Elusive Hero

by Joey W. Hill

  Richard glanced at Kaela. "My lady? Does he speak for your wishes?"

  In so many ways she couldn't explain, though this situation didn't represent even one of them. But she had a role to play. She would encase her heart in ice and it would feel nothing. She would protect him as she protected Fran. Yet normally she could ensure her servant was given pleasure. Garron was Dominant through and through. He would get no pleasure from this.

  Don't be certain of that, my lady. This path is a twisting one, with a lot of forks. Come with me for the ride and see. There are different forms of pleasure.

  "My lady?"

  She offered Richard short nod. "I agree."

  "Good. He seems to have a silver tongue that belies that monstrous form."

  Richard said it without any contempt, but Kaela still bristled. "Every woman has a beauty and the beast fantasy, my lord," Tara teased him. "I think he's tailor made for it. Garron, join my servants and we'll instruct you from there."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  He hadn't called her my lady. He wouldn't be able to get away with that at a vampire dinner, but here, where he had the latitude to do it, he took it, giving Kaela alone that honor, because when he said my lady, it meant something different to him, and to her.

  She held onto that thought as he rose. Garron lifted her hand to his mouth, pressed his lips there. She locked her fingers over his, brought him down to her for a kiss, and not just any kiss. One full of hunger and need, and some blood-driven anger. She wasn't willing to let go of that. She expected she'd need it to get through this.

  Garron's large hands gripped her hips as she bit his lip, drawing blood. She rose on her toes, licked his mouth, curling her hand around his neck. He moved his hold to her waist to keep her steady.

  You are my Master.

  Damn right I am. Think about how I'm going to remind you of it when we're alone.

  Feeling that little internal quiver at the spark in his gaze, she gave him another nip. It would pass as the sensual response of a vampire in charge of her servant, not one who was anticipating all the ways she could serve him later. But truly, at the moment, it didn't really matter to her. She was in a fuck-all-of-them kind of mood, the usual restraint she exercised around other vampires close to snapping. This wasn't supposed to have happened.

  Hold fast, my lady. You're used to dealing with the unexpected. But this time you're not dealing with it alone.

  That thought, injected with enough force to pull her out of her irritation, was a new one. One she hadn't considered. She'd automatically locked into defense mode, into the Oh-God-something-else-I-have-to-figure-out-by-myself mindset.

  You'll have to work on that, my lady. I'll help you, even if I have to beat it into you regularly.

  She couldn't afford to lose herself in a vision of being over his lap, taking his punishment, no matter how much the resulting arousal might help her handle this situation. She'd done that for years though, hadn't she? Watching servant entertainments, imagining she was in their place, channeling the arousal to help her act the way she was expected to act.

  Maybe the problem was she didn't want to have to think of it that way. She didn't want to think of him in any way other than as her Master. Or herself as anything other than his. But as usual, her ability to do that was going to be stifled. Prohibited. Shut down before she could take it as endlessly as she wanted it to go.

  Life isn't fair, my lady. We both know that. Doesn't mean we can't find our way through it.

  She felt Garron's grip on her hand, the cold metal of the choker as he slipped it off his wrist, pressed it into her hand. It was as if offering her a rosary to remind her of her faith, the covenant between them. He met her gaze one more time, a searching, penetrating look, before turning to face the challenge that lay before them both.

  Seanna and Liam, directed by the thoughts of their vampires, had picked out a spot for their play. Between two nearby pillars, a spanking bench, its red leather and golden wood gleaming, was not in use. Seanna had claimed it, was already leaning against the equipment. Liam sat on it, long legs stretched out and arms crossed over his chest, the two of them looking as patient and well-synchronized as a pair of servants who'd lived together could be.

  Kaela wondered if they ever had any confusion about who or what they were. Liam had shown no reaction to Tara stating her occasional preference for a servant with a more dominant side. Maybe he and Seanna accepted that they were a valued tool of their Master or Mistress, but not a vital organ, the way she would consider Garron, if he truly were her third mark servant. For his part, Garron would never accept falling short of her needs. He would surpass them and demand more of her than she could possibly imagine.

