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I shook my head, but when I looked over at Caspian, his eyes were twinkling. What on earth they could be twinkling about, I wasn’t sure, until he leaned comfortably back in his seat and crossed his legs. “So, you have a brother, do you?”
And that’s when I knew that Caspian knew her greatest weakness. It certainly hadn’t been gems—if it had, he would have noticed that right away and she wouldn’t have been able to steal from him in the first place. Sometimes it took him awhile, but once he caught it, he had it.
She looked very uncomfortable with that question and did not answer him. I wouldn’t have either, since Caspian looked too happy about it. “How wonderful. Nice to have family, isn’t it?” he asked, still trying to draw from her.
“Caspian…” I warned.
He shrugged and after what seemed like a valiant effort, schooled his grin and then finally turned to Zazie. He began to boldly spiral his finger around her knee and thigh, “Your family doesn’t understand you, you know. They don’t know what makes you happy, do they? They don’t know what you need. How you feel. They’re just trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. And I know exactly how to fill your holes.”
She was rolling her eyes at this, and so was I, because it was so very crude, but then he pulled a gem out of his pocket. This one was a very sizable green emerald, and her eye latched onto it immediately.
“Would you like this?” he asked, showing it to her. “It’s just one of the many gifts I plan to give you, my pet. That ring on your finger? It’s yours as well—under one condition,” he added, watching her eyes widen.
“What?” she asked. Her desire for those stones was palpable.
“Be ours, hm? I could fight you until you submit to us. At the end of the day, I can make sure you know who owns you, but I’d really prefer not to be worn out so that I can enjoy you all the more. Besides, if you’re not fighting us tooth and claw, you might even enjoy it, too. We don’t plan to treat you with any cruelty. Just abide with us, live with us, and lay with us.” He splayed his hand across her thigh.
“What about me cries ‘Will sleep with multiple partners for money?’” she asked him peevishly, but she never took her eyes off the emerald.
He narrowed his eyes at this. “Multiple as in two, darling. We’re demanding exclusivity. And as for the gifts—those are just perks. I could easily take away all those privileges, if you force me, and bring you back to one single choice.”
She fought her glance away from the emerald to take in his face and mirror his expression. “Which is?”
“You go to prison or you come with us,” he said succinctly. He held up the emerald again. “So do you want this?”
“You can shove it up your ass,” she said, but then looked down at her hand and seemed very surprised to see it there, as if she didn’t know that she’d pulled it out of his palm before she even thought of her response. She seemed confused for a moment, and then mostly embarrassed.
Caspian grinned again. “Give it a chance, darling. You might be pleasantly surprised.”
She glared down at the emerald in her hand. “I find that unlikely,” she muttered.
It wasn’t long before Miles had taken us to our destination, which was an old mansion in the city limits of New Orleans. I had gone by it several times when my shop was located in New Orleans, as he had sent me the address of it when he’d purchased it (as was our agreement to share all of our addresses), but I had never seen inside.
I imagined that it was probably opulent, and when we helped our mate out of the car, I found quickly that I was right. There was never a statue that Caspian found too ostentatious, and the chandelier in the entry foyer was ridiculous.
She looked up at it, and then at me, and then at Caspian. “Why me? Couldn’t you keep paying for hookers? Like you are obviously used to?” she asked us, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Because I get what I want, darling,” Caspian educated with a widening smile. “And I want you.” He gave a shrug and added, “And you’ll want me back eventually. Come, I have something I must show you,” he said, grabbing her hand and beginning to lead her to the second floor.
“It’s not your dick, is it?” she groaned, then passed by Miles and said, “Aiding and abetting. Accomplice,” very succinctly.
“Big words for an undereducated thief who makes a living scavenging through people’s trash for secrets,” Miles replied without care, and she pressed her lips together as if quite stung, then let Caspian lead her upstairs.
“Be nice, Miles,” I warned him under my breath as I passed by.
Miles was the only human I currently had any closeness to. Even after I moved away from Caspian in the 1960s, I kept in touch with him. He was competent. Helpful. Had good instincts. I did forget that he was a little edgy, however.
“I give what I get,” Miles assured me, then smirked and lead himself towards the back of the mansion.
I followed Caspian, completely confused as to what he could possibly want to impress her with. When I saw them disappearing into a bedroom, I began to worry that maybe he did want to just show her his dick, but then he pulled her to the bathroom.
There, filling a large, clawfoot bathtub, was a bath full of rounded gems.
Arousal filled the air instantly and Zazie’s body stood rigid as she took this in.
Her hand moved to her lips for a moment, and she stared. “Oh, God.” She continued looking at it, like it was a unicorn.
“Do you like it, darling?” Caspian asked her, his eyes sparkling with delight at seeing her so obviously impressed. Hell, so was I! I had never taken my collection this far. I tended to gravitate towards high-quality gemstones and gold pieces, but Caspian had always thought that quantity had a quality of its own.
