by Joey W. Hill
His expression hardened. I’m your Master. When there’s a choice to be made about you, about your well-being, it’s up to me to make the decision that’s best for you.
I don’t want to go back. I don’t. She wanted to grip his arm, but she kept her hands tucked against herself, staring up at him with the plea in her face. But she didn’t want to be here, either. She was miserably aware that it was all a mess in her head.
Did you hear me say that I am taking you anywhere? Lower your gaze.
She did. He didn’t say anything for a moment or two, simply ran his firm touch along her bare shoulder, her upper arm, in that way he had. He lifted her hand away from her body to inspect the knife cut there, and licked away the blood, nuzzling her briefly, making her relax the clenched state of both her hands.
Let’s focus on what you do want. He brushed his knuckles against the side of her face. Put the rest of it aside. You wanted to be mine and mine alone. Yes? Look at me and tell me.
She lifted her gaze and stared into his eyes, the depths of them. So deep, so many things to know and share about one another. If the world was an entirely different place. I did, yes.
There it was. An outright acknowledgement of what she’d probably known when he’d stayed in her thoughts all those months after their chance meeting. And from how she’d used his memory to keep herself together after Bangka.
She hadn’t fallen in love with him. That was a process that took time. But she’d been bound to this man from the beginning, and that bond was still just as strong, no matter all this other nonsense that she couldn’t understand.
I thought I could handle all this if…if I was yours. It was simple, romantic. Foolish.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. No, it wasn’t. You are mine and mine alone, Nina. If you have the strength to continue what we’ve started here, I will prove it to you. You’re a servant, Nina. Not a sex slave. One encompasses the other, but also surpasses it, in countless ways.
His knuckles slid along her face again, more tenderly, and she saw a glimpse of the same emotion in his eyes.
Am I a liability to you?
No, Nina. You are not. Not in any way. Three simple sentences. No elaboration, but that helped, to hear the unvarnished sincerity in his mind-voice. What is your decision? The last one I will give you tonight.
She closed her eyes, pressed her cheek to the wall. It was more than a decision about going back or not going back. It was a decision about trusting him, when he’d just allowed something unspeakable to happen to her. Something accepted in his world. But when she’d rejected it, he’d fought for her. Protected her.
Sometimes a decision was made with nothing but hope. This was one of them. She nodded, once.
Chapter Eighteen
“Lady Anahera,” Alistair said aloud, his eyes remaining on Nina, “I understand there is the matter of punishment. But if we can table that for the moment, I would request your assistance with something I think might be far more satisfying, to all of us.”
He rose, turning to face the other vampire. But he shifted as he did, so his calf was pressed against Nina’s hip, close enough she could grip it again if needed. Showing he’d been aware of her doing that, and hadn’t disapproved of the contact.
If you’d gripped my arm, it might have hampered me protecting my pretty face, so I’m grateful you chose a leg. As it is, it’s just my ribs that have been turned into a pile of matchsticks.
The dry humor penetrated and eased, just enough to let her draw a shaky breath. She kept her eyes closed, though. Focusing on his words and thoughts. Trust was easier if she didn’t think of what might be ahead.
“Shall we show her why so many servants serve their vampires as your Tane does?” he continued. “How we unleash that compulsion inside them that wants to serve their Masters and Mistresses with such joyous abandon and uninhibited desire?” He dropped a hand to Nina’s head again, stroked his fingers through her hair, tugging lightly so she lifted her gaze to his face. In this position, her chin was almost propped on his thigh. He allowed a light smile to play over his face, a very calculated expression, but what was in his eyes was genuine, and for her.
“How would you like to help augment her training in a way she will never forget, and which will earn my sincere gratitude?”
There was a weighted significance to those last words. Nina sensed it in the vampire female’s sharpened attention on Alistair. “You offer much for the protection of this servant.”
“She’s an investment, isn’t she?” Alistair lifted a shoulder, caressed the side of Nina’s face. “In my standing and reputation. To my way of thinking, if she can embrace her InhServ training properly, she will make the rough diamond of her Master appear somewhat more polished.”