  She couldn't watch this. She just couldn't. When the waiter came by, she requested a cup of wine, downed it with a quick toss. The waiter gave her a hand stamp, explaining with courteous firmness that there was a two-drink maximum for anyone actively playing.

  Tara nudged her, gave her a wink and a secret smile, because vampires couldn't get drunk. "It's fun to play human again sometimes, isn't it?" she whispered, reminding Kaela she was a made vampire, like her. But not like her. No one was like her.

  Seanna gestured to Garron playfully, bringing him over to the other two servants.

  Watch me, my lady. You look away, I will be very annoyed with you. Tell me if you like what they're doing, if you'd like me to do it to you.

  Richard had drawn over a table and three chairs from another area so they could more comfortably watch the scene unfold before them. Kaela took one of the chairs he gallantly pulled out for her and Tara. Since the Region Master seemed to consider what their three servants were doing prep work for the real demonstration, she was having to listen with half an ear to his casual discussion of the Council, recent policy decisions. She wished he'd shut up. In her lap, she wound the choker around her wrist, worried the clasp until it locked. She managed to pinch her flesh, but the bite of pain helped.

  Despite her aversion to watching, she found herself unable to disobey Garron, her gaze glued to everything happening. Seanna ran her hands over Garron's chest, scoring him with her scarlet nails. Even if their vampires were conversing, both servants were well trained enough to know every movement was a performance. Liam and Seanna were a striking pair, drawing a crowd. But when Kaela saw other staff members drifting close, she knew those were for Garron. If Garron was as well-known as a Master as he seemed to be at Club Sin, finding out he was about to play a bottom role would be spreading like wildfire. They'd want to see how he handled that.

  As Seanna continued to explore Garron's chest, tugging his chest hair in a way that made Kaela want to break every slim brown finger, Liam was adjusting the restraints on the spanking bench. Eyeing Garron's massive frame, he doubled the straps to increase their strength, causing a ripple of appreciative laughter among the staff members, as well as the audience, who were only a beat behind in catching on.

  Garron's attention seemed to be entirely on Seanna, though, as if what Liam was doing was of no concern to him. When Seanna bent to get a closer look at one of the scars on his abdomen, run her lips across it, Garron's hand landed on her head, the long braids. He gave one a rough tug and her a feral grin. "Need me to draw you a map, woman? Where your mouth needs to be is about a foot south."

  Seanna gave him a return smile that didn't need fangs to be dangerous. She dropped her hand, clasping his cock and balls through the slacks in a squeezing grip. A thirdmark's grip, tight enough to make him grunt. The woman he was taunting was old enough to be his grandmother. Maybe great-grandmother.

  Kaela tried not to tense. Seanna's a service sub through and through, but she can be a service top when ordered to do it.

  Tell me something I don't know, my lady. No offense, but be quiet. I need to focus.

  She blinked at that, but she saw the way his gaze locked with Seanna's as he closed his hand on her wrist. He could have made it a wrestling match, what Kaela would have expected, pitting strengt
h against strength, but instead he caressed the pulse in her wrist, followed it up to one of the braids brushing her forearm. Winding it around his fingers, he held it fast. While there was a light smile fixed on his face, his dark eyes never wavered.

  She held that gaze for a time, but at long last, her eyes flickered. Though she didn't look away, her grip eased on his genitals.

  "I expect it's going to be easier for you and Liam to have your way with me if I'm undressed," Garron said in a mild tone.

  Seanna lifted a brow, but after a pause, she straightened. Putting her hands to his belt, she slid the tongue from the buckle, her long fingers taking advantage of the terrain, the prominent outline of the head of his cock near the top of the zipper. She fondled him as she lowered it, started to remove the slacks and boxers beneath, pushing them down his hips.

  He'd picked up on Seanna's essential nature like a hound on a familiar scent. This was as intuitive for him as any other session, and he was sinking into his headspace, picking up every nuance.

