As George came after him, bringing the sword down, Jacob writhed around it, punched him in the jaw and followed it up with a shove from his foot. George toppled backward. In the blink of time he was on his back in the dirt, Jacob was up, his blade at his throat. Imme- diately, he backed off, bowed and awaited George's next move. "I yield, " George called out with a rueful smile.
There were some cheers, some groans, depending on which knight the child had de- cided to champion. Grinning, Jacob handed George up and the two men embraced. George said something that earned a quick laugh from Jacob. He rubbed his arm, as if indicating George's sword blow well could have turned the tide in his favor. Then her servant turned, found her in the crowd. Seeking his la- dy's approval of his victory. Emotional and physical response flooded her in such a hard wave she drew in a breath as if she'd just felt a sharp pain. As he moved toward her, his eyes rested on her face with that potent absorption that made her have a craving to devour him alive, their impressionable audience notwithstanding. Trying to slow her rapid heartbeat, she let her attention move from his face to the broad shoulders and the sweat that dampened the front of the thin tunic. The capable way he still held the sword, as if it were an exten- sion of his hand. The graceful power of his body as he walked to- ward her. Looking at him was not doing a thing to slow her heart rate. Bou was walking alongside without reins to guide her. When they reached the wall, the children were already pressing forward with the supervision of the Faire people. As Bou bent her head to al- low herself to be touched, Jacob placed a hand on her neck. "My lady, " he spoke. "Have I won your favor? Am I deserving?" More than you know. However, Lyssa rose, tossed her hair. "I know not.
Perhaps it was as much luck as skill that won you the game, since the other man's horse stumbled, costing him the second lance. " There were jeers and boos. Jacob placed a hand over his heart as if he'd been struck, staggering back to laughter. "What say all of you?" she called out. The children shouted out their opinions immediately, and Terry guided them on the pre- dominant call of "Favor! Favor!" even as George scowled ferociously and yelled his disagreement, waving his arms in a gesture to silence them all.
Jacob raised a brow as they quieted at last. "It seems they have more faith in my abilities than my lady does. " I have too much faith in your abilities. It makes me fear for you. Despite the dark thought she blocked from Jacob, she accepted Terry's hand to proceed down the bleachers until she stood just above him. Removing her scarflike net and kissing the jeweled fab- ric, she tied it on his arm, letting her hand linger on the sleeve of his tunic to feel the muscle beneath. As the audience cheered, she heard John hollering out his approval and Elijah's whistle. Jacob wound his fingers in a loose lock of her hair and tugged, giving her one of his smiles. "Fortunate scarf, to get a taste of your lips. " Those vivid blue eyes locked on her. "What must I do to win such an honor? Slay a dragon? Lead an army?" Refuse to do anything, even in my service, that would make you turn away from me or love me less than you do today. She covered his surprised mouth with hers before he could re- spond to the thought she'd given him as clearly as a spoken sentence. She knew how much of his heart was worrying over what he would help her do next week, knew there was nothing she could do to stop it. He was right. She had to have the blood. Perhaps, with the time being as short as it was, she should have been like Carnal and simply taken a criminal life. But as powerful as she was, and knowing what the disease could do to her emotional control in its later stages, she couldn't take the risk of being influenced by the blood of an evil car- rier. Nothing could make me love you any less, my lady. I love you more every day. How many times must I tell you that my life is yours to command? Earlier, she'd told him she loved him. It was not the first time she'd said it, but now she knew she should never say the words again. How could it even come close to meaning what it meant when he said it?
She was accepting the type of love from him she'd already given up the right to offer in return. She knew the world was more than the two of them. During ra- tional moments, she knew giving him the third mark had made sound sense. He'd as much as pointed that out. But during other moments she wondered if the stories and legends she'd always ig- nored had been right. If vampires were in fact evil, and she'd drawn a good man into Hell. Because he wasn't just sacrificing his life for her. He was offering her everything, including the right to tarnish the integrity of his soul.
Chapter Twelve
Jacob watched Carl Ronin step out of the upscale sushi bar and bid his friends good night. Turning up the collar of his jacket, he began to stride down the cobblestone street that marked the down- town art district. It reminded Jacob that not six blocks away was the Eldar Salon, where he'd convinced his lady to consider taking him as her servant. Tonight he faced the most difficult part of being one. He would stand by, waiting as she took the life of a man who had done nothing to deserve his life being cut short. Then he would dis- pose of the body for her. Through his extensive research, he knew Carl worked for an ad agency. He was currently between girlfriends, though he'd been close to marrying the last one. If he had, it would have saved his life, for Lyssa didn't take married men as her annual kill. So thorough was his lady in her research, Jacob even knew that Carl had two dogs and he'd made provision in his will that they should be given to an old army buddy if he ever became unexpect-edly deceased. He had a downtown apartment within walking dis- tance of this bar that he visited twice a week. He had no idea his life would end tonight. His Mistress materialized so easily out of the shadows Jacob didn't even see from which direction she came. Wearing a black cocktail dress and a shawl, she looked as if she'd just come from a party.
She asked Ronin for directions to a small bistro not far from his apartment, so it was natural for them to fall into step together, him offering to show her there. Her hand lightly moved to his arm, drawing his attention there. She was already releasing her vampire pheromones. She'd apparently decided to do it early, not taking any chances of things going wrong. Carl's dick would be getting hard, making him believe he was feeling some type of instant attraction to her, a connection that would erode barriers typically held in place by commonsense suspi- cion. When she laughed at something he said, she took a more secure grip on his biceps as she apparently made a misstep in her skinny heel. His hand naturally slid around her waist. As she looked up at him through her lashes, Jacob knew Carl was thinking he'd walked into his best luck of the evening, maybe his entire life. When Gideon had taken him on his very first vampire hunt, Jacob had fought the anxiety and fear in all the usual ways. With denial, avoidance, acceptance, analysis. He hadn't realized how valu- able the privacy of his own thoughts was for that process. Several times over the past couple of days, when he hadn't been able to mask his building reaction to what was coming, she'd reiterated that he didn't need to come with her, that she'd do this on her own. He'd fi- nally asked her--begged her, actually--to just to stay out of his mind until it was over. He was her servant. He'd do what needed to be done. She wasn't going alone. Gideon's visit had been too recent. What if he was still out there with a team to interfere, to catch her unawares? What if Carl was more resourceful than expected? As long as she was at full strength and awareness, no one could sneak up on her. But therein lay his concern, and one of the reasons he himself had pushed her to do what she'd put off for months. The pheromones were doing their job, or maybe just her proxim- ity alone, which Jacob knew could play havoc with a man's senses. When Carl's hand slid lower, to the top of her buttock, she pressed closer to him, giving him a view of her cleavage. He should feel nothing but sympathy for the man, glad that he could take pleasure in a woman's body in his last moments of life.