“Yes, master.” More than anything, Reyes. She shook now from the pain Sweet Dove inflicted, and tears rolled down her face.
“Beautiful,” Sweet Dove murmured. She turned to meet Reyes’s gaze as well. “You’ve trained this one so well that she begs for it. I can feel her desire for you. She wants this. She’s learning to enjoy the pain.”
He made his decision for the simple reason that he wanted to do this with Angelica more than anything else in the world. He wanted to be bound by this worthy woman, whose kind generous spirit soared miles above Sweet Dove’s low, sadistic heart. He wanted to allow a woman he trusted to have complete power over him.
To Angelica he sent, I’ll do it, but only because it’s you.
Angelica’s eyes lit up, and he felt her siphoning his power more than ever. He watched as a surge of power suddenly entered Angelica’s arms and met Sweet Dove’s preternatural charge until sparks flew above the point at which her hands gripped Angelica’s arms.
How was she doing that?
But Sweet Dove laughed. “I believe this means you’ve brought her into complete submission, Reyes, because these are sparks of love. Only her love and devotion to you could cause this kind of reaction. I’m very impressed.”
“Release her, Sweet Dove. Let her chain me down.”
As Reyes unbuckled his metal breastplate Sweet Dove turned her attention to him, releasing Angelica at the same time.
Sweet Dove took a couple of steps in Reyes’s direction, and with the intention of keeping her focus off Angelica, he slowly removed his short white tunic.
Sweet Dove licked her lips, her gaze strafing his body. “Reyes,” she murmured. “You’ve grown so muscular over the years, and your tattoos excite me.”
* * *
As Sweet Dove lusted after her former slave, Angelica rubbed her wrists. She breathed a sigh of relief when the intense pain vanished as quickly as it had come. She drew herself upright and wiped her cheeks, then turned her attention to Reyes as well.
The sudden turn of events, when she and Reyes had discovered that Sweet Dove was the powerful force behind Starlin, that she was the terrible entity known as Scorpion, still had her head reeling. Beyond that, the woman’s Ancestral power stunned her.
Angelica’s connection to Reyes and her siphoning of his power on an almost constant basis had served to condition her more and more to this hidden vampire world. For that reason she understood the gravity of her situation more clearly than she otherwise would have.
Sweet Dove had weight in this world and terrible power. Reyes would never be able to stand against her unless he, too, embraced his Ancestral abilities. Yet he resisted, fearing that he would become corrupt like Sweet Dove or the woman’s equally sadistic right-hand man, Engles.
She forced herself to focus, to think. The masked ball had turned into a minefield that she had to learn to navigate very quickly or she’d die.
Somehow she and Reyes had to find a way to survive the bondage performance, because he’d said it exactly right: Once Sweet Dove had control over them she could do whatever she wanted, and Reyes wouldn’t be able to lift a finger to stop her.
Angelica held the flogger in her hand, the one with the strange, snake-head handle. Her tight black leather bustier pushed her br**sts into full mounds and cinched in her already small waist. The pants, made up of strips of black leather, were open at the crotch. She hated the way they felt, but they at least had the advantage that she wouldn’t be completely na**d during the performance.
But she’d never done anything like this before.
Sweet Dove sidled up to Reyes. He was completely na**d now, the swirls of the hawk tattoos spread over his back now visible. Sweet Dove traced a finger over his tats.
He looked magnificent as he held his former captor’s gaze, his expression hard, commanding, no longer her slave.
The blood-chain at Angelica’s neck vibrated heavily with his emotion, a deep hatred that swelled through him. Angelica felt how much he despised the woman’s touch.
When Sweet Dove placed her hand on his shoulder, something deep inside Angelica began to writhe, then sharpen with rage. She moved swiftly, faster than a human, another sign she was bonded to Reyes and siphoning his power.
Placing herself between Reyes and Sweet Dove, Angelica laid the flogger against Sweet Dove’s throat. “This is my show. I’m the dom here. Got it?”
She held Sweet Dove’s gaze and felt the woman’s power like a storm against her skin. She continued to draw from Reyes, pulling his power into her and strengthening the muscles of her arms. It would take so little for Sweet Dove to kill her.
Because Sweet Dove didn’t attack, Angelica took quick charge of the situation, whirling to face Reyes. “Get on the table, slave, and do it now. You are mine to command.”
What possessed her to be so bold? Maybe a strong survival instinct, because if she didn’t play this exactly right she would die. And she knew one thing about bullies of every kind: they give way for demonstrations of strength, at least for a time.
Reyes, I’m yours right now. I’m going to ride you and make you come. Do you want me?
Reyes held her gaze, his nostrils flaring. The scent of his desire flowed around Angelica as he focused his attention solely on her. He even slid his hand to his arousal and stroked himself. More than you can imagine.
But she had a role to play, so she slapped his hand with the flogger. “You’re not to touch yourself unless I say so.”
He withdrew his fingers, but his c**k stiffened even more, and her own desire rose.
“On the table, slave.” If she was going to pull this off, she had to be tough. But she still kept herself positioned between Reyes and Sweet Dove.
“Yes, get on the table, Reyes.” Sweet Dove spoke over Angelica’s shoulder.
When Reyes started to move in response to Sweet Dove, Angelica got within inches of his face and all but shouted, “You are mine to command, not hers! You will obey only me! Do you understand, slave?”
His eyes widened slightly in surprise. To his mind she sent, Follow my lead. I think I know a way out.
Aloud Reyes said, “Yes, mistress.”
Sweet Dove jerked Angelica’s shoulder, pulling her around to face her.
But Angelica lifted her chin and stared straight into her eyes. Instinctively she knew the only way this would work was if she faced up to the devil. “You’re not in charge, Sweet Dove. If you refuse to let me do this my way, Reyes and I will leave right now.”
“You don’t have that kind of say. You’re a slave.”