  It impressed her, helped manage her fear for him, but the down side was the ugly spurt of green through her. This was her Master, he was... No. He wasn't hers, was he? Just for this week. Or had been, until fucking Theodosius Vardalos had allowed Tara and Richard to come here during the same week. There was no way that was a coincidence. She just couldn't figure out his motivation.

  Just because you aren't the one handling my cock doesn't mean you aren't part of this scene, my lady. Keep your attention on me. And you are mine, in a way Seanna or any other sub on this whole island, in the whole world, never will be.

  That brought her startled attention back to him. His gaze met hers once more. It was a brief contact, but his look burned to her soul. He turned his attention back to Seanna.

  "Don't forget the shoes," he reminded her.

  Her lush lips curved. She spidered a hand on his chest, backing him up two paces and giving him a light shove that had him sitting on the spanking bench. Garron watched her lift and straddle one of his legs, putting her butt in his face with a playful taunting wiggle as she removed one dress shoe and sock. When he gave her a pinch, she tossed her braids back, shooting him a look full of erotic promise.

  "You'll be at my mercy in a few minutes, big man," the black woman warned.

  "I sincerely doubt that." He flicked her braids. "Little girl."

  Liam chuckled at that, straightening from where he'd finished adjusting the straps. When Garron rose, he stepped out of his slacks and boxers, folding them over his arm before Seanna took them and his shoes away from him, set them aside. Tara made a pleased humming noise at the sight of Garron's glorious nudity, his semi-erect cock which left no doubt it was proportioned to the man. Kaela noticed the crowd watching had grown larger, was starting to press closer. Vardalos trained his people well, because the staff was already on it, producing velvet rope barricades with antique gold posts to cordon off the space. It allowed the three servants room to perform without interference, and the vampires' table was within that barricade, so no one would make the unfortunate mistake of blocking the view of the Master and Mistresses in charge of the scene. But even those staff members couldn't help ogling Garron. She wondered if he'd ever been completely naked like this in front of them, where they could see the powerful terrain of his body, the map of scars about which he showed no self-consciousness.

  "He's lucky to be alive," Richard commented, her very thought when she'd first seen the extent of them. "A fighter and a survivor. This one bears close consideration, my lady."

  Though she had her legs crossed and was leaned back in her chair, a position of casual interest, her mind had one emphatic response. Never. Looking at how wondrous he was, how he was handling himself, she could never subject him to the horrors of the vampire world. He'd been through enough.

  Not your decision, my lady. And you've thought about the idea more than once since I first brought it up.

  Didn't you say you were trying to concentrate? Should I tell you to be quiet now?

  Only if you want to feel my belt before dawn. Trust me, I can draw blood with it, make you beg for mercy.

  She caught the glint in his gaze. Then Liam approached him from behind, set his hands to Garron's waist.

  Faster than even a vampire could follow, Garron pivoted, captured the male's wrist and hand and turned them, using the other hand to twist Liam around and shove him face first onto the spanking bench. Though Liam started to struggle, he stilled almost immediately. Kaela realized Garron's hold had nothing to do with strength and everything to do with the angle. Third mark or not, if Liam resisted the hold, the wrist would break.

  If it was a real fight, Kaela suspected Tara would have ordered her servant to do whatever was necessary to get free, including accept that consequence, but they were in front of human witnesses who didn't know about things like vampires and third mark healing abilities.

  "Shouldn't sneak up on a guy," Garron said mildly. "There's a good lad." He gave Liam a pat on the ass and let him go, hauling him back up before shoving him back.

  "As I said," Tara purred, "it's a pleasure to watch the dominant ones. Especially when they're stripped. Can you imagine the pleasure of watching the early Olympics? All those naked, muscular male bodies. A shame none of us are old enough to have seen that."

  Liam shot Garron a look that seemed more annoyed with his own lack of anticipation than with her Master. His gesture toward the bench was almost polite. Though from the light in Liam's eyes, Kaela knew he was anticipating some payback when he had Garron strapped down. It was part of the usual play between servants, and Garron seemed to be falling into their rhythm easily enough. So far it might not be so different from group sessions in Club Sin. Except he didn't usually serve as a bottom, so Kaela couldn't calm the nerves jittering in her stomach.

