Kendra stepped back inside and said, "Yes, and I felt the same vibration from outside. I'll know if you try to tell, no matter where in the world you are."

Eric was simultaneously freaked out, fascinated, and disbelieving, though he'd just experienced it. "How? How is this possible? To make an oath... real! No matter how hard I tried, I could not write the word. How is this possible?"

"It used to be called magic," Abbott told him, his voice gentle. "Nowadays it would probably be called metaphysics. If some of the physicists out there knew about it, they'd probably use it to try to prove their nice little string theories." He sat in a chair, regal and proper as if he were king. "Now that you've seen a taste of our abilities, you need to understand vampire society is set up on a sort of magical hierarchy, with the more powerful vampires having rank over the less powerful of our kind."

Abbott looked to Kendra, back to Eric. "I'm telling you this because Kendra won't. She doesn't like to think of herself as being powerful, but she's probably one of the ten or so most powerful vampires in the United States. She isn't Master of her own territory only because she has no interest in it at this time."

"So, Kendra has some sort of Master Vampire over her? What kind of hold does he have on her?"

Eric had no idea how vampire society worked, but he didn't like the idea of Kendra being at someone else's mercy. He'd only known her a short time, but she'd gone out of her way to be truthful with him at the first chance, and he respected honesty, bravery, and a zest for life - all three of which Kendra seemed to have in spades.

Abbott smiled. Eric had gone straight to worrying about how this affected Kendra instead of how it might affect Eric. Abbott liked this man.

"I am Master of this territory, and Kendra is my third in command," Abbott told him with a smile. "She's also my friend, but even if she weren't, I'm not in the habit of forcing the vampires in my territory to do things they do not wish. I have rules I require my people follow, but they're rules Kendra lives by anyway. Things like not killing humans, not kidnapping humans for use as companions, not turning a human into a vampire unless it's their decision, and bringing humans to me for extra counseling so we can all be sure of their decision before they're turned. There are some vampires who choose not to live in my territory because they don't like my rules, which is fine by me."

"So, being her Vampire Master doesn't mean being her... Master?"

"Yes, it does, though in our case, not in the s.e.xual manner you're implying, and I rarely pull rank on her. If it becomes necessary, I won' t hesitate, but she and I are in agreement on most everything, and we respect each other enough we can work around the things we don't agree on. However, while we're on the subject, this is another part of Vampire society you need to understand."

Once again, Abbott looked to Kendra before he continued with his explanation for Eric. She wasn't using their mind connection to stop him, but he could sense her trepidation and fear as she worried about Eric's reaction.

Abbott chose his words carefully, determined to do his best to explain it in a way to keep Eric from freaking out. Kendra hadn't expressed interest in someone for decades, and Abbott wanted to see her happy. He'd grown concerned about her as she'd withdrawn from the human world except for what was needed to help Abbott with his business interests. She seemed to have grown bored with living, and he'd seen too many old vampires degenerate from melancholy to depression to malevolence. Kendra had been feral when he'd found her, and he'd found the spark of humanity in her, showed her how to live in the light, even if she could never see the sun again. Now, Eric seemed to be doing the job this time - he'd awakened her, reminded her life could be fun, and Abbott would do what he could to keep this human in her life.

"When humans go into a power exchange relationship," he told Eric, "they do so based on preference, the way they're wired, so to speak. Someone who's aroused by submitting looks for someone who enjoys dominating. It isn't about who's stronger, because big, strong men submit to small women all the time in human society. However, in vampire society, the power exchange isn't decided by preference, but by hierarchy. Just as you felt the magical pull when you tried to write about our secret, it's impossible for a stronger vampire to submit in any way to a weaker vampire. It's possible for them to have vanilla s.e.x in any form they choose, but if there is to be a power exchange, their position in our society makes the choices for them."

"And Kendra is powerful," said Eric, thinking aloud, "so she's used to being the one in control. But, I'm not powerful, so how is it that she...." Eric wasn't sure he should tell the Master Vampire Kendra had submitted to him, even if it was only for a few kisses. Once again, Abbott was pleased with Kendra's choice.

"You aren't a magical being, so the rules are different. She can submit to you if she wants, though you need to understand it'll cause a bit of an issue amongst the hierarchy if the other vampires find out. This isn't to say you can't go forward, but I want you to understand what it will mean in our world."

Eric stood. "I need to use the restroom, if you'll give me a moment, please."

