“Yes, that’s it.” She nodded and met Marius’s gaze.
Marius could hardly bear the thought of Shayna, with her relatively innocent background, having to watch one of Eve’s performances. He thought maybe she didn’t understand. “Shayna, these shows are explicit and I do mean explicit. X-rated. Lots of nudity. Nothing is left to the imagination.”
“I can feel how concerned you are. But don’t you see, this is a big part of your world. The extensive sex-club complex that you, Rumy, and Eve have each described to me as well as Daniel’s sex-trafficking operations are two sides of a cultural coin. Not to say that new laws and policing actions aren’t needed to protect the unwilling and the innocent. But at some point down this path we’re on, it might help me to find a key to taking Daniel down. Don’t you see? This is all of a piece. It all works together somehow.”
“I want to protect you.”
“But that’s not your job, Marius, at least not in this circumstance. I definitely value your physical protection in a battle situation, but this is my field—understanding your culture and coming to terms with what my ex did to me. In this case, I don’t need you to run interference for me.”
He was completely taken aback by her determination. “I’m just feeling so damn guilty because I dumped you into this situation.”
She smiled and rubbed his shoulder. “You’re right. You do have a responsibility in that. But later, I was the one who agreed to stay, and from that point these are absolutely my choices. So you can stop with the guilt now. Got it?”
Something inside him eased and he nodded. “Got it.”
She turned to Eve. “When’s the show?”
“In about half an hour and given that Daniel is hunting the pair of you, I’ll need to make some special security arrangements. Still, it’ll be a risk.” She looked them over. “You’ll want to change as well. My clientele is fairly high-end and if things go south, you’ll want to blend in. In fact, I’m going to take off right now and arrange things but I’ll call when everything’s set up. Okay?”
Marius nodded, Shayna as well. Eve smiled as she shifted to altered flight and disappeared through the wall of the house.
Marius took hold of Shayna’s shoulders and squeezed gently. “And you’re sure you want to do this?”
Her gaze flitted around in that processing way of hers. “Absolutely.”
“Okay, then, let’s get changed.”
He put on a pair of tailored slacks, a fresh black T-shirt, and a short, black leather jacket that concealed at l
east four daggers and two battle chains. Afterward, he paced the foyer, waiting for Shayna.
He was nervous as hell, for more than one reason. He’d admitted to having seen several of Eve’s shows, but what he hadn’t confessed was how much they’d turned him on. And it wasn’t just the sexual component. Maybe because he’d been chained up as a child, some sick part of him also got off on the idea of bondage. He’d been damn aroused when Shayna had mounted him while he’d been in restraints and recovering from blood-madness.
Truth? He’d loved it.
And he’d loved it even more when he’d broken free.
Twenty minutes later, Eve called, letting him know that Rumy’s security expert had built up a disguising shield behind which they’d be invisible while they watched the show. Only an Ancestral of Daniel’s power would be able to see through that kind of disguise, so Marius had to trust that his father wasn’t actually the one hunting for him at The Erotic Passage. Eve also encouraged him to stay for the entire performance of the first couple, which would last about twenty minutes total.
“Let Shayna see the end. That will be the important part for her.”
“Okay.”
When he hung up, he was jittery and Shayna still hadn’t emerged from the bedroom.
When he heard heels clicking on the tile floor, he stopped and turned toward the doorway to the bathroom.
She appeared and he swore his heart stopped.
“Holy shit” left his lips. “You look fantastic.” Her long, straight hair was pulled back on one side with a small silver clip.
“Marius, I’m sorry it took so long, but the dresses were all absurd. I chose this one because it had the most fabric.”
But he wasn’t complaining and he knew one thing for sure: He’d be throwing a whole lot of wood tonight. He moved toward her like he was floating, then he realized he’d actually levitated, a perfect metaphor for exactly how he felt, like everything would rise tonight.
She wore a simple black silk dress, cut low to reveal all that cleavage of hers. And the dress was short with a sheer red insert cut halfway to her hip bone. The inset would give the dress just enough give if he wanted to lift up the fabric and cop a feel.
When he reached her, he did the only male thing he could think of. He pulled her up against him and ground his erection against her abdomen.