  Richard's gaze had sharpened. "His reflexes are quick. Military training?"

  "Yes. I believe so."

  Garron positioned himself in front of the spanking bench, arms crossed over his broad chest, feet spread shoulder width as he eyed the other two servants. "So how do you want me? Or rather, how do your Master or Mistress want this done?"

  He asked pleasantly enough, though the spark in his eyes would be enough to cause anyone pause. Exchanging a glance, Liam and Seanna moved forward as one unit. After a quiet conversation where he was probably telling Garron what he was doing, Liam knelt and cuffed his spread ankles, locking the straps into the bolts in the floor. Seanna moved to the other side of the spanking bench and crooked her finger at him.

  "Think you can bow to a lady, big man?"

  "I bow to my lady, always," Garron responded. "But she allows me to respect the wishes of other beautiful women."

  Though he was turned in profile to her, Kaela knew he gave Seanna a wink. When he bent forward, the audience behind him had an enviable view of his ass and heavy testicles. Tara took her wine and rose, wandering to that angle to take her fill. "Lady Kaela, I don't know how you're going to leave him here. I'd put him in an extra big suitcase and kidnap him off the island."

  Kaela managed to give her a tight smile.

  As Garron leaned over the spanking bench, Seanna drew his arms down over the edge, cuffing them to the floor. She adjusted the length in the chains so he was held at a ninety degree angle, upper abdomen flat against the bench. When Garron's mouth cruised over her hip bone, Seanna cupped Garron's skull and moved so his mouth was over her mons. Pushing his head down roughly, she propped her high heel against one of his stretched out arms so she could direct his mouth between her legs, against the tight latex that molded her sex.

  "You just work on that like a good lad yourself," she crooned, though Kaela noted some breathlessness to it, since Garron knew exactly how to use his lips, with or without the interference of clothes. The thought of his mouth on her own pussy made her dampen further, even as she seethed at Seanna's fingers tracing those scar lines on his head. But her attention was snagged by Liam. He'd stripped off his clothes
and had taken a trio of lubricated condoms from one of the waitstaff.

  No. Garron, I will stop this. You need only say...

  If I want you to stop it, I will command you to do so, my lady. Can you feel what I'm thinking as I'm eating her pussy? Focus.

  The crude command snapped her back. She wanted to close her eyes, get lost in his head, but she knew that would give their connection away. So she kept her eyes trained on them, though she dove inside his head, blocking out what she was seeing in front of her. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done that.

  Except this time I want you in the here and now. Watch and listen, my lady. Take the journey with me.

  As he nibbled at Seanna's labia with his lips, he was imagining Kaela's, the way she got so slick for him and writhed against his face, making those sexy whimpers. He was going to be making her come with his mouth before dawn, and he considered this good practice. Watching Seanna get more aroused with his skill, the way the woman was starting to grind against his mouth, Kaela wanted nothing more than to be in her place. Or Garron's place, with him behind her, putting his mouth on her...

  I'll put you on your elbows and knees, my lady. Straddle your head so my cock is between your shoulder blades. I'll part your ass cheeks, put my mouth on your cunt, my tongue up your tight little rectum as you huddle beneath my body like a captured rabbit. You'll wiggle and cry for mercy, which I'll never give you. You'll scream out your climax until you're hoarse, just like this one will before I'm done with her.

  Her tissues contracted between her legs, imagining it. With her enhanced senses, she could hear every stroke of his tongue, the faint suckle as he teased Seanna to the point she was sure the woman was wishing her Master would allow her to remove her clothing, but vampires tended to enjoy drawing out their servant's sensual agony. Though it seemed Seanna and Liam were acting organically, Kaela knew their decisions were being governed by their vampires, since Richard and Tara had fallen silent, their attention focused on what lay before them.

  Richard had his eyes trained on Kaela's Master like a hawk. It made Kaela uneasy.

  Liam probed between Garron's ass cheeks, squirting additional lube into his rectum from a small sample tube. She registered the cool trickle of the lube through his mind, his mild distaste as Liam gripped his balls, fondled them as he worked in the lube.