1. Aeris
Aeris
Present day
“Jesus Christ, you’re like the hottest thing,” Isaac groaned, his thick beard scratching against the sensitive skin of my shoulder. “So beautiful.”
I hummed, letting my fingers trail down the hard line of his abdomen until I cupped the heavy strain of his cock through his jeans.
“Why, thank you,” I purred, giving him a slow, deliberate squeeze that dragged another rough sound from his throat.
I’d grown up being told I was beautiful, the word repeated so often it had lost all meaning.
There was no such thing as true beauty, not when everyone carried their own definition of it, but I learned that a pretty face could be a weapon.
It made people lower their guard, loosen their tongues, and surrender secrets they never intended to give away.
It also helped when you offered to suck their cock, but, then again, men were weak.
Pressing my palms against the solid wall of Isaac’s chest, I pushed, guiding him backward until the backs of his knees hit the bed.
He dropped onto the mattress with a soft grunt, the springs creaking under his weight.
Before I could react, his hands clamped around my hips and yanked me down to straddle him.
“Come on,” he rasped, voice rough with lust as he snapped the strap of my dress over my left shoulder like a brute, his lips sucking the spot.
“No marks,” I warned, twisting out of his grip in one fluid motion. I slid off the bed and stood, turning just enough to glance back at him over my shoulder. With a teasing smile I peeled the dress down my body, letting it pool at my feet to leave me in nothing but crimson lace.
His eyes darkened, breath catching as he took me in. “Come here.”
“Not yet,” I murmured, slipping just out of arm’s reach. “Get undressed while I get us drinks.”
He went to protest, but I was already walking towards the adjoining living area with my hips swaying. I was thankful Isaac had splurged on an executive suite, allowing me a moment of privacy as I grabbed the champagne from the ice bucket and two flute glasses.
Making sure I was still alone, I reached into my bra and pulled out a little glass bottle.
It was a deep cobalt, faceted like a jewel that caught the low light in sharp, glittering flashes.
I’d bought it from a cramped stall in the night market, and it had become one of my favourite possessions.
Removing the cork, I tipped the tasteless liquid into his glass.
“There you are,” Isaac growled, his voice a low rumble as he materialised beside me. “Come to bed.”
“Here, finish your drink first.” Handing him the glass, I palmed the bottle and discreetly placed it on the side.
I sipped my champagne as he downed his in one gulp.
The glass almost shattered when he placed it roughly on the side, and I froze when it grazed my bottle.
But Isaac was already leaning in for my mouth, his mind fixed on one thing.
Tilting my head just enough to deny him, I offered my neck instead.
His lips latched on immediately, hot and greedy, sucking hard at the pulse point beneath my jaw.
Step by step, I let him guide us back until he dropped down onto the sofa with a low groan, pulling me with him so I straddled his lap once more. His teeth grazed my skin, his beard scratching in a way that reminded me why I preferred my men clean shaven.
I adjusted my legs each side of his hips, my breasts straining the cups of my bra as his erection pulsed between us. “Is this for me?” I reached for his cock, squeezing a little before I brushed my thumb over the slick head.
“Fucking hell,” Isaac muttered, the words scraping out of him as his head fell back against the sofa cushion. “Wait until I tell the guys about this. You’re one fine piece of arse.”
“That’s not part of the deal, baby.” I let him go, only to rise onto my knees so my lips hovered just shy of his. “This is supposed to be a secret. What kind of girl do you think I am?”
“Take off your bra,” he demanded, his tone growing impatient. “I’ve had enough of this teasing.”
“Not yet.” I rocked my hips in a slow, deliberate grind against the hard length trapped beneath me. “Did you tell anyone about us?” I asked, pouting as his hands groped my arse with a strength that was surprising.
Clearly I’d misjudged his weight.
“Fuuuck,” he groaned, throat working as he swallowed hard. He shook his head, the motion sluggish.
Thank God.
“No,” he grunted. “I haven’t told a soul. They’d never believe me anyway.”
“Good boy,” I murmured, easing my rhythm to a torturous drag. “Let’s keep it that way.”
Not that I trusted him. But that didn’t matter, because to him I was just another pretty face.
One who happened to be at the same pub as him for the last few weeks.
Catching his eye, flirting until I clumsily slipped and fell into his arms. And of course I just had to thank him thoroughly for being my hero.
He clearly didn’t remember who I was.
But I remembered who he was.
Threading my fingers deep into his thick hair, my nails raked slow and sharp across his scalp.
He shuddered under the touch, but then his brows pinched together, confusion flickering across his face.
His mouth opened and then closed like a gasping fish as he tried to swallow, seeming to struggle with the motion.
“Poor baby, is your throat tingling?”
