Gabriel looked at his companions. Madelyn still looked intrigued, Noah guarded, but neither was vetoing the idea.
“All right,” he said. “My name is Gabriel. This is Noah and Madelyn. What time do you get off?”
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Natalie and six.”
“Join us in the Crush Room for dinner tonight. Seven?”
Her eyes sparkled. “That sounds great, thank you! I’ll let you look over your menus and be back in a minute. Okay?”
He nodded, and she moved to an adjoining table.
“She accepted that invitation rather quickly,” he said to Noah.
“Yeah, that happens more than you think at places like this. Do you like her?”
“She’s very pretty.”
“Which is not an answer,” Madelyn interjected, sipping from a full champagne flute. “Are you attracted to her?”
He scowled, suddenly uncomfortable. “Maybe.”
“Chéri, it is all right to admit it, there are no ties here. We would not hold you back from any encounter you choose to indulge in.”
For some reason, her damn permission set his teeth on edge. Hell, it pissed him off, actually. Or could it have been her comment on no ties? That didn’t sit well, either.
Something must have tipped her off to his sudden annoyance because he caught a glimpse of hurt flit through her eyes.
She sat back, sipped more mimosa, and looked across the table at the pool.
“I’m sorry,” he said, though he didn’t really know what he was apologizing for. He looked at Noah for translation help.
“What can I say, she’s a woman. They are strange, mercurial creatures.”
“Thanks,” he muttered. “That helps so much.”
Madelyn looked back at him. “Why did you get mad?”
His first thought was to deny it, but he discarded that almost immediately. They’d already drilled into him honesty was always expected. “I didn’t like it when you told me basically to set up a rendezvous with her.”
“But why?”
She looked genuinely bewildered. How did he explain that not only did the idea of hooking up with someone else on the island feel wrong, but he had little desire for it? How could he explain that hearing her blatantly pushing him in another woman’s direction made his heart twinge and his cock shrivel in rebellion?
He couldn’t. “I’m a guy. Do I really need to have a good reason?”
Her sweet lips twitched and Noah chuckled. “Excellent rebuttal. Shall we steer the conversation back to our reason for being here?”
Madelyn nodded. “Absolument. Gabriel, I trust you are ready for another session? You picked up all of Noah’s instructions quite nicely last night. I’m looking forward to something a little more, shall we say, physical, this time.”
Her hand gripped his bare knee, and her nails scored his hair-dusted skin. He felt those little pinpricks all the way to his balls. He looked at Noah. “That depends on the big man, doesn’t it? He’s the one with all the power right now.”
Noah grinned. “Damn right, Padawan, and don’t you forget it.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Somehow I doubt that’s what they had in mind when they talked about force.”
Madelyn frowned. “What are you two talking about?”
Both men burst into laughter.
Once more Natalie’s arrival saved an explanation. She took their orders, favored them each with another dazzling smile, and jaunted away.
Gabriel reached for the coffeepot, but Madelyn beat him to it, lifting the silver urn and pouring him a cup.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“Of course, Sir,” she replied. “I live to serve.”
He was positive he caught laugh-tinged sarcasm in those words.
“Noah, would you care for more?”
She refilled his cup at his assent.
“Seriously, Gabriel, I think you’re ready for more advanced lessons,” Noah said.
His heart leapt into overdrive. “Of what sort?”
“Physical contact. Some spanking, maybe a paddle, maybe a whip.”
He swallowed hard, his excitement rising with his dick. He looked at Madelyn. “Are you onboard with that?”
She scooted her chair closer and draped her arm around his neck, pulling him forward. Her lips grazed his ear. “Yes.” She nipped at his lobe, and he shivered. “I also want you to fuck me tonight, Gabriel.”
Madelyn eased backward and nodded firmly before looking at Noah. “I want him to fuck me tonight, Sir. Please?”
