Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,181

here for sanctuary. Forty are maintenance, administrative and security staff, like Mel, with about fifteen of them being men. The founder of the sanctuary realized early on it was important to have men present who could be role models of how men should act toward women and children. Many of them serve under Mel as security, which proves there are men who take their well-being and protection very seriously.”

“Does the founder live here?”

“No. I’m sworn not to reveal his identity.” Evan squeezed her hand. “What he’s doing is not against the rules of our kind, but it’s a vulnerability to know too much about a vampire.”

The founder was a vampire? She looked toward the lit cottage. Niall was standing inside, studying something on the floor. Or perhaps he was staring into space, working through his thoughts. Glancing back at Evan, she saw he had his wrist resting comfortably along the top of her seat, his posture relaxed. It appeared he was giving his servant time to do just that.

“Master, may I ask you something?”

His gray eyes shifted to her. He could of course see the question in her mind, but seeing and responding to it were two distinct acts.

“You’ve asked me often what I want, but I wonder . . . what it is you want from me.”

The answer had been simple before she met them. A vampire wanted obedience, unquestioned loyalty. Immediate compliance to anything he demanded.

“Those are all good things. And you need to work on them.”

She flushed, knowing he was referring to the Trad, but on other things, he had to assume some fault, because he was asking her to break out of her mold, walk in territory she wasn’t used to treading.

She’d tried to squelch that, but when his gaze sparked with amusement, she knew she was all right. Though her working on a less vocal mind was probably starting to be on his list of desires.

“Most likely,” he responded dryly. Then he leaned forward, gazing into her face with such intensity she was tempted to look down, but she knew now when he wanted her meeting his eyes.

“I want you to live to be three hundred, Alanna,” he said. “I want you to have as full a life as Niall has had. And I want to do whatever is necessary to make that happen. But should that be beyond my abilities”—a muscle ticked in his jaw—“I want you to take what pleasure and happiness you can from what you’re given.”

She swallowed. It was the most generous thing anyone had ever said to her. But it wasn’t what she was seeking. Her real question was one she had no right to ask at all. Ironically, she’d never worried about the answer to it, until now. “You want me to embrace my feelings, my desires, my wants. You’ve demanded I act on them, instead of my training. I never thought I’d meet a vampire who . . . would make me want to demand the same from him.”

His brow arched, the gray eyes sharpening. “Demand?”

“I need to know what I have no right to know, Master. For me to make the most of that pleasure and happiness, I need to know how you feel.”

He shook his head. “The devil blesses a woman’s tongue to confound male senses. Niall used to say that, early in my service. I told him it was superstitious nonsense, but you’ve just rendered him speechless, and trapped me in my own clever and magnanimous verbiage.”

She suspected she was going to have a permanent blush, but still she persisted. “I’ve never wanted to be with a human not of our world, Master. I’ve always wanted this world, and to serve a vampire. What you are, what you feel, what you need. That’s my purpose . . . my desire. So I need the answer of the vampire, not the civilized man.”

He nodded. Considered. The veneer she’d sensed when he asked her if she wanted to have sex with another man dropped, the gray eyes steeling in a way that sent desire arrowing straight through her. He gave her a clear and ruthless answer.

“If you let another male touch you, other than Niall, I will take a belt to you in a way that will get me thrown out of here in a heartbeat, banned forever. And I won’t regret it a bit. Now, go make amends with Niall, because he feels exactly the same way.”

Something bloomed in her heart, an explosion of flowers like