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He couldn't believe how hard it was to push the next words out, but he did it. They were for Rand alone. "Probably the best thing. You know my mouth is going to get me killed, and you don't want to die because I'm an incurable smartass."
Rand's blue and gold eyes were fixed on his with an intent look. When the wolf spoke in his head, the words lodged in Cai's chest, like a thrown spear.
Gotta die of something.
Cai swallowed. He offered a bare nod of acknowledgment and turned to face Lyssa, though he executed a credible bow to all of them. Pretty well, if the surprise on Helga's face was any indication.
"I'm sorry if I was rude to anyone here. I'm willing to help improve relations between you and the Trads, the way I described it. I'll hang around tonight if you want to talk about that with me, but I'll be gone before dawn. Back to the world where I belong." He straightened. "Though if we could have a doggy bag of those meatball things, Rand would appreciate it. So...um. Good night."
He'd almost made it to the door when Lyssa spoke, bringing him to a halt.
"Mordecai."
Hell, he'd known it wasn't going to be that easy. He turned, subtly--or maybe blatantly--positioning himself in front of Rand. When the wolf began to move, intending to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, Cai warned him against it.
Protocol, remember? You don't stand next to or in front of your vampire. Jacob said so.
Rand stayed where he was, but it was a tenuous leash that might snap at the least provocation from the table. It was what Sheba had known, and Cai did, too. Rand was a pack leader. No one was threatening his pack, and Cai...Cai was his pack. Thanks to Cai's big mouth, Rand was obviously feeling that even more strongly now.
But it was sloppy seconds, falling so short of the kind of pack Rand should be leading. One that would want to be led, for one thing, rather than one constantly doing his own thing and dragging Rand into this kind of trouble.
Lyssa rose and came to stand before Cai. She had a graceful, gliding kind of movement that Cai expected spawned the lore about vampires floating just above the ground rather than striding like a human.
"This Council and I are deeply grateful for what you and your servant did for Dovia and Lord Greenwald," she said with quiet formality, though her gaze said a lot more. "You have our leave to depart whenever you wish, but you have friends on the Council now. Please do not hesitate to come to us if you have need of that friendship. If you are willing to approach Trad colonies you think would be amicable to meeting with a delegation from this Council, to discuss ways to resolve some of our deeper conflicts, then see Ingram before you leave. He'll provide you my contact information."
Her gaze shifted to Rand. "Just as we are learning more about the Fae culture, thanks to the liaison role of Lord Keldwyn with our Council, I think it would be beneficial to learn more of your kind, Rand. I understand you are a private people, and you may not wish this. We'll leave it to you and them to decide if you wish to initiate those dialogues.
"If you do, then Cai will have the contact information so you may seek informal or formal audience with me about it. Vampires are learning, slowly, painfully, that we benefit more from friendships than conflict or isolationism. I know trust of our kind has not always been warranted, but we are working on that."
Isolationism is a hell of a lot easier than that other stuff, Cai observed to Rand. And you don't have to dress up for dinner.
Cai...
Rand's warning kept the words inside, but Cai was just yanking the wolf's chain. He gave Lyssa a slight bow.
"Thank you, my lady. I would also ask...what you promised, or implied you'd do, earlier. Can you not speak of what Rand is outside this room? As I said, water finds a way past a dam, but no reason to help it." A tight smile touched his lips. "Sometimes it's better for some things to remain a fantasy."
Lyssa looked to the others, meeting each vampire's eyes in turn, finishing with Mason. Whatever was communicated between them had her offering Cai a nod.
"If the time comes when the rest of the Council must know, I will speak of it, but as long as there is no pressing issue related to shifters, I see no reason for the information to go further than the Council in this room and the staff here, whom you may trust to keep the information to themselves."
"Thank you." And he meant it. Which felt awkward. "In return, I'll never reveal to any vampire I was here, or what we did for you. Even if I meet one of those absent Council members. Wouldn't want it to get around that you guys owe a favor to a bastard like me."
Her eyes glinted with amusement. Beneath that was something more serious, unsettling. "I think there are far worse favors to owe. Before you go, see Lord Brian. He has something for you. It will please you. Also, Rand may visit the kitchen and request any leftovers either of you desires."
She'd let him off the hook. Her lips twitched, acknowledging his barely masked relief and Rand's doggy bag needs, before she turned away, a clear dismissal.
Cai didn't need to be told twice.
Cai didn't slow his strides until he was deep into one of the gardens, where the forest was only a few hundred feet away. Tempting. Way too tempting. He was under an archway of a big vine thing that formed a cave. He'd told Rand to go to the kitchen and get some food. Had insisted on it, making it clear he needed some alone time. The wolf complied, especially when Cai shut down any mind communication and ignored Rand's silent questions.
He stayed in the garden for a while, trying to sort through his thoughts. Removing the third mark... Yeah, he should deal with that. He didn't really care what Brian had for him, but maybe the servant's vampire had to sanction the separation in person, or there were forms to sign. Who the fuck knew.
He thought of being with Rand without the bond the mark provided. He didn't like it, but it wasn't about what he liked or disliked. It was what made the most sense. Which was why he was sitting in the middle of a Council-vampire garden, brooding over it. Shit.
He tried not to think of anything. Trying not to think of what was behind all of it, and what had been reinforced with a big highlighter tonight, after seeing Rand around the Council vampires. A huge, Grand Canyon contrast to him being with Fane's family.
Shit and double shit. Cai rose and wandered into a different section of the garden. It was then that another scent came to him, one that a vampire found hard to resist. Especially a vampire looking for a much-needed distraction.
Following the path with quiet stealth, Cai discovered exactly why those "servant entertainments" had sounded so intriguing. And why wouldn't they be, with so many hot looking servants close to hand?
The Council delegation had retired to a large open pavilion to enjoy after dinner coffee and the tableau currently on display before them.
Jessica, Mason's servant, was stretched out in pale, silky nudity upon a patch of soft green grass, populated by lavender flowers. Shondra, a lovely woman with hazelnut skin and a million dark ringlets of soft cottony hair, had her mouth buried between Jessica's legs. Mason's servant was writhing, her arms stretched out to either side, mouth open and neck arched back, so close to release. But it seemed Carola kept Shondra curbing her pace, so she took Jessica up and up, then brought her back from the edge, intensifying the experience.
"Master..." Jessica's self-restraint broke with the plea. Mason had pulled his chair close enough to her that her fingers coiled and uncoiled on the hem of his slacks. His gaze remained fixed upon her, his mouth set in a stern, waiting line, though his eyes had fire in them. Before the night was over, Cai expected his servant would be fucked past the ability to walk. Mason looked like he put the D in Dominant. Whenever his servant was touched by another, even a woman, he was probably quick to reinforce his own claim on her. Repeatedly.
Cai thought of Rand and Dovia. Yeah, he got that.
He imagined Rand in the same position, the female servant working him in her mouth. Rand would be blindfolded, so he wouldn't know if the mouth was male or female, except by guessing. Since a cock could care
less when it came to the tactile stuff, it would be ramrod straight, the knob slick and gleaming as she sucked and polished, went all the way down, earning a strangled groan from him.
Would the words come from his lips the way they did Jessica's now, a whispered supplication?
"Master...let me please you."