Gabriel slowly turned his gaze to Noah and found the man’s direct green stare drilling him hard. Myriad emotions flickered in those eyes, and he couldn’t decipher most of them, but he was positive he caught a deep wariness.
“I swear I’m not going to hurt her,” he said. He cleared his throat. “Again.”
Noah slashed his hand through the air. “Drop that, Gabriel. It happened, it was an accident.”
“Then why are you so hesitant?”
He looked surprised. “I’m not.”
He was, but Gabriel didn’t feel like he should push the subject right now. Later, though, he’d corner the big man and get the truth out of him. “Then you’re all right with me and Madelyn…” he trailed off. Saying the coarse words aloud proved difficult. It was like he was asking for permission to fuck another man’s wife. He supposed he was in some warped way.
Crap. He didn’t like that.
“I’m fine with you fucking Madelyn, Gabriel. It’s what you both want, and it’s part of her job.”
Hell, he didn’t like that any better. “Maybe I should just stick with someone else, and you can instruct me on them.”
“No!” Madelyn spat. Her fingers clamped on his knee once again. “I want you, Gabriel, job or no job. I want to submit to you.”
Her passionate, fervent words spread through every crevice and nook in his body, warming him from the inside out. He covered her hand and squeezed. “All right, Madelyn. I want you, too. Very much.”
“Good, glad that’s settled,” Noah said drily. “I wish breakfast would hurry up and get here. I’m starving, and you need to build up your strength.” He winked, his smile wide and disarming.
Gabriel grinned back. “I should have ordered more eggs, huh?”
* * * *
“It’s so lovely out here,” Madelyn said. She kicked at the pure white sand squishing between her bare toes as they walked along the water’s edge. “The breeze is perfect, the temperature is fantastic, and the view is breathtaking.”
“I agree,” Gabriel said.
She smiled, pleased he was looking directly at her when he said it. She hooked her arm through his. “What do you do back in Boston now that you’ve retired from your corporation?”
He didn’t look fazed at her knowledge, and she suspected he’d long since come to terms with the depth of the Council’s dossier on him.
“Nothing at the moment. I’m searching for just the right thing.”
“Any ideas?” Noah asked. He took her other arm, and she sighed, happy to be snugged in between these two dynamic, handsome men.
Other people on the beach watched them pass, and she caught more than one envious stare.
“I’m not sure. I’m a little tired of the board game. I might try to find something a little less stressful and more hands-on.”
His gaze swept the beach, and she saw his mental machinations filling his head.
“I’m sure you will succeed in whatever new venture you choose,” she said. “Are you ruling out any sort of involvement with a board?”
Noah nudged her and she bonked him back. The fact-finding was also part of their mission. Clarissa wanted to bring him on to help with the Council if he passed their muster and so far, Madelyn had not found a thing wrong with him. In fact, everything seemed, no, felt, right about him. Her breath caught, and she stumbled, saved from a sprawl in the sand by Gabriel’s steady hand.
He gave her a quizzical look, an
d she smiled. “So?”
“No, of course not. I do have my eye on one project, though.” His smile was wicked and teasing. “You gave me the idea last night, but I have to think it through and do research before I put any capital or time into it.”
She warmed and straightened. “I did? What was it?”
“Let me think on it some more. I’ll tell you before we leave Pleasure Isles.”
She pouted. “Tell me now.”
“No.”
“Please?”
He tapped her nose then smacked her butt and she jumped, flushing at the heat of his hand and the strength in it.
“Trying to borrow trouble?”
For once she really hadn’t been, but since he mentioned it. “Is it working?”
“Nope.”
“Merde.”
A gull cried overheard before diving into the crystalline waters surrounding the resort. Seconds later it popped up, a wriggling fish in its throat.
“I will say I’m looking forward to indulging myself with some afternoon ball games.”
Madelyn faltered. “Ball games?” She looked at Noah who was suddenly alert.
“Baseball,” Gabriel replied. “I love baseball. Since I was a kid and watched Willie Stargell play. He’s one of the best.”
