Chapter 14
The look on Eve’s face when the first crack of my palm landed on her ass in the middle of Cinders & Marrow had been fucking priceless. Seated on the piano bench—given up freely by the songbinder when my eyes flickered with smoldering hellfire—Eve remained stretched out over my lap.
“This is wholly inappropriate, you motherfucking heathen!”
Her hissed protests fell on deaf ears, not just mine but most of the others in the dining room with us. This wouldn’t be the first time something of this caliber occurred in a place like this. Surely wouldn’t be the last either.
If she were concerned about her dignity, she shouldn’t have been. “Little Spade,” I purred as I leaned over her. “This hotel prides itself on indulging unforgettable experiences. I’m merely contributing to the atmosphere.”
I smoothed a hand over the curve of her ass, giving it a light pat afterwards.
“Besides,” I added. “There’s candlelight. That makes it fucking classy.”
Her sputtering went ignored. Irrelevant.
“Two,” I counted preemptively as my hand struck right where the tops of her thighs met the round of her cheeks. Her whole body jolted forward with the impact. The stinging in my palm was nothing compared to the prickling heat she undoubtedly felt.
I kept her pinned right where she was, letting the evidence of my hard dick press up against her stomach.
“I will kill you!” she screeched.
Holy hell, that’d be a sight to witness her try. I’d love to see how she fought when she was too busy being split open on my cock. I’d bear those battle wounds with pride.
“Five more and we can get on with our evening,” I advised her, as if I was taking note of yet another dry and disgustingly hot day.
She shot me a scathing look over her shoulder with eyes lit up like twin sparkling oases in the desert. The flush of her cheeks was likely a mix of anger and embarrassment in a self-righteous little package tied together with arousal.
I dipped two fingers beneath the hem of her dress, dragging them along the crease of her panties. The contact sent a full-body shudder through her.
What I found there between her legs left me smirking with satisfaction.
Definitely arousal. Her cunt was dripping enough to soak her panties.
Withdrawing my hand, I delivered the next five consecutive spanks to the meat of her ass in quick succession. Each one landed, sharp and full of dark promises for later.
Eve’s gasps were punctuated by her hand grabbing at the line of keys to brace herself, providing quite the musical composition. Dissonant notes paired with the high-pitched noises coming from her throat created a sublime symphony with me as its composer.
The Ace Reynard Symphony No. 7 in Scarlet Major had a nice ring to it if I said so myself.
Refusing to leave my Little Spade on anything but a high note, I soothed my hand over the most tender spots. To help alleviate the sting with a notable distraction, I pressed down on her hips to let my dick’s insistent presence prod at her lower belly.
Delicate whimpers fell from Eve’s lips to a point where I was forced to cut my aftercare short. Wrecking her virginity here in the middle of the restaurant would have been a spectacle worth garnering attention. Selfishly, I wanted to keep that moment to myself.
Once upright, her hands tugged at her dress with frantic movements. Restoring her modesty, she jabbed one manicured nail straight to the center of my chest.
“We are leaving,” she hissed in a low voice.
I sat there a moment longer to soak in the sight of her like this before pushing off the piano bench onto my feet. Reaching inside my suit jacket, I gathered a folded wad of cash and dropped it onto the line of ivory keys. The paper bills subsequently scattered, several fluttering to the floor.
“After you.” I extended an arm in the direction of the exit with the chivalry of a knight who traded steel armor for tailored luxury. Though my actual armor remained in pristine condition back at the penthouse, it was more ceremonial pageantry than a uniform.
The gesture didn’t go ignored. Eve straightened up and stalked off ahead of me. I paced several steps behind her, giving her room to breathe during her childish tantrum.
Also, the view wasn’t bad either. My head canted to one side as I admired the sway of her hips with each indignant step.
Once outside The Veil, she folded her arms tightly beneath the swell of her breasts as she looked around the strip yawning with nightlife and just beginning to awaken for the evening.
“Where to?” she asked in a clipped tone that wasn’t unexpected, given how our dinner plans concluded.
Stepping up next to her, my hand hovered at the small of her back just close enough to let her feel the heat of my presence while I pointed to a neon-lit structure.
The massive pitchfork was gaudy as fuck, but it acted as an effective landmark for the Forked Tongue Casino. The owner was about as cheesy as the name of the joint.
“You see that? It belongs to a friend of mine. I owe him a visit.”
So did my fists for swindling funds from my pocket. Lucky for me, I intended to collect with interest with an assist from my Little Spade.
Keeping Eve close during our brief stroll over to the gambling establishment, I explained her role in all of this.
She stopped to face me while we waited for the traffic light to change and give us the right to cross the street without being run over.
“That’s a horrible plan.” Her critique may have been valid if it weren’t for one minor detail she wasn’t privy to.
“Oh?” I feigned ignorance.
Her hip cocked to one side, and I knew she was geared up to launch into a grand speech that would mean absolutely nothing.
Yet I listened like the kind and patient man I was, up until the second word out of her mouth. At which point, I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in close until my mouth was on hers.
The kiss was rough, nothing designed to coax romance, and everything that preceded every deadly sin in the book.
Pulling back, my thumb caressed over the side of her neck in a mockery of tenderness. “Stick to the plan.”
The inside of the Forked Tongue was about as gaudy as you could get. The walls were cramped with too many mementos and trinkets, colors clashed, and the air smelled like Satan’s ass crack. However, the scent may have been an intentional draw for some of Superbia’s less refined individuals.
Eve took her seat at the roulette table. The wheel looked like the remnants of a bicycle tire after a hit-and-run, after being dumped at the bottom of a lake. Yes, it lacked balance—but more importantly, it was a visual offense that made my business instincts recoil on principle.
