As if to underscore it, she’d apparently lost the last thirty minutes, half dozing under Mal’s fondling touch, a languid state of arousal. Cynthia and Jonathan were rising, making their farewells to the other two vampires. Christophe and Gustav were given leave to retrieve their clothes. As they left the room, Elisa was surprised both paused to give her a friendly glance, a nod of good-bye. She gave the same back, finding it easy to put warmth in her expression. It had been very strange, all of it, but they’d done their level best to help her get through it, and she couldn’t help but think well of them for it.

Mal rose to join Marshall in escorting them all to the front drive, but the pressure of his hand on her shoulder told her he wanted her to stay where she was. Marshall and I will likely talk in his office a few minutes before we come back in here. Relax, and enjoy the view. If you’re hungry or thirsty, the staff will come in and ask if you need anything after the vampires are gone.

I’m fine, Master. She was still floating, still in this curious world where she almost wanted to be naked, kneeling at his chair, waiting for his next command, so she could do whatever he desired. It was really all so odd . . .

She laid her head on the side of his chair where his hand had been braced, feeling the warmth. When she woke tomorrow, she’d be horrified with herself, wondering what had happened to the Elisa of a day ago, and how they’d managed to unlock this room inside herself she didn’t want to close. Right now, though, she didn’t want to think at all.

With his uncanny intuition, had Mal suspected who might come into that room once it was devoid of vampires? Someone who also perhaps wanted to absorb the warmth of the Master she loved, where she could safely do so? In truth, when Nadia slipped into the conservancy, Elisa wasn’t surprised at all to see her.

From her shadowed corner, she watched the woman go to the windows, stare out, but she trailed her fingers over the headrest of the chair that Marshall had occupied, then pressed her palm there, even as she continued to look out at the waterway, the wavering lights.

Modesty and self-consciousness returned in full force. Nadia wore a dark blue dress, nothing provocative about it. It only emphasized her thin paleness. However, it was obvious that in full health, the woman was stunning, the type of beauty like Lady Danny that would turn a man’s head all the way around like an owl.

“He missed having you with him tonight.” The impulsive words were the first that came to Elisa’s tongue.

Nadia fair jumped out of her skin, her head whipping around, eyes wide. Elisa cursed herself. With Nadia being a third-mark, Elisa had assumed the woman would detect her immediately. Another sign Marshall’s servant was not at all well.

Nadia cleared her throat then, but made a visible effort to appear composed and courteous to one of her Master’s guests. “I didn’t see you there.” As she took in Elisa’s state of undress, her face tightened. “It appears my lord and his visitors were well entertained.”

“He didn’t . . .” Elisa bit her lip, knowing it wasn’t supposed to be the same with vampires and their servants as with monogamous couples, but then decided to hang it. She’d proceed with what she would want to know, if it was about Mal. “He didn’t participate. He just watched.”

Nadia studied her a long moment. However, instead of easing the set of her shoulders, she suddenly clenched her hands into fists, folded them across her body and stared back out the windows. “It would have been better if he’d fucked all of you. Then he won’t come to my bed . . . needing.”

Elisa swallowed. This woman was third-marked, so her vampire master obviously knew her thoughts. During that avoided kiss earlier, Elisa had registered only the physical act. She hadn’t thought about Lord Marshall receiving the double blow of knowing what went through his servant’s mind as she recoiled from him. However, even with just instinct going for her, Elisa wasn’t picking up revulsion. Instead, it was fear.

It was so obvious, she knew that Lord Marshall must know it as well. And there was no way, short of taking the woman by force, to get around such a fear. For all his ruthless desire at dinner, she hadn’t sensed that kind of cruelty in him.

Nadia was terrified she’d lose a part of her heart again. Or that she’d already lost it for good.

“Did he tell you why we came?”

Nadia sighed. Running a tremulous hand over her face, she gave her limp hair a harsh tug. Turning away from the window, she sat on the arm of the chair where Lord Marshall had been, as if that was her normal place. Her palm molded over the place his hand would have rested, as if absorbing the touch she wanted but couldn’t accept. “Yes. That you and . . . I’m sorry; there’s a robe in the closet there. Would you mind putting it on?”

Gladly, Elisa thought, practically scampering over there. It was a woman’s robe, perhaps one Nadia kept here as an extra. She could well imagine her stretched out with Lord Marshall, having long, erotic encounters in front of that glass wall that looked out over the water, in the darkness where the boats couldn’t see. The robe would be for when they walked to the end of that dock hand in hand . . . Or were such romantic ideas about vampires and their servants foolish?

