Geared for Pleasure (12 page)

The man rubbed his hands together and Dare cringed. Her only solace was in knowing Seraphina knew how to play this game, and that Bodhan was jealous of how Lennis was ogling her.

“Seraphina.” Bodhan’s voice was harsher than she was used to. “Put her in the chair.”

Oh, Idony. What was she to do? She bit her lip, tasting blood. Whatever she must to get out of this situation intact, to give Bodhan the time he needed to steal his secrets.

Was it mere days before that she was one of the highest-ranking Wode, esteemed above all others for her duty and honor to the queen? She’d had no idea this world existed, and now she was a part of it. A voluntary part of Bodhan’s deceptions.

The two men sat in comfortable loungers, a large bottle of liquor on the table between them as Seraphina took her hand and led her to the intimidating contraption.

The chair was made of copper and wood. It had arms and a seat with leather padding, but it was the legs of the chair Dare was focused on. Were her feet supposed to go there? Spread out like that?

Seraphina growled softly in her ear. “Just hold on tight and follow my lead. If you’re a good girl I will tell you everything they are saying. I do owe you after all.”

The men were speaking in low tones Dare could not discern. She
could feel the sick, cloying lust of Lennis, as well as the more complicated layers of Bodhan’s emotions, but she couldn’t hear a word.

A Felidae, however, could not only see through water, she could hear for miles. Dare nodded, allowing Phina to guide her into position.

Once her legs were on the wooden slats that extended from the chair, Phina pushed a lever on the side. The action triggered something that caused her legs to spread further apart, completely revealing her to the men’s view.

Her fingernails dug into the chair’s arms as her flesh heated with embarrassment. All that stood between their gaze and her bare flesh was the thinnest of materials. She may as well have been naked.

Lennis made a high-pitched noise of pleasure. “Tear that fabric open and let us see if the half-breed has any cunny curls.”

Seraphina purred and held up her hand, allowing him to see her sharpened nails extend. “Of course, handsome. Let me get her comfortable first.”

She leaned over Dare and pushed another lever behind her. “Don’t listen to him,” she breathed sensually. “Just enjoy what I’m going to do to you and think about how crazed Bodhan will be while he watches. I can smell him, fair Dare. He’s hungry.”

The chair leaned back far enough that, unless Dare lifted her head, she wouldn’t have to stare at Lennis. Without knowing what was going on, all she could do was feel.

The sound of tearing fabric followed by a cool breath on her sex told her Phina had done as the man had requested. In the brightly lit room, all eyes were on her. Seeing what no one but Bodhan had had seen, had tasted, in the lift. The bare skin that surrounded her sex. Bodhan’s desire and possessiveness blew against her like a heated breath of air, making her shiver.

“Hmm, just like a pure Wode, then.” Lennis almost sounded disappointed. “I always hope the inheritance mix’ll make them different
somehow. I know your Felidae has fucked her share of full-blooded Wode before. Maybe your novice tastes different than the others, eh, Bodhan?”

He wanted to kill the little man.

Bodhan’s feelings had become so intense she could hear them clearly. With every moment that passed he had to control his desire to maim, though Lennis would never know it from their conversation. “Delicious idea. Seraphina, give her a thorough tasting while Lennis and I enjoy the view.”

Dare’s head lifted at that, snaring Bodhan’s icy blue gaze from across the room. Despite her abilities, his words still hurt her. That he could let someone else…

A subtle tightening of Phina’s fingers around her thighs drew her attention. “The show, Dare. Pretend to enjoy it until you do.” Phina’s smile was sensual. “I know I will. Pretend and let him work without worrying he’s scarring you for life.”

Phina placed soft, open-mouthed kisses on the skin of her thigh, now bared for all to see. Dare whimpered, closing her eyes. It felt… good. Gentle. Feminine. Warm.

Phina’s voice vibrated against her skin. “You taste as unique as you smell, fair Dare. Wonderful. And Lennis is already drunk and distracted. Bodhan knows just how to start his bragging. He’s telling him how good he is at acquiring people for the Siren.”

Dare moaned when Phina’s rough tongue stroked the crease of her sex. Bodhan had done this. Tasted her like this. And now he was watching her. Wanting her. Wanting to taste her again.

