Страница 87 из 95
"Is that a challenge?" Padma asked.
"The wereleopards don't belong to you, Richard," I said.
"These two don't belong to anybody," he said.
"They can be mine if they want to be," I said.
"No," Padma said. "No, I will give up nothing else. No one else to you." He stepped back against the wall, dragging Gideon with him by the jeweled collar. Thomas followed almost as closely. "Asher take her."
Asher tried to grab my arm, but I backed up. "Hold your horses. Hasn't anyone told you anticipation adds to the experience?"
"I have been anticipating this for over two hundred years, ma cherie . If anticipation adds, then it will be wondrous indeed."
I stepped away from his eager eyes and went to Jean-Claude. "Any advice?"
"He will try to make it rape, ma petite ." He stopped me before I could say anything. "Not actual rape, but the effect is surprisingly similar. Make it a seduction, if you can. Turn necessity into a pleasure. It will be the last thing he expects, and it will u
"How u
"That will depend, I think, upon how strong your nerve is."
I glanced back at Asher. The eagerness on his face was frightening. I was sorry he'd been picked on for centuries, but it wasn't my fault. "I don't think it's that good."
Richard had been listening. He came close enough to whisper, "You're donating blood to one vampire, what's one more?"
"Ma petite and I do not have to share blood to share power," Jean-Claude said.
Richard frowned at him, then at me. "Still holding back? Don't you know how to give yourself completely to anyone?"
Jean-Claude's face was very neutral, blank and beautiful. I looked from his impassive face to Richard's angry one, and shook my head. "If I could find someone else to fill our third spot, I would, Richard. But we're stuck with each other, so stop being such an ass." I pushed past him hard enough for him to stumble, and it was all I could do not to slap him as I went by. Being nasty in private was one thing. Doing it in front of the bad guys was against the rules.