by Helen Scott
Cin tentatively kissed him back. Thad settled his mouth over hers, his lips parting and his tongue darting out. It was enough to make her body roll against his even though both of their needs were satiated—at least, for the time being. She moaned as his tongue danced with hers again, and a growl rumbled through his chest, making her whole body vibrate.
“You taste like summer and honey,” he said, pulling away briefly before kissing her again.
She let him dictate how the kiss went, knowing that this was a big step for him. Her body twitched and rolled against his, like he knew exactly how to elicit the most sensation from the kiss.
He pulled away again, kissing her a few times on the mouth before he rolled them onto their sides. Cin collapsed against the bed as he gently extracted himself, causing another moan from her.
“Let me go take care of this.”
He stood and went into the bathroom. Cin hadn’t had a chance to check out his naked ass before, but boy, was she glad she did now. Two perfectly sculpted globes flexed and relaxed as he walked away.
Somewhere deep in her subconscious, she knew she wanted not only to have sex with Thad but she wanted them to make love. She wanted to connect with him on that level. But, for right now, she was content feeling well used.
Her body ached at the absence of his cock, or maybe it ached for it? Either way, she knew that this would have to happen again, and soon.
Thad stood in the bathroom for a moment after he’d taken the condom off. Something had shifted within him. He had kissed Cin twice now, and not just little pecks, either. The feeling of her tongue against his, of her body rolling against his because of their kiss, made him feel like he was invincible.
His blood was on fire for her, his body craving her again already. The way Cin had watched him while she sucked his cock and while he was deep inside her—even going back to when they were in the shower together, she had watched him.
No, watched was the wrong word. The eye contact they had shared made this more intimate than just sex, at least to him. Cin had seen him, really and truly seen him, and she had kept on looking. His heart warmed at the thought.
He glanced in the mirror as he splashed some cold water on his face and was stunned with what he saw there. His eyes were blue. The white orbs he had lived with his whole life had vanished, and color had seeped into his irises.
He stood frozen in the bathroom, partly unsure what to do, partly captivated by his own eyes. He looked this way and that; the color moved exactly as it should. His pupils were still white, which he found odd, but the color was amazing. As he looked closer in the mirror, he watched it begin to fade. The blue began to withdraw from the inner edges of the iris toward the faint gray circle that had always been there.
His heart stuttered at what that might mean. He only knew one thing for sure—he needed to talk to Alec right away.
Chapter 18
Robin’s heart pounded as she heard footsteps coming down the hall. The employee bedrooms were supposed to be private areas, but she had often found outfits laid out for her or notes with instructions on how to present herself tomorrow. She knew that Mr. Fields wanted to break her. He had told her that from the very beginning.
The sound was definitely Mr. Fields’ expensive Italian leather Oxfords. She would know that sound anywhere; it tortured her every day. When a soft knock came at her door, she had to suppress the urge to climb out the window. He would know she was in here, and if she didn’t open the door, it would only be worse later.
She pulled the thickest robe she had out of the closet and shrugged it on, tying the belt in a knot so tight, she wasn’t sure she would be able to get it undone. The knock came again.
“Coming!” she called while her stomach threatened to expel its contents.
She cracked the door open.
Mr. Fields stood there in all his glory, his dark-brown eyes staring at her. She knew he expected her to invite him in, but it was the absolute last thing she actually wanted to do.
“Mr. Fields! Is everything okay?”
“May I come in, Robin?”
“I would rather not. It could start rumors among the staff.”
“Pragmatic as always,” he said, glancing around. She was sure they could both hear the soft snick of doors closing quietly. He took a deep breath and continued. “However, I must insist.”
“Of course, Mr. Fields.” Robin lowered her gaze and pulled the v of the robe together as she opened the door wider. He strolled in, unbuttoning his bespoke suit that cost more than she would make in a year if she was paid conventionally.
“Now, Robin, you know we have some very important guests tomorrow. The seer that we have acquired will be coming up to my office for questioning, and The Surgeon will be meeting us there also. You need to be dressed appropriately.”
“Yes, sir.” Robin hovered by the door as she watched him paw through her clothes. She would have to wash all of them now. The idea of him touching her clothes repulsed her. He was repulsing. Not that the clothes were really hers. She had given up everything she owned other than what she’d stashed in a tiny storage locker when she was conscripted.
Eclipse gave her a place to live, work, food, and clothes. She was allowed a few privileges if she earned them, like a TV, a computer, books, and once a year, a day off.
All the conscripted staff lived in the building. The middle floors were all employee bedrooms, with a laundry area and a kitchen on each floor as well.
Almost all of them worked on the top floors with the management. Each of them had a special skill set that was the reason they had been acquired. Just like the new seer.
The straight humans worked on the lower levels and maintained the facade of normality for anyone visiting. There was also a gym, a pool, and a common TV area, but no one really liked her since she worked for Mr. Fields directly, so she generally avoided them.
