I knelt beside both of them. "Hi, baby Julie. You gonna let Uncle Ran give you your bottle?"Ran chuckled. "Kim, I'll be B. J.'s protector, but I think I'll leave the feeding and diaper changing to you and Paul."I'm glad I had a "protector" in Athena. Her tip saved me from the Elder Council, which finally completed its investigation of me. I'm obviously still among the undead because the Elder Council did not carry out its wish to rid me from the Vampire Nation. When Malarias returned from Spain and I was able to give testimony to the Elder Council, it saw something intriguing within my memories. They saw I was privy to more than the secret of day walking Vampires. They knew that I knew the Elders willingly sacrificed Master Vampires to pointless deaths by initiating them to an Elder Council that only day-walkers could join. They also knew that I knew the ultimate reason for their exile of Alexis—to prevent us from joining forces and becoming a powerful duo. What saved my life wa

I wasn't much into pain but the succubus in me loved it. Paul lapped gently at my injured nipple. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of his tongue as he took the time to probe and tease. Then he moved on to the other nipple and showed it the same attention.I wrapped my legs around his waist, reached down between us, and undid his pants. He reached back to push his pants down over his wondrous ass. Paul's ass was like a statue of Adonis, perfect in every way. Using the heel of my bare feet I pressed him closer.Paul suddenly gripped my legs and slid my body forcibly down to the end of the chair.I hissed, sounding like a snake. Paul's responding growl rumbled loudly from his chest. Our creatures were coming forward. My teeth lowered and Paul's did, too. When his teeth lowered, his face morphed slightly. His jaw elongated and widened to accommodate the massive teeth there.He nipped the air inches from my face, and I hissed louder. I locked my legs around his back even tighte

My mouth fell open. "Does that mean …" I turned down the stereo a bit and sat beside her expectantly.Tyler's thin shoulders shrugged. "It just means that after eighteen months of dating they get to put a picture to the face."She didn't sound too happy. "Do they know …"She shook her head. "They don't know anything, not even about his sister being a donor for the last ten years. At some point they're going to start wondering why their fifty-year-old daughter and son still look like they're in their teens.""Sweetie, you know Jason is crazy about you. If he hasn't brought you around his parents before now it's only because he's trying to preserve his secret. He's entrusting you with that secret now."She laughed, and it sounded hollow to my ears. "And on the fourth of July? I'll be wearing long sleeves at the family picnic to hide tats and eating the hamburger before it hits the grill."I looked at her steadily. "At least you have a family picnic to go to."Her eyes flashed at m

I wanted to protest. She was still hungry, but I was afraid that if I stopped her she'd attack. But the feeding was beginning to affect me. I felt strangely light and heavy at the same time, as if I could float through the air despite limbs that felt like lead weights were tied to them."Make her stop," Tony insisted.I was alarmed at the feral look on Monica's face. "Monica!" Monica paused in her feeding."Enough," I said.She ignored me!A sense of self-preservation flared up in me. "Enough!" I growled.Slowly Monica released my wrist, and Tony moved off of her.I wanted to hold her in my arms and rock her and kiss her, but I was forced to command her as if she was some zombie ghoul!Tony stepped away from the bed. "You're her Master," he said, meaning that I needed to act like it.My heart was breaking. I had her sit up, which she did with much more grace than she had used when attacking me. I covered her nudity with the sheet. "Do you know what has happened to you?" I

"Give your report, Councilwoman," he commanded. As usual, I had very little to report. Malarias didn't care about how many safe houses I had and how many human donors had been rescued from abusive vampires. He didn't want to know about our new vampire apprenticeship program that taught young vamps to stop being bottom feeders and to become business owners by teaming them up with a successful willing Master. Would he care that I had taught my minion to peacefully resolve their own problems or risk death by bringing them to me to resolve—with finality?So I spoke on redundant things that meant nothing. When I finished, he watched me in prolonged silence. "You operate … safe houses. Are they boding well?"My mouth parted in surprise. "They are. At times we have small skirmishes, but I also have vampires stationed at each house to keep violence at a minimum.""What about non-sanctioned turnings? How many have occurred in the last year?""Well … none. Not in the last twelve or so mo