Kendra looked down, unable to meet his gaze. She'd never allowed a submissive partner any excuses for avoiding a.n.a.l penetration, so she couldn't very well ask for it now. She also trusted he'd work to make it pleasurable for her - he'd already started the process by mixing a.n.a.l play with her o.r.g.a.s.m, and she had a feeling he knew what he was doing.

He didn't insist she look up, but stroked her hair and pushed it away from her face as he continued. "I tried to make it easy on you this time by restraining you so you didn't have to choose to submit. During our next scene I'll spend some time with you out of restraints, so you're forced to come to terms with your submission. Can you tell me how you feel about that?"

"You were right about restraining me tonight, Sir. It freed me from thinking too much, and I could just enjoy it. I was your captive and had no choice, the only actual submitting I did was when I followed instructions as you bound me, but once I was restrained, there was no more choice. I mean, other than safewording, of course." She took a breath and added, "I really wanted to hold you a few times, though. When you were making love to me, and then at the end, when you came. If I'll be allowed to hold you, it might be an okay trade-off, Sir."

"Thanks for being honest. One more kiss to end the scene."

His kiss was tender this time, caring, as if she were the vulnerable one, and her heart melted a little more for him. When the kiss ended naturally, she lay in his arms, relaxed and loose, and let him hold her.

Eventually, he said, "I'm starving. I know you don't eat, and I feel odd eating in front of you, but I need food. Want to come to the galley and keep me company?"

"Sure. And don't feel bad about eating in front of me. You eat food, I drink blood. We both have to take in sustenance to stay alive and it's just a fact of life we do it in different ways."

Chapter Five.

The next night Eric arrived at the coterie house at eight, and he and Abbott went into the soundproof second-floor office to formalize their arrangement.

Kendra had left Eric's yacht around three in the morning. From her previous experiences with humans she'd discovered that even those who didn't have day jobs generally did best staying up to between midnight and three in the morning. This was fine with her, as it gave plenty of time to spend around each other, but also gave her some time alone each night.

Abbott had been at the house when she'd returned, and they'd talked telepathically so no one could overhear.

You had to go and tell him how strong I was, didn't you?

Of course, it wouldn't have been fair for either of you if he thought you restrained when you weren't.

But Abbott, he rappels off the side of mountains, with ropes designed to hold nine thousand pounds of weight, with a coating on the outside so they can rub against rocks and cliffs and not fray.

So, you're saying he actually managed to restrain you?

She could hear the amus.e.m.e.nt and delight in his voice, and she shot him a mental image of the two ways Eric had tied her up.

He's a clever one. You may have met your match with him, Kendra. I'm very happy for you.

And now, Abbott and Eric were in the soundproof office talking about goodness knows what. Kendra had been in her room when he arrived, deliberately allowing Abbott to be the one to introduce him to most of the house. Now, she was in the first floor great room, with some of the other vampires so she'd be around when Eric and Abbott came out of the office.

It was a normal weekday evening for now. Some were watching television while several, like Kendra, were engrossed in a laptop. A few were reading a book. Two were playing a game of chess.

Abbott and Eric stayed in the office close to two hours, and when they finally came out, they went straight to the bas.e.m.e.nt. The vampires could all hear Abbott showing him their current security arrangements, which was bizarre, as it wasn't information usually given to humans.

This was the final straw, and most everyone in the room started speculating about this human the Master Vampire had just spent so much time with behind closed doors.

As the vampires were guessing, someone noticed Kendra wasn't part of the conversation. "Kendra, do you know why this human has Abbott's interest?"

Kendra looked up, said "Yes," and then focused back on her laptop.

The entire room stopped talking and looked at her. When they realized she wasn't going to offer any more information, they turned all of their senses toward her. She sensed them using their noses, and someone said, "You smell like him... and... s.e.x. Did you have s.e.x with the human?" It didn't matter that she'd showered, changed clothes, and slept all day, his scent would still be on her when someone focused attention towards her. She'd known, and was okay with it.