“This is stupid,” my Little Spade muttered.
Such little faith for someone who thought she walked on water.
I merely responded with a non-committal grunt. She’d see soon enough.
A quiet thought in my mind lifted the shields I kept locked tight around me in her presence. Not enough for her to get a read on what I had in store for her, but enough leeway to perform where it mattered most—where I wanted.
Without prompting, she closed her eyes. The warm prickle of her precognitive power surged as she reached out to turn this game of luck into one of skill.
Her head tilted, a subtle tell that she had seen something behind her eyelids. Opening her eyes, she placed her chips onto the black twenty. Her fingers idly drummed against the felt tabletop while the other players placed their bets.
The table attendant gave the abomination of a roulette wheel a spin.
No turning back now that the game was in motion.
Instead of a nondescript white ball being dropped, a pulsing red orb hopped along the inner track.
In a long moment of defiance, it refused to commit to a winning number—until it did.
The orb settled on its chosen pocket, and much to the chagrin of others, Eve’s sole bet on the black twenty became validated.
Her head whipped around, staring at me as if I had rigged the damn wheel myself or planted the thought in her head.
There had been so much more than merely allowing her abilities to slip through the shields I placed around us. It was to test the stability of her precognition, to taste the flavors of it more thoroughly.
My hand settled on the crook of her shoulder, my thumb caressing the nape of her neck in small circular motions. The confident hum of power radiated throughout her spine from the accurate prediction of the winning number. Raw satisfaction from the thrill of successful foresight.
It was fucking gorgeous, just like her.
“You did this,” she accused.
Guilty as charged.
Leaning over, I whispered in her ear, “Technically, you did it. Now, try again.”
I straightened, but not without pressing a quick peck to her cheek. For guaranteed luck, of course.
More predictions, more bets, more wins. The chips were stacking up nicely.
To my delight, it didn’t take long for us to attract the attention of casino staff, most notably my dear friend Argian, the proprietor of this not-so-fine establishment.
“Ace,” Argian greeted me curtly. The absence of his ashen hand being offered didn’t go unnoticed. Like most crypt demons, he rarely engaged in physical contact. The social faux pas was welcomed if it saved my suit from attracting the fine spiderwebs that followed him everywhere.
His shadowy eyes drifted to Eve, lingering on her for longer than I could tolerate. Forcing myself into his line of sight, I offered a tight-lipped smile that never reached my eyes.
“What do we owe the pleasure of your company, Argian?” Spoken as though I didn’t already know.
“This table is closed,” he said flatly. His pathetic security team stepped forward to stand on either side of him.
Unfazed by the performative intimidation, I replied, “That’s a shame, we have a decent winning streak going. I suppose we will have to select another table to play.”
I turned and offered my hand to Eve. After a brief hesitation, she placed her hand in mine as she stood from her seat.
The crypt demon’s gaze didn’t deviate from me this time.
“The other tables are also closed.”
Glancing around, the entirety of the casino floor operated in full swing. Players remained oblivious to the standoff happening at this roulette table while they continued to gamble their funds away.
“Funny, they look open to me.” I broadly gestured to the activity bustling around us.
Eve reached over to gather her winnings, the stack of chips totaling an obscene amount.
“Leave those,” Argian demanded when he noticed Eve gathering her hard-earned winnings from the obscene stack on the table.
She paused, looking at him with the stubborn fire that always burned in her soul. “Like hell I will, I won these—”
One sharp look from me, and it cut off the rest of her retort. I’d hear about it in spades from her later, but for now, the chips were meaningless to me.
Argian nodded towards the exit. “It is time that you and your pet take your leave.”
Anger flared hot beneath my ribs. My Little Spade would never be referred to as a pet. She was mine—yes—but never would she be demeaned to anything less than worthy of everyone’s awe and admiration.
I stepped forward, matching the decaying piece of shit’s height. When I spoke, it was low and venomous, my breath sending cobwebs fluttering on his sunken cheeks.
“Keep your fucking chips, Argian. I want my books back in order. Declare the damn lease on Sevenfold’s foundation null and void.”
The asshole had been milking the contract for years.
When Sevenfold was constructed, it was laid over the burial grounds of some of Superbia’s most ancient beings.
It was the core of the building, providing an invisible barrier that turned the casino into a stronghold capable of withstanding direct attacks.
When Argian and I had entered into the agreement, the terms were simple. But simple never meant fair in places like these. These days, his demands for increased hardship fees and diminishing spiritual earth in Superbia had made the cost of maintaining my rights to Sevenfold’s foundation exorbitant.
If he ever recalled the lease or worse, sold it, I’d be fucked. Knowing Rip was sniffing his way around my financial matters, I refused to let my domain fall into anybody else’s hands.
A raspy laugh came out of Argian, sounding like a cough of a raven choking on a worm. “Or what?” he challenged.
My lips curved into a wicked smile.
“Or we’ll see how well you hold up when your recent feeding habits come to light. I’d hate to see the fallout when the headlines highlight your addiction to feasting on vampires in their resting state. I heard they don’t take kindly to cowards who strike when they are at their most vulnerable.”
Taking a step back, my shoulders lifted in a nonchalant shrug. “Your call. Hand over the leasing rights to Sevenfold or take your chances with the undead population of Superbia.”
The air between us felt stale. His security team exchanged nervous glances with one another. Eve’s curious energy radiated at my side. And Argian himself appeared to wrestle with the choice between two evils. The fury of an entire species or his greed.
He snapped his fingers, and the biggest member of his team stepped forward with practiced obedience.
“Get Mr. Reynard the contract on Sevenfold Casino.”
A well-timed jackpot bell sounded off in the background.
Fitting.
My empire wouldn’t be brought to its knees. Not today, not ever.