Page 95 of Psyop Kings

“Hello, sweetheart,” Ava croons, eyes boring into Caius. “I heard you and Sol had a pleasurable meeting earlier.” She playfully winks at him. “I’m sad I missed it.”

As if finally realizing I’m standing beside him, her eyes cut over to me. She dips her gaze to my necklace and barely contains a sneer. Caius drapes an arm over my shoulders and kisses the top of my head.

“I endured,” Caius says plainly. “Playtime’s a lot more fun with this one.”

Ava flinches as if his words hurt her. As though she can’t understand why Caius would prefer an adult woman over one of her girls.

“I see,” she says sweetly, grimacing slightly. “Well, now that I know your type, prepare to be teased with something in the future you’ll have a harder time coldly dismissing.”

This woman is something else.

“I think he’ll be too busy for games,” I blurt out, unable to stop myself. I rub my stomach and then gaze up at Caius under my mascara-painted lashes as though he’s my entire world. “Right, love?”

He wants to lie and pretend I’m pregnant to keep Solomon off me? I can do the same to keep Ava off him.

“You do keep my hands full,” Caius rumbles, eyeing my lips like he wants to eat them. “Gareth says you’ve put me under your spell.”

I know it’s all for show, but I can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Gareth essentially told me the same thing by his cabin.

Taking hold of his tie, I tug him to my mouth. “When do we eat? The baby’s hungry.”

Caius kisses my lips because they’re right there. The tongue action was probably unnecessary but not unwanted. By the time he peels away from me, Ava has walked off. Caius smirks at me and we share a knowing look. I hate that it shoots a thrill through me.

Ava is now talking to Michael, who keeps eyeing her girls nearby. She’s dolled them up in cocktail attire, fancy hair, and makeup, but they’re still young and zombified. The girl with the black hair—the same one who’d stared deeply into my soul—is missing. Was she the one who’d been abused in Solomon’s office?

The guilt is back, clawing at my chest. I force my stare away from them, unable to stop thinking about Ava’s part in all this. I’m convinced more than ever that she’s trafficking the most vulnerable of humans to the highest bidder. Solomon seems to be the liaison between her and the end user.

So what’s Caius’s role?

CUP programs these poor souls. They force them into a twisted mental program that erases or alters their memories, destroys their will to free think, and molds them into a pre-specified model of a human that’s marketable to the rich and fucked-up.

No matter how good Caius’s lips feel on mine, he’s just as complicit as these people.

More chatter draws me from my inner thoughts. I find the source of the excitement. None other than Solomon Grayhawk enters the room. He’s freshly showered and shaved, beaming as he walks. Hooked on his arm is a girl with jet-black hair, a split bottom lip, and heavily bruised eyes. Her pale pink dress sparkles, drawing everyone’s gaze to her.

I jerk forward, a compulsion to snatch her from him overwhelming, but a hand clutching the back of my neck holds me back. Angrily, I whip my head to look at Caius, who’s glaring at me with warning. I scowl back, hoping he understands me clearly.

We need to do something.

Though I’m sure he reads me loud and clear, he ignores my subliminal message, pulling my back to his chest and wrappingme in his arms. Moments ago, his heated touch dizzied me. Now I want to smack his arms off me and run far in the other direction.

His lips find my ear and he growls, “Calm. The. Fuck. Down.”

I can’t calm down.

I’m wondering if I throw a chair at Solomon, would it give me enough time to grab the girl and escape?

To where?

You’re in the middle of a lake in a snowstorm, dummy.

Caius dips his mouth lower, pressing a soft kiss to the side of my neck. His fingertips caress my hips as he showers pretend love on my flesh. I get caught up in wicked sensations, finding myself leaning into him, aching for more. I’m not even embarrassed as his palms rove over my stomach higher and higher until his fingers brush the underside of my breasts.

In. Front. Of. Everyone.

“Caius,” I whisper, needing to shake him off me so I can focus. “Don’t do this.”

His open mouth suckles the flesh on my neck. I barely contain the breathy moan trying to escape. I’m so distracted by his touch that I don’t notice Solomon coming right up to us. As soon as he speaks, it’s as though I’ve taken a plunge in the icy lake waters.

---