Authors: Jan Springer
Ashley felt her eyes widen in surprise at his direct question.
“As I mentioned earlier there will be a live demo, Dr. Van Dusen. It will answer all of your questions. Please, I wish for all of you to enjoy Pleasure Palace before I present to you the finale. Rest assured, you will not be disappointed.”
“Every day that goes by more women die, Dr. Blakely,” Ashley blurted out, barely able to conceal her irritation.
Anger flashed in Cheri’s cold eyes. The back-off warning sign was on full tilt.
“Calm it down, Ash.” Colter’s voice echoed in her earpiece. Beneath the table, he squeezed Ashley’s fingers so hard she winced.
“Dr. Blakely,” another doctor interjected. “Some scientists have predicted in the past that with all these cures for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and spinal cord injuries and others, there are still many gaps in the knowledge that can take decades to fill. Some scientists have even said these cures may not even be permanent. How do we know that say…ten or twenty years down the road your cure decides it isn’t permanent and reverses itself? I mean, we have no way of knowing any long-term effects. Only a shortterm. How long has your cure’s success been? A few months? A year perhaps?”
“My husband covered that angle with computer projections. All of which prove this is a permanent cure. These projections are in the packages on the table beside the door. Please pick up a copy as you leave the room. Mull them over and then with the demonstration you can all make the best-informed decision possible. Are there any more questions?”
No one spoke.
“Good. Each of you will have a pleasure slave available to you, compliments of my husbands and myself. Simply put in your request at the front desk and feel free to share 93
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them or use them to your heart’s content. I have an appointment I must be getting to. Thank you for all your questions.”
Ashley couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Thank God, the meeting was over. She still wasn’t a hundred percent sure if she could trust Cheri. Perhaps after that promised live demo Cheri had mentioned, she’d be more willing to get her hopes up that her daughter’s life would be saved.
As the seven husbands and Cheri Blakely straggled out of the room with the doctors, Colter’s husky whisper slid into her earpiece.
“Make sure you follow me straight to your cabin, Ashley. And be prepared to take your punishment.”
She found herself creaming at his husky words. Found herself eagerly following him from the room like the demure little pleasure slave he’d turned her into.
* * * * *
“Before we left, I asked you not to bring attention to yourself,” Colter snapped when they entered her cabin.
“I’m sorry.” Whoa! Where had that come from? She’d been prepared to let into him and inform him she was not just going to sit there and let him dictate to her, but she’d felt the rising anger drain away and merely submitted.
Why didn’t her meds work properly around him?
He looked surprised at how easily she’d folded.
Dammit! She didn’t want him to know she was infected. Didn’t want him to feel sorry for her. And that’s exactly what he was doing by the soft way he was looking at her, as if she were some helpless female.
“Don’t worry, I will protect you from the general.”
“I don’t need your protection. I am quite capable of taking care of myself.”
“We’ll see about that. In the meantime…” He moved against her, his hands sliding intimately over the curves of her hips.
Her heart picked up a mad pace as his head lowered.
Scorching heat bruised her lips as his succulent mouth captured hers and he kissed her softly. So gently her head was spinning by the time he finished.
“Time to get undressed,” he whispered. His warm breath caressed her cheeks, his long fingers left a silky trail of fire along the length of each of her bare arms. “And when you are finished, come into the bathroom for your punishment for defying my order.”
She was about to tell him where to go when he grinned knowingly.
“Not a word, Starry Eyes. Get naked. Take off the slave jewelry and clamps. Leave everything else on. Do it now.”
His command slithered over her, making her shiver with anticipation. Making her realize she was very eager to submit. She was definitely due for her medication. If she 94
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took the pill now, by the time she met him in the bathroom, it should kick in full force. Despite knowing that fact, she couldn’t help but be curious. Medication or not, she still wanted to find out what form of punishment he would have waiting for her. A moment later the bathroom door closed quietly behind him and he was out of sight.
