I was even less comfortable on the dance floor sober. “Tequila and lemonade, please.”
The waitress nodded at me. “Sure thing.” Her eyes skimmed over Lux’s body. “How about you, Lux? What can I get you?” The invitation in her voice was pure sex; she may as well have just asked if he wanted to fuck right there on the couch.
“Grey Goose. Bring the bottle.” He placed his hand on my thigh and I resisted the urge to punch the air in victory. Take that super-hot waitress with perfect boobs.
She looked at his hand, and Ri’s arm still around my shoulder, and curled her lip ever so slightly. Apparently, I had been found wanting.
She left with the orders, and I sank back onto the couch between their bodies. “People are going to think I am sleeping with you two.”
“So?” Orion whispered in my ear, and I shivered.
“That waitress thought I was a slut. A slut completely unworthy of your attention at that.”
“I don’t give a shit what other people think. Yours is the only opinion I care about,” he licked the outer shell of my ear and I nearly came right there on the couch.
“You are dangerous, Orion… uh? What's your last name? Actually, I don’t know your last name either, Lux. I can’t believe I’ve thought about having sex with you, but don't know your last names. The waitress was totally right.”
“Pfft. Raquel just thinks she’s the shit. Want me to fire her?” Orion asked, in complete seriousness.
I wasn’t that petty. Okay, I had to seriously think about it, but in the end my morality won out.
“No. It’s fine. It’s something I’ll have to get used to if we are going to do...this.”
“This?” He asked as he kissed his way down my neck.
“Helping you and the other sins find your redemption, or whatever,” I looked down at my feet and mumbled, “and the sex.”
“What was that, Beautiful Girl?” I could tell by his smirk he knew exactly what I said. I raised my chin and looked him dead in the eye.
“I said if the eight of us are going to be fucking, then I will need to get used to the slut shaming. I mean, I probably am, by definition, but I don’t care.”
Lux grabbed my chin and turned me to face him. “You will not speak about yourself in such a derogatory sense. You are a beautiful, sexual woman and we fully intend on worshipping in the way you deserve to be worshipped. Yes?”
God, I drowned in those eyes every time the focused on me. There was something arresting about them that drew me in and kept me trapped until he chose to release me.
“Yes.” It was a breathy whisper.
Unfortunately, Raquel returned at that moment, placing the tray of drinks on the table with a hard crack. She unloaded them slowly, her ass toward Orion and her breasts towards Lux. If I wasn’t so annoyed, I’d be impressed by her ability to twist like that and still look natural.
“Is there anything else I can get you? Anything at all?” Wow. She couldn’t take a hint
Ri went to reply, but I cut in. “No thanks, Rebecca, we’re good here. Really good.” I gave Lux a smoldering glance, my tongue darting out to lick my lower lip. His pupils dilated as he watched the movement, and Raquel was all but forgotten.
Orion chuckled and dismissed the waitress.
“Well now, the little lamb has teeth,” Ri chuckled. I shrugged and my cheeks tingled as I blushed. “If we are going to do this, I want monogamy from you guys. I don’t share well. I was an only child.” I stared into Orion’s amber colored eyes, just so he knew I was serious. He was the Sin of Lust. If anyone was going to have trouble with my terms, it was him.
His brows drew together, and I knew this was an important moment. If he could agree to this, it might mean that I could help him, help them all.
“I will try and help you find your redemption regardless of your answer, but I can’t sleep with you, share something so intimate with you, if you are sharing that same intimacy with every other woman who breathes.”
“And men,” Lux whispered.
My eyebrows shot up. Why would lust be confined to some cookie cutter version of western social ideals? But the same rules applied. “No men either. Just me.”
Orion nodded, but he didn’t agree or disagree. He stood and I tried to quell my disappointed. Six out of seven wasn’t bad.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked instead, and I gave him a tight smile.
“Sure.” I downed my drink quickly and stood, straightening my outfit so I didn’t accidentally have a nip-slip. Tolliver had shifted the fashion tape that was holding it all together earlier, so it wasn’t as secure as it could be.
