The Vampire Queen's Servant(32)

She bit back a smile, gave him a severe look instead. "Thomas trained you well. But again, he did not teach you to be impertinent."

"That's an art form I cultivated all on my own to please my lady."

The lights of the limo went by the kitchen window as Mr. Ingram pulled into the drive. She nodded to him through it, pleased to see him again. When he got out, raised a hand, she was glad to see he appeared equally amiable.

"You've gone to a great deal of effort for this outing."

"You're a high-maintenance woman, no one's denying that," he agreed. As he began to turn away, she captured his hand, stopping him.

"Jacob, do you take nothing seriously?"

Leaning in, he brushed his lips over her nose, hesitated, then touched her lips as well. Just a simple contact. Because it was so simple, no attempt to push and claim her mouth more thoroughly, she felt the impact of it down to her toes, how much he held back.

"Yes, my lady. There are things I take very seriously. You know what they are."

When he drew the cowl forward to further cover her face, she turned her head, kissed his wrist, her fangs grazing him. He stilled, those blue eyes riveting on her gesture. His intensity sent frissons of excitement through her lower vitals, as if the excitement of new love awaited her tonight. Rather than just an evening's diversion provided to her by a precocious, intriguing and altogether exceptional male.

A human male, she reminded herself.

As he watched the thoughts course across her face, Jacob hoped he'd accomplish his primary objective tonight. He wanted to see his lady smile without thought. Perhaps even coax a giggle out of her and get her to engage in some innocent flirtation with the man who wanted to see her unfettered by shadows for one night.

For that gift, he could even force back his current, aching desire to have her body beneath him, feel her wet folds closing over him, the clutch of her hands on his shoulders.

"After you, my lady."

As she nodded, sweeping out the door toward the limo, he could well imagine what she'd look like without the cloak, her ass defined by those jeans, the provocation of the tattoo. "God help me," he muttered, following her out.





* * *


Oddly enough, one of the first places she wanted to go at the mall was the Mirror Maze, a dimly lit maze of mirrors confusing the mind. It disoriented the giggling and shrieking participants, causing them to bump into the mirrors they thought were open hallways and into each other. As a result, Jacob waited until the previous group had gone somewhat ahead of them before he led her through the curtains.

There were of course ghoulish sound effects, maniacal laughter and props to misdirect. Though he knew it was a game, he kept a firm grip on her hand as he watched her reach out and touch the glass. When she slid her fingertips along it, her brow raised in reaction to his image layering with the images of the others up ahead that were reflected back to them.

"Any dragons hiding in here, Sir Vagabond?"

"Worse," he said in a low voice. "Teenagers."

She chuckled. He noted as they caught up and passed other groups that only a brief glimpse of his lady was enough to have the young men running into walls, even more than they were already doing. She did have an undeniable effect on the male gender. He couldn't claim himself exempt.

When he took her to the exit to the maze, Lyssa hid a satisfied smile. Without a reflection, getting through the maze would have been easy for her, but she'd let him lead. He hadn't hesitated, had hardly even glanced at the cues or stopped to consider choices. "The luck of the Irish, indeed," she murmured.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd had an outing like this. Falls Harbor Mall was an octagon, with corridors forming a pinwheel to the central feature of the mall, the Ferris wheel Jacob had described. At each of the eight points there was a different fantastical water display to engage the imaginations of the shoppers.

For a while they just wandered by the storefronts and she considered different purchases. At first she was wary, scanning her surroundings, but logic kicked in and she knew among this mass of humanity she would feel the presence of a vampire a mile away. Further, she noted that Jacob, though attentive to her, never stopped casually scanning the crowd, looking for anything unusual. She found herself touched by it, the way she'd been by his protective guidance in the maze.

But when he bought her ice cream, she sent him into a men's store to pick out the clothes he said he needed for the dinner. In a mood to placate him, she took a seat in front of the store on a marble wall surrounding a two-story-high fountain. The fountain simulated a mountain, complete with animated goats butting their heads against rocks, a holographic image of salmon leaping up the falls, and a grizzly bear up to his ankles in the rushing water.

