I will be back soon, but if she needs anything, you let me know.” His words appeared to stun Gideon. Anwyn didn"t know what to say, but the vampire didn"t seem to require her words. With an oath, he jerked her to him, tasting her mouth, rough and deep. It had barely started before he let her go, so suddenly she staggered back. With his exceptional vampire speed, he was already gone, Gideon"s hands on her shoulders.
“That lacked some of his usual finesse.” Gideon cleared his throat.
She locked her jaw against the surge of emotion that came with Daegan"s abrupt absence, the immediate emptiness inside her. Instead, she let herself feel the tightening of Gideon"s hands, his silent understanding. He always assumed that he was second fiddle to Daegan, but she knew that wasn"t correct. She didn"t know if she could explain it herself, however, or if she even wanted to do so. How could she explain that there was something in her, growing ever larger daily, that needed both of them in her life, for different reasons but no less strongly, not one over the other? Particularly when she was nursing a deep sense of inexplicable hurt toward one, and the other one considered this a temporary role at best.
Moving away, she turned and faced Lord Brian. She read people well, particularly men.
She"d been braced for Lord Brian to be arrogant and overbearing, a less palatable form of Daegan. Perhaps it was the title, which she understood was given to all born vampires, or those awarded a Region. Brian was the former, the son of a British Region Master.
Much as she was reluctant to admit it while she was out of sorts with him, Daegan had understood her better than that. He had told her some about her new warden before the scientist arrived. Lord Brian was a rarity in his world. Though young for a vampire at eighty years, he"d shown no interest in becoming a territory overlord or Region Master. His ambition was wholly targeted toward a better understanding of the physiology of vampires. His studies included everything from the chemical makeup of the bond between vampires and servants to whether or not vampire vulnerability to the sun could be overcome. He also headed up project teams that were trying to cure the two diseases that affected vampires, Ennui and the Delilah virus.
His servant, Debra, was the first he"d chosen for himself, versus his parents" choice during his maturation. She appeared to be an exceptional lab assistant, quietly efficient, and yet from the way the two brushed as they moved, tuning the equipment, untangling leads and setting dials, it was obvious their intimacy involved the usual depth one would expect between vampire and servant. She was his, in whatever way he wanted her, and she didn"t seem to have any problems with that.
However, Anwyn did detect a desire for something more in Debra. Though it wasn"t evident in Debra"s body language or expression, Anwyn didn"t need a crystal ball to know what longing drove Brian"s assistant. Being a servant required she give him everything of herself, yet accept however much or little Brian chose to give her, the right of a species that felt itself superior to humans. It was the root of the reason Anwyn had never capitulated to being Daegan"s servant when she was human.
That thought made her gaze stray to Gideon. How, then, could she blame Gideon for fiercely maintaining that, third mark or not, he would not join her for a lifetime commitment in the vampire world? Would she want him to do so? See the proud man subjected to the things she knew happened there?
The vampire blood in her already clamored that it wasn"t his choice, that it was hers. It scared her, how strong that voice was, how fiercely she wanted to hold on to that third-mark connection like an unbreakable chain She somehow already understood how Brian, born with such blood, didn"t even question that his servant was his to do with as he wished, no matter that she seemed to be devoted to that purpose for him.
The human side of Anwyn, struggling valiantly to survive, wouldn"t countenance taking that choice from Gideon. She didn"t care what Daegan said about a third-marked servant being essentially trapped in the role for life, based on Council law.
But she didn"t want to do without him, either.
Well, there was nothing she could do with that for right now. Higher priority was making sure she didn"t drain Atlantis clientele during fits of bloodlust or rip off their heads.
Complimentary drink coupons wouldn"t make up for that little faux pas.
“So what do we need to do first?” she asked, trying to sound matter-of-fact instead of resentful and wary.