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“So the fact that you treat your wolves better than most is just, what, a political decision?”

He shrugged, still holding me against him. “I do not know how other vampires feel. I know only that Belle Morte felt attracted to her cats and I feel the same for my wolves. Perhaps it is only her line that turns the bond between animal and vampire into something like lovers? Much of her power fed into sex, or at least, attraction, and perhaps that is not how others feel?” He frowned. “I had not truly thought about that before. Perhaps it is another benefit of her lineage—or a shortfall of it—that most of my powers turn to something resembling sex.”

“Does Asher feel the same way about his animal to call?”

“He has no animal to call.”

I widened my eyes. “I thought all master vamps over a certain age had an animal to call.”

“Most of the time they do, but not always. Just as his bite can give true sexual release and mine cannot. We have different powers.”

“But not having an animal to call is like a major . . .”

“It means he is weaker than I am.”

“But he could still be Master of the City somewhere else. I mean I’ve met Masters of the City that had no animal to call before.”

“If there was a territory vacant in this country, and he would be willing to leave us, then yes, he might rise to Master of the City.”

I started to ask, Then why doesn’t he go? But I was pretty sure I knew the answer, and it was a painful answer, so I left it unsaid. Maybe I was growing up at last. Not every thought that came into my head had to come out of my mouth.

“Or it could simply be that you’ve wanted Nathaniel for a very long time. There is satisfaction in finally giving in to the desire.”

I pushed away from him. “You know, you’re not very good at this comforting stuff.”

“You said no games. Isn’t a lie the same as playing a game?”

I frowned at him. “I did not have sex with Nathaniel.”

“Come, ma petite, you did not have intercourse, but to say you did not have sex is splitting the hair a little too fine, no?”

I glared at him and tried to be angry, but there was something closer to panic than anger making my heart beat faster. “Are you saying that what we just did qualifies as sex?”

“Are you saying that it did not?”

I turned so I couldn’t see his face, hugging my arms around myself. I finally turned back to look at him. I tried leaning against the wall, but the tiles were cold and I was still naked. I needed my clothes, but they were out in the other room, and I was so not ready to see the other men again.

“So you’re saying that we had sex—all of us?”

He took a deep breath. “What answer do you want, ma petite?”

“Truth would be nice.”

“No, you do not want the truth. I thought that you did, or I would have taken better care about what I said.” He looked tired. “I am glad you are the woman that you are, but there are moments when I wish that you could simply enjoy something without being chased around the room by your guilt and your morals afterwards. What we did tonight is a glorious thing. A thing to be shared and treasured, not something to be ashamed of.”

“I was doing better with it before you told me it counts as sex.”

“And the fact that I had to tell you that it counts as sex means you are still lying to yourself more than I have ever tried to lie to you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He held up a hand. “I will say no more about this. You do not want the truth, and you told me not to lie. I am out of options.”

I hugged myself and frowned at the floor. I tried to wrap my mind around what he’d said, what we’d done, and I just couldn’t do it. We needed a change of topic, fast.

“Jason acted like a power substitute for Richard,” I said.

“Oui.” He let me change the subject without a word or a change in expression.

“I didn’t know we could do that.”

“Nor did I.” He took those few gliding steps that put him beside me again. “If it is comfort that you want, more than truth, then I can do that.” He touched my chin, raised my face so that