Robin was never allowed to leave the building unless she was with Mr. Fields. As a banshee, she was one of his most prized possessions. He knew that he was safe so long as she wasn’t screaming for his soul. The fact that she was a wizard with computers was just a bonus to him.
“This one, I think,” he said as he pulled a cornflower-blue dress out of the closet.
She hadn’t seen it before, which meant that someone had put it in here while she was at work. Which also meant that this whole thing was staged.
He could have left a note with the outfit, but he enjoyed scaring her, taking advantage of her in little ways. She had no choice but to go along with it. Otherwise, he would add more years to her contract or threaten to kill her family, and they were the whole reason she was in here.
“Yes, Mr. Fields.”
“Try it on, please. I want to make sure the fit is appropriate.”
“But—”
“Oh, come now. It’s not like you have anything I haven’t seen before.” She stood staring at him. He let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll turn around.” He threw his hands up, making a big show of how accommodating he was being.
“Thank you, sir.”
She shimmied out of her sweatpants and T-shirt and into the dress. It was short. Too short. And while it wasn’t super low cut, the cut-outs on the side and back made her feel overly exposed. Her shoulders were bare, and the sides of her ribcage only had one strap going around to the back before the skirt started at her hips. She couldn’t wear a bra with this, and that made her extremely uncomfortable. She didn’t have the body to fill out a dress like this. She was too lanky, without enough curves to keep the fabric where it was supposed to be.
“Are you done?” Mr. Fields voice jolted her out of her misery at having to wear this all day tomorrow, and back into the misery of the present.
“Yes, Mr. Fields.”
“Good!” He spun around, and the smile on his face faded into a scowl. “Well, this isn’t to your measurements at all. Idiots.” His shoulders tensed up and his gaze narrowed as he took in the bands of the dress. They didn’t l
ie flat across her skin since they were a little too big. Apparently, he wasn’t a big fan of the draped look.
“Wear this instead.” He pulled out the black leather pencil skirt that had a slit up the back that almost made it inappropriate, and a sheer black top, which was basically see-through except for the polka dots. When he started toward her underwear drawer, she almost stopped him, catching herself just in time. He tossed a black bustier onto the bed with it.
“Yes, sir.”
“Get rid of the trash you’re wearing and make sure you do your hair and makeup nicely tomorrow. You are going for approachable but sexy. Oh, and no granny panties. I do not want to see a panty line on that skirt. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” She was barely controlling the shaking wracking her body. Everything about him told her to run and never look back. Every day was a fight to do her job without unnecessarily drawing his attention.
“Make sure you show up on time tomorrow. Don’t think your being a couple minutes late the last few days has gone unnoticed. I need you to help question the seer. She’s young and might respond better to you.”
“Of course, Mr. Fields.”
She kept her head bowed slightly as he walked toward the door. Just as he passed through, he paused.
“Robin, your work has been exemplary of late. Keep it up and I might be able to talk to the Order about your admission. It would be a step up from your position now.” His eyes were sad as he said it, like she was a toy he didn’t want to stop playing with.
“The Order, sir?”
There had always been rumors of a secret society that the company and specifically Mr. Fields was part of, but she had never heard him confirm or deny it before. He had always had a strict non-acknowledgment policy when it came to people asking about the Order, more specifically, the Order of Talos.
No one knew their true purpose, but the stories claimed that they controlled the world’s largest companies and had some kind of magic power at their center. Robin had never believed it. She had always chalked it up to conspiracy theorists reading too much into things.
“Don’t act dumb. I hate it, especially from someone as smart as you. I know you know what I’m talking about. I’m aware of the rumors that go around the office. You are a valued employee, and I want you to know that you are not unappreciated. That being said, do not begin to question me or let your work suffer. I will not stand for it.”
“Of course, sir.”
Once he was gone, she stripped out of the blue dress and went to shower before passing out. She knew people around her had heard the conversation she’d had with Mr. Fields, and that it would probably be the talk of the kitchen in the morning. A lot of chitchat happened in there since everyone had to be there at some point if they wanted to eat.
She didn’t want to be questioned or to have the stares that she got regularly from people who thought she was getting special treatment. She’d gladly trade jobs with them any day. She knew she was Randall Fields’ toy, and nothing was going to change that for a long time, even if he did get her into the Order of Talos.
Robin smoothed the leather skirt out as she got Mr. Fields’ breakfast and morning paper ready before he came down from his penthouse suite. She often wondered what it was like up there. Probably much like his office, all sleek and modern with no personality at all. He designed his life to impress the people in his social circles.
The coffee and fruit sat ready for him as she opened the paper to the business section. When she heard his private elevator ding as the doors opened, she hurried away from the desk and stood, notebook in hand, waiting for him.
Her mouth nearly dropped open. He was in jeans and a T-shirt. She had never, under any circumstances, seen him dress like this. Secretly she had debated whether he wore a suit to bed as well.
“I don’t need you this morning, Robin. Have the bloodwork results from the seer ready to go for when The Surgeon gets here. When the seer is brought up in a couple hours, make sure you are available to question her. And call Katerina.”
