Releasing Gideon"s hair, Daegean gave it an almost tender stroke, then moved behind him.

Though Gideon"s whole body tensed, Daegan slid his arm back under his abdomen, pulled his hips back up. He put his lips close to Gideon"s ear again.

“If you"re determined to stand at her back at the Council, you might have to deal with far worse than this. I"m throwing you that bone, a shield to imagine that"s what this is about, no different from any other combat with an enemy. If it gets you through it, fine. But we"ll both know that you respond to my cock, my mouth, in a way you"ve never responded to a male.”

“Fucking . . . bastard.”

“Fucking you, vampire hunter. Claiming your fine ass for my own.” Using his other well-lubricated hand, he began to push into the opening Gideon couldn"t deny him. A strangled noise came from Gideon. More pre-come oozed from his cock, making Anwyn lick her lips.

She slid closer so Gideon could see her. Though her eyes were on what Daegan was doing, she could feel Gideon watching the arousal grow in her face. He was reluctantly drawn into it, his desire to give her pleasure overriding his denials. Which conversely spurred her own reaction.

“Is it easier for you to think of it that way, like a battle exercise?” she asked. “Rather than you learning to serve me the way I desire?”

“Maybe.” His voice was strained, but the intensity of his gaze increased. She held on to that, keeping them both still by holding his eyes with hers. She wondered if it had been subconscious or more deliberate, the few times she"d tested Gideon with those different-sized phalluses in his delectable ass. She"d been preparing him all along for this, for Daegan to take him. And when Gideon"s expression flickered with reluctant arousal, she knew she"d let him hear the musing, and it had given him a searing jolt of retroactive lust, confirming this was meant to happen. Was going to happen.

One finger slid in past the tight ring of muscles, and Gideon groaned again. “Oh yeah, he"s as tight as you"d expect a virgin to be, cher.” Daegan was hard as iron himself, and she could sense how aroused he was. Being a vampire, she wasn"t sure he would have stopped now even if she had told him that Gideon had been pushed too far. But Gideon"s mind, though a tumultuous storm, was suffused with lust and dark, driving needs, his focus on what Daegan was doing.

A second finger worked in and Gideon gasped.

“Relax, vampire hunter,” Daegan said in a rough, male croon. “You tighten up, it will burn like a son of a bitch. I intend to fuck you no matter what. You cannot stop me. Nothing you say or do will keep me from taking this ass, making it mine. And when I"m done, I"ll be the one sliding my hand back in there with salve, easing the burn, making it better. You"ll rely on me for all of it. I"ll take care of you in a way no man has before.” Take away all choices, and certain slaves let go. Gideon"s muscles trembled, rage crossing his face, but his body was jerking, humping air, responding to Daegan"s erotic threat. Those words electrified his mind like lightning flashes, and Anwyn saw a jumble of memories. A father swimming in the waves, a young boy"s fear of not being grown-up enough to take care of his brother, of never having any male he could trust enough to let go, to know he could let go and the whole world wouldn"t fall apart.

Anwyn swallowed over the ache, let those images fill Daegan"s mind, let him see what he was doing to the other male. Daegan"s gaze flickered to her, a nod, his jaw flexing. Leaning over Gideon, he pressed his lips to his neck, spoke against him there.

“Trust me, Gideon. You want this, and so do I. It will be all right.” He"d seated his cock at that lubricated opening. “It"s going to stretch, a lot. You"re going to feel like I"m splitting you, but let it slide all the way in. Let it in.”

Anwyn knew she didn"t need to breathe, but she was holding her breath again anyway as Daegan slowly, slowly eased into that passage, nuzzling Gideon"s neck. Reaching beneath him, he pumped his slick hand up and down Gideon"s organ, bringing back the surge of blood that trepidation had stolen away. “Let me in, and then you"ll be able to fill Anwyn with your cock. Your Mistress is feeling generous, because you"ve given us this. Ah, God, you feel fucking good. Let me in deep. Take all of me, vampire hunter.” It took some time, some coaxing from both of them and concentration on Gideon"s part, but then Daegan was in to the hilt. Gideon was gasping, his eyes watering, not with tears, but with the effort of holding him. Anwyn knew how it felt the first time. Even she, who"d been familiar with anal play, had been stretched hard the first time by Daegan"s size. No amount of practice with poor substitutes could change that for Gideon, either. It was excruciating, but also a feeling of such connection and pleasure. She didn"t see that in Gideon"s reaction exactly, but there was some type of relief, a shadow of it, playing among his other roiling emotions.

“There you go.” Daegan licked his neck, teased the skin, careful not to score him with his fangs. “Uncomfortable?”

“What, from that little thing?” Gideon coughed into the floor, his fists clenching in the restraints. “Didn"t even notice it.”

