Ah, can I friend you? You've definitely picked up on a lot of what bothered me about these books :D Relationships ought to be interesting between characters, but this screwed up, they tend to disturb.
Asher stated in "Danse Macabre" the following explanation:
"I sought a woman for my human servant when I realized that Jean-Claude would never be content with just men, with just me."
So it must be a combination of the first and the fourth explanation that you offered. The relationship apparently only lasted about twenty years or so before Julianna's death. Asher must have cared for her, as he mourned her death to the point of hating JC over it, and they both left Belle-Morte to protect Julianna from being pimped out by Belle-Morte to her favourites who would have abused her (note that one of Belle-Morte's favourites, like Anita's, was noteworthy only because of his monstrous soda-can penis.)
no subject
Asher stated in "Danse Macabre" the following explanation:
"I sought a woman for my human servant when I realized that Jean-Claude would never be content with just men, with just me."
So it must be a combination of the first and the fourth explanation that you offered. The relationship apparently only lasted about twenty years or so before Julianna's death. Asher must have cared for her, as he mourned her death to the point of hating JC over it, and they both left Belle-Morte to protect Julianna from being pimped out by Belle-Morte to her favourites who would have abused her (note that one of Belle-Morte's favourites, like Anita's, was noteworthy only because of his monstrous soda-can penis.)