“Nah, Brooks Robinson is better.”
Madelyn groaned and covered her eyes. This was not happening.
“How can you say that? Willie was the man. He had a slugging percentage over .500. And a lifetime batting average of .282. Robinson only managed .267.”
“Yeah,” Noah snorted. “But he also had almost four thousand more at bats than Stargell.”
Madelyn frantically looked around, desperate to cut the baseball discussion short. She bit her lip in hesitation. Maybe, though, this would be a good bonding exercise for them. Maybe she should let it continue?
“Willie was a better fielder. How many errors did Robison commit in his career? Two sixty-four?” Gabriel grinned, obviously enjoying himself. “If I recall correctly, and I do, Willie only had one hundred fifty-one.”
Noah looked just as enthused and ready to launch into an hours-long debate. Madelyn shaded her eyes from the sun and squinted down the beach. A crowd of people gathered near the trees. The throng was a writhing mass of confusion and pushing as people stumbled forward and backward.
“Wonder what’s going on over there.” She pointed toward a bend in the sand where the trees had been allowed to remain.
As they drew closer, the cries and shouts grew louder, competing with the roar of the ocean for dominance. One girl pushed through the crowd and fell to her knees where she promptly vomited into the sand.
“Shit,” Noah said. “That’s Winslet.”
He broke into a run and Madelyn raced behind him, Gabriel keeping pace by her side.
They reached the crying, near-hysterical girl, and Noah stepped around the mess she’d made in the sand. “Winslet? Are you okay?”
His soft, soothing voice tempered Madelyn’s own emotions and she hoped they helped the girl as well.
“Back there,” she whispered, pointing toward the still milling group. “It’s horrible. Oh, God.” She started to cry and buried her face in her hands.
“Stay with her,” Noah ordered. “I’ll go see what’s happening.”
She nodded and sank to her knees next to the shivering girl. Madelyn wrapped her arms around the frail shoulders and pulled her close, murmuring soft words of comfort.
Gabriel looked toward the crowd then back down at them. “Will you be okay here alone? I should go see if they need help.”
“Go, I’ll take care of her.”
He nodded and strode into the mass, disappearing quickly.
“Hush now, enfant, you’ll make yourself sick again.” She brushed the sticky hair away from Winslet’s face.
“I want to go home,” she murmured brokenly. “I want my mama.”
Madelyn’s heart ached at the bewildered pain in the young girl’s voice. “Shh, shh, little one. It will be all right.”
“No,” she said with a sniffle. Tears leaked from her eyes again. “It won’t be okay ever again. Oh, my God.”
Madelyn craned her neck, trying to see through the people to find Noah or Gabriel, but saw neither. The crowd seemed to have grown rather than thinned.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I can’t—” Another broken sob and the crying started again, turning the girl into a wailing mass of tears and snot.
“We need to leave. Now.”
Noah’s voice was heavy with stark command. She looked up and found his face a frightening mask of chilled fury. Beside him, Gabriel looked just as grim. She struggled to her feet and tried to pull Winslet with her.
When the girl resisted, Noah reached down and lifted her to her feet. She swayed and clung to him, burying her face into his chest.
Madelyn’s eyes narrowed for an instant. “What’s going on?”
A sharp whistle pierced the air and several men in blue shorts, white shirts, and blue caps burst onto the beach.
She caught the gleaming shine of brass on their shirts. “The police? Mon Dieu, Noah, what is wrong?”
He flicked a glance at Gabriel, who nodded and stepped close, pulling her in his arms.
She didn’t struggle, her heart filled with dread, and the roar in her ears had nothing to do with the crash of waves on the beach.
“It’s a body,” Noah said.
There was more, she could tell. “Who?”
“Fuck, Madelyn, let’s just get back to the hotel, okay? I’ll explain then.”
Winslet whimpered.
“No,” Madelyn said. “Tell me now.”
