“Careful, fledgling,” Xavier said. He sounded amused, but nothing in his expression suggested it. “You may be queen of your little club at home, but you"re on my turf here. I"ll strip you down, hang you upside down on one of those meat hooks and whip your little ass through your panties until they"re in tatters, like that unwise pride of yours.” He leaned in, his breath an insidious intrusion against her ear, hot and revolting against Gideon"s thundering pulse. “There are no rules except power among vampires, little one. No matter what bullshit the Council"s been feeding you.”

“You can"t get panties under this dress.” She turned her face so her lips almost brushed his.

Arching her back like a purring cat, she curved her leg around the back of Xavier"s. It had to press his cock right up against her crotch, because she wrapped her flexible leg so high her knee brushed his ass.

Being in her mind, Gideon witnessed something remarkable. She compartmentalized, as if she were doing summer cleaning and putting things in boxes under a bed, only she did it in a rapid blink. Bam, bam, bam, the alley vanished. Every horrible transition moment vanished, the restraints, all of it. Even that brief glimpse he"d been given of her childhood got contained and thrust into the shadows, knocking the shadow creatures away like bowling pins. All that remained was Anwyn, a Mistress walking into a room and facing down her prey.

She"d learned, too many times now, that there was no way she could control the seizures if they wanted to come. Yet with Daegan in danger, it seemed she was going to refuse to let it happen. The effort of it reminded Gideon of mothers who lifted cars to save their children. The consequences of such an effort, the fallout it would bring, were secondary to her, no matter what happened later.

Leaning her head back on Gideon"s shoulder, she angled her chin to nuzzle his neck above the collar. It deliberately exposed her throat. Xavier"s eyes crawled over it greedily. “I"m sure you can beat me up or kill me, Xavier. But is fear the only way you"ll earn my respect? The man who created all this”—her gaze passed over the club—“has a brain.” Her shifting pressed her ass into Gideon"s groin. Of course his was probably nowhere near as excited as Xavier"s probably was at her taunt.

Stop this . . . Run.

Shut up, Daegan. Gideon didn"t know if he could hear him through Anwyn"s mind, but he had to try. She can’t afford the distraction right now.

A muttering grumble, like a distant storm thunder, but it subsided. Good. It suggested Daegan, while somehow drugged, was cognizant. Xavier smiled, showing a wide mouth with a hint of fang. “A tour of the circus means you have to pay for a ticket.”

“I"ll gladly pay it. If what I see is worth the price of admission.”

“I am a pay-up-front man.” Xavier eased back enough to let his gaze walk with blatant crudeness down her breasts, to her crotch. “I"m civilized, but I"m also a beast. The beast in me needs to see you sucking my big cock, before I"m willing to prove anything to you.” His eyes glowed red in the darkness of the club. “You sashayed your ass in here, and got the attention of damn near every Master and Mistress. You did it to taunt me, and now you pay a price for that.

We both know I"m just indulging you. I don"t owe you shit. Go to your knees now, show me respect, and then we"ll give you that tour.”

“You"ll have to beat me to unconsciousness in front of them to get me to do that.” Her words cut through Gideon"s haze of rage. He wanted to stake him so badly he nearly trembled with it, fury filling him with such strong purpose he knew it wasn"t only his own. It belonged to him and Daegan, anyone daring to touch her, to force her. They"d never let it happen to her again, even if they had to torch the whole damn world to prevent it.

However, her statement cut through all that. He felt a deadly calm pass through her mind, stilling the faintest breeze of anxiety or shadowy whisper. It was something he"d never felt from her before, though there was something tumultuous and terrifyingly familiar about it.

Like the silence before a tornado came. The largest, most powerful twister possible, one that would turn on her and blast her to shreds if she lost control now. But she was more than controlling it, keeping it at bay. She was fucking channeling it as her own personal weapon, to hold her own against this wall of bloodsucking muscle and every schizophrenic voice in her head trying to pull her down.

“I"ve met many big and powerful men, Xavier,” she said softly, and there was that same dead calm in the tone, something that would catch the attention of even a hardened psychopath, give him a trickle of unease. Gideon knew the hairs on his own neck were standing up at that eerie tone. “The ones that like to threaten, that tell a woman that she"s got to be on her knees or else. Those are the ones that wish just the reverse were true. They want to meet the woman who can order them to their knees, force them to do it by the will of her mind alone, to punish them for every transgression they"ve committed against a woman. To heal the sickness in their hearts. They"re seeking divine absolution from a Goddess they can"t summon before them. One they challenge every single time they abuse a woman, daring Her to come down and punish them.”

