Safeword: Storm Clouds(13)

By then Kendra was back. "Yes, and I felt the same vibration from outside. I'll know if you try to tell, no matter where in the world you are."

"How? How is that possible? To make an oath... real? I tried very hard, I could not write the word. How is that possible?"

Abbot answered, "It used to be called magic. Nowadays it would probably be called metaphysics. If some if the physicists out there knew about it they would probably use it to try to prove their nice little string theories. But now that you know we can do it, you need to understand that our society, vampire society, is set up on a sort of magical hierarchy with the more powerful vampires having rank over the less powerful vampires. I'm telling you this because Kendra won't, because she doesn't like to think of herself as being as powerful as she is. But the truth is that Kendra is probably one of the ten or so most powerful vampires in the United States. She isn't Master of her own territory only because she has no interest in it at this time."

"So, Kendra has some sort of Master Vampire that's over her? What kind of hold does he have on her?"

Abbot smiled, Eric had gone straight to worrying about how this affected Kendra instead of how it might affect Eric. Abbot liked this man. "I am Master of this territory, Kendra is my third in command. Kendra is also my friend, but even if she were not, I am not in the habit of forcing the vampires in my territory to do things they do not wish to do. I have rules that I require my vampires follow, but they are rules Kendra lives by anyway. Things like not killing humans, not kidnapping humans for use as companions, not turning a human into a vampire unless it is their decision, and bringing humans to me for extra counseling so we can all be sure of their decision before they are turned. There are some vampires who choose not to live in my territory because they don't like my rules, which is fine by me."

"So, being her Vampire Master doesn't mean being her... Master?"

"Yes, it does. Though not necessarily in the sexual manner you are implying. And I rarely pull rank on her. If I had to, I could, but she and I are in agreement on most everything, and we respect each other enough that we can work around the things we don't agree on. But while we are on the subject, that is another part of Vampire society you need to understand. When humans go into a power exchange relationship they do so based on preference, the way they are wired, so to speak. Someone who is aroused by submitting looks for someone who is aroused by dominating. It isn't about who is stronger, there are big strong men who submit to small women all of the time in human society. But in vampire society the power exchange is not decided by preference, but by the hierarchy. In just the way you felt that magical pull when you tried to write about our secret, it is impossible for a stronger vampire to submit in any way to a weaker vampire. The weaker vampire will always be the one submitting. It is possible for them to have vanilla sex in any form they choose, but if there is to be a power exchange then that isn't really a choice for them, their position in our society makes the choices for them."

"And Kendra is powerful so she's used to being the one in control. But, I'm not powerful, so how is it that she...."

"You aren't a magical being, so the rules are different. She can submit to you if she wants, though you need to understand it is going to cause a bit of an issue amongst the hierarchy when it comes out that she submits to you. That's not to say you can't go forward with it if that is what the two of you want, but I just want you to understand what it will mean in our world."

Eric stood. "I need to use the restroom, if you'll give me a moment, please."

Kendra spoke to Abbot through their mind link so Eric wouldn't overhear.

I wasn't going to hit him with all of this at once, Abbot.

I know, which is why I'm telling him. I know you can take care of him, but he needs to understand the political things going on if he is going to be in and out of the house. And I can tell from the way the two of you act around each other that he's going to be around the house a lot. If he'll be okay with everyone thinking he's a human companion for a few weeks then I think it will be easier for things to transition from human companion to boyfriend to Dom.

I suppose you're right, but I still would rather not burden him with all of this. It's my worry, it shouldn't be his.

If he is clueless then he may say something that would make things harder than they have to be. He is smart enough to grasp the political side of things and act accordingly. He has your safety in mind, that is clear. He'll be fine.

When Eric came back he sat down on the sofa beside Kendra and reached for her hand. "Kendra, I'll listen to the rest of Abbot's explanation in a moment, but first I want you to tell me how you envision our relationship working."