Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,111

was on her shoulder. He’d picked up on her worry. Since it was noon, Evan would be well asleep, but he’d likely deduced it on his own. The Scot was quite intuitive.

“Fine. Just . . . I like the quiet at our cabin.”

Our came out without thought. Home was wherever her vampire Master was, but she realized that it felt like home to her. Despite her uncertainty of how best to serve Evan and Niall, the short span of her time with them, she realized she’d embraced the peace and quiet pace of their existence like a drowning swimmer reaching land. A sanctuary.

Brushing his knuckles over her cheek, Niall turned into the parking lot of a camera shop. “I do, too. I expect serious sexual compensation for the sacrifice o’ taking ye to a mall, muirnín.”

“But I didn’t ask you to take me,” she pointed out.

“I’ll still expect payment.”

When she imagined what type of payment she could give him, a warmth expanded in her lower vitals, helping to dispel the tension about the blocker. It was going to be okay.

Niall let her trail after him in the camera shop, though they weren’t there long, since the shop already had the items Niall had ordered on a previous trip. The next stop was unexpected. It was a lingerie store, with a variety of fetish offerings discreetly offered in the back. Once again, Niall picked up a boxed package. He held the door for her, taking her back outside the shop before he explained.

“Evan anticipated ye going to the wedding with us, so he had me order a couple things several weeks ago for the postwedding celebration. Nope.” When she reached for it, he held it over his head. “Ye cannae open it yet. I’ll want to see ye in it, and then we’ll be arrested for what I’ll do to ye, right here.”

She eyed the package as he set it in the back. “What kind of postwedding celebration requires something like that?”

“The wedding hosts are a Master and Mistress. There’s a private party the night after the wedding for guests who like bondage play.”

Her jaw dropped. “You and Evan . . . play with humans?”

“A vampire and servant blend in that environment, no? And dinnae worry, ’tis easy compared to vampire dinners. They believe in rules, pain thresholds, boundaries. All that silly stuff,” he added with a wink.

He parked them outside the mall. When he helped her out of the car, something he insisted on doing, he retained her hand. “Your fingers are cold, muirnín.” He tucked them under his arm. “Ye should have brought a sweater. I should have brought one for ye.”

“You’re not required to take care of me,” she reminded him. “I’m fine.”

He opened the door for an elderly woman in a wheelchair, being pushed by a friend, and nodded courteously to them. Then he gestured to the tent provided by his arm, indicating Alanna should precede him. “I’m not going through a door in front o’ a woman unless a threat’s waiting on her,” he said when she hesitated. “And in a women’s clothing store, I’m far more worried about my well-being than yours.”

He was irreverent and irrepressible. She liked that about him, very much. Especially when, as she moved under his arm, a high enough arch she didn’t even have to duck her head, he caught her waist to stop her, bent and kissed her throat, an incredibly intimate caress, his fingers tight on her hip.

“It is my job to care for ye, lass. In every way.”

Her insides dissolved at the heat in his eyes, his voice. She had to stay in place for a blink of time, a little dizzy from it. She’d gripped his side without realizing it, and he gave her a brief, firm embrace before nudging her gently into the store, discreetly squeezing her backside.

“So the wedding and proper reception are an evening thing, more formal, but also outdoors, on a Southern plantation. Should be warm, even with it being fall. I’m thinking the less fabric the better.” He gave her a wink.

“Of course,” she said dryly. She fingered a garish, colorful muumuu. “Nothing absorbs perspiration like a serviceable cotton.”

“You’re killin’ me, lass. Killin’ my fantasies, right here.”

She nudged him with her hip, and he bumped her back. “So what would my Master prefer?”

“Whatever ye like. Pick some other things as well. After the wedding, we’re going tae an art colony. It’s not hiking terrain, so ye can wear skirts and such.