Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Even Queens Can Bow
Nyomi
The door opened before I knocked.
Hiroko’s assistant, Tsukiko, appeared. "Nyomi, good day.”
“It is.”
Most of my guards remained on the porch and got into their positions.
“Come in." She gave me a bow and stepped aside. “Your party was lovely last night. It was just what Ayame and I needed.”
I entered with only two guards. “Oh, good. I’m so glad you both came.”
“Oh yes.” She closed the door. “And the after party was just as exciting.”
I quirked my brows. “The after party?”
“Yes. You didn’t hear?”
“Hear what?”
“The Claws’ orgy.”
I might have shrieked. “Excuse me?”
“Yes. Hiro announced the orgy at the end and then kicked the Fangs out.”
Hiro. . .you little freak.
“Hold up.” I placed my hand on my chest. “Hiro just said, ‘Hey, let’s have an orgy?’”
“Actually. . .” She held a finger to her chin and thought about it. “I’m pretty sure Hiro climbed onto the table and yelled, ‘The orgy is about to begin. Fangs and anyone else that doesn’t want to participate get out.’”
“What?!”
“The Fangs then demanded that they did want to participate, but Hiro said it was the Claws’ orgy.”
“Oh God.” I laughed.
“I was sure it would be a battle, but they yelled out a few curses at him and left.” She bobbed her head. “And the orgy was quite delightful. Just what Ayame and I needed.”
They got freaky with the Claws?
I made sure to keep my shock and amusement off my face.
“An excellent evening.” Tsukiko guided my guards and me forward.
The relaxing fragrance of incense rose around us. The chaise sat low and long against the far wall. The mirror across from it caught us as we moved through the room.
The cage was still in the corner, and my slave was sleeping inside.
There he goes.
Tsukiko walked us toward it. "Hiroko used to tell us that there are very few things in this world that an orgasm cannot heal. Headaches. Bad days. Heartbreak and. . .grief.”
I stopped in front of the cage and looked at her.
"Hiroko said that grief sits in the body.
In the hips. In the throat. In the place where the breath gets stuck.
" Tsukiko touched her own throat lightly with two fingers.
"She said tears do some of the work. Sleep does some of the work.
But pleasure—real pleasure, the kind that empties you out—pleasure does the work the other two cannot.
It moves the grief out of the body the way only the body can move it. "
She gave me a sad smile. "So when Hiro climbed onto the table last night and announced what he announced, I thought of Hiroko. And I stayed."
“Good. Then. . .did you get that. . .release?”
Her cheeks went pink. "Daisuke helped."
"Aww."
She lifted her chin. "Twice."
“Alright now.”
Go Daisuke.
“I’m grateful to him.” She sighed. “Thanks to those orgasms, the morning came easier today. Our packing and thoughts for the future after this war seem. . .brighter. Maybe even hopeful.”
“Perfect.”
I looked down at my sleeping slave. He was curled up on his side inside. His breath slowly moved in and out.
Today, he was in a fresh black leather bodysuit. His hands were tucked under his cheek. His knees were drawn up.
And in his arms, pressed against his chest and tucked under his chin like a teddy bear, was one of Hiroko's leather heeled boots.
Black.
Tall.
With a slim sharp heel.
His fingers curled loose around the shaft of it. His thumb rested against the curve of the arch. The toe of the boot was tucked into the soft hollow of his throat.
He was holding Hiroko in the only way he had left.
My throat closed.
"He's been sleeping all day," Tsukiko whispered.
“I must admit that I’ve been a shitty master.”
"Do not worry about that. You have no training. Besides, we lost him during the orgy last night.”
“Oh no.” I looked at her. “What happened?”
“He slipped out somewhere in the middle of everything. We didn't realize he was gone until very late."
"Where did he go?"
"We think he came straight here." She nodded toward him.
"When we found him this morning, he was in this cage with that boot, and he had on a fresh bodysuit.
The one he'd been wearing must have become muddy. We couldn’t find it, but we think he crawled back to Hiroko's villa through the gardens.
Got dirty. Found a clean suit in her things.
Changed himself. Then climbed into the cage with her boot and went to sleep. "
I exhaled. “I should have done better—”
“You don’t know how to be a master.”
“I just wanted to do right by Hiroko, but Kenji wasn’t having it last night.”
“We should have considered the fact that the Dragon would not share. Hiroko sure would have.” She sighed.
“You will need to find a new master. Unfortunately, he will need someone new. We've been introduced to him as Hiroko's servants. He would never see us any other way. He’d been Hiroko’s slave for too long.”
Before I could speak, laughter came from the back of the villa.
I looked that way. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, come on. We’re having a little celebration with Zo and your friends.” She headed off.