Daegan smiled against his flesh, withdrew slightly and pushed back in, earning a guttural cry from Gideon. “Then I"ll make sure you remember it for days, servant.” He glanced at Anwyn, and spoke aloud, though she knew he didn"t need to do so. “You may come to him now, cher.”

She took her time, rising to her feet, knowing that Gideon was drinking in the way her thighs slid against each other as she dropped her clothing, piece by piece. Running her hands slowly down her bare body, she molded her breasts before she dropped to a squat right at his head, her splayed knees and open pussy just above him as he shifted his face to see her. She felt the heat of Daegan"s regard as well, saw it translate into harder thrusts, a tighter hold on Gideon"s cock with his long, male fingers.

“Don"t you come, vampire hunter. Not until she and I have taken our pleasure.”

“You better hope she comes last, then, because I"m not waiting on a damn thing for you.” Gideon groaned as Daegan punctuated that defiant statement with a less gentle thrust. The vampire hunter couldn"t help biting out a “Jesus Christ” that had Daegan baring his fangs. His bloodlust was close; Anwyn could see it in his eyes, but at her flicker of concern, he shook his head. He was fine; he could control it. She"d been afraid of her own, but right now, all was well, even the shadow voices muted in the face of this blast of heated desire surrounding her like a warm, welcome blanket.

She unhooked Gideon"s manacles, making it clear she knew he wouldn"t try to get away now, and they shifted him away from the weights.

“Lift him up, Daegan,” she crooned, and the vampire shifted his hold from Gideon"s abdomen to his chest, using that one arm to lift his upper body off the ground. Her fingers played along Gideon"s forearms as they drew taut and she slid beneath his body, letting his arms settle back down on either side of her head. Aligning her hips, she was at the right angle as Daegan eased him back down so she was cradling Gideon"s hips inside her legs. He tried to keep his head up, but she pressed it down to her shoulder, feeling his hot breath puff across her breast, making the bare nipple tighten further.

“Give yourself to us, Gideon,” she whispered. “Feel me as I take you inside.” With a sinuous writhe of her hips, she lifted up, seating his cock at her entrance. Daegan came down in a slow, slow thrust that let her take Gideon inside a bit at a time, milking him with her slick muscles.

“Fuck.” Gideon pressed his face into her neck, biting, and bloodlust swirled up. But instead of freezing about it, she treated it the same way as she treated desire, the way she"d always channeled it to the point of eruption. To withhold it was to grow its power, the pleasure of the eventual release. Gideon was her servant, and his blood would be all the sweeter when his seed was spurting inside her, when Daegan was coming in his ass, the three of them moving together, Daegan"s strength carrying all their movement.

As Gideon slid into her, the weight of his body blissfully upon her, a position of strength she"d never appreciated so much as at this moment, she wrapped one arm around Gideon"s shoulders, her other hand reaching up to dig into Daegan"s. His lips brushed over her fingers, fangs scraping her, and she made an erotic noise in the back of her throat. Her men. Her two men, linked together, linked with her. She let the thought fill her mind, gave it to them both, even though she knew they would meet it with different emotions. This was how she felt in this moment, so this was truth for her.

“Let Daegan"s movements move you inside of me, Gideon,” she murmured as he tried to thrust. “He will control all of it, and we"ll ride his wave.”

“Easy for you to say. You"re not his surfboard.” But his fingers flexed spasmodically against the floor. “God . . . it feels . . .” It felt good and terrible at once. Those destroyed shields might never be mended, but something else unthinkable might take their place. Daegan"s cock, mouth and body somehow touched those raw wounds, licked them clean, offering comfort and undeniable desire while taking.

“I know. Your cock feels so good inside of me, and I can feel Daegan moving inside of you.

You"re both so irresistible, I could do this forever.”

Looking up into Daegan"s eyes, his bared fangs so close to Gideon"s neck, she could feel how difficult it was to hold back, to not take the blood that was under his mouth. She had her hand on Gideon"s shoulder and turned it now, offering her beating wrist pulse to Daegan.

When his fangs sank in, she arched with a cry, driving Gideon into her even more deeply.

She lifted her hips, slamming harder against him, and Gideon"s body became magnificently rigid all over, resisting the pull of the inevitable climax. However, when he"d taken one long, sweet draught, Daegan lifted his head and brought them to a halt.

He closed his hand around Gideon"s throat, his thumb passing with loving attention over the thundering pulse, his other hand bracing them beside Anwyn"s shoulder. “Move inside her, vampire hunter. Slide in, almost pull out, and then back in again. Go slow, and each time you come back out, your ass needs to take my cock in to the hilt. You go between us like that, while we remain still, as long as you can do it.”