For a split second she thought about hightailing it, escaping him, running away from the delicious punishment he wanted to dish out to her. And if she did escape, she knew he would only do something drastic like call Blade and have him kidnap her. It was best to do as he asked, which meant getting undressed and going into the bathroom.
But first…
She headed for her suitcase and her medication.
* * * * *
Despite his hatred for Ashley running off on Colter years ago, Blade couldn’t stop his cock from engorging as he peeked through the slats of her cabin window. She stood there naked except for a leather belt, which he knew held a dildo up her sweet cunt and a butt plug deep inside her tight, curvy ass.
Colter had done well to keep her under wraps from him and the other S.K.U.L.L. members. For if Blade decided to tell his fellow members who Colter was once again associating with, they’d be a ticked off bunch of folks that’s for sure. When S.K.U.L.L. had refused to help out Colter with his personal problem, they’d all been mighty pissed off at Bev. When it had been Blade’s turn to do the weekly required sex with her, he’d shown her exactly how mad he’d been. Unfortunately the rougher he’d been with her, the more she’d enjoyed it.
Bitch!
Bev was nothing like Ashley, though.
Where Bev was cold and demanding, Ashley was sweet and so innocent of S.K.U.L.L.
Even now, as he remembered Ashley’s soft, velvety flesh beneath his hands, the tips of his fingers burned with remembrance. He remembered kissing the hot contours of her freshly whipped ass cheeks before lubing his cock and entering her tight anal hole in one swift thrust.
God! She’d been unbelievably tight. Hot, tense, exploding like a volcano when both Colter and he had made love to her.
From the first moment he’d seen her, her shimmering baby blue eyes, cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as Colter had presented him to her while she’d been tied to the bed, he’d wanted her. She’d possessed the blackest hair he’d ever seen. Waves of it had spilled over her shoulders, concealing her heavy breasts. 95
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He still remembered the morning Colter had come and gotten him, asking if he would join him at the general’s mansion because he’d wanted to give the general’s pleasure slave her ultimate fantasy, and then he’d said he wanted to try to persuade her to go with them. Her fantasy had turned out to be a ménage à trois. At first he’d thought his friend was playing some kind of prank on him, but when he’d been ushered in the back door of the Iraqi mansion, into a luxurious bedroom and seen her splayed out, naked and tied to the bed, her wide, innocent look had just about made him come in his fatigues.
If Colter hadn’t asked her to run away with him, he would have taken her for himself. A prettier creature and a better fuck there couldn’t have been. No wonder the general, well-known for collecting expensive art and sacred objects, had kept her under lock and key.
Except that weekend things had been lax. Security practically non-existent. But he’d been too eager to participate in the ménage to pay his instincts too much heed. Hindsight had been twenty-twenty. Obviously the general had used Ashley, whether she’d known it or not, she’d been the decoy to keep Colter and him entertained while the general had gone off to meet his elusive son, the man S.K.U.L.L. had ordered them to assassinate.
After the ménage, Blade had come back to his senses. Had realized the general had left the building, so to speak. They had managed to track down the general through Ashley’s bodyguard. That man had a hatred for the general, and Blade had smelled it fast. He was good at that. Reading body signals.
Colter had been keeping an eye on him as well. He’d figured they could trust the bodyguard. When Colter had opened up to him that last night, the man had seemed to know why Colter and Blade were there to kill the son. He never spoke, but he’d led Blade to the restaurant where son and father were laughing. He could have taken the son right then and there, but there had been way too many bodyguards. It would have been suicide to kill him at that point and he hadn’t been prepared to die. He’d called Colter away from Ashley for his backup.
They’d lain in wait along a deserted stretch of alley just outside the building. Instead of assassinating the man, they’d been ambushed themselves. Only the bulletproof vests had saved them from serious injury.
He’d figured it had been the bodyguard who’d thrown them for fools. For allowing him to lead them down the garden path almost to their deaths. But he’d really sensed the hatred in that man for what the general had done to him. Had trusted him. He’d get his time with the bodyguard S.K.U.L.L. had taken the other day. He’d show him that payback was a bitch.
