Born to Please [Pleasure Vessels 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Jana Downs

to know you have a bit of spirit in you. Come in and leave the humans to their play.” She took Payne by his arm and pulled him from the surprised arms of her son. Without effort, she shut the door in Alec’s face.
    Payne was immediately encased in a room of warmth. She turned them from the door and into the room, revealing a space built for comfort. Lounge chairs were scattered about the surprisingly large space intermingled with plush couches. The walls were lined with bookshelves that stretched from floor to ceiling, and at the center of the room sat a small tea table that had a white porcelain tea set on it along with a rather large leather-bound book.
    “I’ve never seen so many printed books,” Payne exclaimed in amazement. “The library at the Facility never had printed books. Too expensive. All the books we had were accessed through our PDA devices.”
    Alec’s mother nodded. “Yes. That’s how I remember my time there. A lot of people are following that example and getting rid of the paper versions. The EPA even tried to ban the use of print books a few years ago. Now they’re all printed on recyclable material that the company will pick up if the book becomes damaged and replace it. David, that’s Alec’s father’s first name, and I just couldn’t give up our books. There is something to be said about literature that has a sensory aspect. The smell of a new book as opposed to an old one, or a leather-bound as opposed to a cardboard one, even the weight in your palm, gives the book a uniqueness. Do you read much?”
    “I don’t usually read a lot for pleasure. At the Facility I read a lot on advertisement and finance. Guess I know why now, with Alec being in advertising. I was also schooled on rhetoric and a lot of philosophy dealing with communications.”
    “How about fiction?” Mrs. Kane asked, her brow drawing down to frown at Payne’s words.
    “No, ma’am. Fiction was discouraged. The Facility was so centered on our education, pleasure reading was seen as a way to distract from that.”
    Her face broke out into a grin. “Then I have just the thing for you. A romance novel that David gave to me when we first lived together.” She crossed the room with firm, purposeful strides and took a book off the shelf that was almost at the top. “Here you go. Since Alec is always busy, you might as well have a little something to read.”
    Payne took the novel from her with a smile and glimpsed at the cover. He blanched and turned twelve shades of scarlet. A tall burly man stood on the cover, shirtless, with a willowy, blonde-haired woman, also half-clothed, in apparent ecstasy in his arms. The title blazed in gold on the cover. To Love a Vessel, an anthology of stories about Vessels and the men and women who love them .
    “I–I am very well educated in that, ma’am,” he stuttered. God, Alec’s mom is downright scandalous !
    Alec’s mother burst out laughing at his horrified expression. “It isn’t a book on sex, Payne. It’s a collection of stories about different Vessels who fall in love with their Masters. It’s a lovely collection really. The writer is a male Vessel commissioned for a wife and husband pair in Connecticut, I believe. Why don’t you sit with me and have some coffee?” She motioned to the table, and they both walked over to it before sitting in opposite chairs.
    “You are not what I expected, ma’am,” Payne said, sipping at the bitter liquid before making a face and setting it back down as delicately as he could. She laughed at him again.
    “Please call me Amber. This ‘ma’am’ business is silly. We’re practically in-laws now.” She continued to laugh softly, the sound delicate and feminine. Where her husband was cold and laughed seldom, Amber was light and laughter. It was an interesting juxtaposition. “And I hope I am not what you expected. I bet you expected a sour-faced crone who was the obedient Vessel.”
    Payne blushed. “Something like that.”
    She