Page 46 of The Vampire Queen's Servant (Vampire Queen 1)

"You've picked up on the advantages of this form of communication far more quickly than Thomas. "

"Well, my mind is far less pure. "

She tugged his hair so his head obligingly dipped. "Thomas was a man as well as a monk. He had thoughts. "

"You enjoyed teasing him. "

"At times, " she admitted, no apology in her tone. In fact, Jacob noted there was laughter there, one of the first times he'd heard her speak of the man without sadness. He'd apparently found a memory that didn't overlap with the tragedy which had taken him from her. As much as his body wanted to push them forward on the roller coaster he'd just initiated, he forced himself to patience to get an answer to the question that had been plaguing him. He suspected she might be in a mood to answer.

"When Thomas became my servant, I did require him to lie with me at least once, " she confessed what he asked in his mind. "I required proof of his loyalty, that his devotion to me would supersede his oath to God. "

"You tread in dangerous waters, my lady. Even vampires answer to a higher power. "

She nodded. "There are those who believe the folk tales, that we're already damned. But I'm not one of them. A vampire is part of creation, like a man, dog or mosquito, trees or rivers, and our souls are as up for grabs as any. But men create religion, not gods. I personally believe Divinity could care less if we indulge in carnal knowledge of one another. "

In fact, there was a spiritual power to it so overwhelming, Lyssa thought the religions that used it as a form of worship made more sense than those that called it a sin. "A man's integrity, his morality, his sense of right and wrong and the choices they compel him to make, that's his connection to God. While I have no problem testing that connection for my own purposes, I respect it for the most part when its strength is true. That's why I only asked for it once. " Something like humor danced through her gaze. "I do admit to the occasional flirtation, a teasing and provocative image injected in his mind at the right moment to distract him from a task. " She sobered. "But with Thomas, his faith was unbreakable. He never did anything to shame himself before his God, no matter what he himself thought about it. "

She considered the copper strands of his hair tangled with her fingers, the beauty of Jacob's eyes. Those firm, sensual lips.

"One thing I do understand is the power of devotion and loyalty. While I might not believe whatever we call God requires us to give up sex, since that was something Thomas did to prove his loyalty to Him or Her, it demanded my respect. Any deity, or queen for that matter, " she allowed herself a small smile, "would appreciate a servant who gives up a significant natural desire to prove his love and dedication to her service. I might ask someone to choose between their conscience and my desires, but as you have pointed out before, Sir Vagabond, the choice remains in the realm of that person's soul. If the soul is strong enough, I can't take the choice away unless I use a level of duress that damns my own soul, not theirs. I'm not like some of my brethren. "

At last, she gave him the answer she knew he'd been seeking, and her eyes were intent on his, underscoring she understood the significance of her answer. "If I ask you to make a choice, there is a strong and urgent need for it. Not because I just enjoy taunting you and breaking your soul into pieces, bit by bit. I swear it. "

Jacob nodded, his hand finding her other one and holding it, his fingers closing around hers. "Then I will trust you, my lady, even if I don't always agree. Did he please you?"

She cocked her head, met his gaze with an amused look. "He did. He was a gentle, thorough lover who made me regret my decision to demand it of him only once. "

"Really. "

She laughed at him then. She knew it couldn't be compared to the volatile couplings she'd had with Jacob. They encompassed a whole spectrum of reactions and action. In their few joinings, Jacob had been gentle, thorough. Also passionate, demanding. Surprisingly inventive and intuitive, never forgetting or leaving her heart and mind out of the equation when their two bodies came together. He was powerful in the arts of charm and seduction for that reason, all the more so because he used them for their mutual pleasure, never with a thought to manipulate. He brought an adventurous innocence to it she also appreciated, learning all the dark paths a body could take for sexual pleasure. He elicited unexpected responses from her, like now when she heard the faint territorial note enter his voice. He didn't like talking about other men that had been with her, even one like Thomas.

"What about you, Jacob? You are too at ease around a woman's body for me to think you don't remember fondly one or two. . . Dozen. "

He chuckled. In one of those unexpected moves, even as she knew his thoughts, he lifted her as easily as he would a child, shifting her and guiding her legs so she sat astride him, her legs curved and overlapped behind his hips, between his body and the couch. He snugged her up to him with those large, capable palms on her hips and backside. She drew in a little breath when he accurately put the pressure of his cock against her clit, his fingers holding her buttocks, kneading. "You've driven them all out of my mind, my lady. And before you try to make a liar out of me. . . " She had the snippet of a thought as she dove in, trying to do just that, before he put his hand on the back of her neck and brought his mouth to hers to delve into her in a sense that was far more physical. It did, however, accomplish the objective of driving anything else from her mind for the moment.

Brash, impulsive. . . Tara's words came back to her, and all Lyssa could think was, "Thank God. " He knew her power, but it still didn't stop him from these impossibly forward moments she welcomed like a drug. Somehow they carried her away from a need to control everything, to worry about his place and her place. . .

