Page 19 of Skin Trade

They stood in silence as the lift made its way down to the third floor. There were thirteen floors in total according to the panel on the wall.

When the doors opened, Sky held her hand out and motioned for Payton to leave first, and she stepped into a grand foyer. Not like the one she had seen last night. No, that was nothing compared to this. This was more like a hotel and it reminded her of places she’d stayed when she was a child, it reminded her of her mother.

Payton’s mother had to have been one of the most beautiful women of her time. When she went through foyers in hotels, she glided more than walked. Everything about her was always perfectly in place. She was the kind of woman who could turn the head of even the most faithful of men. Hell, she could turn the heads of the women too.

“This way,” Sky said, leading Payton to a set of large double doors. “Sir waits in here.” She opened the door, stood straight and announced their arrival. “I have Payton for dinner,” she called.

There was no reply and Payton couldn’t see inside, but there was music, rich, powerful piano music ringing out and seeming to reach inside her and wrap a hand around her heart. She’d not heard music like this since she’d been small.

“Would you like something to drink?” Sky asked.

“Sorry?”

“Drink? Would you like a drink? Wine?”

“Wine, yes. Red please.”

Sky nodded and motioned for Payton to enter. “I will be back soon. Sir is waiting.”

Payton felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. That scene where she walks into the grand room with her hands knotted in front of her, unsure of herself. Except Belle would have worn the dress and not come down in jeans and pumps.

Seth was at the piano in the back of the room. His head was moving, and his lips were slightly parted as his fingers moved deftly across the keys. He wasn’t playing the music, he was making it, coaxing it out of the piano with his hands like a skilled craftsman, or a lover with hands that knew exactly what to do, where to touch.

“All I ask of you,” Payton said as she tiptoed into the room. The song created a fire in her belly, but the way he played it made her stop for a moment just to enjoy it. Any sound made from walking would have been an insult to the way he played.

As she approached, Seth said nothing, and he carried on playing. Every note seemed to crawl into Payton and sink deeper into her soul like he had the power to get inside her and etch every note into her bones.

“You play brilliantly.”

“You know the Phantom of the Opera?”

“I’ve heard it before. A long time ago.” The music was so familiar to her. “My mother, I think. Perhaps she watched it on the television whenever it was aired.”

A look of something went across his face. “You have never seen the real thing?”

“No. I was never old enough.”

“Then you missed out.” He looked at her then and if he thought anything of what she was wearing, he didn’t let it show on his expression. Instead, he took the glass from the top of the piano and drank.

“Whiskey? I thought vampires had no need for such things.”

“I like the taste.” He ran his tongue across his top lip and the darkness of the room only seemed to accentuate his features.

Payton let out a breath and Seth smirked.

Bastard.

“I see you didn’t like what I sent up for you?”

“It was a little too revealing for my liking.”

“But that is why I sent it.” He rose from the piano stool and carried his glass in a loose grasp by his side. The lazy way he held it seemed to make him more daunting. It wasn’t helped that the tailored trousers, white shirt and waistcoat seemed to make him look taller. His dark hair was brushed back. “You know if I want you in that dress, you will be in it?”

Payton backstepped and then she stepped forward again. “Is that so?”

He took another swig from his glass, knocking back what was left, and when he lowered it, he smirked and swallowed at the same time.

If Payton ever had one mission, it would be to wipe that self-assured smirk off his damn face.

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