The Scientific Method

  "Typical ranch hand. All you have to do is show him breasts and he's happy." Butch rolled his eyes. "Shall we adjourn to the pool?"

  Maybe it was going to be all right. Graham had stayed rather reserved during dinner, and didn't smile at the banter now, but it was clear the others had a familiar relationship. Yet as Brian gave Debra a hand to her feet and turned to push in the chair, she unfortunately met Graham's gaze. He showed her the tips of his fangs, eyes glittering.

  She started, bumping into Brian.

  Damn it, damn it, damn it. She'd resolved not to show him an ounce of reaction. Though the opportunity was lost, she made herself give him a cordial nod. Graham's lips quirked at her sham, mocking her.

  She genuinely hated him. His smugness, his cruelty, his very existence.

  Easy. Brian spoke in her mind, his hand on her lower back. He guided her out the dining room and through the patio, headed for the pool. She put her hand over his on her hip, holding onto her Master. It might be pathetic, but she was going to take the lifeline he'd offered her. To be with her through this, through every step.

  "It's not pathetic at all." Brian's lips brushed her ear, his arm banding around her waist. "It's what you should expect from me."

  The pool was lotus-shaped and the size of two Olympic ones. A lazy river formed a border around it, passing beneath a mushroom-shaped waterfall. There was a slide, an adjoining salt water spa and hot tub. Scattered around the pool were lounge chairs, as well as an assortment of foam water toys, paddle boards, a volleyball net and other games.

  But that wasn't all the pool area had to offer. Butch opened up a cabinet full of waterproof sex toys and water-friendly restraint options, including floating rafts equipped with Velcro straps. Hoses with adjustable pressure settings in easy reach of the pool side provided some further intriguing possibilities, and the several diving boards possessed eye hooks beneath, so a servant could be tied and suspended at various heights above and in the water.

  "Have fun, kids," he advised. Then he glanced at Dix. "Get the ball rolling, boy."

  Dix stripped off his clothes with no modesty, revealing densely packed muscle on his lean form from shoulders to calves. With a yell, he did a cannonball, showering Butch with water. Butch held his wine out to the side, sparing it a chlorine dip, and shook his head. "Now I'll have to go teach him some respect," he said with mock disgust.

  The other servants had begun to shed their clothes. At Brian's nod, Debra started to do the same, sliding her dress off her shoulder. Brian's gaze followed the descent, lingering on her breasts and the curve of her waist, but Butch nudged him.

  "You can look at her in a minute. You wanted me to point out some of the significant topography, things that indicate the geological history of the area. You can see it pretty good from this vantage point..."

  Butch drew her Master out to the patio with him, though Brian gave her a bolstering, heated look that suggested he wouldn't be gone long. Tucker and Tia joined them. Debra let out a steadying breath as she unhooked her bra, let it slide down her arms. This type of set up was usually the best case scenario for her, the vampires engaged in networking and social conversation while the servants served as eye candy. It allowed friendlier, more informal interaction between the servants.

  Proving the point, Dix had already positioned the volleyball net and was gesturing to Debra to come join in on a game. She saw with some surprise Balen, the chef vampire, preferred to join them and his servant Reed in the game rather than join the other vampires. He and the sous chef traded insults in a way that reminded her of Butch and Dix. It was interesting how the lead vampire's behavior tended to influence those who followed him. She thought of Lyssa and Jacob, and that fertility report. She might be wary about hoping too much for her own situation, but as a scientist she could tell the markers of change.

  Then there were those who refused to change.

  Graham was over by the wet bar, making himself a drink. He'd ordered Jia-Li to take off her clothes as well. But when she moved toward the wall to balance herself on her hampered feet, he made a sharp movement that said he expected her to take off her clothes where he bid her. Which made her dilemma obvious.

  She couldn't balance herself. At her first attempt, she toppled, landing on one knee on the concrete before she could catch herself with her hands. He gave her a disdainful, bored look. "Again. Until you get undressed standing on your own feet."

  He'd caught Dix's attention. Debra saw the man's countenance darken at the display, but he knew as well as she did a servant couldn't interfere between a vampire and his servant. Only a higher-ranking vampire could, and most didn't. Objections from another servant only made it worse for the servant suffering. There were plenty more Grahams in the vampire world than Lady Lyssas.

