At Gideon's curious nod, Daegan made a grunt of approval. “Then I have an idea I want to discuss with you.”

“I'm all ears.”

“Good. Because you need to know some other things. Things I'll tell Anwyn as well, but I need to be sure you're prepared for what I'm going to do before I bring her into it. And once we're done here, you will go to her, Gideon. Not me. You're who she needs. From here forward.”

26

ANWYN sat at the desk in her bedroom, studying her computer screen with detached interest. She'd thought, once she'd dressed, this might help her focus a little better. But she'd quickly caught up on her e-mail requests, because the day she'd lost had been Sunday, the day Atlantis was closed.

She should be irritated by that, feeling useless, but she was discovering something about being a vampire. When nothing debilitating was occurring, like seizures or bloodlust, she could sense things she'd never been able to before. There was a cricket chirping somewhere in her apartments, and she could hear the movement of his legs, knew almost his exact location with her enhanced hearing and an intuitive, predatory sense.

Daegan was in his room, taking a shower. Gideon was headed toward her. She could have tuned in to both of their minds, but while Gideon was with Daegan, she'd had an admittedly petulant need not to listen in, not to hear what they were saying. So though she couldn't completely close that link, she'd put enough of a damper on it that their conversation was just a male rumbling of noise in the back of her mind.

Of course, she'd gotten impatient with their conversation and wanted Gideon back. Was it that vampires had a less-developed sense of conscience, or that their appetites were so unapologetic they overrode everything else, including the fact she'd nearly killed him a day before? Or did she merely need the validation of the avenue she'd so often used before she became a vampire?

Daegan had told her so much about how vampires interacted, how they shared their servants. This compulsion of hers, so natural to her BDSM world, was an integral part of theirs. It was a startling revelation, but she was painfully aware Gideon had been part of neither. She remembered his charming offer to have coffee with him, take a different path. Now, if he wanted to keep being with her, he'd have no other choice but to be part of a BDSM world. Of course, he'd likely have less trouble with that than being part of a vampire one.

That wasn't something that would resolve itself today. She wanted Gideon with her now, wanted to do more than trace that trinity mark with her fingers. Despite reputed vampire healing abilities, the tender tissues between her legs still ached, and she didn't think it lingered from Daegan's sensual abuse. If anything, she was throbbing for far different reasons. Her mind wanted to reach for him. Wanted to reach for them both, but she'd settle for half her desires. When Gideon knocked lightly, the dangerous leap in response was enough to tighten her hands on the desk edge.

Come in. And come here.

He did, glancing immediately toward her, because of course he would know her whereabouts. They were linked permanently. Irrevocably.

“Come here,” she repeated aloud.

She saw more in his face, an unspoken message, something he wanted her to know, something that didn't have to do with this moment. But right now she needed, wanted, only this moment, so she stayed out of his mind. And when he would have spoken, she shook her head.

“Be still,” she murmured. “And quiet. Just obey me.”Take off the shirt.

He arched a brow, but came to her, tossing the shirt to the side and moving with that warrior's stride that seemed somewhat hampered when he was inside. As if he needed enough space, like a weapons room or gymnasium, to exercise all the power he demonstrated in a simple walk. He and Daegan both had that. When he reached her, she indulged herself. Moving down his chest, she touched that trinity mark for the first time, a quiver of sweet possession coursing through her, and a hard shudder passing over him, their eyes locking for a brief, vulnerable moment.Hers.

She spread out from there, running her hands over the flat pectorals, the tight nipples, the hard abdomen, the broad shoulders. As she did, he closed his eyes, savoring her touch. Taking her hand down past his waistband, she covered his erection, the curve of his testicles that filled out that area of his jeans so well.

She slipped the button, took the zipper down one tooth at a time, caressed him through the boxer briefs.

He was hot and hard steel already. “Take it all off now.” He backed away so he wasn't looming over her, and pulled off his boots. Then the rest of it, so he stood tall and powerful, completely naked.

“Stay right there.”

He did, but she could tell it made him self-conscious. He was a battle-scarred warrior with deep lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth, lines that only made him look more ruggedly handsome in that hateful way men had. They might be envious, but women enjoyed the benefit of looking. His cock was brushing his belly, a temptation all by itself.

“Turn,” she commanded softly. “I want to see the back.”

He swallowed, tensing a little, but he complied, shifting so he was standing in a half-cocked stance she could almost imagine as his standard pose, thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. He'd be scowling.