“Touch your breasts, Dare. Touch them and show them you are responding to me.” Phina shifted position, the sound of her chemise shifting Dare’s only warning before the soft fur of her tail was caressing Dare’s arm. “Trust me.”

Her eyes opened halfway, feeling hooded and heavy as she watched the tail wrap around her wrist. It felt heavenly. And Phina’s
emotions were kind. Wary but kind, with an intriguing thread of true arousal. It was a tantalizing combination. She would do what the Felidae asked.

Dare reached up to caress the bare skin above her corset and sensed Phina smile against her flesh. “That’s right. Touch them the way you want him to. The way you need him to. Bodhan is struggling now. But he’s done enough. Lennis cannot stop talking about his use of independent procurers. How much money he’s been given to be careful, to never choose the same place or same person to carry out their deeds twice. How he and his partner Mul—”

Phina stopped talking, her tail stiff and trembling. Dare’s senses picked up Phina’s sudden rage. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew without a doubt that Seraphina was going to leap across the room and kill the perverted Lennis. She had to stop her.

Dare reached down and, with far more courage than she was feeling, tangled her fingers in Phina’s hair. She raised her voice so the men could hear. “Do that again, Phina.
Please
. It feels so good.”

Phina’s green eyes widened, then narrowed suspiciously. She’d been doing nothing. Dare tried to send a warning expression. They needed to know about the people involved. Needed to know where they were being taken.

But Dare had distracted Lennis. “What did she do? Let me see it again. Better yet, can we fuck her with something? Seraphina can fill her with her tail. Or we can use one of your special devices, yes, Bodhan? One of those stormcocks made of glass that would give her all those heavenly little shocks.”

He stood up, weaving a little as he moved away from Bodhan’s restraining hand and attempted to unbutton his pants. “I’m tempted to do the deed myself, and damn restraint. How often does one come across such an undamaged half-breed? Such pretty blue hair and so small she couldn’t put up much of a fight. How much more will it cost? I will pay any price.”

Phina got up slowly, keeping her eyes on Dare, who shook her head. For some reason, she did not believe Phina would be able to restrain herself. Whatever he’d said to set her off felt… personal. Bodhan was hardly faring better. The idea of this man touching her enraged him.

“Unfortunately, that was not a part of the arrangement, Lennis. You know the rules.”

Dare sat up and watched Bodhan walk toward the drunken man, his movements wary but his smile still firmly in place. “Though you don’t need my Siren. From what you’ve told me you could have the most skilled procurer go out and get you any virginal flower you desired.”

Lennis frowned like a petulant child and backed away from Bodhan. Closer to the chair. “They aren’t for me, you simpleton. I’m paid to bag them not bring them to my bed. I’m not allowed to touch them. Sure, we can rough ’em up if they struggle, but for the most part, we’re just meant to send them to the Avi—well, to get them. I don’t know where they go from there, but it certainly isn’t home with me.”

His feelings were confused. He wasn’t sure why he’d said so much. He’d almost told them about the desert.

Dare slid out of the chair, heedless of her state of disarray, and moved around the dangerously still Phina to face him. His eyes were dilated, hard to read, but his emotions were strong enough for her to hear the confusion of his thoughts. And they were confused, too much so from one simple drink.

Dare looked up at Bodhan in shock. “You drugged him.”

Phina put a hand on her arm but Dare shook it off. “You drugged him, and whatever it was, it was too much. His mind is jumbled and he’s too muddled to think, let alone control himself. But he was lying. He knows exactly where they take them.”

“And how, by Theorrey’s End, did you figure all that out while
sitting in that damned chair?” Bodhan’s growl was intimidating, as were the suspicions she could feel slicing her skin like lashes from a whip.

“Trust me. I just do.” She looked up at Lennis. “You and your partner. Where do you take the people you abduct? You said Avi. Avici? The desert. Do you just dump them there or is there a reason? Do you leave them on the black sand to die?”

Lennis was looking panicked, his head shaking so vehemently that his hair went flying. “How do you know about the desert? Spying? You were spying on me?”

Dare had to take a chance. “Do you know who was responsible for abducting the man from the Siren? Did they take him to the desert as well?”