  The sous chef called Dix's name. He lifted a reluctant shoulder in acknowledgment, turning back to the pool.

  This time when Jia-Li fell, Graham kicked her side. "Do it again," he said between his teeth, "And it will be your face."

  Dix turned at that, his eyes flashing. She saw Balen mutter something, a sharp warning. Dix twitched at it, and Reed ducked under the net, coming quietly to his side, putting a hand on his arm. Graham was oblivious to it, thank goodness, but if he kicked her again...she had a feeling Dix wasn't going to be held back.

  This was her fault. Brian had denied Graham a simple touch of his mouth on her arm, to protect her feelings. Now his servant was taking the brunt of his anger. Debra knew the signs of a servant who enjoyed being humiliated. The only emotion Jia-Lia exuded was stoic endurance.

  Butch and Brian were back on the patio. She heard a snippet about California landscapes, fossilized layers, and then Butch called out to Graham. Graham gave his servant one last ominous look, a promise that the kick in the face would come later, even if he had no time to attend to it now.

  The woman was getting up again, but it was obvious he'd given her a task whose only outcome was failure. Debra's fingers curled and uncurled. Of all the things she didn't want to do in the world, drawing Graham's attention ranked at the top. But when Jia-Li started to lose her balance again, Debra was already moving.

  She thought of all the things she'd internalized about vampires and servants. If she gripped that experience in both hands, made it work for her, she might empower herself, take a giant step toward the place those far more comfortable with this had reached. She'd chosen this world for Brian, yes. But he'd known the depths of her submissive nature, had known a part of her craved the challenge of serving him in a world where sexual dominance was explored in such uninhibited ways. She'd only stumbled because she'd expected to always have him at her side, at her back, leading her.

  But wasn't that a two-way street? A submissive had the power to call a Master to her, if she chose to claim that power. She could anticipate his needs and enjoy the challenge of catering to them in creative ways. And as far as other vampires were concerned, most weren't like Graham, craving a servant's fear and pain far past the pleasure threshold. She could use her considerable brain to turn the situation in a different direction. Most vampires wanted to arouse their servants, feed off their pleasure.

  As the vampires moved back into the pool area, she noticed Brian's attention immediately returned to her. It seemed like a punctuation mark to her thoughts.

  This time as Jia-Li toppled, Debra caught her. She had a third mark's strength. She could hold a woman in her arms as securely as a mortal male, keep her upright. Jia-Li was a tiny thing like Tia, barely five feet tall herself.

  "Don't," the woman muttered.

  "Sssh," Debra said. She slid behind Jia-Li, keeping her arms around her. Once there, she placed her lips on her lightly powdered throat. Then her teeth, stroking that SCM with her tongue. She smiled against Jia-Li's flesh, remembering the erotic anatomy lesson. "Lean against me," she whispered.

  As she'd anticipated, she'd caught pretty much every vampire's attention, as well as the servants'. Those in the pool drifted to the side to watch
.

  She figured out how to remove the kimono, and the undergarments followed. She folded the silk garment carefully over a lounge chair, keeping her hand on the other servant. Jia-Li had scars on her back, long stripes that had to have been incurred tonight. They were healing slowly because her Master had not provided her the blood needed to make them disappear. Some vampires liked to do that, an accessory for the evening like jewelry. Some servants liked showing off such marks. She didn't think Jia-Li was one of them.

  She drew the woman back against her, cradling her small breasts in her hands, nipping her throat along the hair line of her silky black mane. "Your hair is so beautiful," she murmured. "Like a cloak if you unbraided it."

  Despite her initial trepidation, Jia-Li proved she was experienced enough to pick up on Debra's intent. Reaching back to clasp Debra's hips, she rotated her backside against Debra's mound with a skillful stroke.

  As Brian and Butch settled in lounge chairs to watch, Graham sank down in one to Butch's left, his gaze narrowed. For all Graham knew, Brian had told her to do this, so if they managed a distracting enough display, she could avert Jia-Li being punished for disobedience.

