Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,149

was right, that Chloe would be the type of person who could allow Brendan to serve her with his whole heart.

She’d embraced being an InhServ, seeking what this couple hoped to find when they clasped hands. A yearning that became something full and complete, a knowledge that the need would forever be satisfied in that bond.

Finding a handkerchief pressed in her hand, she looked toward her Master. Evan brushed her cheek, revealing the tear there. His touch, the kindness of the handkerchief, made her want to do all sorts of unlikely things. Sink down to the grass at his feet, stay on her knees, showing her devotion and desire, her need to at last be everything to a Master. A Master who wanted what she had to offer.

She closed her eyes as he stroked her hair in response. That tightness in her chest increased as Niall removed his arm to give Evan more access, but he closed his hand over hers in her lap. When Evan stopped stroking, she tentatively turned her other hand palm up, not daring to look down and witness her own presumption.

Barely a blink, and Evan’s hand closed over hers. She gripped them both, that three-way link, and then she brought both hands together in her lap, such that her hand ended up beneath both of theirs, their fingers loosely entwined over them. Two men, and she submitted to both, wanted to belong to both.

Evan had encouraged her to think of them that way. Having that reassurance, having them touch her now, she didn’t question it.

As the young couple made the sacred vows that would carry them through a lifetime, she noted Brendan had no best man. Marguerite stood in that place, a Mistress giving him into Chloe’s keeping. Gen stood behind Chloe as her maid of honor.

She recalled the oath of an InhServ, the words they were required to say first thing upon rising, and when lying down for rest. It was their only sanctioned prayer, their only approved faith.

I will serve my assigned Master with everything I am. Mind, heart, body and soul. No reservations, nothing withheld. My life belongs to the vampire who owns me, and I will never hesitate to give him whatever he desires, be it my last drop of blood or my last breath of life.

The oath didn’t include love. It was the service, the honor of living up to that oath, that had become her identity, not love for her Master.

Her glance flitted to Niall. Was that how he viewed it, his oath to Evan? A debt of honor, he’d said. Maybe that was what rankled between them now, the fact that it had become far more, and yet it was about to end. If she’d found with Evan what Niall had, no amount of time would ever be enough. Was the friction between them as simple as coping with the impending grief of separation? Did seeing her serve Evan remind Niall another would be taking his place before long, such that he was dredging up old angers and resentments to manage his emotions about that?

Evan’s fingers stilled on her nape. When she looked toward him, there was pain in his expression. Had he been listening, and she’d struck a nerve too close to home? If so, she suspected he wouldn’t share the thoughts with Niall, for which she was grateful, since she sensed Niall was dealing with his own private demons. His gaze had shifted from the bride and groom to the river beyond, and his eyes were distant, his mouth tight. Did Ceana’s ghost haunt him here, reminding him of promises he felt he hadn’t honored properly?

Putting her other hand on top of his, she stroked the Scot’s knuckles, a pressure that said she was here. Whether a crofter who’d had to bury his wife and daughter, or an InhServ who’d expected to be everything her Master had ever needed, they both understood losing the right to have expectations. As if they were the dreams of children, embarrassing and painful to recall now.

When he looked at her, it seemed perfectly natural to touch his face, stretch upward to kiss him. Evan’s fingers slipped to her shoulder, caressing her there, keeping the three of them still linked.

“It’s all right, muirnín,” she whispered, adopting Niall’s endearment for her. “She understood. And she loved you.”

She wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to say, for Niall’s expression gave nothing away. She’d swept some of her hair up, the excess