Once we were in Asher's room, I pulled away from him. He didn't try to 
stop me. I walked over to the luggage that had been deposited there for us. 
Whoever had brought it down had put all of it in here, Kimmy and Tim's bags 
included. I set their stuff aside and opened my own suitcase, rummaging 
through it.

"Will you not even speak to me now, Tamara?" Asher asked.

I stopped fiddling with the clothes. I couldn't bring myself to turn 
and look at him...not yet. "You lied to me, Asher," I said. "I understand 
*why* you kept the scars...I wouldn't want to put *anyone* at the Council's 
mercy. What I don't understand is why you didn't trust me enough to tell me 
the truth to begin with."

"I apologize for that ma rose d'acier. I see now that I was wrong to 
keep this from you," he told me.

"Yes, you were!" I said vehemently. My emotions were still in turmoil. 
"And it scares the shit out of me that you were *able* to keep this secret 
even during our most intimate moments...even when I took the fourth mark!" I 
finally turned to face him, my angry tears momentarily blinding me to his 
beauty. "It makes me wonder what *else* you've lied about, Asher. How am I 
supposed to trust you? Hell, how am I supposed to trust my own senses?"
He didn't answer. He just stood there, looking like I'd slapped him. 
Sorrow and regret mingled on his face. God, he was beautiful, heart-achingly 
so. I didn't like being angry with him, but he had hurt me really bad. If I 
let it slide this time, it would make it easier for him to continue betraying 
my trust in the future. And it was really starting to sink in just how long 
of a future we had together. A virtual eternity...I did not want to spend 
that time hurting each other.

I turned back to the suitcase and finally found what I'd been looking 
for. I'd packed the one-piece bathing suit when Asher had told me about the 
Turkish bath Jean-Claude had had installed. I wanted to try it out, but I 
didn't want to put on a peep show...he'd also told me it was sort of a 
community bath for Jean-Claude's immediate "family."

I figured a good hot soak was just what I needed to let my emotions and 
mind settle. It might also help leech off the power charge still in my 
system. That alone was enough to keep my nerves raw.

"I need some time to sort through all this, Asher," I said as I headed 
towards the room's small bathroom to change. I was definitely not planning 
on having sex with him right then, so I wasn't going to strip down and change 
into the suit right there in front of him.

"Of course, ma rose d'acier," he replied. "I only hope that you can 
find it in you to forgive me." So did I...so did I.

When I came out of the bathroom, he was not in the bedroom. I reached 
for him through the marks, but the way was blocked. I guess he needed a 
little time to himself as well. I carried a towel with me and opened the 
door that led to the Turkish bath.

I was relieved that no one was using it at the time. Laying the towel 
on the edge, I slipped into the water. It was warm almost to the point of 
being too hot. It was big enough to count as a small swimming pool instead 
of an oversized bathtub. The water was chest deep when standing. Using the 
towel as a pillow, I laid my head on my arms and let the water support my 
lower body. Then I did my best to just not *think* of anything.

I was quite relaxed and feeling the excess power starting to ebb away 
when I heard and felt the water ripple as someone else entered the bath. I 
could smell his expensive cologne. I felt him move closer to me, never 
speaking. A cool hand traced across my shoulder lightly, making me shiver. 
I didn't bother to open my eyes. He knew I was not asleep.
His other hand found my other shoulder, and he began to knead the 
muscles gently. He worked his thumbs up my neck to the base of my skull and 
then spread them apart. Then back down again. I fought not to moan in 
pleasure.

"Is that your solution, mon cher?" I asked him. "Do you honestly think, 
Asher, that you can just come in here and seduce me and then all will be 
forgiven and forgotten? It's not going to work this time."

One hand slipped around my waist hugging me to him and making it 
extremely obvious that he *wasn't* wearing a swimsuit. The other hand cupped 
my breast, massaging it gently much like he'd been doing my shoulders 
previously. His velvety, rich voice whispered in my ear, "But I am not 
Asher, ma cherie."

My eyes snapped open to see a spill of black curls and a single midnight 
blue eye just inches from my own, as Jean-Claude smiled at me over my 
shoulder. A jolt of both fear and excitement shot through me. I felt what 
must have been his ardeur flare in response to my reaction. *That* was 
something I'd never thought I'd be the target of. 

He turned me to face him, his gaze traveling down my body slowly. A 
slight frown of consternation creased his brow momentarily.

"Why are you wearing a bathing suit in the *bath*, cherie?" he 
complained.

'In case something like this happened,' I thought. What I *said* was, 
"I wasn't in here to get clean, just to soak and relax...and I'm not an 
exhibitionist." My pulse was racing. My body was beginning to react to the 
ardeur, much to my chagrin. I refused to let *my* eyes wander lower, instead 
focusing on his face.

Either he wasn't trying to capture me with his eyes or Asher's marks 
were protecting me from their power. But his beauty that close to me coupled 
with the heat of the ardeur were making thinking very difficult.

