Had he been tempted? Hell, yes, but right now he was glad he’d stuck to his guns.
He pulled Angelica close to his side, lifting her off her feet, then levitated to the second story, Eve close behind.
Once within he closed the door, and after settling both Eve and Angelica in the sitting room, he swore Eve to secrecy. He then told her about his desire and efforts to destroy the Starlin Group.
Eve listened wide-eyed. “So let me understand. You bought Angelica at auction and now both of you are pretending to support a slave-slaver relationship because you’re undercover?”
“Exactly. But this group is heavy into torture, and I need some kind of proof that I’ve been hurting Angelica or I won’t be able to move higher up in the organization.” Though the last bit wasn’t the entire truth, given that he’d soon be Sweet Dove’s partner, he felt it necessary to keep Eve in the dark, especially where Sweet Dove was concerned. The less she knew, the better.
Eve leaned close to Reyes. “I want you to know how much I appreciate that you’re going after Starlin. I never said anything all this time about the company you’ve kept, but now I understand and I’m so proud of what you’re doing.” She included Angelica as well, grabbing for her hand and giving a squeeze. “For what you’re both trying to accomplish.”
Reyes nodded. “The moment I escaped my own slavery, I set my mind to it.”
Eve nodded several times, but said nothing more. Reyes let the moment breathe as his own dedication to the mission filled his mind all over again. Eve often purchased slaves, but always with the end goal of setting them free. They were like-minded.
Finally he asked, “So you think you can create some realistic bruising?”
Eve rose to her feet and placed her oversized makeup case on the table, then turned to look Angelica over. “This will work best and be more accurate if the bruises are all over the body, which means, my dear, that you’ll need to take your clothes off. You can keep your underwear on.”
“Whatever it takes.” Angelica reached down and slid the long T-shirt she wore over her head, kicked off her shoes, then stripped out of her pants.
A shiver went through Reyes. He’d made love to her a lot over the past two weeks, but the sight of her wearing just her bra and a very sheer black thong worked on him all over again.
Angelica turned toward him, her cheeks flushed. She covered the blood-chain at her neck with her fingers. “What’s going on?” But she laughed.
He shook his head back and forth several times. “It’s just that … what can I say … I mean look at you … ” He waved a hand toward her several times, looking her up and down.
Eve laughed at him and said, “Reyes, maybe you could focus on some paperwork or something.”
He cleared his throat, grabbed his laptop, and moved to a nearby club chair. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Of course he might have had his gaze glued to his laptop screen, but he could still hear the two women.
Eve said, “There’s just one thing. To make this as realistic as possible, I should add a preternatural charge to each bruise. It’ll cause some mild discomfort, but the charge will invade the skin and deepen the appearance of the wound.”
Reyes glanced at Eve and intervened. “No. I don’t want anything like that. You’re not to hurt Angelica.”
But Angelica pivoted slightly in his direction. “Nonsense. We want this to be realistic. I say do it.”
Eve smiled. “I like your spirit. How about I try out a preternatural punch, then you can tell me how many of these you think you can take.”
“Done.”
“Hey,” Reyes called out, trying to stop the madness. “Don’t I get a say?”
But the women ignored him. Eve placed her fist against Angelica’s abdomen and let loose, but Angelica barely flinched.
“Easy-peasy,” Angelica said. She touched her abdomen. “That hurt a little, but look at the redness.” She glanced at Reyes. “I can take it, really I can. This isn’t bad at all. I just wish I’d known about this technique. We could have done this sooner, starting at the after-auction party.”
“Fine,” Reyes said, though he scowled.
Angelica turned back to Eve. “Try a cut this time.”
At that Reyes jumped from his seat, setting his laptop aside, and drew close to Angelica once more. “I’m drawing the line. No cuts.”
Both women stared at him, brows raised.
“I’m serious.”
Eve exchanged a glance with Angelica. “We can see that.”
“How about just one cut?” Angelica suggested.
Reyes shook his head. “What’s with you?”
“It’s simple. We’ve got Scorpion’s attention and we should capitalize on that.” Even though Sweet Dove was Scorpion, he knew Angelica couldn’t mention Sweet Dove’s name without arousing Eve’s curiosity. And right now Reyes didn’t want anyone to know about Sweet Dove. Getting as close as he could to the woman was the key to gaining access to Starlin’s internal organization. Once he had that information, he could take Starlin down piece by piece.
But he hated the thought of Angelica being cut in any way.
Reyes turned to Angelica. “Please don’t do this. I can’t explain it, but I don’t want to see you cut. Maybe you can handle it, but I can’t. The bruises will be hard enough for me to look at.”
Angelica put her hand on his face. “Fine, no cuts, not even fake ones. I wasn’t thinking of how this might affect you, only of the end result.”
She reached up and kissed him, a gesture that brought his breath up short. He wanted more and again became acutely aware that she wore only a bra and a miniscule thong.
If Eve hadn’t been in the room …
Angelica smiled. “Go back to your laptop because right now my blood-chain is singing.”
He shook his head, turning away from her once more, and headed back to his chair to explore the latest posts on the Starlin Web site.