His jaw clenched and he looked over his shoulder at the now-dispersing crowd. When he turned his green gaze back on her, pain and anger raged. “It’s Oscar.”
She swayed, one hand flying to her mouth. “Krista?”
His mouth set in grim lines, he nodded.
Gabriel tightened his hold and smoothed a hand down her hair. “We don’t know for sure.”
“Of course it’s that bitch,” Noah bit out. “That fucking psycho bitch finally killed someone.”
Winslet pulled away, her wild eyes darting from one to the other. “No, you’re wrong! Mistress wouldn’t do that. Some maniac is loose. He’s the one who killed Oscar.”
“Hush, girl, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Noah snapped with none of his usual diplomacy.
The blonde backed farther out of their circle, head shaking. “No, it’s not true.”
She spun and ran down the length of the beach, disappearing between two umbrellas and out of sight.
“That went well,” Gabriel said drily.
Noah’s set expression didn’t change and a chill wrapped through Madelyn. Pulling free of Gabriel’s arms, she went to Noah and cuddled against his shoulder.
His arms wrapped round her and held her tight. He brushed a kiss along the top of her head, and she felt him tremble.
“It is okay, mon coeur,” she soothed. “It might not be her.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Bishop?”
They turned as one and found a pair of police officers heading their direction. Two others shooed the crowd away and began to set up perimeter tape.
Madelyn caught her first glimpse of Oscar’s body, and she gasped then buried her head into Noah’s shoulder.
She could not as easily dislodge the vision of his splayed and bloody body from her mind.
It looked like he’d been beaten to death with instruments of their trade. Madelyn thought she recognized the weals and welts left by some of the heavier, more-punishing whips, though it could be just her mind playing tricks.
Nausea rose within her.
“Yes, I’m Bishop.”
“I am Constable Ralston, head of the island’s security force.” The policeman’s face was grim but nonthreatening. Madelyn scooted closer to Noah.
“Is he…?” She couldn’t finish th
e sentence and hoped the man would understand.
He did. “Yes, miss. He is dead.” The dark-brown eyes encompassed all three of them. “I understand you have a theory, Mr. Bishop. Would you and your friends be available to chat with us?”
Hysteria burbled at the back of her throat. Chat. How civilized. How very formal and polite.
“Yes, of course, we want to aid you however we can. Shall we come to your office?” Noah asked.
The policeman shook his head. “The hotel lobby is fine, thank you. I will meet you there in five minutes or so. Please do not leave should I be late.”
“We’ll be waiting.”
He shook the man’s hand then palmed her back, his touch soothing and commanding.
Madelyn trembled the entire way back to the hotel.
“Have a seat, I’m going to find the manager on duty,” Gabriel said.
“Why?” she asked.
“To alert him to not allow Krista to leave.”
“No, don’t do that,” Noah ordered.
“Why not?”
“She can’t leave the island without a lot of advance notice. They have to get transportation gassed and prepped. It would take at least an hour. This way she won’t know Oscar’s body was found.”
Gabriel raked a hand through his hair and stared at Noah like he was nuts. “It’s been a hell of a lot longer than an hour, Noah. She could be long gone by now.”
“She’s not,” he said grimly.
“How do you know?” Madelyn shivered again, the look in his face truly terrifying. “Why wouldn’t she have left yet, Noah?”
He looked down and stroked her cheek. “Because she wants you.”
Chapter Twelve
“I want to go upstairs,” Madelyn said after Constable Ralston left them.
Polite and considerate to a fault, he’d assured them he’d take their concerns to his chief and explore every possibility. In the meantime, though they were not considered suspects, no one was allowed to leave the island.
Word of the forced stay spread through the guests, and the mood grew ugly and loud. She wanted to go upstairs to their comfortable, safe suite and relax.
She stood and tugged at her dress. Gabriel’s eyes followed the swing of her hem, and he smiled.
Empowered [Sexual Magic 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 12
