Fine. She pushed back the flush of desire. The heat in front of and behind her could wrap her up in a pa.s.sionate storm that would take her beyond the genuinely horrible nature of what she was doing. She pushed back the flush of desire. The heat in front of and behind her could wrap her up in a pa.s.sionate storm that would take her beyond the genuinely horrible nature of what she was doing.

Daegan moved past her, his fingertips grazing her a.s.s, a promise, and then he circled in front of Gideon.

"He's going to open your trousers, Gideon. That's all."

"He is your servant, cher cher. You owe him no explanations. He simply obeys."

Daegan was in front of Gideon, and the two males' gazes had met. She didn't know what thoughts might exist in Daegan's mind, and at the moment, she didn't trust herself to be in Gideon's, so she let whatever unspoken communication had just pa.s.sed between them stay between them.

Daegan's deft fingers slid across Gideon's waist, to his hip, where the nearly invisible zipper rested between the overlapping seams. Daegan worked it down about six inches, did the same to the matching fastener on the other side, and the pants loosened, dropping to the rise of the a.s.s, revealing that pleasurable curve of lower back. Daegan's fingers trailed across his flesh, gripping the hips briefly before withdrawing.

Gideon stayed in place, quivering, giving her a beautiful display of bare male muscle from nape to b.u.t.tock. Stepping forward now, she pushed two links of the chain running from his wrists into the clip at the back of the collar so his hands were forced to stay at his neck. He hadn't antic.i.p.ated that, but she ignored his reaction and stepped back, measuring out the proper range for the short whip's strike. Daegan returned to her.

"When you're done, we can use one of my knives to drain your blood over his wounds. It will burn, but if you've done your job, it will burn in a way that will keep him hard."

Anwyn nodded. Gideon stood there, that faint tremble still happening, a reaction she recognized, because all the muscles in her lower abdomen drew tight. This meant so much to her; how could she let the Council use it? Make it into something so . . . despicable.

It's still willing submission. Gideon's voice in her head, stroking her nerves. Gideon's voice in her head, stroking her nerves. We aren't letting them take that away from us. We aren't letting them take that away from us.

"Losing courage, honey?" He changed tactics, the taunt in his voice obvious. "Maybe Daegan should do it, since he's not a girl."

Whzzt pop. She was well practiced with most types of whips. The strike slapped his shoulder where and as hard as she intended, the metal pieces leaving a tiny pattern of bites. Typically she built up a tolerance for pain with lighter strikes leading to heavier ones, but in this case, she went for first blood. Gideon drew in a breath, swearing through it. But she clearly felt the afterburn, the slow fire leaping to full flame in his groin. She was well practiced with most types of whips. The strike slapped his shoulder where and as hard as she intended, the metal pieces leaving a tiny pattern of bites. Typically she built up a tolerance for pain with lighter strikes leading to heavier ones, but in this case, she went for first blood. Gideon drew in a breath, swearing through it. But she clearly felt the afterburn, the slow fire leaping to full flame in his groin.

"That's Mistress to you, Gideon. You don't call me 'honey,' 'baby,' 'sweetheart' or anything else without my permission. Ever. And you better clamp down on that swearing tongue of yours, or I'll gag you with a bar of soap and a strap."

It took hold of her, the Mistress she was and the vampire she'd become, that sense of absolute control, of connection to the male who was her servant, following the intuition she'd always had. She'd lost confidence in it these past couple of weeks, but now she wondered why. She didn't need to ask him what he needed. She already knew it, with or without the mind reading.

She gave him some of the lighter stripes now, building sensation as she interspersed the harder strikes, this one crossing over the first, and crossing over the older ones, despite the hitch in her heart.

The scars will belong to you, like the rest of me.

d.a.m.n right. His muscles knotted, bunched, pure, raw male beauty, withstanding the pain with courage and savagery both. Two more stripes and his mind was in turmoil, caught between pain and the expected unreasoning anger, rising to the top along with that glorious mix of mindless l.u.s.t that would sweep it all away.

