of another, always putting those needs first, learning myriad ways to be genuinely responsive and enthusiastic, no matter what was demanded . . . it took tremendous psychological skills and an in-depth understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses. It also required a brutal understanding of who and what her Master was, what he most desired from her.
Stephen’s priority was obedience; she was a service given to him by privilege. If he loaned her to another vampire, he expected her to obey that vampire no differently than she obeyed him. But Niall and Evan wanted her to obey their commands specifically. To respond to them specifically. To want them specifically.
Beyond that, their expectations had nothing to do with the code of being a servant. They wanted her . . . to want to please them. She’d been trained that it was one and the same, but they understood there was a difference. And they were right. Otherwise, why had she automatically responded that it was different, the same command issued by Stephen and Evan?
This whole line of thinking set her feet on a dangerous road, where her own desires became a separate entity from those of her Master. No, it was not a road at all, but a forest as wild and mysterious as that which surrounded their cabin. But she had no choice, for Niall was waiting for an honest answer. She thought of that first moment after Evan second-marked her, when she could hear both him and Niall in her mind. It had felt different from Stephen’s second mark, too.
“I want to be commanded to sit in your lap. I want you to want me to sit in your lap.”
He squeezed her wrist, an unfathomable look in his golden brown eyes. Last night, she’d given more of her heart to them than she’d offered to Stephen in all thirteen years of her service. Because her heart was the last thing he’d wanted. What’s more, with Niall and Evan, it felt like what a servant should be offering. Unconditionally.
“I want you,” she whispered, walking a frayed tightrope over land mines.
Evan’s voice slid into her head. Teasing.
Only him?
It flustered her again. She shook her head, but Niall spoke for her. “She’s nodding emphatically, Evan. Sorry, old boy.”
“I am not,” she exclaimed. “Master, he is making up things.”
Niall grinned then, merely locking his grip when she tried to pull away. With a quick yank, he pulled her into his lap. She caught his shoulder so she didn’t fall, but he already had her securely by the waist, steadying her. He nodded to her utensils, pulling her plate closer to his. “Eat.”
She picked up her fork, bemused by her perch, his fingers splayed over her hip bone. His thigh muscles shifted under her, a pleasant sensation with her legs straddling his, her buttocks pushed back against his hip and abdomen. He held her with one arm and ate with the other. As she cut her egg, she watched him shovel in the breakfast. His table manners weren’t bad; he just had a healthy appetite, one that made her glad that she’d cooked plenty.
Putting down her fork, she plucked several wood chips from his hair, smoothed the strands over his temple. In response, he pressed a kiss to her collarbone, his hair brushing her cheek, and left the scent of bacon and coffee on her skin. She didn’t mind.
Evan had gone quiet after his teasing, so she assumed he’d returned to sleep. The earlier rain was long gone, the sun’s heat penetrating the windows, despite the fall chill. “Does Evan sell his work? Is that how he makes a living?”
Evan’s world was a curious one for her, since the vampires in the upper circles were already wealthy, through centuries of investment and business interests. She knew vampires who worked regular jobs like humans existed; she’d just never met any.
Niall shrugged, sitting back with his coffee, still balancing her on his knee. “It’s how he makes his living now. In the beginning, he had a sponsor, and that and portrait commissions took him through lean times. Before electricity, there were few night jobs. But when he did find one, he didnae mind doing it. The lad’s not afraid of hard work.” The approval in Niall’s voice was clear.
“In fact, he liked doing them. Before he was turned, he wasnae a very healthy human.” Niall picked up another biscuit. Since the butter was closer to her, she took it from him, added the same amount she’d