Page 28 of Desperate Measures
“Go ahead.” I pitch my voice low, though there’s no way Hades won’t hear. No doubt he can see the fine shakes working through Yasmina’s body from where he sits. Desire, yes, but she’s taking in so much, so fast. Too fast. Something else I should have anticipated. The woman has been locked up her entire life; introducing her to the world outside her father’s walls should be done in small sips, no matter how she chafes at the restraint.
Bringing her here is the equivalent of throwing her off the deep end and expecting her not to panic. At least she trusts me enough to find my touch anchoring, even if she doesn’t realize that’s what’s happening.
If anyone realizes how precarious our balance is at this moment, it would be child’s play to knock us both on our asses. I hold myself perfectly still, as if she is just another submissive, I’m just another Dominant allowing the master of this place to investigate my property.
“Come closer, child. I won’t bite.” Hades grins, his white teeth flashing. “At least not unless you ask very nicely.”
Yasmina takes the last few steps that bring her nearly close enough for Hades to touch. He doesn’t. He’s too well-mannered for that under usual circumstances, though I can see the calculation in his dark eyes, already considering how to use this development to further his interests.
“Yasmina.” He says her name as if he can already taste her on his tongue.
I take a step forward before I catch myself. Damn it.
Hades grins at me. “Got you.” He turns back to Yasmina. “Jafar has been a hard nut to crack. He fucks like a champ, but getting into that deliciously conniving brain of his? Impossible. And here you come, this near innocent with a taste for…” He inhales deeply as if taking in her scent. Her very soul. “Rough play. Very, very rough play. You like him to force your subservience.” His voice deepens. “I approve.”
“That’s enough, Hades.” It doesn’t matter how he figured it out. I won’t have him stripping her bare here, not while she and I are on such fragile ground.
Hades’s grin turns knife-sharp. “Caged birds always crave the sky, Jafar. You’d do well to remember that.” He takes Yasmina’s hand and presses his lips to her knuckles. “You’re always welcome here in the Underworld, Yasmina Sarraf. If you ever want to bargain, I’m more than happy to make time for you.” He grins against her knuckles. “And if you want to play with our Meg, I’d be delighted to arrange that as well.”
“Hades.”
“Yes, yes, I’m overstepping. Can’t let your prisoner know there’s a trapdoor within reach, can we?” He finally releases Yasmina’s hand, but he coasts his thumb over her knuckles in a casual move that sends my blood pressure through the roof. There’s no reason for it. Hades is casually intimate with everyone until he’s not. His touching Yasmina means nothing. Her catching her breath at the feeling of his lips on her skin means jack shit.
I have absolutely no reason to be jealous. That doesn’t stop me from snapping my fingers at her. “Attend, baby girl.” A reminder of whose hand holds her leash.
The image of Yasmina in a collar, of gripping a chain attached to it, slaps me in the face. I have to shove it away to prevent my body from reacting. Now isn’t the time to lose control, not while we have an audience watching so closely.
Once Yasmina has taken up a position at my side, I turn my attention back to Hades. “Don’t overstep.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Again, his slow smile spells nothing but trouble. “As long as you remember to play by the rules. Your little coup has a lot of people looking over their shoulders. It doesn’t suit my interests to have Carver City paranoid and up in arms. Bad for business, you know.”
Ah. So we’ve reached the real reason for this visit. I hold up my hands and affect a casual smile. “No need for anyone to worry…as long as they aren’t thinking of taking advantage of the change in power. I have no intention of expanding territory.” For now.
Hades chuckles. “Somehow, I don’t think the naked ambition shining in those pretty dark eyes will make anyone feel better.” He smooths a hand over his hair. It’s as perfectly styled as always, the silver in the dark strands lending him a layer of respectability that he plays up for all he’s worth. “Go enjoy yourself, Jafar. But be aware that we’re watching.”
Of course they are. As the newest power player to step up, I’m both a threat and more vulnerable than those who have held their positions for years—and decades in some cases. I have to solidify my base, and quickly, to prevent anyone from making a move that will end with me six feet under.
Tonight is partly about that.
There are those who pay more attention to bloodlines than others, but putting my collar around Balthazar’s daughter’s neck sends a clear message regardless of which side of the line they land on. If I were smarter, that would be the only reason I’m playing the game out like this.
It’s not the only reason. I can pretend I haven’t watched her every day for the last five years, can pretend I haven’t fought my desire for her for the same amount of time. Most people will even believe it.
Not Yasmina. Even in her relative innocence, she knows better.
I don’t speak as I guide her out of the room, down the hall, and into the main lounge. It’s Yasmina who sighs and says in barely a whisper, “This is all a show for the people he’s talking about. I’m the show.”
I should say yes and create clear boundaries between us. Now is not the time to allow myself to be distracted, no matter how good her pussy is. What’s more, it’s good business to cut her confidence down before she finds her legs. Yasmina was never allowed to stretch her wings enough to find her power when she lived in her father’s home. I’d be a fool ten times over to allow it in mine.
And yet…
I am that fool, because I can’t fucking do it. “Playing the game protects us and everyone under us.”?2
“Us.” The faintest of smiles curves her red lips. “Don’t overplay your hand, Jafar. There is no us.” Yasmina flicks a glance around the lounge. There are more people here than there were before. “If the game protected anyone, it should have protected my father.”
“He was careless.” Balthazar was too sure of his power, too sure of his people’s loyalty despite his shitty behavior. He never thought to question it, so it never occurred to him that they would question it, either. I can’t afford to be that arrogant. Especially not with Ali still out there.
Still a threat.