When she reached eight b.l.o.o.d.y stripes, and got a nod from Daegan that it was enough, she sauntered around in front of him. Any trepidation she'd had disappeared at the rampaging size of her slave's c.o.c.k. She might like administering pain, but, for her at least, he liked taking it.

Daegan had taken a seat on the settee, within Gideon's peripheral vision, and she saw the vampire had an aesthetic appreciation for it as well, though his gaze was stroking over her formfitting bodysuit, his desire obviously growing, the heat of it filling the room.

"Anwyn-" Gideon's voice was hoa.r.s.e.

"Mistress," she corrected. "You f.u.c.k it up once more, I will truly gag you. You'll wear it for the rest of the night. Eyes down."

Even though she desperately loved the look in those sparking blue eyes, the confusion and rage, the l.u.s.t and yearning need, she knew his concentration needed to be internal.

Sliding up against him, she threaded her arms behind him, pushed his loosened pants down farther, revealing his a.s.s for Daegan's pleasure as well as her own. Using her thighs, she smeared the pre-come gathered at the slit of his c.o.c.k over the broad head, and heard Gideon's breath catch, his broad chest rising and falling with the provocation and the throbbing strikes on his back. "I'm going to mark your a.s.s the same way. Then I'll put blood on those stripes, so you'll always remember your Mistress's touch with a whip, her way of getting you to pay attention."

Gideon bent, mouth darting down to catch hers, an insolent lash of his tongue over her teeth. He caught one of her fangs, giving her another taste of his blood. She pushed him back, hard enough he fell. With his arms bound against his neck, he might have fallen, but she'd counted on Daegan's speed.

He caught the male, lowered him to the floor, flipping him over on his stomach at her mental direction. Gideon grunted as the position mashed his engorged c.o.c.k between the carpet and his belly. Before he could start struggling, Anwyn took the whip to his a.s.s, enjoying the flex and shudder. It created a stimulating friction that had him dry-humping the floor despite himself. Daegan stayed crouched over him, his hand on the back of Gideon's neck, fingers curving over his clasped hands.

Anwyn took a seat on Gideon's thighs then, and offered her wrist to Daegan. With a nod, he drew his blade, cut her skin, and then held her forearm in his grip, turning it to drip along the first of the cuts. When Gideon made a strangled noise, she smelled the burning of the acid reaction. Her arm tensed.

Keep going, cher cher. It is what the Council wants to see. But more important, I think it is what you both both want. want.

Daegan was as aroused as the two of them were. The Council couldn't touch this, she realized. They couldn't force what wasn't already there.

She marked the other stripes, then did the same to those on his a.s.s. Gideon's upper body was sweaty with the pain, but she knew from his open mind that the greatest sense of discomfort was the hard bar of iron trapped beneath him. She leaned down, blew on the cuts like a gentle mother, but then licked the areas of unmarked skin between them. Turning her body around, she moved back until her knees were braced high on his shoulders, enjoying her lithe flexibility, and put her hand between his thighs. Pushing them as far apart as his pants around his knees would allow, she licked his t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, catching the sac in her teeth, tugging lightly, before she moved her mouth elsewhere.

Gideon gave a strangled cry as she parted his b.u.t.tocks and teased his rim with her mouth, playing with the nerve-rich entry point. When she sent a thought to Daegan, the vampire reached into the overnight bag she'd left in a chair outside of Gideon's line of vision and gave her the other things she wanted. She manipulated her tongue in that sensitive area, making him buck and groan, a moment before she eased a tube inside, letting a flow of lubricant go down into that channel.

"No," Gideon said emphatically.

"Gag him," she said softly, and Daegan complied, taking a d.i.l.d.o from the bag shaped like a short, thick phallus. She expected the vampire would take visceral pleasure in forcing the c.o.c.klike object into Gideon's mouth, stretching it and pushing the hard rubber to the back so it would tickle his throat, making him feel even more vulnerable.

She would get Gideon to let go, make him think of nothing tonight but pleasing her, whatever she commanded of him. She couldn't get trapped in sentiment about his past life. This was their "now," and he belonged to her.

