thick hair. As he did so, he brushed Gideon"s hand. He"d been doing that more often, casual touches, as if the physical intimacy they shared meant something. Meant that he had the right to touch.

It wasn"t outrightly sexual like what the vampire was doing to Anwyn now, running a finger along her neck as she swallowed Gideon"s blood, or stealing a brief kiss along that slender column, such that his thigh pressed the outside of Gideon"s. Still, it was an unsettling reminder of what was possible between them. Except to decide no way in hell was it ever happening again, Gideon hadn"t even made peace with what had happened in the weapons room.

He didn"t care how much his skin tingled after Daegan touched it, a different but no less provocative sensation than Anwyn"s fingers, tunneling under the open collar of his new button-down shirt to tease his nipple. Dropping down, she stroked her nails over his abdomen, a scrape that had him shifting his hard cock against her hip and earning a murmur of approval.

Pulling back from her feeding, she pressed her lips to his throat, sealing the wound with a faint blood imprint from her mouth. Daegan slid an energy bar and protein drink toward Gideon"s right hand to supplement the beer. “I"ll get you a steak later.”

“Thanks, Dad. I think I can handle finding my own meals.”

“You"ll need your energy. Don"t let stubbornness keep you at less than your fighting best.” Daegan"s steady gaze told Gideon he meant it. “And remember, you don"t address any Council member, let alone Steve and Barb, as anything less than „my lady" or „my lord," and you don"t speak to them at all unless he or she addresses you first. If you hold on to nothing else, remember that one. It is the one thing that may save your foolish life, which is important to Anwyn"s well-being, if not your own.”

Since being pissy would just upset Anwyn, Gideon swallowed his irritation along with the beer and plotted ways to get even with the vamp later for his high-handed tone and far too shrewd look.

Fortunately, Anwyn provided a distraction. When she slid off his lap, she had to straddle both Gideon"s and Daegan"s thighs to move past them. Daegan caught her hips, keeping her there as he cupped her buttocks. As Gideon watched at close range, the way those long fingers kneaded the rounded fullness of her ass, Daegan put his mouth between her breasts. He teased her there, a flick of his whiskey-flavored tongue in the low neckline of the silk blouse. “You wear these clothes just to taunt us.”

“But unlike Gideon, you don"t know how to mind your manners and ask for permission first.

Hey.” Anwyn turned a reproving glance on Gideon as he pulled his hand away. “I"m sure that wasn"t a pinch, because if it was, I"d have to put my foot up your backside. I"m trying to build you up here. Make you sound reasonably housebroken.”

“All they have to do is look at him to know that"s a lie.” Daegan rose and moved back to his own chair, bracing one foot on the footrest. It was his typically casual predator pose, but the sexual energy around him, the fact he knew the vampire had to be hard, made it difficult for Gideon not to look where he wanted to look. Holding Daegan"s gaze was far more hazardous, though.

“All dangerous eyes,” the vampire mused. “Strong jaw. Body never completely relaxed, hard as iron.” His gaze flicked downward, lingered deliberately. “In more ways than one.”

“Fuck. Off.”

Anwyn shifted her gaze between the two of them. Gideon"s mind told her little, because when he became like this, everything was still, focused on whatever might happen in the next few seconds.

Daegan remained in his position, just as still and silent. She knew it was pre-battle nerves that had made Gideon lash out with real venom in his tone. Hell, since he"d boarded the plane he"d been as unpredictable in his moods as Anwyn on a bad day. He was clearly testing, and she knew Daegan wasn"t likely to put up with it much longer. Gideon was purposely being immature and twisted, goading such a confrontation. From his mind, she knew he had no clue whether he was angling for the ass-kicking or something equally physical.

She"d been playing mediator-on-tenterhooks for most of the plane ride and it was dangerously adding to her anxiety. She"d heard Gideon"s thought, knew she"d been doing a good job of keeping any trepidations she had under wraps, but these two were going to be her breaking point.

“You said Lord Stephen and Lady Barbra might have betrayed you,” she said quickly.

“Why, Daegan?”

He didn"t remove his gaze from Gideon, unfortunately, but he did answer. “They were not part of the Territory Wars, and haven"t faced the dangers that the others have. They don"t understand that vampires who choose to ignore the rules risk harmful exposure of our kind to the human world. Being made vampires, they erroneously believe they should be loyal to all made vampires without discretion. So that they protect even those who commit vicious crimes, rather than advocating for the made vampires who do not. If they can undermine the strict position toward made vampires in a multitude of small ways, such as discrediting what I do, the Council may alter their stand on the matter.”

“But if you step out and the Region Masters and overlords handle internal problems related to their vampires directly, it would cause more unease and power shifts within territories, allowing the problem vampires more latitude,” Gideon pointed out.