“Her Master’s silver tongue seems polished enough,” Anahera retorted, but there was amusement in her sex-and-honey tone. And curiosity. “What do you have in mind?”
“Let me get us started, and then you can command Tane and participate however seems appropriate. But if you will allow me to direct him somewhat at key moments, it will help, and I promise be satisfying to all of us.”
“I am intrigued.” Anahera pursed her lips, considering, but then nodded. “Proceed.”
Strewth, vampires truly lived in an odd world, where violence and the shedding of blood one moment, and polite conversation the next, were all par for the same course. Anahera seemed almost friendly now.
During their interlude, Tane had apparently been commanded to clean up the mess she’d made. Nina saw no evidence of the tea tray, and the spilled liquid was gone. The male was once again standing along the wall as his Mistress settled back on the couch. She stretched out on a hip, dress hiking up to expose some amazing legs, her ankles delicately crossed, knees bent like a mermaid’s tail. She folded her arms over the back of the couch to watch.
Alistair dropped to his heels before Nina once more, and her view was his set face and mouth, his broad shoulders. He touched her cheek, tacit permission to lift her gaze to his again, hold there. Dwell there.
Give your mind to me, Nina. Give it fully. See into mine. See what sanctuary you can find there and come to me.
He wasn’t speaking figuratively. She felt an opening inside his mind, one that drew her. As she drifted into it, it closed around her, making a veil fall around everything else. She blinked, even reached out physically, as if to brush against some corporeal manifestation of it, and met air, and then him, his chest. She flattened her palm over his heart and he covered her hand.
Do you remember the night with Stanley?
It would be hard to forget it.
You had the power to touch him, to give him what he needed, and you swept the three of us away. You have that power now, for all of us. This is a world you can learn to navigate and find pleasure in it, I promise. Come along with me, inside me, like this, and see.
She swallowed, moistened her lips, and nodded again. He lifted her to her feet, removed her bra, had her step out of the knickers that had been tangled at her knees. After he set them all aside, he took her hand, led her to the middle of the room, and put a footstool there. She hesitated, then let him help her onto it. He released her, but only to step back, gaze upon her from head to toe, taking his time. She saw Lady Anahera doing the same.
Stand straight, Nina. Chin up. You are beautiful, and mine.
It reminded her of how he’d acted toward her on the beach, that total attention when she’d knelt before him on the sand, while all those feelings had rushed in. She obeyed, though she quivered, her knees shaking a little. A large set of hands came to rest on her hips.
“He’s there to steady you. Feel his breath on the small of your back. Tane is caring for you. He meant no harm before. It is the way of vampires and servants, when they are together, to play sexual games. They can be serious, brutal. But the end goal is what I said to Lady Anahera. We want to take your fear, your trepidation, your pain, and transform it. We can. Fight it, don’t fight it, there is
pleasure in both responses. For all of us, including you.”
If you trust me.
She wanted to do so. She truly did.
“Turn to look at him, Nina. You may enjoy and explore.”
She pivoted slowly, Tane’s hands adjusting upon her. She realized now how gentle he was being, for he truly was a very large male. Alistair was not slight, and Tane’s shoulders were at least a hand’s breadth wider, chest deep and neck thick and corded. Her gaze fell to the intricate tattoo that covered his shoulder and chest.
“My Mistress paints these designs upon me,” Tane said. His voice was calm, the blue-grey eyes watching her. She remembered how he’d tested her to ensure she was wet enough to take him. If he’d meant to brutalize her, he wouldn’t have done that. Even if Alistair hadn’t said it, she would have known it was truth, for the InhServ training had told her what a servant could expect when vampires got together. But hearing it, learning it, and experiencing it…she hadn’t been ready for it.
Alistair was with her. Helping her. She could make it work.
Nina slid her fingertips along the inked area over Tane’s pectoral. Tane dipped his head, watching the movement. It allowed her other hand to touch his hair, stroke through the thick lengths of it. He’d untied it so it was loose on the broad shoulders. He had a clean, sea scent.
