“Of course…” Max holds my gaze as I make my exit.
After the door closes behind me, I lean against the wall, breathing hard, and covered in nervous sweat. Nothing but words were exchanged, yet I feel as if I’ve fought a battle and lost.
I stumble back to my rooms, numb and shaking. There are a total of six guests this weekend. Three are here. Three are yet to arrive.
There’s a change in the air. I feel it, and I fear it.
Fifteen
Max
I spew a litany of filthy and vile things, cementing my alias as the words spilling out of me violate every moral principle upon which I stand. I tell Tomas about dark desires, forcing myself on girls who aren’t in a position to consent. How I can’t wait to find the perfect girl to dominate, and how I need to exert control.
I speak of being frustrated I can’t touch who I want, when I want. We speak of dungeons and cages as my insides twist. But this is the job, and I’ll wear this filth until this mission concludes.
One way or another.
As for Eve? Seeing her in person knocks me back a step. Her sea-green eyes and the way those long, thick lashes sweep over her cheeks unnerves me. The haunting arch of her brows which elegantly frame her face? She makes my skin heat, my blood boil, and my dick stir.
It’s an instinctual response. I don’t understand where this deep-seated need to protect and shelter her comes from. This isn’t the same as any of my other rescues. I never felt this for any of those women. Not to mention, this is the kind of shit I definitely don’t need complicating a mission. It’s distracting, and I can’t afford to be distracted.
I could fight it, but I’m realistic. I give up the pretense of emotional detachment, and I’ll figure out a way to keep my head in the game.
Something primal draws me to Eve. It’s animalistic and raw. Not a sense of her being mine, but rather this gut-wrenching need to protect, shelter, and save her from this hell.
Whether it’s her enchanting eyes or her long flowing curls, I itch to reveal her secrets. And I’ll be damned if I don’t want to tan her hide for standing beside Tomas Benefield.
What the hell are you thinking, Eve?
It would be great to say he forces her to stand with him, but there aren’t any signs of coercion. No marks on her flesh. No bruises. No cuts. Nothing to say she isn’t here of her own free will.
The moment the door to my suite shuts, I let loose. “What the ever-loving fuck?”
“Eyes.” Knox’s short, clipped, reply reminds me of the ever-present cameras monitoring our every move. No doubt they’re listening in on us as well.
We haven’t had time to scan the suite they gave me for cameras and bugs, but no doubt they are listening and watching.
“Five.” I lift my hand and spread my fingers wide, making a bet on how many devices we’ll find strewn throughout the room.
“Eight.” Knox holds three fingers, tilted to the side. It’s how we count to ten on one hand. The first five, fingers go up; six through nine, fingers go sideways.
I rein in my temper, and disbelief, surrounding Eve.
As opulent as the rest of the place, our quarters for the next week consist of a master’s suite, a smaller adjoining room for Knox, and a large sitting area. The master’s suite comes with its own bathroom. Knox gets to suffer with a coffin-sized shower next to his coffin-shaped room, while I get to luxuriate in a shower built for ten and a jetted tub the size of a spa.
Our bags arrived in our absence, searched as expected. The backup cellphone and laptop are confiscated, along with a polite note they will be returned once our time here is done.
Knox, acting as manservant and bodyguard, unpacks my things while I pace the room. After acquainting myself with the bar, I pour two fingers of whiskey and relax on the couch.
“Sir…” Knox hands me the note about the laptop and cellphone while I drag a hand down the back of my neck.
“Yeah, I forgot about that.” I toss the note on the bureau, acting like I couldn’t care less. “Who needs that kind of crap with what they have here.”
“Did you see something which interested you?”
“I did.”
“One of the girls in the Oasis, perhaps?”
Our conversation is for the benefit of those listening in.
“Those are too docile.” I take a sip and brace against the alcoholic burn. “Don’t you think?”
“They appeared well-trained.”
“Too well-trained. There’s no life in their eyes. No fight. All their resistance has been beaten out of them.”
“I agree. The joy is in breaking them. Another then?” He pauses in his unpacking to leer at me. Something a close servant might do. “Someone less tame?”
“You would like that.”
Benefield is no idiot, and after our conversation, he knows I reward Knox, sharing my women as I please.
“I would.”
“As would I.”
“The forbidden might be unobtainable, however. Perhaps take another look at what’s offered.”
“Everything has its price.” If that doesn’t cement my interest in Eve, very little will. “I had high hopes this trip would net something worthwhile.”
I glance at one of the cameras mounted in the corner of the room and cock my head as if I only just realized what it is. My eyes pinch together and my lips twist. It’s all an act, but the outcome is the same. Knox and I can’t have eyes and ears listening in on our private conversations.
“Take care of that and any others you may find.” I give instructions to Knox, then turn my attention to our listeners. “I don’t mind being watched in the common areas, but I won’t tolerate intrusions on my privacy in my quarters.”
Knox makes quick work of the cameras in my bedroom, the sitting room, and the master bath. We find nothing obvious in his little room. Not much larger than a closet, it holds a twin bed, small bureau, and the micro bathroom.
This sweep is for show. No doubt there are other listening devices we haven’t found, but Knox will go through the motions of a manual sweep while I use some Mitzy Magic to find all the bugs.
To my surprise, nobody comes to check on us. I would’ve thought security would be pounding on our door, but we’re left to ourselves.
After unpacking, I take a deep breath and glance at the door.
“You ready, sir?” Knox comes to stand beside me.
He knows what’s going through my mind and shares my sentiments. I take a deep breath and put on my game face.
“I am.” I focus on the mission. Our first step is to map out as much of the estate as possible. I step out of the suite and turn left.
“Sir, the Oasis is this way.” Knox gestures to the right.
Forced air blows cooled air through most of the building, but it does little to abate the heat, turning sweltering to merely warm and muggy.
We each wear a pair of specially designed contacts with Mitzy Magic embedded in them. They record everything we see, transmitting it back to base. All Knox and I need to do is walk as much of the grounds as possible.
“I want to stretch my legs.”
“Of course.” Knox steps to my side as I take off.
We wander for the better half of an hour, nodding to the many guards we pass along the way. Moving through one magnificent room to the next, we methodically map out what we can of The Retreat. In addition, facial recognition software tags each of the guards for future use. Mitzy says she never knows what information will wind up being useful.