Wrapping the towel around his waist, Gideon sat down on the edge of the bed, maintaining an upright stance with visible effort. "Then you have my word. " His attention went back to his brother. "While I'm her guest, I won't do or try anything to cause her harm. " As if he could. Yes, my lady. He could. Please, for my own peace of mind, don't underestimate Gideon. There was a robe hanging on the armoire, one she'd apparently left in here when she brought the towels. Jacob retrieved it at her un- spoken command as she shrugged out of her disheveled dress and undergarments. When she put her arms back, he slid it onto her shoulders, satin onto silk, while Gideon watched. She didn't belt the robe. Rolling off the sheer stockings, she stepped out of the heels she'd kept on during their violent encounter. It made Jacob wonder if Gideon had stiletto marks on his ass. Despite that, as she padded away from him and toward his brother, with her hair down and feet now bare, he thought she looked like an innocent girl.
However, Jacob knew the view Gideon was get- ting was much different. Not just the sensual beauty of her naked body, shadowed temptingly under the movement of the folds of fab- ric, but her jade green eyes that held all the mystery of Woman since the beginning of time. He'd been pinned by that gaze often enough to know. When she reached his brother, for a couple of breaths, she simply stood, looking at him. Jacob couldn't see Gideon's face, but whatever she saw in it pained her, for a sympathetic response rippled through her. When she reached out, his hand shot up, caught her wrist. Jacob started forward, but Lyssa's sharp mental command stopped him. She was in control of the situation. She lifted the other hand. When Gideon caught that one, she used her body, pressing forward, one step, two steps, until she stood between his knees, him holding her hands so the robe fluttered out to either side like wings. Abruptly, he let her go, dropping his head so his hair brushed her bare breasts. A tremor ran through his broad, scarred back. He whispered something Jacob didn't quite catch. Lyssa repeated it for him. Just go away. She wrapped her arms around him, laying her head over his. "I think you've had far too much of that in your life. Those who've left you, and those you've driven away. Now it's time to sleep, " she said soft ly. "Just sleep. Because soon I'm going to want you. I'll use you again and again tonight, Gideon. I can't draw all the poison out, but I can draw out enough to help you remember what it was like to be whole. " "I can't. I don't want this. " Jacob silently left them to clean himself up in the bathroom. When he came back, she was turning down the bed, easing Gideon into it on his side, then herself behind him. When she reached a hand back, Jacob slid in behind her, spooning around her body. "Jacob will protect us while we sleep. He'll protect us both. " "Who'll protect him . . . From you?" Gideon muttered sleepily.
Her hand paused, but then she resumed her stroking of his brother's dark hair, spreading it on his shoulders. "Sssh . . . Just sleep. "
Jacob, I'm hungry. Gideon's breath was even. Lyssa passed her hand over his bare flesh, drawing the covers up over him. Then she turned and nestled into Jacob's arms, her nose nuzzling, seeking his throat like a kitten. Thank God the third mark gave him stamina far exceeding that of a regular man, for she'd lived up to her promise, or threat, de- pending on how a man looked at it. Gideon was sleeping deeply, the sleep of a man who'd been brought to orgasm multiple times in just the past hour and a half. The last time, she'd laid her robe over Gideon's face to form a loose blindfold. She'd tangled his wrists in the sash without tying it, giving him the illusion but not the reality of restraint. Then she'd moved down his body and put her mouth over him, causing him to fist his hands in the iron bars of the bed and yank hard as he thrust himself into her mouth. She'd been on her knees, her hips high in the air, and Jacob had stood on his knees behind her, thrusting into her wet pussy this time, feeling as if he was coming home, pumping her slowly, stroking her the way she liked until he was rewarded by her cry of release against the flesh of his brother's erection, the heat of her breath pushing Gideon over as well. Just the recollection of her slick folds rippling over him was enough to get him hard again. Apparently the third mark conveyed some of the vampire's sexual appetite with it. Or maybe it was just her ef- fect on him. My blood is yours, my lady. As am I. She put her temple against his jaw. I know that. She laid her hand on his forearm, the one she'd broken not so long ago, her fingers gentle. As always, he felt a shadow of regret from her. She'd apolo- gized for doing it. Actually, the night she'd done it, she'd tried to kill herself, thinking she was becoming the monster her husband, Rex, had become. Rather than a woman dealing with a terminal illness who had lashed out at the loss of control she was beginning to expe- rience from the symptoms.
He'll be gone tomorrow, won't he? Jacob thought the question. We've broken open an infected wound. Drained off the pus. He'll have to decide if he'll let it heal or get it infected again. He rolled her to her back and she let him,her legs opening to ac- cept him and the teasing pressure of his cock. An arch and the head was seated in her opening, her eyes darkening. Jacob began to ease forward, pressing his knees into the bed, moving slowly, quiet. He wanted his brother to sleep, and not just because of his own desire for privacy at the moment. Her fingers curled around his neck, bringing his full weight down on her so she could nip at his throat, lick, make his cock harden further inside so that her own muscles spasmed in reaction. He buried a groan against her hair even as her teeth pierced him with searing pain, followed by the stroke of her tongue as she began to take in his blood, replenishing the strength the evening had taken from her. Moments like this, he almost could forget what they faced. Could pretend they'd have years and years to explore one another. Years to be infuriated by her, amused by her. Besotted by her. She'd seemed invincible tonight, omnipotent. So beautiful and powerful, she was beyond the touch of death and sickness. But she needed his blood, his strength. As he'd predicted, the third mark was helping her maintain her strength in a way he hadn't been able to offer with just the second mark. Are you saying I told you so, Sir Vagabond? His lips curved against her temple even as his fingers curled into her hair, the other hand dropping below the covers. He slid down the nip of her waist and flare of hip to grip her thigh, press deeper at a better angle. It caused a hitch in her focus, both in her mind and in the gasp that caught in her throat even as she swallowed his blood. Smugness is a rare luxury with you, my lady. I beg your leave to indulge it. Clever tongue. I think I'd have it cut out of you if it weren't . . . So . . . Clever. He kept his movements torturously slow. As such, they were both without breath or words at the end as the climax rippled through them.