Angelica didn’t mind discussing the details, but she had no heart for thinking about how soon she’d be separating from Reyes.
She sat on the nearby couch, sewing a long black cat’s tail onto the back of her bustier. The simple costume would serve for the masked ball: bustier and thong, a headband with a pair of cat’s ears, a few whiskers glued to her face. But the tail had come loose.
Without looking up at him, she asked, “You mean something beyond telling your fellow sadists that you got overzealous in one of our bondage sessions and I died?”
He drummed his fingers on the table. “I think I have to add something. I mean, part of the way I kept Engles away from you all this time was by making it clear I didn’t hurry the torturing of my slaves.”
Remembering this part of his charade, she smiled a little. “You mean all those times you boasted about liking to ‘season your meat over a long period of time’?”
He shook his head and she could feel his dismay through the shared chains. “I had to say something to explain your lack of bruises and cuts, and for the most part I think it worked.”
Angelica tied the final knot, then set the thread and needle aside. She gave a tug on the tail and, satisfied, finally met his gaze. “So what do you have in mind?”
“I think I know a way we can effectively create some realistic bruising without actually hurting you.”
Her lips curved. “Is this a new Ancestral power you haven’t told me about?”
He returned her smile, and for just a moment she was caught all over again. He was gorgeous when he smiled, and his blue eyes lit up in a way that actually made her heart hurt. For the first time she realized she really didn’t want to leave Reyes.
He answered her question. “No, this has nothing to do with any newly acquired abilities from having tapped into my Ancestral power for that very brief moment. Actually this is a trick I once saw Eve do. She has a way of using makeup to create exactly this kind of effect.” As the owner of the Ruby Cave and a famous stage personality in the sex-club trade, Eve would know all the tricks.
“Does she actually add bruising for her performances?” From what Reyes had told her, Eve might be into BDSM, but she had strict rules governing her shows.
“No, she doesn’t believe in any kind of torture, just dominance. But on Halloween she likes to plant a few zombies in her audience just for fun, and let me tell you those monsters look real.”
Angelica smoothed her hand down the soft cat’s tail. “And after I’m all dressed up in black-and-blue, you’ll show me off at the masked ball.”
“I think it would add to my credibility since I intend to fake your death. If it looks like I’ve lost control with you before, the whole thing will be more plausible when I suddenly announce that I lost it again in one of my bondage sessions and you didn’t make it.”
Angelica thought for a moment. “You know, I think this is a really good idea. And after the masked ball, we can come straight back here and set the stage in your game room. Maybe you could hang me from the chains or something.”
He nodded. “That’s an excellent idea. And with the right makeup, trust me, you’d look really dead.” He thought for a moment. “Afterward, I could post the pics on the Starlin Web site, maybe blog about it. Yep, this will go a long way to support my claims that I’ve killed you and dumped you in the ocean.”
Angelica barely blinked about the dumping part. Reyes had told her more than once that the middle of the ocean had become the favorite disposal ground for the sadist set.
With the matter settled Reyes opened the laptop once more, but a minute later he gave a shout of triumph. “Listen to this. Sweet Dove has agreed to meet with me in private during the masked ball. She wants to begin discussions about our long-term relationship on both a business and a personal level.” He turned to meet her gaze. “Angelica, she’s agreed to bring me in as a partner. Do you know what this means?”
She felt his excitement and couldn’t help but smile. “You’ll have access to all the information you’ll need to tear down Starlin.”
“That’s exactly what it means.”
But Angelica felt uneasy. She didn’t trust Sweet Dove, and something about the proposed meeting made her skin crawl.
* * *
The next night, with a few hours to go before the masked ball, Reyes’s housekeeper informed him that Eve had arrived.
Reyes had known Eve a long time, decades in fact. She was one of the key attractions at the Erotic Passage, a vast sex-club network in the Como Cavern system which he had often visited over the years. He counted her as a friend, and she was one of the few people in his world he trusted without question.
With Angelica beside him, he greeted the blond beauty.
She was an Amazonian type and, with stilettos on, was even taller than Reyes. She wore her long blond hair held away from her face with a simple headband. Even without her usually extravagant stage makeup she was a striking beauty, with ice-blue cat eyes, a straight nose, strong cheekbones, and arched brows. She had a direct way of looking at everyone that spoke of her confidence.
She kissed Reyes on each cheek, then turned to offer her hand to Angelica. “I’m Eve. I saw what you did for Reyes at the after-auction party, just after the performance of my acting troupe, when he’d mentally checked out. You did good.” She smiled, showing lovely straight teeth. “But you really should bind him to a table, wear a little leather, make use of a flogger.” She broke off, glancing from one to the other. “Wait a minute. What’s with those smiles?”
Reyes took Angelica’s hand and shook his head. “Can’t get much past you.” Going through the recent experience with Angelica had changed something for him, as though breaking free of the chains had truly ended the decades of slavery for him.
Eve’s smile broadened. “So you really did it? I’d love some details.”
Reyes wagged his finger. “Not gonna happen. But you were right. It worked for both of us, I think.” He looked down at Angelica who smiled up at him, her eyes shining. They’d escaped death together on that table, but it was all the lovemaking afterward, day after day, that had his heart aching right now.
“So where would you like to do this?” Eve glanced around.
Reyes gestured toward the staircase. “How about we take this to my bedroom?”
“Now that’s a place I’ve begged to see all this time. I’m honored.”