"i didn't read what you want from your mind," she whispered.gideon, i've been reading minds for a long time. "being able to actually do it is a little distracting. i get not only truths, but laundry lists and meanderings into places that make little sense, like indigestion dreams." a light smile touched her lips.

"snippets of commercials you've seen, a beer you want, a flash from childhood. your reaction to my touch. i like that part, but the rest can be a little overwhelming."

"i like to revisitgirls gone wild videos in my head when i go to sleep. like counting sheep, only i'm counting-"

she stepped back into him then, curled her hand into his waistband, her fingers stroking down. "pay attention to me. be still, and just feel what i can do to you." she saw him struggle with it, his initial rejection of her command. daegan's expression was unreadable, but his gaze did shift to gideon, linger on the shoulders and throat, and she knew he wasn't uninterested in what was happening. she had enough of a ruthless edge to her that she might be willing to take advantage of the fact they were both willing to indulge her. that, too, had predated being a vampire.

when a grim smile touched daegan's mouth, she knew he had gotten that. the flicker in gideon's eyes, more somber, suggested the same, only he of course had more reason to be apprehensive about it.

her gaze drifted over daegan's face, noted the paleness there. for the first time, she thought beyond her immediate situation, wondered when he last had fed, if he'd gotten some of her blood from the kitchen or left it for her. she thought about the way he'd licked the blood from gideon's shoulder, and her upper body and thighs tightened, remembering the play of rippling muscles, the resistant tightening of gideon's, the sensual stroke of daegan's tongue along hard, male flesh.

no,cher.his gaze snapped to her instantly.i do not want the blood of your servant. and he will not tolerate that. do not let barnabus's brutality do your thinking for you. this is likely more than he can bear as it is.

gideon had obviously not heard daegan's side, so though he'd gotten tense at anwyn's tentative thoughts, not sure where she was going with it, he hadn't reacted the way daegan had. or the way she herself did now.

it was an abrupt shock, like cold water. in a mere thought, she'd been about to move far off base, destroy the web she was spinning now. of course, gideon wouldn't have tolerated that. those shadow creatures in her head had moved out of the shadows, planted their seeds of evil suggestion. or had it been them? gideon had said, baldly, that vampire blood eventually took over a turned human, making free will only the right of vampires, not of the humans they dominated.

it had shaken her, but gideon had now picked up enough from her thoughts to discern what was happening. rather than tearing away from them, putting as much distance between them as she'd expect, he stunned her.

his mind reached out to her where his hands couldn't.you won't let the vampire take over the mistress.

i know it. anwyn the mistress is far scarier than any vampire blood or crazy voices.

she met his gaze, mixed with serious intensity and grim humor both. taking hold of his reassurance with both hands, she put her hand on gideon's bare chest, cocked her head. "i'd like daegan to release you for a moment. open your jeans. take your cock out and let me see how hard it is for me." when daegan's touch obligingly eased, gideon kept his gaze fixed on her, as if by that unrelenting stare he could pretend the vampire wasn't in the room. pulling the rest of the shirt away from him, he tugged it out of the waistband now that she'd unbuckled the belt. she kept her hand on him as he did that. sliding the button free, he lowered the zipper, and reached under her arm to scoop out his heavy cock, cradling it and his testicles in one hand as he pushed the jeans down far enough that it could stretch forth for her appreciative gaze.

daegan had backed off to straddle an arm of the couch. it eased gideon's shoulders down a fraction.

"put your palms against your thighs," she said. "you'll keep them there while i tease and torment your cock until it's ready to spew at my command. but only my command. do you understand? the proper reply is, 'yes, mistress.' "

"yes. mistress." there was a tumble of thoughts in his head. he was unwillingly aroused, resisting and yet not wanting to resist. it was remarkable, as she'd said, to see the processes she had always known were going on inside her submissives' minds actually scripted out in his mind. except he wasn't one. this was something unique and dangerous she was playing with, a man who wanted to serve but not submit.

who would play her game, knowing it was far more than that, just to care for her.

she saw that knowledge in his eyes, the exchange of thoughts. she liked the intimacy of it, even as she knew she really needed to work on that curtain screen between them. sliding her knuckles down his bare sternum, she drifted over each nipple in turn, the fine whorls of dark hair around them, then down the center line of hard-packed muscles to the open front of the jeans. his cock was suspended there by its own rigidity now, his taut arms at his sides. she brushed it with her forearm and it jumped. if she'd had the use of her staff above, she might have some sweet, shy submissive come and suck him to climax, knowing that would send him off in no time. but for today, she closed her hand on him and watched the quiver run through all those impressive muscles.