Putting his hands on either side of her face, he held her as he kissed her, caressing her neck, making her need him inside her suddenly, desperately. Reaching in between them, she found his jeans and opened them, his lower body

lifting to allow her to move them down to his thighs. She moved her hands to herself, but he guided them to his shoulders, coaxing her to let him be the one who gathered her skirt, bringing her bare skin in contact with his hard stomach, the thrust of his cock, the feel of crumpled denim next to her calves. He murmured a sound of appreciation as he only found her beneath the cloth. His hands were sure as he took her down on him, holding her steady. He slid deep into her with the torturously pleasurable ease of watching a sunset melt on the horizon, the heat spreading out, the beauty of it taking over and surrounding all the senses.

Oh God, he was perfect. She wished she could let him into her mind to tell him. . . And then she did. She gave him the images in her head, letting him see how she was seeing him, how she was feeling him, wanting him. . . Harder. Wanting him whispering to her, all barriers and rules gone, at least at this level.

He pulled the pins from her hair, letting them clatter to the floor as he gripped her hair, used it to pull her down on him even more powerfully, his eyes darkening, pupils widening as he drank even more of her in.

"Fuck me, " he demanded. "Fuck me. "

God. . . Yes. That was what she wanted, that guttural desire that was all hers. A natural part of him to take over a woman, held in check as he served her until she tore off the bridle as she did now, giving him his head and feeling all that power surging under her, wild and unfettered as it was meant to be.

"I'm going to make you come, my lady, " he growled, his hands dropping to seize her hips, forcing her down on him, her clit smacking against his pubic area each time, a blow that shuddered through her system even as he stretched her further, took her deeper, widened her thighs to open up her cunt, bring the labia and clit in closer contact with his hot skin. "Fuck you until you're screaming my name, until none of it matters. Until you know you're mine. That you can trust me with everything, forever. "

His. It was insane. But she felt so intertwined with him now, she didn't have any energy to argue, could only ride as he was compelling her to do with the grip of his hands, the jerk and thrust of his hips. The orgasm swelled up hard and fast and still he was taking her down in those relentless strokes, spreading her wide. He curled his arm around her waist as she began to climax, pulling her down with one arm as he found her clit with his thumb, held her slightly off of him and used his hips to piston into her, holding her immobile as he worked her, in and out, his thumb working that tiny bud of flesh. The climax battered her as she writhed, holding tightly to his shoulder, one hand gripped in his hair as the pressure became too overwhelming and she screamed as he said she would.

With a sound of fierce triumph, he shot his seed into her, his powerful shoulders flexing under her hands, his head pressing down against her sternum. She held her jaw to him, biting down on her lips as she hoarsely cried his name, whispered it as her cries became whimpers and her clutching hands eased into short, jerky movements on him. To stroking, light touches of amazement.

When he leaned back on the sofa, he framed her face in his hands again, keeping her balanced on his loins. The dinner, the things she'd told him over and over. . . The broken arm. Those were the things that were supposed to make sense. This was supposed to be confusing. But right now it was just the opposite. The possession by the fire, this, every time he smiled at her or kept on serving her even as he rebelled against her. . . Those things were all so clear, though she couldn't describe or encapsulate them with words to explain exactly what was so clear.

"My lady?" With a half smile of exhaustion, he tapped her forehead then drew her down so she was comfortably wrapped in his arms. "Turn it off. Let's watch the movie together. "

"I'll watch the movie, and you'll fall asleep, " she said against his skin. His laughter rumbled against her cheek.

"You're likely right about that. I guess I'll just have to trust a mere lass to keep me safe while I sleep, no?"

The affected brogue came easily to him, and made things shiver up her spine even as she snorted. Mere lass. "Yes. I'll keep you safe. I promise. "

He was silent for a moment, then startled her with a drowsy comment. "It was curious to me that you didn't know about the soft- shoe, my lady. I guess I expect you to know everything. "

She rubbed her face against his chest. "Weren't you listening the other night, Sir Vagabond? Just because I'm as old as I am doesn't mean I've reached this state of all-encompassing wisdom where I just sit on the top of a mountain soaked in enlightenment. Good for you, too, because you'd go insane with the inactivity. " When he chuckled, she closed her eyes at the thrill it gave her to feel him vibrate against her body again. "I know a lot of things by experience humans will never live long enough to understand, including yourself. But one thing I've learned is we don't overcome our nature. It's so much a part of us, I'd say it's maybe half of our souls. "

When Bran raised his head, she looked at the dog, wishing she could have his simple acceptance of life. "If our nature is to want to love and be loved, " she said softly, "we don't overcome that, get past it. On the same note, I could live ten thousand years and not understand why we do the things we do to each other. "

She waited for his response, but his even breath told her he had succumbed in her embrace, the taking of his blood and the climax too much to keep him conscious. He'd drifted off on the soothing notes of her voice, trusting he'd not come to any harm with her.

When the total lack of sense she was using could well be the death of him.

If she dared, she would have said more.

Or why, knowing I shouldn't have you at all, I want you so much. Reaching up, she touched his face, brushing his brow. All the wisdom in the world doesn't make me immune to the way you desire me.

With regret she rose and covered him with a lap blanket, leaving him to dream alone. Though her mind mocked her, she had to keep making the attempt to teach him what being a servant to a vampire queen truly meant. Her heart called her a coward, running from her desperate wish to stay in those arms all night long. Maybe even beyond that.

But they had to get through the Council Gathering. She had to get through it. If nothing else, she'd at last acknowledged she would need Jacob to do that. It was time to focus on what needed to be done. Time was too short to indulge her heart.

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