  Jia-Li was fine-boned and lovely as a doll. Turning her to face her, Debra tangled her fingers with hers, backed her up to the wet bar. Then she lifted her up onto one of the stools. Pulling her own hair over one shoulder to keep it out of the way, she bent to kiss the woman's thigh, curling her hands over both her knees to spread them wide, show the bare pussy between her thighs. Jia-Li's eyes met hers, then her lashes lowered.

  Debra wondered what Brian was thinking. A sidelong glance showed him as intrigued by two women pleasuring each other as any man here. It almost made her smile, despite her serious intent. As she worked her way up Jia-Li's thigh, she embraced that hum of sensation that said she had his full presence in her mind, and spoke to it.

  Too bad we can't take her into your bed tonight, my lord. You could sample some wine off her smooth, pretty pussy. I could take your cock in my mouth. Then I could straddle you, take you inside me, and put her in front of me. I'd cup her breast, capture her nipple between my knuckles and squeeze. Slide my fingers into all the wetness I can smell now, make her come as you command it. All while you fucked me, making me beg for release...

  She was arousing herself and feeling a power from it, a much more refreshing feeling than fear. Heat washed over her as her Master responded.

  As pleasurable as that sounds, I prefer having my servant bear the weight of all my desires. I'll sip wine off every inch of her skin until she's trembling, mindless and begging.

  Anything you desire is my pleasure, Master.

  She pulled two cushions off a nearby chair to give her the height she needed to kneel. But before she did, she laid her hand on Jia-Li's sternum, spreading out her fingers so they could caress her small breasts. Applying pressure, she made the woman lean back against the bar, then further, until her shoulder blades were against the flat surface, her head tipped back, which made her thrust her breasts upward and tilt her hips.

  The dominant gesture had Jia-Li's eyes sparking. This woman was a true submissive like Debra, but not the kind who responded to brutality like Graham's. Debra wondered how he'd tricked her into believing otherwise. At least she could give her the right treatment tonight.

  "Stay right like that," she said softly. "Or I'll stop."

  Jia-Li didn't smile. She'd probably forgotten how the first week in Graham's service, but Debra saw the flicker of need in her gaze. She could help her get lost in it.

  In her peripheral vision, Dix and the other two servants were leaning on the pool lip, watching. The chef vampire was sitting on the ledge, his servant pressed against his leg. Tucker and Tia sat together on her left, Brian, Graham and Butch just behind her and to her right, their eyes gleaming in the shadows of the dimly lit pool area. She and Jia-Li were center stage, and she knew what was required for that.

  She blocked out Graham. He didn't exist. Only her Master existed. This was for him, and the more she pleasured him the more she'd pleasure herself, a never-ending circle.

  Putting her hands on the Asian woman's thighs, she spread her out wider, moved between them. Jia-Li had a scent like jasmine oil flavored with vanilla. It was a nice combination. Debra nuzzled her upper thighs, kissed the soft skin, moved closer to the woman's cunt, sensing Jia-Li's breath hitching, her fingers closing into tense knots at her side. When Debra finally closed her mouth over her, giving her one thorough, long lick from clit to perineum, teasing the petals in between with an artful swirl of her tongue, Jia-Li shuddered, an intense, compact response that reminded Debra of a seismic tremor coming from within the earth.

  How long it had been since Graham had allowed her to take pleasure from her service? That was one thing Brian always did. Whatever else he demanded of her, when they came together like this, he made sure Debra saw stars.

  She traced Jia-Li's pussy with her tongue and then thrust inside, using her hands to caress the flexing muscles of the woman's thighs. But something wasn't quite right. Jia-Li's pleasure was being disrupted by discomfort. Her bound feet. Well, Graham had ordered her to undress, hadn't he?

  Debra lifted her head. Stroking Jia-Li's straining abdomen, she gripped her waist, a light pressure telling the woman she wanted her to straighten. As she did, Debra's hand slipped to her hips and back to her knees. Sinking to a full seat on her heels, she clasped one of the other servant's ankles. She slid off the tiny shoe into which Jia-Li's bound foot had been forced. Fortunately Graham hadn't required her to break the arch or toes to fit into typical lotus foot mold, a painful process requiring far more than a night to accomplish for a mortal. When she'd traveled with Brian in China, she'd seen a few elderly women who bore the permanent disability the fashion had inflicted upon them.

