outside, they'd switched. anwyn was between gideon and daegan. she rode gideon's cock as he stood once more, holding her with sure, strong muscles rippling across his back. daegan was inside of her as he'd been inside of gideon, the two holding her between them, taking her up to a pinnacle again. it was how jacob and gideon had taken lyssa that night long ago, at her command and direction. remembering it now, overlaying it on the image out there, made his cock even stiffer.

my lady, i am going to come all over your nice tile floor.

then you'll have to clean it on your hands and knees. naked. except for a cock harness and a plug that will keep you hard. it will vibrate, so just as you finish cleaning, you will come again, and have to start all over, just for my pleasure.

you've missed being a vampire.

i find i have. yes. her eyes glowed again. but one thing has not changed. i never stop wanting you beyond all comprehension, sir vagabond, sir knight. wanting to torment you, love you. be with you always. he stil ed, lifting his eyes to meet hers.

because of what he saw

he stil ed, lifting his eyes to meet hers. because of what he saw there, the implicit permission to change the demand, he moved into the hot tub. sliding one arm around her waist, he cupped her nape with the other, bringing her up to his mouth. leaving her arms out to either side of her, she gripped the concrete lip of the tub as he lifted her, pushed her down on his cock, making her moan against his lips and sending a quiver through them both.

"you are my torment. my love. my everything." at his rough words, she gripped him instead, her fingers digging into his shoulders. when he hiked her up higher, she raked him with those wicked nails, and he felt the blood flow clean and true. in the end, her mouth would find it, taste him, feed from him, and devour his soul. he'd give it to her without hesitation.

it had always been that way with her, and whether it made sense to anyone else or not, didn't matter.

faith wasn't a matter of comprehension.

they'd need faith for what they were about to do, but this moment made jacob ready for it. he'd do everything necessary to protect her and kane, understanding why his lady had made the choice to bring their son. his lady knew there were things worse than death.

living life on someone else's terms wasn't living.

22

for the past couple of years, the council had favored an old castle on the outskirts of berlin as their base of operations. they liked the ancient, stolid darkness of it, the history of war and torment that attended it. at least, that was jacob's opinion, one he knew his brother shared.

when gideon, anwyn and daegan had gone before council the first time, jacob had heard about it after the fact. his brother had intended it that way. if jacob had learned his brother, the world's most successful vampire hunter, was going before council as a fledgling's servant, as close to a death wish as possible without simply slitting his own throat, jacob would have hunted him down and chained him up in a basement until his bout with insanity had passed.

he knew enough details, and suspected the ones that weren't shared, to know it had not been pleasant. but they'd survived. stil , as they got out of the limo in the castle courtyard, he could tel his brother was remembering it, quite vividly. however, that was jacob's intuition, a brother's insight. to anyone else, gideon appeared as a silent, intimidating bulwark at anwyn's back. daegan shifted a little apart from them, an unconscious flanking maneuver they seemed to favor when it came to being in a protective position around the woman they loved.

anwyn was acutely aware she was the weak link here, and though she wasn't pleased about that in the least, jacob admired the fact it didn't show. she looked as composed and cool as lyssa, just as ready to kick ass. it made him agree with his lady.

once anwyn gained strength, age and experience, she'd be as formidable a vampire as she was a mistress, a good match for the deadly assassin who was unexpectedly master to both her and gideon.

jacob waved off the castle staff that came to open the limo's other door, stepping forward to handle it himself. from here forward, appearances were everything. he was dressed in dark slacks and a snug black heavyweight tee that showed his upper body to good effect, as well as the nine-mil imeter in its shoulder holster and the steel arrows loaded in his wrist gauntlets. the message was clear. he wasn't here for vampires. he was here to stop human servants. gideon wore similar attire, only he also had a machete sheath down the line of his spine that contained a blade capable of decapitating a rhinoceros.

getting ready for this had brought back memories of the nights they'd gone vampire hunting. but some things had changed.

when gideon had been stripped to his shorts, adjusting his calf rig for extra knives, jacob had seen fresh scars among the old. the lash marks across his back and ass were new enough to have happened recently, but if they'd been put there after he became a servant, they had to be marked with a vampire's blood; else they would have healed and disappeared. while gideon was dressing, jacob saw anwyn brush past him, her fingernails scraping over one of the lash marks on the upper rise of his buttock, giving him the answer of who'd put them there.

