Tall, Dark & Heartless (Pyte/Sentinel #3)(46)

While Candy would have been more than happy with other people taking care of her and supporting her, Jill was not. She liked to earn her own money. It was the reason why she turned down her father's offer of a trust fund. She wasn't useless and refused to let anyone think that she was.

There was a time when it wouldn't have bothered her to have someone else take care of her, but after Ephraim came into her life, things changed. He treated her with respect, didn't hesitate to tell her when she was being foolish, but most of all he was the kind of man that she wanted for herself one day. She wanted a man to love and respect her. She knew the only way that would happen is if she respected and loved herself and that would never happen if she led a pointless life.

"Shhhh, Angel, don't cry," Logan said soothingly. Until then she hadn't realized that she was. This was humiliating. She was strong, independent and didn't give into drama or any nonsense anymore. She certainly never felt sorry for herself, but it looked like she was doing just that.

"I'm sorry," she said, clearing her throat awkwardly. "I should go."

He shook his head. "No, you should stay," he said as he gently pulled her face closer until he could brush his lips over hers through the bars, startling her.

"Stay," he whispered against her lips.

"I can't," she said, but made no move to leave.

"Stay with me, Angel," he said, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip and God help her but she couldn't say no. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. She needed him almost desperately.

"Okay," she said with a small nod as she allowed him to kiss her again.

Chapter 17

"How much do you want me to give them, sir?" Jonathan, a vampire who'd been a doctor when he was human, asked.

"As much as you can give them without killing them," Lucan said, not bothering to look up from his computer screen, but he didn't need to look up to know that the five "volunteers" for this little project noticeably relaxed. He could smell the stench of fear in the room weakening with every passing second.

"It needs to stay in their system for at least ten minutes to make sure that it hits their bloodstream," Jonathan explained.

"Leave it in for twenty minutes before drawing their blood," Lucan said, not bothering to watch as Jonathan injected each minion with a large dose of the aphrodisiac.

As the drug did its work he double checked the Master's holdings and looked into what the other Masters' activities were. Several months back all the Masters grudgingly agreed to form an alliance, all in the hopes of bringing down the Sentinels, shifters and everyone else that got in their way. While the Master had been giddy at the prospect of going to war and finally ridding the world of the Sentinels, Lucan had been against the entire thing.

An alliance done right could have been beneficial for everyone, but that's not what the others had in mind, especially not his Master. His was one of the weakest and for many reasons. He had no shifters under his control. He only had a small army of vampires that Lucan had to keep in line, but they feared the Master because he was prone to emotional outbursts. His Master also had an annoying habit of thinking with his c**k and focused too much of his attention on the minions under his control for sex, for everything else the Master simply ignored them.

This situation with the Pyte was one of those times when Lucan was forced to step in before the Master got in over his head and with the minion in charge it was definitely headed that way. For any other Master, Lucan would have commended him on acquiring a Pyte. It was a smart move that would not only guarantee the Master's ability to keep his territory protected, but it would also allow them to rid his territory of any unwanted shifters and demons. If he did it right, the Master would also be able to shove the Sentinels out of the area as well, but he knew his Master would f**k that up.

The man was too violent and out of control, which was why Lucan kept his mouth shut and didn't complain when the Master would leave their small compound without a word, leaving everything on Lucan's shoulders. Truthfully there wasn't much to do except guard the Master's favorite minions.

Their territory was small compared to most. When Lucan first came into this life, their territory had rivaled some of the most powerful Masters at the time, but years of neglect and focusing too much attention on other things had cost them. If it hadn't been for Lucan's watchful eye they would have nothing and his Master would have probably ceased to exist long ago.

With a Pyte, that could all change. They could take back their territory and expand into the areas the shifters and demons used as their playground. It would also make anyone think twice about going against his Master and that would make all of this bullshit worth it. Four centuries of babysitting a Master who was prone to kill or torture anyone and everyone over the smallest slight had taken its toll on him. He would love to ensure that his Master was safe and to do that, he had to ensure that this plan worked. He needed this plan to work.

"No f**king," he said on an exasperated sigh when he heard the men begin to moan. He needed the aphrodisiac to remain undetected and if the men found release, their blood would be tainted by the increase in hormones and this plan would fail and he couldn't allow that.

*********

"It's time to eat, Danni," he said, wishing like hell that he didn't have to do this for her, but he didn't trust her to be able to get control fast enough to hide what she was. So, that meant bagged blood was out, at least for now.