“Do you spend a lot of time in the ocean?” Nina asked. Her voice was still thin and high, but she wanted to speak. Wanted to ask something normal.
“He swims every day,” Lady Anahera said. She’d let her cheek rest on her folded hands and was watching Nina’s hands on her servant with an almost dreamy hunger. “Sometimes I clasp my arms around his chest and ride, to feel the way his body moves in the water. He came from the sea. I think he is a siren, and must have its touch to maintain his vitality.”
“I need only your touch for that, my lady,” he said, his gaze sliding to her before returning to watch Nina. She’d reached the ink on his biceps and they flexed under her touch.
“My servant’s breasts are very sensitive, Tane,” Alistair said. Nina drew in a breath as he slid his hands onto her hips over Tane’s. “Please attend to them.”
He moved up close behind her. As a hint of trepidation rippled through her, Alistair cupped her jaw, the heel of his hand pressed against her throat as he tipped up her face to him. On the stool, her eyes were level with his, their mouths close. Her gaze flickered to his lips, and they curved before his grip tightened, drawing her breath in further. She couldn’t see what Tane was doing with Alistair restraining her this way, but he reminded her of her proper thoughts.
I am doing this to you, Nina. By him suckling your nipples, I can dedicate myself to the pleasure of watching your face, the delicious panic as arousal takes over, your wonder at allowing your body to respond as I desire.
He spoke the next words aloud. The gentle seduction dropped from the tone, sending an emphatic message. “I am your Master, and everything you feel under my command is acceptable. There are no limits but what I impose.”
Explore that labyrinth in my mind, Nina. Wander that maze, and discover you are not lost. There is a pleasure to a journey without a destination, because the journey never ends, is never limited to just one road.
She let out a little cry as Tane’s heated mouth pressed between her breasts, his large hands cupping them, kneading, awakening nerve endings. He took his time with it, and she wondered if Anahera was commanding him to prolong it, for Nina’s body started to lift into the stimulation, her nipples aching and tight, wanting…
She could feel Alistair’s absorption, his intense, fierce pleasure at watching her get aroused at his command. How much it made his desire for her grow, his need to possess her, take her, filling all those pathways with a licking blue flame.
Tane’s lips closed over a nipple and she jerked, made another cry. Alistair continued to hold her throat, his lips cruising over her temple telling her he was gazing down at Tane as he did what he was doing. Tane suckled, easy, slow, then harder, bringing teeth into it. Her lower body began to buck more urgently, her toes gripping for a precarious purchase on the stool.
“Oh…” She had a little plea in her voice, and Alistair made a growling noise against her throat. His fang scraped against her artery. The hint of the dangerous predator who was her Master bumped up her arousal further.
“Is her cunt wet, Tane?” he demanded.
Tane dropped to one knee and Nina bit back a harsher sound, closer to a scream, as his mouth pressed between her legs.
“I want to hear her sing,” Alistair said. “Take her to the couch.”
He withdrew, but his touch was a lingering caress, a reminder that he was close. Tane banded his arms around Nina’s hips and hefted her off the stool. When she automatically braced herself against those wide shoulders, he grinned up at her, his eyes alight with clean lust and pleasure at serving his Mistress and her Master. No malice toward her.
He draped her over the top of the couch, facing up. Alistair circled to the other side and pressed a knee onto the seat behind her. He had to have it against Anahera’s mermaid legs, for the woman still had her cheek resting on her stacked hands a couple feet away from where Nina was.
The position put Nina into a straining arch over the back of the couch. As her legs were spread and guided over Tane’s shoulders, Anahera adjusted, folding her legs beneath her and sitting up, reaching out to stroke Tane’s shoulder. Her dark eyes were lit with arousal, enjoyment, pleasure…and the connection with her servant. That rope that Nina had felt between her and Alistair; she could feel it between them, through the avenue Alistair had given her in his mind. He could detect the bonds between vampire and servant, and so she felt it, too.
