Page 24 of Breakaway
CHAPTER 10
ZILL
Breaking News! Former lover of Reese Martin gives us the inside scoop about what a night with Empress was really like.
Touch. Claim. Want. Need.
My shadows haven't stopped talking about how gorgeous Reese is since, well, since we first saw her. But today it's on a whole other level. Her outfits cling to her skin, showing off her curves in a way that would drive me to my knees if we weren't surrounded by other people. Her makeup does nothing but accentuate how beautiful she is, even if it's a little more theatrical than I'm used to seeing her wear. And her smiles. Gods, she's smiled so much today. I don't need to be in her mind to know she's enjoying herself.
There's a break between the second shoot and the third one, during which Reese asks for some alone time. Seeing as I'm not as controlling as my shadows would like me to be, I stand in front of her changing room door and listen in on everyone's thoughts.
It's definitely rude, but how else am I supposed to kill time when my shadows are all begging me to go into the changingroom to see if Reese needs help with her private time? That thought takes root in my mind until I give them a task: to root through everyone's mind and ensure no one dislikes Reese for any reason. And they don't. Reese is well-liked, even when she was known only as Empress, no one had a bad thing to say about her. A couple of interns think her makeup is too thick, but I can't tell if it's enough of a reason to dislike them just for having a bad opinion.
Now we've moved on to the third photoshoot. It's the most ridiculous one so far, and that's saying something. The amount of glitter from the first one took over an hour to clean, the second one had so many flowers that one of the interns was sneezing up a storm the entire time, and this one… They just brought in a horse, because why not?
"Fuck me," I mutter under my breath as Reese climbs up on the horse.
The animal is calm, and horses are pretty easy to read. Sombrans, even strong ones can't really hear animal thoughts, but we can get a good feel for how they feel about situations. The horse is content. I'd be more than content if Reese were riding me. A thought that has no place in my head. It's only serving to rile my shadows up more as they watch her in her short little white skirt and deliberately scooped out neckline, lying across the horse's back as if it's the most normal thing in the world to be seducing the entire world with just a few pictures.
"She is beautiful," Mauve says, jerking me out of blatantly staring at Reese. Okay, I might continue staring at her. My mother already knows how I feel about Reese, and no amount of keeping my eyes to myself is going to change the fact that she knows. "You should know we're altering the design for the next cover."
I'm not sure what that has to do with me, but it's the cover featuring another model. I grit my teeth and try not to look too upset about the next shoot.
It's just a job. Truly, I know that, but at the same time, Reese is about to plaster her body all over some stranger. As much as I love that she's enjoying herself, I'd feel a lot better about all of this if we were already bonded.
As it stands, anyone getting that close to her is seen as a threat not only to me but also to my shadows. I can already hear their shrill little cries when Reese has her way with the model. I've already dug through the man's mind who's meant to be the one with her. There's no threat from him. He's in a committed relationship with two little girls. He's nothing but a body on Reese's album cover. In all the images I've seen, they cut the previous guy off around the neck. Still, I'm not exactly thrilled about all of this, especially if Mauve is letting me know changes have been made.
Dom yells out that they're done with this set, and people start coming out of the woodwork to either help with the horse, clean up the set, or begin preparing the next one. Whatever changes are being made, I'm sure I'll hear about them while Reese is doing her next costume and makeup change. She steps toward the hall that leads to her changing room, but Dom stops her with a gentle touch to her shoulder. Even though I know the man is harmless, I'm still a little overbearing, seeing as we haven't secured our bond.
"We need to do a test of the system to check settings, if you don't mind," Dom is saying when I get close enough to hear.
"Oh, yeah, want to do it now?" Reese asks, her eyes meeting mine when I move to place my hand on her lower back. She smiles up at me, the glitter on her eyelids sparkling as all the lighting in the room hits them. I stare for a moment too long, too enraptured by her beauty. Dom must've told her he did need herright then, because I'm still staring when she steps away from me.
"You can join us if you want," Dom says. "We'll probably need to compare the smoke to what your shadows look like."
My skin prickles at the comment, and I quickly sift through his thoughts, trying to figure out what exactly they're testing out right now and what it has to do with my shadows. Reese is already back in the middle of the photoshoot, a machine nearby that one of the assistants kicks on, dark black smoke comes rolling out, dense and coiling. And it might not be sentient, it might not be anything other than a prop, but seeing it creeping around Reese's ankles, slowly moving up her body in a way that only my shadows are allowed to do? We might lose our minds just a little bit.
I'm beside Reese before I can think of a good excuse to be as overly territorial as I am, but it doesn't stop me. I have her wrapped in shadows and pulled up into my arms before there's time to really think about anything other than getting her away from someone else's shadows. And yes, I know they're not connected to any Sombran, but it's the principle of the matter.
"Ah! Zill, what are you doing?" Reese's voice is filled with a giggle, making me relieved she's not upset with me for the liberties I've taken.
Someone kicks the machine off, the smoke dissipating as a fan is turned on. Dom has moved over to talk to Mauve, and I know without looking in his head that this was all my mother's planning. I scowl at her, not that she pays me any attention, before carrying Reese down to her changing room.
"What the hell was that?" Reese asks, still giggling as I close the door to her changing room and set her on the ground. My shadows cling to her like their life depends on it, but slowly they begin to loosen their hold on her. They reveal patches of skin andclothing until Reese is completely free of them and their need to touch every inch of her that isn't deemed a pervy invasion.
I rub the back of my neck, trying to calm myself down because how I just acted was so far outside the realm of what's appropriate. "Any Sombran would've been upset if someone else's shadows were touching their bond."
I hate the excuse as soon as it's out of my mouth. Hate how it makes Reese's smile fall and the crinkle in her eyes to soften.
"Any Sombran?" she asks, her hands moving to her hips as she cocks her head to the side, eyeing me up and down as though she's assessing me.
I stand a bit taller, my shadows moving in a way that will hopefully entice her. It's a natural reaction, one that isn't helping me make my case for my actions being for her well-being and for the continued appearance of our fake relationship.
"We're territorial," I say with a shrug, unsure of what exactly Reese is looking for when she's watching me so intently.
"Your whole species or you?" Reese asks.
I furrow my brows, the question seeming strange. "Yes?"
