“That’s my rule, dear Ajax,” Abbott said from beside me. “You’ll follow orders from the Doyles during feedings and sex, but you’ll be in control of security. This means there may be times you have to tell them what to do and where to go. You aren’t a slave. You’re a valued employee. Both of your charges are more than capable of defending themselves under most conditions, but if my enemies try to abduct or kill them, they’ll have researched their strengths and weaknesses. It’s your job to make sure that can’t happen.”
“Yes, Master Abbott. I understand.”
“Gwen and I look forward to having you in our home,” Kieran told me. “Abbott has, once again, given us a most excellent gift.”
It wasn’t until we were back in the car that I realized I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Gwen. I hadn’t heard her voice.
And it wasn’t until we were five miles away that Abbott told me, “The real reason you won’t start until January third is because Gwen is about to take an extended trip out of the country. It’ll just be you and Kieran for around six weeks. It’s important the two of you bond so he isn’t jealous of your time with his wife once she returns.”
Something told me there was a whole lot they weren’t telling me, but that’s par for the course with most vampires.
Chapter Two
Gwen
I stared out the window of the plane and wondered what I’d be walking into when I arrived home. My former human companion had taken a job in another city a few months earlier. Rather than take on another companion and deal with Kieran’s anger and jealousy once again, I’d been feeding from Abbott’s flock. This kept Kieran and me from arguing so much, but the resentment around it had built up until we’d begun talking about dissolving our marriage.
I hadn’t spoken with my husband much while I’d been gone. We didn’t trust even the connections Abbott assured us were secure, and figured important communication could wait until we were in the same room.
My assumption had been this separation would preface a permanent one. After more than three and a half centuries of marriage, it seemed we were destined to go our separate ways. I’d miss him terribly, but it was time. Kieran is satisfied with bagged blood now that it’s available, but I need it from the tap, and preferably with someone I have a connection with.
Could our business partnership survive once our marriage ended? Probably.Maybe.
Together, we handled most of Abbott’s immense fortune, as well as the portfolios of otherold ones. We handled a portion of Aaron Drake’s, as well as the Amakhosi’s, and many of thesupernatural elite in Europe. Hundreds of billions of dollars in investment funds, though much of it was in other currencies.
And we did it all from behind the scenes, which gave us the luxury of not having to keep up with the intricacies of society. However, Abbott had decided it was time for us to become comfortable using modern-day speech, and I’d spent over a month in Paris modernizing my French, and a few weeks touring the rest of Europe. So much turmoil. So many countries in danger of being overthrown by their populace. Kieran and I would need to make some tough decisions about where to hold on to real estate, where to sell, and where to make new purchases.
My absence from home meant Kieran and Ajax had time to get to know each other without me in the house. I trusted Abbott in these things, and I hoped he knew what he was doing. My husband had been so damned jealous of my human companion — it was a constant source of conflict. Perhaps it was good the two men had bonded first. I didn’t dare get my hopes up, though.
Ajax had been trained as a personal bodyguard, but he’d also had the requisite sex slave training so he could service visiting vampires who wanted to play with him. The portfolio from Abbott’s people told us Spence had taught Ajax to cook for himself, and how to shop for groceries and other needs. We’d see him when we fed, which I assumed would involve sex, and he’d be with us when we left the house. Otherwise, if we didn’t want him around, he wouldn’t be.
Everything depended upon whether he and Kieran bonded while I was gone.
I hadnoidea what I’d be walking into. Some slaves bring out Kieran’s cruel side, while others appeal to the gentle man he rarely shows the world.
Vampires don’t practice power exchange based on preference, but based on supernatural strength.Magic. Kieranand I have a bit of a seesaw thing going. We’re quite close to the same strength, so we go decades with one slightly more powerful, and then we switch sides. I believe this change-up may be one of the reasons our marriage has lasted centuries rather than decades.
Kieran currently has the upper hand, though he rarely pulls rank outside the bedroom. Truth be told, I’m happier submitting to cock than being in charge of it, so I enjoy sex more when he’s the one with more power.
And this nine-hour plane trip was giving me way too much time to think about what I was walking into. I’d stepped onto Abbott’s plane at nine in the evening in France, and I’d land in Chattanooga around midnight. I read. I journaled. I watched a few movies. Air travel leaves me beyond exhausted, so I was happy to see Abbott had arranged for a limo to take me home from the airport. Or, in reality, Spencer had probably made it happen.
Chapter Three
Ajax
As instructed, I cooked pancakes and ate them with real maple syrup while we awaited the Mistress’s arrival.
Master Kieran had informed me this would be a special treat for his wife, and I could hear the capitalization when he used those words.My Wife. It was as if he wanted to be clear she belonged to him and not me, right off the bat.
My former Master hadn’t bothered with a chastity device once I’d completed training. I was his personal bodyguard, and he had no interest in using me for anything else. He preferred skinny boys and not large, muscled men. However, since so many of his business associates wanted to use me, I’d been trained as a sex slave as well. Master Kieran made it clear his wife would want my dick to be hard, and yet, here I stood in a locked chastity device, facing the corner, my arms behind my back, with a heavy butt plug in my ass — the kind with a skinny neck, so you have to squeeze hard to keep it in, and you end up with a tighter hole. Harder to fuck.
Here’s the thing about ancient vampires: Kieran may be a foot shorter than me and a hundred-plus pounds lighter, but he could kick my ass without trying. He could kill me with a thought, if he chose.
This couple’s security is in large part handled because they keep a low profile. Their home appears small from the outsidebecause they have a vast underground lair. They drive normal looking Audis — an SUV and a car — with the logos taken off to keep from drawing attention to themselves. They likely don’t need a bodyguard, but Master Abbott wants to be sure they’re safe, so here I am.
I’d recently worked for his close friend, the Dragon King. Or rather, I worked for Drake Security. I never actually met His Highness, but I was kept busy on protection and security jobs. I thought I’d like the freedom of living in my own apartment, buying my own groceries, and just generally paying my own way. I showed up for work when they told me to, and kept the people safe who were paying for the service.
And I was miserable. I lived near a vampire so he could maintain Abbott’s leash on my wolf. I’ll never pull off being totally free, but I had as much freedom as Master Abbott could give me. Still, it should’ve been enough.