“I’m sorry,” Nadia said. “You’re quite lovely. I mean no insult. I just . . . It’s all so unbearable sometimes. I shouldn’t be talking to you like this.”

“I’d much rather you talk to me like this than treat me like a guest,” Elisa said honestly. “I’m worried about my two boys, and I’d rather us speak plain about them. It’s one thing if Lord Marshall wants them, but I’m more concerned if you want them.”

Before Nadia could reply, they heard footsteps coming down the hall, along with Lord Marshall’s voice.

“No apology needed, Malachi. For one thing, I know you’d damn sure do it again, and with more force if needed.” There was wry humor in the tone. “You need something from me, but you were only prepared to go so far to get it. If she’d truly been near breaking, you would have cut your losses and figured out another option. You have principles, which explains why you stay on your island. There’s not a lot of room for such nonsense in our world. Jonathan and Cynthia can become somewhat tiresome at times, particularly Jonathan, but they’re young. Not much older than you, but you have more self-possession, which tells me you’ve learned a few things they haven’t yet. But you don’t get on my nerves by acting like you know every damn thing, either.”

“No, my lord,” Mal said in a neutral voice. And I heard that, Elisa.

What? I was just saying he doesn’t know you that well yet.

As they entered the room, Mal gave her a look that promised retribution, but then he nodded, drawing the overlord’s attention to Nadia. Apparently, Lord Marshall had been as lost in his head as Nadia, for he looked as startled to see her there as Nadia had been to see Elisa.

When Nadia’s Master looked toward her, it was like seeing a person who’d had half of himself amputated stare hungrily at that other half, far beyond his reach, while he slowly bled out on the floor. Nadia’s yearning was no less painful, for all that her eyes remained downcast, her fingers dug into the chair arm.

It wasn’t that difficult to understand, Elisa realized. She’d met parents in the bush who’d lost children. It was so hard for them to come back together over it, because the grief was so sharp and deep they could barely handle it themselves, let alone comfort each other. This couple had lost three. Were she and Mal going to make it worse, or better? Was this a mistake?

No. She trusted Mal’s intuition. When he took a seat in a chair near Lord Marshall’s, she came to him. As he ran a finger over the robe’s lapel, she registered his amusement at how it dragged the ground at her ankles. Before she could make a face at him, discreetly of course, he pulled her down on the chair arm.

After a moment’s pause, Lord Marshall had taken his own chair. Nadia didn’t move from the perch that mirrored Elisa’s, but her body quivered as if undecided whether to stay or go. Glancing at his servant, Marshall laid his arm on the rest, settling his hand just above her knee. He didn’t push back the fabric of the skirt, so Nadia didn’t get the full impact of the heat of his palm, the press of his fingers into her flesh, the way Elisa did when Mal automatically slid the robe out of his way to clasp her thigh.

But Nadia at least accepted the hint of intimate contact. A promising sign, to Elisa’s way of thinking.

36

“SO tell us more about these fledglings and why you think I can provide them a safe haven,” Marshall said, making a visible effort to focus on Mal.

With a courteous nod, Mal began. He reviewed the fledglings’ circumstances, how they’d come to be at the sanctuary. He’d sent Lord Marshall that information and discussed it with him briefly over the phone, but now he gave him more detail, answered questions. While Elisa understood why he had to explain the violent catalyst that had sent the fledglings to his sanctuary as a last resort, Lord Marshall’s brief look toward her, as well as Nadia’s, was a little difficult. Particularly when Mal mentioned how she was violated and Willis was killed. But then he was past that part and she could relax again. Somewhat.

“After spending time with them, I believe the devolving bloodlust shown by the three boys has to do with how they were turned. The others have periodic bouts, but they are little different from what you see in vampires when they are first turned. Their age may keep the transition from ever fully completing, but I think it will be no worse than managing a human’s problem with epilepsy, particularly in a controlled environment. However, my gut feeling is that the transition will eventually conclude for those four; it will just take longer.”

As Mal discussed the progress the children had made since they’d first arrived, Nadia rose, moved back to the windows, staring out at the night. When she sank into her lady’s chair there, curling her feet under her, Lord Marshall glanced her way, his mouth tightening, but he gestured to Mal to continue.