Elusive Hero: Invitation to Eden (Vampire Queen Series Book 12) (33 page)

It was impossible that she could be this tense and be getting aroused at once, but vampires were like that. Or maybe it was the delicious danger of it and she was just hysterical enough to let it happen.

As he’d correctly surmised, vampires were used to such casual carnality, so neither vampire remarked on it, though she noted Tara watching with appreciation, as well as Seanna. She remembered Seanna was a pretty aggressive submissive, one who could be a service top with little effort. She was probably imagining in vivid detail the things she might be allowed to do to Garron if the vampires wanted to see some servant play.

No. Absolutely no.

“Join us so we can try some of the facilities together, my lady,” Richard said. “We were headed for one of the communal rooms to play. We’d like you and your…” He gave a half shrug. “I’m used to referring to a submissive as a...servant.”

“Masters and Mistresses call their subs many things here, sir. I’d be honored for you and my lady to call me that, if it’s more comfortable for you all.” Garron inclined his head courteously in their direction, but his gaze flickered over Kaela’s face as she turned toward him.

Tara smiled, pleased. “He doesn’t look like a sub, but he’s very well-trained. Almost on the same level of the ones we brought, though of course there are some limitations. Things that can be overlooked because of the many pleasures of this environment.”

Kaela was all too aware of what limitations Tara was referencing. Like the ability of a third mark to endure levels of pain and deprivation that made the edge play here look like beginner’s BDSM, using toy handcuffs from a party store.

They were waiting for her response. One of the things she’d learned as a spy as well as a vampire was that sticking as close to the truth as possible was the best cover. “Garron is one of the dungeon Masters, but as a paid employee, he is available as a switch if the guest wants a stronger personality to order around.”

Tara chuckled. “Being who you are, you wanted the strongest one available. Lady Kaela, you are always wonderfully unexpected. But it makes sense. If you’re going to be auditioning servants, you need to go for a powerful personality. Fran has always seemed so docile for you…more your secretary and personal assistant than someone who can satisfy our more demanding needs.”

She wouldn’t give away how close to the truth that arrow struck. She had too much else to focus upon, like what excuse would allow them to part company. Richard was the ranking vampire. Short of a demand on her time from another even higher ranking vampire, she was stuck. No. She could say she was engaged with another matter. Even if she seemed rude, she was going to do it.

No, my lady. We see this through.

Richard was assuming her assent, already pointing her toward their destination, Tara moving to link arms with her. In another second she was going to dig in her heels, appearances be damned.
You have no idea what they will demand.

I’ve seen almost every demand you can imagine in these rooms, Kaela. While I’m sure their tastes are even more extreme, beyond what Eden allows, I think I can handle whatever happens. I want to see how my sub handles it. It will tell me even more about what kind of Master you need.

This wasn’t a debate of hypotheticals. He had no clue what they could demand within those boundaries. Yet his knee pressed into the back of hers, and suddenly she was walking with Tara, Garron falling in behind her.

She was not a donkey, to be led around by the nose, forced to…

To do what, my lady? What’s the real issue here? What I can handle, or what you can bear to watch me handle?

It’s not that. Damn it…

Will it make you think less of me, to allow myself to be treated as a sub? It ruins your fantasy, your desires?

She wanted to grind her teeth, but she almost flinched at the sharpness of his tone.

Yes or no. Simple question, Kaela.

No. Nothing could make me think less of you.
Her hands curled into fists. Fortunately Tara didn’t seem to notice.

His voice in her mind went dead calm.
Then let me handle this, my lady. If you honor me as your Master, you have only one job. To trust me.

“Everything any Master or Mistress could ever want,” Tara observed. Their destination looked like a giant crystal cave, the pillars and walls glittering with clear jagged rocks that reflected the fire flickering in the wall sconces. Once again, Kaela wondered how Vardalos managed this underground network on an island where the water table had to be close to the surface, but she was starting not to question any remarkable thing the island produced. At this point, she feared the real world would be a greater challenge for her to accept. How could Garron ever contemplate leaving such a place? Why the hell was she having that thought?

