Your Favorite Girl (YFG Series) (9 page)

Before I climaxed, he jerked his hand away and said, "You're quite the marvel, Melissa.  A natural beauty.  I think I love everything about you."

Suddenly he was next to me, the bulge in his pants a foot from my face.

"Take it out," I breathed, slipping two fingers inside myself and reaching down with my other hand.

Another giggle.  Brian crouched down so that we were face to face. 
He was smiling, and I got lost in those strange, cosmic eyes.  "I bet you like to be on top," he said, and after a thought, "but only for so long.  Yes, at some point you want to be slung down on the bed and drilled.  Taken over.  Rendered into a flower, producing nectar for a bee."

I watched his mouth moving, barely comprehending his words, but when I rolled over to kiss him he grabbed a handful of my hair and jerked my head down.  "If only you were a virgin," he said.

I felt pleasure instead of pain, and I screamed, drowning out Brian's childlike laughter.

Then everything changed  The tingling sensation in my scalp turned to red-hot pain, the realization dawned on me that Kate's plan to make me desirable had failed, and Brian's disappointment in the state of my hymen--the reason for the inspection, I assumed--left me with a much smaller chance of survival.

Brian was still laughing, only it sounded maniacal to me now.

I sat up, hugging my legs.

"What happens now?" I asked.

He tore off his gloves and tossed them in the trash.

"I don't know what Shriver has in store for you," he said, heading for the door, "but whatever it is, Sean will be the one to do it."

"Sean?  Wait!"

He opened the door and stopped.

"Head of security and employee manager.  Hot tempered. 
If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut.  Sean has killed more women than you've probably ever met."  He stepped out into the hall.  "He'll be with you shortly so sit tight.  Good luck."

Then he closed the door.

─One Hour─

I INSTANTLY recognized Sean as the security guard in the lobby I'd caught staring at Kate's ass, the man who'd suddenly appeared in the hotel room.  A pale, bald head and solid black sunglasses made him look alien in disguise.

I froze.  This ma
n had killed two police officers while leaning against a doorframe.  Kate was right.  They were killers.

This is it
.

But it wasn't.

Sean scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder so fast and effortlessly that the swiftness of it left me with a headache.  As he carried me out into a dim, windowless hallway, his shoulder dug into my stomach, sending sharp streaks of pain through my abdomen.  Now I was battling nausea, and when I tried to reposition myself on his shoulder, he pinched my inner thigh and said, "Be still, cunt."

Exhaustion finally overtook me.  I closed my eyes and waited for the puke to come.  At least it would go all down the back of this asshole's suit.

Where is he taking me?

I wanted to ask, but Brian had advised me not to speak.  Then again, what if he was taking me to some torture chamber?
  What if saying something was my only chance?

He stopped.

I strained to lift my head high enough to see out, but I was facing a wall.  Then I heard the chime of an elevator.  We were moving again, and before he turned to press a button, I caught a glimpse of the panel.  This was the third floor.

When the door closed, I felt the elevator going up.  It beeped once and then stopped.  We'd only gone one floor.

He carried me into a lobby with a cobblestone floor and a ceiling two stories high.  I could hear a large fountain, but when we passed by the source of the rushing water, I saw that it was actually a large Jacuzzi designed to look like a natural creek pool, and several people lounged either in it or upon a smooth rock jutting out of the water.  Some of them were naked, others in bikinis and Speedos. Through the haze of the steam, they watched me.

On the left was a doorway leading to a cafeteria.  Sean went on to the back of the lobby and up a few steps into a hallway that came to a T.  He went to his right and then through a door on
the left.

I saw
sheepskin carpet, just like in the Showcase Hall.

Then
Sean flung me off his shoulder and I braced myself for impact.  To my relief, I landed on what had to be the softest bed ever designed.  I sank so deep for a moment that I could swear it was swallowing me up, encasing me like a cocoon.

I thought Ted's bed was top-of-the-line
.  This, though, felt like lying on a cloud, so comfortable I actually felt safe for a moment, until I felt movement on the bed and the panic washed over me again.

He
was going to fuck me before he killed me.

At least I would die in comfort. 
Hell, I might even fall asleep for one divine moment.  I couldn't even keep my eyes open to witness my own imminent death.

Slowly, a body lowered on top of me.  I felt a soft thigh, a small hand, a knee, then a kiss on the cheek.  I opened my eyes to find Kate snuggling against me, smiling, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Shower and get dressed," Sean said with a baritone voice.  "You have one hour."

The
door clicked shut and Kate threw her arm around me, squeezing hard.

He was gone, and I was still alive.

"Does this mean . . . ?" I asked, my voice trailing off.

Kate
nodded and wiped one of her wet cheeks.  "I think so.  I don't think they would have brought you to me.  I talked to Patton.  Did they hurt you?"

"No, not really."

"Sean didn't do anything?"

"He just carried me here."

"Thank God," she said, hugging me again.  "Did Brian act weird?"

I laughed nervously and sat up.  "A little," I said,
immediately stunned by the size and luxury of the room.  It had everything.  A full bar, a kitchen, a hot tub on a raised platform, two rows of theater seats facing a giant white screen, a small glass-front room with gym equipment, a big make-up area that looked like a Hollywood green room, and an open doorway leading to what I assumed was the bathroom.

"This is where I live," Kate said.

