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As Rand rode that climax to the throbbing ebb point, Cai shoved away his own raging need and took care of him, bringing him down slow. Licking, more gentle sucking, kneading his strong buttocks. He did one last hard suck to make Rand flinch before Cai pulled off him and gave his ass a burning smack. "Okay, don't slack off down there. Finish me."
He was pretty sure Rand figured out some kind of half shift to nip him with sharper canines than a human form should have. Cai let out a dark chuckle and responded with a sharp twist to his servant's balls that had those teeth easing and Rand's mouth going back to its proper job. Cai closed his eyes tight, mental fists clenched to hang onto the edge of that precipice. He wanted to savor the incredible sensations before blissful annihilation of all thought.
His movements might be getting more jerky and uncoordinated, but it didn't stop him from caressing Rand's cock, his fine ass, stroking his thighs.
Now. Now, now, now. Rand's thought was a violent demand, a desire. A wish.
Cai thrust up into his mouth and let go with a deep groan, pumping seed down his throat. He was fiercely gratified by the shifter's determined effort to take it all in, swallow him down.
When Rand eased up at last, sensing Cai's completion, Cai traced a finger through the faint smears of blood he'd left on his thighs when he'd nipped him. A vampire couldn't help but bite during love play. "Stay where you are," he said, low.
Rand stilled, and Cai angled his head so he could punch his fang into the femoral, his hand still covering Rand's cock and balls. Fuck, he missed that other fang.
But imagining the picture it made, his servant poised in stillness above him on all fours as he fed, enjoying the powerful pump of Rand's rich blood, took his mind off that. Cai gripped his servant's genitals like his hand was a manacle while he took his fill of both body and blood.
Yeah, his wolf would be staying at his side while he slept. For as long as he could have him, Cai wanted Rand right here with him.
Touching him, holding him, until the sun set and darkness came again.
Chapter Twenty-One
They slept together; woke together. Hands stroking, caressing. Rand's head was on Cai's chest, his big arm lying over Cai's hip. They didn't say a lot until the knock came on the door, a polite wake-up call from one of the house servants, along with a change of clothes.
The quiet didn't mean there was distance. They showered together. No sex, but a lot of touching. Cai did Rand's back; Rand did his. They talked of a couple things, idle, casual stuff. Rand brushed against him plenty as they got dressed. It was a wolf thing, that constant contact. Cai welcomed it regardless.
As they went up to the main floor, they headed for the dining room where the meet with Lyssa was going to happen. As well as some eating, because even Cai's less developed nose could detect some decent eats. About halfway down the corridor, they were joined by Jacob. The male was dressed in slacks and button-down shirt, a more formal attire than what they'd last seen him wearing. Now Cai knew why new clothing had been brought for him and Rand. Dinner was more formal at Council headquarters.
Rand looked hot as hell in fitted black slacks and matching trim black belt. The maroon dress shirt that had silk in the cotton outlined his powerful upper body. They'd given Cai a pair of gray slacks and black dress shirt like Rand's, with a matching gray suit coat. The fit was almost supernaturally good. Whoever had chosen the clothes had an excellent eye for sizes.
When he mentioned as much to Jacob, the servant grinned, his midnight blue eyes dancing. "Thanks. I handled the size guess. Our tailor is a closely guarded secret, for fear one of the other Council members will steal him away."
He gestured, presumably toward their destination. "The same Council members will be present at your meeting with my lady, with one addition. Lady Carola. Lady Lyssa felt that was a properly sized delegation to debrief you on what happened up in the mountains, and honor your efforts."
"I can't speak to the debriefing, but as far as honoring us, a gift certificate to a steak house for Rand and a free ride back to the mountains in that fancy limo would have worked for me. Oh, and these clothes. Can I keep these?"
Rand grimaced and Cai lifted a brow. "What? Like you weren't wondering the same thing."
Jacob's lips twitched, but his expression became serious as he came to a halt, raising a hand to have them pause with him.