* * *
With each charged punch, Angelica took a deep breath and let the resulting pain flow out of her. Eve would then spread on a layer of makeup in different shades of purple, blue, gray, and even some pink. Some of the splotches were small and others large to indicate she’d been hit by different kinds of objects.
When Eve was satisfied with the look of each bruise she added another preternatural charge, which would act like a tattoo and make the effect semipermanent. A series of showers would fade and then eventually cause the wounds to disappear.
Adding a dusting of light cream powder to Angelica’s face and just a hint of blue beneath her eyes gave the impression that Angelica had been brutalized.
When Eve was done Angelica turned toward Reyes. “So how do I look? Damaged enough?”
Reyes, who’d been buried in the laptop and scowling, glanced up. If she’d had any doubt how well Eve had done, Reyes’s horrified reaction as he stood up and nearly dropped his laptop spoke of the success of the project.
“Holy shit,” he murmured. “Are you all right?”
“Of course I am. Eve didn’t really hurt me.” Angelica turned toward Eve. “She’s just that good.”
“I am,” Eve said. Having packed up her case, she closed it with a snap. “Sorry, kids, but I have to go. I have a performance in an hour and my own makeup to do.” She turned toward Angelica. “You’re a damn fine soldier and I’m proud to have known you. I hope you’ll stick around, and if you’re smart, you’ll get Reyes to take on the double-chains. Which reminds me … ”
Eve pulled out the bottom drawer of the large case, and withdrew a familiar-looking red leather box. Before Eve could tell her what was inside, Angelica’s single chain vibrated heavily. “Wait. You’ve got the double-chains in there, don’t you? The ones that would take Reyes to Ancestral in the blink of an eye.”
“Yes, I do.” Eve extended the case to her.
But before Angelica could lift the lid to see what the chains even looked like, Reyes moved in and grabbed the box.
He barked at Eve. “How the hell did you get these and why would you think I’d want them here even for a second? Or that Angelica would want a permanent relationship with me? And you know how I feel about the Ancestral calling.”
Angelica stared up at him. She knew he’d resisted rising to Ancestral status for a long time, but she’d never seen him so worked up.
Eve said, “Not all Ancestrals are bad, and a majority of the traditions are worth reviving. I use some of the ancient Ancestral chants in my shows, you know I do. Our society has just hit a bad stretch, but that will change, especially with men like you taking charge. The Ancestrals at the top of the slaver food chain have brought us all down. They’ve perverted the use and meaning of their power. And though I appreciate that you’ve keep me ignorant of much of what’s going on within the Starlin slaver organization, and I do know it’s for my own protection, I’m convinced you’ll need a lot more power to face them. You should at least consider embracing your Ancestral status.”
Reyes stared at the box, shaking his head. “Not gonna happen. And I still don’t understand how you even got these.”
“Rumy sent them over and told me to give them to you the next time I saw you. And no, I don’t know how he got them or how he obtained your blood to make them. But you know Rumy. He’s so well-connected because of owning the entire Erotic Passage network that I’ve come to believe he could do anything he set his mind to.”
“You should just take them back.”
When he shoved them at Eve, however, Angelica took hold of the box, wrested it from Reyes’s grip, and pressed it to her chest.
She stepped away from him, lowering her chin. “I don’t care what you say, we’re keeping these. It doesn’t mean we have to use them, but just in case this whole damn thing goes south, I want them close by. Got it?”
Reyes blinked a couple of times, his mouth agape. “I’ll ask again, what’s gotten into you?”
“I’m not sure I can explain. But when you were bound in those horrible, rusted, smelly chains, I felt your Ancestral power. It was beautiful and I didn’t fear you at all. And Eve’s right. Your world needs men like you, good men, full of this kind of power and taking charge.”
He took on his stubborn look, the one that moved his jaw from side to side as he ground his molars. “Fine, keep them. But it doesn’t mean I intend to put them on anytime soon.”
“And I would never force you to, but I’m with Eve. I think you should consider rising to Ancestral status. I know you, Reyes. I know your heart, your character, everything you are. To me, you will always be the young man with a dozen stacks of books in his room intent on changing your world. That’s the man who should wear the double bonding chains.”
Reyes held her gaze for a long moment, and the chain at her neck vibrated with a new emotion, something she had trouble identifying. But it fell somewhere close to Reyes being stunned by what she’d just said. She knew he had trouble believing that anyone could think highly of him. She understood the cause as well, which made her furious with Sweet Dove all over again.
Reyes glanced down at the box she held in her hands and, though he grimaced, muttered, “Fine. I’ll think about it.” To Eve he added, “Thanks for bringing them by.”
Eve kissed Reyes on the cheek. “Hang in there.”
Turning to Angelica, she did the same, adding, “Glad you’re here taking care of our guy. If you can stomach it, stick around. We can use you right now.” With that she stepped away, waved to each of them, then shifted to altered flight.
Angelica watched her disappear through Reyes’s desk. She was now so used to seeing people come and go like ghosts that she barely blinked.
