Collateral Damage (12 page)

"Okay."
No! No!
I frowned, trying to figure out where the internal contradiction was coming from. I wanted Cyrus. Now would be better, but I could wait if I had to. "If you're sure—"

He chuckled. "I'm sure, my little minx. I need to sleep so I'll have the energy for .

. . ." His lips curved in a telling smile, making my breath catch and my thighs clench.

"Now get. And, Nicole . . . ."

Mid-step I glanced at him, my eyes widening as his flared like the flames of a gas stove. "Yes?"

"Don't leave Vince's room again until either he or I tell you to."

I nodded and then went to Vince's room, climbed into his bed, and lay there.

Unable to sleep. Unable to do anything else.

Worded differently, but, essentially, Cyrus had said "Stay."

Only, unlike when Vince had said it, I really didn't have a choice.

* * * * *

The big, fat, cotton-candy-colored cushion beneath me cradled my butt, and I sighed with pure bliss.
So comfy!

Vince sat across from me on a baby blue pillow and chuckled. "Better?"

I blushed. He'd taken out the butt plug just before bringing me to Alrik's room.

The relief had brought on a massive orgasm that still had me feeling a little shaky. A quick shower and I was almost normal again.

"Much." I glanced over at Alrik as he thumped on his mint green cushion.

"Ready?"

He shrugged and folded his arms over his chest. "I guess . . . ."

"All right." I opened the binder on my lap and took a deep breath. "Wiggling on his plump, pink belly, mud caked smiling in rain slicked glee—"

Alrik shot off his cushion and leaned over the binder. "Hey! That's not
Hamlet
!"

Vince and I exchanged a smile.

I turned the book so Alrik could see the pictures I'd drawn on the back of the printed Hamlet pages. A decent copy of
The Worm's Hand
in my opinion. "Nope. This is my favorite story.
The Worm's Hand
."

"
The Worm's Hand
?" Alrik dragged his cushion over so he could sit beside me.

"What's it about?"

"Listen and find out." Vince shifted closer, glancing at the pages with slight interest. "Continue, Nicole."

As I read, both the man and the boy seemed to become completely entranced in the story, though Vince paid more attention to my lips than anything else. His heavy-lidded look when he caught my eye made me blush. I touched the hollow of my throat, feeling naked without the collar. Vince had removed it to avoid awkward questions from Alrik, but he'd promised I'd get it back.

Hello? Does that matter now?

I forced my hand down to my side and gave my head a little shake. Determined to focus on Alrik, I paused on the third page and pointed out a word. "Can you sound this out?"

Children often caught on to repeated words fairly easily. Since Alrik had watched me trail my finger slowly under each sentence, I hoped he'd recognize it.

He grinned. "That's 'bird.'"

"Very good." I glanced over at Vince. "Do you want to do the bird's part?"

Suddenly, the carefree atmosphere of the room changed. Vince arched a brow, and his lips drew into a thin line. "The bird is female."

Had I insulted him? I bit my lip and nodded. "Okay." I did the bird's part. "'What shall I do with you?'" I continued until I reached the worm's dialogue. "Here, Vince. Do this part."

"You're the teacher." Vince scowled, his tone almost hostile. "Do your job."

"Please, Vince?" Alrik gave Vince big, wide, puppy-dog eyes. "I bet you can do the worm's voice better. Miss Reed sounds funny doing a boy."

Vince forced a smile. "We can always go back to
Hamlet
."

"No! I hate
Hamlet
!"

A lump formed in my throat. I could only think of one reason Vince would refuse to read. I touched Alrik's arm. "Grown men feel a little silly reading stories. Let's not embarrass Vince. Why don't we show him how quick you learn."

"Okay." Alrik pursed his lips and turned his focus to the page. "This is worm.

This is brain."

The kid had a very good memory. I smiled at him. "Excellent."

During the lesson, Alrik made me read the story over and over until he recognized more of the words. When Lacy came to take him to his math teacher, he held up a finger and leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"I like the story, Miss Reed." His expression turned grim. "But that is a very bad worm. He's a coward. My daddy would say so, too."

As he scurried off, I shut the book, avoiding Vince's steady gaze. Would he be angry that I'd made the boy think of his father? I hadn't meant to.

