"Jacob. " A soft murmur of sound, her voice breathless. He took her up high, down slow, stroking her with his full length, despite the fact he knew he was going to explode in no time from such exquisite slick torture. She liked to squeeze, liked to feel the ridge of him push through her muscles. "Ah . . . " He kept it slow as her hands began to jerk in their hold on him, her body tightening, ready. He held her to his pace and she let him, didn't try to take the lead, smiling even through her strain, acknowledging the wonder of it. He wasn't even sure if he was in the lead or if they were in fact on a tide that was inexorably, rhythmi- cally, pulling them both toward their destination. A cry broke from her lips, but he kept pushing her down on him, again and again, until her whole body was quivering, rocketing with the intensity of the climax he was inflicting on them both at such a pace. When he began to come, he banded his arms even more tightly around her, burying his face in her neck, pressing his lips there as he surged strong and hard into her pussy, piercing her deep, giving her a taste of pain with the vibrating pleasure of her aftershocks. Her teeth scored his ear, responding. He smiled, closing his eyes as shud- ders racked through him. He let himself be content to hold her then, knowing his lady never told him false. At the next moonrise, they'd be at the Gather- ing, where everything would be different. She'd given him this to remember.
And just as she'd asked, he had her heart in his safekeep- ing, beating in his own chest. He was sure of it.
Jacob stretched his legs after they deplaned from the private jet on a narrow landing strip. They were somewhere in Chile or Argentina, but he knew little else about the location of the Vampire Gathering. The stronghold where they'd hold the annual Vampire Gathering was secluded, another hour's travel by off-road vehicle. Lyssa had said the private resort getaway was located on the coast and backed by the lush, temperate rain forest of this region. She'd explained that the resort belonged to Lord Mason, a vam- pire Jacob knew was one of the older ones at over six hundred. He was rarely seen, choosing to live in seclusion in the Saudi desert.
However, he loaned the property to the Vampire Council for their purposes, apparently having no desire of his own to visit it, but equally having no desire to relinquish it. Mason and Lyssa had a history. Jacob had seen at least one cor- respondence from the vampire to her. Though he hadn't been privy to the contents, he knew it had somehow contributed to the events that led her to give him the third mark. Thomas had also told him something of Mason. Years ago, Lyssa had wanted Mason to be more involved in the Council formation, but Mason apparently was not a joiner. He wanted nothing more than seclusion and turned away from the notion of "civilized" vampires. Lyssa had been disap- pointed, perhaps even feeling a bit betrayed by the friend she'd hoped she could count on. Since that had been so long ago, she'd obviously gotten past it enough to exchange correspondence with him again, but that was all. Jacob had tried not to be selfishly glad of that. Thomas had im- plied there'd once been something more between the two of them. If not for Mason's aversion to vampire society, it might have been Ma- son instead of Rex that Lyssa would have chosen for marriage. You don't court me, Jacob. You serve me. He pushed that memory away, knowing he needed to be steady and balanced as they stepped out onto the tarmac to meet a full complement of Council members. For the next three days he would be surrounded by creatures that saw him as food, a sex slave, an in- ferior being, a tool. For his lady's benefit, he would have to perform accordingly. Knowing his lady, that performance could take many forms. And most of them would make him ner vous as hell if he dwelled on the possibilities at all. Humans were expected to satiate vampire desires as sexual sub- missives on many different levels. At the Gathering, that aspect of a servant's role was turned to high volume. Until now, except for the dinner with Lord Tara, Lady Richard and Lord Brian,most--though not all--of his submission to his lady had been private. He suspected that would not be the case here. While he didn't agree entirely with Debra's assessment of it, he knew on one important level she was right.
His lady loved him and had told him she did, something unique to a vampire-human rela- tionship. She also viewed him as her servant, expecting his obedi- ence. While she trembled under his touch, she wouldn't hesitate to physically hurt him if he defied her to the point of blatant disrespect. And he understood that. Accepted it in a way that wouldn't make sense to Gideon or anyone else. Perhaps it only made sense to some- one who had the mind-set to be a human servant. Now he stood at her back, a deferential few feet behind while she exchanged greetings. A meeting of hands, a brush of the lips across the cheek. A contingent of humans stood back, waiting as well. From their appearance, he knew these were not the human servants attached to these Council vampires. The overlords invited to the Gathering were not of equal rank. Therefore those of the lower ranks might have their servants pressed into all sorts of duties during the Gathering--cleaning, waitstaff, bellhop ser vices. While he and Lyssa had discussed that, she had neglected to tell him how these servants would be garbed. The group of men and women waiting for direction had ex- tremely attractive bodies, noticeable because they wore little on them. Their individuality was denied them because they wore full head masks with nose and eye openings, but no mouth opening. From the stretched concave curve in that area, it appeared they wore ball gags beneath so speech was not possible. They could only re- ceive and follow orders. Each wore a modified form of chastity belt where the genitals were visible but caged by a closely fitted wire mold. Other than those two items, they wore nothing else. It made him terribly grateful he was attached to a high-ranking vampire. Never mind that their identities were safeguarded by the masks. He was sure it was not for their benefit, but a practical con- sideration for their Master or Mistress, so no one could identify their servant and try to manipulate them for political benefit. He would not be commandeered for any services of which his lady did not approve. She'd also made it clear he was to follow only her direc- tion and to never, ever let his guard down once they were off the plane. As two of the humans were ordered to move and claim the baggage of another vampire who had just arrived, he noticed some- thing else.
The men's cocks were hard and erect in the caged wires that pressed the engorged shafts against their bellies. The women's eyes were wide and flared, their bodies obviously being kept in a stimulated state, the wires over their pussies wet with their arousal. As they turned, bent, he saw the chastity belts were fitted with dildos inserted into all available openings, depending on gender. It was the type of discomfort that vampires enjoyed inflicting, allowing them to inhale the scent of human arousal to stoke their own desires. He pulled his attention away from that back to his lady. Accus- tomed enough to the internal stratus of vampire society not to ex- pect an introduction, he nevertheless was conscious of a penetrating assessment by each vampire who stepped forward and greeted his lady. They'd gone over each member of the Council thoroughly, so he had no problem recognizing each one. He'd also gotten impres- sions of them through his many communications with their servants over the past month on his lady's behalf. He noted names, body lan- guage, the shift of eyes, the level of deference exhibited and his lady's reaction to each. The last one who stepped forward was Belizar, the head of the Council and obviously of Russian Cossack stock. With steel gray eyes and swept-back hair streaked with silver, he had an aura that said he had no problem removing the body parts of anyone who crossed him. He had a throbbing power hard to ignore. His gaze swept over Jacob, then again to Lyssa as he stepped back but retained her hand. "Lady Lyssa, you do us great honor by being here. I'm pleased to see you've at last overcome your grief to take another servant. May it please you one day to feel the same about another mate. " From the grip he had on her hand, there was no doubt who Beli- zar felt that should be. And of course an allegiance between the head of the Vampire Council and the last Far Eastern vampire of royal blood would make logical sense to everyone present. No one would think it an inappropriate implication. No one except Jacob, who knew the wound in her heart from Thomas's loss and Rex's betrayal was still deep. Not to mention the fact it had resulted in a death sentence hanging over her.