Her vampire senses let her hear, see and scent clearly what they were doing. Since her mind was open to him, Garron could enjoy the same. She liked giving him that. In her brief glimpses into his mind, she'd seen just how hard he had to work to see and hear, even with the help of the auras. He leaned against the pool wall next to her, his hand gliding up and down her calf, playing with her foot beneath the water. Her hand rested on his shoulder, flexing as she responded to the stimulation. After the earlier intensity between them, everything was like a lovely, slow moving dream. She never wanted the sun to rise again.
"Take off your top," he ordered, low.
She didn't even hesitate, and she felt his approval, the only light and warmth she needed. As she untied the top, pulled it free, he turned, putting his hands on either knee to spread her wider, move himself between her legs. His palms slid up her thighs, thumbs pressing into the crease between thigh and sex before curving behind her, down into the swimsuit bottoms.
She wished he hadn't had to wash the words off her body. If a vampire's flesh was painted with her blood, and then a severe enough wound was made through the thin coating of that blood, the wound could become a permanent scar, overriding a vampire's fast healing ability. She wanted him to mark her like that somehow before she left. She thought of him carving Mine into her back with her blood, making it permanent. The necklace wasn't enough. Nothing would be enough. She didn't care about the risk to herself.
"Ssshh, my lady." He nuzzled her breasts. "No thinking. Just focus on your Master and what he'll demand of you."
She wasn't thinking clearly, but she didn't have to do so. Her fingers flexed on his powerful shoulders, slid over them to the back of his thick neck as he captured one nipple in his mouth, started a leisurely suckle. He caressed the seam of her ass, tightened his hold. He took her into the water with him, folding her legs high on his waist so he could keep her where he could tease, lick and suck on her breasts according to his own pace.
She made a warm hum in her throat, folded her arms over his head, held him to her as he moved. At length, he drew back and merely held her, waltzing through the water, making circles and glides while she arched back to wet her hair. As he adjusted his hands higher to give her support, she felt his gaze all over her.
May I see what you're thinking and seeing, Master?
Progress. You finally asked permission. Yes.
He was watching her hair wave beneath the water like a mermaid's, just like he'd said he wanted to see it. When he brought her back up, she folded her arms around him again, her breasts brought to his hungry mouth once more. She shuddered, held him tighter while he pleasured them both. As he did, he kept slowly turning them in the water.
The only kind of dancing I do, my lady.
It makes it worth it to be in the water. But she was okay with this, especially since it wasn't over her head. As she'd told him, most vampires didn't enjoy the weighted-down feeling.
He moved from her breasts to her throat, nuzzling, catching the choker briefly in his teeth before letting it go. "You had to take quite a few links out of this," she observed, lifting her hand to toy with it. It amazed her, how much she loved wearing it. "Were you expecting a big woman to be your permanent sub?"
I love seeing it on you, my lady. He lifted a shoulder. "When I'm choosing for myself instead of for the job, that's usually my preference. I'm a bigger than average guy. Sometimes the slim little things make me feel the way I do around Chihuahuas. I'm certain I'm going to break a limb like a toothpick. A girl with meat on sturdy bones is a pleasure to top. I like smacking a wide, round ass. The breasts are total bounty."
"So if it wasn't for my strength, you might have passed me over as too skinny."
"Well, you've got nice-sized breasts for your frame. I'd still have given you a second look. Maybe." He grinned when she pinched his shoulder. Catching her wrist, he linked their fingers. "My lady, the only man who'd look at you and see something breakable would have to be blind. I'm mostly blind and I still saw all it, humming below the skin. The asshole at the pool sure saw it. I'm surprised he didn't piss himself. Nice to know I can tell anyone who threatens me that my sub can totally kick their ass."
She sniffed. "You look more than capable of fighting your own battles."
"More progress. I think I explained that to you, didn't I?"
She rolled her eyes. "I think there's another reason you like a strong woman. You like pushing a woman physically."
"I do. Maybe it comes from sparring in the military. There's a rush to it, taking down an opponent but knowing it's not real, though it's done for real reasons. Touch of danger, competitive spirit, and a test of your reflexes and strength, all in one."
"You knew what I was from the first, but when we fought, I didn't sense any fear in you."
He kissed the juncture of her shoulder and slim throat. "A soldier gets past that. It's just a matter of getting the upper hand, and hoping like hell you'll figure it out before the other guy does."