She looked up again and confided, "He tasted better than you can imagine. I would love to have him for a human companion, and with Abbott's blessing I'll attempt to groom him in that direction. But, right now his business is with Abbott, and when Abbott wants you to know about whatever arrangement the two of them have, he'll tell you."

"You're no fun."

She grinned at the renaissance vampire who didn't even try to keep up with current times. "Oh, I think I'm a lot of fun. Just not for you, Byron."

They all heard voices and footsteps coming back up the stairs, and everyone went back to what they were doing.

Abbott walked Eric into the great room and said, "h.e.l.lo to all. Eric will be giving me some proposals for ways we can use technology to improve our security. He has some good ideas and I look forward to seeing his recommendations. Also, we have too many vampires who have not kept up with technology, and I want all vampires living in my territory to be available via email. Eric will be teaching a cla.s.s to familiarize everyone with how to get around the computer, how to send and receive email, and how to look things up on the internet. Everyone not currently available to me via email will be required to attend. Anyone else who'd like to be more comfortable with a computer is welcome, but please let me know of your intentions as soon as possible. Eric will purchase computers to use in the cla.s.sroom, and when the cla.s.ses are complete I'll offer the equipment at a discount. And finally, he will teach another cla.s.s to help people who need help figuring out their cellphones. Those currently not available to me through text messaging will be required to attend. Again, others may sign up if they feel the cla.s.s will be of benefit to them."

He paused, looked around the room, and added, "Eric is in my employ and is under my protection. Anyone who has a problem learning from a human needs to get over it unless they think they know more than he does, in which case they won't need to go to the cla.s.s and can still get over it."

Josef spoke up. "What happens if we get some fancy electronic security system and the power goes out?"

Abbott turned to Eric. "Eric, this is Josef, my head of security. You'll be working closely with him, so I'll let you tell Josef what you told me."

"h.e.l.lo Josef, it's nice to meet you. If we put an electronic system in, there'll be a number of failsafe backups in place for a variety of circ.u.mstances. In the case of a power outage, each unit will have a battery backup that'll last an hour or two. When the battery fails there'll be a master battery to pick up on equipment as their individual batteries run out. The idea is to give a minimum of sixteen hours of automatic backup in case the power goes out as you all go down for the day. If the power is still out when you arise, or if it's out before sunset and you aren't sure the batteries will last, then you'll have a generator on site. Diesel isn't dangerous to store, so we'll bury a tank in the yard. And, if worse comes to worst and it's a long term power outage, say, a couple of weeks, and you run out of diesel, we'll create the system so you can still use your old fashioned methods, as well."

Josef nodded. "Okay, I have more questions but we'll arrange a time to sit and talk once you have your proposal ready."

Eric turned to Abbott. "If you have nothing else for me, I'll be going."

"Of course, thank you for your time and I look forward to seeing your ideas."

Kendra closed her laptop, stood, and walked outside with him, wrapping her arm around his waist as they left the room. As they neared his car, she gave him a peck on the cheek and told him, "I'll follow you in my car, so I can drive home when you're ready to sleep."

When they arrived at the marina Kendra could feel him trying to put some distance between them - physical as well as emotional distance, and she wasn't sure where it was coming from. She asked about his time with Abbott, hoping to figure out the problem.

"I a.s.sume Abbott let you see how the mind link worked? So the two of you can talk without speaking?"

"Yes, he did. And when he bound me, it was different than what you did. More... businesslike, I guess, which is what you said, but it was just... different." He ran his hand through his hair. "Kendra, I don't... I don't want you to do anything else, magical... metaphysical... to me. I think I need some s.p.a.ce to figure out how I feel about all this. I'll follow through on my agreement with Abbott because if you and I eventually go ahead with a relationship, we'll need his protection. I have strong feelings for you, and I don't want to completely shut the door on that possibility, but," he sighed and shook his head, "I'm just not sure how I feel about... all of it. What you are, what you can do."

Kendra's heart fell to her stomach. "You need some s.p.a.ce as in you want me to go and you'll call me when you figure it out... or you need some s.p.a.ce as in you want us to keep seeing each other but just not go so fast until you figure it out?"

