Savage Chains: Scarred (#2)

  He found their homes and plotted a course along the river walk.

  When Angelica finished her shower and donned a robe the real difficulty arose when she had to choose from the fantasy wear that the Starlin Group had provided for her. She sighed heavily over each of them as she pushed one hanger aside after another.

  She glanced at him, wrinkling her nose. “Do I have to?”

  It was such a normal response that he chuckled. “They’re all horrible. Why not close your eyes and pick one? Either that or I will.”

  “I’ll do it.” But she actually did as he suggested. He watched her gather all the hangers and costumes into one tight group, then close her eyes. Waving her hand back and forth a few times, she reached out and grabbed one.

  She groaned at the sight of the costume, but she didn’t put it back. She’d randomly selected a very small outfit made up of a thong and a bustier of leopard print in black and turquoise. A pair of black thigh-high stockings, trimmed in matching leopard-print fabric, completed the barely there outfit.

  Glancing down at the row of shoes below, she picked out a turquoise pair of what appeared to be a rather pain-inducing platform set with six-inch stilettos.

  She scowled as she showed them to him. “You may have to carry me half the time.”

  “With pleasure.”

  Her gaze caught and held. “You know, you’re exactly how I thought you would be. You’re very kind, Reyes.”

  “You thought I was kind?” He was stunned.

  “Maybe respectful is the better word. Even Marcus said that about you.”

  “Marcus?”

  She nodded. “At Briggs’s. He’s one of the bartenders.”

  “Marcus, of course. And he thought I was respectful.”

  “Toward women.”

  Reyes nodded slowly. “That’s an interesting view, though I’m not certain where he got that idea.”

  “Wait, what are you thinking about right now? Because I swear you feel really badly about something, but I can’t imagine what that might be.”

  He held her gaze. He needed to remind himself that whatever he experienced, the chains would communicate his reactions. “I’ve used the slaves badly in this part of the world to build my cover, demanding sex from them, treating them no better than most of the other Starlin men who attend the sex clubs. I’ve watched women being hurt in sex shows and haven’t lifted a finger to help. So somehow the compliment falls short of reality.”

  She grew very solemn, holding the faux-leopard costume against her stomach. “Did you ever hurt any of these women yourself?”

  “Do you think it’s necessary to cause pain in order to violate a slave? Every command is a violation.”

  She drew close, caressing his shoulder. “I understand.”

  “How can you? You’ve never been a slave.”

  She glanced at the costume in her hand, then let it drop to the floor. Meeting his gaze once more, she said, “You seem to forget that I was a captive for a week, even through the time that you seduced me while I hung in chains. Maybe it wasn’t the level of torture you’ve gone through, but I experienced the same kind of overwhelming impotence and fear. I think it’s one of the reasons I chose to stay here, to help you with your mission. It was such a terrible feeling …” She got no further, as tears filled her eyes. “I want to help. I really do.”

  He drew her into his arms once more. He remained silent for a long moment, then said quietly, “I was thinking about this Asian woman I used recently. She begged me to buy her, to take her out of that club, and I couldn’t.”

  Angelica drew out of his arms and swiped her cheeks. “Why not?”

  “At the time, I was still performing for a couple of Starlin spies. I hadn’t been granted my membership yet. I couldn’t take the chance.”

  “But you’ve been accepted since then. Is anything preventing you from buying her now? I mean, would that go against the rules?”

  He felt light-headed suddenly. He hadn’t quite adjusted to his new reality, that he was a Starlin member, a participant. He’d been vetted and approved. “You’re right. I have a new set of options I didn’t have before.” When she reached down to pick up the costume and started to take it off the hanger he said, “Leave that. I want to do this now. I want to buy her before something terrible happens to her, if it hasn’t already.”

  After Angelica put the leopard outfit back on the rod he took her by the arm and guided her back out to the sitting area. He found his phone and called the club, asking for the owner.

  The man gushed at Reyes’s call. Of course he did, especially when Reyes offered a hundred thousand for the Asian slave. “She’s still available, but working, Master Reyes.”

  But Reyes grew very quiet and with his silence let the club owner feel his displeasure.

  “Of course, I can have her sent over immediately.”

  “That would be wise.”

  “Yes, master. Of course, master.”

  “I’ll have the money wired within the next few minutes.”

  When he hung up he alerted his security staff of the woman’s impending arrival. Closing his laptop, he made a second phone call to his bank, talked with the manager to exchange codes, and got the sum transferred.

  A few minutes later, with Angelica by his side, he descended the stairs and opened the door to the woman who had serviced him so recently. Her eyes were wide with fear until she saw him; then she fell at his feet, sobbing. A stream of gratitude poured from her mouth.

  Mathilde, his housekeeper, arrived with a robe in her hand and draped it over the woman. She had several bruises on her back. Some of the customers liked to get rough with the women.

  A profound euphoria curled through Reyes that he’d finally been free enough to do what he’d felt an impulse to do a thousand times during the past several decades. From the moment he’d entered the sex-slave clubs he’d wanted to liberate every slave he’d encountered.

  In some ways it felt insignificant, this sole woman when hundreds of thousands had died. Yet at the same time nothing was more important than the individual.