She sobered, touching his face. "I could have killed you."
"After almost two hundred years, I figured you had some self-restraint. You know how to get pissed without taking a life. Maiming, crippling, those are your middle grounds."
As they drifted through the water, he kept them away from the other couples, eventually bringing them to a fixed point beneath the overhanging limbs of some kind of willowy fern with fragrant white flowers on it. Though they were shut tight for the night, the fragrance still permeated the air around them.
"You haven't seemed surprised that I'm an overlord." She curved her leg more securely over his hip, liking the way their bodies were locked together, so comfortably, yet with that low hum of sexual promise.
"There's no surprise in finding a sub like you in a leadership position. You're an aggressive overachiever. Service submissive so strong it's like a super power. I know you have a cape and tights somewhere."
He tugged her hair back, made her look up and notice the ceiling of flowers over her head. She reached up, enchanted with the burst of additional fragrance that a mere touch unleashed around them.
"Then there's the vampire thing," he continued. "You're a predator, my lady. You don't stop being a vampire just because you also are a submissive. It's probably why you've made it work as long as you have, but it's the root of the conflict, too. Trying to reconcile being a strong predator with your submission. You're a hell of an overlord because the submissive side of you works with people. You know how to figure out what people want, how to help them figure it out for themselves. But when push comes to shove, if you have to unsheathe your claws, throw down with another vampire to make things work out, you'll do that too. But that part's tough for you. I expect you get some type of physical reaction to those situations afterward. Panic attacks?"
At her bemused assent, he made a noncommittal grunt. "So you're kind of like David Banner and The Hulk."
"Or Jekyll and Hyde."
"A much prettier version."
That coaxed a smile from her. "It surprised me, that I could do it," she admitted. "But I truly think Lady Lyssa is responsible. Her words--serve me--let me serve as a Dominant, rather than pretending to be one, which is what I've done most my life. Long ago I started telling myself bedtime stories, fantasies to help me cope, knowing when I woke I'd have to be what a vampire is expected to be again. It's why I never let my servant sleep with me in that hour before dawn, though I know that hurts Fran, the lack of intimacy."
He cupped her face. "That's the hardest thing about all of it, isn't it? Fran."
She put her hand over his large one, her fingertips sliding into the spaces between his. "Yes."
As hard as it was to maintain appearances, even knowing her life depended on it, her treatment of Fran distressed and drained her more than anything else. It was right in her face, underscoring her situation. Having someon
e in her household so obviously devoted to her needs, wanting exactly what Kaela herself wanted, and having to hold it out of Fran's reach, knowing how it felt to have that part of herself denied, thwarted, put cracks in Kaela's heart. So many times when she'd seen that combination of hurt and puzzlement on Fran's face, she'd wanted to explain, but until a vampire third marked her, Fran's first responsibility was to the Council. Kaela would never put the woman in the position of dangerous divided loyalties.
It was why she'd kept hoping all along that Lyssa would retrieve Fran from her service for another worthy vampire. But aside from those occasional formal reminders of her willingness to let Fran go, Kaela's guilt had kept her from pushing hard for that, not wanting to let Fran think in any way she'd failed her Mistress.
Garron was in her head, so she didn't have to fill in the blanks that words couldn't cover. He kept holding her, touching her, forming a cocoon around her. She liked how strong and big he was, straightforward as that sounded.
"I guess I'm here because I couldn't handle them being bedtime stories anymore," she said softly.
She felt a little self-conscious about it, something that seemed silly in the face of everything she'd revealed to him thus far. "Lately it seems that one hour is the best part of my day, and my craving had become so strong..."
"You started to worry about how much longer you were going to be able to maintain."
Over the years, the need to release, to surrender, had become so overwhelming, she'd gone through periods where she'd tried not to give herself to those pre-dawn fantasies so often. Yet at dusk, she couldn't control her mind when she first surfaced from sleep. At dusk, all she wanted was to wake curled in a Master's arms, hear his sleepy command to spread her legs so he could put his mouth or cock there as he desired, as he locked her wrists in cuffs and made her his slave in all ways...
"Sounds like that could become my favorite bedtime story, too." Garron slid his hand up to cradle her skull. Tilting her head back, she trusted his hold as she reached up to brush her fingers over the ferns. He kissed the top of her breasts, let his tongue play between them.