Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,156

and then rub him between her tender breasts until he came . . .

Niall gave her a rough, impatient kiss. “We should have kept ye in the cellar and fucked ye a hundred times. Stop thinking thoughts like that.”

“If my Master wants to torment you with my thoughts, it’s not for me to deprive him of that pleasure,” she observed demurely.

His pinch made her jump. “Remember what I said about ‘Master’ not being around to protect you. I’ll put ye over a bench and strap you within an inch of your life. Evan’ll join us after his meeting, but Marcus Stanton isnae known for being short-winded when harassing his artists. I have a guid hour at least tae impress upon ye the wisdom of yanking a bear’s chain.”

She suppressed a smile, but when he rested his hand high on her buttock, long fingers wrapped around it to stroke her bare hip bone, she had to concentrate to keep her head up, to walk in a way that best presented her Master’s assets.

“I was watching Evan and Tyler at the reception,” she said, attempting to distract herself. “Their relationship seems to extend beyond a mutual appreciation for art. How did they meet?”

“Always the observant one.” Niall nodded. “Tyler used to work for the government. One o’ those mysterious agencies. He’s never said which one. Our paths crossed his in the Middle East. Tyler got betrayed by a key informant, and we stumbled on him in a tough spot. He was overwhelmed in numbers and firepower. Though we didnae know a thing about him, neither Evan nor I liked the feel of it, so we got him out of there.”

Niall shrugged. “The lad was beat up pretty badly, so Evan took most his weight and dragged him out of there. Guid thing he was there to shield Tyler, because Evan took several slugs in the back that would have killed a human. I took a gun away from one of the bastards and laid down cover fire while Evan used his speed to get Tyler free of it. I caught up with them later. That third mark speed is fair handy at times.” He gave her a wink.

“After that, he must have realized the two of you were something . . . different. Or was he too out of it to remember what happened?” She didn’t like to think of bullets hitting Evan, or Niall in the line of fire, no matter how indestructible they imagined themselves.

“Ye could beat that lad’s head into a brick wall for an hour and he’d still have his wits about him,” Niall said dryly. “If I didnae know for certain he was human, I’d swear Tyler had vampire or Fae blood. But aye, I think he realizes we’re not exactly what we say we are. Never to this day has he said a word about it, though.”

Which was good, because the Council forbade knowledge of vampires among humans not integrated into their society through at least a first- or second-marking.

“Most folk find it easier tae overlook something like that than to entertain the idea of vampires,” Niall said. “But Tyler’s like Evan. He sees things other people dinnae, and he’s careful how he uses the information.”

She thought about that as they continued to wander through the party, studying the public scenes being executed by other Masters and Mistresses with their willing subs. While Niall nodded to several submissives not currently engaged, ones he obviously knew, he also demonstrated courteous deference to the Masters and Mistresses. She saw them acknowledge he was here as Evan’s, but she also caught the speculative looks, reflecting some of the same thoughts she’d had about Niall.

Evan and Niall reminded her of Tyler and Marguerite. Niall told her Tyler rarely exercised his rights as Master over Marguerite in mixed company, but she’d seen the subtle signs of her submission when Tyler touched his wife. Her gaze would briefly lower, her body gravitating toward his, her fingers docile in his grasp, seeking permission to touch. Yet when the woman looked toward a sub, she exuded a Mistress’s power, the sense she had the right to touch anything she damn well pleased . . . and he’d beg for her to do so.

“Oh . . . my.”

They’d reached the side lawn. Down where the wedding had occurred, a different ritual was occurring at the altar. Brendan’s upright body was a demonstration of Japanese rope tying, done by Chloe herself. A rope harness ran from