Moreover, when Tane put his lips between her thighs, Alistair’s mind opened to her, so she knew just how much he was savoring her reaction. Her shudder, her arousal, the movement of Tane’s roughened chin against her delicate sex, the clever curling of his tongue and suction of his lips.
You please your Master so fucking much, Nina.
She shuddered harder, her hips lifting.
Do you want to please me?
A nod, an involuntary jerk, no thought to it. It just was.
Then enjoy every single thing he’s doing to you. Your nipples are so large and dark. So sweet. I want to suckle them until you’re begging for mercy.
The slick slide of Tane’s tongue into her folds, his noise of male approval, was a clear answer to Alistair’s earlier question, but the male pulled back enough to speak it aloud.
“She’s so wet she could take both our cocks together, my lord.”
“Except she’s got such a sweet, tight little pussy. But it’s an intriguing thought.” Alistair’s tone turned hot, forceful. “Who is my servant pleasing?” He caressed her nipple, then pinched it, twisting with just enough force to send pain spearing through her, tangling with the throbbing arousal.
“God…you, my lord.”
“And who am I?”
“My Master. Oh…” The desperation in her tone, the panic, came with shock at the clever skill of Tane’s mouth. He was manipulating her clit with his tongue and lips in a way that was pushing her right into orgasm.
“Not yet, my bad girl.” Alistair must have given Tane a signal, for the man stopped. Anahera now stood behind the couch. As Tane turned toward her, she caressed him from his sternum down to his straining cock beneath his trousers. When she squeezed hard, he groaned and she nipped at his collarbone. Then clasped the side of his throat and bit hard, drawing deep. He swayed against her, fingers curling against her hips. As she pulled back, she was enjoying the small taste of his blood, her lips moving over the flavor, her deadly looking fangs retracting behind the lush lips.
Alistair scooped Nina off the couch, swinging her over his shoulder. Spreading his hand over her buttocks, he pressed his thumb between, stroking her rim. He crossed the room in two strides, headed for the bedroom. “My lady, would you enjoy the honors?”
Anahera slipped into the room ahead of them. As Alistair turned, Nina briefly saw the female vampire sitting on the bed, her back against the pillows. She had removed her own clothes except for what was beneath, a satin and gauze bra and knickers. Not surprisingly, her body beneath the clothes was as stunning as the garments suggested. She also bore ink she’d done on herself, a whole landscape of star-like symbols that scrolled under and around her breasts, framing them. The artistic tendrils dipped down toward her lace-covered sex like roots headed for the deep, heated earth.
Alistair laid Nina face down over Anahera’s lap, her knees pressed to the edge of the mattress, her forehead to the other side. He moved around to the side where her face was and knelt, tipping up her chin to look at him.
“You will hold my gaze, Nina, as Lady Anahera punishes you for the insult to her and her servant. Do you deserve the punishment? Be honest.”
“I…I wanted to please you, but…I couldn’t handle him touching me like that. Without…”
“You are new to this. You are given wings, shown how to dance with them, leap through the air, but then you are flung from a cliff, expected to fly. It is like that.”
Surprisingly, that came from Anahera. It didn’t cover all of it, but it was close enough for Nina to give a slight nod. Alistair’s gaze flickered, hard to read, but Nina didn’t detect disapproval or anything that would make her uneasy.
Anahera’s smooth palm slid over her buttocks. Because so many of those who’d touched her intimately at the school were female, it didn’t discomfit Nina as much, but there was a different power dynamic here. More like The Mistress. She thought of that night by the fire. This was different from that, but she could hold onto some of the sameness of it.
Tane came into the room, and Nina was peripherally aware he was carrying something.
“Thank you, Tane,” Anahera said. “This one.” She settled her hand on the back of Nina’s neck. Alistair adjusted so Nina’s cheek was pressed into his palm. But Anahera’s touch remained on her nape, holding her. “Spread your knees, girl.”