“I see you have good taste, Elizabeth,” she praises, eyeing Cole and Ares with a hungry gleam in her eye.
Stiffening, I try to temper my reaction so I don’t ruin our chances here tonight. Still, the thought of her trying to seduce them leaves me heated enough that I have a ridiculous urge to bare my teeth at her.
“We don’t get shifters here often enough for my liking,” she continues, making no attempt to hide the thoughts plain as day on her face.
“Then it’s a shame I’ll have to disappoint you.” I run a hand down Cole’s arm before settling my palm on Ares’, making my stance clear before I have to stomach this for the rest of the night. “We’re here to enjoy the thrill of not needing to be discreet for once, but didn’t come looking to add another to the party.”
She shrugs, finishing off her drink and summoning a waitress with a snap of her fingers timed perfectly between the thrum of the bass so it could be heard. Her glass is swapped with a full one within moments and she raises it to me before taking another sip.
“I like you, Elizabeth. Too many are afraid to say what they want and there’s no shame in setting boundaries. That’s what Mystics is all about, you know.” She completely ignores the woman that comes up trying to engage her in conversation. “Too many think it’s just a place to fuck, but that’s not it at all.”
“What is it then?” Ares asks, raising an eyebrow skeptically and she winks.
“It’s about having a safe place to explore without fear of reprisal. About bringing your deepest buried desires to the surface without worrying that someone will condemn you for them.” Selena reaches forward to flick the zipper at my collar and gently slides it down half of an inch. “It’s about not having to hide. And you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you Corinna Harlow?”
The air seizes in my lungs and Cole’s grip tightens around my waist. “How do you know my name?”
She clucks under her tongue, leaning forward to whisper in my ear so that no one can overhear besides the guys. “You think word wouldn’t spread about a feral shifter stealing the socialite bride on her wedding night?” A quick kiss on my cheek before she pulls back, grinning. “But those of us with a brain have long since learned that nearly everything out of the humans’ mouths is twisted.”
Ares warily asks, “Are you going to tip anyone off?”
She waves him off. “Stay, blow a load off. Lord knows you all look like you need it. I meant what I said, this is a safe place to cut loose. But I will warn you; outside of these walls means nothing. There’s a reward for your safe return or the head of the shifter that murdered the trust fund baby. When you leave, do so quickly and discreetly.” She blends into the crowd as seamlessly as she arrived, leaving us to deal with the aftermath of the bomb she just dropped.
“Shit,” Ares eloquently sums up and I grimace.
“It’s not a surprise though,” Cole consoles. “We assumed as much. I just wouldn’t have expected her to recognize you so easily when we aren’t even in the city.”
I sigh. “But we’re close enough I suppose. A scandal like that can’t be kept quiet, even if they managed to keep it out of the news. The penthouse district is supposed to be the most secure place to live. If not even there is safe, people will be on edge. They likely amped up security in and out of the city, too.”
Ares takes my hand, leading us out of the main area and down the hall towards one of the unoccupied rooms, shutting the door behind us. It doesn’t lock, but it offers a sense of privacy, at least.
“Then we need to make this work,” he declares adamantly. “Things might get worse before they get better so we need to make this one shot count so we can get the hell out of here.”
The room is pretty simple compared to the brief flashes of others I caught a glimpse of. The floor is black marble, and it’s lit only by a strip of purple lighting running along the top of the walls. One wall displays an array of toys, and I couldn’t even tell you what half of them are for. In the center is a massive, faux leather square like an oversized ottoman. Better than a bed I suppose, but I don’t even want to think about how much they’d need to pay a maid in this place. This at least looks easy enough to wipe down, but still.
“I don’t even want to think about the things these have seen.” Cole mirrors my thoughts, looking at the wall with his head cocked, but not touching anything. “I mean, they’d have to keep them clean, but how often? I feel like I’m going to get pregnant just by picking one up.”
Even Ares snorts out a laugh, and it helps calm my racing heart that Selena’s words spurred into overdrive. “As much as I hate to admit it, this is a bust. Selena knows who I am and if a mage turns up missing, I’m going to be the first person she suspects. So we can either grab one and hope we get a big enough head start before someone starts chasing us, or we call tonight a wash.”
I want to slump in defeat, but I can’t bring myself to sit on the only piece of furniture in the room. Logically, I know it’s probably fine, but after the things I saw going on in the main room? I shudder to think what’s happening behind closed doors.
“Or,” Ares starts hesitantly and I’m thrilled someone else has an idea because I’m starting to feel like I’m in so far over my head that finding a way through this will be impossible. “We could enjoy a night without Osiris chucking up a hairball.”
A smile plays at my lips. “That doesn’t sound like you. There’s not even a lock on the door.”
He shifts his weigh between his feet, looking embarrassed and fuck, it’s endearing on this massive man. “Probably the safest spot in here and could keep it closed,” he suggests.
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth. “It’s reckless.”
Cole’s eyes flash in the dark, dangerous and enticing. He’s my own personal devil that got tired of waiting on my shoulder, whispering in my ear, and decided to come out and play. “She already saw you, so the damage is done. Whether we leave now or in an hour, it won’t change anything; there’s a witness putting you here tonight.”
Since yesterday’s cockblock, I’ve been in a nearly a constant state of arousal. Having my orgasm snatched out from under me when it was so close, the phantom feeling of their caresses so fresh in my memory…
“It would look suspicious if we left so quickly after arriving, especially since we didn’t turn around in the beginning.”
Ares looks as awkward as I am despite the fact he suggested it in the first place. But I don’t think any of us know where to even begin, the moment feeling more forced than organic. This isn’t some heavy petting that gets carried away in the heat of the moment, it just feels scripted, yet I’m missing my lines.
“So, um, where should we start?”
