“Niall . . .” She was gasping herself. There were other similar interactions happening on the lawn, helping to cover the noise, but then the Mistress began to idly tug on the buckle beneath Alanna’s breasts, teasing her compressed cleavage with scarlet nails.

“Come quietly, muirnín.” Niall put his large hand up to Alanna’s mouth, and she sank her teeth into the two fingers he pushed against it like a bit gag. She shrieked, unable to control herself. The stimulus was overwhelming, Brendan coming before her eyes, the Mistress’s contact with her breasts, Niall and Evan’s not-so-casual decision to possess her in public to validate their claim. Most of all Niall, releasing in her spasming pussy.

He kept thrusting well after the major crash, so that she was still bleating against his hand, small aftershocks. She wanted nothing more than to go to her knees and clean him with her mouth, finish her duty.

“Nae right now, lass. We owe Mistress Regina a debt.”

As he eased her back to her feet and her mind steadied under the Mistress’s close regard, Alanna understood what he meant.

“Is your servant practiced at giving a woman pleasure?” the Mistress asked, looking past Alanna, treating Niall as her Master-by-proxy. “I thought you might sit with me while she licks my pussy.”

Niall pressed a kiss to Alanna’s sweaty neck, pulling his kilt down. “She’s not my servant, as ye well know, but Evan demands I be courteous to all ladies.” He gave Regina a wicked grin. “A hot poker in my eyes is the only thing that will keep me from looking, though, so I might still be in your debt when she’s done for you.”

The woman chuckled. “If I was Evan, I’d put your cock in a sharp-pronged chastity device to keep your mind where it should be, Niall.”

“What fun would that have been, just now? You’d have missed the chance to ogle it.”

Niall guided Alanna around the bench, fingers on her elbow to steady her wobbly knees. “Do as the lady desires, Alanna.”

She was still vibrating, could smell the woman’s desire strong and sharp. Going down on her knees in the grass exposed her bare backside to those whose attention turned to their activities. She could handle the physical demand; it was no different from much more strenuous things she’d done at vampire dinners. But wrapping her mind around what had just happened—her reaction to Chloe and Brendan, Niall’s claim spoken hotly into her ear, how she herself reacted to his touch, to the way he and Evan were—gave her a lot of emotions to manage.

As such, it was good to have Niall’s reassuring presence. He slid onto the bench next to Regina, stretching out a leg so Alanna could grip his thigh to steady herself. She positioned herself between the woman’s legs.

“I can order my boy to do whatever you desire to her exposed parts.” Mistress Regina nodded to a pretty, slender man in a submissive posture a few yards away. When he thought he could get away with it, he was casting her brooding looks. “He’s being punished for insolence, so he gets to watch his Mistress be pleasured rather than doing it himself. I’m certain he’d be able to give her a most enthusiastic whipping with the object of your choice.”

I’ll break him like the twig he is if he puts a finger on her. He’s looking a little too angry for my tastes.

That came from Niall, but Evan had let her hear it. Throughout their evening, Niall had purposefully steered her away from any interaction with males. Was that Evan’s desire or his own? Or both? Stephen hadn’t cared one way or another, but then Evan never fit the mold of what she expected.

Of course, she herself had unexpectedly tensed at the Mistress’s suggestion, that feeling easing when Niall stroked her hair.

“It’s not necessary.” He drew Regina’s attention to the marks on Alanna’s backside, gently sliding the toe of his large boot along the curve of her buttock. “Her Master already attended to her discipline today. Alanna, proceed at the Mistress’s order.”

She completed the task to Mistress Regina’s satisfaction, though the woman had formidable control and drew out the torment of her male servant until the young man was fair quivering with vitriol. When she finally came, her fingers locked on the back of Alanna’s neck, she left the imprint of her nails there, though she stopped short of drawing blood.

Once done with that, Niall took them strolling again. He must have realized she was a little drained, at least emotionally, so he set a relaxed pace, and made it clear they were just observing. Evan had been silent since letting her hear Niall’s thought, obviously now too deeply into his meeting to interact with them. She was starting to miss him quite keenly, seeing so many Masters and Mistresses interacting with their committed submissives. Though he didn’t say so, she had a feeling Niall shared her restiveness about it.

While some groups were still using equipment, others were merely socializing, sitting in chair groupings, sipping drinks refilled by the circulating staff. Others were in the indoor pool, whose windows and doors were thrown open to allow viewing of the naked, wet bodies.

She studied the Dominant and submissive pairings, guessing which ones were in more intense, permanent relationships versus those still in “dating” or play mode, perhaps together for this event only. Niall played along, confirming or denying, but she was warmed by his surprise at how many she guessed accurately.