"It's amazing."  The more I studied the room, the more wonderful things I discovered, including two ten-foot marijuana plants in large ceramic pots near the bar, basking in the golden glow of an overhead light system.

"I call it the most luxurious prison cell in the world
," Kate said.

"No kidding," I said, not fully comprehending what she'd said.  Then it hit me.  "Wait, you're
not locked in, are you?"

"Seven
at night till seven in the morning," she said, sighing.  "Unless I'm called to a meeting or for an evening appointment with a client."

"Kate."

She turned to me, and for the first time I saw the trouble in her eyes.

"You're a prisoner here," I said, meaning for it to sound like a question.

Kate raised her arms and let them flop down to the bed.  "I really can't complain.  I can have whatever I want."

"Except freedom
, Kate.  I thought this was your job."

"It is my job."

"It's not a job if you can't leave.  This is slavery!"

"No, it's okay, really.
"  She scooted a little closer.  "I signed up for it.  I knew the whole deal."

"They explained it to you?"

"In detail," Kate said.  "About my living situation, anyway.  I didn't know about the girls, any of that stuff, until I signed the papers."

"Did they drug you before or after you signed?"

Kate waved her hand outward.  "Oh, waaay before," laughing as if it meant nothing.  "Patton drugged me in the jewelry store."

"Who is Patton?"

"He's the doctor.  And the principal."

"
Huh?"

"For the girls."

"What do you mean the principal?"

"
Of the school," Kate said.  "For the girls.  The Favorite Girls.  Patton is the one who raises them, keeps them healthy, and gives them a good education.  He's a really great person.  You'll see what I mean."

"But I thought you said they were killers," I whispered.

Kate shook her head.  "I didn't have time to get into specifics.  Patton isn't like his brothers.  He has to play the role sometimes, but he makes sure those girls have a great childhood.  They're seriously the happiest kids I've ever met."

Everything she was saying made me sick to my stomach.  I hadn't really thought about where the Favorite Girls came from, that behind the
drugs and brainwashing they actually had personalities, skills, knowledge.  Feelings.

"Where's Flora?"

"I don't know."

A quick response.  She was lying.

"What do they do with them after . . . ?"

"I'm not involved with that."

"With what?"

"With what you said."

"But do you know?  What happens to them?"

She shook her head.  "Not exactly.  I
'm sure they're bringing us to a meeting with Mr. Shriver.  We'll find out everything then.  Speaking of which, we should probably take that shower."

I hadn't paid attention to what she was wearing, a red silk robe.  As I followed her off the bed and down the steps to the lower level, she let
it slip off her shoulders.  Now we were both naked.

We entered an unusually narrow hallway
with custom-made sandstone tiles on the floor, walls, and ceiling.  The air became hot and humid, to the point that I was sweating before we turned the corner and entered the most amazing bathroom I'd ever seen.

"This is yours?"

"Yep," said Kate.

"You don't have to share it with anyone?"

"Not unless I want to," she said, taking my hand and pulling me toward a Jacuzzi that looked like a natural spring pool in a jungle, surrounded by plant life with big, glossy leaves.  Behind it, a waterfall cascaded down a rock wall, its origin hidden by the foliage.  Jet streams made the water look like it was boiling, and the steam was so thick I couldn't see the back part of the bathroom.

The floor was made of unfinished granite.  Not
individual tiles but one gigantic slab.  I could only imagine how much the floor had cost, much less the entire room.

Kate led me up three stone steps and together we dipped our toes into the hot, steamy water, clinging to each other as we lowered ourselves in.

I only stayed in a minute.  The heat made me drowsy, and every time I swam over one of the jets, pleasure streaked through my body, exhausting me even more.  I never knew I could come to dread orgasms.

Kate told me where to find a bathrobe and towel.  I headed back through the narrow hallway, inviting the chilly air.  My stomach ached.  I was hungry and nauseous.  Shivering, too, by the time I emerged from the claustrophobic hallway into the
main room.

The bathrobes were neatly folded on a shelf in the wall to the right of the shower room entrance.

I heard the beep of the electronic lock but didn't realize someone was coming in until the doorknob turned, and although everyone I'd encountered today--or tonight?--had seen me naked, I rushed to wrap the robe around my body and tie the strings.

When I turned, I
surprised myself by smiling and batting my eyes like a damn teenager.

He was beautiful.  That's the only adjective that fits at all.  Gorgeous, hot, sexy, handsome--none of those did him justice.  His effect was similar to that of Flora Girl. 
He exuded warmth, familiarity.  And when he brushed his silky, russet bangs aside, I caught a glimpse of his eyes.

My throat felt like it was swelling shut.  I had that feeling you get when the boy you can't stop thinking about smiles as he passes you in the hallway.  Or the first time he kisses you.

At the same time I was terrified.

This man who leaned against the open doorframe with his hands in the pockets of his dress pants, who wore a white collared shirt with only two middle buttons fastened and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, who had a face I could tell would
never lose its youth . . . he had glowing irises.  Bright, blue, and, unless I was crazy, literally giving off light.

"Sorry to barge in," he said.  "Old habit."

I hugged myself.  "It's okay."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"You're shaking."

"I'm just . . . a little chilly."

He smiled.

"I'm a doctor," he said.  "After the meeting, you need to come see me."

I heard the splatter of Kate's footsteps on the damp tile, and then she was rushing past me, shrieking, "Patton!"  I felt a stab of pain as she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, dampening his shirt with her wet body.