Gideon tried to bite Daegan, cursed him fluently, but Daegan deftly caught his thumb in the corner of his mouth and shoved the d.i.l.d.o in, strapping it around his head to hold it fast. Then Anwyn took the well-lubricated phallus, one that was twice the size of what she'd put into him before, and slowly began to ease it in. It was smaller than Daegan, so she knew he could take it. Slow, ease, ease, ease, and she teased his b.a.l.l.s with her fingertips, stroked the base of his c.o.c.k, felt him tremble. A strangled, frantic curse against the gag, a sudden jerk, and she knew he hadn't been able to hold back his climax. She used his mindless bucking to seat the d.i.l.d.o all the way in. Impossibly, it made her want him more, the unconscious way he pushed back, encouraging her to f.u.c.k him vigorously even as she seated it. Daegan's eyes were fastened on the movement of the phallus, the heaving of Gideon's flanks, telling her he wanted to be where that d.i.l.d.o was now. Not surprising to her, Gideon was imagining the same thing, hard as he was trying to banish that thought from his mind.

"There. Shhh . . ." As he came down, panting, his breath rasping around the gag, she soothed, running a hand down his tense back. "This is the way it needs to be, Gideon." Whatever happens tonight, I'll have been there first. What they do won't mean anything. It can't touch you. You're mine. Whatever happens tonight, I'll have been there first. What they do won't mean anything. It can't touch you. You're mine.

But they'd strip his pride, his dignity. It didn't matter how she changed his perspective with the tool of l.u.s.t; she knew the truth, and it made her deeply, terribly angry. They would rape him, violate him, punish him for having been arrogant enough to believe he could hunt vampires. For succeeding at it. She closed her hand into a fist on the small of his back. He would take it, because he loved her. And maybe because he didn't think he deserved any better, because he was still punishing himself for never being enough, for being a failure when all he'd ever done was fight and protect the innocent and those he loved.

She found the idea intolerable. "Gideon, I want you to listen to me." Changing tactics, she squatted at his head, yanked his chin so he was forced to look into her face, despite the humiliation of the gag stretching his mouth. His eyes were so tortured and angry, his climax still gripping him. It only fueled the fierceness of her voice. "If Laura were here today, and if she had the heart you say she did, she would tell you that you did your very, very best. Anything any woman could ever ask of the man who loved her. She would be so angry at you for holding on to this guilt, denying yourself love, life . . . value."

His gaze steadied at her fervent conviction, and she was aware of Daegan's regard as well.

"You fight me when I do things like this to you, because you hate the fact that you let go when I push you hard enough. I push you into a place where it's not about anything but pleasing me, getting lost in the pleasure of being mine. You think you have to fight because it's your nature. And it is." She allowed herself a soft smile, running her fingers through his hair. "But this isn't about that kind of fighting. You don't want me to think I can push you around all the time, and I know that. But your overwhelming desire to give yourself to a Mistress, that's in your heart. I feel it."

He shook his head, but before she thought she'd failed, his voice came into her head. Not to a Mistress . . . Plenty of clubs, plenty of places. Only to you. Only serve you. Not to a Mistress . . . Plenty of clubs, plenty of places. Only to you. Only serve you.

His expression was filled with old pain and new, but a yearning so strong, she couldn't help but respond to it. She slid the gag free but bade him remain silent with fingers to his lips. Bending down, she pressed her mouth to his left eye, held there, conveying all the tenderness she had for him. Daegan touched her hair and in her peripheral vision she saw him grip Gideon's shoulder. He was moved as well, telling her Daegan was in her mind, hearing Gideon's words to her.

"Then do this for me," she whispered. "I've put marks on you with my own hands." Her fingers slid across one of the welts, and he shivered at the pain. "You bear my third mark." Now she pa.s.sed under his shoulder, finding the deep crimson scar high on his pectoral. "Tonight, I want you to do what a submissive does. Release everything, know that everything you do is for my pleasure and your own. Only you and I exist in that room. The Council is no more significant than this whip, that gag, or the lovely cross we have in our playroom at home. They're props, Gideon. They're not what's real, and I want you to remember you have every right to be proud and strong and defiant. Because you belong to me. And because every d.a.m.n one of those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds knows you can take down a vampire."