"It's only been in the last year that I decided I someday want to have kids. I want to teach them to rappel and hang glide and kayak. I want to watch my son play ball and my daughter dance. Or, if they're so inclined, my daughter play ball and my son dance. I don't care, I just want to watch them do whatever makes them happy, whatever makes them feel alive. If I go into a serious relationship with you, I'm giving that up. I'm also giving up any hopes of a normal relationship. You'd never see me in a hang gliding compet.i.tion as it happened. You'd never kayak down the Ocoee with me and my buddies from the raft companies. There's so much I want to share with someone, and I won't be able to share it with you."

She was not going to be emotional about this. She took a breath to settle her nerves so her voice would be steady, and said, "You didn't answer my question, Eric. Do you want me to walk out of your life until you figure it out, or do you want to keep seeing each other some and just not take things so fast?"

"I didn't answer your question because I don't know."

She fought to keep her voice steady, to not show any emotions. "Okay, then. Let me talk for a few minutes. Some of what you say is true and there's no way around it. But other parts, there may be a way around. First off, I can travel with you. Abbott has a private plane with a fully darkened bedroom, and I can travel anywhere in the world as long as I clear it with him ahead of time and it's available. So, while I may not be outside and watching during the actual compet.i.tion, I can be there that night. Most large cities have vampire houses I can stay in while I'm in the city. Abbott has good relations with most of the other territory masters, and I'm welcome to come into their territory as long as we do the proper polite vampire political stuff ahead of time."

"As far as kids are concerned," she continued, "I've raised two children since I became a vampire. One was cast out as a baby because of a deformity to her left hand - the fingers were webbed together. This was back in the dark ages, and her parents believed she was possessed by the devil or something. I took the baby back to our vampire lair and raised her as my daughter. I taught her to read and write and do math, and made sure she was well versed on the various governments of the world, with a lot of geography and language lessons. She eventually married what today would be known as a Duke, and the two of them took excellent care of the people under their reign, in spite of her hand. I was so proud of her."

Kendra took a breath and kept going. "And then, after that, in the days of Vikings and Crusades, a nearby village was quite literally raped and pillaged. Our vampire lair was a good ways outside of town, and when we awoke we could smell the smoke and death. We went to the village to investigate and I found a boy of about four or five, crying beside the body of his mother. I finally got him to talk, and he said his mother, father, grandparents, sister, and aunt had all been killed. There weren't many people left alive in the village, and no one was interested in taking the boy in. I was married at the time, to a vampire, and my husband and I raised him until he was an adult, and then we gave him the funds to set up shop and make a living. We taught him everything he would need to know to be a blacksmith, and we moved outside of a new town while he moved into the town and set up shop."

Kendra let that sink in, and when Eric didn't speak she kept going. "So, it is possible for a vampire to raise a child. My human companion made sure my children were safe during the day, though both of them generally stayed up the majority of the night and slept during the day. They were in the sunshine in the afternoon, which seemed to be enough for them to stay healthy. If you and I go forward with a long term relationship, I'd be very open to adoption. Or, if you wanted the child to have your DNA then we could arrange for a surrogate. But of course, none of this helps the fact I can't be present for any of your outdoor daytime activities. There's no way around that."

Eric finally responded with, "Why does this have to be so hard? I finally find someone I think I could spend my life with, and she isn't even f.u.c.king human, so spending my life with her doesn't mean growing old together, it means her watching me grow old and die." He paused. "You said you were married to a vampire? What happened? Did he get killed? Or do vampires divorce?"

"Vampire marriages aren't 'till death do us part'. When vampires marry, they do so for a set amount of years. All a.s.sets are listed when they marry, and when something is purchased during the marriage it's agreed at the time of purchase who'll get it when the marriage ends. Some marry for twenty years, some for fifty, and some contract for the maximum time allowed, one hundred years. When the marriage contract ends, a couple can either let it dissolve or they can form a new contract. This particular union lasted seventy years - we married for fifty years and then another twenty before we agreed we'd each grown and evolved in different directions, and were better off going our separate ways. I haven't seen him in a few centuries, but if I did, we'd see each other as friends from long ago and not much more at this point."