"Nicole."

The book fell off my lap. I gulped and gnawed on my inner lip.

"Come here."

I lowered myself to my knees and crawled to him. Head bowed, I settled into a kneeling position and waited, certain I'd be punished.

"Look at me." He cupped my jaw and knelt in front of me. "You did very well.

I'm glad I decided to let you handle this your own way."

Pressing my eyes shut, I tried to pull away from him. "You're mad at me."

He let out a gruff laugh. "Why would I be mad at you? It's not your fault that I can't read."

There. He'd said it. So what did this mean?

"I don't think it's
your
fault either."

"Really?" His hand slipped away. "I said look at me."

I looked at him.

His eyes were narrow and dark. "Then whose fault is it?"

Not anger. What I saw in his face was more frustration than anything else. Like he blamed himself for not being able to learn as easily Alrik did. In that moment, I hated Cyrus for what he'd done to Vince more than I hated him for what he'd done to me. I briefly recalled not hating him at all, but pushed that aside as I reached out to touch Vince's cheek.

"Not yours," I said softly. "Your teacher was obviously more concerned with surviving than teaching you. She didn't have someone looking out for her. I do."

His lips curved. "I'm very happy that you feel that way. It may be too late for me, but not for him."

"It's not too late for you."

"We have more important things to worry about."

"I'm a teacher. You don't really expect me to let this go, do you?" I didn't give him a chance to answer. Wrinkling my nose, I moved to close the binder. "But I think we need to work with something more interesting than a story about a worm."

"Why?" He sat beside me and then pulled me into his lap. "Alrik may want me to read it to him eventually . . . before bedtime. At times when you're not available."

Why wouldn't I be available?

I ran my tongue over my upper lip. "So you want me to teach you to read
The
Worm's Hand
?"

Vince took my hands and wove his fingers through mine. "Yes. And I will do my best to pay attention to the words rather than on how stupid I feel . . . ." He sighed and kissed my hair. "Or how very good this feels."

This
did feel very good. I rested my head on his chest and read the book, slowly, but not so slow that he'd think I was treating him like he was stupid. Because he wasn't.

At all.

Actually, he was smart enough to catch what Alrik had. I watched his face as I reached the end.

Fine lines formed on his forehead, and his eyes narrowed as he looked past me.

He'd already forgotten the story. "What do you want, Lacy?"

And like that the "good" was over.

Lacy smoothed down her short, gray skirt, staring somewhere over our heads.

"Cyrus wants you on security detail tonight, Vince. I'm to bring Nicole back to her room."

Why did I seem to recall . . . a distraction? Cyrus had told me he'd distract Vince.

Which meant . . . .

"Up you go, love." Vince helped me to my feet. Under his breath, he whispered.

"Trust me. If I've taught you anything, let it be that."

"Vince!" I grabbed his shirt before he could turn away. "Please—"

He pried my fingers loose and shook his head. "Go with Lacy."

"No!" I sobbed. "I have to tell you—"

"Now." He made a slashing motion with his hand, cutting off further objections, then pointed at the door. "Go."

Lacy brought me down to the first floor, straight to the bathroom where a bath had already been drawn. She made me sit on the edge of the bath so she could pile my hair on top of my head and secure it with bobby pins.

As I sunk into the water, I realized there was oil in it. Enough to completely change the sensation of soaking in the hot water. My skin became slick. The heady scent made it hard to breath. Musky and sweet, roses with some bitter fruit.

I sloshed out of the bath as soon as Lacy gave the okay. Then she scrubbed me roughly with the towel and dressed me in a silky, emerald green gown. She let my hair loose and combed through it with her fingers, tearing through the tangles.

"You look lovely." She said through her teeth. "Do you like?"

Without looking at the mirror, I nodded.

She hissed and tugged at my wrist. "Great. Come on then."

We got to the bottom of the stairs. Behind me, the front door gaped wide open. I heard Alrik's laugh and glanced over my shoulder. He was sitting in the grass with a man who was showing him something in a jar. In the distance, near the tree line bordering the property stood Vince, watching them.