Lux said he would wait at their table, so Ri took my hand and led me past the VIP tables, teeming with rich kids and rappers. One table was full of rich kids who looked like Abercrombie models and were generally treating their waitress like crap.
Ri stopped beside her. “Tell Raquel I said to swap tables with you,” he said, and she looked grateful. I didn’t think Raquel would feel quite so positive about the move.
He led me slowly down the stairs and we flowed with the crowd onto the dance floor. We moved through the crowd, closer to the DJ booth that seemed to be suspended halfway between the two floors. There was a definite energy on the floor, and electricity that flowed through all the bodies swaying and grinding, and in the case of one couple to our left, fucking.
My hips began to sway to the beat as the music consumed me. Ri stood close, our bodies moving together as he slipped his thigh between my legs and put his hands on my hips. It was a fast beat and we moved with a frenetic energy as songs changed seamlessly. He turned me and we danced, my back to his front, our movements so provocative that my mother would have locked me in my room until I was forty if she’d been alive and had seen the spectacle. But I was caught up in the music and the scene and the hard feel of Ri’s body swaying into mine. And boy, the guy could dance. His movements were like liquid, and the press and swirl of the whole thing just made me think of sex. Hot, sweaty, dirty sex.
Another song came on, and everyone began to jump around.
I got jostled away from Ri, who was turned toward the DJ booth like everyone else. I got dragged backwards, further and further away by a set of hands. I called to Ri, but he couldn’t hear me over the music or see me in the press of bodies. I turned, trying to see the person pulling at me, but I had to concentrate on not losing my footing. Eventually, we stopped, still on the dance floor and two bodies pressed into me. I recognized two of the guys from the Abercrombie Jerks table.
“Come dance with us. We can see you like two dicks at once and we are so fucking down with that,” said the one in front, although his words were slurred and his breath smelled like stale beer.
“No, thanks. I’d like to get back to my boyfriend now.”
“Don’t you mean boyfriends? You are a dirty little whore, aren’t you?” said the one behind me, holding me tight as I tried to wiggle away,
My heart started to thud wildly, unevenly, and sweat began to run down my spine as I realized that even though we were surrounded by people, no one here was going to save me.
Stink breath in front of me ran a finger down the V of my top, between my breasts and I squirmed away, but that only seemed to excite the guy behind me.
“Calm down, we just want to dance,” Stink Breath said, pushing his body into mine so tightly that I could hardly breathe let alone move. Panic started to choke me. I couldn't move my arms or raise a knee to pulverize some balls. A hand slid up under my shorts and I tried to squirm away futilely.
“We are going to have so much fun.” The guy behind me grabbed my jaw, squeezing it tightly until extreme pain made me open my mouth. I tried to scream as Stink Breath forced a pill into my mouth, the sealed it shut with his hand, and the other guy behind me moved his hand from my jaw to my nose, pinching it tight so I couldn't breathe and was forced to swallow. As it slid down my throat, terror settled like a lead weight in my chest.
“I'm going
to-”
Stink Breath didn't get to finish his sentence as a scarred fist wrenched him away by his hair. The same fist grazed past my face and into the nose of the guy behind me in bizarrely slow motion. His head snapped back in a deafening crunch, and then his arms were gone and I was frozen as I watched Lux fall onto the guy who was behind me, pounding his face in a sickening barrage of violence. Stink Breath was on his feet and trying to escape through the crowd, but Lux roared a sound that made a primal part of me want to run in fear. He was on his feet and he dove at Stink Breath, pushing him forward until the other man landed on his face. Lux was on his back, straddling his waist in an instant.
He grabbed the back of Stink Breaths hair and smashed his face repeatedly into the floor until the other guys face was an unrecognizable mess.
My head began to spin, my legs and hands going numb. The drugs were starting to kick in.
“Lux.” My voice was strangled because my tongue felt fat. “Help.”