"So, even if I decided to be a vampire so you and I could be together forever, it's not likely we'd be together forever?"

"I'm not aware of a vampire marriage that's lasted longer than about five hundred or so years. And even that's rare. And Eric, it's way too soon for you to be thinking about losing your humanity. We might date for a year or two and decide it isn't going to work. I won't even consider turning you for two or three years, maybe longer." Kendra paused and then decided he needed more information about the human companion relationships. "If you want to have some kind of relationship with me but are afraid of throwing away your other options, we can formalize the human companion relationship Abbott spoke of the other night. This would mean you'd be free to date other people. The way the human companion relationship is set up, it forms a bond between vampire and human without creating a situation where all the long term issues between our species cause problems. I have one more thing to tell you and then I'll leave. I won't contact you - if you want to see me or talk to me, you'll need to call me. "

Kendra took another deep breath, as much to steady herself as for the air needed to speak. "In my long life, I've had a number of relationships with humans. Some lasted a few years and we went our separate ways as human and vampire. A handful of times, I've stayed with someone until he died, took care of him in his old age, and eventually buried him when his body gave out. And, of course, several times I have turned them and we had many decades together, sometimes centuries, before we grew apart and it was time to go our separate ways. It's unusual for a human man to be thinking this far ahead so soon into the relationship. It's like you aren't going to let it get started until you can see a way for it to happen, but love doesn't always work out that way, Eric. Sometimes you have to take the plunge and just see where you end up. There are a variety of ways a relationship could be fulfilling for both of us, but only if you decide it's something you want. I can't remember anyone ever making me feel this alive. I want to spend time with you, want to see where we can take this, but I'll respect whatever decision you come up with."

And then she left. Not the slow walk-out-the-door kind of leaving... but the super-fast thing vampires do so it looks like they disappear. If she had to kiss him and say goodbye, she'd cry, so she just went.

She was crying before she left the parking lot, but at least she'd kept it together in front of him.

She couldn't handle questions from her housemates right now, so she couldn't go home.

Abbott?

Yes, Kendra. What's wrong? Are you crying?

Yes, dammit. Stupid mortal men.

What happened?

He wants kids. Wants someone who can watch him in hang gliding compet.i.tions.

He broke up with you?

No. Yes. I don't know. He needs time to think. Can I stay at your house on the mountain tonight? I can't deal with questions from the coterie tonight.

Of course. And knowing you, you'd like something to keep you busy. I'm shorthanded at The Carnival if you'd like to stop in and get things running smoothly.

That'll be great. I'll run by there and handle things, and then see you on the mountain later tonight?

Would you like me to see if I can round up some male refreshment for you, straight from the source?

Don't go out of your way, but if it's convenient, yes, please.

Kendra pulled over, cleaned her face, and used her touch-up kit from her purse to fix her face. Thank goodness the whole b.l.o.o.d.y tears thing was a myth.

The Carnival was another of Abbott's night clubs, this one was set up with jugglers and girls overhead on trapeze bars. Well, not so much a trapeze, as a bar hanging from the ceiling, so when they flipped around on it, the bar moved back and forth a few feet. The girls and jugglers were only there on the weekends, though, so tonight there was only the virtual game section and the decor to give it the carnival look and feel. Kendra arrived to discover they were short one doorman and one bartender. The manager was capable of tending bar, but was trying to handle the door, which left the remaining bartenders in a bind.

Kendra sent the manager to bartend and set herself up at the door. The doorman also doubled as bouncer for the front of the club, but Kendra could handle anything that might come up. The place was packed, and she appreciated the chance to keep busy and not think of Eric, but watching a few of the couples come in made her miss him, which was ridiculous because they'd only just met. But, last night had been special, and she'd thought he'd handled the whole 'I'm a bloodsucking vampire' thing fairly well, considering.

She helped close, and finally drove up the mountain to Abbott's house. She phoned Gavin on the way to let him know she wasn't coming home tonight - she could've used telepathy, but the phone was considered more polite amongst people who weren't close friends. When he asked her where she was staying she changed the subject, and he thankfully didn't push for an answer. Not that it was any of his business, but they were friends even if they weren't close, so the question wasn't out of line.

