Her eyes lifted from where her hand lingered atop Lamoyne’s, then, and found Nyx. “I expect something by the time I come back, Lathon.”

“Of course, my Mistress, worry not. I shall have what you need before you have finished your lunch.” She thought she heard the slightest tinge in his voice at the word ‘lunch’ and caught a waiver in those moon hued eyes.

Displeasure… disdain… and perhaps jealousy. That’s what you see Cay. He has not voiced his feelings but they are there in his eyes. How long shall you feign ignorance?

His eyes stayed on hers longer than would have been appropriate, but finally tore up to Reg. “By your leave, my lord.”

Cay sat in the high backed chair and watched as Nyx gave a small bow to the Trade officer then spun out of the room stiff as a board, only his cloak fluttering slightly from where it hung on his arm, no doubt hiding the weapons he was never without. The door clicked shut and with it she nearly jumped, the fires in her eyes flickering for a moment with uncertainty. Wondering if whatever he would find in those tomes of records would be worth what she was doing now.

For his part, though, Reg did not seem to notice the momentary lack of confidence in ‘Eva.’ Instead it seemed that his eyes were fixed on the nearly perfect slope of her bosom that the bodice was clinging to.

“Well this is better… alone with you finally. Now what was that you were saying about being grateful?” his voice purred through her thoughts and she stopped staring at the door where Nyx no longer was and looked over at the human before her. He was good looking, she noted a bit to herself.

Surely Nyx understood that this had nothing to do with that though, that this was a job. Perhaps it had the potential of being more enjoyable than some she had partaken in over the years, but still a job.

Or a punishment for him? Her stomach turned and she fought to prove that the voice was wrong.

“What were you saying about lunch?” her voice came out with more confidence and velvety sultriness than she felt inside. A fact that pleasantly surprised her.

“Lunch? Perhaps we should work up an appetite first. Your slave will be awhile with the manifests no doubt, no need to rush things…” He leaned back against his desk and held out a hand for her.

Her fingers moved toward his but stopped short. Turning she glanced at the door and let a slightly coy look fall over her face. “I don’t think this is the place Reg…” lowering her amber eyes demurely.

“Suddenly shy my pet? Don’t fret…” He rose and went to the door, a flick of his wrist and the lock struck home. “There, now we are really alone. Better?”

Slowly she bobbed her head. “A little. I just wouldn’t want to get you in trouble…”

His hand floated into her field of vision then and she finally took it, letting him help her up out of the chair until she found herself pulled close to him. The scent of cigar smoke, concrete and sweat filled her nose. Against her his body was firm and so very human. Not the more slender and agile frame she had under her fingers the previous night. She cursed herself when she realized she was comparing Reg to Nyx, and cursed again when she realized that she found Reg wanting. Human eyes wandered down her face and to the swell of her bosom again, they shone as they watched the soft flesh rise and push against the bodice with her breath. “I would risk any amount of trouble to spend this afternoon with you Eva…”

His hand moved from her hand to wrap around her waist, pressing his fingers against the small of her back and pulling her closer yet. Her eyes closed behind them she saw Nyx, his ghostly pale naked body dangling from the rafters in Dmitrova’s office, blood dripping down the inside of his thigh, his eye swollen shut. Her breath caught in her chest even as her bosom rose high against Reg’s chest.

Would you risk that for me Reg? Would anyone else risk that for me?

At the sight of her deep breath he leaned in bringing his lips against her cheek, kissing her gently once then just letting his breath play against her, taking in her smell, pausing a moment at the slightly fishy scent that swam with the others she was wrapped in.

No fishy smell was needed to turn her own stomach at that moment. She forced her eyelids to part and pulled her head back to look at Reg. “Are you married?”

“What?” Reg paused and let his hand drop an inch off the small of her back.

“Are you married? You heard me. You said you would risk trouble to be with me… I want to know how much I am risking by wanting to be with you…” she offered with a slight smile.

“It’s a rather loveless union I am in. The whole affair was practically planned by our parents. I assure you no one will know of this…” He whispered and leaned back in to her. The hand that had dropped in near surprise at her question now found a new place to rest. By the smile on his lips she could tell he enjoyed this new position for his hand.

“Reg… please. This is rather fast and… a bit too… exposed for my taste, especially with a married man. Let us to lunch and we will work something out for this evening.”

Reg shook his head. “I don’t think that is going to work Eva.”

“No?”

“No…” His weight shifted against her, pushing her back against the side of the desk while his hips ground closer to her own, showing her the reaction she was causing in him. “I don’t think I’m in a condition to go out for lunch… going need you to help me with that.”

“Reg… I really think tonight…”

He cut her off though, “Not tonight, now Eva. I’m helping you out, you help me out… if you are any good we’ll arrange something for tonight…” His tone taking on a more commanding than diplomatic edge.

