Chapter Fourteen
Here he was, in a resort full of vampires, with no weapons. Not even clothes. Gideon would be laughing his ass off. But as he remembered her words, her touch on his body and his mind, Jacob's back straightened, his head lifting. He was Lady Lys- sa's human servant. The man granted the right to touch her, feed her. Given access to her heart, sometimes even her soul. And she wanted him seen. This was her world, and to be everything she needed, he had to be a part of it fully. It had been easy enough to find the resort area. It was on the southeast side of the palace where a huge lawn was sculpted with elaborate hedge gardens and open spaces for a variety of games. The panoramic ocean was the backdrop to a spectacular view of the sur- real and fantastic. It was an Escher painting come to life in vivid color. A verandah of alabaster white railings and columns overlooked it all, following the line of this side of the castle. There were two exit points, marble staircases that made matching crescent shapes to the bottom, inviting guests into the gardens and play areas. It appeared that over a hundred vampires of various ranks were there, sipping drinks and lounging at chairs and tables on the verandah, socializing and watching the entertainments going on below.
Before he could follow their gazes, the smell of burning flesh and a strangled cry drew his attention toward a pavilion at the base of the closest set of stairs. While a servant knelt at his Master's feet, another man, apparently a blacksmith, applied a brand to the ser- vant's buttocks. When he removed the iron, the vampire considered the mark, amused as it began to fade. Except for the bitten back cry, the servant was motionless, awaiting his master's bidding. Because of Lyssa, Jacob had gotten in the habit of assuming all vampire-servant pairings were opposite gender, but he realized quite obviously it would vary depending on the sexual preference of the vampire. "A fun diversion, " the vampire said. "Perhaps we will come back later and do other body parts if you do not please me. " There was no fear in the servant's expression as he rose and fol- lowed his Master, telling Jacob the man enjoyed suffering such pain at his Master's demand. Or that he'd learned to mask fear well. No. His intuition had been deepened by his third mark connec- tion with Lyssa, and he'd been able to sense the absence of fear in the submissive male. Plus, as he'd seen vividly with Melinda, a servant didn't last long in the ser vice of his Mistress or Master if there was not some bond of trust between vampire and servant. He found himself lingering over the memory of how the vampire had looked at the mark, bent to pass his fingers over it. The emo- tional tremor of the servant's body at the touch, the unguarded re- sponse in the vampire's eyes when he wasn't affecting the amused boredom. When a hand brushed the bare skin over his ribs, Jacob managed to turn toward the touch with an expression of mild indifference, rather than jumping back like a cat in a room full of way too many fanged rocking chairs. Seanna gave him a thorough look. Her Master, Lord Richard of the Alabama territory, was apparently pleased to have her garbed in a creation of black straps that left her breasts bare. The straps criss-crossed, lift ing and binding the generous mounds.
Her nipples were captured in silver clamps connected by a decorative chain. While the skirt of studded straps she wore fell below her knees, the straps parted when she moved, showing her shaved mound and generous ass. Since she wore the fetish wear as if she bore the trap- pings of an Amazon queen, Jacob couldn't deny the outfit looked damn good on her. Enough to cause an embarrassing stirring of his cock. "Irishman. " "Seanna. " A smile curved her lush mouth. "So formal. Last time it was much more affectionate. `Arrogant bitch, ' wasn't it?" The teasing light in her eyes dissipated the anxiety he expected at having to deal with her. Seanna was emanating the respect of a peer, underscoring that he'd won his spurs as Lyssa's servant. Since she had connections with the servants of many other high-ranking vam- pires, he knew that was a good thing, even as he maintained a healthy wariness. "You made it difficult for me to walk that next morning, " she ac- cused him with mock gravity. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, " he said, seeking something safe to say. Her brows rose. "It was all a pleasure, Irishman. A pleasure I'd be happy to repeat with you if you're otherwise unengaged while waiting for your Mis- tress. We could go to the statuary gardens, become some of the live entertainment. " She nodded in the direction of the hedge gardens, where the at- tention of most of the vampires on the verandah appeared to be rest- ing. However, since an inordinate number of them now seemed to be studying him, he let Seanna take his hand and coax him down the stairs. As they got to the base and passed the blacksmith's pavilion, he realized what he'd thought were more statues in the hedge gar- dens were living humans. When Seanna strolled toward them, he saw they had been placed in poses in the midst of circles of flowers and elegantly landscaped shrubs and ordered to remain motionless.
One woman bent over, holding her ankles, her hair brushing the ground. Nine blond locks had been tied in knots and staked out in a fan shape on the ground with decorative wrought-iron wickets. A man stood behind her bur- ied to the ball sac, his hands gripping her hips, his head back as if in the throes of climax. Both were slightly quivering, showing the ten- sion of holding such a provocative pose. "She'll come before long, " Seanna confided. "See? Her Master has put a clitoral stimulator on her so she can't stop milking that slave with her pussy muscles. When she comes, her Master will punish her for everyone's enjoyment. " "And if he comes first?" "Then the male servant will have the honor of the punishment. " Seanna linked her arm in his, her hand whispering along his biceps as she guided him past the two. The same heightened senses which allowed him to detect emotions also brought him the smell of the girl's arousal. As they passed the copulating pair, Jacob could see the stretched pink lips of her pussy, the deep red flush of her nipples. Because he had no control of his cock, which had a mind of its own about such stimuli, he tried to ignore Seanna's appreciative gaze at it through her lashes. It was only going to get worse, for the garden was full of such sights. Not all vampires were on the verandah. Many wandered through the gardens just as they did, glasses of wine or other chosen drinks in hand as they gazed at the posings and commented on them. Seanna used the pressure of her hand to guide Jacob off the path as a group of six vampires came toward them. "Eyes down, " she whispered. Though it made him want to grind his teeth, he did it, because he knew the etiquette at this conference was even more stringent than when entertaining Lyssa's guests in her home. There was no purpose to insulting vampires Lyssa might need to secure the fate of her ter- ritory. "That servant of Lord Richard has a pair of superior tits, " one of the male vampires observed as they strolled past. "I'll have to see if he would be willing to let me borrow her and grease them up.