Chapter 19

When the soft clatter of an overhead vent unleashed a blast of cool air onto her, Eva gulped. The chilly gust did nothing to temper the heat roaring through her body as she gazed at the glimmering, tanned skin of Madame Dumont—no, Sophie’s—muscled back. Motionless but for a gentle sway whenever her thumping heartbeat pushed her from the X-frame, the bound woman was a shapely statue, spread for Aiden’s pleasure. And hers.

At least that’s what the images had promised. Except, at his grasping the crook of Eva’s arm, her mind spun. Visions, familiar yet morphing, tumbled into her. Battered by a powerful tremor, she lifted her gaze to his narrowed eyes.

“Wha—” Her voice ended when Aiden placed his finger over her lips while guiding her backwards.

After flicking her glance to the padded bench in the center of the room, now close behind her, a whimper slid from Eva’s lips. As her breath hitched, a smile appeared on his face. The images had been clear. He’d lash her down. Blindfold her. Then work Sophie over with a galley whip until she begged for him. He’d fuck her hard before whipping and fucking Eva even harder.

That’s what the visions had shown them all.

Except he placed his finger on his own lips, gesturing her to silence, before slipping from his jacket. At first, when he unbuttoned his shirt’s cuffs, she waited for him to roll up his sleeves. Again, according to the images.

But once more, she gulped when he removed his shirt. Once he’d silently eased his belt free and lowered his zipper, her world began to spin. At his trousers’ soft drop, it spun quicker. By the time they rested atop his other clothes, her universe was nothing more than a blurry dimness other than the rippling muscles of his naked frame.

Not at all like in the visions, he walked past her with only a sidelong glance before halting behind Sophie.

Smack.

His open hand had moved so fast, Eva heard the strike on Sophie’s rear before her brain registered the motion. Although she tensed, only a hissing inhale came from Sophie. And as she tried to glimpse him over her shoulder, one eyebrow arched. She also was confused; he was supposed to be whipping her. A second resounding slap had her bucking into the frame’s thick, black padding. That time, she moaned.

“Blaine. Blaine Hornsby.” Aiden’s voice was also nothing like in the visions. Not playful and taunting, it was icy and forceful. “Who is he to you?”

“Huh? Who?” Sophie’s tone was shaky. “W-What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, he sent a rapid flurry of open-palmed strikes against her twisting rear. Every sharp slap drove her into the rattling metal frame. And between each resounding hit, moan after winding moan escaped her quivering, shiny lips.

“You’re not stupid. Neither am I.” At the icier chill in his voice, Eva gulped. Her hands reached behind her to clasp the padding atop the solid bench. “I want the truth, Sophie.”

Despite his tone, he skimmed his widespread fingers over the crimson handprints marring Sophie’s shaking butt. The caressing had Eva’s chest hammering. But she gritted her teeth. Those fingers would be on her soon enough.

One thing matched the vision. There was an intense, almost primal, hunger in his eyes. While pressing into his sweeping palm, Sophie smacked her glossy lips. The frame rattled as she struggled to track him through tattered strands of golden-tinged auburn hair.

“Don’t try my patience.” As he spoke, his voice invoked an image of a chill wind blowing across the top of a glacier. With a massive tremor wriggling through Eva, her nails scratched along the plush leather behind her. Under his sweeping palms, Sophie trembled.

“He’s ... He’s head of United Asian Investments. UAI.”

“And?” When he raked his fingertips up her spine, Sophie mewled while pushing into his dragging digits. “And what else?”

No sooner had he spoken than his hand again slapped Sophie’s already crimson butt. It was the most savage yet. And as both its resounding blow and her body ramming into the shuddering frame echoed, a sharp cry fled the shaking woman. At the sudden imaginary warmth on her own flesh, Eva’s entire body tightened. A soft hiss slithered free of her quaking lips as she mashed her rear against the bulging padded surface behind her. Once more the room blurred, spun, and darkened but for his muscled frame.

When her gaze lifted and she realized he was staring at her, shakes wracked Eva’s frame. Before she could react, he’d taken two swift steps towards her. His arm shot upward to grasp her by the neck. In his grip, she stumbled forward until she was halted beside him behind Sophie once again. After his hand fell away, she swayed under wave after wave of body heat pulsing from him.

“Eva is my partner, Sophie. I trust her.” At his words, Eva’s heart thundered, then sped when his widespread fingers skimmed the bare skin of her back. “I’d like to trust you. But I don’t. You’re lying. And we both know it.”

For a moment, under his touch, Eva’s world stopped spinning. A shadowed box. Cage? A ring of metal—golden. Flames, slow. Music. That music. Fear. From a blurry metallic ring. When his hand lifted away, he flashed her a slight grin before returning to Sophie. Filled with intense hunger, the panting redhead’s wide eyes blazed at Aiden through her battered tresses.

The vision of the shadowed space faded. Around Eva, the room again spun.

“H-He, um ... He was my lover,” hissed from Sophie as he swept the hair from her crimson face. “But, uh, it’s been over ten years. Why do you—”

Smack.

In a spray of silvery droplets, spittle flew from Sophie’s mouth. That blow had somehow been even harder, and he shook his palm. The high-pitched wail that shot from Sophie and the loud thump of her sweat-glistening body striking the padding sent Eva’s world tumbling. As she gasped for air, her hand flew out to clasp one of the frame’s chilly steel supports.

“Who the fuck is he? Really?” His voice ended in a low growl. “No bullshit, Sophie. I’ll let you hang here all night. Not one more touch. I’m gonna fuck little Eva. But you already sensed that, right?”

When she nodded, Eva found herself also nodding; the vision had been clear. That was exactly what he would do to her. Right there. Strapped over the bench.

“I’m gonna take her sexy little body upstairs. Into your bedroom. Lay her out on your bed. And there, on your sheets, I’m going to drive her into a panting, moaning wreck.”

What? That wasn’t in the image. Sophie’s eyes widened, then met Eva’s as Eva’s heart drummed louder. What was going on? At his chuckle, Eva scanned his stony visage. With his gaze unfocused, one of Aiden’s fists was a white-knuckled, trembling ball. He wasn’t laughing at Sophie, or at her, but at something else. Faint. Orange. A wispy tendril floated around him. The ring?