Mastered: Ten Tales of Sensual Surrender Read Online Free PDF Page A

tears or pain, at that point her binding to Brian was far more profound than even the marking. The human world wouldn’t understand that. They'd compare her to a battered spouse, deluding herself into thinking she’d asked for the punishment. Only it had been a lesson, not a punishment, and she was part of the vampire world. As Jacob had pointed out, every servant was all too aware of why the boundaries existed.
    She’d made her choice, damn it. She ignored the vicious inner voice that wanted to know where the call of destiny ended and the embrace of self-destruction began. Instead, she returned to the subject of her dying family member, safer ground. “I’m still close enough to the age when I became a servant I could go visit Grandfather, but you know the rules. We’re supposed to wean ourselves off family relationships in whatever way we have to do it.”
    “But you haven’t completely severed ties. You could still go see him.”
    She shook her head. “They’re in Tennessee. Brian has no time in his schedule for that and he can’t spare me. We’re at a critical juncture on several projects.”
    Jacob’s lips thinned as if he’d say something more, but she turned away. “Speaking of which, I better get back to this. He’ll be up soon and this report needs to be ready for him.”
    A lie, because she was done with it. But she couldn’t pursue this conversation further. She waited, tense, until Jacob stood, kissed the top of her head. “Okay, geek. You know where I am if you need anything.”
    “Thanks for the cookies.”
    “Better eat them before those rodents attack,” he said as he headed for the door. “They’ll be bouncing off the walls on a sugar high.”
    The three mice were sitting on top of the fragrant container Jacob had brought, and Emilie was already investigating the cracked lid. She slid the mice off into their cage and closed the door. “It’s time for me to do some serious work,” she told them. “Go play in your maze.”
    Three clear, colorful tubes ran out of the cage, up along the wall and across the ceiling of the lab, coming back together to one cylinder to pass through the wall to more mazes and compartments in other rooms of the research wing. She’d bought a few pieces initially to build an arch over the cage, give them a more expansive habitat, but then John, the grandson of Lyssa’s majordomo, Elijah Ingram, had gotten involved. As Debra had noted, if John was involved, Lyssa’s son Kane was sure to be helping as well. The boys were near constant companions during weekend nights and John’s pre-bedtime hours on the weekdays, since he still attended school in town.
    With a mind like a young civil engineer, John had designed the whole set up and he and Kane implemented it together, John showing the very young vampire how to help with assembly. Though Lyssa and Jacob didn’t overly indulge their son, money wasn’t a limitation when the project was deemed educational. Since Kane was old enough to start figuring out how things fit together, Jacob had ordered the many pieces needed. Debra had been delighted to see her three pets getting such freedom. On top of that, the boys took care of the mice when she traveled. John even handled the laborious process of cleaning out the tube sections when needed.
    Just one example of the many lovely, remarkable things in her life. Her focus needed to be on that. Her Master was a good man, and time had made him kinder toward her. Plus, no matter what else he wasn’t, in those intense sessions during feeding or lovemaking, he was everything she could want in a Master.
    Service to one’s vampire was what drove a servant. Though she might not feel it now, time would help her accept that, find complete fulfillment. She had the average servant’s three hundred year lifespan to figure it out. It should have been a comforting thought. Unfortunately, it increased the heavy weight over her heart, so she chose the only immediate solution for