firming his grip. “Okay,” he says airily, as Armand licks a filthy line back up his throat. “I can agree to those terms.”

“Say it, then,” Armand orders, stroking his thumb over where the head of Daniel’s cock tents his boxers. “Say you’ll belong to me.”

If Daniel were any less turned on right now, if the scent of Armand wasn’t filling his nose all earthy and sweet like honeyed cloves, then maybe he could respond with something snarky. Maybe he would be able to say no. As it is, he rasps, “I’m yours, Armand,” as fervent and breathless as a desperate prayer. “I’m yours.”

Armand kisses him then, hot and raging like a wildfire. It sucks the air from his lungs and replaces it with burning smoke, lights every nerve ending in his body aflame. It consumes him, destroys him, unmakes him and reduces him to smoldering ash in the shape of the man he used to be.

What happens after that is a blur, soft and surreal like a hazy memory: Armand strips Daniel and takes him into his mouth, painting over the places Lestat kissed with his tongue until his spit is all that remains. He writes his name into Daniel’s skin like a promise, like a brand, like he plans on doing it to every inch of Daniel until he’s covered in reminders of Armand’s existence.

Then, once Armand has him reduced to a wanting, whimpering mess, he pulls Daniel into the cradle of his arms, spine to sternum, and fucks into him as though he’s trying to make a home for himself in his lover’s body. As though it isn’t enough for Armand to claim his lips or his throat or his skin; he needs to mark Daniel’s insides, too, his guts and his organs and the viscera that holds him together.

When Daniel comes, Armand’s fist wrapped around him and Armand’s cock buried deep in his ass, it is a revelation. It is an epiphany. Armand follows him shortly after, clutching him close and tight and perfect.

Daniel doesn’t think he ever intends to let go again.

After Daniel’s had enough time to recover and he can be sarcastic again, he jokes, “If I had realized that fucking Lestat would bring you back, I’d have done it a lot sooner.”

Armand looks at him with an exaggerated pout. “Hm. That’s no good.”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

Then, the other vampire is climbing back on top of him. In between kisses, he murmurs, “You still remember his name. We’ll have to remedy that.”

And, well. Daniel’s not about to argue with him.

[laughinglistener]

The Vampire Lestat

The Vampire Lestat

(The Vampire Chronicles, Book Two) By Anne Rice

Format: Audiobook Narrator: Simon Vance Length: 21 hours & 41 minutes Genres: Fiction, Adult, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural Take a Peek:  Audible  |  Overdrive  |  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Goodreads

Story Rating: 4 Stars Performance Rating: 5 Stars Overall Rating: 4 Stars ★★★★

My journey into the Vampire Chronicles continues with round two. Man, so far this series has the ability to overwhelm me and push my thoughts towards the existential like no other book ever has. After my intense love affair with Interview With A Vampire a couple weeks ago, I was hesitantly curious about this sequel. I hated Lestat so much the first time around, I wasn’t sure if I could stand a whole novel told from his perspective. To my surprise (though I shouldn’t have been because Anne Rice is a genius) I really loved it and found this prequel/sequel really fascinating.

via GIPHY

THE REHASH

The story begins a decade-ish after the first one ended, in the 1980s. Our favorite vamp has been “sleeping” underground for quite some time, but is stirred at the new sounds of life happening outside. Upon his wake, the obvious progression of civilization overwhelms Lestat and he is curious about everything around him; clothing, music, religion, pop culture, politics, books, philosophy… You get the idea. He loves this new age where people are free to express themselves and everyone accepts it without batting an eye. The societal rules that once held him back no longer apply and he decides to take advantage this, hunting down a rock band he enjoys and confronting them. Lestat reveals what he is and promises to make the band rich if given the chance. They don’t believe him, of course, but compliment the clever choice of name for his little “act.” This only confuses Lestat and he asks what they’re talking about, only to discover that Louis helped write a book that told their history to the public. He’s completely shocked. Without even trying or knowing, Lestat has become the most famous vampire in history—mostly because he was a big douchebag.

In response, Lestat immediately starts penning his own novel and we dive head first into his origins. It opens with him Hulking out and killing a pack of wolves that had been terrorizing his village. Everyone is extremely grateful that he had the courage to kill them and even bring gifts in gratitude. One of these gift givers is Nicolas de Lenfent, nicknamed Nicki, who was shunned from his wealthy family when he devoted himself to learning the violin. As a secret aspiring actor, Lestat is immediately intrigued by him and his mother Gabrielle encourages her son to make a new friend. After their first dinner, the two are inseparable and even become lovers. Eventually they decide to hit the road to Paris where they will be free to live out their dreams, but Lestat is hesitant because of his mother’s failing health. Gabrielle knows that she’ll probably be dead soon, but she still tells Lestat to go and be happy and live as much as he can for her. With her blessing, the two go to Paris and create a new life performing with a theater troupe. Lestat is finally happy, so obviously that’s when a random old-man vampire comes to his room and steals him away.

