Retribution (Book 3 of The Dominion Series) (45 page)

Part of me wants to go back to that moment when I was tied up and waiting for him, but for some reason, he doesn’t take me there. I want to ask him why but I don’t, trying for once just to let him make the decisions without me questioning them.

He knows what’s best.

Instead, we just kiss and soon, he starts stroking my body with his hands, grabbing my ass, pulling me against him, and I can’t help but rub myself against his erection. I half-expect him to stop me, but he doesn’t, letting me stay on top and then I want him inside of me.

“I want to fuck you,” I say and sit up.

“I know,” he says and sits up as well, holding himself for me and I mount him, sighing as he fills me up so completely.
  It doesn’t take long for me to come and when I do he holds me for a few moments. Then, he lays me down on the bed and fucks me missionary-style, his face in the crook of my neck, and he comes with my legs wrapped around his waist, grunting in my ear.

Later, I’m laying in his arms, and he’s stroking my hair.

“Why did you untie me?”

He doesn’t say anything for a while. “You weren’t ready. You were overwhelmed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Emotionally, you weren’t ready,” he says, his voice soft. “It was too much.”

I frown. “I thought I was ready. I was so aroused…”

"You were, but when I tie you up, I don't want thoughts of
him
intruding. You're not ready yet. Bondage is very powerful for a submissive. It's very emotional, Eve. It requires trust and abandon. You're not there yet. But soon…"

He kisses me again and I decide that he knows what's right.

"Why do you like bondage?"

"I love when you give over your complete trust to me. I love the power you give me to make you feel pleasure."

"Have you always been like this?"

“What do you mean always? With other women?"

I nod. "Yes. Do you require your lovers to be submissive?"

"I don't have any other lovers, Eve. Gabrielle was just to please Soren. And no. Some women I've been with in the past didn't need it. But you," he says and strokes my cheek. "You do."

"Doesn't this go against all your Catholic sensibilities?" I say and smile.

"You’ve made me insatiable, you temptress.”

I don’t know how to respond to that.

“Do you go and pray immediately after we fuck?” I say and smile.

He laughs, his smile so beautiful it hurts my heart.

“Yes. The marks on my knees should be proof of that.”

I sit up and he rolls onto his back and my gaze moves over his naked body. What a beautiful man he is.

“Your knees look fine to me," I say, grinning at him, trying to look all seductive. “You've corrupted
me
,” I whisper into his ear.

Then he opens his eyes and runs his fingers along my cheek. “You could never be corrupted.”

We kiss, and move as we do, we move easily from tenderness to arousal once more.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings."

Gustave Flaubert

The next day, Michel, Soren and Julien are out on some business, leaving me alone. After I dress for the day in one of Michel's gowns, I play my entire repertory, and then read for a while. Finally, wander around the mansion, bored out of my mind. A guard stands at the window, watching the grounds and the road outside the mansion. There are other homes just as rich along the streets bordering Soren's, with the same tall stone walls with barbed wire. I stand behind the guard and examine the yard, noticing several guards patrolling the perimeter of the grounds. A horse and cart pull up and waits at the gate. A guard goes to speak with the driver and then passes the cart on.

It drives up and stops in front of the rear service door and a couple of men in uniforms emerge with large tool boxes in hand. One of them wearing a cap and sunglasses sees me, then pulls his equipment into the hallway outside the library.

"Eve, come with me." When I stay where I am, he grabs my arm. "I need to speak to you."

I frown. When I look up, he removes his sunglasses.

It's Dylan.

"Come to the back door."

He lets go of my arm. I follow him to the rear entry, knowing I probably shouldn't leave but I do anyway. One of the guards pulls a crossbow and points it at him and Dylan immediately holds his hands up, and he uses that strange power I saw him use once before to send the weapon flying, the guard falling to the floor in a heap. Dylan goes to the man and touches his neck like he did to the men in the park. Then he turns to me and pulls me out the rear door and into the cart, pushing me down, covering me with a tarp while another man drives the cart away. I glance out the back of the cart and see a number of Soren's guards running after us, but they're too slow and we're outside the gates and driving down the road before they can respond.

Dylan turns my face to his. "Eve, just keep quiet and do what I say."

I nod and lay on the hard floor of the cart as it jostles over the road, wondering who the heck Dylan is working with.

We drive for some time along the coast road, past an old cemetery and stop at a small park by the sea. Outside, it's very warm for this time of year. Dylan ushers me out of the cart. He points to a small seating area along a sidewalk looking out over the water. I walked over to the bench and glance around. A few meters away stands a woman with her back to me. When she turns, I don't recognize her. She smiles at me and walks over to where I stand.

“Eve,” she says. “It's been so long. I know you don't recognize me. I'm Terri Starr. I worked with you at the SCU before the accident."

I look closely in her eyes, but I don't remember her. She has large brown eyes, wide cheeks, and short steel-grey haircut in a masculine style.

She embraces me, and it feels so strange to be hugging her – a complete stranger.

“I’m sorry, Eve, but all this cloak and dagger stuff is necessary.”

I nod and follow her and Dylan down a path to a small cottage on the beach and enter the whitewashed house that feels like it belongs in California instead of Boston. Inside the home, we sit at a small wooden table on a quiet patio.