Because you already know my intentions, my lady, no matter how you refuse to talk about them. We have a testing ground here, don’t we?

Tara had released Kaela to lean against Richard, comment to him as they surveyed the activity in the communal area. Scenes from playful to intense were being conducted in the informal spaces created by the pillars and array of equipment. Whippings, spankings, fire play, electric play. Even some role play like in the enclosed rooms with the viewing windows, only these were being conducted in a more populated setting. She saw a Domme strutting before a trio of kneeling girls in school uniforms while the Mistress tapped her palm with a long switch.

Music with a sensual backbeat that reminded Kaela of an aroused pulse added to the ambiance. Beautiful men and women danced in cages suspended at different levels above the main floor, sometimes alone, sometimes two or three together. Along the back wall was a giant white screen, video feed showing screen close ups of different sessions happening live on the floor, interspersed with movie clips that had BDSM elements. They ranged from old black-and-white movie spankings to more current cinematic fare. The area was saturated with sexual energy, encouraging everyone to play without care or worry, adults immersing themselves in good, clean lustful pursuits. The ceiling was hung with ropes of lights and carefully placed spotlights highlighted the play areas, leaving the areas outside of them in dimly lit shadow. Provocatively dressed wait staff moved in and out of those areas, taking orders for food and drinks and offering toys and lubricants like they had on the above ground level.

Tara chuckled. “I think I could live here, Richard.”

“It’s remarkable,” he agreed with a serious smile. “Ladies, do you think we could talk Vardalos into vacating the island and renting out the castle for our next Gathering?”

“What a delicious idea. Now, what to do first? It’s like being in a great big candy store.”

Tara shifted between Liam and Seanna, rubbing up against her servant like an affectionate cat as she put her hand on Seanna’s shoulder, twirling one of her dark red braids. Kaela tensed as the vampire female’s gaze slid back over to Garron, giving him an appraising look. As she did, she trailed her other hand down Liam’s back, landing on his taut ass to take a firm hold of one buttock. Liam remained still under her touch, though Kaela had already detected his arousal, not a surprise in these surroundings. Plus, as she’d noted earlier when Garron woke her from sleep, third mark males could pretty much stay erect as long as needed, the stamina necessary to keep up with a vampire’s insatiable appetites.

So if I was your actual third mark, I’d never have to worry about ED.

Only if you pissed me off and I castrated you.
She wasn’t in the mood to joke, but when Garron did that subtle shift again, so his hip bone was against the rise of her ass, she felt the heat of his body emanating over her.

Don’t play with fire, my lady. You’ll have to be alone with me when this is all over.

Did he not understand? Apparently her body didn’t either, because the image he shot to her mind sent an erotic prickle through her vitals. The environment and her own carnal nature were only exacerbating the issue.

Don’t fight it, my lady. It’s part of who you are. Study her servant the way she’s studying me. She’ll expect it.

Well that wasn’t a hardship. His Mistress had Liam dressed in snug jeans and nothing else. Given how compelling all servants seemed to be, he was sculpted lean muscle, no chest hair like Garron had, either because he kept it shaved or his Mistress had had it removed. Since vampires had no body hair, many seemed to prefer their servants shaved, though Kaela liked Garron’s chest hair and the fine hairs on his calves and forearms.

Tara considered Garron from head to toe, covering that same terrain. “Liam is a lovely servant, very accommodating to my needs, but he’s no alpha like that one. I don’t desire that in my own servant, but I admit, watching Lady Lyssa’s Jacob take the Dominant role with another servant arouses me quite…intriguingly. Do you think your servant…this male…could provide us that experience? I’d like to see him take control of both Seanna and Liam.”

“I think you’ll be more stimulated seeing those roles reversed, my lady,” Richard demurred. “I suggest tying him down and letting the two of them have their way with him. With your permission of course, Lady Kaela.”

She knew that part was just a formality. Permission was automatically assumed from a lesser ranking vampire.