Her eyes narrowed a bit and she brought her hand to his chest, trying to gently push him back from her. “Excuse me?”

What Cay? Something wrong? Isn’t this what you are used to? A little rough and ready… maybe if you ask really nice he’ll slap you around some like Dugan did. I bet he would… would that help get you off? Or at least get your thoughts off Nyx?

This has nothing to do with Nyx…

Then why does it bother you so much suddenly?

A tiny voice whispered in the back of her mind, Because Nyx respects me… and would never do this to me…

“Don’t play innocent on me now Eva. You said you would be grateful for my assistance in your little pillow drama. I’ve been more than helpful I think. Time for you to live up to your words. It will go a little easier if you do so willingly… hell you might actually find you enjoy it if you give me what I want instead of making me take it.”

She narrowed her eyes further. “Is this how you treat all the women who you ‘help’?”

“No…” He shook his head and brought his hand to her cheek, brushing along it toward her ear with a gentleness that contrasted the look in his eyes. “Only the ones as beautiful as you…”

His fingers wound dangerously close to the scar and she quickly pulled back with a shudder, leaning further back onto the desk, feeling a bottle of ink pressing into her kidney.

“Reg… lets start this over. You don’t want to do this, not like this. Lets have a drink and see what happens… surely you have some brandy in here…”

He shook his head, leaning further into her, the edge of the desk dug into her buttocks and the ink bottle pierced her liver. A muffled cry pulled from her lips as she stared up into his intense eyes. “I’ll get us a drink when I’ve finished with you... now just behave…”

For you?

For a human… haven’t you always behaved for humans? In your desire to be accepted as one you have always accepted what they do to you. How is this different?

Because he isn’t accepting me. He is using me…

About time you figured that out…

A deep pull of air into her lungs in preparation for a scream that never happened. Reg was a step ahead of her and clamped his hand over her mouth, the force pushed her down onto the desk, the ink bottle pierced her hard for a moment then titled to its side, leaving pain and a black streak in its wake. Reg’s other hand came up and righted the bottle before it spilled all of its dark contents across his desk. Stained with fresh ink those fingers found their way to the rapidly rising and falling crest of her bosom. They traced down her soft skin, leaving his mark upon her flesh. When they found the edge of her bodice he tugged on it, and she felt the seam under her arm give as cool air breathed across the newly exposed skin. She moaned and shifted under him looking for an escape. Reg was stronger than her, though and pinned her to the desk with little effort. His fingers slid further down her body, exploring the curves that Nyx had so admired until they reached her hips.

You know better than to panic Cay. Think… give in or fight… those are your choices. But don’t panic

“If you would just relax and stop trying to scream you might like this… others certainly have. But if you want it like this I’m not opposed. Just makes you that much tighter…” he whispered the last sentence as he brought his lips the swell of ink stained flesh. His one hand continued to stay clamped over her lips as his other hand moved from her hips to his own, beginning to loosen the ties on his pants.

I’m not going to panic. But he will.

She held her breath, pushing her bare breast up into his face more as she did, feeling his tongue, wet and salty, against her. He groaned a little and started to try and wiggle her legs open with his knee while his fingers worked faster on his pants. Just as they pulled out the strings he make a surprised little noise as he felt her own slim fingers join his there and actually slip inside the green fabric.

“Oh yeah… that’s it Eva…” his voice muffled against her skin as she gathered him into her hand.

Yeah… we’ll see how you like this…

His apparently pleasure in this act lasted only a moment. The next moment he felt her teeth find a handle on the fleshy part of his palm, even as her fingers gripped the other purchase she had recently found.

“What the -! You Bi…” The insult was not finished. As soon as his bloodied hand freed her lips she began to weave her spell. Simultaneously nails dug into the soft flesh between her fingers, making certain that the spell would have no chance of faltering due to lack of proper contact.

Reg’s face paled and his eyes glazed over. Spittle formed in the corners of his mouth, which bubbled out when he muttered a squeek.

“I told you you didn’t want to do this…” She whispered in response, giving the old Lemoyne family jewels a final crushing squeeze. Her hand finally snaked out of his pants and moved back to his chest, pushing him backward.

His feet caught on each other and he fell back into the chair she had been sitting in. Tears burned in his eyes and his hands cupped over the goods she had damaged.

“Why?” he managed to whisper around the pain. Her head simply shook in response then turned toward the door while she struggled to catch her breath again.

“I’m sorry Nyx…” she whispered at the closed door, while she sat on the desk listening for any signs that this struggle had been heard and was drawing attention. When it seemed that a few muffled noises from the Lemoyne office did not warrant further investigation from anyone outside she took a deep breath before examining herself.