At that moment I knew exactly what would happen if I went up those stairs. But I didn't know what would happen if I ran out there and grabbed Alrik. Vince might stop me. Or he might help us both escape.

"Nicole?"

I looked up. At the top of the stairs, Cyrus waited, wearing nothing but a loosely tied, thick black robe. Such a beautiful man. Refined, strong, intelligent. Holding the interest of a man like him . . . what more could a woman want?

An intoxicating heat filled me. I stepped away from Lacy and started up towards Cyrus. I knew what he wanted. And I wanted it, too.

Holding out my hand, I drew in a sharp inhale as he used it to pull me into his arms. Then he kissed me, feeding from my mouth with his teeth and tongue as if he'd been desperate for me. As desperate I had been for him.

"Come with me." He curved an arm around my waist and then brought me past Alrik and Vince's rooms. To the room at the end of the hall. Pushing the door open, he drew me in along with him. "I believe we're going to enjoy the remainder of the night, my sweet."

In a large room swathed in black and red silk and velvet stood a massive, Victorian-style bed. Candelabras on either side cast candlelight over the bed. And over the man who lay in the center of it in black robes.

The parting in the tangled sheets and robe revealed one long, black thigh almost to the hip. His lips curled, revealing perfect white teeth. He sat up.

"Hello, Nicole."

A surprise!
I smiled at Cyrus and then approached the bed. "Hello, Darryl."

Chapter Ten

Ice crawled through my veins as I joined Darryl on the bed. I shivered and pulled back just before he could touch me.

Why? Why?

Why what? I trailed my gaze up to the open flap of the robe, at rippling abs and hard pecs. Smooth, brown flesh. A "come hither" smile.

I reached out and ran a finger from his collarbone to where a belt held the robe closed.

He grabbed my wrist and bared his teeth. "Not yet, pretty girl."

My stomach fluttered.
Not yet?

A liquid splash. Cyrus nudged my shoulder. "Drink this."

My lips parted as he brought the wine glass to my lips. I took a big gulp of the clear liquor and winced at the vicious burn. Coughing, I shook my head when he tipped the glass again.

"Just a few more sips." His eyes shimmered, and I found myself swallowing the bitter, acidic stuff. When I was done, he set the glass on a night table and then climbed onto the bed behind me. "Good girl."

Before I could react to his praise, Darryl latched onto my waist and dragged me toward him. He dipped his hands into the bodice of my gown, and the fabric ripped as he bared my breasts.

"You've got some nice tits." He pressed his face between them and groaned.

"Fuck, I've been looking forward to this."

"Gently, Darryl." Cyrus smoothed his hands over my ribs and slid the gown down over my hips so it pooled around my bent knees. "I want her to enjoy this."

Darryl nodded and brought his mouth to my nipple. As he closed his lips around it and gently sucked, Cyrus kissed my throat and pressed his fingers to my lips.

"Open," he said.

I opened and his fingers filled my mouth. I groaned as his other hand glided over my stomach and between my thighs. He slicked my wetness along my folds, avoiding my clit.

"Very nice." He dipped one finger into my pussy and bit down all at once.

My back bowed as pleasure flared up, blazing from the tip of his finger all the way up to Darryl's lips. An exquisite sensation blasted downwards from the piercing pain in my throat. Scalding, boiling, until my veins were fire under my flesh.

Cyrus sealed the wound with a lick and a kiss. "Go ahead, Darryl."

Teeth lashed at my breast and I tried to scream. Cyrus' fingers in my mouth stole most of the sound. Another orgasm burst through me. I clenched as moisture flowed.

He drove several more fingers into me until I writhed and whimpered, overwhelmed with the sensation. Before I could come again, he withdrew his fingers and left the bed.

"Get inside her," Cyrus said from somewhere across the room.

After tossing his robe aside, Darryl lifted me up by the waist and helped me straddle him. His used his dick to stroke my cunt, back and forth, back and forth, avoiding my every attempt to take him inside. Moisture gathered, and my sensitized flesh ached from the cruel teasing.

Tears filled my eyes. I wasn't sure why, except—I needed him. Sobbing, I spread my thighs further apart. "Please!"

"Yes, baby." Darryl laughed. "Beg for it. Tell me what you want me to do."