"I would have thought Asher would have brought you past that 
inhibition," Jean-Claude purred. "You have a lovely body, cherie. I would 
think you would want to show it off." As he spoke, his hands worked at my 
back and shoulders, making the muscles relax...making my body pliant to his 
touch.

When I tried to answer, my voice came out breathy, my eyes were already 
half closed as my body began to surrender to him. "Jean-Claude, I'm 
flattered, but...." That was as far as I got. His mouth covered mine, 
making speech impossible. The kiss started out gentle, then increased in 
urgency. My hands found his waist instinctively. I was pressed tight 
against him, his hardness trapped between our bodies.

I recovered myself somewhat when I felt him begin to pull the top part 
of my bathing suit down. I moved my hands to grab it to hold it up, but he 
gave a quick jerk, pulling it down to my waist. His mouth moved down to my 
exposed breasts, his lips and tongue teasing my nipples erect. My head went 
back in a growling moan.

NO! No! I did *not* want to be doing this with him! I had enough 
problems dealing with a master *and* a husband. I didn't need to add a lover 
to the mix.

Almost without thinking, I went completely limp, dropping beneath the 
water. I managed to catch Jean-Claude by surprise with that move...he had 
only been cupping my breasts with his hands as he suckled. I slipped out of 
his grasp and pushed off the side of the bath with my feet, shooting to the 
other end as quickly as possible.

He turned towards me with a predatory smile, the tips of his fangs 
*just* showing. He liked that I had tried to run from him. Maddeningly 
slowly, he stalked towards me in the water. I was able to see *all* of him 
now. I was mesmerized and frozen in place, unable to run. Oh shit, he was 
gonna catch me.

When he was about two feet from me, I knew that the time to escape had 
passed. If he got any closer, what little resistance I had would evaporate. 
Already my body was screaming at me to just go to him.

No! I would *not* be governed by my hormones, I resolved. Most of the 
power buildup had faded, but some remained. I hit him with all that I had 
left, pushing him back to the other side of the bath, where he hit with a 
thud. I looked, but his cheeks were unblemished. Wouldn't have done to 
injure the Master of the City.

He gave a most toothsome grin, fully flashing his fangs. I realized 
that he *knew* I'd used the last of my reserves and that it would take a few 
hours to recharge myself. In a flash, he was on me. His fangs were buried 
deep in my throat, and one hand had found it's way past the leg elastic of my 
swim suit and into *me*. My back bowed from the double, unwanted pleasures. 
My hands clawed into his back as my body spasmed.

"Excuse me, I didn't know it was occupied," a rich male voice said. I 
looked up in time to see Ramses, in a robe and carrying a towel, begin to 
turn around and head towards his room.

In desperation, I reached out a hand towards him and managed to rasp 
out, "Help...." The angle Jean-Claude was feeding at made speech difficult 
for the donor. I even tried the marks with Asher, but I wasn't getting a 
response. He was still blocked to me.

Thankfully, Ramses heard me. He leapt into the water and grappled 
Jean-Claude from behind, managing to pull him off of me.

I climbed out of the bath and grabbed my towel, using it to cover myself 
rather than wrestling the wet bathing suit back into place.

"Tamara," Jean-Claude's voice wrapped around me, forcing me to look back 
at him. He and Ramses were at the shallow end of the bathing pool. His eyes 
were a solid sinking blue. His lips pulled back from his fangs in an almost 
snarl. A line of blood trailed from the corner of his mouth down his 
chin...*my* blood.

Ramses was straining to hold him back, his own eyes bottomless pits of 
pitch black. I could see the muscles in his bare arms and chest corded and 
trembling with the sheer physical effort of holding onto Jean-Claude, who 
seemed determined to reclaim his prey. He actually managed to drag Ramses a 
few inches forward in an attempt to get to me.

I had actually begun to move back towards the edge of the bath, drawn by 
Jean-Claude's eyes and Ramses' magnificence.

Ramses began to whisper something to him close by his ear. The few 
words I could actually hear were in some exotic language I was unfamiliar 
with, but they were soothing. Slowly the Master of the City began to regain 
his composure.

As his eyes bled back to normal, I realized that I was only inches away 
from the water. Still in the Egyptian vampire's grasp, Jean-Claude gave me a 
knowing smile. Shit! He wasn't going to give up as long as I stayed where I 
was! I scrambled back from the pool. Then clutching my towel to me, I fled 
back to Asher's room.

When Asher came back into the room, he found me huddled at the head of 
the bed, my knees hugged to myself, eyeing both the hall entrance and the 
bathroom door. He sat next to me on the bed.

"What has happened, ma rose d'acier? Why are you crying?" he asked 
gently. Was I crying? I hadn't noticed.

"Don't leave me," I pled. 

In answer, he wrapped me in his arms, rocking me and whispering 
soothingly to me that he would *never* leave me. I drifted off to sleep in 
his arms.