Captiva Capitulation by Talyn Scott Page A

co-mate to Sayer. He’s the mixed-blood who, thankfully, impersonated Sixten during the meeting with the Dynasty Prince. Sayer enabled your vampire to aid our Pack in saving you. I owe him a personal debt for that alone.” He took a long sip of tea. “Anyway, back to Zuri. She’s been playing in Ryan’s dungeon, a place no werewolf should go, especially a female.”
    What the hell? “Ryan’s dungeon?” He looked away from her, greeting two waiters placing steaming plates in front of them. She guessed his position of authority garnered quick food service, too. Salivating, she picked up her fork and shoved a huge bite in her mouth before they finished serving Rock all his extras. Surprisingly, her nervous stomach had taken a hiatus. “This is heaven.” Baked shrimp and sea scallops in a béchamel tomato sauce topped with Swiss cheese and breadcrumbs graced her tongue. Next bite was tomato basil rice and mixed vegetables. Rock knew how to order his food. Sadly, Blythe’s ass was going to be twice its size by the time she left, since she would have no other choice than to swallow every bite.
    “Heaven?” He chuckled, watching the servers leave. “I could put that look on your face without the benefit of food.”
    Wuh. Blythe had told Sixten she would try, didn’t seem too hard a task as the minutes passed. She reached for a roll, going back on topic. “So…Ryan has a dungeon. A literal dungeon, as in, it’s underground?”
    “I figured you knew about it by now, after mating Sixten.”
    “No.
    “Well that young girl, the one you want me to coddle, plays there.”
    That didn’t sound good. “Where is it?”
    “The club.”
    His long fingers worked his knife and fork, cutting his beef. Even his hands were sexy. It boggled her mind at how claws sprung from those hands, their lethalness killing creatures just last night.
    “Six Feet Under?” She’d never seen a dungeon there. “I lived above that place, worked in the club almost daily for months. How did he hide it from me?”
    He gave her look that said, ‘I don’t want to insult you, feeble mixed blood’. With a shake of her head, Blythe continued, “Why a dungeon, then?”
    He swallowed a bite, choosing his words. “For sexual needs. Some of it depraved.”
    “No wonder Sixten wanted me out of there.”
    “Of course he did.” He reached out his hand, stroking a slow intimate caress across her shoulder. “Vampires need a certain outlet.” He sighed. “Many humans practice bondage…masters and slaves or Doms and Subs, right?”
    “Right.”
    “Vampires started those practices. Years of mingling with humans, feeding from them, and owning them caused their lifestyle to trickle over – evolving into the human world. So many humans practice it to a lesser extent.”
    “You’re saying from the beginning of vampires’ existence?” Her mouth fell open. “Eons ago?”
    “Yep,” he nodded. “Blood slaves, pleasure slaves, or both were subjugated under vampires or vampiresses. Only traded or sold if their particular owner found his Bride or a vampiress found her mate. When I say subjugated, I mean enslaved. All nefarious happenings protected by vampire by-laws, though things have lightened up considerably since the Dark Ages.”
    “Female vampires practiced this, too?” Dumb question, she realized after she said it.
    “They did.” Eyes of inhuman color darkened. “Many still do.”
    “With humans?”
    Another nod. “The only props I’ll give Maestru: His Vojaks are committed to keeping humans far from those vampires who still practice criminal subjugation. For the most part, he’s had some luck.”
    “Then why do werewolves hate them if their trying to right wrongs?”
    “From the beginning of our existence, vampires stole our females from under us. Much the way the Habalines have, but on a grander scale. The ones they didn’t subjugate, they drank to death, especially our female younglings. Legend says, from those feedings alone,