After they’d managed their narrow escape, they’d headed straight back to the general’s place to get Ashley where they’d left her asleep. It had been deserted.
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Except for that note and the prized antique brass comb Colter had given her sitting on the pillow. Even now, remembering the devastation on his face made sickness claw at Blade’s belly.
Fuck! Had his friend gone mad? Did he want his heart ripped apart again? Did he want to blow his cover with that conniving bitch?
It was because of her that they’d screwed up that assignment. Instead of assassinating the general’s terrorist son, they’d been fucking the general’s slave. Dammit!
He had to do something to make Colter see what a bad mistake he was making with Ashley, because there was no way in hell he was going to watch his friend hit rock-bottom again.
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Chapter Eight
Ashley’s heart pounded frantically as she stood in front of the closed bathroom door, her hands clenched at her sides.
God! She couldn’t wait to find out what Colter had in mind for her. Maybe he would give her another ginger figging? Her ass had burned with arousal when he’d outfitted her with that ginger root. It had been an excruciating pleasure-pain but, now as she thought back, she’d drowned in it. Had loved it, especially afterward when he’d held her so tenderly in his arms.
She swallowed nervously, suddenly unsure if she were doing the right thing by being so subservient to him. But she needed to make him think she was on his side. He’d get the real picture when the bidding war began. By then, it would be too late for him to call in Blade to come and get her.
Boy, it sure was quiet in there. What was he doing?
Should she simply stroll in and accept her punishment? Or should she knock and pretend to fight him when he reached for her?
She opted for the latter and gave the door a firm knock to prove she wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. No use showing him she was eager for punishment, either. He might change his mind if he knew she craved whatever he had planned for her.
“Come in, my beautiful pleasure slave.”
She blew out a tense breath, thrust her shoulders back in defiance and stuck her breasts out as she’d been trained to do when she’d been sold into slavery.
“Here goes,” she whispered to herself, and entered the room. To her surprise, a blast of warm lilac-scented steam wafted against her as she pushed open the door.
“Come on in and close the door. You’re letting the heat out.”
What the hell was going on here?
The sound of splashing caught her attention and she found Colter practically drowning in a kaleidoscope of giant bubbles as he sat waist-deep in the enormous bathtub.
“How in the world…?” she asked as she shut the door behind her.
“I had a servant set this up for us while you were in the bathroom before our meeting,” he chuckled, and held up a sparkling glass filled with red wine. “This is for you.”
Wine? Her punishment was a seduction?
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She eagerly accepted the glass, taking a tentative sip. Sweet pleasure burst over her taste buds.
“Very good,” she said, and took a few healthy swallows of the delicious liquid. Lord only knew she needed it, she was so nervous.
Sweet heavens, her medication should be working for her. Should have given her the confidence to say no to him. Or at the very least make a show of not wanting him, despite the fact she did. Despite the fact she craved him from the bottom of her heart. Every inch of her heated flesh tingling at the lusty way he looked at her. He was panting, his gaze touching and caressing her naked flesh. Desire shone bright in his eyes as he lingered on the belt that held the dildo and butt plug firmly in place.
He reached out a hand for the wine glass and she almost dropped it as flames licked her fingers as they touched.
She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, saw the wet, tanned muscles in his arms ripple as he placed his own wine glass on the nearby tray before leaning back comfortably against the tub.
“Dance for me, Starry Eyes,” his voice was a harsh whisper, his eyes blazed with desire. “Dance for me as you did at the general’s mansion.”
She’d done more than dance for him and the general that first night. The way he was looking at her, she knew he wanted the rest of the show too. Now she understood why Colter had done what he’d done by inserting that butt plug and dildo into her. My God! How could she have ever forgotten that night? Forgotten the general’s instructions to her before his very important
guest
had shown up. Forgotten the hatred that had seared through her heart for the young soldier doctor who’d saved his life. She remembered the slow tune she’d found comfort in during her years under the general’s sadistic rule. A singer had once created it for a very important English princess shortly after she’d died in a horrible car accident. A song Ashley had later cherished as Colter and her’s song.