“I . . . My lady honors me.”

“Yes, I do.” The queen’s offhand arrogance was so like Mason’s, Jess felt a wary stir of humor. “Would you like to hold him?” she repeated.

“I . . . Yes. Is there anything different about holding him?”

“No, he’s like most babies.” This came from Jacob, leaning on his quarterstaff outside the mesh screen. “Just cradle his head. His neck ’s not quite strong enough to support the overblown thing.”

He gave Lyssa a smile, but from the intent expression in his eyes, Jessica suspected the two were having a far more serious conversation. She saw an almost imperceptible shift in his expression, a bare nod, and then Lyssa was lifting the child.

The last time Jessica had held a baby, it had been when her older cousin came home from the hospital after giving birth. She’d held the child on her shoulder while the mother hugged her welcoming party. The baby had been asleep. Several times during her captivity Jessica had recalled that memory. She hadn’t appreciated the privilege, holding that tiny bundle of peace and innocence.

Now she glanced toward Mason, who leaned against a supporting post. While he was still outside the screen, he seemed close as well, his gaze caressing her face.

If she left him, what would it be like, having a relationship with someone who couldn’t be in her mind, know the yearnings of her heart and soul even before she knew them clearly herself? With Raithe, she’d hated it, longed to be free of it. In less than two months, Mason had made her see it, feel it, a different way entirely.

“Jessica?”

Jessica blinked back the unexpected moisture in her eyes, knowing the vampire queen hadn’t missed it. However, to her credit, the woman let her maintain her dignity. She simply nodded at Jessica’s arms, and Jessica lifted them to accept the child.

As she slid her arms beneath the small weight, it put her face close to Lyssa’s, their arms brushing. Perhaps because she remembered the wineglass incident, Lyssa held on until Jessica nodded, confirming she had him. Slowly she straightened, holding the baby in her arms.

Kane gazed up at her, unconcerned by this new stranger in his life. While his eyes brightened when they went to her hair, fortunately he seemed more interested in waving his hand at her now. Jessica automatically closed her hand on his and he latched on to her finger, curling his own tiny ones around it. He smelled like baby. Powder and diaper, but not milk. Something more . . . metallic. Of course, a vampire baby would feed on blood. The thought didn’t disturb her as much as it might have, not with the wide blue eyes examining her so closely.

“He’s beautiful,” she murmured. “He’s going to be so handsome.” He would be a replica of his father, the strong face and blue eyes, with his mother’s dark, silky hair. Like all vampires, he would be irresistible.

“Thank you,” Lyssa said, her attention on her child. There was an ease to her mouth that suggested pleasure, but she didn’t appear to be a woman who smiled often. Of course, Jessica had seen things in five years that should have eradicated her ability to smile at all. What if she’d been around for a thousand years, like Lady Lyssa? Mason, too, was more reserved than most vampires she’d known.

She was used to not speaking in vampire company, doing nothing to draw attention, and so she almost thought better of the question, but then the female’s attention lifted from her child to Jessica’s face. There was no blood-link between them, but Lady Lyssa had apparently learned many things about reading body language. “What is it you wish to ask me?”

“Why did you grant me this honor?”

Lyssa cocked her head. “Look directly at me, Jessica Tyson, and I will tell you.” Jessica met those brilliant eyes. All vampires were beautiful, yes, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen one like Lady Lyssa. Perhaps it was that sense of other coming from her, the undefined power that only enhanced the amazing allure of what was already there, in the dark hair waving around her features. There was a hint of Asian mystique in the almond shape of her eyes, her petite but formidable form.

“Because you have seen the very worst of us. This”—Lyssa’s gaze went back to her son—“is the best.” She hadn’t heard him come in, but now Mason was standing at her back, one hand on her shoulder. The other came forward and closed on her hand, clasping Kane’s. The baby gurgled, fascinated by the two layers of fingers holding his own. Then he took his other hand, beat a small fist against Mason’s.

“I think he’s already challenging you for her affections,” Jacob observed, lips curving. Glancing at Lyssa, he added, “Perhaps he wants to choose his servant early, my lady.”

“If so, I expect I’m already defeated,” Mason noted. “I’m not sure I could stand up to such a fierce vampire.”

“Believe me, if he starts screaming, we’ll all run for the hills,” Devlin said dryly. “Try being trapped on a plane with him when he doesn’t get what he wants. Or was that Jacob squalling? I forget . . .” Jacob knocked out the base of his javelin, attempting to rap the other man’s ankles. Dev moved nimbly out of range. “That was pathetic, Irish. I—” Then he dropped, a lithe roll, as the quarterstaff came whizzing back, with far more of a vampire’s speed.