Terri and I sit in silence and watch as Dylan prepares tea. Sunlight shines on his skin, the paleness contrasting with his dark hair. He bends over the small jade-green teapot and swirls the hot water inside. He stirs the tea and then looks up at us, smiling.

“May I offer you some tea?”

Terri nods and I do the same. I see a very sharp sword in a scabbard on his hip. A Samurai sword.

Dylan pours the amber liquid into our cups, and then sits back on his seat.
  We sip at the fragrant jasmine liquid and the scent calms me.

“I wanted to see you, to talk to you about what's happening,” he says.
 

"I thought you were working for Blackstone."

"I am, but on behalf of the Council. We know you're with Soren and Michel. He’s busy preparing for conquest. We have a plan to stop him.”

"Michel has a plan as well," I say. "But I don’t know the details."

"Michel can't be trusted any longer," Dylan says. "We have to move on our own."

"You don't think Michel will follow through on his plan? I thought it was the
Council's
plan."

"He can't be trusted. We're moving forward. We need you. We think Michel is now truly siding with Soren. That he's seen Soren and the Twelve as the lesser of two evils."

In all honesty, I don't know what to believe any more. I can't imagine that Michel sees Soren's rule as the better choice. He
hates
Soren.

A breeze blows through the courtyard making a wind chime sound. My anxiety dissipates as I listen to its soft melody. I close my eyes and try to imagine what life would be like with Soren as a god ruling over us. Probably not much better than if vampires ruled us in Dominion.

We sit for a few moments and I sip at the last of my tea and feel a heavy weight of sadness descend on me.  Dylan reaches out and squeezes my arm, but I pull my arm away, not wanting anyone to take away my feelings, however bad they might be.

"Now, we have to talk about the plan.”

"What plan?"

"The plan to kill Soren."

“If you tell me the plan, Soren will find out. Michel will find out. He's making me share his blood with his group of would-be gods."

"We have a way to stop them from reading you, Eve," Dylan says. "Even when you share blood with them, you'll be a blank to them. You'll forget it until the right time. Then, when you hear a code word, it will come back to you. You'll know what to do."

"I can't be compelled."

"This doesn’t involve compulsion."

He turns and smells the breeze. I look out at the courtyard and smell it too – the salty scent of the sea. Finally, I turn back to Dylan.

"So, tell me about this plan."

He tilts his head. "I already did."

"What do you mean? You were going to tell me the plan."

"I did."

"No you didn't!"

Dylan smiles at me. "I told you everything. Then, I made you forget. Now, you'll only remember when you hear the right phrase."

"I can't be compelled!" I say, frowning.

"You can't, but your memories can be …" he says and frowns. "Short-circuited. Michel tried something similar but he had to destroy the neurons involved in your memories. We're only temporarily rerouting them until you hear the right combination of words. Infiltrating Blackstone has given us access to the latest in neurobiotechnology."

"So you're not going to tell me your plans for me…"

"I did Eve. You agreed to them." He shakes his head sadly. "It's to protect you and the plan. You must understand. As soon as you leave this place, you won't remember we even talked about a plan. You'll think we just talked about our families. Our losses."

I sigh. "I hate this."

"Don't hate, Eve. This is what you've wanted to do. Michel won't do what's necessary, because he loves you too much, but we will and you will."

"How do you know he won't?"

"We can't take the risk he won't."

"What happens when we stop Soren? Will the Council be able to stop Dominion?"

"We don't know, but with Soren and the Twelve neutralized, we have only Blackstone to fight. Soren and the others want power. They're going to use you to take it. We have to prevent that. Some of us have to sacrifice. You're willing to sacrifice to stop it, just as our mother was."

I sit and look at my hands. "I agreed to help?"

"Yes. You'll remember at the right moment. Now, it's time for you to go back to your little heaven."

Dylan takes my hand and the three of us return to the cart. Terri embraces me and I take one more look at her.

"I know you don't remember me," she says. "One day, maybe we'll work together again."

I sigh and Dylan helps me inside the cart, covering me up again. We drive off and I watch Terri recede into the distance.

The driver takes me back to the mansion and drops me off at the front gate, driving off when guards run out to meet me. Michel emerges from the door and comes to me and grabs my arm, clearly angry. He turns to the guard.

“You should have called me the moment anyone approached the building.
  I told you, the moment someone approached her.”

“We did.
  They said barely anything and then were gone.”

Michel pulls me into the mansion. “Do I have to put a leash on you?”

I shake my head as he pulls me up the stairs to our second floor rooms.

"I was taken."

“My guards say you went willingly.”

“Yes,” I say. “I went with my brother. I have a brother, Michel."

"I know who Dylan is."

I frown. "How do you know?"

Michel shakes his head. He pushes me onto the bed.

"He was worried about me," I say. "He convinced Terri to take me away so he could make sure I was all right.”

"Eve, you can't just go without my leave. Not even with Dylan. How do I know he hasn't been compromised?"

"He's with the
Council
, Michel."

He looks in my face, in my eyes. "Don't lie to me, Eve. Please."

"I'm
not
."

He sits beside me on the bed, turning my face to him. “Look in my eyes.”

I do. We sit in silence and he grips my hand tightly. I can tell he's upset.

"Kneel," he says.

I don't want to. I don't understand his anger.