Daegan lifted a shoulder. “Possibly. It would certainly slow down the swift retribution we implement now. Then again, Lord Stephen and Lady Barbra"s motives could be more personal and less political. For all I know, before Stephen and Barbra were appointed, I may have been assigned to kill someone they considered a friend or preferred lover. While these two are not excessively clever, vampires are good at keeping their personal baggage under wraps.” He shrugged. “Honestly, with vampires, it can always be a variety of motivators. They are not highly predictable in their grudges or politics.”

Anwyn slid her hip next to Daegan"s braced foot, putting a hand on his hard thigh. “I"d agree with the not very clever part. What did they think telling a crazy vampire where to find you, particularly one like Barnabus, would accomplish? Surely they didn"t think he"d kill you.”

“It was a limited risk. They didn"t expect it to be tracked back to them, and if they killed me, so much the better.”

“Yeah, that much may be true, but I don"t think that was their primary motive.” Gideon spoke up now, his hard eyes resting on Daegan. “What they did was force your hand, made you take Barnabus"s life and the lives of his little band unsanctioned. No matter how justified, it means you"ve given Steve and Barb the opening to discuss whether you have too much autonomy, and cast suspicions on how powerful you are and how dangerous that makes you to them.”

“The rest of the Council has known me a long time.”

“They"re vampires. Do you know how long it takes them to turn on one of their own? Lady Lyssa practically gave them her soul since the day the Council was founded. They turned on her in the space of one Council meeting, one piece of information. All it takes is a seed of doubt to be planted.” Gideon scowled at Daegan"s shuttered look. “Hell, humans are just as bad. People like to believe the worst about each other. Look at how they always scream government conspiracy, at the same time they talk about how completely incompetent the government is. Conspiracy by its nature suggests cleverness, discretion.” Anwyn nodded. “When it comes down to it, we"re idiots. We"re the Roman mob. We"d rather be thrown scraps of bread and shown a good gladiator fight than think for ourselves.” Daegan shook his head. “This isn"t a mob. This is the Council. Gideon, I know your own shadow world, the vampire hunters, rejected you because they believed you had become too sympathetic to the other side, and were only killing vampires your brother sent you. Both of which were true. It does not mean that you can extrapolate their disloyalty to the Council.” Gideon"s eyes narrowed. “Which one is it?”

Daegan lifted a brow. “Pardon me?”

“Which Council member was fucking your mother, and therefore still has you fooled into thinking you should trust these vipers?”

Anwyn knew she could move a lot faster now, but she had no chance of moving faster than Daegan. And Daegan in a temper could take Gideon through the side of the plane.

“Stop it,” she snapped. “Both of you.”

The syllables reverberated through the cabin, harshly enough she wondered if the pilot had felt the vibration. At least it brought their attention from each other to her. She was impressed herself by how intimidating she sounded.

“Gideon, it doesn"t matter how much you insult him, how much anger you take out on him.” She tried to calm her tone, cognizant of how they both went on alert whenever she showed the least bit of agitation. Which irritated her even more. “Nothing is going to change the fact we"re vampires, and your loyalties are shifting. Nothing is going to change the fact you enjoyed being fucked by both of us. By him. Or that, in your heart as well as your cock, you know if you stay around the two of us, it will happen again.”

She"d tapped the right buttons. He surged to his feet, his fists clenched as he loomed over her. “Stop fucking around in my head,” he snarled.

Daegan tensed, but Anwyn spoke in his mind. My servant, my problem. Do not interfere.

His dark eyes flickered to her. He’s out of line with you, cher . If you don’t set him back on his heels, I will take him down, no matter what kind of pain he is in.

I can protect myself, and your feelings are as much the problem as his. It pisses you off that you told him about Laura, and he didn’t react as you expected. You want to help him and you don’t know how. You don’t know what to do about how much you care about him. Neither does he.

She took advantage of his momentary surprise to square off with Gideon, rising from her seat in front of him so decisively he had to take a step back. “I don"t need to be in your head to know what you"re fighting. You"d face ten vampires without batting an eye, but when it comes to your own heart, your head, you"re still that teenage boy. I can accept that you"re immature emotionally, but you"re not going to goad Daegan into a fight.” His lip curled but her eyes flashed a warning. “We"re going into an uncertain situation, and I"m nervous enough as it is. Whatever baggage you have—either one of you—stow it until this trip is over.” She tossed a meaningful glance at Daegan. “Or I swear I will kick both your asses. There are all sorts of ways to entertain yourselves on this plane. Movies, books . . . Hell, computer games. You two can beat the shit out of each other in World of Warcraft or Bug War, or whatever the hell you can do with your joysticks. Just quit. It"s too small a space for this kind of bullshit.”