Page 113 of Vampire's Choice
Merc’s mystified expression made Mal want to chuckle. He expected the male wasn’t used to being told to help in the kitchen. In a million years, he might never again meet someone brave enough to do so. But his servant was one in a million.
He brushed his mouth over Elisa’s, savoring her sweet lips. Be careful with him, atsilusgi. He’s not entirely house trained.
Her fingers rested on his chest, brushing the straight black hair that had fallen forward over his shoulder. I’m well used to that kind.
Now was not the time to follow up on his desire to put her beautiful mouth and hands where he wanted them. His daughter was giving him the ‘Really, Da? We have a guest’ look.
She was one to talk. Whenever her gaze turned to the male, the heat between them was obvious.
Mal gave her a don’t disrespect your father look, but left Elisa with a heated thought that put a flush in her cheeks and planted the promise they’d return to the feeling later.
Yet when he gestured to Ruth to precede him to the door, Mal’s mind shifted into a far different mode. He met Merc’s gaze with a hard stare. And waited.
Earning points, Merc responded without the question being put out there. “She will come to no harm from me.”
Mal inclined his head. “Don’t ruin the meat pies,” he said.
As he and Ruth left the house and walked toward the field Elisa had mentioned, Ruth leaned against him. Mal put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to kiss her forehead, her hair, wrapping both arms around her for a moment. Then she spun away and jumped on his back with a laugh that still held a touch of the child she’d once been. He piggy backed her to the field as she wrapped both arms around his chest.
“I need to take a picture,” she said. “No one will believe that Merc helped out in the kitchen. What’s got into Etsi? She’s never drafted Lady Lyssa to help prepare dinner.”
Mal chuckled. “She knows the protocols with vampires. Plus Merc is more than a guest. You’ve made that clear. Your mother has her own vetting process.”
Ruth jumped down and walked beside him. When they reached the fence and she took a seat on the top rail, him resting his elbows on it next to her, he asked her some follow-up questions about her Circus experiences, things Elisa’s own conversation hadn’t already covered.
He could tell his daughter liked being there. Really liked it. Despite the more harrowing experiences she’d had, it reassured him anew that the decision had been a good one. She would guess, but he didn’t need to detail, that Adan had made routine reports to Mal about how she was doing.
He hadn’t told them about the two vampires attacking her, but his son hadn’t hidden the information. Adan hadn’t had a chance to touch base with Mal since then. Being a Light Guardian didn’t always let him get within range of Mal’s mind or, even better, have a face-to-face visit.
When the conversation reached a natural pause, Mal decided it was time to say what he knew needed to be said. “You know I love you, Ruth.”
Her gaze flickered. “I know, Da. I’ve always known.”
“Yes. But here’s what you need to know, beyond the shadow of a doubt. I honor your strength, your will, your independence. And I admire it.”
As she went still, he had to take a beat. What he was about to broach wasn’t something he spoke of often. It had taken him years to accept the knowledge for himself.
“I was born Cherokee. I was made into a vampire. Being born of one race and evolving into another, one that integrates with and remolds your original self, isn’t easy. It took me a while to learn to be proud of who I am. It took time for me to accept that being different doesn’t make me any less of a vampire.
“You were born a vampire,” he told her, “but you have traits that make the vampire world more challenging for you. If ever those traits become common knowledge, it will be even more difficult. But if anyone can do it, I expect you’ll be the vampire who shows them natural submission in our kind is not weakness.”
Her eyes widened. He’d never said it aloud, but he would do it now, showing her that she should carry no shame about it. Just caution, to protect herself.
“No more than it is in the people we claim as our servants, our greatest strength.” He thought of Elisa, and the other servants he’d known. Kohana. Chumani. “That form of submission has honor to it. It’s a choice, made from a position of strength that most who are Dominant may never truly understand. But I do. You’re as much a warrior as your brother.
“There are always going to be people who want to put who you are, what you do, in a box, in a cage, and say you can’t step outside that definition or expand it. You have to be the one to find the key and unlock the door, break down the walls and make them bigger. Turn it into a home you’re comfortable in, and give that house light and space.”
“I think Merc understands that struggle, Da,” she said slowly, digesting his words. “Between being an incubus and an angel. I think it’s part of what draws us to one another.”
“Good. But whoever you choose, whether him or another, make sure he helps you strengthen that foundation in yourself. I hope we’ve helped with that, in all the right ways, which can also be some of the hardest ones. We often stood back when all we wanted to do was catch you, stand between you and pain, disappointment.”
Her eyes went luminous, full of emotions. “A long time ago, Da, you boiled it down to three things that always seem to work for me.”
“I did? Enlighten me on my own wisdom.”
Her smile eased the ache of the emotions, for both of them. “Be respectful to all. Be kind where possible. Use whatever strengths I have to resist doing something I don’t think is right, or being someone I’m not.” Her face shadowed. “Even if I have to hide and protect that definition of myself deep inside my soul.”
“Did I say that last part?” he asked.