"My lady doesn't expect you to be well-versed in protocol minutiae. But she's also not a fool. She understands the difference between acting ignorant and being ignorant, and the former is far more likely to spike her temper. She has a regard for you. She won't compel anything from you that you're not willing to give. Your actions have earned that consideration. But in return, I advise respect."
The look in Jacob's blue eyes shifted, and Cai saw the family resemblance between him and Gideon even more prominently. Particularly if he recalled when Gideon was backing up Daegan in Goddard's camp, ready to take on anyone who posed a threat or slipped under the vampire's guard. Yeah, some more details of that literal fire fight were coming back to him. Wolves, fighting ferociously alongside vampire and servant, all of them kicking ass.
"Which means," Jacob said in the same steady, even tone, "if you decide to call her what you did on your first meeting, I'll do my best to stake you myself."
After that ballsy statement, he stepped back and looked toward Rand. "Your Master can proceed to the ballroom," Jacob said politely. "But if you'll hang back a moment, I'll give you some tips on servant etiquette in the dining area that may help things go more smoothly." He cut a glance to Cai when the vampire started to object. "And more swiftly."
That made Cai hold his tongue. Yeah, getting out of this circus sooner than later was a priority. Nice digs, though. The carpet on the floor felt as deep and soft as a snow drift.
He wondered what "protocols" a servant would observe, and whether he needed to hang back to inform this high-handed ass that Rand wasn't part of that world and could do whatever he wanted, even not show up if he preferred to go roll around in the garden. But Rand sent him a reassuring thought.
Jacob's just protective of his Mistress. And I don't mind being in there with you.
You just want a chance at some of that meat they're cooking.
I'd likely get better scraps in the kitchen.
Especially if he flashed that charming smile at the kitchen staff. Tease. With a snort, Cai left the two and headed for the dining room.
At the open double doors, he got a glimpse of a roomful of vampires, their combined age and power resulting in a sudden and entirely unexpected wave of dizziness. He stepped back. What the hell...
It was like a ball of anxiety suddenly appeared in his stomach and shot up into his chest. Along with the vivid reminder that every time he was around a group of vampires much older and stronger than him, he got the shit beat out of him. Or, in the case of the Trads, enslaved for a century. The longing for the forest was so immediate and strong, he had to fight the urge to bolt for it like Rand.
He was so not having some weird delayed PTSD thing. He was two hundred fucking years old. A totally stompable age, by everyone in that far too small room, even if it was the size of a ballroom.
At Greenwald's, at least things had been diffused by the mission, Lord Georg's Ennui, and everyone's agitation at Dovia's kidnapping. Now the power of the gathered vampires spread out to every corner, filled it up. It would surround anyone who entered like a heated cloak. Smothering. He stood at the threshold, holding an indifferent mask in place, while things in his stomach flipflopped and he couldn't make his feet move.
This is different, fuck it all. You know it is. You're a vampire. You don't do flashback bullshit trigger stuff. You're decades past all that. Never mind that he'd just been in the thick of it with a very live and real part of that past only a couple days ago. Who was now dead as a fucking...darn doornail.
Rand stepped to his side and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You're trying," he said, a pleased note in his voice.
Fuck off.
That just seemed to make the shifter smile more, but there was a serious look in his eyes, and the grip of his hand increased. He didn't think something reassuring that would have made Cai feel more like an idiot. Instead, Rand let Cai see him thinking about where they were only an hour ago. Coming awake together, limbs tangled, the room so quiet. Everything so quiet, just breathing together.
Yeah. That worked. Okay. Though he kept his gaze high level, not focusing on any particular thing, Cai was able to test his reaction by looking into the room. No squeezing tightness in his chest. He was all right. Cai moved his gaze back to Rand's, held there and gave him a nod.
Rand dropped the hand and adjusted so he was at Cai's shoulder, one measured step back. It goes easier if you follow the protocols. Don't be a smartass about it, his wolf advised.
He was about to ask Rand what the deal was about the change in position, but then Cai took closer note of the arrangement of vampires and servants in the room.
