“Oh, I know.” She didn’t want him to think she was ignorant. “I’ve seen Lady Danny handle things. And with Dev . . .” Lord in Heaven, why did she open that cache of images in her head?
A light flush tinged her cheeks. Mal didn’t need to take advantage of the window in her mind to know what she’d seen. He’d been around Danny and Dev himself, and knew Danny’s feelings and desires for her unusual bushman servant.
However, given what had happened to Elisa, she’d still view a female’s dominance like Danny’s as “safer” than a male’s. Testing, he cupped her face, bringing her startled gaze to him. Using his thumb, he traced her lips, exerting enough pressure she had to part them, then teased the sensitive interior flesh, creating a shiver along her nerves that made her eyes widen farther.
She was a natural submissive, so his intent had been instructional, a memorable example she’d remember. It was surprising to react to her response. He imagined her on her knees, that mouth put to a far different use . . .
“You haven’t been around a dominant male vampire much, Irish flower.” He cleared his throat. “It’s different, but it shouldn’t be capricious or cruel, no more than Danny’s authority.”
“Ian lived at the station. And . . . we’ve had a few males . . . visit. I-I’ve seen things.”
But none of them had paid her direct attention, he was sure. Danny had made it crystal clear this one had been limited to household duties, as second marks often were. Even so, a riot of needs and emotions trembled from her, enough to spook every creature in a fifty-mile radius. It reminded him of his conversation with Danny. For good or ill, Elisa was a vital key to who the fledglings were, what they could be. In order to make a complete evaluation, he was going to have to understand her, draw out her emotions and responses. If what he believed was inevitable happened, it would be a critical step.
“All right.” He dropped his hand and rose. “I have some more notes to review with you; then I’ll head out to the fledglings’ quarters before I attend to our usual routine with the cats. And before you ask, no, you won’t go with me tonight. I want to observe them without your distraction.”
She flinched, that innocent expression of desire she’d had under his touch disappearing. He ignored it. “You’ll stay here for the time being. I don’t want you wandering off and getting yourself in trouble.”
“I may not know your world, sir, but I’m not a child. You don’t have to treat me as one. Our station is in the Outback, and I understand about dangers in the environment.”
“Then you understand why you’ll stay put on this compound until someone can show you around.” Reaching the other side of the desk, he gave her a look. “And I can promise you I don’t think of you as a child. It might be good for you to remember that, for a variety of reasons.”
6
WHAT did he mean by that? Under Danny and Dev’s station management, Elisa had fallen out of the habit of staying so wary of males, but even after repeat reviews of that meeting in her head, she was still baffled. There’d been no warning signs, no lecherous light in his eye. Everything about his demeanor and tone suggested he did think of her as no more than a silly child, here to cause him irritation. He kept her under intent regard, but they all did that. Around vampires, one often felt like a sheep ambling past an interested pack of dingoes.
You’re in no danger here. But a vampire’s definition of harm and a human’s could be quite different. Lady Danny had said she was to obey him as if he were her, and Danny had regularly touched her in such sensual ways. However, she’d never outright bedded Elisa, though Elisa had no doubt she could have seduced her into it, shocking though the thought was. Did Mr. Malachi have that right?
He’d left after their meeting, and, as if he thought saying it once wasn’t enough, he’d taped a piece of paper to the front-door window glass. Elisa, stay on the grounds and follow Kohana’s direction. Thomas will join you for midnight tea.
She’d known Thomas wasn’t in the house, because his door had been open when she passed it in the hallway. Apparently, he’d been allowed to wander this dangerous jungle. Mal would probably take him to see the fledglings.
Oh, bollocks. Children, children, children. She knew it was petulant, to chant it in her mind so adamantly, but it helped her from screaming like a banshee. She wasn’t worried Mal was listening. He’d probably forgotten her existence as soon as he taped the note to the door and got into the Jeep. In fact, she was surprised he’d even written the note, fully expecting her to stay where he’d dictated. Dutifully accepting of his edicts, not about to go stark, raving mad.
Bloody males.
Drawing a deep breath, she struggled for calm. The fledglings were all right. Thomas was going to come at midnight and tell her all about the proper place constructed for them. Mal had had a couple months’ notice to prepare, after all. Just like at Danny’s station, his staff would rotate responsibility with Elisa to donate fresh blood for their meals. But he didn’t know that Miah and Nerida refused to drink as long as someone was looking at them. Or that Matthew preferred his warmed, such that Elisa put the packet inside her clothes before his feeding. That way it at least acquired her outside body temperature before she gave it to him.
