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Yes, it could work, if it was all about her. But it wasn't. Being a Master was so much his nature, it didn't matter what he told her, she was not going to be talked into signing him up for three hundred years of doing exactly what she'd been doing, pretending to the world. Especially in the brutal vampire world, which made her current locale look like the "you-must-be-under-48-inches-to-ride-these" kiddie area at Disneyland. She couldn't ask him to do that.
He'd realized she'd shut him out and was giving her that Master look that reminded her that was one of his non-negotiable points. Open your fucking mind. She didn't have to read it from his mind to read it from his face.
He must have read something from hers, however, because he straightened from the pillar, concern creasing his brow as he half turned toward her. She shook herself out of it.
Turn all the way toward me.
He stayed still, didn't twitch. It took her a beat to realize she hadn't said it aloud. Out of the two of them, he was the one keeping his wits about him for this hazardous game of Simon Says. That proved it. She couldn't even keep her mind straight about him in a human environment. What if she let it slip in the vampire world who was the true Master and who was the slave? They'd tear him to pieces.
Kaela, we deal with this first. His mind voice was even, firm, as if they had all the time in the world, as if she wasn't on the edge of losing it. You can do whatever you need to do. I've got you.
"Turn toward me," she said quietly. Probably too quiet for any human to hear and definitely too soft for him, but the third mark, temporary though it was, had also helped his hearing. Plus he was looking at her face. He complied and faced her, an exceptionally intimidating-looking male thanks to his size and scarring. As well as that jutting cock, still hard and unsatisfied, a different, delicious form of intimidation, because he'd made it clear he was waiting to take her, would fuck her senseless when this was over. He'd said he'd remind her who he was, but she didn't need to be reminded he was her Master. Every vibrating, yearning cell of her body, heart and soul knew.
His gaze flickered, his jaw flexing. She felt the flood of emotion from his mind, nothing in words, but nothing needed. She'd just stepped into a boat, and he was the water that surrounded it, bearing her aloft, pulling her into the center of his being so she could do this.
She tested the whip a few times, loosening up her wrist. Then she positioned herself, focused on her canvas. She flicked the whip toward him, worked her way forward until the end was snaking out to tease his chest, his lower abdomen, his upper thigh. Then she cracked it, the popper snapping inches from his flesh with that startling gunshot noise.
It was deceptive, using a whip. When pain was involved, the whip appeared to tease and caress, just whispers of noise. A crack usually meant nothing had been touched. He knew that, but it was instinct to flinch.
He didn't.
He trusted her. She stepped into the role she knew, giving out quite a few of those caresses, until his flesh showed the crisscrossing of faint red lines, and he was twitching with it. She'd worried about irritating his scars, but he let her know they weren't a problem.
Do your worst, my lady. I'm all yours.
His gaze never left hers, and his erection never flagged. It seemed with every strike, every flex of his muscles, the rock set of his jaw, she was getting more aroused. Her nipples were tight, her pussy wet, her body aching for his touch.
When she couldn't bear it any longer, she caught the fall, coiled the whip and set it aside. Moving in, she pressed her body against his, wanting to put herself against all those red marks she'd caused. She wanted to kiss every one of them, finish on her knees, take him in her mouth, bring him to climax. Lifting her face, she kissed him, clasping the side of his throat with one hand to delve deep. He made a growl against her mouth and she answered it, pricking him with her fangs.
Tell me to keep my hands down, my lady.
I don't want to. But she said it aloud, as he started to raise them. "Hands down."
He put them down but clenched his fists, conveying a note of impatience, a promise of retribution for ordering him around, even though he was the one who commanded the order. The dichotomy of it made her dizzy. She was happy to be punished for obeying him, for not obeying him, for the pleasure of serving his pleasure, his desire to inflict pain and drive her to screaming climax with it.
You are a temptation like no other, my lady. Ease back, now. That's enough.
