“You did?”
“You have no idea.” He added more ointment to his hands and massaged the fronts of her thighs. “Last night…” His chest rose, fell. “The empty chair at our table belonged to a close friend.”
The sudden somberness in his tone stiffened her muscles. She held still, focused on the movements of his hands, willing him to continue talking.
After a nerve-racking pause, he told her about Gerardo’s betrayal, the information leaked to a rival cartel, the dismemberment, the blood, and the spy who still lived among them. His voice became rougher, angrier, with every word, leaving her cold long after he fell silent.
With the nudge of his hands, he lowered her to sit back on his thighs, his semi-flaccid cock resting in the V of her legs.
“There are other secrets.” His jaw shifted. “Valuable secrets that Gerardo may or may not have released.”
“Like what?” She liked this, him sharing, her listening, even if the subject matter fucked with her blood pressure.
“The kind no one talks about.” He looked her firmly in the eye. “In time, you’ll see things as they really are, and when you do, I want you to come to me and no one else.”
Warning bells sounded in her head, raising the hairs on her nape.
Maybe he was working against the cartel? Except he seemed to be genuinely hurt by Gerardo’s betrayal. What the hell was he hiding? And who was he hiding it from?
They need to know you’re just the slave of the month. A fresh hole to fuck. You mean nothing to me.
She’d assumed he was just being a dick last night, but now… “Is your paranoia because of the spy or are there others here you don’t trust?”
“Trust is earned, and we have a process that vets members and residents. Backgrounds, ranks, and positions are factors in granting access to certain information, but a lot of it is based purely on gut.”
“Is that your job? To vet cartel members?”
“One of them.” His blank expression lacked all the clues she was attempting to draw from him.
“And your gut steered you wrong with Gerardo.”
He nodded, and somehow that tiny admission to making a mistake made him seem more human, more Matias.
His attention lowered to the raised bumps on her thighs. “Now I’m erring on the side of caution, even if it means risking more of your hatred.” He gingerly trailed a finger over the worst cut. “I can repair the pain I cause you, but I can’t bring you back to life.”
“Someone wants to kill me?” A chill coursed, wild and panicky, through her limbs.
“To get to me, they might try.”
Did that mean last night, with the cane…? She stared down at the welts.
I know what he did to you, and that’s not what this is.
Her throat thickened. “You beat me and scared me so I would look like an abused slave instead of your…your…whatever I am?”
“Yes. But don’t misunderstand me.” His expression morphed into cast iron and sexual heat. “I get off on bringing you pleasure while you’re trembling with fear.”
“What am I to you?” She glanced at the rope near the headboard and returned to him. “Am I a slave or something else?”
He cocked his head, his hands absently stroking her legs. “You’re my life, mi vida.”
She swallowed. “Do you beat other slaves like that?”
“You’re not asking the right questions.”
Jesus, fuck. What questions? Like who did he beat? How? When? Where?
She looked up. “Why do you do it? Why do you capture and torture women? Is it a kinky fetish? Or is this really just a business to you?”
“Right question.” His eyes hardened. “Wrong answer.”
“Qué mierda! Yesterday, you said this is business, supply and demand, and you don’t make the rules.”
“It is a business and so much more than that.”
“Then tell me!”
“The answer is right in front of you.” He dumped her onto the mattress and stood, his voice rising to a shout. “All you have to do is fucking look!”
“I am looking, but you’re a goddamn black hole.” She leapt off the bed, snatched the sheet, and wrapped it around her.
He growled and stormed toward the closet.
She chased after him. “How about you give me a straight answer instead of this mind-fuck game you’re playing?”
“Game?” He whirled on her and put his face in hers. “This is real. You and me. No games. No mindfuck. If you put aside all the other shit, you’d know with absolute certainty that every breath I take, that my fucking purpose in all of this is for you.”
His choked words, stiff neck, and pained, over-bright eyes stopped her heart. He stared at her as if he were desperate for her to not only hear him, but to see what he wasn’t saying.
Why wouldn’t he just tell her? Was someone listening?
Her eyes widened, and she jerked her head toward the camera on the ceiling. “Who’s watching us?”
“I’m the only person who has access to that feed.”
“What about listening—”
“There are no listening devices in my suite.”
Well, shit. She pulled the sheet tighter around her chest and met his gaze. “Fine. I’ll keep looking and figure out what you’re not telling me.”
“Where are you going to look?” His breathing started to return to normal, the tension in his face dissolving.
“All the answers are here, right?” She touched a finger to the outer corner of his eye.
“Muy bien, my beautiful girl.”
He bent closer and brushed his mouth against hers. Another brush and another, until his tongue swept past her lips. The gentle kiss deepened, turning breathy and earnest.
His hands sank into her hair, and his erection jabbed at her stomach. But she didn’t pull away, her tongue licking his with all the hope he’d planted in her. He’d opened up, and while she was more confused now than before, he’d given her enough to believe that there was something more than a monster behind those golden eyes.
He broke the kiss and cupped her neck. “We need to get dressed and eat. Then I’ll give you a tour