She focused, willing him to panic. Willing his emotions to strengthen so she could read them more clearly.

Not him. He didn’t know. Not him.

Dare sighed, her heart aching. “It must have been his partner. He had no idea.”

Lennis raised his hand as if to strike her. “How dare you! I will show you how a half-breed should speak to her betters.”

Before Dare could raise her hands in defense, Bodhan was there. Dare saw the blood pouring from the other man’s nose before he fell to the ground and was surprised that she hadn’t needed to defend herself.

“Seraphina, back away.”

Dare looked up to find Bodhan standing over the prone Lennis, his hands up to ward off the growling Phina. “He’s a murderer, boss. We’ve heard enough. I’d just like to pay him back in kind.”

“Not tonight. My ship, my rules, remember? Dare, the blanket on the back of my lounger. Cover yourself.
Now
.” Bodhan never took his eyes away from the Felidae, but he raised his voice. “James Stacy.”

Dare instinctively obeyed as the door slammed inward and James
and several guards poured through the opening, swords and guns in hand. “Sir?”

Bodhan kicked Lennis with his boot. “Pour a bit more of our special brew down his throat and post a guard at his door in case he wakes. I want him unconscious with no memory of what happened tonight until we surface, is that understood?”

James nodded. “Perfectly, sir. Anything else?”

Bodhan’s expression was grim. “Yes. Seraphina will be returned to the women’s suite for the duration. No customers, no special requests, no exceptions. Dare will be taken below, where I entrust you personally with her safety and care. A hair is touched on her little blue head and everyone will pay. Again, am I understood?”

James paled, but nodded again. “Yes, sir.” He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Dare wrapped herself protectively in the blanket, hating the expression in Bodhan’s eyes when he looked at her. So much distrust. He’d been truly concerned for her safety when Lennis attempted to strike her. She had the strangest sensation it was that emotion that had made his decision, more than the way she’d behaved.

She’d said too much. Asked too many questions. Both Phina and Bodhan were looking at her as though they had never seen her before. They could not know about her abilities. No one could.

His lips barely moved. “What I am sure of is that I don’t pay you to question my orders. Take her. And get her something decent to wear.”

She saw Seraphina shake her head in stunned surprise as James led Dare out of the room. Was she surprised he had sent her away? Or that he had not allowed Seraphina to question her the way she now obviously wanted to?

Only three things were certain. If Lennis’s partner had abducted Cyrus, he had been taken to the desert. Seraphina, from the turmoil and guilt inside her, knew more about the disappearances than she
was admitting. And Bodhan? It seemed the more she trusted him, the less he trusted her. She hadn’t been prepared for how much that bothered her. How much she wanted to please him. To be near him.

Land could not come soon enough. She had to find Cyrus and the queen. There was no time for distractions. And Bodhan was a dangerous distraction. Dare couldn’t help but feel that with Bodhan she was sinking. Her feelings, like water, were rising above her head.

And she had never learned to swim.

“You go on in now, Dare. And if you’d take this in with you, I’d be thankful.” James Stacy shifted impatiently before handing her a bottle of amber liquid. “Let the boss know I’m off to the engine room to make sure Massen stays awake for the ascent this time and won’t have our ears poppin’ and bones rattlin’.” He noticed her expression and his grin wavered. “No, I mean, it’s perfectly safe. Your ears won’t bleed or nothin’. Massen is the best. Honest.”

He turned and started to walk away, muttering to himself under his breath.

Two days of waiting for Bodhan to visit her. Two days spent learning more about James Stacy and his love for the young Miss Coral than she’d ever cared to know. He was a good, honest man. And he did love to talk.

She’d managed to get him to share more about the goings-on aboard the Siren. James believed his boss could do no wrong. It seemed to be an epidemic on this ship, putting Bodhan on a pedestal. According to James, there was nothing he wouldn’t do for his employees, nothing he wouldn’t risk to help an innocent. The way
the guard described him, Bodhan was more hero than sinner. As virtuous as the eternal queen herself.

So why had he not come? Not even to question her about her apparent knowledge of the abductions? Why had he waited until they were about to surface to send for her?

And why did she care?

“Come in, Dare.”