• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“I have seen that particular disease set loose in a banquet room the size of a football field and spread from person to person until all fell upon each other in a . . . well, orgy is too mild a word.”

“What did she gain from making a whole room of humans lose control like that?”

“She gains power from every feeding around her, but it was not that alone. She wished to see if there were limits to the number of people she could spread the desire through.”

“Did she find her limit?”

“No.”

“So hundreds of people,” I said.

He nodded.

“And she fed off of the lust from them all?”

“Oui.”

“What did she do with all that power?”

“She helped a marquis seduce a king and changed the trade routes and alliances of three countries.”

I widened my eyes. “Well, at least it didn’t go to waste.”

“Belle has many faults, but the wasting of an advantage is not one of them.”

“What did she gain through all the political maneuvering?”

“Land, titles, and a king that adored her. Remember, ma petite, that this was at a time in history when to be king of a nation meant to be absolute monarch. His word was life and death, and she ruled him through the sweet secrets of her body.”

“No one is that good in bed.”

A look passed over his face—a small smile that he tried to hide.

“If she was that wonderful, then why did you and Asher leave her the first time?”

“Asher had been with Belle for many years before I arrived, and more beyond that before he found Julianna. He and I were in the circle of innermost power, where many strived for centuries to get to and failed. We were her favorites until Asher found Julianna. It did not occur to me until decades later that Belle was jealous, but I think in a way that was it. She slept with other men, other vampires, and she was content that Asher and I shared each other’s beds, and that we went to the vampires she chose to share us with. But another woman that we chose ourselves—that was different. But it is one of our most sacred laws not to harm another’s human servant, so Belle did nothing. Then Asher offered Julianna to me, and we became a ménage a` trois, and that raised the question of Julianna sleeping with others.”

He looked down at the floor, then up again. “Arturo was one of her favorites, as well. He desired Julianna, but Asher refused him.”

“Asher refused him, not Julianna,” I said.

“She was his servant. She could not deny if he had consented.”

“Ick,” I said.

He shrugged. “It was a different century, ma petite, and Julianna was a different woman than you are.”

“So why did Asher refuse?” I asked.

“He feared for Julianna’s safety. We both did.”

“Arturo liked it rough?”

“Mother Nature had made it almost impossible for Arturo to have it any way but rough.”

I looked at him. “What do you mean?”

He gave that graceful shrug again. “Arturo is still the most well-endowed man I have ever seen.”

It was my turn to shrug. “So?”

He shook his head. “You do not understand, ma petite. He is bien outille, well tooled. Ah, what is the English? . . . Hung like a horse.”

I started to point out that Richard was pretty well-endowed, but it’s bad form to point out to boyfriend A that boyfriend B is bigger. Micah was better endowed even than Richard, but again, it didn’t seem the thing to mention. I was finally left with, “I’ve seen two men that were hung like horses, as you say, and it was intimidating, but . . . you’re implying that you feared for Julianna’s safety because he was so big.”

“That is exactly what I am saying.”

“No one’s that big.”

“Arturo makes even our Richard and your Nimir-Raj seem ungraced.”

I blushed and wished I hadn’t. “Those weren’t the two men I was referring to.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Indeed?”

The way he said it made me blush harder. “In New Mexico, one of Edward’s backups, and one of the bad guys.”

“And how did you happen to see just how well-graced they were, ma petite?” There was something in his voice, a hint of warmth, like the beginnings of anger.

“I did