Page 50 of Hers to Rule

Esmé, for her part, nodded with approval when she saw them but otherwise didn’t bat an eye.

Thankfully, the contracts had been drawn up for review in advance of the meeting, so there wasn’t much to be done aside from hand over the bank and magical key code information and then wait for the law witch to do her work.

Esmé informed them that Argento had been gone when she arrived, but she had people out looking for him. Mari very specifically didn’t ask for details about the type of people and in what condition she had asked he be brought to her, and Esmé didn’t provide them.

The two witches signed their respective contracts, and Mari felt the magical binding tighten around her as she spoke the words of the invocation.

When they were outside, Cisco took to the air while Rio helped her into the limo.

“I really like the outfit,” Rio said with a grin once they were settled, his eyes roaming over her tits.

Mari laughed. “I can tell.”

“People are going to be lined up to beg to kiss those sexy-ass boots before the night is over.”

She propped the boots on Rio’s knee. “Do you want to get in ahead of the rush?”

Rio met her eyes, and his lips curled in a smile filled with dark promises. “If I start now, we won’t get out of the car.”

The bolt of lust that went straight to her core at his suggestion finally convinced her that she did like ordering him around. She held his gaze as the simmering heat between them swelled.

He finally looked away, one hand wrapping around her ankle as if to ground himself. He chuckled. “You’re getting really good at that.”

She scooted along the seat and moved closer to him, stretching to reach his chin and turn his face toward her again. “I’ll stop if you don’t like it.”

“No, I like it. I really like it.” Rio sucked in a breath before meeting her eyes. “It’s just weird for me. I haven’t wanted anyone but Cisco in a long time.”

“What’s your safeword, Rio?” She was ashamed that she hadn’t asked before. She had to be better than that, especially with him.

“Crimson,” he answered her as if reflexively, then smiled.

“Do you have any limits I need to know about?”

His face closed off for a moment, and that scary blankness was back, but it faded again before she could tell him he didn’t have to talk about it if he didn’t want to. “Magic scares me sometimes. Not the stuff you do when you’re in the moment. That feels different. Feels good.” He swallowed hard. “And silver.”

Mari touched his face. “I would never hurt you with my magic. And if there’s any silver left in the house, we should sell it immediately.”

He nodded slowly. “There’s silver at the club. A lot of it.”

Thoughts of how the metal had been used against him, or any other shifter, had her mad enough to bite someone. “I’m going to tell Esmé as soon as we get there that all of it needs to go.”

His relieved smile eased the ache that had been building in her chest. “Okay.” He shrugged. “That’s it, I think. There’s not much I won’t do happily if I think it will please Cisco. Or you.” Something else occurred to him, and he frowned. “Just don’t make me hurt anyone. Please.”

Mari hated her father more in that moment than she ever had before. She gripped his chin. “Never.”

Rio nodded, some of the tension easing from his shoulders. He reached behind her on the seat and pulled down a box wrapped with a red ribbon. “Cisco said you should put this on me. You’re going to walk in with me, and he’ll join us after.”

With no idea what might be inside, she opened the box, her hands shaking. She lifted the cover and gasped quietly. Inside rested an exquisitely tooled leather collar, red to match her bustier once again. A platinum tag set with rubies sparkled up from the ring, the word “Rio” etched into it with an elegant font she recognized from his tattoos. A gorgeously supple matching leash wrapped around the edges of the box.

She looked up at him, not sure what to say.

He smiled, the corners of his mouth trembling slightly. “I’m yours for the night, mi reina.”

Mari’s first entrance into La Petite Mort was very different from how she had expected it to be. In the early days of their little revolution—had it only been a week ago?—she had assumed it would be Cisco leading her while everyone gawked and she felt frightfully embarrassed. Instead, she strolled through the entryway dressed like a queen with her head held high and the world’s most handsome puma shifter trailing a step behind her.

Her eyes rose to take in the tall building she had seen many times but never entered. Cisco’s large form perched at one corner, wings spread, watching over her but not stealing the spotlight. A few people snapped pictures. She smiled and posed as was expected of her.

Rio stepped forward to open the door for her, his gaze scanning over her again, as if he couldn’t stop looking. The naked appreciation in his expression made her want to do decadent things to him. Instead, she grabbed a hold of his leash and tugged him after her.

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