She took another steadying breath. She’d been trusted with so much responsibility so young because she was even-tempered and eager to please, with a deep-seated need to serve her employer to the best of her ability. But since the incident with Victor, she wasn’t entirely sure who was inhabiting her skin or how to predict her own behavior.
To keep herself from wild ideas of ignoring Mal’s orders and setting after them on foot, which she was certain would win her a one-way ticket off the island, she went looking for a housekeeper. She understood Kohana handled the house upkeep and some butler duties like bringing meals to the room, but surely there was a woman in charge of laundry and cleaning.
Kohana was in the kitchen, his backside propped on a stool as he stood at the sink, washing the dishes left from the staff’s latest meal. The stool gave him the support his missing leg could not as he performed the task. He was humming, something that sounded like a chant, reminding her of Miah and Nerida’s quiet songs.
“Good evening,” she said.
Kohana nodded without turning. “And to you, little miss. Did you sleep well?”
“Fine,” she said, though in truth, despite the duration, she’d slept abysmally, with nightmares and starts into wakefulness, wondering where she was, and how the children were. It was why she’d overslept, because normally she was on her feet by early afternoon, preparing to care for Lady Danny’s needs. The time difference might also be playing havoc with her.
He grunted. “There’s hot water in the kettle over there. We have tea if you want it, though we prepare it in more of an instant fashion than you’re probably used to. Sit down at the table and I’ll scramble you an egg.”
“Oh, no, I can do that. I’m not here for you to serve me. In fact, I came looking for the housekeeper so she can put me to work. Mr. Malachi says I have to stay at the house for the next little bit, and I want to make myself useful until he calls me to assist with the chil—fledglings.” She almost snapped out the last word, gritting her teeth at Kohana’s sidelong look. He’d likely read that note and already knew the master of the house thought she was a nuisance. However, his stern mouth lifted in a slight smile.
“You’re looking at the housekeeper, little miss. As well as the cook and handyman.”
“Oh. Well, then.” Moving to the kettle to cover her surprise, she blanched at the idea of tea in individual bags. “When Chumani said you took care of the place, I thought she meant only the maintenance and the occasional help to the housekeeper.”
“We’re all here to help staff the sanctuary. Everything else is secondary. But since I can’t work with the cats anymore, at least not out on the open preserve, I took on responsibility for the house and everything that goes with that. Mal sometimes gets visitors with deep pockets, vampire and human, so it’s important to keep the house looking presentable. Despite his best efforts to the contrary.”
Remembering the mud crusted on Mal’s boots, propped on the desk edge, Elisa well understood the wry note in Kohana’s voice.
“You do a fine job. I’d never have guessed this cleaning was done by a man’s hand. Does he have a lot of vampire guests?”
“Not too many. There’s a vampire on the mainland, Lady Resa, who used to come and stay on occasion, long time ago. She shared the blood of her female servant with Mal and liked hanging about here with him, in limited stretches. Then she’d miss the busy world and off she’d go. Most the time it was because he’d make her mad, usually for the same reasons she couldn’t stay away from him. His obsession with his cats and this island fascinated her, and then the fact she couldn’t take their place as the center of his universe didn’t. Plus she was a pretty highbrow type of vampire and Mal’s . . .”
“Not.” Elisa finished that thought easily enough and Kohana grunted.
“Some women like the idea of something, but once they spend too much time with it, it’s different.”
This was at least familiar. Servant gossip, a vital resource to anticipate the Master or Mistress’s needs. He dried his hands on a towel, hands so large they looked like they could be used as cricket bats. “I’m making you up a couple eggs and some toast. I think we even have some bacon and sausage.”
“Really, I’ll do that for myself,” she insisted. “You just point me toward where things are. If you want to tell me what you usually do for the meals and housekeeping schedule, I’ll be happy to take part of that load from you. No sense in wasting my idle hands. I intend to become a part of the schedule here, not a distraction from it.”
The unspoken message being that she would do everything possible not to leave, not as long as the fledglings were here. Her resolve might be wasted on another servant, but it was good practice.