Without much preamble or warning, Lestat gets changed into a vampire. And since the poor guy isn’t confused enough, his maker then immediately kills himself by walking into a fire—So. Not. Cool. He’s left with little instruction or help and relies mainly on his instincts as a guide. Despite being warned to stay away from his loved ones, Lestat can’t seem to help himself and uses his new inherited wealth to shower them with gifts. Gabrielle is ecstatic and happy for her son’s forturne while Nicki is….. not. He doesn’t understand why Lestat left and is very bitter, which is torturous for our narrator. In the end, Lestat can’t stay away and eventually visits his theater troupe friends, including Nicki, who welcome him back with open arms until they realize he’s not quite human anymore. At the same time, Lestat’s mother Gabrielle takes a turn for the worse and surprises her son with a visit to see him one last time. Initially he tries to hide his vampy-ness, but can’t stand the thought of watching her die and offers her eternal life, which she very quickly accepts.

To make a very very very long story short, after Lestat turns Gabrielle and eventually Nicki too, they face great adversity that drives wedges between them all. Armand and his band of religious vamp-followers are not happy with how they’re conducting themselves, and eventually split Lestat’s coven apart. He is completely miserable and hopeless, finding brief relief with an ancient vampire named Marius, before he’s forced to leave him too. This horribly bitter state is how he finds Louis, and the rest we already know.

In the epilogue, we finally get to see Louis and Lestat reunited, giving me warm-fuzzies that I didn’t know I wanted until it was already happening. Plus, we get to see Lestat play a stadium show with his now famous rock band and it quickly turns sour when pissed off vampires decide to attack. Until next time…

THE GOOD

*Opens mouth. Closes it. Opens it again.* ……….Well. Hmmm. A lot to ponder this time around.

If I had told myself at the end of Interview With A Vampire that I would ship Louis and Lestat AND hate Armand’s guts by the end of this one, I would have laughed in my own face. No way. But somehow Anne Rice managed to completely turn my own opinion and I can’t help but like Lestat’s character. I’m not entirely sure when the switch got flipped, but I find myself at the end of a transformation I didn’t even know was occurring. In the first novel I wanted to wring his neck. Now whenever he does anything vaguely evil I laugh like I’m watching a mischievous kitten.

“Oh Lestat! He’s so CUTE when he’s trying to dismantle the entire vampire structure!”

During the first novel, I fell so hard for Louis with his big heart and brooding nature that I hated Lestat for him. To me, it seemed completely logical that Louis and Claudia tried to kill Lestat by setting his ass on fire. So you can imagine my surprise when Lestat manages to undermine the ENTIRE first book in a few short sentences, saying Louis has his own perspective on events and conveniently omitted all the good times they had together. Lestat even goes on to explain some of the horrible things he did, somehow making it okay. It was a brilliant move on Rice’s part that left me completely speechless with a burning need to re-read the first novel again.

And this is a little macabre to discuss in a lighthearted book review, but I would feel remiss not mentioning it. I have never had my own fear of death described quite so accurately before. It struck a chord inside of me. Fear of death is something we all share, but it’s a vast, baser kind of terror that’s hard to grasp or put in words and I think Anne Rice captured that fear amazingly. Somehow, after reading this, I feel like I have a better grasp on myself—like I know that part of me a little better. That’s both good and bad. I think everyone would rather remain in blissful ignorance when it comes to death, but it also made me feel not so alone.

THE UGLY

Similarly to Interview With A Vampire, this book felt looooonnnnnnng since Rice shoves hundreds of years into a few chapters, but it’s lenth was a little more tedious this time around than it was before. Despite the whole being-an-immortal-vampire thing, I can see a lot of myself in Louis, which played a big role in winning me over the first time around and put a positive spin on it’s long length. I was just happy to be spending more time with a character I really cared about. Even after Lestat won me over in this second book, I wasn’t invested and held him at a distance. My attention wasn’t completely captured and tended to drop in between major plot points.

Plus, it didn’t feel like I was reading about the same Lestat. The Lestat in this novel felt completely different than the one I experienced before. Maybe that’s because my feelings for him changed so drastically, or maybe this was done on purpose since the first book is in Louis’s perspective. Whatever the reason, it felt like I was reading a story about some other completely different vampire. It wasn’t until his reunion with Louis at the very end that I connected the two Lestat’s together in my mind. This is probably my problem and no fault of Rice’s and I might solve it for myself by re-reading the first novel, but I wish there had been a better way to bridge the gap between the two.

FINAL WORD

Personally, I just don’t think this book is as strong as the first one, but it’s still a good read. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you think—it has everything! I would definitely give this a try if you loved the Interview With A Vampire as much as I did.

The Vampire Lestat was originally published on Laughing Listener