Unfortunately that's why his life is in danger. A quiet reminder from Daegan. She lifted her gaze, let them both hear her savage retort. A quiet reminder from Daegan. She lifted her gaze, let them both hear her savage retort.

And it's what burns their a.s.ses to the bone, knowing he could do it to any one of them. f.u.c.k them all.

Gideon closed his eyes then, nodded his head once, his shoulders releasing tension as if he'd let go of a burden. Whether or not she could keep him from picking it up again would depend a lot on what happened tonight and going forward, but Anwyn realized she'd just released a burden of her own. Barnabus had turned her into a vampire, but she'd always been in control of her destiny. For the first time she accepted and believed that all that had changed was she was now a vampire vampire Mistress. All Henry Barnabus had done was give rocket fuel to the skills she already possessed in full measure. Mistress. All Henry Barnabus had done was give rocket fuel to the skills she already possessed in full measure.

Maybe she'd always have the voices, the occasional nightmare, or carry deep-seated fears from what had happened to her in that alley, but tonight was a reminder that she'd sworn never to let fear run her life. She'd made that oath long before that alley. Back in childhood, a memory she'd partially shared with Gideon during the early days of her transition. Closing her eyes, she willed the thought away. Tonight was not about that either.

What was important was now. When the nightmares came, Gideon would be there. He was hers.

She looked up again, met Daegan's eyes. Reaching out a hand, he touched her cheek. I as well, I as well, cher cher. We will both keep your nightmares away.

14.

SHE'D taken great pleasure in cleaning Gideon up and tucking him into his trousers. She'd strapped a codpiece over the sleek latex sh.e.l.l, a handsome silver accessory with linked chains on the hips that matched the collar and wrist chains. It gave the outfit a medieval look with the polished calf boots she'd put with it. She left the d.i.l.d.o in his a.s.s, so that when she and Daegan helped him up, he was moving stiffly. His c.o.c.k had been impressively semierect before she cupped the codpiece over it, gaining another spark of fire from those blue eyes at her teasing fingers.

Once she was done with that, she used a linen handkerchief to clean the saliva around his mouth from the gag. His hands were still tethered behind his head, and she ran her hands over his biceps, down his chest, enjoying all of him while he watched her, saying nothing but simply feeling.

Moving in, she slid her arms around him, traced the firm meat of his b.u.t.tocks, and then smiled as Daegan slid an arm around her waist from behind, pressing his body to hers, so he and Gideon had her sandwiched between them. Daegan was also impressively large, and she toyed with the idea of asking him to f.u.c.k her while she held on to Gideon, making him her anchor point, making him suffer, imagining how long he would have to wait for her willing p.u.s.s.y.

No time, regretfully. The knock on the door came, the servant's call to dinner. Gideon's gaze dropped, however, as Daegan's hands molded over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, flicking her nipples so even through the corset they beaded up, hard. When she arched her neck, Daegan gave her a quick bite, scoring the skin but not breaking through.

"Let's go," he said. "You might want to give him back the use of his arms, cher cher."

When she did, releasing the tether, Gideon brought his arms down around her, over top of Daegan's, so they had her in a pair of interlocking rings. "Don't take any unnecessary risks tonight," her servant said, giving her a hard, searching look. "I'm glad you're in a kick-a.s.s mood, but be careful. Mistress."

It sent a thrill through her, because he said it with full knowledge that she'd made calling her that a requirement. He could have ignored it, now that the moment had pa.s.sed, but he hadn't. He'd embraced it for himself as well as for her.

"You're both being far too serious." She tilted her head to see Daegan giving her the same protective frown. "This is like Sat.u.r.day night in Atlantis, corralling CEs and high-powered lawyers, making them beg for their mommies."

Ducking beneath their hold, she went toward the door as the servant knocked again, looking for acknowledgment. "Are you two coming with me, or am I going to have to entertain the Council by myself ?"

She opened the door, met Vincent's eyes, and then it hit her.

No warning, full force, as if those shadow creatures had been planning an ambush all evening. It drove her to her knees. The nausea clamped her stomach in a painful vise. Before she could stop herself, she'd expelled what looked like a gallon of blood, splattering the servant's immaculate trouser legs.