About an hour later they ran into Chloe and Brendan again. Now they were both dressed, Brendan in a pair of faded jeans, Chloe on his lap, the couple sitting on a large blanket on the lawn. Chloe hadn’t changed her shirt, and it had an interesting, artistic stain pattern, transferred to the fabric from the oil on Brendan’s body. The couple was surrounded by a chatting group of friends, but when Chloe saw them, she waved them over, jumping to her feet. “Niall. I didn’t get to say hello to you earlier. The whole wedding thing and all.”

Alanna blinked as Chloe took two steps and leaped upon the Scot. He’d anticipated the reaction, adjusting as she wrapped legs and arms around him and squeezed. “Hey, what happened to the other dragon? You used to have two of them, here.” Chloe thumped his broad chest.

“Evan drew a few on me until he decided what he wanted—fighting dragons, mating dragons—but I told him I’d prefer not having beast pornography on my chest for the rest of my life.”

Chloe grinned. “I was so happy you were able to make it. Tyler was sure you guys would be in an Antarctic cave. It blew me away to find you were so close by. It was fate.”

“How could ye doubt it, little sprite?” Niall kissed her soundly on the mouth, then let her slip back to her feet. “Brendan, ye’ve walked right into a fairy ring with this one.”

Seizing Alanna’s hands, Chloe turned her toward her husband. “Brendan, this is Alanna. She belongs to Niall and Evan.”

Brendan might have gotten to his feet in courtesy, but Chloe flung herself back into his lap, so he caught her with one arm, grinning as he and Alanna maintained precarious balance through a handshake. “My pleasure, Alanna.” His voice had a sexy, firm timbre.

Chloe shook her head, already on to another topic. “Niall, go rescue Evan from Marcus. Josh and Thomas haven’t come back, either. Lauren couldn’t make it, because of a pediatric emergency, so Josh has no one to rescue him, and of course Thomas is Marcus’s, so he’s stuck with his bullying. Don’t send Alanna. She’s much too sweet. Marcus will do the Dom thing to scare her away, and I’ll have to punch him in the face. You’ll tell him to piss off and drag Evan out of there.”

“Dinnae underestimate Alanna. She’s handled Masters far scarier than Marcus.” Niall shot Alanna a droll look.

Chloe sighed. “Knowing Marcus, he’s trying to make them create his next hefty commission check right out of their backsides, here and now. I want to see Evan, and I’m getting sleepy. I know how you guys are. You disappear in the middle of the night, and I won’t see you again until forever.”

Niall gave Alanna’s hip a caress. “I cannae refuse the bride. Stay with Chloe until I get back. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Guid lass.” He gave her backside a firm squeeze, a reminder. As he strode away, she watched the graceful power of his movements until he disappeared past the pool house.

“See, even she does it.”

Chloe spoke to Brendan, drawing Alanna down to sit on his feet on the blanket. Brendan courteously adjusted so Alanna could prop her back on his calf while Chloe leaned against his hip, a casually intimate pose. “Does what?” Alanna asked.

“You don’t treat Niall like another sub. No one does, except Evan, and even with him it’s hit or miss. I thought Niall was a Dom when I met him, until I saw him with Evan, and then you can definitely see it. Niall’s an über-alpha sub. He can flip the Dom switch when he wants, but I bet Evan’s the only one who gets the awesome benefit of the sub side.” Chloe gave her an impish wink. “Both the artists I know, Josh and Thomas, they’re subs to the bone, but with Evan, you’re around him two seconds and you know that’s not him.”

Brendan nuzzled Chloe’s ear, his fingers slipping along her side, thumb caressing the underside of her breast. The gaze Chloe turned upon him, the press of her lips to his jaw, suggested it might not be sleepiness that would have them retiring soon. On the altar stage, they’d given and received pleasure for the audience as well as themselves. Now it was obvious they wanted to indulge the quiet intimacy of a married couple.

“Evan has a different kind of Dom vibe though,” Chloe mused, a little more breathless. She offered another cheeky grin. “Marcus and Tyler, they broadcast theirs like a moose’s mating call. They can’t hide it. But Evan’s sneaks up on you, surrounds you. You sense it like a pittosporum bush in bloom. Have you ever smelled one?”

When Alanna shook her head, Chloe inhaled deeply, stretching out her arms as if she was about to embrace the referenced foliage. “The flowers have a light, barely there scent, but after the first or second whiff, suddenly it’s all inside you. If that makes sense. Evan probably doesn’t want to be compared to girly flowers though.”