“Well, then. That’s more like it. Better not bruise my pretty face. My lady won’t like it and she’ll be forced to whip your skinny arse.”

Danny snorted at that. “He heals quickly, Jacob. Do your worst.”

“Would you like to join us, Jessica?”

“Hmm?” Jessica glanced up, startled. The vampire simmered in Jacob’s blue eyes, but there was an open friendliness as well, reminding her that Jacob had recently been human.

“Mason says you’re a pretty sharp fighter. Care to match a few moves with Devlin and myself, exchange techniques?”

“C’mon, love.” Dev gestured toward the square of sand where they’d been sparring. “Between the two of us, we can take him down. He’s become unlivable since he grew fangs. Worse than a teenager discovering his bollocks have hair on them.” She blinked, but not at the crudity. Vampires and servants joking with one another. Of course, they appeared serious about the invitation, which caused her no little consternation. “I’m not really . . . dressed.”

“Actually, last time they sparred, they had on far less.” Danny gave Dev a thorough appraisal. “It was far more interesting.”

“Well, never let it be said I want to bore you, my lady.” Dev stripped off his shirt in an easy movement, revealing his third mark, an impressive outline of a raven, wings spread across his pectorals. When he shucked off the khakis he’d been wearing, he had on a swimsuit beneath, a pair of snug stretch shorts that emphasized the muscular haunches and a rather sizable—

Jessica caught herself staring and jerked her eyes away as Jacob chuckled, but before she could get embarrassed, he jabbed at the man’s midriff with the quarterstaff, backing him a pace. “Last time you were naked, Aussie.” Devlin made a cocky come-closer motion as he maneuvered toward their sparring field. “Don’t want you to get confused about which one’s my weapon and whack the wrong thing.” He twirled his javelin deftly, managing to block another forward lunge. “The other one’s only a threat to the ladies.”

“Jacob.” Lyssa’s voice was soft, but Jacob turned toward her immediately. At her unreadable look, Jacob gave her a slow, sexy smile. With a slight bow, he, too, stripped off his shirt, showing off a muscular, broad-shouldered body. Above his hip bone was a brand of a Christian cross. On his spine, Jessica was surprised to see his third mark had survived his transition, a serpentine-looking fossil. The male vampire then slid off his jeans, revealing he wore nothing under them at all. While Dev was obviously overly equipped, enough to cause a fainthearted woman consternation, Jacob’s blessings were nothing to be sneered at. Despite that, Dev snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Unless you’re using a really short dagger, I won’t have any problem telling your staff from that pitiful thing.” Jacob, though quite obviously quite comfortable with his unclothed state, glanced over at Mason. “My lord, there are a pair of swimming trunks in the duffel there. Would you mind?”

Were they actually making an effort to help her feel more comfortable? She couldn’t tell, because there were too many ways for these five to communicate without her having a clue as to what was happening. However, she had to admit the tension in her shoulders eased considerably when he put the trunks on. It wasn’t that they weren’t beautiful men. But this was how the “games” started, and they were inviting her to play . . .

She’d tightened her arms on the baby without realizing it, and Mason ran soothing hands down her arms, jolting her back to her current reality. He leaned down, pressing his jaw against her temple. When his hair fell forward over her shoulder, Kane latched on to it instantly with a triumphant coo and tried to stuff the ends in his mouth.

Jessica was taller than the vampire queen, but as Lyssa stepped in, the energy simmering in her luminous eyes suggested that, even if she was a pixie fairy, able to land on a daisy without disturbing a petal, she could still blast a giant onto his ass. “Here. I’ll take him back now. At least if you’re sparring with them, we won’t have to suffer through a tedious stream of male genitalia insults.” Jessica didn’t dare hold him with less than two arms, so there was a momentary delay as Lyssa extricated Mason’s hair, with Jessica trapped between them. While the vampire queen held the little fist and pulled Mason’s hair free, as she’d done for Jessica, she glanced up at him, gave him that half-smile look he returned with a similar warmth in his eyes. Lyssa pushed his hair back over his shoulder, a bit of a stretch for her shorter height. Though her forearm brushed Jessica’s neck, she could have been a piece of furniture for as much notice as the queen paid her. When she drew back, she let her fingers linger in his silky hair, what any female with a hormone would be tempted to do. Still, the obviously intimate gesture pierced Jessica’s lower abdomen like a small spiky ball.