She'd been right. It was all in the approach. Earlier, it had been just words, I'm here to serve her however she needs me. In this moment, he actually understood what it meant, and he knew some part of him had always wanted to serve a woman this way, this deeply. Those cravings he'd kept shamefully hidden, trying to bury them in an alpha dominant mode, had come to full, vibrant life. There wasn't a single shameful, cringing element to them. He was ready to tear the world apart for her, ready to kneel to her, ready to endure anything for her.
Because it was the two of them together. Always.
She'd said so. She needed him as much as he needed her. No matter what--vanilla, chocolate, kinky, straight or every flavor in between--that was the way it was supposed to work.
Chapter Thirteen
At the conclusion of the evening Quinn expected to be exhausted, worn out emotionally as well as physically. But by the time they returned to the bedrooms his strength was already replenishing and it astonished him.
The benefit of third marking.
Thank God for that.
Her light laughter sounded in his head like melodic chimes. She insisted he shower again before getting into bed.
"I want to wash away everyone else's touch." She stroked his arm. "You did very well tonight, for a first-time situation. You pleased me greatly. But now I want every bit of you to be mine."
Words that could make him suffer and survive anything. That, and her joining him in the shower.
As he watched her create lather with the soap, she told him to put his hands on the sides of the shower and leave them there. Then she coasted her palms over every inch of his body. No area was left untouched. She was meticulous with his arms and his legs, his cock and his testicles, even soaping and rinsing the crack of his ass. She knelt on the tile to cleanse his legs, then stood on the built-in seat to do his upper body. Her touch was as much soothing as it was arousing, and he closed his eyes, enjoying her touch. When they were both thoroughly rinsed, she shut off the water and dried him with a big fluffy bath towel that she fetched from a towel warmer. Finally she dried herself, took him by the hand and led him into her room. She hadn't allowed him to touch her at all. Not yet.
"I thought vampires slept alone," he said.
"Sometimes we make special exceptions."
A strange but intense emotion came over him. A sense of belonging. His hard-ass father might have loved him. He'd always hoped he did. His mother conveyed the sense of family to him and his brothers. He'd found friendship in the rodeo, even though the faces of those friends changed frequently. There was a certain camaraderie with the hands at the ranch. But never this total sense of belonging. Of being a part of someone else.
Selene's lips curved in a smile. "Because you do belong, Quinn. To me. Forever. What do you do in return?"
He cleared his throat. "I serve you. I give you pleasure. Always."
"Very good. Right now it will give me pleasure for you to lie with me, your arms around me as we sleep." She gestured toward the bed.
What did it say that, even after watching the movements of her slippery, soapy body in the shower, the simple intimacy of holding her in her sleep was as potent a treasure to him as being able to thrust into her, bring her to climax?
Tearing his eyes away from her naked body, he pulled back the covers and arranged the pillows, then stood waiting for her to climb in first. She slid into bed then held out her arms to him. In seconds he had his body wrapped around hers, his arms cradling her. The raw flavor of the night, the brutality, the violent sex, started to recede even further as he held her close, felt her lips brush over his throat. He tilted his chin up and she pierced him with sweet simplicity, taking just a sip or two, her lips moving on him. Her fingers curled and uncurled on his chest, the nails scraping him.
It was a marking more than a snack or meal. While it made his cock stir, it was his heart that did a full somersault, especially as she let out a sleepy little sigh, her fingers drifting across him, her body becoming heavier, melting into his. She trusted him to hold her as she faded into sleep with the dawn.
He found it peaceful as a lullaby, the rock of a cradle. Perhaps the first real peace he'd found in years. Everything as it should be, crazy as that sounded. He followed her, drifting off into a dark velvet sleep.
Occasionally he stirred, but just as easily, finding himself still in her embrace, he'd drop back into sleep again. They slept throughout the day, undisturbed by light, for Butch had given them adjoining rooms on a below-ground level of the house. Butch's master bedroom was on the main floor as well as other guestrooms, but Selene had told Quinn earlier in the evening that the basement accommodations weren't an insult. Younger vampires needed the full darkness that only underground accommodations could provide.
"I can sleep aboveground in a place with the right kind of curtains, but it's not a comfortable sleep. Like being in a convection oven. It shows Butch's courtesy, that he accommodates his younger vampire guests."
Yeah, he was a real sweetheart with that left jab. But despite his sardonic thought, Quinn couldn't remember the last time he'd slept through a full day, and so peacefully, but that was just what he did. It wasn't until just after sunset that he roused, woken by her touch, the light brush of her lips on his cheek, his jaw, his throat before she rose.
They each took their turn in the bathroom, and then shared the space to dress, spruce up. Selene didn't say much, but she had a tender smile on her lips as she passed behind him in the bathroom, curling her arms around him as he paused in his shaving. Taking the razor, she slid in front of him to sit on the counter. She finished the job herself, her eyes monitoring the track of the blade, her hand following it to stroke his smooth skin.
The look in her gaze kindled his lust, tempted him to go right back to bed, but she slipped away when done, giving his ass a pinch before she commanded him to get it moving so they could go meet their host for "breakfast". He was rewarded with an indignant squeal when he popped her ass with his damp towel, and the promise of severe retribution. He looked forward to it.
