Chapter 27 #2
It was a command. Sarah stood, her aching feet pressing in her boots. She had touched up her makeup and wig while Luca prepared in the bedroom. What had she done? What was she going to do to her? How deep would Sarah’s brain be forced to go?
The moment Luca approached, Sarah turned on Angel’s charm. It was as familiar as a splinter that had stabbed her skin for one day too long.
“Yes, ma’am?” She drew one finger down Luca’s jawline. “What can I do for you?”
“I didn’t invite you up here to sit on my couch and look pretty.” Luca pulled away from her, gesturing to the dimly lit bedroom. Candles flickered beyond the doorway. Candles and a neatly made bed, unlike the one Sarah had seen when she first walked in that day.
“Of course not, ma’am.” Sarah opened the front of her jacket, showing off her slinky dress beneath. “Where do you want me?” A giggle. “How do you want me?”
“You can start by taking off that dress and sitting on my bed.” Luca went into the bathroom and rooted through one of her drawers.
“Hmph.” Sarah dropped her jacket on the floor and unzipped her dress. Getting out of it with someone helping her was far more preferable, but she wasn’t incapable of undressing herself. “Whatever you want, ma’am.”
Sarah shimmied out of everything except for her underwear and garter. By the time Luca returned from the other room, Sarah sat on the edge of the bed with clothes tossed on the other side of the bedroom.
“You’re confident for someone who’s here to do what I want.”
Sarah leaned back on her hands, pushing her chest up.
That’s what Angel does. She entices, ensnares, and ensures that she’s ultimately the one getting what she wants.
Angel knew how to seduce women into bed and leave them absolutely wasted.
Luca was no different when they met, and she would be no different tonight.
Nobody could eschew Angel’s charms.
“Even with that wig and makeup on, you’re still the same beautiful Sarah I’ve always loved, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “I’m whoever you want me to be.”
Luca rolled up her sleeves. Hair as fine as the rest of her speckled her skin.
Her watch glistened in the candlelight until she had the sense to unlatch it and toss it onto her dresser.
How much did Sarah have to pay to get this woman to unbutton her shirt next?
Let me at her. I’ll nuzzle my nose against those breasts and feel every breath of strength inside of her.
Sarah wanted to draw upon that strength for herself.
She’d make sure Luca wanted for nothing for the next twenty-four hours.
“Take off your wig, Angel.”
Her languid eyes snapped open. “Excuse me?”
“I told you to take off the wig. I don’t care how you act. Just take off the fake hair and let me see the real thing.”
Sarah kept her chest puffed out while she pulled the pins from her scalp and left them on the bed. Didn’t take much to dislodge the wig from her scalp after that. Flattened dark hair spilled out from the cap and fell limp against her face. Was this what Luca wanted? To see her post-Angel look?
“You don’t need this anymore.” Luca gently took the wig from Sarah’s hands and tossed it on top of her clothes.
Sarah looked between it and her with a judgmental gaze.
Even those hands caressing her face couldn’t ease the tension behind her eyes.
“This is the real Sarah right here. And I’m going to treat her like anyone would treat Angel. ”
Sarah steeled herself. Those were fighting words to her subconscious.
“You’re going to see that neither of us needs her. We only need each other, Sarah.”
Luca lowered her lips and kissed Sarah’s forehead. Sarah stiffened even more, her legs on the brink of shaking. But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. The last thing she would do was let Luca see a blink of weakness.
“You only need yourself. You don’t even need me.”
Luca combed her fingers through Sarah’s short hair. When she was satisfied with her appearance, she stood up straight, sincerity never leaving her stoic visage. “You’re not happy.”
Sarah slowly shook her head.
“I’ve ripped off your mask. I’d apologize, except I can’t make a point with that thing around, now can I?” She let one finger trail down Sarah’s cheek. “I love you. You know, right?”
She knew. She didn’t know what to say, though.
“Do you want to love me?”
Her old headshake turned into a timid nod. Now she couldn’t look Luca in the eye again.
“Sarah.”
If she looked up, what would she see? The domineering countenance of a woman who wanted to take control? The sweet, sad face of the woman who loved her and worried for her well-being? The indifference of a European heiress who saw her as another sexual plaything?
What about all three?
“Are you afraid of me, Sarah?”
“No.”
“Do you trust me?”
She barely waited a second to respond. “Yes.”
“Do you trust me with your body?”
“Yes.”
“Your mind?”
“Yes.”
Luca’s finger hooked behind Sarah’s ear, gently tugging on her cartilage. “How about your heart, my love?”
Sarah didn’t want to answer. She could barely answer with her soul. Wouldn’t it be better if she encircled her arms around Luca and inhaled her scent? Nothing was more reassuring.
“Take me, please,” she begged. “I want to feel better.”
“I’m not going to simply make you feel better, Angel.” Luca accepted her kiss with unrelenting desire. Between words of adoration, she said, “I’m going to liberate you.”