Abbott's housekeeper let her in, and Kendra smiled at Carla, Abbott's hairstylist, as she stepped into his living room. Carla knew Abbott was a vampire, and had been bound as an employee so she couldn't tell the secret - she came to his home to cut his hair since he couldn't very well visit her during daylight hours. Abbott also occasionally drank from Carla, and the hairstylist thought it was pretty cool.

Carla sat beside a man Kendra didn't know. A quick sniff told her he was human, and smelled of Carla.

"Kendra," Abbott said as he rose to greet her, "you've met Carla, of course. I'd like you to meet her husband, Tom. They're newlyweds, and Carla asked me last week for permission to tell her husband about me, since she didn't want to keep secrets from him. He's here so she can tell him and I can bind him, which we've already done. Tom would like to be bitten, to see what Carla experiences, and I thought you might enjoy showing him."

No o.r.g.a.s.mic bite, please. Just a blissfully pleasant and non-s.e.xual experience.

You got it. And thanks. You're the best.

She looked at Tom and gave what most humans chose to see as a warm smile. "h.e.l.lo, Tom, it's nice to meet you. I can sense you're nervous, but there's no reason to be. I'll be gentle. You'll feel a microsecond of pain when I first bite, but then it'll turn into a pleasurable experience."

Kendra looked to Carla and asked, "Do you have a preference for where I bite him?"

"I think probably his neck?"

"Is that good with you, Tom?"

His hand went to his neck, covering where he imagined she'd bite. "I don't want to have to explain bite marks."

"They'll be completely healed before you leave, as there's a healing agent in our saliva. But, Tom, you don't seem too sure of this. Let's all have a drink, and sit and talk for a bit, and then see if you still want to be bitten."

"No, I'm sure." He let his hand go back to his lap. "I need to understand what Carla experiences. She says she wants to keep letting Abbott bite her when she does his hair."

"Okay, then. You haven't given blood recently to the Red Cross, have you?"

"Not in a few months."

"When you give blood, how tired are you afterwards? How long until you feel back up to speed again?"

"I'm okay as soon as I leave, it's never made me feel dizzy or weak or anything."

Kendra smiled. "Good, because I'm hungry. I won't take as much as the Red Cross, though. They take sixteen ounces, and I'll only take around twelve. I usually take six or eight at a time, but... since you can handle it, I've had a rough day, and twelve would make me feel much better."

He grinned back at her. "If you've had a rough day and it'll help, take sixteen if you want. I was thinking you'd take more than the Red Cross, not less."

"Okay, lean against the back of your chair and relax. I'll come around behind you."

Abbott didn't want Tom to grasp the intimacy of being bitten, and taking him from behind avoided most body contact, as well as eye contact.

Kendra drew his head to the right at an angle to expose the length of his neck. He was incredibly tense, so she ma.s.saged the muscles and talked him through a few deep breaths. As he relaxed, she moved her left hand down and across his chest to hold him in place, and finally let her teeth sink into his neck, injecting the numbing agent first and then the right combination to give him bliss without s.e.xual ecstasy. She gave his bloodstream a second to carry away what she'd injected, and then she drank. And drank. She monitored how much she took, and stopped at around twelve ounces, paying special attention to use her tongue to put saliva on the two marks before she pulled her mouth away. She relaxed her hold on his head, but otherwise stayed where she was until he raised his head on his own, and then she slowly moved her hand off his chest and backed away.

She walked behind the bar area in Abbott's great room, poured a gla.s.s of orange juice, set it on the table beside him, and then sat in a chair across from him while he figured out how he felt, and how to begin talking again. Most people didn't recover as quickly as Eric had the other night, but Eric had filled his life with new experiences and was used to dealing with large adrenaline dumps.

After a few moments Tom's eyes started to focus and he said, "Wow."

Carla laughed, sounding relieved. "Yes, wow is a good word for it. Drink your juice, Tom."

"No, not yet. I want to sit here with this feeling another couple of minutes."