Anwyn went to her toes, sliding her body oh-so-lightly against his almost bare one, her thighs playing with the hard organ beneath the briefs. Gideon made a low, needy growl in his throat, trying to surge forward, and found himself unable to do so. Daegan had moved his grip to Gideon"s biceps, anticipating him.

“You have put me through hell, Gideon Green. You deserve the punishment. But it"s not only about that.” Her touch gentled unexpectedly, tracing the line of his face, and Daegan watched the way her eyes and mouth softened. Could Gideon see the sheer adoration in her eyes, how she wanted to cherish him, torment him, love him beyond all sense and reason?

“I see in your mind how badly you want to surrender to us, and tonight you"ll do that. But tomorrow, you"ll resist, because that"s your way, because you"re a long way from healing, trusting us completely and giving up your anger. So for those forty days, you will be brought to climax, over and over. You"ll wear a plug and a cock harness more often than not. You will do things for me and Daegan that you"ve never contemplated, that you would have refused without a second thought. I am going to train you to surrender to our pleasure, in whatever form we wish it. And when I"m done, you may find yourself begging for forty more days of the same punishments.”

She stretched up on her toes, brushed his mouth, wouldn"t let him have more than that brief taste. He seemed frozen by her words, however, held in a stasis of apprehension and anticipation. “Somewhere along the way, you"ll learn that letting yourself completely go like that will take you to a place of perfect balance. Where wounds will heal, where pain will no longer be feared. Where you will never doubt my love or Daegan"s, or your own capacity to return it in full measure.”

She was a sorceress, and every word wove its magic. Not just around Gideon. It wove around all three of them as she backed up another step, the robe still open to show the firm quiver of her breasts, the jut of her aroused nipples, well suckled by Gideon"s mouth so the damp imprint remained. Her hand was wrapped in the belt collaring him. Perfect to her desires, and to Gideon"s, the vampire hunter didn"t immediately come when she started to pull. He forced her to give it a sharp tug, drawing it tighter around his throat so that he resisted her as they moved forward.

It made the feeling between them even more combustible, and Daegan had to smile, showing his fangs in dangerous appreciation of Gideon"s insight into his Mistress"s pleasure, as well as his own. They liked his fight, and would always welcome his need to do it, as much as he welcomed their arousal from it.

She brought them into her playroom, only this time they weren"t here to take care of her seizures, or deal with a vampire"s transition. Tonight they were handling the breaking of a cherished slave, a servant who would be like no one else"s.

They wouldn"t have him any other way.

23

ANWYN moved into a chair with a split footrest, putting her feet onto it in a way that allowed her to spread her silken legs. The robe fell down between her knees, hiding what lay between them from view. As she settled on the chair specifically designed to allow a woman to be fucked comfortably in a partly reclined position, she drew Gideon down to her mouth while Daegan held his hips.

Daegan was too stirred now to let her lead the game. She was teasing them, which he recognized as a challenge to him, so he took up the gauntlet, as naturally as Gideon"s resistance had come to him.

Use your mouth to lift the robe over her thighs. Show me her pussy.

His voice in Gideon"s head was resonant, authoritative. In Gideon"s bent position, it was easy for him to take that hem, draw it up and to the left, letting it fall to the outside of her leg.

Then he bent to do the right.

Daegan"s gaze lifted to meet Anwyn"s. Put your arms over your head, cher . Display yourself to me.

There was a smile in her gaze, laced with her trembling desire. She obeyed him, allowing their servant to complete his task. Gideon revealed the lips of her cunt, wet and already damn near dripping, a sight that had both men salivating. Their gazes coursed greedily up her body, across the soft stomach and upwardly tilted rib cage to the heavy breasts, slim throat and lush lips. There were so many things they wanted to do to her, so many images that flashed through both minds that a sexy whimper escaped her throat, even as she took one foot and placed it on Gideon"s abdomen. “Cut off his underwear,” she said. “Please.” Daegan obliged her, though this time he moved up close behind Gideon so his ass was pressed solidly against Daegan"s erection, letting Gideon feel how engorged he was, what he would be feeling inside his ass very soon. He threaded his arm under Gideon"s, and now both men watched as Daegan let the blade tip drift down his belly, leaving a red line as he went toward the pubis. Gideon went very still, his heart pounding up into his throat.

Daegan almost heard the rush of blood that added to the painful state of Gideon"s cock. It fired both Dominants" desire, the obvious evidence of Gideon"s response to the threat of pain administered as fore-play, from them at least. Daegan kept his hand very, very steady as he went over the line of Gideon"s cock, following it down, parting the strained fabric easily.