For some reason, as she turned back to Reyes, it hit her that after tonight’s gala event she and Reyes would start the process of separating. She’d always known this moment would come, but after making love with him as much as she had over the past couple of weeks, she didn’t want to leave. In fact it felt as though they were just getting started.
But on so many levels she’d already pushed the bounds of her own safety, and to continue on past the final event would really be tempting fate.
She was going to suggest they get ready for the masked ball when Reyes took the box from her and set it on the table. He then took hold of her hands. “It’s really hard for me to see you like this, even if the bruises are mostly fake.”
“I know. But Eve did a wonderful job, and it will give credence to the upcoming ruse that we’ll be staging.”
* * *
Reyes stared into her familiar warm brown eyes and for some inexplicable reason his chest grew abnormally tight and his throat hurt. He repressed a heavy sigh as he nodded. “I guess our time together is almost over. It’s been wonderful, Angelica, to have you with me, I want you to know that. And I’ll take every precaution to keep you and your mother safe, and if we need to I’ll help relocate you both to a different part of the country.”
“I know you will.” Her gaze flitted away from his, then back. “But I’ll miss you, more than I can say. I just wish this wasn’t such a mess, I’d want to stay otherwise.”
“You would?” He couldn’t explain exactly how he felt or why he was so surprised. From the first, Angelica had expressed admiration for him, and sharing his bed with her over the past couple of weeks had been one of the finest experiences of his life. He’d come to know every inch of her body, and he loved looking deep into her eyes when he brought her to ecstasy or when his own body shook with passion.
The blood-chains he shared with her might have enhanced the experience, but the bond couldn’t manufacture what wasn’t there. And right now, as he held her gaze, he wished that he could build a life with her.
But that was impossible. His body and soul were deeply scarred, brutalized by his captivity. He wasn’t truly fit to be with a woman. Besides, all his energy for years to come had to be focused on making his world right.
Taking Angelica home would relieve him of the false hope her presence in his life continually pressed on him, and he’d be better able to fulfill his Starlin takedown goals without her.
Putting his relationship with her back into its careful mental compartment, Reyes took a long look at all the bruises, his expression solemn. “These have such a realistic appearance. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine. And remember, I’m siphoning your power all the time. I might not heal as fast as you do, but I can feel a low level of healing going on right now.”
He touched her shoulder. “I can see that you are, but I wish now I’d never suggested this.”
Angelica shook her head. “I completely disagree. This will cement your reputation, especially after all the fuss you made about ‘seasoned meat’ and ‘auctioning me off at my six-month transition.’” She shuddered.
He smiled down at her, then pulled her into his arms. He kissed her, a deep penetrating kiss. He wanted her to feel just how much he appreciated all that she’d done, especially how bravely she’d carried off her role as his slave from the time he’d bought her at auction.
Drawing back slightly, but still holding her close, he said, “You’ve done so well. I’ve said this often, but you’ve amazed me. You’ve shown such tremendous courage, when you should have fallen apart. And now this, letting yourself essentially take on some tattoos to prove that I’m into the lifestyle.”
She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him hard in return. He loved this about Angelica, that she never held back, not in her role as his slave, not in bed, not in her obvious affection for him.
The word love rolled around in his head as he held her tightly. He didn’t want to let her go, and as the kiss continued he once more let her feel the depth of his admiration for her.
His body heated up, and the cooing sounds she made let him know he could have carried her then and there back to the bed. But he feared he’d forget all about the ball and, because Sweet Dove was expecting him, he had to go.
&nb
sp; The final act must be played out.
Drawing back slowly and reluctantly, Reyes pressed his forehead to hers. “I will miss you more than I can say.”
“I know. Same here.” She released a heavy sigh, then added, “I guess we’d better get ready for the ball.”
An hour later he flew Angelica to the Crystal Dome, a place he’d never been before, though it was legendary in Starlin circles. The cavern was magnificent and huge, a giant geode of white crystal, carved and polished for the most part, with a few crystals left upright for unique seating and decor.
The entire ceiling was a smooth dome, lit from behind, an engineering feat all by itself.
He walked her through the archway, then drew her off to the side. She wore a simple cat’s costume, adding at the last minute a pair of long black gloves, and he’d opted for a bodyguard look with a snug black T-shirt, leather pants, steel-toed boots, and a simple black mask.
The din from the ball in full swing made conversation impossible except through telepathy.
Angelica squeezed his arm. This place is amazing and so beautiful. Too bad this group has charge of the room.
He knew what she meant. They stood just to the side of the opening against the wall. The floor sloped in an easy grade toward a low stage about thirty yards distant where the band stood in disarray, guitars on the floor.
Is everyone here drunk? she asked.
Or high.
I would say I’m disgusted, but I need a harsher word. I just don’t think there is one. All this beauty wasted on such a useless set of people.
Just keep your eyes lowered if you can.
Will do.
Though he was once again attached to Angelica with a leash, he held her arm tightly and kept her close to him. They’d arrived at the Crystal Dome late, hoping to make an entrance, but instead found a drunken orgy in progress and not much dancing.
Half the band was engaged in either fellatio or full-on intercourse.