Page 28 (1/2)

"Why are you nae sitting in a chair, like yesterday?"

"Evan told me to serve you as I would him I’d never sit in a chair next to a vampire"

Niall took a bite of his biscuit and chewed, his attention re upon her Now she wasn’t sure if she should start eating, so she waited If she had to, she’d ask him Because he really wasn’t a va at her like one

"Lether plate from her, he set it next to his, then held out his hand for the juice and utensils When he dropped them on the table in a casual disarray that ht her up, he scraped his chair away from the table

"Why don’t you coht of his body lying behind hers on the bed Warm and safe, protective She couldn’t understand her hesitation now, except it was new to her, having an inordinate desire to obey that seemed out of proportion with the requireate wider that was already unwisely ajar

"Do you want to sit on my lap?"

Since he wasn’t her Master, "If that’s what my Master desires" didn’t fit And "Yes, because Master said I should do it" sounded wrong

"Do you want me to command you to sit on my lap?" Niall asked before she could respond

An entirely different reaction flooded into her chest He saw it in her face, a ertips to trace it "That’s it, isn’t it? Whether you want it or no, an order makes it your desire as well"

"Yes" She was relieved he understood "It’s how I’m trained I have no desires until you command it"

His brow creased "What if Stephen commanded you to sit on his lap? I knoould be different, because I’ ye to do the sa Would it feel different?"

She didn’t like all these questions, but it wasn’t her place to like or dislike anything, right? "Yes, there’s a difference" She hoped he wouldn’t ask her to explain

"Different because of how he betrayed the Council, or even before, when he was your Master? Don’t think, just answer," he added sharply

"It’s not the saht ball, her wrist still in his grasp Since she had an alarid

She was an intelligent wo an InhServ Froht appear asthe needs of another, always putting those needs first, learning enuinely responsive and enthusiastic, no ical skills and an in-depth understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses It also required a brutal understanding of who and what her Master hat he most desired froiven to hie If he loaned her to another vampire, he expected her to obey that vampire no differently than she obeyed him But Niall and Evan wanted her to obey their commands specifically To respond to them specifically To want the to do with the code of being a servant They wanted herto want to please them She’d been trained that it was one and the same, but they understood there was a difference And they were right Otherwise, why had she automatically responded that it was different, the same com set her feet on a dangerous road, where her own desires became a separate entity from those of her Master No, it was not a road at all, but a forest as wild and mysterious as that which surrounded their cabin But she had no choice, for Niall aiting for an honest answer She thought of that first moment after Evan second-marked her, when she could hear both him and Niall in her mind It had felt different from Stephen’s second mark, too

"I want to be commanded to sit in your lap I want you to want me to sit in your lap"

He squeezed her wrist, an unfathoiven more of her heart to them than she’d offered to Stephen in all thirteen years of her service Because her heart was the last thing he’d wanted What’s more, with Niall and Evan, it felt like what a servant should be offering Unconditionally