Her mind was seized, pulled away, kicking and screaming. Barnabus's insanity took the forefront, contorting her mouth with his dire rants. She wished she couldn't hear them in her mind, a stark echo of how the words tore from her throat in harsh screams. Another demon. Bathe it in blood. Then we can always find it. Death and dying, that's our way. Another demon. Bathe it in blood. Then we can always find it. Death and dying, that's our way.

G.o.d, like a singsong nursery rhyme. Stupid, pointless gibberish. She was on the floor, a broken chair beside her where it had toppled when she grabbed it. But that was just a vague impression, because the room was swallowed by darkness. She was in her mind, surrounded by those shadow creatures. They'd never been like this. So much larger, a physical presence grabbing her limbs, her throat, their heated breath in her face. Fangs dripping, fingers clutching, like the alley. She screamed for help, no shame.

Daegan, Gideon. They'd promised to protect her. Where were they? They'd promised to protect her. Where were they?

Was it possible for her to conjure them so they landed fully formed onto her brainpan? Gideon was suddenly there, shoving through the dark, fearsome bodies, scooping her up. She heard Daegan's snarl, even more frightening than all those creatures combined. But another one grabbed her away from Gideon, filthy hands and fetid breath. It was going to tumble her into an abyss from which there would be no return. She could see it, a hole in her mind so deep and dark it would be a living death. It was where Henry Barnabus had cowered in his childhood closet, his own personal h.e.l.l.

"Gideon," she cried.

He spun, wrapping his arms around her waist, heedless of the demons beating on his shoulders and back. He refused to let her go, even to defend himself. Instead, he tried to cover her with as much of his body as he could.

"Daegan," he bellowed.

What came out of the darkness toward them was what she imagined the Grim Reaper must look like. His eyes flashed bloodred as he loosed something silver and wicked from his hand, a blade that sliced through the air toward the creature still trying to drag her from Gideon's grip. The blade severed the creature's throat, inches from her face. It fell away, tumbling into that darkness, but she was falling, too. She'd been too close to the edge.

Gideon was holding her, though, and he didn't let go. As they fell together, his whisper was in her mind, his body sure and unafraid under her frightened grasp.

You'll never be alone. I won't leave you alone. Not now, not ever. And wherever we fall, Daegan will find us.

f.u.c.king A, it was a good thing Anwyn had encouraged them to play computer games on the plane, because the idea had sparked to the forefront of Gideon's mind when she went down. The darkness rose up in her mind in a way it never had before, like an invading army, and he'd reacted on instinct. Plunging into her mind, fighting those shadows as if they were flesh-and-blood enemies, had been a split-second decision, as abrupt as her seizure, and motivated solely by his gut. Thank the indifferent G.o.ds, it had taken Daegan less than a second to catch on and join him.

Now, moments later, he emerged from the astounding experience of putting his mind fully into hers. He'd seen those shadow creatures up close and personal. Freakishly, they'd seen seen him, recognized him as an enemy. Unfortunately, Gideon had no time to marvel at it. him, recognized him as an enemy. Unfortunately, Gideon had no time to marvel at it.

Daegan turned her over to him, now that it was down to shakes and quivers rather than hard convulsions. As reluctantly impressed as Gideon was by many of the vampire's skills, his ability in this moment to appear unperturbed bordered on loaves-and-fishes miraculous. Gideon was still dumbfounded by the fact there wasn't a mark on either of them, though he'd felt the fists and teeth of those shadow creatures as if he'd been under attack by wolves.

Daegan turned his attention to the fl.u.s.tered servant, who'd been firing questions throughout as to what he could do. Of course, all he'd seen was the two of them on the floor with her, Daegan containing her stronger movements, Gideon with both hands on her head, trying to hold that connection. The servant didn't realize they'd been off playing World of Warcraft in her brain.

"She's fine. Just part of her transition. Before long, she'll be good as new." Daegan kept his expression aloof, that f.u.c.k-off-I'm-a-vampire-and-you're-a-lowly-human frosty politeness. "Please tell the Council we'll be there in a half hour. I apologize for the delay."

