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caught me, holding me up.
I knew what would happen. I didn t want to see it, but I wouldn t
abandon Mark to witness this alone, either.
Scal s sires arrived and Master handed Mark over to Qhan. Despite
insisting he could stand, Qhan wouldn t let him down. There was a huddle
with raised, angry voices as Master, Harn and Jord, Scal s sires, and the
police conferred over the situation.
 What s going on? I asked Mark.
 I think they re arguing over who has the right to demand retribution.
Scal s sires want to do it because of the murder. Harn and Jord want to do it
because we were in their care. Master obviously wants to do it.
The arguing continued until Master s attorney arrived. Then the huddle
broke. Master returned to us, looking grim.
 What? I asked.
Acquainted with the Night 207
He stroked Mark s face.  Death to all three. Fifty lashes to the one who
bred Pol. Twenty lashes to the other two. They ve agreed I can punish the
one who bred Pol.
Scal s sires drew out the twenty lashes they inflicted, taking turns with
tearful, angry taunts as they took their pound of flesh. I thought they would
execute him, but they didn t.
 They want them to suffer, Mark said.  They ll execute them all after
the whippings.
Harn and Jord also divided the punishment between them. As much as I
hated what happened, and hated even more watching this, the protective
anger on their faces as they whipped the prisoner only sealed in my mind
that they were good men. I made a note to ask Master if, when he wrote his
will, he d make sure us pets and Qhan could be left to them if there wasn t
an heir.
Master went last. Time blurred. I was no longer standing there next to
Qhan and holding Mark s hand. I was in Qhan s arms and watching Master
whip the man who raped me.
Except Marzan drew each stroke out, his fiery anger radiating from him
as he pulled scream after scream from the prisoner. When he finished he
returned the lash to the police and received the sidearm.
This time, I didn t look away.
208 Tymber Dalton
Chapter Twenty-Three
It didn t surprise me that Master s rage triggered his cycle again. This
time, three of us pets gathered around the frame that night as Nate writhed in
pleasure under Master s hands. With all four pets barely a week apart in
their cycle, Qhan had his hands full as we all closed in on our drop dates.
I personally had a lot of fun teaching Master how to check our progress.
Okay, so I encouraged him to take his time and play with me when he did it.
So sue me. If you ever had an Algonquan tongue up your ass tickling your
prostate, trust me, you wouldn t blame me.
Harn and Jord welcomed the opportunity to help play midwives to us as
Master went to work, fully taking over his sire s duties. One afternoon the
four of us lay in the backyard, all hooked to our beloved milker. Coop, then
Nate, dozed off as Harn sat on the patio and read. Unless we were inside the
house, an Algonquan always stood watch over us. I hoped once Mark
dropped he could talk to Master to ease up on that, but for now it made us
feel secure and loved.
Mark carefully rolled over to me, into my arms.  You okay, baby?
I kissed his forehead. The injuries to his body had long since healed.
 I m okay. You okay?
 I will be.
I knew the feeling all too well.  No running off to war on me now, once
you ve dropped.
A lazy smile creased his face.  I m thinking of trying things Coop s way
for a while.
 I hope you wait long enough for me to get to fuck you. We could still
walk under our own power, barely, but neither of us could muster the
strength needed to play together. That required movement, which
incapacitated us.
He snuggled closer.  This ass belongs to you, baby. You know that.
Acquainted with the Night 209
 Damn right it does.
Over the past few days, I d noticed my Mark returning to us. Hints of
his former personality returning, as I d suspected they would with our
stability restored. We slept every night in Master s bed with him. None of us
begrudged him holding Mark every night.
Harn and Jord started spending the nights at our house as Mark
approached his due date. They had become close friends with our Master,
bonded by their common love for us. When Mark s drop began, the room
grew crowded as I lay at his head and held his hand while the Algonquans
encouraged him.
Within a week, things had returned to normal around our house. Nate, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]