When he reached the large testicle sac, he nicked him deliberately. Gideon quivered, but didn"t move. Anwyn reached forward, loosening the garment and letting it drop so he was fully naked before them.

“I will take you into her, and when I do, you will be guided by my hands, my pace,” Daegan said quietly. “But right now, I want you to turn around, drop to your knees and put my cock in your mouth. Make me slick for your ass.”

By the end of those forty days, Anwyn would accomplish what she said. Gideon would truly have surrendered everything to them. The beginnings of the slave they saw in him now would be honed to a fine point. But Daegan wanted this from him now, before then. It was the cruel edge of a vampire"s power that could not be dulled, that Daegan wanted to make sure Gideon understood was part of the package.

Gideon pivoted on his foot, met Daegan eye to eye. They held that way several charged seconds as Anwyn watched them, her sable hair framing her intent face, her mouth soft, the lips that had also been on Daegan"s cock in times past. She sat up then. Curling her fingers in the ties of the sash holding Gideon"s arms, she exerted a gentle pressure that brought the three of them together again, helped Gideon"s knees to bend. He went down.

For the first time in centuries, Daegan damn near disgraced himself at the surge of pleasure watching it. Because they were both tall men, Gideon had to dip his head, but when he took him in, he did it with no hesitation or reservation. His mouth encompassed Daegan, deepthroating him, sucking hard immediately . . . with rough male desire.

Anwyn reached into the discreet drawer of the small table next to her chair and withdrew the lubricant. As Daegan put his hand on Gideon"s head, digging his fingers into his scalp, controlling his movement, Anwyn drizzled the lubricant in the dimple between his buttocks, and then smeared more of it on her fingers, taking them down the crease. As she began to massage his rear entry, Gideon made an incoherent noise against Daegan"s cock, a vibration that made the vampire convulse and mutter an oath. Gideon flicked a glance up at him. Daegan was pretty sure it was a cocky expression, one that said Gideon was getting an inkling of the true power of a slave. While it was a pleasure to see it, Daegan tugged at his hair roughly, giving him a warning growl.

“Don"t get too self-assured down there, vampire hunter. The harder you make me, the less likely I am to be gentle. In fact, I"m pretty certain I intend to fuck you so hard you"ll have trouble walking afterward.”

Gideon"s cock jumped at the sensual threat, heightening the anticipation for them both.

Anwyn"s fingers slid inside the hunter, along with the slender tip of the lubricant tube as she got him nice and slippery. Gideon gasped against Daegan"s cock.

At another time that broken rhythm would earn a punishment, but now he was just too damn hard. At Anwyn"s nod, Daegan pulled free, suppressing a groan at the tantalizing suction of Gideon"s hot mouth; then he turned the man, levering him to his feet, and onto the kneeling bench between Anwyn"s knees.

“This chair puts your Mistress above you when she is fucking you, keeping you on your knees, so you remember that she is your Mistress.” But even as he said it, Daegan remembered the night she"d let Gideon lie down upon her. That would happen again, he was sure, just as he could easily see the three of them entangled in more intimate couplings in his large bed, falling asleep in one another"s arms. With a deep, pleasurable surprise, he saw a flash of recognition in Gideon"s mind, a yearning dream recalled.

“Later,” he murmured, touched. “Right now this is a marriage, a ritual surrender, an understanding of who and what we are to one another.”

Though he could imagine many such scenarios, including one where he might lay Anwyn down upon Gideon"s body, letting their servant cradle her from beneath. Cupping her breasts, Gideon would offer them up to Daegan"s mouth as the vampire slid into her cunt. Gideon would pleasure her ass, her soft body sandwiched so close between them. The possibilities were endless. Tonight was just the beginning.

Anwyn had resumed her reclining position, her fingers drifting down to touch herself, spread her moisture even further over her lips as Daegan watched. Taking her fingers back up, she fed them to Gideon one by one, letting him suck them greedily. She then brought him to her lips for a tongue-sucking feast. While she did that, Daegan opened his jeans, let his cock stretch out, long and hard, brushing the tip over Gideon"s ass.

When Anwyn at last pushed her servant back, her eyes glittered. “I wanted to taste Daegan on your mouth,” she breathed.

Daegan knew then he could wait no longer. From the raging lust in Gideon"s mind, he didn"t think he could, either. His own cock was high against his belly, Anwyn"s weeping pussy so close. All Gideon needed was her command to come into her, the craving for it taking over his mind. Well, partly. It was twofold. He wanted, needed, would perhaps even beg, to be filled by them both.