Evan and Daegan had set a place to meet. Daegan disappeared back into the woods, once again a silent, deadly shadow. Despite Evan’s amazing luck with most vampires—tonight notwithstanding—if he ever ran afoul of that one, Niall knew they could share a final drink and toast their asses good-bye.

Evan sent Niall a look brimming with anger, which caused the Scot’s brow to crease. It was merely the truth, but Evan was obviously pissed at everyone at the moment. The vampire jerked his head at Alanna, still in the silent, subservient posture.

“Take her back to the RV. Get it packed up. But before you do that, I want her stripped and chained to the bunk in the back sleeper. If she wants anything . . . food, water, bathroom, she has to ask for it. If she can’t obey me, she’ll be treated like she can’t be trusted.”

He strode away. Looking down, Niall saw Alanna was quivering. A tiny sob escaped her, quickly swallowed. It made his jaw tighten, but when he reached down to pick her up, she shook him off and rose, albeit on legs as shaky as thin branches. The incredibly provocative outfit seemed too exposed for her now, her defeated eyes too vulnerable, no matter her straight posture. He wished he had a shirt he could put over her trembling shoulders. “I can walk, Niall. Unless it is my Master’s will otherwise.”

“No.” He shook his head, not trusting himself to say anything else, because what he wanted to do was pull her against him, hold her fiercely. Then beat her arse for scaring them, right after he threw her down on a bed and buried himself between her legs. He expected Evan had a similar plan in mind, given that he wanted her tied to the bed. “Follow me.”

She did, dutifully, silently. He skirted the party, knowing Evan would handle the apologies. If they ran into the vivacious Chloe now, Alanna would shatter. Their InhServ looked like brittle porcelain.

When they came to the RV, he opened the door, guided her up the steps. She moved away from him, toward the back sleeper. With wooden efficiency, she stripped, leaving the garment of mostly straps and chains in a neat pile on another bunk. Then she knelt, pulling out the box beneath it, because she’d of course familiarized herself with her surroundings, so they wouldn’t have to tell her where anything was.

It held things that could be used for play or punishment, depending on Evan’s mood. No question on which mood held sway right now, so she showed her courage as she laid out a switch, hot stick and scalpel, the items that could deliver the most pain in close quarters. No, not courage. Her shaking had stopped, such that now he didn’t even detect a tremor in her hands. Seeing the dead resignation in her eyes, Niall realized no physical agony would surpass that inflicted by Evan’s words.

She removed four steel manacles. After putting them on her ankles and wrists, she moved to the back bunk and knelt on the thin mattress pad. The manacles had been fitted with clips that could be attached to holes bored into the metal frame. Christ, that brought back some over-the-top memories, when Evan had been of a mind to stop for an hour between destinations and slake his Dominant tendencies with Niall’s body.

She used the heel of each hand to press the wrist clips into the ones at the head of the bed. Sliding onto her stomach, she turned her face to the wall, but spread her legs, waiting for him to do the same to her ankles. Niall’s ankles could reach the holes at the foot, but her legs weren’t that long. They’d have to be fastened on the sides, spreading her so her feet would hang over the sides, making her look more helpless and small.

Aye, the vampire was in a murderous rage, and not just because her foolish bravery could give even an immortal Master heart failure. She’d done it to protect Tyler and the rest, but she’d also done it to keep Evan and Niall safe. Evan had let him hear that much and, as such, Niall understood some of their Master’s anger—better than Alanna in this instance. Thinking about it now, Niall also realized why his comment about Daegan had incensed Evan further.

Regardless, he refused to let her keep on like this. He squatted by the bed. “Look at me, lass.”

She didn’t obey. “It doesn’t matter, Niall. Master is right. Leave me like this until Daegan kills Stephen. It’s the only function I have. I won’t take the blockers anymore, so gag me when the nightmares start.”

“I’ll give ye the injections.”

“He will find me quicker without them,” she responded tonelessly.

Putting his hand on her bare back, he found she was cold. He let his fingers glide over her buttock, but he could have been touching a statue. Over their short time together, she’d begun to tailor her responses to them, as well as explore the heated realm of her own pleasure. Now it was as if she wasn’t inhabiting her body.

“Alanna, stop this.” When she didn’t move, he tightened his fingers on her hip. “Damn it, look at me.”

“Please just leave me alone, Niall. I’m tired.”

“He was angry, Alanna. It was more than the fact that you didn’t obey him; you didn’t trust him to handle the situation.”