"Very good, my lord. Are you . . . are you sure I can't get anything for you?"

"No. Her servant will take care of cleaning up."

Gideon didn't mind being treated like a janitor. Neither of them wanted to give anyone an excuse to pry around their rooms.

"f.u.c.k, we had no warning of that one at all," Gideon hissed as the door closed behind the servant.

"Yes, we did. I was careless," Daegan said grimly. "We both were. She's just too d.a.m.n good at internalizing stress. I should have known from how she was acting on the plane, like she was going to a f.u.c.king c.o.c.ktail party. I should have warned you to stay at a deeper level of her mind. Those d.a.m.ned things in her brain knew. The very absence of them was a warning to us."

He was right. He'd thought it himself on the plane. It made Gideon just as p.i.s.sed off for overlooking what now seemed obvious. But, like Daegan, he knew there was no time for guilt. "I think she threw up her last three meals. Is she going to need more blood?"

"It works differently for vampires. She absorbed the nutrients, which is what she needed. She'll be a little weak, but she should be all right. We'll get her cleaned up." He glanced at Gideon's pants. "At least you were wearing latex. Easy enough to wipe clean."

"Yeah, I'm Teflon." A muscle in his jaw twitched, but Daegan laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You did well, Gideon."

They both regarded the woman in his arms. "I've never seen or felt anything like that," Gideon murmured. "Does that . . . Is it getting worse, or is it like the darkest-before-the-dawn s.h.i.t?"

"Do you want an opinion from the floor?"

Anwyn spoke the question in a hoa.r.s.e voice. As she raised her lashes, they were wet from tears, the stress of her vomiting. Daegan stroked the moisture from the corners of her eyes as Gideon held her upper body. "You'll be fine. Nothing has changed from a moment ago."

"Putting me down is no longer an option," she said, as if he hadn't spoken. "Gideon's life is dependent on mine. You'll have to treat me like Barnabus, lock me away in a cage-"

"Anwyn." Gideon tightened his arms around her, drew her gaze. "You never need to worry about that. It's not going to happen, but if you couldn't get better, we'd go together. It would be that simple. I wouldn't let you suffer just so I could live."

"I thought I'd made this very clear." Daegan's hands were gentle on her face, but the expression he gave them both was implacable. "No one is dying; no one is being executed; no one is going to sacrifice themselves in an act of pointless n.o.bility. We are going to get through this. It is going to be difficult and terrible at times, but we are going to do it. As soon as the two of you can accept it and stop having these morbid fantasies, the better. Gideon, get her cleaned up, and yourself as well. I'm going to go change my shirt. We leave this room in twenty minutes."

Rising, he strode into the next bedroom. Gideon lifted a brow. "You'd think he was the one with something stuck up his a.s.s. Which, by the way, means I should get extra credit for what I just did. I could feel that thing the whole time."

Anwyn tried for a smile, but instead laid her hand on Gideon's face. "That was amazing, what you both did. How did you know that would even work?"

"The usual. Good old intuition and dumb luck." He lifted his shoulder. "When I'm not tracking vampires, I have to do something. Arcades are great places for anonymity, and practicing hand-to-eye coordination. Your quip about computer games helped me remember it faster." He stroked her hair from her face. "You need to stop holding it in, Mistress. Don't internalize the stress. Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds feed on it like candy."

Anwyn shook her head. It was the only way she could do it. She wouldn't accept that control was an illusion. Perhaps they'd wrest it periodically from her hands, but she wouldn't hand it over to them without a fight. She drew in a deep breath. Though it felt beyond the realm of possibility at this moment, she knew they were right. She couldn't let this shake her confidence. Not tonight. She had to reclaim the feeling she'd had before she opened the door. Daegan was right to be irritable with her.

Gideon grunted. "You know, for a smart lady, you've still got a blind eye when it comes to him."

"What do you mean?" As she struggled to her feet, Gideon helping her, she tried not to look at that puddle of blood she'd left soaking the stone floor and what was likely a very expensive Persian rug. "I'm sorry."