“Right away, sir.”
Robin had to focus on not running out of the office. If he needed Katerina, then she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. What he had said about the blood test results piqued her interest, though. She might be able to use it to Aster’s advantage.
Back at her desk, she paged Katerina, praying that she was available. When she received a positive response, Robin breathed a sigh of relief. When Katerina was with another client, Mr. Fields got very upset and usually took it out on her and the few other members of the staff who interacted with him regularly.
She pulled up the security camera footage from Aster’s holding room. The poor girl was shivering on the cot she’d been sleeping on for the last few days. She looked like she’d already lost weight, but that shouldn’t be possible so quickly. She was probably just noticing how tiny Aster was now.
When they first brought the girl in, Robin had hacked the file they kept on her, so she’d been receiving updates whenever anything had been done. With a few keystrokes, she pulled up the background window that allowed her to do things like send messages to tattoo artists or hack other employee files. The bloodwork was there; she just hadn’t had a chance to acknowledge the update yet. It was hard to keep things under wraps when Mr. Fields could walk in at any moment.
She displayed the update in the background of another program. The only way to tell what she was looking at was to read everything on the screen, which no one was about to do. The program masked her illicit activity, but she was still overly cautious. According to the blood work, Aster was as healthy as a horse.
Not good.
She could update it to reflect that she had some kind of flu or that she’d smoked pot before they took her in, or something like that. Either way, if she made Aster look even remotely unhealthy, then The Surgeon wouldn’t touch her until it was out of her system. Just to be sure Aster would not show as being fit for surgery, she added that they found signs of influenza and THC in her blood sample.
She hoped her messages had reached Aster’s sister. Hyacinth was her only hope of getting the girl out of here, and she didn’t want someone as powerful as Aster to get in the hands of someone like Randall Fields.
It was a while later when Robin heard the elevator coming up. It had to be Aster coming up for questioning. She grabbed her notebook and knocked on Mr. Fields’ office door, which had been closed since Katerina had arrived.
“Yes?”
“Sir, the seer is on her way up.”
“Thank you. Katerina, that will be all.” She heard his voice through the door and waited for Katerina to exit before going in. The woman was stoic as she walked out. It didn’t matter that her clothing was torn or that she had bruises blooming on her arms. From what Robin had seen of their interactions, Katerina gave as good as she got. The only deal breaker was if she bruised his face.
That was not allowed.
She wasn’t sure what to call their relationship. Katerina was very well-compensated for her time and the occupational hazards, but she also suspected that Katerina was one of the few people Randall Fields opened up to, or at least made himself vulnerable to.
As she walked in, she saw Mr. Fields dressing from his activities with Katerina. A strange curiosity had her eyes glued to his body as she watched it move. She had no doubt that she wasn’t supposed to see this, but she couldn’t look away, either.
He finally noticed she was standing there while he pulled his T-shirt on. His eyes bored into hers. She felt like he was daring her to say something. She wished she had the courage to say what she wanted to, that the way he treated his employees, the women especially, was wrong and that he had some issues he should see a therapist about, but that wasn’t what came out.
“Do you need help tidying up before the seer gets here?” Her voice sounded husky to her own ears, which made her blush.
“No. Just bring in some coffee, enough cups for all of us.”
“Yes, s
ir.”
By the time she came back, she couldn’t tell that anything untoward had happened in the office.
“Please bring”—Mr. Fields flipped open the file—“Aster in.”
“Right away, sir. Do you want security to join us?”
“Not necessary.”
“Very good, sir.”
She rushed out of the office and around the corner to where the company elevator was. Two security guards stood there with Aster in handcuffs between them. She looked petite, but they were large men.
As Robin approached, she took in the state of the woman in front of her. The bruises on her jaw were almost black, and her shirt had been torn open in multiple places, displaying the cuts on her flesh below. Robin wanted to punch all of them and run out of there with Aster, but she knew she wouldn’t even make it to the ground floor before they were caught, and that would sign a death warrant for both of them.
The guard on the left took in her outfit, and his eyes about popped out of his head. “Must be good to be the boss with tail like that doin’ what you say.”
“Eh, I’d rather stick with blondie here,” said the guard on the right, who had apparently chosen to bathe in his cologne that morning.
“Gentlemen, Mr. Fields doesn’t need your assistance at this time. I will escort the new acquisition to his office.”
“So long as we get to watch you walk away.”
“If you want.” She tried her best not to blush fiercely but had the feeling that she had failed when a wide grin that was slightly menacing spread across Lefty’s face. She turned her attention to her goal. “Ms. Porte, if you’ll follow me?”
Aster stared blankly at her as she started to shuffle forward. The clinking of the ankle cuff chains made Robin’s blood boil.
She turned back to the guards. “The keys, please, gentlemen?”
“Why?” Righty asked.
“Because Mr. Fields will want to evaluate her, and he can’t do that if she’s chained up. Now, keys, please.” She stuck her hand out expectantly.