She straightened, which moved her closer so she and Xavier were facing each other with several inches between them. “Now, are you going to give me a tour of the club and impress me with what you"ve created, or are you going to continue to try and threaten me with your dick? I"ve seen plenty of them, and never found them particularly intimidating.” A feline smile curved her lips. “A man"s mind, his ability to create Rome, to conquer nations, that"s power.

Not forcing a woman one-third his size to suck his cock on the dirty floor of a sex club.” Xavier stared at her for long moments. The beat of the club"s music vibrated through Gideon"s feet, in tune with his thundering heartbeat, the pulse of Anwyn"s body, so close to them both and yet so distant in a strange way. Her mind was shuttered like a trap, a total darkness that awed and worried him at once. When he dared a glance around, he realized they were almost alone. The other patrons had moved on, as if sensing the volatile nature of what

was happening, or encouraged that way by two other vampires who had appeared from the shadows, here to reinforce Xavier"s will if needed.

Despite the force with which she"d just taken the reins, a familiar rubber-band-taut apprehension was swirling in his gut. He"d had it twice before, both times right before he"d been captured by a vampire. It made him antsy as hell. He wanted to strike out, fight in some physical way before things became any more claustrophobic. He held steady, though, because she did. Though Xavier saw and felt only the sexy frosting of the ice she was dishing out, Gideon could feel her pulling on his strength with all that she had to keep that chill. They were a unit, one person. He had to remember that.

Xavier shook his head at last, a rough chuckle rumbling from his chest. “Boys, I best watch my step. I might be talking to a future Council member here. You"ve certainly got bigger balls than most of them. Not a whiff of fear on you.” His gaze hardened. “Don"t push it, though.

Lovely and clever only go so far with me.”

For the first time, he turned his attention to Gideon. “This one looks big and mean enough, but you seem to have him towing the line. I should have known you had more than one ace in that tight dress of yours.” He proffered an arm. “Shall we take that tour?” Inclining her head, she laid her slim fingers in the crook of his arm, caressing his biceps with easy familiarity, as if they"d never teetered on a violent edge. “It would be my pleasure, Master Xavier.”

He took his bloody time with it. A thorough tour of the upper area, and then the lower dungeons, where more intense, and a lot less legal, play occurred. Couples that liked to push it way past the safe-word route, into play that was far too risky for the body. Asphyxiation, full sensory deprivation, beatings, electric shock. Russian roulette with loaded weapons. Anwyn passed by it all with perfect aplomb, whereas Gideon felt like he needed a shower. What he"d seen in the lower levels of her dungeon had skirted into these areas, but were far better monitored, the boundaries far clearer than he"d realized at the time. Anwyn had no interest in facilitating people with a careless desire to throw away their lives or who cared so little for the trust of their slaves that they"d cause them permanent damage.

While Gideon had shied away from the physical machinations of BDSM, having a difficult enough time with his own strong responses to psychological D/s, he had a new appreciation for Anwyn"s firm but intelligent hand on it by the time they reached the final staircase. They were already belowground, making Gideon wonder if the club had once been some type of utility facility, delving this far into the earth.

“If you"re a bit squeamish about taking things too far, this level isn"t for you, little queen,” Xavier said, sliding a finger across the top of her right breast, a casually possessive touch, as if he already assumed he had that liberty. “Typically only very select clientele go into this area.”

“Lord Stephen hinted you had such a place.” Her gaze gleamed, her lips lifting in a cruel smile. “Why do you think I was so eager to come here?” She glanced back at Gideon as if she were looking at a prized possession, not a sentient being. “Last night, I used a bullwhip on him. Thirty-six lashes, until the skin was hanging in strips off his back.” She gave a shiver.

“He screamed during the last of it. Then he crawled to me, put his lips to my shoe. I was a Mistress before I was a vampire, but I find I like how much deeper I can take it . . . with fangs.”

“I would have liked to see that. I can see why Lord Stephen directed you our way.” Eyes gleaming in anticipation, Xavier flourished her ahead. “I have a captive lion below that needs to learn quite a bit more humility. Maybe I"ll let you help me with that.”

“My pleasure.” Anwyn"s expression reflected eagerness, with the right touch of wariness.