He was still chuckling, and it was infectious, foolishly so. Deliberately this time, she slid the ice pack right under the loose waistband of the boxers, freeing the ends of the cloth so the ice tumbled over his privates.

His roar of indignation would have sent her scampering, but he could see far better in the dark than she could. So she found herself wrestling with a vampire. He restrained himself enough to make it somewhat even, at least for a moment or two, but then she was giggling and squealing as he rolled over, pinning her to the camper floor.

He put ice down her soft tank top and into her panties, making her squirm and thrash until he put a cube directly against her clit and labia.

“Master,” she panted. His hand closed on her throat, his elbow pinning her arm to the floor of the camper.

Put the other one over your head.

She obeyed immediately. When he put his mouth on the damp curve of her breast, swelling above the neckline of the tank, the mood shifted back to Master and servant in an instant. She went still and quivering beneath him. Oh, but the ice was excruciating . . .

“Stay still,” he murmured. “Not even a twitch, my servant. Bear it, for me.”

As she shuddered hard, he nuzzled her throat, inhaled the scent of her hair. The ice began to make her flesh ache, an icy burn. The heat from her cunt was melting it. “Master,” she begged again. “Master.”

Just to say it was enough to make all of it bearable. His head lifted. Now that her second-mark eyes were more accustomed to it, she could see a bare silhouette of his face. Lifting her free hand despite his order, knowing it was okay, she feathered it through his hair, that silken layering at the temples. “You’re so handsome,” she whispered. “So unexpected.”

“All vampires are handsome. We’re tediously beautiful.”

“No. I see you . . . differently.”

She sensed him studying her face. When he put his hand back into her damp underwear, he had more ice. She jerked, whimpered. “Spread your legs wider for me, Alanna.”

The ice went inside her, his fingers guiding it deep, and staying with it, exploring her, manipulating the smooth cubes. “How am I different?”

She struggled to think. Oh, God, it was unbearable . . . and yet she never wanted it to stop, either.

“I . . . feel when I look at you. It makes you look different. Like the difference in painting a stranger, and painting . . . someone you know. Isn’t there a difference?”

She needed to stop blathering. But his fingers were doing a gentle thrust and retreat, and her hips were coming up to meet his touch. She wanted him inside her. Wished for his cock with a fervency he could hear, but would deny her as long as it pleased him to do so, for that was the sorcery of being a vampire. Of being a Master.

“Yes. Like the difference between any willing woman’s pussy, and the wet heat of yours, just for me. For my pleasure. Your heart and soul open to me like this.”

Her lips parted, head tilting back, throat offered as the waves started to hit. “Master . . .”

Come for me. His mouth settled on the pounding artery. At the moment the climax hit, he bit, sinking his fangs into her during that rush of pleasure, his fingers still working inside her.

Though he took his time on the feeding, she was still moving rhythmically against his touch, riding the aftershocks as his fingers played beneath her panties. He licked her throat, closing the wounds, but then took her hand, bringing it under his boxers.

Work me with those lovely fingers, Alanna. I want to gush over them, smell my come on your flesh.

Lost in the glorious darkness, she obeyed.

20

THEY wouldn’t reach their destination until midevening, so once full dark came, Evan told her to go up front with Niall so he could do some work in solitude. As a result, she enjoyed the winding roads up into the Tennessee hills. Niall eventually turned off on a more narrow access. It wasn’t quite as primitive as the deer paths to reach the mountain cabin, but it twisted enough to keep his attention firmly on managing the hairpin turns and grumbling about the steep grades that slowed the heavy vehicle considerably. Finally, he turned off at a parkway entrance. A carved wooden sign indicated they’d arrived at Farida Sanctuary, a private artist colony.

A half mile down the road, Niall slowed for a guard booth. The woman who stepped out of its shelter was easily six feet tall. In boots, crisp jeans and a dark golf shirt embroidered with the sanctuary name, she looked like a cross between an Amazon warrior and Native American princess. Her beautifully sculpted arm muscles and long, dark braided hair, as well as the fact that she was armed with a combat knife in a beaded and fringed scabbard, added to the dual impression. She also had a nine-millimeter in a shoulder holster.

Despite her daunting appearance and watchful expression, the moment she shined her flashlight on the driver’s side, she smiled broadly.

“Niall. Right on time.” She tucked her tongue in her cheek. “Evan must be dead.”

The Scot snorted. “No such luck. I do occasionally keep him on schedule. Guid to see ye, Mel.”