Kendra spoke to Abbott through their mind link, so Eric wouldn't overhear.

I wasn't going to hit him with all of this at once, Abbott.

I know, which is why I'm telling him. I know you can take care of him, but he needs to understand the political angles if he's to spend time in the house, and I can tell from the way the two of you act around each other, he's likely to be around a lot. If he'll be okay with everyone thinking he's a human companion a few weeks, I think it'll be easier to transition from them considering him human companion, to boyfriend, to Dom.

Kendra walked to the sofa and sat, facing him. I suppose you're right, but I'd still rather not burden him with our politics. It's my worry, it shouldn't be his.

If he's clueless, he may say something to make things harder than they have to be. He's smart enough to grasp the political issues and act accordingly. It's clear he has your safety in mind. He'll be fine.

Eric splashed water on his face and looked at himself in the mirror a few minutes.

Vampires were real.

One wanted to date him. She'd drank from him.

He looked at his neck, but couldn't see the bite marks at all, now. He knew he wasn't going crazy, though. She'd really bitten him, and made him come in his pants like a f.u.c.king schoolboy, without laying a finger on his c.o.c.k. And then they'd had him make an enforceable vow. It was embedded in his brain, somehow, so he couldn't break it if he wanted to.

Common sense told him to wait until she left and then drive his yacht, far, far away... but his sense of adventure told him to stick around and see what happened. She hadn't hurt him, and both Kendra and Abbott seemed to be trying to explain things as kindly as possible, without talking down to him.

Could he date a vampire? And how often could she drink from him, because her bite had been fan-freakin-tastic.

However, he wasn't going to submit, even though he wasn't sure how making her submit was going to work.

He returned to the sofa, sat beside Kendra, and reached for her hand. "I'll listen to the rest of Abbott's explanation in a moment, but first I want you to tell me how you envision our relationship working."

"While Abbott is correct about not often telling me what to do, he frequently offers sage advice. He's an expert at maneuvering through the political machinations of vampire society, and it's usually wise to listen to his counsel. He's advised I tell my housemates I'm grooming you to be a human companion. They'll smell confusion in my statement, but it can easily be explained away by my saying you're unlike any human I've ever met, and how I think carefully guiding you into the relationship is going to be a fun challenge."

She paused and he asked, "But you said you didn't want me to be just a companion. I thought you wanted a regular relationship?"

"Yes, Eric, I do. Abbott's advice is to go slow with my housemates, so they get to know you before they realize you'll be more than mere companion. My telling them you're going to take some finesse to groom will free us to act as one would expect during the beginning of most any human relationship. At some point, the other vampires will realize we're acting like a human couple for longer than expected, at which point I'll admit to having decided against a formal human companion arrangement with you, once again hinting you're different than most humans, and I'm having some wonderful adventures with you. This way, when it's discovered I'm submitting to you, I'll have paved the way, a little. I'll let Abbott explain the political ramifications of my submitting to a human."

Abbott's face looked pleasant enough, but Eric had a feeling it was a facade, and asked, "I won't be putting her in danger, will I?"

"I appreciate your concern for Kendra, but she's capable of taking care of herself. As a human, it's our job to ensure your safety." Abbott looked at Kendra as he said, "He'll lose the protection automatically given to companions as soon as you tell someone you aren't grooming him for it, so you'll need to formally put him under your protection the first time, and every time you tell someone. Also, I recommend this happen a minimum of two weeks before it comes out you're submitting to him s.e.xually."

Eric leaned forward in his seat. "Protection? I know you said we're going against the norm, but why do I need protection? And what will it entail? I don't want to put Kendra at risk."

Abbott and Kendra looked at each other, and Abbott answered. "There are many vampires who see humans as a lesser species. Kind of the way humans view pets. Or, perhaps the way you view some of the smarter monkey species."

Eric was momentarily speechless, and was about to ask them both to leave when Abbott added, "Kendra and I don't see you that way, so don't get defensive, I'm just trying to explain there will be some vampires who'll take it as a personal insult when a vampire over them in the hierarchy submits to a human. There'll be challenges to her status as third, but she's more than capable of taking on any challenger. However, if you aren't under the protection of a strong vampire then it's possible some of them could try to challenge you - the logic being that if you're holding yourself as stronger than a vampire, then you're putting yourself in a position to be contested."