Fortunately breakfast was exactly that, just a light meal with Butch and Dix. No ceremony or formality this time. No wrestling matches. Just the four of them sitting at the table making small talk. Quinn thought they could have been any four people socializing at a meal and the image made him swallow a smile. Life with Selene had taken an interesting turn.
"I'll set things in motion today," Butch assured Selene as she and Quinn prepared to leave. "I'll be in touch." Then he looked toward Quinn. "She has her work cut out for her with you, but I believe you'll suit."
Quinn had the feeling he'd just received some sort of minor blessing.
Once Jim dropped them off at the air field and they'd boarded the plane, Quinn turned on his cell phone, which Selene had ordered him to leave in the plane. The waiting message from Manuel informed him the bar had had an outstanding night and both Maria and Carol were needed to handle the crowd. Everything went well and the money was locked up. Another message from Kevin said the cattle had all been moved and the pregnant cows separated from the rest of the herd without any problems. And Annette would have coffee waiting for them.
"I wonder if they need me at all," he grumbled to Selene as they took off.
"Feeling a little unnecessary?" she teased. "Don't worry. I'll always need you." She pointed to his wrist bearing the third mark, the one shaped like a horse's bit. "Especially now."
He placed his hand on her thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze. For the flight home she'd worn one of her flirty little sundresses. He easily slid his hand beneath the light fabric to rest on her warm, satin-smooth skin. Selene hummed satisfaction.
"I didn't think I'd be interested in anything that had to do with sex after last night." He gave a low chuckle. "Apparently you gave me the third mark just in time, Mistress."
"It excites me when you address me that way, cowboy."
"Strange, but it does the same to me." Christ. What a change he'd made in
his life. But he couldn't imagine it without her.
Which led to a different topic, one they'd broached before but hadn't pursued. He dug around in his mind for the right words, since he had no idea how Selene would react to it. She might think he was out of his mind.
"I'm in your mind, cowboy, so I know you're there." Her lips quirked. Your brain is in such turmoil. What's bothering you?
An idea. I'm not sure if you'll agree to it. "I want to prepare a room at the ranch where you could sleep during the day. So you don't always have to hurry back to that cave at After Hours."
She was silent for so long he wondered if he should have brought it up at all.
Yes, you should have. I'm thinking.
I'm not sure if this being in each other's heads is such a good idea after all.
Deal with it, cowboy. It's there for eternity.
He swallowed a laugh. Had he ever in his life thought he'd be discussing things that stretched out timelessly this way?
"There would be problems to deal with," she said at last.
"I'm aware of that. But go ahead. Tell me what occurs to you first?"
"Your housekeeper. What will she think of a woman who sleeps all day while you're out working the ranch?"
He shrugged. "You run After Hours. When else would you sleep?"
"But all day?" she persisted. "You'd be answering a lot of questions."
"Annette doesn't ask many questions," he told her. "I don't get in her business and she only marginally gets in mine. Usually because she has an uncanny way of figuring it out without ever having to ask me."
He reached out, caught her hand. "She has a respect for things that can't be explained, as long as they're not hurting who she loves."
A troubled look crossed her face at that and she looked out the window. "All right. But before we move forward in that direction, we'll wait and see what kind of success Butch has with Laurent."
Laurent. Yeah, the asshole. Quinn wished he could just beat the lousy shit to a pulp.
If you did you would only cause more trouble for your Mistress. Remember, all the rules have changed.
He squeezed her thigh again. "Whatever you say. But let's keep it in mind, okay? If Butch can get things straightened out for us, I don't fancy having you spend the rest of eternity sleeping in one place while I'm in another."
"Let's see what happens. Then we can discuss our options."
"I don't like being away from you," he growled, aware of how petulant that might sound.
"I'll take that as a compliment. As long as you remember who's in charge."
"As if I could ever forget." Or want to. He knew she liked saying things like that, because it aroused her as much as it did him. "But you didn't hook up with a lapdog, honey." Sliding his hand farther up her thigh, he reached the smooth skin of her pussy. He sucked in a breath. "No panties?"
"A treat for you." She laughed. "If you're up to it."
At her words his cock swelled and pressed against the rough denim of his fly. "Oh, I think every bit of me is up to it."
"I thought of ordering you to keep your jeans open and your fly unzipped, to forget about underwear. Then I remembered we would be thousands of feet above the ground and what I had in mind might be a little dangerous."
"You don't think tempting me with your naked pussy is dangerous?" he snickered.
She was silent. He tried to reach into her head, find what she was mulling over so quietly, but he found he hit a wall.
"I didn't know you could do that. Shut me out of your head." He wasn't so sure he liked it either.
"A third mark isn't a two-way street, Quinn. Only when the vampire desires it. There are times my thoughts must remain my own."
"But I don't have the right to do the same with mine."
"No." She was brutally honest, he gave her that, though she had the grace to flush a little at his look. "I'm still close enough to my human origins that I'll try not to abuse your privacy without good cause. But...you're my first full servant, Quinn. I find I like the freedom to move in and out of your mind. It makes me feel like you're even more mine. In a very primitive way that I know should be offensive." She sighed. "Maybe I'm not so close to those origins as I like to believe."