Her gaze shifted then, sharpening on Alanna. “It’s all right,” Niall said. “She can be trusted. She’s a friend in need.”

Mel nevertheless shone the flashlight over Alanna, covering her from head to toe. “Any trouble following her I need to know about?”

“Aye,” Niall said, surprising Alanna. “Nothing that’ll risk a straight-on attack, but Evan’ll brief the girls so they know what tae expect.”

“Brief them fast, so they can bring me into the loop on what I need to know.” Snapping off the flashlight, she shot him a disgruntled look. “You’re supposed to let me know when you’re bringing a guest. But since Nerida and Miah gave Evan an unconditional pass on whatever he drags in here, including you, I’ll let you get away with it.”

“Guid. I’d hate to get out of this thing and kick your arse. I’m creaky as an old man from driving all the day.”

She harrumphed. “Big words, paleface. We have the usual bungalow ready. There’s still quite a few folks up, so you might get mobbed.”

“I’ll warn Evan. See you when you get off shift.”

She gave him an appraising look, frankly sexual. “If I’m in a giving mood, I might help you work the creak out of those old bones.”

Chuckling, he lifted a hand in acknowledgment. When he put the RV back in gear, Mel opened a well-reinforced security gate, but Alanna watched the way the woman’s eyes lingered on Niall’s profile as they drove past. Of course Niall enjoyed the pleasures of other women. That had been clear from the first, and it wasn’t entirely unusual, particularly for male servants in the service of male vampires. Many vampires who had a more utilitarian relationship with their servants cared little if they had extracurricular liaisons, as long as it didn’t interfere with their loyalty and service to the vampire.

Stephen had been less tolerant of such things with his female servants, but it wouldn’t have mattered if he had been. An InhServ didn’t indulge that option. Performing with another servant at the vampire’s behest was a different matter, an extension of their will. While she’d enjoyed those other female and male bodies, united in their purpose and trained to give one another pleasure, Stephen’s will had remained the driving factor.

She didn’t like thinking about Evan allowing such liaisons, though she had no justifiable reason for feeling that way. But when he or Niall merely looked at her, she was so overwhelmed. She couldn’t imagine participating in an empty sexual encounter with a human outside their world. It could only be a pale shadow of that connection. She should leave it alone, but . . .

“So, Evan doesn’t mind you having sex with others?”

Niall turned onto a paved single-lane road, cloistered by thick forest growth. A rabbit bounded out in front of the RV and stayed there, guiding the vehicle for a hundred feet. Given that they were on an incline, the RV trundled along, accommodating the creature’s pace until the rabbit jumped back into the foliage. “Not with other women. As long as it doesnae interfere with what he wants from me. It’s a pleasurable way to pass the time. ’Tis not like we can pursue a career, cultivate an absorbing hobby. The vampire’s the center o’ our universe, aye?” He shot her a droll look, but she couldn’t summon up a return smile. In fact, she felt an urge to scowl. “Our diversions have to orbit him, not cross the path and crash into the planet.”

“Very visual. Evan is rubbing off on you.” She bit her lip at her catty tone. Raising a shoulder, she tried to sound more casual. “So if an attractive male here wants to have sex with me while Evan is sleeping or otherwise engaged, I have the freedom to—”

Fortunately, there was no one following them, because Niall braked sharply. “No. You don’t.”

She arched a brow. “It shouldn’t affect the blocker. Why should it matter to you who touches me when—”

His hand landed on her leg, possible in the roomy RV only because of the long reach of his arm. “As far as you’re concerned, whatever comes from my mouth on this topic, comes from us both.” That tawny gaze had gone gold, his expression and tone not one whit less compromising than one of Evan’s orders in truth.

“Why?” She never questioned an obvious order from either male, but her mind was snared by the woman’s blatant appraisal of Niall. It was obvious she’d enjoyed his body, and was looking forward to doing so again.

“I told you to take care in dealing with a jealous woman, Niall. You’re out of practice.” Evan slid through the opening between the main camper and the driving area, taking the backseat centered between them. As he stretched out his legs behind Alanna’s seat, he propped his other hand on the back of Niall’s.

Alanna pressed her lips together, cheeks reddening. She was being irrational. It was a reality of a servant’s life, she knew that. With Evan here as a vivid reminder of that, she forced herself to behave properly. “I simply want to be sure I’m following the correct etiquette for the situation here, Master.”