Eric shook his head as he considered the problem, and said, "You're the Master of the territory, right? Why can't you just put me under your protection? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

"If I were to do so, it would undermine Kendra's position, as it would say I didn't believe her to be capable of protecting you. I've done this for weaker vampires who took on a human girlfriend or boyfriend without giving them the protection of companion, but politically, I can't do it for Kendra."

Kendra reached for Eric's hand and gave it a small squeeze as she looked to Abbott and said, "Actually, if he were working for you then he'd be protected as an employee. Haven't you been looking for someone to teach some of the older vampires who've refused to embrace technology? If you can get them set up to check and send emails and text messages, it'll make contacting everyone for minor things, when telepathy isn't called for, much easier."

Abbott looked at Eric. "You make computer games for a living, correct?"

Eric nodded, and Abbott asked, "Would you be qualified to teach ancient vampires how to use a computer? Most importantly, how to check and send email, and how to send and receive text messages on a cellphone? I realize money probably isn't an issue for you, but it would pay well, and would include being placed under my personal protection."

"If you set me up with a cla.s.sroom with as many computers as I'll have students, I can teach them all at once. I find a group setting works better for people who are resistant to learning, as long as at least half the cla.s.s is motivated. If you give me notes on some of the resistant people's interests, I can target the example internet searches to help show them how it can benefit them personally."

Eric looked at Kendra a few seconds, deciding how much he wanted to offer, and decided he wanted to get to know her, and he'd do whatever it took to keep her from having to come to his rescue.

He looked back at Abbott. "I a.s.sume you have some kind of security system in place, and I can also look over your current set-up, find the security holes, and plug them. If you aren't already, I can teach you the various ways to encrypt sensitive text and email messages, and can show you how to speak on an encrypted connection. And, as I see emerging technologies that may be of use to you, I can bring them to your attention."

Abbott looked thoughtful. "Kendra, this could work. Having him teach cla.s.ses puts him in kind of an authority position to start with." He looked back at Eric. "Once our contract is in place and you're my employee, should anyone challenge you in any way, you must say, 'Since I have a formal arrangement with Abbott Hamilton, any challenges toward me should be directed to him'. Once you're under my protection, you'll be able to speak to me with your mind, and you'll need to open up so I can hear those words. I'll know who you're saying it to, and I'll then be able to control them. If you act in any way to defend yourself then my protection will do you no good, though, so it's imperative you don't try to go all macho when challenged by any of my people."

Telepathy? Eric decided not to question it - if Abbott spoke of it, odds are, it was real. "Can Kendra and I speak to each other that way? Through our minds?"

Abbott looked at Kendra, and she explained, "It's possible, but I didn't bind you to me, I only bound you to your promise. If I join us together metaphysically we can speak telepathically, but I don't want you to see it as an invasion of privacy, so I won't do it until you fully understand the ramifications, and ask it of me."

"But Abbott will have to bind me to him to protect me?"

"Yes, but what he does will be different. Mine will be personal. His will be business."

There was so much he didn't understand, so many questions, but he started with, "Once he's bound me, can he make me do what he wants, even if I don't want to do it?"

Kendra didn't want to have this particular conversation, but Eric needed the truth. "He can make you do anything he wants now, without binding you. He'll have a better connection once he puts you under his protection, but it won't give him more power over you than he already has."

"What do you mean? Explain."

Kendra smelled the acrid tang of fear and temper on him, and tried to give him the truth without further freaking him out. "You've heard the old wives tales about people compelled to do things by vampires? Stories of women who get up out of bed and walk outside to the hungry vampire. No one believes them, the stories are said to be people who are sleepwalking and who dream of vampires, but..." She shrugged. "It isn't something either of us is in the practice of doing, and Abbott has rules about how vampires can and can't use those powers in his territory. Neither Abbott nor I are going to force you to do something against your will." She sighed and added, "Not unless you need us to prove it to you, and then one of us can."

"You're telling me the vampires who live here are all good? Because a bad... because one who was bad, wouldn't live in Abbott's territory? But wouldn't that mean there are places to live where it's dangerous to be a human? How can vampires have kept their secret if there are areas where vampires are killing lots of humans?"

Abbott took this one, his voice soothing. "Even Master Vampires are constrained by rules, and are required to make sure their people conform. The biggest rule is there can be no activity that risks exposure."

"Who keeps the Master Vampires in line?"