picking up his hand, she guided it to take the place of hers, then backed away from him, one step, two steps. sinking down in a wing-backed chair, she gracefully slid her skirt up until she revealed the fact she wore no underwear at all, and propped her feet on the chair edge, letting her knees fall together at the level of her breasts. it created an open triangle below where he could see the folds of her pussy, the crease of her ass. she didn't touch herself, but instead languorously draped her hands on the chair arms, leaning back.

"stroke yourself, gideon. make my juices flow. the closer you get to coming, the hotter you'll make me. look only at me."

"i'm not likely to be looking anywhere else." gideon's jaw flexed in that attractive way, but he closed his fist tighter on himself, began to stroke upward.

daegan rose then, moving on silent bare feet. the vampire hunter tensed, and anwyn sharpened her voice.

"stroke yourself, gideon. stare at my pussy as you do it. only my pussy." his jaw hardened into concrete, but his eyes went where she wanted them to go. he licked his lips instinctively, and that was enough to make her pussy contract. she felt the first drop of liquid honey gathering, and from the flare in his eyes, he saw it, too. with his powerful hand, he moved the satin skin along his hard steel shaft, stimulating pre-come from the flared head she would dearly love to feel inside her again. not all men's cocks were attractive, but gideon's inspired her to think she'd like to devote some quality time to stroking, teasing and making it respond to her touch only, like a favored pet.

daegan moved a step closer. though gideon kept his eyes on her, it was obvious the vampire was agitating him. she wouldn't define daegan's participation in this, though. indulgent he might be, but he had no intention of being ordered around, by human or fledgling vampire.

speak to him in his mind,cher. he is a warrior, not used to keeping his back to his enemy. his tension is going to snap him.

gideon, he's merely testing your resolve to obey me. he won't drink from you. or fuck you. i promise.

bring yourself to climax. i'm watching and everything is fine.

he didn't respond directly. however, while his shoulders didn't ease, she noted his pace picked up, his breath harshly rasping. those stomach muscles rippled, the buttocks tightening, and she envied daegan's view. while in truth she wasn't sure what daegan's stand was on seducing men, she had a feeling she was about to find out.

daegan watched the vampire hunter follow her direction. the line of his shoulders was rock solid, suggesting the conflict radiating from him. like any male, visually he was focused on the bare pussy put before him, the tempting hint of ass her pose provided, but most of his other senses-intuition, hearing, scent-were focused on what daegan was doing. she was right-the view from back here was worth seeing. the man was as combat fit as any soldier could be, the ass so firm a lover would have to take a solid, bruising grip when fucking it. the jeans that had molded that ass were now at his knees, and the thighs were flexing in time with his jerking off, a slow rock.

daegan reached out, trailed his fingers down the center of gideon's spine. the male flinched in response, briefly interrupting his rhythm. daegan heard anwyn's soothing thoughts, but he wondered how sure she was of his intentions. yes, he was testing gideon's resolve, and not just for anwyn.

despite his stated intention not to become her full servant, gideon might be around long enough to face a situation like this with other vampires. daegan was intrigued to see how he'd handle himself.

beyond that, there was a personal component to this he wouldn't deny. he didn't particularly care for sharing anwyn with anyone. he'd initially expected to view gideon as an intrusion, a competitor of sorts, but he hadn't, and he knew that had surprised anwyn. however, the thought that crossed daegan's mind was the most startling thing of all. he'd never had a servant, but now he was thinking what it would be like to have one. one he shared with anwyn.

this one. the one who would rather be chopped up to feed anwyn's cats, a sprig of parsley put on the side, than be a vampire's servant.

it took very little to trip a male vampire's carnal trigger. usually a warm body displayed the right way was enough, but he'd been around long enough not to get derailed so easily. so the surge of desire and possession he experienced at gideon's uncertain response to his bare touch also intrigued him. the hunter was uncertain because it wasn't repelling him as much as he'd expected. while he'd rationalize it away by telling himself it was incidental to anwyn's stimulation, daegan's heating blood told him something different.

turning his knuckles over, he trailed them back up gideon's nape, then across, teasing the hair there.