“My friends?”
She nodded. “Deja and Nika.”
Oh shit.
I smirked at Deja’s name.
Time for some gossip.
I gave my slave one more look—his lashes dark against his cheek, the heel pressed under his jaw, the cage door not even locked—and turned away.
We went through a room.
More laughter hit me first as we approached the porch. Then the smell of weed, thick, sweet, and unapologetic in the afternoon air.
Oh, we really are celebrating.
Nika was sprawled on a lounge chair, wearing a Run-D.M.C. t-shirt and jeans. She had her bare feet up on a cushion and was holding a joint in her right hand.
Deja sat a few feet away from her dressed in all white and holding her own joint.
I actually blinked at the sight.
The color and outfit seemed so different on her. She wore an expensive white blouse, with these designer white slacks that fit her like they'd been measured to her hip.
Even her nails were white.
She oozed this quiet wealth like her family had several estates and owned banks for centuries.
But the crazier part. . .Deja was blushing so hard her whole face was brownish-pink.
Oh. My. God. What has Rin done to my friend?!
Just when I was about to ask, I turned to see Zo completely passed out. His long body was draped across a chair. He had on a polo shirt and slacks. A blue blanket had been placed over him.
I smirked. “Did you all get him so high that he fell asleep?”
Deja snickered.
Nika shook her head. “Girl, you don’t want to know why he is knocked out.”
“I don’t?”
“No. I would just say this.” Nika took a puff of her joint and blew smoke out. “Don’t touch Deja.”
“Don’t touch Deja?”
“Yep. Don’t hug her. Don’t touch her hand. Shit. I wouldn’t even sit too close to her.”
“Why not?”
Nika pointed at Zo. “Or you’ll go night-night.”
Hiroko’s other assistant, Ayame, laughed in the corner. Tsukiko chuckled and sat next to her.
Meanwhile, Deja frowned. “Girl, let’s not make this a big thing.”
Nika shrugged. “I’m just warning her.”
I held out my hands. “What the fuck am I missing?”
“Dude put some shit on Deja’s skin so if someone touches her, they’ll go to sleep.” Nika shook her head and took another hit of the joint. “Motherfucker coo-coo for coco puffs.”
“What?!” I stepped back. “There’s poison on your skin?”
“Rin is just being a bit possessive.” Deja rolled her eyes. “I told you I’m his first bad bitch.”
“Okay. So hold up.” I grabbed a chair and scooted it by Nika to make sure I didn’t get too close to Deja. “You let him put something on your skin that could knock people out?”
“Girl, you need to mind your business.” Deja waved me away.
“And is Zo going to be okay?” I looked at him.
A loud snore left him.
“The doctor checked him out. He’s fine and will wake up in an hour.” Deja pulled out her lighter and lit the tip of her joint even though it didn’t need to be lit.
I stared at her.
She looked at me and snapped. “What?”
“You know what I want to know.”
“Girl, what do you want to know?”
“Everything!” I held out my hands. “Every-mother-fucking-thing. Don’t leave nothing out. Shit start from the beginning and tell it slowly.”
“I am not saying anything.”
Nika rolled her eyes. “Girl, she won’t even tell me and I’m her cousin. She’s just been over there blushing in all-white with poison on her skin. I don’t even recognize her.”
Zo let out another loud snore.
I covered my mouth. “So what? Zo just came over to hug you and then what?”
“Fell right to the fucking floor. His fingers barely even made true contact with her arm.” Nika handed the joint to me. “The poison is like radiating from her.”
Deja’s frown deepened. “I tried to tell Zo not to hug me but he was talking so fast and it all just happened quickly.”
“Zo got some good dick last night and was raving on and on about it.” Nika chuckled. “He stumbled over to her talking about how he could tell she fucked too and next thing you know he dropped to the floor. Big ass. It was like Godzilla or something. The whole place vibrated."
“Girl, you are over-exaggerating.”
“Zo says you owe him money.” Nika pointed. “You can give it to me and I’ll give it to him.”
I sucked my teeth and turned back to Deja. “So. . .”
“What, Nyomi?”
“Did you have sex with Rin?”
Deja blushed and my whole reality felt like it had upended. I had never known her to do that in my life.
Nika shook her head. “I’m calling the police on him. He must have drugged her too.”
“Rin didn’t drug me.” She studied her joint. “He’s just. . .teaching me new things.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Like what? And. . .does it involve you putting a bag over your head?”
She blinked. “You know about that crazy shit?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
Nika sat up. “A bag? Over whose head? What are you two talking about?”
“Girl, you know I don’t play that.” Deja gestured to her face. “That would be the greatest violation.”
Nika widened her eyes. “Why would a bag be over your head?”