"We can't tell you all of our secrets Eric." Abbott didn't get impatient with him, didn't seem annoyed with the question, was just letting him know he couldn't answer.

Eric looked at him a few moments and regrouped. He needed to ask questions directly related to Kendra, for now. Take care of the issue at hand, and deal with his other questions later.

"Okay. Thanks for being patient with my questions. To be sure I'm clear on this - when I'm at Kendra's house, I act like a boyfriend for now and everything will be fine, right? I only pull my Dom stuff out when we're behind closed doors?"

"For now you'll only be able to do your power exchange activities away from the house. Vampire hearing is phenomenal, and anything you do in Kendra's room can be heard throughout the house - even a whisper. You'll probably also want to make sure you don't have the boat too close to the house. We're up on the cliff, but we often hear conversations in boats below on the water. We tune them out most of the time, but if someone heard Kendra's voice they'd tune in pretty quickly."

Eric wanted to ask how far they could hear, but once again aimed his question towards what he needed to know for personal reasons. "How soon before you and I do whatever contract you mentioned, and we formalize our arrangement?"

"I'll email my attorney tonight, and unless she's in court all day she'll have the contract to me when I awaken tomorrow evening. You and I can go over it in detail and write our own addendum, if necessary, before signing. I'll get you a credit card number to use, and will authorize you to purchase computers and other equipment you'll need."

Abbott looked at Kendra. "Make arrangements for deliveries to be taken to the shelter area, please, and show Eric the table and chair options available in the storage areas. Also, have Josef oversee his people setting them up as Eric needs."

Abbott looked back at Eric. "Josef is my head of security. You'll also be working with him to help us use technology for security purposes. Our current system includes a variety of keyed and combination locks. I'd like you to work with Josef on some solutions not involving keys that can be lost or stolen, or number sequences too easily shared."

"A fingerprint scan should work for vampires the same as humans, but we'll need to do some research to see if retina and/or iris scans will work for vampire eyes. You should know there are times I'm up against deadlines with my regular work, and I won't have time to work for you. I'm in the creative stage with my newest project right now and there are few deadlines during this part of the process, but there are at least a few weeks a year I spend twenty hours a day immersing myself in the world I'm creating, barely taking time to sleep or eat."

"Understood. We'll talk tomorrow evening about what I'll pay you. We have a soundproof office in the coterie house, if you can come there tomorrow night around eight o'clock, we can take care of our business without Kendra present, to make it clear you and I have a working relationship separate from the personal one you have with her. I'll also introduce you to Josef, and we can discuss the current security arrangements so you can draw up your recommendations."

Abbott peeked into Eric's brain enough to see he'd pushed his emotions to the side and was dealing with the logistics of what he was being told, for the moment. Not many humans were capable of this, and even fewer gained the skills at such a young age. Abbott saw a glimpse of Eric having to make micro-second decisions when hang gliding, kayaking, and mountain climbing, and realized this human was used to thinking straight while his system was flooded with adrenaline, pushing past his fight-or-flight responses to deal with whatever problem was at hand.

Abbott didn't personally turn a lot of people, but if Eric should desire to become Vampire someday, he was one of the few humans the Master Vampire would consider changing.

Back to the subject at hand, though - there were other things Kendra wasn't likely to tell her human, and if Eric had any hope of successfully Topping a vampire, Abbott would need to irritate her by filling him in. He focused on Eric, locked Kendra out so she couldn't speak to him telepathically for the next minute or two, and told Eric, "There are a few other things you should know about us, and then I'll go so the two of you can spend some time alone. First, you should know vampires have excellent healing abilities. We hurt just as much as humans, our nerve endings work the same, but the strongest of us can heal from most injuries in less than ten minutes - damage a human may need weeks or months to recover from. Extreme damage can take longer, of course, while minor damage heals almost instantaneously."

Eric nodded, and Abbott continued. "Next, you need to know there is nothing on this yacht you can successfully restrain Kendra to. We have a play room at the coterie house with bondage furniture capable of holding a vampire, but it will be a little while before the two of you will be able to play there. Meanwhile, I would suggest not restraining her to anything you don't want broken, because if she pulls on her restraints in the heat of the moment, she could easily destroy it by accident. If you bind her to herself with cuffs or rope, then the only thing she may break is the cuff or the rope. Also, you don't have to worry about circulation with a vampire, so you can bind her much tighter than you would a human. If you get creative enough, you can put her muscles at such an angle so it'll at least be a little harder for her to break free."