She suppressed a smile, but her chest was tight, looking at him.

She'd built a world around herself that was about consensual ownership, submission. There were couples at her club in a twenty-four/seven D/s relationship, the submissive completely contracted to the Dom in whatever arrangement suited their different needs best. She'd never found that, never found the man who made her crave that ownership.

Daegan was a different animal. Falling in love with him had been entirely unexpected, since he was as Dominant as Dominant could get and not be Attila the Hun reincarnated. He'd given her that sense of safety, as she'd told Gideon, each time she was with him. Something had challenged that safety and now everything was uncertain. But looking at Gideon, his trust in her, she wondered for the first time if it could be mended. If Daegan and she could find their way, not back to where they'd been, but someplace they'd never gone together.

“Step backward until you're between my knees.” She adjusted her seated position so her knees were spread.

When he obeyed, she thought, if she had her way, she'd always keep him like this, where she could see that powerful interplay of muscles and sinew along his upper torso, the movement of his hips and lean thighs that said he was a very physical man, one who might have all sorts of debris going on in his head and heart, but who had no hesitation or qualms when it came to fighting or protecting what he considered his to protect.

His muscular ass, the lean thighs, were now right before her. She ran her hands up his thighs.

“Spread your legs out wider.”

He did, and her fingers closed on his testicles, hanging heavy between his legs, earning a guttural sound from him. There was a mirrored wall across from her, so she could see him right here, saw the jump in his cock, the breath he held. It was still a shock not to see herself there, but she liked the fact he couldn't see what was going on in her face.

“Daegan tells me that a servant keeps his Mistress's hair styled just right, puts her makeup on perfectly.

Given how you keep your hair, I expect I may need to hire a very discreet lady's maid.”

“Jesus.” He was having a bit of trouble speaking in a steady tone, and she loved it, the effect her touch had on him. “You don't need any makeup. You're beautiful the way you are now.”

“Charmer.” She squeezed his balls, and earned another exhalation of breath. She ran her other hand over the globe of one buttock, dragged her nails down it, then leaned forward and bit.

He jumped slightly, but she gave him credit for holding relatively still. She wasn't trying to drink blood, but she did lick the few drops that welled forth. She liked biting him, liked sinking into that muscular flesh.

“Turn around,” she whispered.

He did, and there was his cock, stretched out long and tempting. “What would you do if I bit it the same way, sank my fangs into it?”

“I'd say there are other, better things you could do with it.”

“Mmm. Maybe. You'd look very handsome with a ladder, Gideon. Barbells pierced all the way up the underside of your cock, perhaps a permanent steel collar latched around the base of the head and at the root. I could carry a key to it, so you'd always wear the symbol of my ownership.”

“Kind of like going-steady rings?” He tried to sound flippant, but the moment he said it, she saw something dark cross his expression, a shadow he apparently hadn't meant to call forth. His expression was briefly seized with an old pain. She didn't pull back that curtain, willing to give him his memories unmolested.

“Something like that.” She rose, pointed. “Lie down on my retiring couch, on your back. I'm going to ride you, Gideon.” She arched a brow at his feeling of relief, desire. “But I'm not going to let you come.

You need to know that. I'm going to leave you hard and suffering for a while, thinking of my wet pussy.”

“What if I come anyway?” He met her gaze in challenge, and she raised a brow. Having him standing before her this way, hard, hot and hungry, so much bigger than she was, was a temptation that affected her all over, heating her blood.

“Then I'd say you're not a very smart man, because there are other ways I can make you suffer.” But she lowered her voice, softened it. “Trust me, Gideon. Denying yourself for a Mistress's pleasure is worth the wait.”

He nodded after a long moment, cleared his throat. “Guess I'm just used to the instant gratification, in case I'm dead an hour later, or tomorrow.”

“I'll endeavor to make sure you come before our next brush with death.” She said it lightly, though she found she didn't like the reminder of how often he'd been close to it. And not just from the danger she'd posed to him. While she'd never seen Daegan at work, so to speak, Daegan's supernatural abilities, his sheer command of every situation, mundane or otherwise, had been her comfort during his absences. But she'd still worried, knowing from his blood consumption when he returned that he'd been wounded in different skirmishes, even if the entry wound had healed by the time he'd returned. Had he gotten any blood, these past twenty-four hours? She remembered that she'd intended to have Gideon help her nag him into it . . . before.