  “What’s your name? Your real name?”

  She lifted her face, wiping it on the robe. “Fei Yen.”

  “Welcome, Fei Yen, to my home. This is my housekeeper, Mathilde, and she will take care of you. For the present, you will serve here.”

  She glanced at Angelica, saw the chain around her neck, then lowered her eyes. “I understand.”

  Reyes figured out her mistake immediately, that she believed she would be expected to service them both from now on. He remembered feeling that way for a long time after he’d escaped from Sweet Dove, that every look, request, gesture by a normal person he interpreted through his sex-slave experience.

  He understood, so he took Fei Yen’s chin in his hand and lifted her gaze to meet his. “The only obligation you will have in my household from this time forth is to recover from your wounds and to do any small chores that my housekeeper will ask of you. And the only reason I have to insist on the latter is to make sure that I sustain my appearance in this world. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” But tears once more filled her eyes. “No.”

  He could see she was in a state of shock and probably wouldn’t believe the reality of her situation for a long time. He nodded for Mathilde to lead her away.

  He led Angelica slowly back up the stairs, knowing that he had just changed the woman’s life forever. Angelica took his arm and squeezed hard. Thank you for this.

  He glanced at her and saw that her dark-brown eyes glistened with unshed tears. The chain at his neck vibrated softly, a pure reflection of her appreciation.

  But he felt the same way, almost overcome. “I don’t think it would have occurred to me, so thank you. I know the sensation won’t last, but I swear my heart feels as though a terrible weight has been lifted.”

  “You did good.”

  “You don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to do exactly that.”

 
“What will happen to her?”

  “I have a connection who helps rehabilitate sex slaves and return them to their former lives. When the time is right, I’ll send her to him.”

  Once back in his sitting room, he scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I guess we’d better get going.”

  Angelica settled a hand on his shoulder. “Not yet. Take a moment.”

  He held her gaze, that same shining light still in her eyes. “What are you thinking?”

  “That you’re an amazing man.” Then, just as she had done at the Ocean Club, she leaned up and kissed him.

  He closed his eyes, savoring the sensation, aware that what translated through the chains had to do with her admiration for him, the respect she’d talked about earlier. He hadn’t bought the slave to gain Angelica’s approval, nothing like that. Yet he drank in her approbation like a cool drink on a hot summer day.

  His desire for her rose, a tremendous wave of need that threatened to swamp him. But for just a moment he let it flow, letting her feel just how much he wanted her.

  He surrounded her with his arms and drew her tight against his chest. She moaned softly, so that he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth.

  She responded, moving her tongue against his, stroking in a sensual way that made him think so many things at once that he had to draw back.

  All he’d done was kiss her and he was hard as a rock yet again.

  He leaned his forehead against hers.

  “Reyes,” she murmured.

  He loved the sound of her voice. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d ever allowed himself to stop long enough to have that thought, that a woman’s voice could please him.

  He’d been a lone wolf for a very long time, loping through the forest on a solitary track, hunting his prey.

  Yet somewhere along the way Angelica had come into his life, an unexpected miracle who eased him.

  But it was time to get to the boat parade. “I think I should warn you about something.”

  He felt a quick spurt of her anxiety through the chains. “What’s that?”

  “About the parade. There will probably be couples on the boats performing all sorts of sex acts. Just want you to be warned.”

  She shook her head and turned in the direction of the hall. “Well, come on then. Let’s get me strapped into this heinous costume, then go celebrate with a bunch of pervs.”

  ###

  Angelica could never have imagined an immense two-mile-long cavern, or a river sixty feet across flowing down the center, or a soft wind that blew constantly so that the air smelled fresh and clean.

  She siphoned Reyes’s power in a steady stream now so that her vision kept improving. She stood beside him on a long wood deck at the river’s edge, and though the cavern was dark, she saw everything as though it were lit by a soft glow of light. Given the height of her stilettos, she nearly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

  Wait staff brought drinks around, and she was careful not to ask for anything or to look anyone in the eye. Reyes held a whiskey in his right hand but held her tethered to him with a leash that ran from his right wrist to the front of her choke collar.

  For the occasion he wore a short black leather jacket, though this one had silver boa skin across the top of the shoulders and down the arms. It wouldn’t have been a first choice, but he looked amazing anyway. Besides, he fit in. This crowd didn’t hold back when it came to clothes, and some of the men wore strange snakeskin shoes that showed the heads of the snakes on the pointed tips.

  Her fantasy costume didn’t cover much, and every breeze caused another round of goose bumps to rise on her bare ass. Oddly, the thigh-high stockings helped her to feel more covered up than she really was.

  The turquoise stilettos had really bothered her until Reyes suggested she send some of the power she siphoned to her strained arches and bent toes.

  She thought the idea brilliant, and after a couple of tries she finally succeeded in sending relief to her aching feet. Though not all the pain had disappeared, enough did so that she could walk without nearly as much agony.

  She didn’t understand how his power worked or how she was able to siphon it. Vampires possessed extraordinary advantages over their human counterparts, which made her wonder why, with so much power, his civilization hadn’t conquered hers.