before he'd become involved with daegan and anwyn, gideon had been furious that jacob had bound himself to lyssa. he'd practical y demanded to see his servant's mark, which of course jacob had refused, given the circumstances. now gideon got to see all of it. the lashes from his ritual oath of binding, the cross on his hip bone, the serpentine mark down his back. when gideon moved past him to retrieve his walther from the duffel of weapons, he'd surprised jacob by stopping, touching that mark with a quick brush of cal used fingers.

jacob turned, his glance fal ing deliberately to the trinity of what looked like red teardrops, or blood, high on gideon's chest. his own servant mark, representing his bond to both of his vampires. he'd acquired it when anwyn made him her ful servant.

when daegan did so later, it remained as the only mark, apparently a confirmation of the trinity that needed no embel ishment. the two brothers met gazes. gideon gave him a bare nod, an expression that said it's a hell of a kind of thing, ain't it? making jacob smile tightly.

yeah, a lot of things had changed. but one thing was the same. once they were set, they cross-checked one another's weapons, double-checked the loading. when they disembarked from the plane and went to the limo, they fel in with their vampires without any need for words, as perfectly in sync as if they were in each other's minds, as they'd often been when they hunted.

of course, though presentation was going to be ninety percent of this op, it probably wouldn't matter if they'd all worn footie pajamas when all was said and done. there wouldn't be eyes for anyone but his lady at this little party.

the last time the council had seen her, she'd been sick, weak, and then transmuted to her fae form. now, as he opened the limo door, one mouth-watering leg came out, embel ished by the shimmer of a tempting black stocking and sharp black heel with a decorative strand of diamonds at the ankle.

the tails of the anklet crossed and dangled in a glitter of gemstones down the back of the heel. he took her hand when it emerged. he'd done her nails himself, a glossy black with a single diamond chip on each of the three main fingers, outlined by a brush stroke of jade green color.

she'd always been able to make his mouth dry, his heart pound faster. and of course she was always stunningly beautiful, but in the past years she hadn't gone out of her way to make it patently clear she was royalty. when he helped her out of the limo, he expected the castle staff was about to have a panic attack, thinking they should have put down a purple carpet for her to walk the fifty feet to the door.

the dress was a black cheongsam with gold dragons embroidered on it, the frog clasp at the high col ar done in jasper. she wore matching gold earrings and her hair was swept up, several long tendrils wisping down over her breasts. the dress fit was perfect, molding her high, smal breasts and curve of hip in a way that made every step she took a sensual dance of the female form, particularly with those shoes.

she gave jacob a cool nod for his help, then released his hand and preceded him. he fel in at her back, three steps behind, watchful of her surroundings and in the proper place as her servant.

daegan, dressed in black from top to toe, including silk shirt, slacks, tie and suit jacket, moved along to her right but one step back, like a silently stalking panther guarding the women. anwyn was between jacob and gideon. though this show was his lady's, anwyn had risen to the occasion. she'd worn a complimentary cheongsam, showing clearly where her loyalties lay, the fabric a brown silk embroidered with gold dragons with copper edgings to their wings. it enhanced the sable hair she had clipped loosely on her shoulders. her blue-green eyes were steady as she carried kane in her arms, another reason jacob, gideon and daegan were flanking her closely. he'd been fed and was quiet, though his blue eyes were alert and taking in all the new information.

vincent, belizar's servant, was waiting at the entranceway. the male was medium height, but compact muscle, his gray eyes steady. his brown hair was trimmed close, emphasizing the strong lines of his face. he'd revealed nothing as they approached, but jacob knew belizar wouldn't have a servant who was any less of a cagey bastard than the council head himself. "council is in session," vincent said. "however, you will be summoned from your room when they are ready to address your issue."

his tone was flat, obviously instructed in not only the message but the tenor they wanted to set for this visit. jacob was reminded of cayden deliberately withholding his assistance from lyssa to mount a horse. our welcomes have definitely been lacking in manners of late, my lady.

we shall fix that. "how long have you known me, vincent?" her voice was a soft purr.

"quite some time, my lady." vincent had the intel igence to execute a deferential half bow, lowering his gaze, though jacob saw the shrewd servant note how they were armed. he was certain a quick little mental text about that had gone asap to belizar. when he registered jacob was carrying steel arrows in the wrist gauntlets, he flicked his gaze up to jacob's face. jacob met the subtly startled look with cool blue eyes. vincent turned his ful focus back to lady lyssa, attending her reply.