Opposite to her instinct, Kadie couldn’t stay. Fear of what Madame’s punishment might be clinched her body in a tightening vice. Trying to slide down his body to get out from under the arms he held her in only brought her face to face with his solid dick, right there beneath the covers.
The possibilities tantalized her and for a second she evicted thoughts of the Madame who was waiting in the basement for her. Nuzzling into him, his groan made her part her lips to lick the length of him. If she woke him up, they’d have more sex, and that would delay her arrival back in her quarters where the Madame would already be pacing.
Her slumbering lover grabbed her up and closed his arms around her in a bear hug so tight that she had to hold her breath. Thinking that tasting him had been too much, she expected his eyes to be open and for him to be ready to play with her again. They weren’t. His need to hold on to her had come from instinct, not desire.
Taking that into account, she doubted she’d get away clean if she tried to struggle away. Experience gave her the inside track. Kadie knew how to work this man, how to manipulate him, even when he was sleeping. Pushing herself up as opposed to down, she kissed her way to his mouth. Each touch of her lips to his skin relaxed the ferocity of his gripping arms. The irony was, Tuck could be so alert and on edge that there had been times he’d woken up in an instant if a breeze moved a curtain in their bedroom, yet she could do this with him for hours without bringing him to full consciousness. She’d made love to him in the past, enjoyed fellatio, the works, and he’d remained in his sleep throughout.
Easing onto him, she stretched out on top of him using the small amount of room she’d created for herself. As soon as her full body was pressed into him, his arms loosened so that his hands could slide down to her ass, which he squeezed when she kissed him.
Tracing her tongue over his lips, she elevated her hips. The temptation to impale herself on his erection almost too great to ignore. Leaving him, having just got him back, was not going to be easy for her, but it had to be done to protect them both.
Spoiling herself one last time, she slid her clit down the length of his thick shaft and closed her eyes to savor the frisson of pleasure it caused. Kissing him once more, she rolled away to get off the bed, letting the curtain glance off her. She had to be quick, he’d register the breeze her absence caused, though with the curtains over the bed, she might have bought herself a little more leeway.
Grabbing her apparel, she crawled to the door without trying to put anything on until she crept into the hallway. The security guards at either end of the corridor got a full view of her climbing into her dress but modesty was a distant luxury that wasn’t worth clinging to here. Having had a crash course in intimate availability, the women here had poked and prodded her, groomed her, commented on her body.
They washed together, dressed together, slept together, it was like being at whore camp in the basement rooms they were relegated to. Teaching her how to ignore the sickness caused by violation was lesson number one and the one that would probably have served her best had she ever had to do what was expected of her.
The house was quite eerie at this time of the night, so she didn’t meander. She got back to the basement to see Madame still awake, as was her custom to be until all of her girls were accounted for. The woman was in her forties, but as beautiful and groomed as the teenagers they had around here.
The cynical woman was harsh with the girls when they didn’t comply with direct orders. Though, part of the way they got the women to be so compliant was to manipulate them with kindness. Punishments were strict, but coercion was subtle. Madame was a pro who would tease and flirt better than the rest of them combined, and those skills didn’t only work with the men they encountered.
Madame stood from her reclining chair and took Kadie’s things from her to put them aside.
“You should not form an attachment,” Madame said, turning Kadie around to check for bruising.
On coming back from any liaison, the girls were always checked. Madame had to know if there were any marks left that could put other men off and if there were any wounds that might need to be treated. Sick girls weren’t working girls, they were a drain on resources, and Madame was proactive about ensuring that didn’t happen. Kadie often wondered if they’d be treated like racehorses if they broke a leg on a jump. If it was deemed too expensive or tiresome, would they just be shot on the spot to save time?
“I know,” Kadie said. “I fell asleep, he told me he wasn’t finished. “
“We’re there for their pleasure,” Madame said, stopping Kadie on her twirl to look her in the eye. “We have our rules for a reason. You wait until he falls asleep then you leave. We don’t sleep in the embrace of a stranger. I taught you better than that.”
Madame was tall and elegant. Her years showed in her face when Kadie was this up close. She carried herself with severity, but Kadie believed that she cared for the girls who worked under her. Exhaustion hung around her, a weariness that living this life for too long had brought.
“Yes,” Kadie said. “I apologize. It won’t happen again.” Still proving herself able to be of use, Kadie had to be apologetic and defer to the woman before her.
Kadie was about to walk past, back toward her bunk, but Madame kept a hold of her. “You must tell me everything that you know about this gentleman,” Madame said.
It was customary for Madame to keep a book on each client so the girls always knew how to maintain their pleasure. Intimate antics weren’t the only thing noted down and if she’d picked up on any useful intelligence, she’d be expected to share that too.
Tired herself, Kadie wanted to get some sleep before she started to talk about Tuck because she’d have to be careful of her words and how she delivered them. Madame knew people, she knew sex, and men, and whores, all of the things that Kadie would have to lie about in order to protect Tuck.
“Yes, but—”
“It will wait,” Madame said, still not allowing Kadie to leave her or to request rest. “The Master wants you in his room.”