  When she asked Reyes quietly he explained that while his kind lived very long lives, sometimes even millennia, they had poor reproduction rates. Their numbers ran in the low millions, compared to the billions of humans who populated the planet.

  “Beyond that, we’re not a highly centralized society. We still haven’t figured out how to manage our psychopaths.”

  She glanced at the villas up and down the opposite bank. Each was very different yet had an ancient Italian feel. Knowing she and Reyes would raise questions if they continued in conversation, she maintained her submissive, head-lowered posture and switched to telepathy. I can’t believe all this is hidden from our world.

  Reyes kept his posture rigid, his feet apart, a very dominant position. He wrapped the leash once around his wrist but didn’t make eye contact with her. We have many Ancestral vampires who can create intricate disguises.

  Ancestrals? Here was something new. She found it difficult to converse without wanting to look at him.

  The most powerful in our world rise to Ancestral status, which is essentially the name given to that power.

  Are you an Ancestral?

  I have the genetic markers, but I haven’t embraced that level of power. Not sure I’m going to, but I have the rest of my life to make that choice.

  She turned and held his gaze. Why are you holding back?

  He scowled, though at first she didn’t know why. Angelica, remember your posture. Now.

  She lowered her eyes quickly to support his cover. Sorry. Forgot for a moment.

  He gripped the back of her neck. We’re being watched. Pretend that I’m hurting you.

  She bent her knees and groaned.

  When he released her neck she slumped her shoulders. How’s this?

  Better. One of the men on the Board of Governors was watching us. He’s smiling now and nodding his approval.

  Bastard.

  Yes, he is.

  Reyes turned toward the right and aloud said, “Another boat is coming. You may approach the rail to observe.”

  Angelica did as she was told but kept her head slightly bowed. “Thank you, master.”

  The fifteen-foot boat moved slowly and had an amazing array of purple lights that rose to a pinnacle, which in turn lit up like a fireworks rocket exploding. There was even an accompanying sound effect. But built up over the pilot’s station was a platform on which a slave couple, both manacled, maneuvered through several sexual positions, as though performing an orchestrated dance. Maybe they were.

  Once more Angelica averted her gaze. She hated seeing them like this, but at least it reminded her why she and Reyes were here.

  I can feel your distress. Why don’t we to move to the next party?

  Yes, please.

  He gathered up the slack in the leash and tugged as he drew her across the deck, heading toward the public walkway. The riverside path had been smoothed out of the natural surrounding rock, twelve feet in width.

  Many offered their congratulations once more at both his acceptance into the organization as well as his winning bid.

  A large portion of the slaves were completely naked, not even accorded the fantasy costume like the one she had on. At least the faux-leopard bustier and thong covered her up a little.

  A female slaver walked by with a well-endowed male slave who had his hand on his upright cock, supporting himself as he moved. His eyes had a low-lidded, glazed appearance. Angelica looked away, trying to figure this one out. Was he enjoying himself or doing something else entirely?

  I can feel the question vibrating through my chain, Angelica. And the answer is yes, he must remain in an aroused state or he’ll be punish
ed.

  Oh, God. She understood a little about the male anatomy. How is he able to do that?

  There are a lot of tricks.

  Of course Reyes would know: he’d been a male enslaved to a sadistic female. But this slave was from her world.

  Reyes continued, Given that he’s human, he’s probably pumped full of a drug meant to treat erectile dysfunction.

  She didn’t repress the heavy sigh that followed.

  ###

  Reyes despised that Angelica had to walk slightly behind him. Her position also stressed him out, since he couldn’t control what happened in his wake. If one of these partygoers, many of whom were drunk, decided to cop a feel Reyes was pretty sure he’d come unglued.

  Let me know if anyone touches you. I won’t stand for it. He moved his gaze from side to side, watching everyone who passed.

  Is that why my chain is vibrating like a Harley right now?

  If any of these cretins put his hands on you …

  Okay, ease down. I can see your neck muscles flex. That’s not good for any man, and probably not a vampire, either.

  He cleared his throat. You’re going to make me laugh.

  You need to laugh more.

  Maybe so, but right now I’m seeing another of the Board of Governors, a man by the name of Fitch, and I’ll want to meet him. He’s a few yards away, very tall. Wears his hair flowing around his shoulders. He has one of his slaves with him. The blond woman was naked and stared dull-eyed toward the ground in front of her.

  Oh, my God, Reyes, she has cuts in perfect thin lines down her abdomen. He must have used the cat’s claw.

  Looks like it, but there’s nothing we can do.

  She’ll die.

  Not right away. He’s known to take his time.

  Fitch approached. “Reyes. It is Reyes, right?”

  Reyes once more picked up the slack on Angelica’s leash and drew her close to his side. He extended his hand, and Fitch shook it. “How do you do, Master Fitch? I understand you’re on the Starlin board.”

  “I am and your name keeps coming up at the meetings, has for some time. Keep up the good work and you might be asked to join us.”

  Reyes strove to check his emotions, but excitement coursed through him. He had one goal here, to get on the board, but he was prepared for his efforts to take years. Would it be possible to speed up his plans? “I’d like that. Starlin has set the bar in every sense.”