Page 28 of Gilded Caresses

The show is done with and so am I.

None of them stand in my way when I push to my feet. Lingering gazes touch places but they don’t argue when I say, “Excuse me. I…uh…I just need to freshen up.”

Lust sparkles in Lev’s eyes when he reaches out and stops me. “Don’t go far.” He doesn’t hide the warning. I right my dress and step out of the curtain and head straight for a small place where guests can freshen up after their…activities. I push the door open and lean against the counter. No one else is in here with me when I find my gaze in the mirror. I don’t even recognize the freshly-pleasured woman staring back at me.

Don’t go far?Would he really chase me down?

“What have you done?” The blue sapphires eyeing me back have little wisdom to share. But the red in my cheeks, hard nipples, and mussed hair have volumes more to share.

I’m turned on. And I don’t want to run.

“Come on, Sapphire. Isn’t this what you want?”

One night with a trio of utterly sexy men who obviously want me. Sounds like a fantasy come true. Which never happens for me.

In the morning I can return to my life no one the wiser of what I’ve done.

“No, Sapphire. You cannot be irresponsible like your father.” It doesn’t matter how badly I want them or the dark promises in their touches. I can’t have any of that. Duty to the family first. I allow myself a moment to mentally picture what a family would be like. Maybe not with them but to hold a baby, to have a fresh start. To be in control of my life.

Swells of energy bloom deep in my core and leave me clutching the rims of the bathroom counter. And then, as suddenly as the dream came to life in my mind, I dash it away.

I reach for my phone intent on calling for Raphe to pick me up.

My body turns icy. “Oh shit.”

I race out of the bathroom. They see Harlon’s chat bubble on the screen and who knows how they will react. Lev would probably take a selfie and send it to him. Elyah would just stand back and let chaos ensue. Gregor…who knows.

The Gilded Key, like in New Orleans and Seattle, are neutral territory but that doesn’t make me any less of a Constantine. Being one and working directly with the head of the family are distinctly different.

One makes me vulnerable. The other paints a bullseye on my back.

I rush back to the booth to find the curtain still drawn. Hushed angry voices come from inside.

“She’s got the right genes, and we all want her, but I told you from the start there’s no way she will agree. That she does a little fooling around in the dark is one thing, but to do what we are asking is a whole other game, my brother.”

Lev sounds convinced whatever he is talking about I would have no interest in.

“You should have told me you were having second thoughts.”

Elyah is pissed. The growl in his tone is sharp, cutting. “Poshel na khuy!”

I don’t speak all that much Russian but I know that was a big fuck you to his friend.

“It would have to be with a contract and full knowledge or not at all.”

Silence.

“It is why The Gilded Key Society is the only place that this will work—their breeder contract.Ifshe agrees.”

Agrees to what? Belle’s words come back to me. I take the ends of the curtain in hand and pull it open just slightly to hear better.

“So what now?” Gregor asks. “We let her walk away? She is perfect. Fuck, please don’t say we have to let her go. I’m still high from the taste of her sweetness on my tongue. She’s just like I imagined. We wanted this. Planned for it. She’s ours. Tell me you don’t feel the same and we will walk away. But I felt something with her.”

Theirs? As in they own me? Who thinks like that? More importantly, what exactly did they plan?

“Getting soft in your old age, Gregor?”

“Fuck you, Lev.”

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