“Tyler and Brendan are your friends. I had to stop the vampire from coming onto their property.”

“By offering your blood, your body. Things that belong to your Master, that are only his to give.”

“I knew Evan would want to protect his human friends. That was a sacrifice I could make. It doesn’t matter. It’s all a lie, really. None of it matters.”

“Yes, it does, damn it.” Fuck Evan’s temper, as well as her lifeless compliance. Unlatching the manacles from the bedframe, he turned her onto her back, one hand gripping her forearm. She resisted, stiff, but when he forced the issue, the wall she’d put up between them crumbled. She swung at him with the other arm, but he pulled her to her feet, almost getting his ear taken off by one of the steel cuffs as she struggled, spitting at him like an angry cat. Catching her wrists, he put her back down on the bed, this time on her back, himself on top of her. She nearly emasculated him with her knee.

“That’s enough,” he snarled, giving her a good shake. As she stared up at him, panting, he realized that, in their struggles, she’d raked up the kilt, so that his cock was pressed against her bare mound. Given how close they’d come to losing her, he was the size of a dock piling. “No.” She shook her head. “No.”

His determined thrust pinned her to the bed. Her legs kicked and thrashed, then locked over his buttocks as her body betrayed her, wanting to hold on to him. Pressing her deeper into the mattress, he framed her face with both hands. “You’re not hiding from us, lass. We willnae let you.”

“No.” Tears spilled over his fingers. “Don’t do this to me. It’s better not to feel . . . not to care, or love, or want anything. They told us that. It wasn’t our job to want . . . to . . .”

“To live? To love? To fucking feel? Why do you think he’s so angry, Alanna? Think with that incredibly intelligent mind of yours. Think, damn it.” He thrust fast and hard, until she was clasping his shoulders, nails biting as she hung on. Her whimpers told him he was giving her a rough ride, but he was taking out some of his own anger, his fear that they wouldn’t reach her in time. He also wanted to scald away the filth of that vampire’s touch from her soft flesh. She wanted it too, her hips lifting to his, as if trying to scrub it away with the friction.

He was ruthless enough to exploit that, pushing her back down, holding her to the mattress with a hand on her throat as he attacked her breasts, suckling and nipping, tasting her flesh as he slammed against her clit with every stroke. He hiked her knees up higher on his rib cage so he could go deeper, stronger.

“We’re here, inside ye, muirnín. Ye cannae get free of us. You belong to us. Feel it. Feel me.”

She cried out, the orgasm detonating throughout her body before she could stop it. He spurted inside her savagely, wanting her to have him there always, his scent, his mark. The rough texture of Stephen’s dagger mark rubbed against his pelvis, and he wanted it gone. Wanted it replaced by Evan’s, making it clear she no longer belonged to that life. That she could let it go.

“He hates me.” Now the tears came like a storm. She tried to turn her face away, but he cradled her slim jaw. “He said I shamed him. Just like Stephen.”

“Oh God, no, lass. Not at all.” He wasn’t sure who he wanted to smack more, her or Evan, but in all fairness, Evan lost his temper rarely, and he’d had just cause this time, for certain.

“Colin was going to kill you, muirnín. He would have done it in front of Evan, tae prove he had the upper hand. As important as ye are to the Council . . .”

“They wouldn’t retaliate against a vampire killing a servant.” She closed her eyes. “Evan promised Lady Lyssa he’d keep me safe. He would have failed in his task.”

“Damn it, that wouldnae have mattered. He would have lost you. We would have lost you.” Stroking her tears away with his thumbs, he felt her thigh muscles quivering against his hips where she still held him inside her. He settled down even farther, nudging her very womb. God, he could stay inside her cunt for days, the clasp of those brown eyes, her trembling arms. All they needed was Evan to make it balanced.

He and Evan had made an agreement, early on in their unique arrangement. If Niall occasionally wanted to enjoy a casual fuck with a woman and Evan wasn’t around to share, that was well and good. It had been fine for Niall, but he’d never been with a female and had the thought he had now. The active wish that Evan was here, a closed circle.

Though he was certain his decision to take Alanna now didn’t have Evan’s approval, meaning he’d likely pay for it with blood, it didn’t make the feeling about the vampire’s absence any less strong.

Evan and he had another agreement as well. No male touched Niall without Evan’s say so and participation. The vampire was unapologetically possessive on that score, and Niall had accepted the condition so easily. He’d told himself it was because he preferred women most times anyhow, but the passing of years, and how long he’d adhered to the restriction, had proven that a lie a long time ago.