Tara frowned, but not because of Richard’s suggestion. “I trust your judgment, my lord, but we have to remember this is a different environment. What are the rules governing your use of him, Lady Kaela?” The female overlord lowered her voice so only Kaela and Richard and the servants could hear her. “The human world can be so limiting. It’s why playing in their clubs can get old so quickly. Though this one has enough variety to keep things interesting.”

Richard nodded. “How far may we push him, Lady Kaela? What have you paid for?”

An expensive resort vacation…
I’m off the clock. You’re mine…

They’d given her an out. All she had to do was say no. Though paying enough money would allow them to do anything in certain dark corners of the human world, that wasn’t the case here.

“With my lady’s permission…” Garron stepped to her side and dropped to a knee, offering a deferential nod before tilting his head back and cocking it, giving Richard a bland look. “If it gives my lady pleasure, she can order me to do whatever she wills. I will give her whatever she needs, regardless.”

Richard lifted a brow. There was so much double meaning laced in his words Kaela couldn’t fault the intrigued spark in the male vampire’s gaze.

“I can identify hard limits with a safe word so as to minimize disruption,” Garron said. “Lady Kaela knows what the word is.”

Richard glanced at Kaela. “My lady? Does he speak for your wishes?”

In so many ways she couldn’t explain, though this situation didn’t represent even one of them. But she had a role to play. She would encase her heart in ice and it would feel nothing. She would protect him as she protected Fran. Yet normally she could ensure her servant was given pleasure. Garron was Dominant through and through. He would get no pleasure from this.

Don’t be certain of that, my lady. This path is a twisting one, with a lot of forks. Come with me for the ride and see. There are different forms of pleasure.

“My lady?”

She offered Richard short nod. “I agree.”

“Good. He seems to have a silver tongue that belies that monstrous form.”

Richard said it without any contempt, but Kaela still bristled. “Every woman has a beauty and the beast fantasy, my lord,” Tara teased him. “I think he’s tailor made for it. Garron, join my servants and we’ll instruct you from there.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He hadn’t called her my lady. He wouldn’t be able to get away with that at a vampire dinner, but here, where he had the latitude to do it, he took it, giving Kaela alone that honor, because when he said
my lady
, it meant something different to him, and to her.

She held onto that thought as he rose. Garron lifted her hand to his mouth, pressed his lips there. She locked her fingers over his, brought him down to her for a kiss, and not just any kiss. One full of hunger and need, and some blood-driven anger. She wasn’t willing to let go of that. She expected she’d need it to get through this.

Garron’s large hands gripped her hips as she bit his lip, drawing blood. She rose on her toes, licked his mouth, curling her hand around his neck. He moved his hold to her waist to keep her steady.

You are my Master.

Damn right I am. Think about how I’m going to remind you of it when we’re alone.

Feeling that little internal quiver at the spark in his gaze, she gave him another nip. It would pass as the sensual response of a vampire in charge of her servant, not one who was anticipating all the ways she could serve him later. But truly, at the moment, it didn’t really matter to her. She was in a fuck-all-of-them kind of mood, the usual restraint she exercised around other vampires close to snapping. This wasn’t supposed to have happened.

Hold fast, my lady. You’re used to dealing with the unexpected. But this time you’re not dealing with it alone.

That thought, injected with enough force to pull her out of her irritation, was a new one. One she hadn’t considered. She’d automatically locked into defense mode, into the Oh-God-something-else-I-have-to-figure-out-by-myself mindset.

You’ll have to work on that, my lady. I’ll help you, even if I have to beat it into you regularly.

She couldn’t afford to lose herself in a vision of being over his lap, taking his punishment, no matter how much the resulting arousal might help her handle this situation. She’d done that for years though, hadn’t she? Watching servant entertainments, imagining she was in their place, channeling the arousal to help her act the way she was expected to act.

Maybe the problem was she didn’t want to have to think of it that way. She didn’t want to think of him in any way other than as her Master. Or herself as anything other than his. But as usual, her ability to do that was going to be stifled. Prohibited. Shut down before she could take it as endlessly as she wanted it to go.