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“I suspect I’d feel a lot more comfortable with the idea if it wasn’t put in those terms”
“No doubt,” Thomas said dryly with a smile “But I suspect you’re as brutally honest with yourself as a er off or speak plain” Sobering again, he looked toward Lyssa “Vampires such as my Mistress frown on vah it happens, far more frequently than it should Because it’s a betrayal, for the reasons I just noted Whether conscious or not, when you do accept the idea, you’re offering theift away or, worse, brutalize it, a vaht as well brutalize their own soul Because we become that much a part of theht or wrong of it, becomes irrelevant We are interwoven”
He gave Dev another straightforward look “As to the issue of boundaries and limitations, you’ll find eventually that doesn’t concern you asto please her does Even as you occasionally—or not so occasionally—have the desire to choke the life out of her for acting so superior sometimes”
There was a glint in the monk’s eyes at this, and Dev swore he saw Lyssa flick an alance toward hia did, in fact, cra Danny in his mind like that, as short a time as he’d had it But how could he ask her to reassure him, when he hadn’t even made his own decision?
Thoet ready for cocktails and appetizers Thank you for the swi”
“Don’t be s” Dev shot him a narrow look “It doesn’t suit a man of God”
“Are you so sure it’s sreat deal of these vampire social events, Dev
While they can be harrowing to the servants involved, one thing they never lack is pleasure The stripping away of all shields is thepart Once you surrender to your Mistress, there’s no worry in any of that, anymore”
“Like surrendering to God?” Dev offered the resentful barb, but the monk didn’t seem offended by his defensiveness
“Very similar I’m not so sure that the hand of God isn’t in this relationship,” Thomas added “Who is to say a full servant isn’t the one who helps a va in this world to embrace other than bloodlust? And if you think that is a ss are, and what they could do to this world, if they put no constraints on their behavior”
On that enigmatic note, with another affectionate squeeze of Dev’s shoulder, Thoathering
Dev had been given a room to wash up and reattire himself as well He was teue with the household uniform for the all-female staff Black short skirts fluffed out with a layered slip so that it was clear they earing no underwear The only thing on their upper bodies was a string of pearls, run between their pierced nipples Chiyoko had worn nipple jewelry, but he’d never seen pierced ones before They drew his eyes, no matter how hard he tried not to stare All the wo slim, artery-rich throats
“Alistair, you really need some male staff” He heard Lady Lyssa make the comment as he approached the spacious solariuhtti Lyssa, Alistair returned to the couch, where Nina was curled up on a pillow, dozing When he sat, she scooted closer, and he gathered her in, putting her head on his thigh, his hand lying on her hip
“Now,in the stables You’ve already sampled it Don’t deprive a man the simple pleasures of his home”
Thoht Lyssa her wine When he proffered his wrist, she shook her head but held the glass as he produced a sli the blood from his body trickle into the crystal She swirled it with her finger, but then spread the daht it to her lips for a single, easy caress that clotted the flow
It was so painfully obvious Lyssa coh they spoke very little aloud to one another, the compatibility between their movements and actions was uncanny More than a hundred years they’d been together, Thomas had told him What would it be like to share that time with Danny? Cultivate that closeness?
No, he couldn’t think like that Hell, only a few days ago, he was living basically hour to hour, and noas thinking a hundred years? Jesus
When Tho the wall, Dev hoped to see Danny entering He’d wanted to coh he suspected that was a breach of etiquette of soative to be late Probably on purpose