  This wasn't that severe, thank goodness, but Debra still winced at the tight arch the bindings had forced Jia-Li to endure. As she freed Jia-Li's cramped toes from the wrappings, she wondered that she could walk at all. She massaged the toes and the arch as long as she dared. Not wanting Graham to interfere if he thought cosseting Jia-Li had become more important than entertaining their audience, Debra bent to place her lips on one foot. She knew all the erogenous zones associated with that area, because Brian could use fingers, lips, tongue and fangs in artful ways that made every touch shoot sensation straight up the inside of her thighs. When he finally did close his mouth over her pussy, Debra usually came instantly.

  She'd obviously learned well from his tutelage. In no time, Jia-Li's response had her arched back over the bar, soft gasps coming from her lips. Debra lifted Jia-Li's ankles, guiding her legs so they slid over Debra's shoulders. She stayed on her knees but lifted off of her heels, adjusting her knees outward in a sinuous movement that telegraphed her awareness of her audience. She was still wearing the scrap of panties, so as she bent forward, she arched her back, lifting her hips so her Master was getting a view of her plump, silk-covered sex, the crotch wet from all the things she was thinking about and doing for him.

  Jia-Li's pussy was glistening from Debra's attentions, and Debra intended for her to get even wetter. As Debra started licking and sucking on her pussy again, the other woman's fingers scraped the bar surface. When she started thrusting with her tongue, Debra was conscious of her own body responding to the stimulation, her ass lifting higher and then lowering, her body mimicking the act of being fucked. Brian wouldn't take her now, wouldn't block the show for others, but she wanted him to see what she wanted, that she was ready for him whenever he desired. She became more enthusiastic in her ministrations, her breasts quivering with her movements, and knew he'd be looking at them as well.

  He hadn't spoken in a while, but the heat on her flesh, unfurling inside her, told her she had his full attention, his mind inside her mind. He was with her.

  She wanted to feel Jia-Li's climax, wanted to claim that power for herself. She didn't have long to wait.

  Jia-Li shuddered and began to c
ome, a silent, intense event where her body convulsed and gasping moans had to tear themselves from her constricted throat. She might be punished for it, but that didn't really matter, did it? This was just a shelter in an ongoing storm for her. Debra redoubled her efforts, making sure she gave the woman as much pleasure as she could.

  As the woman rocked to completion against Debra's mouth, she was making a barely audible keening noise. Glancing up the slope of her body, Debra saw her chest rising and falling quickly, as if she were close to some type of emotional break. Debra made a soothing sound, stroking her stomach, her hips and her thighs with gentle fingertips. Fortunately, the vampires remained silent, watching, no interruption as of yet. As Jia-Li's breath steadied, Debra rose, curled a hand around her waist and helped her sit up. She put her arms around Jia-Li, held her.

  I wish I could make this better for you. For more than this moment.

  She couldn't say it aloud, because vampire hearing was far too sharp. But Jia-Li had more spirit than she'd expected. Debra drew in a breath as Jia-Li's mouth closed over her nipple and started to suckle with a provocatively strong pull. Her small hands came around to cup Debra's buttocks, stroke her curves. In her current aroused state, Debra was more than willing to lean into the stimulation.

  "Stop."

  Jia-Li stiffened at Graham's command. Her head lifted, expressive eyes meeting Debra's before sweeping down again. Debra heard the creak of the chair as Graham rose, felt his ominous heat as he approached. She steeled herself to immobility as he curled a fingertip around her hair. In the corner of her gaze, she saw him staring at his servant. Jia-Li kept her lashes lowered.

  "Your servant did that so very well, Lord Brian," Graham said. "I expect you'd have no objection if I put her mouth to more strenuous use. I'd like to see her do the same for the rest of us. See if she can be as courteous and generous to the men as she is with women. Starting with me."

  Asking was a courtesy. Brian was neither overlord nor Region Master, nor in line for either post. Graham had every right to demand it, and there was nothing her Master could do.