A vampire wouldn't prolong the intimacy of a kiss, but there was something reckless and dangerous brewing inside her, a macabre ebullience that wanted to test the boundaries of her life, tell all of them to go fuck themselves and immerse herself in him.
You'll behave, my lady. There will be time for you to act out later. When I can deal with it in full measure.
She met his gaze with a glinting one of her own, and he almost gave her a savage grin, anticipating it. God, she needed him. Needed him forever.
But she couldn't have him. The pain of that came back like the thrust of a stake. His eyes darkened, his mouth tightened, but she stepped back, averting her gaze and facing Lord Richard, who stood with his hand out.
"You did promise me, my lady."
"I don't recall a promise, Lord Richard. I remember an assumption on your part."
Tara's attention snapped to her. Liam and Seanna did the same before quickly looking down, the typical reaction of most servants when vampires squared off. Duck and cover.
Dealing with servants touching her Master, binding him, was one thing. Difficult enough. But a vampire handling him, inflicting pain on him, was an entirely different matter. Faced with the reality, a wall came down inside her. Not just no, but hell, fucking, over-my-dead-body no. She'd seen vampires do things to servants that surpassed the tortures of the damned. But hey, it was okay, because with a little blood from the Master or Mistress, the servant would be fine, hunky dory. Maybe some pesky mental scarring, but that was on the inside, so everything outside stayed pretty. Had to keep priorities straight, after all.
Garron had been through hell physically, emotionally. Whether or not he accepted it, she was as responsible for protecting him as he was for protecting her. Thanks to her most recent disagreement with Fran, that dear beloved woman who was the closest thing Kaela had to a real friend, she knew those two things weren't in conflict. Hadn't Fran stepped over the line of her stringent InhServ training because of her concern about her Mistress going somewhere she couldn't watch after her?
Kaela. Give him the whip. Remember, according to club rules here, I can call a halt to it if I desire, no reflection on you.
She knew enough about men and their testosterone surges to know how likely that would be. She would have rolled her eyes at him if she wasn't in the process of holding a staring contest with Lord Richard.
"My lady?" He had a brow raised, his eyes glittering but his expression suggesting he was giving her the chance to correct the impression she'd just given, that she was refusing him.
Kaela, I mean it. There's no risk in this for me. You're endangering yourself needlessly, which will piss me off more than anything else you could possibly do. Give him the fucking whip.
He was telling her what to do and expecting her to obey. But stepping out of the path between Richard and Garron... a mental quiver went through her. It was the same shiver of nerves she usually cast in iron in the blink before she decided whether or not the vampire in front of her needed to be taken down.
You're a vampire overlord. You control every situation. That's what you do every day of your life. This is when you decide how much you trust me or if you've just been playing sub the past few days. Honor your Master.
The arctic coldness of those three words shot up her spine. She glanced over her shoulder. His face had gone impassive, entirely unreadable. She felt like snarling in frustration, but an icy calm stole over her, numbing everything.
"My apologies, my lord." She channeled every facade she'd ever pasted on her face to fool a Union general or a vampire. The result was a beatific smile, laced with a good deal of unbridled lust. For the first time with respect to Garron it was a feigned reaction, because there was nothing arousing to her about this. "My servant is quite worked up, and I intend to make good use of that impressive hard on." She handed over the whip. "If you deflate it, I'll be annoyed. I'd appreciate your consideration of that."
"I haven't seen your passionate side before, my lady. Usually you're so in control." Richard's expression eased. "I'll try to resist my baser urges, but I also know you're quite capable of returning a man to full attention with no more than a smile."
Tara rolled her eyes. "Charmer," she said, nudging Kaela when she came to stand beside her. Kaela responded with a faint smile, but everything else in her was concentrated on Garron.
When he met Richard's gaze, Richard gave her Master a humorless smile. "Definitely not used to playing the submissive, are you, boy? If you lower your eyes, I might have mercy."
Garron didn't lower his gaze.