Jacob had bought the ice cream with his own money, insisting everything tonight was his treat. She'd chosen strawberry, mixed with chunks of the fresh fruit and topped with Godiva chocolate fudge. As she inhaled the mixture of flavors, she enjoyed the experience of smelling it among the cacophony of echoing sounds. People moving in surges like the rush of water. Wanting to spend money or just enjoy the sights among the nearly two hundred stores. Young people prowling, here to be seen.

When a little girl and her mother sat down near her, she offered the treat to them. The mother was initially suspicious, but took it with an understanding smile when Lyssa confided her date had bought it for her but she was lactose intolerant and didn't want to hurt his feelings.

She had to suppress the urge to go shop with him. He'd told her what he was going to get. Like most things which concerned Jacob, she'd been impressed by the appropriateness of the choices. Particularly since all she'd seen him in other than the costume hose were T-shirts and jeans that had seen better days. Even tonight, once they'd gotten to the mall, he'd shed the dress shirt, showing he was wearing a T-shirt beneath it. It was a very appealing look on him, but she was looking forward to seeing him in the dark pair of slacks and midnight blue shirt he'd described.

When she rose and wandered around the back of the fountain, curious to see what animals decorated that side, she was, delighted to find a very lifelike cougar. A moment later, Jacob was at her shoulder, without his purchases.

"You disappeared on me, my lady."

"As I will occasionally do." She cocked her head, inserted one finger in the pocket of his jeans and tugged at the seam with an indulgent smile, too pleased by her, surroundings to get cross with his overprotectiveness. "At night, unless I specifically request it, I don't need my human servant to be a bodyguard. He guards his Mistress's well-being, yes. Helps her scout out danger upon her request, watches over her daytime repose. But when I'm awake at night, I'm fully capable of protecting myself. You've done all the right things to ensure we won't run into problems. If we do, they'll be the type of problem up to me to handle."

"They'll have to come through me."

"No, they won't." Now her tone did sharpen. "I absolutely forbid you to engage a vampire in an attack. It will only interfere with my handling of him." At his stubborn look, she chose a different tack. "I might get killed trying to protect you."

"I was able to anticipate your movements the other night," he said defensively. "I've hunted vampires."

"So have I. I can promise you, the power and cunning of a vampire that would come after me will be more than you've ever faced. Otherwise you'd have been dead, and we wouldn't be having this conversation." Before he could open his mouth to argue, she placed a finger on that appealing bottom lip. "Plus, I had no intention of hurting or killing you the other night. It makes a difference." She peered at him over her glasses. "Go get your clothes and stop hovering. You're annoying me." Even though he wasn't.

Giving her a bemused look, he reached out, pushed the bridge of the eyewear so they settled back on the bridge of her nose. "With respect, lady, you weren't able to protect yourself the other night when we met."

She frowned. "You took care of me when I lost .consciousness. I am quite fully awake now. Shoo."

She turned her back on him, tilting her head to look to the top of the mountain, conveying quite bluntly that the conversation was over. Even gave a little flip of her hand to underscore the command. The sound of his breath leaving him in an exasperated huff like a disgruntled adolescent almost made her smile.

Ouch. Her hand clapped over her left buttock, a reaction to sharp pain. Astounded, she spun on her heel, glaring at him. He'd pinched her. Hard. On her ass.

Already several paces away, he threw her a rakish look over his shoulder. She closed her mouth. He was the most outrageous man. One moment properly deferential, a blink later, acting like… an annoyed lover. Teasing her like she was some girl he had out on a date.

With exaggerated casualness, she wandered back around the mountain display. Back inside the store, he was studying a rack of belts. A salesgirl had just approached to assist him. Or to ogle the muscles in his arms denned by the stretched fabric of his short sleeves. While Lyssa watched, the girl reached out to casually touch one of those arms as she pointed out the section of the belts with his size. As if the man was not perfectly capable of determining that for himself. He could figure out her accounts, order about landscapers and repair her woodshed. He knew how to pick out his own belt.