His eyes snapped to mine, pupils already blown wide, panic creeping in at the edges. “Wha … what did you do?” The words came out thick, slurred, tongue heavy in his mouth.
“Oh, just a little toxin found in certain marine animals, something that will keep you still for a while,” I purred into his ear, feeling him tense beneath me.
“Now, in small doses one can expect general weakness, hypotension, a somewhat painful slip into a coma … It can be fatal in forty-eight hours if left untreated.”
“Untreated?”
“Hmm. Shame I gave you such a concentrated dose that you won’t last twenty minutes. Just long enough for us to chat.”
His eyes hardened, and then he bucked with a strength that surprised me. “Stu-stupid bitch!” He flipped us, gripping my upper arms, the weight of his body settling over mine. “Do you know who I work for?”
Shit.
His hands trembled violently as he tried to grip my throat, fingers squeezing with the last dregs of strength the toxin hadn’t yet stolen.
I drove my knee up hard, straight into his groin.
His erection was somehow still going strong, fuelled by rage, adrenaline, or possibly a sheer kink for violence.
Not that I judged, it was never right to yuck someone’s yum. But luckily he howled as I twisted, rolling out from under his weight, only for my head to snap backward as he fisted my wig.
I hissed through clenched teeth, lunging sideways towards the side table where I’d left my bag. My fingers scrambled inside, knocking aside lipstick and cash until they closed around cool glass.
Another hand encircled my wrist, tugging me back sharply. I kicked out, my heel catching his shin as I lifted the vial between us.
“Touch me again and I’ll tip the antidote on the floor.” I flicked off the lid using my nail, precariously tipping the vial.
His eyes locked on it, wide and bloodshot, chest heaving in shallow, frantic bursts as his legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees. His phone was alight in his hand, already calling a number. I immediately hung up and tossed the phone to the other side of the room.
“I never said you could share me,” I teased, adjusting my skewed blonde wig. “Now, who paid you to kidnap two young girls fourteen years ago?”
His eyes burned with helpless rage, his head tipped forward as if his neck couldn’t bear the weight. He went to lift his arm, his fingers managing to touch my calf before it dropped down with a thump.
“Beast … Beast is going to fucking destroy you,” he grunted, the threat mangled into wet, slushy syllables.
“Oh, I don’t think Sebastian will bother avenging such an insignificant little soldier like you.
Does he know you were a guard hired to grab two girls walking home from school?
” I kneeled, pinching his cheeks, my nails digging in almost to cut.
“I distinctly remember you making me sit on your lap, not too different from how we just were. Your disgusting hands sinking beneath my skirt as I cried. I was thirteen.”
His breath came shallower now, wet and ragged, a thin string of drool slipping from the corner of his mouth to trail down his chin. He tried to speak, managing only a broken, “No … that—”
“Don’t worry,” I whispered, moving my face closer to his. “This is going to be our little secret. I won’t tell your wife what kind of man she married. How her husband likes young girls, or that he’s capable of hurting children.”
“I’m … I’m …”
“Now, my sister fought, do you remember? She fought so hard. She was only fifteen, but she kicked and screamed so loud that she caused the driver to pull over, which was where I managed to escape. But she didn’t, did she?”
I stepped back, watching him claw for air, his chest hitching as the situation finally registered with him.
“No, she never made it home.”
His eyes went wide, a strangled sound humming in his throat.
“So, if you want this antidote, you need to tell me what happened after I ran,” I said calmly. “I want to know who hired you and when the last time you saw Mira Murdock was. Oh, and I would do it fast, because you have less than five minutes before you lose the ability to speak.”
His phone glowed in the corner, but I didn’t spare it a second’s glance as I waited with little patience for Isaac to let out a panicked garble, waited until he gave me something useful—and I knew he had something useful to give me.
The information finally spilled and, as it turned out, he didn’t know what happened to my sister after he did his job, but he did give me another name. Another person for me to interrogate until I had the answers I needed.
“An-anti … antidote?” he slurred, his eyes barely tracking me across the room as I redressed and removed any evidence of having been there at all.
“Oh, you mean this?” I held up the vial, rolling it between my fingers so the contents caught the light. “It’s just water and glitter. Pretty, right?”
“B-bitch!” he hissed, collapsing forward until he fell face first against the carpet.
He squirmed for a moment, my heels sinking into the pile as I stood over him.
“Don’t worry, TTX is mostly undetectable unless someone knows exactly what to look for.
You’ll just look like you had a heart attack.
Now, would you like to look as though you were cheating on your wife and went out with a bang …
or just a sad, lonely old man, wanking alone in a hotel room? ”
He made a low, ugly sound.
Blowing him a kiss, I left him sprawled on the carpet of the overpriced hotel room. “Option B it is then.”