Page 10 of Traveling with Gentlemen (Tempting Monsters #1.1)

She was like a lantern in the shadows, golden and bright and beautiful, blue eyes sparkling like gems against her snow-pale skin, blonde hair gleaming and flowing over her shoulders.

My pretty and scandalous red gown looked like a nun's habit compared to her sheer slip of a dress.

Every inch of her was exposed, nipples high and parting the curtain of her hair to peek through gossamer-thin pink silk, the shadowed valley between her thighs a dark warning and invitation all at once.

I felt silly and young and human in front of her, and realized suddenly that I'd never stood a chance of intimidating this woman, and that Auguste's worried words as we'd left the train had been the mindset of a besotted lover.

But that is what you do have , I reminded myself. Their love.

"You have changed," Sofia purred up at my sphinx.

She was tiny, but no less a powerful presence than Amon or even Mr. Tanner, who her eyes scanned over with intrigued delight, the same speculative excitement Jonathon sported at a new idea to experiment with.

Mr. Tanner would hate it. He was a man, not a specimen. My man.

Sofia barely glanced at Booker or Auguste, her eyes skimming over them as if they were as invisible as Ezra, and as she finally deigned to set her gaze to me, I settled on a new role.

"So this is she," Sofia whispered, taking me in.

I pulled my hand from Auguste's—no small feat—and extended it to the countess.

"Esther Reed," I greeted.

Sofia stared blankly at my hand, pale eyebrows rising, and Amon cleared his throat.

She let out a tinkling laugh, and then like lightning her hand struck out and snatched my wrist, drawing it to her nose.

Auguste growled and lurched forward, but I was ready, stepping on his toes.

Sofia took a deep whiff of me, her grip stern and unbreakable but not painful, and Auguste settled at my side, tense and prepared to strike.

"Mm, not bad," Sofia said, pointedly dismissive, dropping my wrist. "Certainly suitable for you, Thibodeaux."

Auguste's fingers tangled with mine, his thumb brushing the back of my hand as he bowed from the waist. "Countess."

"The dining room should be safe for her," Sofia said, already bored with me, a sultry fan of her lashes and silken smile aiming at Amon again. "And then you and I may discuss what you really came here for."

"You know what we are here for, and what discussion is necessary aside from your sharing the information we seek," Amon said, voice thick with a growl.

Sofia's laugh sang in the air, as pretty as the music from the room behind us. "Amon, don't be absurd. Everything comes at cost." She trailed past us into the next room, calling over her shoulder. "When you're ready to bargain, find me."

Amon huffed, moving to follow her, and I stopped with a flat palm against his stomach, shaking my head slightly. "Let her toy with us," I whispered.

Amon scowled, but he didn't push past me. "I would rather be done with this farce," he muttered.

"Of course, but she's not going to cooperate until she feels like it," I said, and Amon's hand covered mine, claws stroking gently. "And besides, I would like to go and see precisely what is going on in that courtyard."

Amon's lips twitched and his eyes warmed as he stared down at me. "Of course you would."

"Our wicked girl," Mr. Tanner rumbled at my back.

We moved together, and the monsters who crowded the party parted for my gentlemen.

"You changed your plan," Ezra whispered in my ear.

I hummed. "I did. She wants to think little of me. I don't mind."

"She'll learn," Booker said.

I twisted to offer him a smile, and over his shoulder I found the Countess watching us, all her pretty features encased in a cold study. I nodded once to her, an acknowledgment of her victory in the first bout. Our reckoning would come. But first, I would enjoy the party.

* * *

"It's growing late," Auguste whispered.

"I agree," Mr. Tanner said.

I was languid, curled up on Booker's lap, a glass of spiced wine in my grip that I'd been nursing carefully for the past hour.

"If we wait too much longer, I'm going to be revealing a little too much to the party," Auguste continued.

His ability to withstand sunlight. I straightened on Booker's lap.

We were gathered together in a wonderfully comfortable seating area at the back of the courtyard.

We'd watched “the races” of pleasure, feasted on the banquet of food—which included beautiful nude donors for the vampires, not that Auguste helped himself to anyone but me—and I'd convinced each of my gentlemen but Ezra to dance with me once.

By my guess, dawn was a few hours away, but Auguste was right; we didn't know yet what the countess would ask of us.

When she had appeared in the courtyard, we had drifted to dinner. When she’d arrived to sup on a pretty young man, we’d chased the notes of music to dance. When she’d come to offer a song to a captivated audience, we’d moved outside to catch our breath.

And now…

I smiled as a flash of cream and gold sparkled out of the corner of my eye.

"It might be time for us to—" Auguste started.

"Shh, she's coming," I breathed.

Amon stood across from me, propped against a pillar, and while I was sure he was as aware of the countess's approach, his eyes remained on me, glowing like embers, lips curved in a promising smile.