Shock startled her and she almost pulled away. “What? But I thought—”
“It’s not our job to think, we do. Our game is about action. We don’t ask why, we do as we’re told.”
It had to be difficult to get to Madame’s age and still consider yourself inferior to men. Madame was tough and capable enough to rule over the dozens of women that Sikorski kept on the premises. It could be that when she and Sikorski were alone, the dynamic wasn’t so clear cut. But Kadie had never heard of them having private meetings alone and if what was rumored about Sikorski’s sexuality was true, then it was possible that the two weren’t intimate.
Sikorski saw everyone as beneath him, so it was unlikely he’d give the head of the whores any respect.
“Swift said—”
“I believe the Master is asleep,” Madame said. “But, he wants you to sleep in his bed.”
Madame’s implication that Sikorski didn’t want sex was odd. They were expected to deliver pleasure on demand. She shouldn’t be telling Kadie that she didn’t have to do that now as though the idea might be understandably abhorrent.
Being the new girl, maybe Madame was just reassuring her about expectations. As far as Madame was concerned, Kadie had been broken in by her first client tonight. Some women were more emotional after that experience, though they’d try to hide any volatility because this was what they were trained for.
Detachment, rule number one, it separated them from their bodies and the hideous things they’d be asked to do with them.
Kadie knew she couldn’t get out of this. She had no viable reason to object. Tuck would tomorrow, but that fight was for the men. She couldn’t very well rush back up the stairs and wake her boyfriend just to cause a war they’d never win. For one thing, she’d never get up there in a mad dash, security would take her down before she got off the first floor.
Kadie’s job was to obey orders, Sikorski’s orders. With a nod
she turned to go, and dragged her feet every step of the way. Tomorrow Tuck would be angry but by then it would be too late.
Waking up alone pissed him off, but it did speed up his morning shower. Kadie had told him she’d leave, but he hadn’t thought that she would, not after he got her to sleep. She was a heavy sleeper, and usually when she was out, it was for the night. He could understand how being in a place like this would put her on edge. Sleeping through the night was something she did when she was happy and content, neither was really possible here, no matter how he tried to soothe her.
On opening the door of his suite, there were security guys standing ready to take him down to the same office he’d been in last night. Spending the night here wasn’t something he wanted to do again, it might make Sikorski feel better to have him under his roof, but Tuck didn’t like to be in enemy territory.
Last night had proved to him that he had no influence over Kadie while she was here. Whatever drove her to remain here, it compelled her to comply with the orders given to her by Sikorski. He gathered that she hadn’t been here for long, so it couldn’t be conditioning that kicked in to drive her out of his bed.
Coffee was poured and he was offered food by a woman wearing far too much make up for the hour in the day. Women here were treated as robots, employees meant to serve. It didn’t matter the time or who was around, they were supposed to glitter and the woman who served him did. In the light of day though, it seemed forced and although she had plenty of skin on show, there was nothing sexy about a woman performing for him under orders to tempt and seduce.
The coffee wasn’t that good. It was probably expensive and carefully prepared, but he wouldn’t relax until Kadie was beside him again. The books were incidental and he didn’t see anything on the desk that would be worth scrutinizing or stealing. He’d guess that this room was a stage and wasn’t actually functional. The absence of a computer was a good indicator of that. Most working offices, or any productive room in a home, contained a computer. Of course, it could just be a nod to his skills that they were too scared to leave anything lying around that he might be able to manipulate. It was sad that they were deluded enough to think he hadn’t already been through their whole network and taken every bit of data.
Going over to the large window, he noted a guard walking the tree line. Because they were set on a hill, he could see down to the perimeter wall. If he got his timings right, he could get him and Kadie out of here without being seen, he just had to do the math. Straightening his arm, he freed his watch from his jacket sleeve and began to count. Being stuck in here didn’t have to be a chore, it could give him an advantage.
Sikorski kept him waiting. If Kadie hadn’t been stuck here, Tuck would’ve taken off after figuring out the guards schedule just to show the fucker how little he was willing to be played with. It didn’t help his mood when Sikorski came in wearing a smug smile.
“Sleep well?”
Coming away from the bookcase he’d been examining, Tuck walked away from the window side of the desk. “Better before my woman left me,” Tuck said. “The deal was she stayed with me.”
“Is the woman more important than the business we have?” Sikorski asked. Opening his arms as he sank down onto the couch, he nodded toward the one opposite his, where Tuck had sat last night. “I want the device.”
If he hadn’t been sure of that, this plan would never have worked. “I know,” Tuck said, taking a seat.
“What do you want in return?”
“Before we talk money, I’ve gotta know if you can handle it.”
Sikorski sniggered. “You think I don’t know how to utilize the device?”
“By all accounts, you wimped out of the deal the last time.”
That erased his conceit. Tuck lifted one ankle to the opposite knee. Sikorski might think he was a formidable force and by the way he had women simpering around him and men bowing down, Tuck guessed he had an overinflated sense of his own importance and capability.
“Who told you that?”
The most unlikely of Kindred allies had told him that. But the name he gave wasn’t the true source. “Kahlil Samara.”
Sikorski’s sneer grew. “Impossible. He’s dead.”
“Sure about that?”