Reg’s fingerprints still marked her skin and her dress. One side of her bodice was ripped and hung down to reveal more of the stained skin. Touching her face she felt the heat coming off her cheeks and knew she was flushed, her hair had been tussled, and her mouth was full of his blood.

Not elven blood this time…

She got up and spared only a slight glance at Reg as he sat on the chair, still in pain and still trying to glue together the fibers of his thoughts to figure out why he was in such pain. He would not be a concern for awhile now, what concerned her right now was getting control of herself so she could gather Nyx and get out. An inspection of the dresser near the desk revealed she was correct, he did have brandy.

She poured herself a glass and plopped herself into Reg’s chair behind the desk. The heavy liquid stuck to her tongue and washed away the taste of blood from her mouth. When she swallowed it burned down her throat and warmed her as it calmed her breathing. From there she began to clean herself up. Her fingers played a spell over the ripped seam and it pulled back together. The ink on her skin was scrubbed at with a handkerchief soaked in brandy that she found in Reginald’s drawer. A dark smudge still remained and the fingers dancing down her bodice were also still obvious, she would have to pull her cloak around her to cover them, but it would work. Using her fingers as a comb she pulled her hair back into place, using the polished surface of his desk as a mirror until she was certain that her ears were properly hidden from view.

Only then did she look back over at Reg. Color had started to return to his cheeks as the pain had finally begun to just numb him from the waist down. His eyes were still glazed though, and he stared at her as if he did not know who she was or where she had come from. That was not due to the pain, but to the spell she had dug into his testicles.

“I probably didn’t need to turn you simple with that spell… you were already there, misjudged me didn’t you dear Reg? Most do. But you won’t be doing that again now will you? Or will you?” she reconsidered as she turned her head and looked over at his nearly thoughtless eyes.

Will you do this to them all?

Yes…

A smile curled at her lips. “No you won’t.” She leaned over the desk and propped her head into her palm as her elbows made contact with the wooden plain. Reg’s eyes moved to hers but still no recognition floated in them. “He’ll make sure of that… Nyx didn’t underestimate me…” She closed her eyes and felt him above her again, his hand pressed into her throat trapping her voice in her chest, felt his lips pressed firmly against hers, his breath in her mouth.

“No he didn’t…” she sighed and opened her eyes again to look at Reg, watching as some of the spittle that had gathered began to dribble down his chin.

“Not so superior are you now?”

And Nyx is superior to this human? Is that what you are saying Cay?

Gently she ran her fingers along the trail that Nyx had caresses earlier that day with another sigh.

“I don’t know what I’m saying. Not anymore.”

Or what you aren’t saying.

A snarl crawled across her lips again and she fell back into the chair, closing her eyes and sipping the brandy while she tried to clear her mind, finding it hard not to be wrapped in her memories of Nyx.

Finally Reg stirred and she opened her eyes again. “Yes… you won’t stay like that forever. I should be on my way soon. But do not think we have parted forever my dear… my love will find you soon enough.” She whispered to the still glassy faced human.

Your love?

“Shut up…” She set the glass down. It landed next to a stack of Reginald’s personal stationary. At a second glance she noticed the stamp at the bottom of the paper contained not only his contact information for the office, but also for his home. Taking the top sheet she folded it into a square and pressed that into her palm.

“Yes… we will pay a visit I think… soon my dear.” Finally she got out of his chair and gathered her cloak.

Reginald received a pat on the top of his head before she wrapped herself in the blue fabric, picked up the pillow, and headed out of the room.

In the main hall she pulled herself into the same haughty stance she had earlier. The clerk glanced over, noticed the flush of her cheeks and blushed before looking down. Avoiding any other eyes she wandered down to the door Reginald had told ‘Lathon’ to go to.

She swept into the room and looked past the sandy haired man that sat that desk near the door. “Lathon! Lathon have you found what I require or do we need another lesson in what it means to disappoint your mistress?” she called out over his head while her eyes searched out Nyx.

Leo looked up at the voice and offered a smile to Cay, also noting the general flush to her features and the clumsy correction to her hair. “Ah… you must be the lady that Lord Lemoyne was assisting… I’m not sure that Lathon has found what you sent him for… perhaps you could ask Lord Lemoyne to give you the tour of the building while he finishes… if he isn’t too spent after lunch.” There was a slight mocking smile on Leo’s lips.

The murderous glare that she sent the clerk pushed that smile off his lips and shattered it against the marble floor in an instant.

“Watch your tongue or I will have Lord Lemoyne use it polish his desk. I’m here to collect my slave, and nothing else.”

“Lathon!” She called out again. “We have another appointment and we need to leave, now!” Her eyes met his as he scurried forth with all the proper comments and apologies for his ‘station.’ In her chest her heart pounded when she saw him, and wondered just what it was he saw when he looked at her, but hoped that he would hear and see in her eyes that the ‘now’ she had demanded of him was not part of this ruse.