Electricity zinged through me, my fingers nearly prickling with the excess energy that coursed through me at the simple touch. She was staring at me, but I couldn’t move my eyes away from where her manicured nails lay so delicately on my skin.
Her other hand came to my chin, pulling my gaze away from between us until I was looking into a dark ocean of forest green. Her eyes were warm, so fucking warm that I thought I could see the strands of color melting into one another.
“I don’t believe you, mi amore. Your brother is here, and I could just as easily kill him as I could take you up on your offer now.”
My heart skipped, my cheeks flushing.
I fucking hated the way she could read the panic in my eyes when she said, “Do not worry. I won’t. No, Don and I find you much too curious to turn your ire on us just yet.”
Just yet.The words rang between my eardrums like tiny little bullets ricocheting off my skull.
“Though I do think that means we must find something else—somethingmore—to bargain with, don’t you?” She leaned in closer.
My breath hitched in my chest as she brushed her thumb across my bottom lip, pulling it down, her nail pulling at my bottom teeth. I slackened my jaw, letting her move my face around like one would the dolls she likened me to.
Her soft movements turned hard when she gripped me suddenly, the nail pressing into the soft flesh under my tongue, but her eyes stayed warm and her pretty smile didn’t change.
I made a small, desperate sound at the sharp pain that flared in my mouth trying to follow her movements, to keep from hurting the sensitive tissue, but she pressed harder until all I could taste was the tang of my own blood.
I whimpered, the sound linking directly to the wetness that seeped out from not only my eyes but further down south.
She pulled me closer to her, making me half crawl over her body before she licked at the tear track right up my cheek, “You taste so pretty, muñequita, like a princess trapped in my tower.”
Her laugh was breathy, nearly a moan before she released me just as quickly as she had caught me. I scrambled back as she spoke, “A kiss, my love, for your information and a favor at a future date. That is what we require of you if you would like to put your brother’s life back in his own oh-so-clumsy hands.”
I soothed the inside of my mouth with my tongue, glaring at her shoulder, not wanting her to see whatever it was she would find in my eyes, “A kiss? Really?”
“And a favor, but yes, that’s it. Just a little kiss, and you can be on your merry way. Do we have a deal,hermosa?”
It sounded dangerous. The thought of giving even so little so freely was too good to be true, but that was exactly what made the thrumming under my skin burn hotter. I nodded once, softly, not wanting the liquid pool of desire I felt bubbling up to slip between my lips.
The smile that broke across her face was priceless though. I felt the pride trying to blossom between my ribs, lifting my shoulders to sayI did that—to acknowledge that I had put it there. I hated it.
I squashed it down with as much force as I could muster. I couldn't afford to give this woman anything more than what I promised her: a kiss, the information, and a favor to be cashed in hopefully very much later.
My back was to the door, so maybe that’s why I hadn’t heard when Don slid into the room until he was directly in front of me, but it certainly didn’t explain how I had missed Jaymes's footsteps up the stairs.
I doubted that he had been as closed and quiet on his way up, prowling in much the same way I imagined Don likely had. Don reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. He made a few taps before handing it to me.
“Everything you know,” he said.
I took it, marveling at how smooth and light it was. I wondered how a man with such large hands, hands I had made sure not to grace when accepting the phone, could handle it without breaking it.
My phone was heavy, it’s case even heavier. I couldn’t see myself with something so delicate on a daily basis. I would have broken it before the day was out. Don, it seemed, had no such qualms.
The screen showed a blank notes tab, so I did as I was asked and spilled out all the letters and numbers of the two safe houses that Bryce had drilled into my head, hoping that my dyslexia didn’t decide today was the day and I was the one to be fucked with.
My fingers shook as I handed it back to him, my knees tucked under me from when Valentina had half dragged me across the bed.
The woman in question stood just as Don accepted his phone back, and the two of them walked like predators to the door. Jaymes was closest to them.
I watched the decisions filter over his face, the thought of barreling into them and hopefully throwing them down the stairs passed by like watching it on a screen.
I held my breath hoping against all hope and praying to every goddess I could think of that he stay still, that he not move too quickly or do anything too stupid.
I stood from the bed, my legs shaking as I came closer to them as if I could slow time enough if I moved delicately. The “twins” watched me, faces completely opposite one another as I slid towards them.
“You’ll have to wait here while we verify the information, my love, your brother as well.” Valentina threw us both a wink before she and Don were moving, slamming the door behind them.