Abbott could see the s.a.d.i.s.t and Dom peeking through Eric's smile as he said, "Thanks, Abbott. I can see this is information Kendra may not have shared with me."

"You're most welcome. Kendra is a good friend, and I like what I've seen of you so far. I'll walk myself out, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. I'll see you tomorrow night at eight, so we can formalize our arrangement."

Chapter Four.

When Abbott was gone, Eric pulled Kendra closer to him, his gaze holding hers as he skimmed his hand down her back, returned to her shoulder, and then skated his fingers around her neck to caress her cheek with his thumb. "Kendra, when you bit me, it was..."

He didn't seem to have the words to describe it, so she leaned her head into his hand a little, grinned, and asked, "o.r.g.a.s.mic?"

"Well, yeah, but it was more than that. I mean, usually when you get off, your d.i.c.k and b.a.l.l.s feel it and transmit it to the rest of your body. But this was like every cell in my body was climaxing, but only my d.i.c.k and b.a.l.l.s could actually complete the act. I've never felt anything like it."

Now, she held his gaze, watched and listened for his reaction as she told him, "Just imagine how it might be if I do it at the end of s.e.x, just as you begin to o.r.g.a.s.m the regular way?"

His heart sped, his breathing hitched, and blood roared through his veins. "I think it might be enough to just kill me dead, right there."

Kendra laughed, and realized she'd laughed more in the twenty-four hours since she'd met Eric than she likely had in the past year. "Oh no, you'll survive it," but then she paused and added, "a.s.suming you want me to bite you again."

"You didn't o.r.g.a.s.m," he said, "but when I held you, you seemed all relaxed and happy, like you had. What does it do for you?"

She noted he hadn't answered her question, but she didn't push. "Well, first off, you taste amazing. If you had a meal cooked by some world famous chef, you'd be sated afterwards, reeling from the taste sensations, right? Your blood is that good to me. And, second, there was a bit of a metaphysical thing that happened, too, with our auras. They didn't join, but they mixed with each other a little, so I guess you could say I was basking in the sensation I got from your aura. When two people are close, their auras can join, become one large ball of light with two people in it. We may eventually get there, but it'll take time. Quite frankly, it's rare for them to mix so quickly after two people have met, so it's confirmation, I guess, showing the two of us have connected on a deeper level, already."

Eric kissed her forehead, and every nerve ending in her body came to life. She rested her head on his shoulder, let him pet her, and snuggled into him. So comfortable with him already. She'd always taken care of her humans, and yet it felt so natural for him to hold her.

"We haven't done anything more than kiss," he told her, "yet I feel as comfortable with you as if we'd had s.e.x already. I guess in a way we have, with the mind-blowing o.r.g.a.s.m, but... we haven't seen each other without clothes and we haven't, you know, touched each other. Well, not physically, anyway."

"Do you feel like you've lost blood? When you stood to go clean up, were you dizzy or lightheaded?"

He ran his hand over her hair. "No, I feel fine. How much did you take?"

"Only about five ounces. For one thing, I've already fed tonight, and for another I didn't want to make you weak. If you want me to feed from you often then we have to work up to it so your body gets used to manufacturing more blood. If you don't want me to feed frequently, we'll figure out how much I can take at a time before you feel it. For some people it's five or six ounces, for others it's ten or twelve."

He pulled back, looked in her eyes, one hand at her shoulder, the other tilting her chin up. "How much blood do you need a day?"

He wasn't asking for self-preservation reasons, but because he wanted to know what it took to keep her alive, so she gave him the complete answer. "I need about thirty ounces of liquid a day. On a normal day I need from six to ten ounces of blood and the rest can be water. However, if I'm injured and need to heal, or if I'm active and use up a lot of energy, then I need more blood and less water to make up the thirty or so ounces. If I'm badly injured then I need enough blood to replace whatever I lost, plus enough to heal."

His mouth twisted into a grin, his eyes happy, suggestive. "Does s.e.x with a vampire work the same as s.e.x with a human?"

"Yes, even though we can't make babies, so you might think evolution would've made our bodies do away with that particular function, but the ability to attract and hold onto humans s.e.xually has helped us survive through the years, and we've evolved so s.e.x works the same, just without the reproductive possibilities."

"So, if you and I get together for... for good... we can never have kids? I won't be a father?"