Samara was dead. That was fact. But Sikorski could only be sure of that if he’d seen the body himself. “The man was weak. Incapable of simple tasks.”
“Like killing you,” Tuck said. “That was what he planned to do, you know that, right? You were the money. He was going to use your money to obtain the device for himself. Is that why you cut and run?”
An exhale of a laugh joined a half-shake of his head. If Tuck wasn’t mistaken, there was a glimmer of admiration on Sikorski’s face. “You are far more connected than I gave you credit for.”
Tuck took his turn to sneer. “I’m the fucking internet, you prick. I’m everything and everywhere.”
“You don’t know why I backed out of that deal though, you don’t know everything. If you did, you wouldn’t be here.” Unable to deny that, Tuck didn’t speak. “The deal was on. We made all the arrangements for the exchange.”
“So what happened? Because when that fucker showed up, he was penniless.”
“That he went to the meet proves what an idiot he was,” Sikorski said, relaxing after a slow blink. “Those people, the ones he was dealing with. They are ruthless.”
“Are they?” Tuck always enjoyed hearing about the Kindred myth.
“What were you doing? Lying in wait to steal the device when the hand-over was done? Taking it from Kahlil would be the best strategy, he was the weakest link.”
“I’m not going to tell you how I know what I know.”
Sikorski wouldn’t expect him to, but he was allowed to speculate. The web of criminality across the world was vast, but somehow there was always someone who knew what someone else wanted to know. Secrets were tough to keep, which was why the Kindred Circle had been kept so small.
“If you know Game Time… If you know Kahlil Samara…” Sikorski was playing with him. “Then you know Zara Bandini.”
“Maybe.” Swallow. Yes, he knew Zara, better than any other person in this building, that was for sure. Raven was the only man who knew her better. The only living man anyway.
“Women always screw up the deal,” Sikorski said, glancing at the liquor decanter in the corner. Tuck suppressed a smile, Zara would be pleased to know she could drive this maniac to drink at breakfast time. Raven would be so proud. The woman was the only one with the ability to drive his best friend to the bottle too. “I met her once. She fooled me, so innocent and open, at least that’s what she wants the world to think. All of this is her fault.”
Uh oh, so this lunatic had an agenda against their Swallow. Oh well, Tuck wanted the guy dead for what he had done to Kadie. Soon as Raven heard what Sikorski’s opinion of Zara was, they’d have to hide Maverick’s ammunition. Once Raven’s trigger finger was itchy, the mission slid into a precarious position. Tuck would have to work fast.
“Her fault?” Tuck asked.
This wasn’t why he was here, but it was interesting to hear outside perspectives on the Kindred members. If Zara was gaining a rep, they needed to know what it was in case they had to capitalize on it further down the line.
“She manipulated Grant McCormack. He was the man at the helm of Cormack Industries, the creators of the device.”
Tuck knew that wasn’t the case. Zara hadn’t even known the device existed before the Kindred told her and everything she did in relation to the initial negotiations was directed by the Kindred Circle. Zara probably got the blame either because Grant had implied it or because Sikorski found it easier to think he’d been thwarted by a woman using her feminine wiles than by a weakling like Grant McCormack.
Though, it later transpired Grant wasn’t as benign as they’d all thought. He’d paid the ultimate price for betraying Zara and the Kindred. If Benedict Leatt hadn’t put a bullet in him then Raven woul
d have, of that Tuck was sure. Even though he himself wasn’t the assassin of the group, he had been tempted to eliminate Grant McCormack plenty of times, none more so than after the loss of Art, the Kindred chief. At that time, it wouldn’t have made strategic sense, but it would’ve made him feel better.
“You lost out on the initial bidding,” Tuck said. “Albert Sutcliffe was the successful party.”
“He’s dead.”
On that, they could both agree. Raven had been responsible for that shot and it was an overdue one. Zara had commented that Game Time cursed anyone who came into contact with it. Tim Sutcliffe had been the first direct casualty after the McCormack parents, but he wasn’t the last. Art was gone. Albert Sutcliffe. Grant McCormack. Kahlil Samara. Mischa Corvi. All dead. If Zara was right, Game Time wasn’t finished claiming victims.
“How’d you find that out?” Tuck asked, they’d never had confirmation on how Kahlil and Sikorski became allies.
“Samara,” Sikorski said. “His employer terminated him after they too lost out on the deal. The man was in a rage, he came to me, told me he could get the device that he had information that could give us an advantage.”
The story of Future’s Hope, the boat that had floundered, taking the McCormack parents with it. “Did he give you the information?”
Sikorski shook his head. “I tried to extract it. But he insisted on keeping the information private. I suppose as leverage. If he gave me the information, I would have had no use for him.”
Smart for Kahlil and perfect for the Kindred. Kahlil had known Raven’s true identity. The fewer people who had that information, the better. Discovering that Sikorski was in the dark about that and about Raven’s history was a point in their favor.
“So you told him to get to the device?”
“After being unsuccessful through Grant McCormack, I moved onto other interests. I didn’t bother to follow what happened to the Game Time device. Kahlil said he knew who had it.”
Swift (Kindred Book 4) Page 20