by Laura R Cole
CHAPTER 23
Jonathan inhaled deeply, and wiped the white powder from his nose. He sat back against the chair, looking forlornly at the empty bed. He had tried to use one of the servant girls, but she had put up such an awful fuss, and even threatened to report him to the authorities, so he had given up. It just hadn't been the same anyway. He needed his little plaything back, without her he didn't know what to do with himself. And then there had been that incident with Jezebel.
He knew he shouldn't have gotten so strung out on the Sparkle Dust before seeing her, but he was on a deadline. And he had gone and slipped to her about her number. Damn the stuff! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe she didn't catch it, he thought hopefully. The little voice in the back of his mind wouldn’t let him off that easily though. You know she caught on, it admonished him, and now she will be sending her little lap dog Devon off trying to find out what it is.
Master would be most displeased when he found out about his carelessness. If he finds out about it, Jonathan thought with a sudden revelation. I should have let the little rat, Devon, die in the first place. Seeing as how he's already hurt, however, perhaps I can arrange to have some more damage occur, seemingly naturally. That way, he can never find any information to report to Jezebel, and she will have nothing more than a meaningless number.
He thought about Devon’s injuries and how he might be able to worsen them without raising any suspicion. The man really shouldn't be back at his old games yet anyway, even if I wasn't thinking of planning something. Jezebel already had him out running her errands when he wasn't even fully healed. Even she should know that you can't trance-heal a body and expect it to be able to perform the same as before right away. Regardless of her disregard for human life, she still must see that Devon was the key to many of her sources of information. Without him, she would lose much of what she had worked for. Perhaps I won’t have to take any action at all, she may run him into the ground herself.
A knock sounded at the door and Jonathan rose to meet the servant. “Yes?” The man stepped aside to reveal a brunette girl standing behind him who gave him a shy smile. Jonathan ran his eyes up and down the length of her, and took in her slender form. She was quite young, but dressed provocatively, and Jonathan could guess what she was here for.
“Come in,” he said, smiling back. His mood lifted considerably. He dismissed the servant with a wave, and the man left them alone. He led her into the bedroom and she looked around in awe.
“Gee whiz,” she said cutely, “this is some bedroom you have here.” He reached out to fondle her perk little bottom, but she batted his hand away playfully. Jonathan smiled tolerantly, soon she would learn proper manners in front of him, but he would relish teaching her. Slowly. First, however, he'd have to find out how she came to be here. Most of the brothels tended to be upset if their girls went missing, it was only by Master's intervention that he had been allowed to keep the last one.
The girl had made her way over to the refreshment cart and looked coyly back over her shoulder at him. “Wine?” she asked. “They say it's an aphrodisiac you know.” She giggled and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
“My dear,” he answered, “one hardly needs an aphrodisiac with you here. But yes, please do.” She turned her back to him and poured two glasses.
He moved closer, taking in her supple form showing through the lacy fabric of her dress. He pressed against her and she spun away, expertly swinging her arm around to put the wine under his nose while evading his embrace. He raised a hand and took the glass. He was getting quickly tired of her coyness. “Thank you,” he said and moved with her over to the couch where she had seated herself.
This one certainly had more spunk, and he hoped he would be able to keep her. There were so many things he could do to her, and it would be so much fun to teach her her proper place. He took a sip of his wine, and she watched him as he swallowed. He licked his lips at her.
She grinned broadly at him again and said, “Your Master wanted me to tell you that he had sent me.” Elation shot through Jonathan and his excitement grew. He would have to get rid of Devon right away before the little rat could ruin anything. Jonathan would want to please Master after this little gift. She was certainly different than the last one, but he knew she would be just as satisfying.
Her voice suddenly took on a darker tone as he gulped down the rest of his wine and set down his glass to reach for her. “You must have done something really bad to make this ‘Master’ of yours so angry. He didn't even want the reward money we offered for the information.” The girl’s smile had disappeared. “He was almost as creepy as you.”
Jonathan paused mid-reach at the sudden change and wondered what she meant. He found, however, that is was suddenly very hard to think straight. His head felt as though it had been filled with water and he swam through, trying to make sense of what was going on.
“You know,” the girl was saying, “I was planning on showing you how it felt to be Carolyn instead of doing it this way, but she didn't think that I would be able to.”
Jonathan moved his lips trying to speak, but they felt numb and heavy. He could hear his voice slur out, “Who's Carolyn?”
The girl laughed humorlessly at him and shook her head in revolt. “I think I could have, you miserable piece of slime, you didn't even know her name?”
Jonathan's vision blurred as the room spun away from him and understanding finally hit him the same time as his head smashed into the floor and his world disappeared into blackness.
