Page 64 of Till Death Do Us Part

“You had a boyfriend in college?”

Petra elbowed me. “Ah, infosec breach.”

“Forget that!” Elaine waved her off. “Bellare… that’s the events center downtown, right?”

“It’s a Blackbird hub,” I said. “A lot of information that can’t be on electronic channels goes through there. People wear masks, go in disguise, play it off as parties, and meet anonymously. They’ve probably encrypted everything around logistics orders until Horizon is completed… and you just found the spot where the keys are going to converge.”

“The keys are converging at Bellare?” Petra narrowed her eyes. “Then that means…”

“Glenn’s selling out,” I said. “I should have known he was pressing too hard on Horizon… someone’s paying him off for control. This has all the hallmarks of someone reporting back to Master.”

Petra and Caitlyn looked at each other. Elaine spoke quietly. “So what do we do?”

I flipped my phone from my pocket, looking at the latest coded brief from headquarters, and I smirked. “We crash the party. While we’re still considered Blackbirds.”

Chapter 30

elaine

The door unlatched while I was stepping out of the shower, and I gasped, snatching a towel off the rack and wrapping myself up before it swung open. Vera walked in, wearing a crisp suit and tie and carrying a designer-label shopping bag, and she chuckled at the sight.

“Oh, you can drop that,” she said, her voice low, eyes roaming over the towel.

I almost brushed the comment off, sorry, I was just startled, before I remembered our… contract. The agreement. The submission clause. My body tingled with awareness as, blushing fiercely, I let the towel drop down, pooling around my ankles. “Hi,” I said quietly.

She licked her lower lip as she looked me over, openly drinking me in. What should have been objectifying instead just lit me up. “I bought you some new clothes,” she said, holding up the bag before she set it down on the counter of the big, opulent bathroom, and she strode towards me. “But you can wait to put them on. Sit on the counter. Right there.”

I obeyed without a thought, slipping up onto the counter, where the cold marble was shocking against my bare skin, but it warmed me up when Vera put her hands on my hips, looking me in the eye.

“Let’s see how you taste fresh out of the shower,” she said. I bit my lip, nodding.

“As you like, ma’am.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

I moaned in quiet assent as she kissed me. She took her time feeling her hands over me, eventually slipping down between my legs and teasing me, and finally, she broke off the kiss, bent down, and held my thighs out to either side as she pressed her mouth against me and took me.

I cried out in pleasure, the sound echoing off the walls of the bathroom, and the sheer spontaneity of it—of Vera walking in the room and taking me with no hesitation—overflowed in my body until I collapsed back against the counter with a cry of pleasure, orgasm tearing through me and leaving my hips shaking.

“That’s better,” she said, kissing her way up my body and meeting my lips, and I struggled to put words in between heavy breaths.

“You… do you want…”

“Later. I just wanted to hear you come. I love the sounds you make.” She stroked her hand down the length of me, like I was an artwork she was taking in. “We’ll get you dressed. Once you’ve had a minute to recover.”

As much as I was dazed by Vera striding in the room and taking me, I was just as dazed by the clothes she took out from the bag—a long, velvety red dress with a plunging neckline and elegant detailing, along with the most beautiful black coat and heels with shimmering crystal accents. I lost my breath looking at it.

“This will be your partygoing outfit,” she said. “I took the liberty of dressing you without asking, but… I think it’ll look good on you. And off you, once we’re done.”

“Oh, God, Vera. How much did that cost?”

Her eyes gleamed as she smiled at me. “Firstly, it’s a high-class event. This is an important investment to blend in. Secondly… I have deep pockets. And I would gladly spend more to decorate my favorite possession.”

I blushed furiously, looking down, short for words. She took my chin and tilted me back up to look at her.

“You’re beautiful,” she said. “And it’s only suitable you have something beautiful to wear. Now, not another word about how much I choose to spend on you. Understood?”

“I-I understand.”