The pain on her face suggested Selene was no less brutally honest with herself than she was with him. There was an odd sort of quid pro quo to that. While he wasn't sure what he felt about her admission that she liked thinking of him as her property, whenever she expressed such thoughts, the emotions she radiated included an intriguing vulnerability, a deep need for him. Maybe he didn't need to be in her mind. Just her heart.
He curled his fingers over hers once again. "Okay, Mistress. But I like it when you let me in. It causes me some problems when you don't as well. It makes me think you don't trust me. Or that I might be failing you."
She shook her head. "I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone, Quinn. Sometimes the mind blocking is necessary. Please accept that has nothing to do with you and everything with who I have to be. All right?"
He thought it also had to do with her protecting him, and he didn't much care for that. She gave him an even look, didn't respond. But it made him wonder if her next subject change was nevertheless an answer to his thought.
"You did well at Butch's," she said. "In spite of everything, you listened to your Mistress."
His hands tightened on the controls. "I didn't like him hitting you."
"I know." She clasped his wrist, fingers tightening. "But it had to be done. I told you. Violence is a part of this life. It's something we accept. Fortunately, we all heal fast."
"Yes, but I don't have to like it."
"But you do have to control yourself and you did it admirably."
Her praise warmed him, even as the issue clawed at him. He wasn't going to get the image of her going down under Butch's blow out of his mind any time soon. "Well thanks. I guess."
"Since you did so well, I thought you might like a bit of a reward."
His cock flexed again and his mouth went dry. "What might that be?"
"I figured we could make use of what's left of the night after we land, before I have to leave." She tightened her thighs around his hand. "I'm sure we can think of something creative to do with the rest of the night."
Yeah? Quinn wished the damn plane had an accelerator so he could make it go faster.
"That sounds like a plan." Hell yeah, it did.
She ran her fingers the length of his extended arm. "I think we both need a little tenderness, don't you? A respite from last night?"
Fuck yes, he did.
"So," she murmured, "can you make this plane go any faster?"
He laughed. "Fortunately we aren't far from home."
Thirty minutes later they were over the Last Chance Ranch. He flipped the switch in the cockpit that turned on the landing lights and brought the plane in on a smooth approach, touching down and taxiing up to the steel hangar. When he pressed another button the wide door slid up and he eased the plane inside.
"Very clever," she commented.
"Pretty basic," he told her. "But it suits my needs for whenever I get to use it. Come on. Let's get up to the house. I see someone left a light on in the kitchen for us."
Quinn reined in his impatience while he did his post-flight check on the plane and locked everything down. He'd ferried them to the hangar in the four-wheel-drive and he used it now to get them back to the house. When he ushered Selene through the mud room and into the kitchen, he saw Annette with a glass of iced tea standing by the counter. It was close to midnight. He lifted his eyebrows in silent question.
"I wanted to make sure you and the young lady got back okay." Her voice, as usual, sounded like gravel rolling around on metal. She held out her hand. "Call me Annette."
A tiny smile played at Selene's lips as she shook Annette's hand. "I'm Selene."
"I figured." Annette looked his Mistress up and down. "You're the one who's got them all chasing their tails at After
Hours, right?"
Quinn tensed, but Selene touched his arm in a reassuring gesture. "That's me. I think their tails needed a lot of chasing."
Annette gave a hearty laugh. "You'll do. Yes, you'll do." She inclined her head at Quinn. "You take care of this roughneck too?"
"Hey," Quinn protested.
Selene just ignored him. "And he takes care of me."
Annette nodded. "All right then. I made a chocolate cake, in case you two were hungry. I'll be going down to my place." Pausing at the back door, she raked her gaze over them. Quinn felt his cheeks heating at her regard, as if she could read their intent like they were already stripped naked and ready to go at it like rabbits. "You kids get right on to bed now." She was chuckling as she closed the door, went down the walkway.
Quinn shook his head. "Sorry about that."
"I like her. She's quite a character. How old is she?"
"She always says somewhere between sixty and a hundred and sixty. I'm not sure I'd know what to do here without her. She gets stuff done that I don't even think of."
"A good person to have."
He looked at the cake tin. "Want a snack before we head off to the bedroom? I mean, I know you can only have a bite, but..."
"You're hungry. I have a better idea." Mischief flashed in her eyes. "Why don't I go to the bedroom and you get yourself a snack?"
"I'm okay. I can wait until--"
"No, you can't." She gave him a look full of heat. "You'll need your energy as my servant, Quinn. If you learned one thing the other night, it's that you never skip meals if you want to be ready to serve your Mistress."
"I don't know." He gave her just as thorough an appraisal head to toe, lingering on her thighs, the thrust of her breasts, the graceful line of arm and throat. The cocky challenge to it made her eyes spark in response. "She seemed to like feeding me herself. Got her nice and wet."
She tossed her hair. "Fine then. Get a snack, lapdog, then bring the cake back into the bedroom to share. We can give new meaning to the phrase eating in bed."