His head snapped around, his hands still holding the guy's head, although Stink Breath’s face was mangled and blood dripped in a river onto the dance floor.
I wondered if he was dead, if the thing that looked like Lux, but with flat dead eyes, had killed him.
Chapter Nine
Lux’s face had been the last thing I remembered about last night. When I opened my eyes the next day, it was to see Eli hovering over me. The anxiety coiled in my body instantly relaxed.
“We gotta stop meeting like this Doc.” I smiled, and then groaned as the pounding in my head made me instantly regret my mirth.
“I wholeheartedly agree. Despite popular opinion, I don't enjoy having you unconscious on my couch.” He shined a tiny light in my eyes, and then checked my pulse, his warm, strong fingers pressed against the delicate skin of my wrist. I realized I wanted to know what those fingers felt like in other places. I wanted Eli to kiss me. When had he gone from reassuring doctor to potential sex partner in my brain? It didn't matter, because I was having all sorts of torrid doctor/patient fantasies now.
My pulse must have jumped a little, because he looked away from the clock on the wall and back at my face, his concerned look melting away when he saw the heat burning in my eyes.
He leaned forward and gently brushed a kiss across my lips. It was a promise of something more. But not right now.
“I don't think you've suffered any lasting effects of the rohypnol. I'll give you something for the headache.”
He stood and I sat up on the couch. I expected the room to be full like last time, but none of the other guys were there.
“Where is everyone?”
Eli handed me to paracetamol and a glass of water. “They are… out.”
The hesitation wasn't lost on me. “And Lux?” I held my breath, having a vivid flashback to the dance floor and his cold, dead eyes. What if he was in prison?
“Lux is in his apartment. He asked not to be disturbed.”
Oh really? We’d see about that. I stood from the couch. I was still in my playsuit, but the Hollywood tape had lost all integrity hours ago. My left breast slipped out, and Eli’s gaze shot to my chest with naked hunger that he didn't have time to squash before I saw it.
I stepped toward him, into his arms and his hands pressed me against his body. He leaned forward, kissing me with gentle persuasion, his fingers skimming up over my hip, then my ribs, before he cupped my wandering breast in his hand. His thumb scraped over my nipple and I moaned into his deepening kiss. He plucked at it and I gasped, pressing myself closer.
I wanted nothing more than to succumb to the sensation of Eli, but I had to fix Lux first.
I groaned as I gently broke the kiss, and Eli let me. His hands slid back down to my hips, but he didn't let go.
“We’ll have our moment, I swear. But Lux needs me right now.”
“I look forward to that moment.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Go take care of my brother. He will be feeling this very deeply.”
I hesitated at his door. “What happened to those guys? The ones who…”
Eli shook his head, his face completely closed down. “I do not know.” I looked at the neutrality of his face and knew he was lying, or at least not telling me the whole truth.
I walked out his door and into the elevator, going straight to Lux’s floor.
Ace, are you there?
Silence. Panic gripped me. What if the drugs had burned her away? Ace and I had our differences, but I needed her. She was a part of me.
Aww, Cady, I didn't know you cared.
I'd never been so relieved to hear that snarky voice.
Yeah you did. We’ve got each other’s backs. I love you.
A long silence again, before Ace spoke.
Love you too, Kid. Her voice was husky and rough.
Do you know what happened last night, after my blackout? I asked.
Yes. Her tone was the coldest I'd ever heard. We owe Lux a debt.
And those men, what happened to them?
That cold flat voice again. They got what they deserved.
A feeling of dread washed over me.
Are they dead? Silence. Ace?
She didn't answer.
Giving up on interrogating Ace, I lightly knocked on Lux’s door but no one answered. I knocked louder, but still no answer.
“Mini-Oz, unlock user: Lux’s door.”
The lock slid across with a snick. I turned the handle and walked into the apartment. I'd never been into Lux’s space, and the heavy curtains shut against the early morning light shrouded the place in pockets of darkness.