I'd made her chase us.

"I hope you've enjoyed the party," she called.

I wondered what vampire had turned her, and if they were still alive. If they regretted transforming this glittering star of a woman into an even more potent monster.

"More than I’d expected," Amon admitted, still gazing at me.

"See, my darling sphinx. My hospitality is not so dreary." She reached for him, but her hands hovered at his edges. No matter how powerful this woman was, she knew better than to touch Amon without his permission. And he didn't so much as blink at her.

"I keep company that makes even the dullest places entertaining," Amon said, smiling at me.

I snorted. "Don't be rude," I answered him.

Sofia's lips pursed and she glanced at me.

"What do you want, Sofia? What's your price?" Amon asked, before she could notice me too much.

Sofia stepped in front of Amon, slightly blocking my view. But I knew she wouldn't touch him; he wouldn't let her. And anyway, we were fairly certain we knew what she wanted.

And we were right.

"What it's always been, sphinx. I want you ," Sofia purred up at my gentleman.

She waved a hand up and down his elegant length.

"Not this silly costume you wear. Your true form.

" Amon's eyes held mine over the top of her head, his attention never once diverting.

"I want to know the brush of your fur on my back; I want to admire every inch of you, learn the way you move as you fuck .

I want to know the scent of your sweat, and I want the sound of your roar as you find release echoing in my ears. "

It was a lovely speech, and Amon's eyes narrowed at my smile.

"I have a question," I said, voice bright, cutting through the silky tangle of Sofia's attempt at seducing my sphinx.

She stiffened, her head turning in my direction.

"Do you bargain to protect Birsha?"

Sofia snorted and spun to face me, her charm cutting to a blade on her features, her glare sharp and pricking into mine.

"Birsha is an imposter. He is an entertainer, and a con-artist. He is no threat to me, and I benefit neither by his success nor his destruction.

He plagues humans because he knows, deep down, he's as worthless as you are. "

"You can't even begin to understand her—" Auguste started, but he went silent as I raised my hand and Sofia laughed at the exchange, rolling her eyes at Auguste's obedience.

"I bargain because I have something you want, and you have something I want."

I patted Booker's hand where it rested on my lap, and his arm slid away, freeing me. I stood and reminded myself to keep my chin high. I was not a maid anymore. I was the partner to these men who surrounded me, to the man this countess so desired.

"You want to know what it would be like to fuck Amon.

To be the object of his passion, his desire," I said, smiling at the man in question, his stare heavy and sweet, patient.

"I could tell you. Tell you how wonderful it is, how potent and perfect, how powerful his touch is, how many hours it takes before there's nothing left in the world but his touch and his tongue and his cock, and how desperate you can become for more, how weak he might leave you," I said.

I didn't look at Sofia as I stepped forward, and our shoulders brushed as I moved to Amon. His hands clasped my hips as I neared, claws present just enough to prick at my flesh. My hands were fearless as I reached him, not hesitating, not waiting for permission. Because Amon was mine .

"Or, I could show you," I said, stroking my thumbs over Amon's cheeks, feeling the gentle suede of his flesh.

Silence answered us, and the countess was close enough to hover in the corner of my eye, but she didn't move.

"We will leave now, without our information," I said easily. "It's only worth so much, and you will never touch Amon."

"Or?" Sofia asked, a whisper in my ear, the sound of the seduced holding their breath and waiting for me.

Amon pulled me to his chest and I turned to her, his cheek nuzzling against my hair.

"Or you can have a performance," I said, reaching up and stroking my fingers through Amon's locks.

"You'll never know the feel of him, but I will share the sight, his sounds.

You and your lovely friends, who have so generously entertained and delighted us for the evening, may enjoy our gift in return. Amon and I, together."

Later, when we were safely away from here, tucked together with the others, Amon and I would crow and laugh and try to mimic the many expressions Sofia's face wore in those following moments.

The open-mouthed shock, the squint of irritation, the blink of consideration, the slow scan of interest, the pursed lips of frustration.

Every twitch and twist of her face passed in an instant, an obvious battle to tame her thoughts and control her reaction, unable to keep up with her own face.

Finally, when she'd settled to stillness, eyes narrowed, Sofia found her voice again. "She speaks for you, Amon?"

"In this," Amon said, his voice rough and his hands stroking over my sides and across my stomach. He liked my offer. He was eager. I was going to enjoy my sphinx tonight, with or without an audience, and the thought left me smiling and rocking into his searching hands.

Countess Sofia de Vologda looked at me once more, and this time her study was genuine.

I was exactly what she’d thought of me at first glance.

A curious human, young and naive to the world of monsters, outrageously lucky to be in the company of the gentlemen who surrounded me.

She just misunderstood what a powerful position mine was.

Her hand extended, a mirror of the one I'd offered her earlier in the evening. "You have a deal, Esther Reed."