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“Thank you, Master Dev. I understand it’s about trust, and I’ll continue to try to make good decisions, so things can continue to change.”

“Sir is fine. Brooke is your Master.”

“I know, but I want you to be my Master. Should I speak with her about being able to use that title for you?”

“If it feels important, you should always talk to Brooke.Always. I will never ask you to keep something from her.”

One of the guards came towards them with Genie’s jacket, and Ezra settled her on her feet, took the jacket from the guard, and helped her into it.

“I understand what a service Top and a service bottom are. I don’t think I’ve ever had a relationship with a Service Top, andcertainly not a service bottom.” She looked at Ezra, then to Dev. “I’m not a twenty-four/seven submissive. I guess I’m going to have to learn how to be a full-time Top though, right?”

“I think nurses are the equivalent of a Service Top. You’re in charge, and yet you have to make certain your patient has enough to eat and drink, gets enough exercise without overdoing it, proper medication and hygiene. You shouldn’t have a problem being a full time Top, because I believe you can already see what our cats need in order to become more than they’ve been allowed to become in the past.”

And this was probably a conversation they should have away from Elijah. She needed to go to Brooke and ask her to set up the telepathic connection with Dev.

“Let’s pick this conversation up later,” she told him. “Are we headed back to your place? Or somewhere else?”

“Brooke would like to talk to you, and it isn’t convenient for her to come to us while the sun reigns. If both of us go to her, the cats will be confined longer, and both will likely have to wait for us in the boxes in the back of the van. Are you okay with one of our guards taking you to her, and then bringing you to me after? Or would you like me to take you now?”

“I can go with the guard, but isn’t he needed to oversee the twins?”

“We really only need the one to watch Elijah. Ezra’s guard is probably overkill at this point, since he’ll be in my sight the entire time.”

She felt Elijah cringe on the inside at Dev’s words, but she didn’t look at him to acknowledge it. Dev would best know how to reprimand the naughty cat. How best to try to get through his hard-headed skull.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“So, what do we do with a submissive owl who needs to be dominant over two misbehaving cats?”

Genie had been talking to Brooke about this for at least ten minutes. She kept wanting Brooke to tell her what to do, and Brooke kept posing this question back to her.

“One naughty cat, and one who wants to behave.” She sighed. “If this isn’t going to work, just tell me and I’ll step away. I don’t want to do anything to screw this up for them. I’m sorry if having sex with Ezra was a bad choice.”

“I don’t think it was, nor am I convinced you should step away from the situation, but I need you to come up with some solutions. Much as the cats are learning how to be freepersons, you need to learn how to stay alpha over them enough not to upset the applecart.”

“I had a friend with a German Shepherd, and she had to always walk through the doorway first, and she didn’t feed him until she was finished with her meals, small stuff like that, but she told me if she didn’t do it, he got confused and it made him too aggressive with her.” She sped up talking because it was important she get this out. “But Ezra and Elijah arecats, not wolves. You have to handle cats differently.”

Brooke nodded in agreement, when Genie had been prepared for an argument. “Yes, cats and wolves are absolutely different, and especially in this case, where our cats are more cat than human, even when in human form, sometimes.” She tilted her head. “Oftentimes.”

“I get that they can’t be over me, and that I need to be under Dev and over them in the hierarchy, but I’m not sure how that works over the long term. I need help figuring it out. It’s becoming clear that you want me to figure it out and not just follow your orders, but I don’t see a solution.”

“If I gave an order you didn’t agree with, would you follow it?”

Genie understood this was an important question, and she considered her answer before she responded.

“I haven’t given you any oaths to do so, but Dev holds you in the highest regard, and he’s earned my respect and trust, so if there isn’t time to talk to you about it, then yes, I probably would. However, if there’s time to discuss it, I would hope to be able to understand the order better, before I made that decision.”

Pain hit her out of the blue, as if every cell in her body was heated — boiling water inside, nerve endings on fire. Not just the nerve endings, but the entire lengths of the thousands of nerve pathways in her body. She fell to the floor and writhed in agony, certain she was dying. No oxygen in her lungs, in her blood, in her cells. Only electric pain, fiery hot andalive. Her vision went red and began to fade, and still, her body spasmed and twisted.

And then, just as suddenly as it came, the pain was gone. She could breathe. She felt more heat at her groin than she should, and realized she’d peed herself. Her jeans were soaked.

“The large male vampires who leak power all over the place get respect without having to give object lessons,” Brooke told her with a voice that sounded completely adult and was full ofpower. “When you look like a child, sometimes you have to show people your strength. I will ask you again, if I give you an order you don’t agree with, will you follow it?”

Genie went to hands and knees, put one foot flat on the floor, and transferred her weight to it as she straightened the leg.She wasn’t going to look up at the small vampire and have this conversation. She’d do so standing on her feet, and she wouldnotshow weakness.

“I will not, Master Brooke. When I had reason to respect you, I would’ve under certain circumstances, but you’ve just lost any respect I’d given you based on Dev’s regard for you. I did nothing to insult you, nothing that should’ve called for that kind of response. With your permission, I will take my leave.”

Brooke smiled and waved someone in, and the gazelle shifter held a pair of jeans exactly like the ones Genie was wearing.