But I could still see Lux. He was hunched over on his couch, the only piece of furniture in the room, with a bottle of vodka dangling loosely from his fingers.
“Lux?” I called, but he didn't look up. I moved in front of him, but he still wouldn't look at me. I knelt on the ground at his feet, forcing him to see me.
His eyes lazily took in my face.
“You don't kneel in front of me, Arcadia. Never.” He wrapped strong hands around my ribs and pulled me up onto his lap. I curled into the strength of his body, enveloping myself in the warmth of him.
“What happened, Lux?” I asked gently, my hand reaching up to stroke the lines of his face.
“I happened. Wrath. Revenge. You may null our abilities, but we are still the same people who got sent to hell for our sins. I'm still the person who slaughtered whole villages.”
My eyes bugged out in shock. “That may be so, but I don't think the man who did those things in your former life felt such remorse.” He shook his head, and buried his face in my neck. “Will you tell me about it? Your life before?”
He shook his head. “I was a Spartan soldier. One of the army's most brutal. That is all you need to know. The rest isn't… pretty.”
I could see it then, in the hard edges of his face. I could imagine him in the armor, the helmet, holding a sword. My warrior.
I pulled his chin towards me. “I will save you, Lux. I will be your redemption, if you'll let me. But I think it's fairly logical that you can't murder anyone else, okay?”
One corner of his mouth curled slightly. “I didn't kill those kids at the club. They walked out of there alive.”
I sensed more to that story, but I let it go. I would find out the details later.
Such pain on his face that it hurt to see. I needed to replace it with something else.
I turned so I was straddling his lap, our chests pressed together. “Lux, will you take me to bed?”
Heat roared from his body and strong arms wrapped around me. “Yes.” It was a sigh, a chant, a proclamation, and without hesitation.
His mouth came down onto mine, hard. He kissed me with a desperation that bit into my soul; that called to me to sooth his hurts and forgive his errors.
I obliged, kissing him back with my own desperation.
He stood, his hands under my ass, lifting me with ease. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked me towards what I a
ssumed was the bedroom.
I broke the kiss. “Shower first.” He was still speckled with blood and I wanted to erase any trace of those guys from the club.
He nodded, recapturing my mouth in another searing kiss.
We walked into the dark marble bathroom, and he placed me on my feet.
He reached into the huge shower stall and ran the water before turning back to me. His eyes devoured my body as he hooked to fingers around the top of my suit, and achingly slowly pulled it down, exposing my skin to the cool air inch by inch. My nipples pebbled instantly under his gaze, and he sucked a small breath through his teeth. Stooping a little, he pushed the rest of the suit down my legs until they pooled at my feet. I turned, stepping out of the fabric.
He knelt in front of me, then he grinned.
The smile was such a huge contrast I was momentarily shocked.
“There's a panda on your panties. It's wearing sunglasses.”
I groaned. Dammit, the unsexy panda panties. But they were worth the embarrassment to see that smile.
I whacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Don't judge my panda underwear.”
He pushed them down over my ass, his fingers tracing their path. “Never. I love them,” he said, though his eyes were focused on other things. He traced his hands back up my legs, over my hips before coming around to grab my butt with a groan.
He stood and moved me toward the shower stall.
I stepped hesitantly into the shower stream, testing the water with the tips of my fingers. Of course it was perfect. The emotional part of me knew that despite tonight's show of violence, Lux would never do anything to hurt me, even have the shower water too hot.
I stepped under the steady pound of the water coming from a shower head as big as a dinner plate. Lux stepped in behind, his clothes gone, and the hard muscles of his naked body pressed tightly into my back.
I went to turn, I wanted to see, but he stopped me with gentle hands on my shoulders.
“Wait.”
He moved me out of the water and grabbed body wash from the little alcove in the shower wall, popping open the lid. The smell of Lux filled the stall and I inhaled deeply. Squirting a good amount into his hands, he put the bottle back.
Hell's Redemption- The Complete Series Boxset Page 7
