“I’m not the same woman I was a few months ago,” she purred. “I was angry and things were so bad with all the trouble that was going on. But you stopped that.”
“Paige and I stopped it.”
“Right. You stopped it and I’m so grateful. Your partner just wants to fight. If she has her way, there won’t be any progress.”
“Progress?” Cole scoffed.
“Look around you, sweetie. This place ain’t some alley. This is a real business. Do you know how much money we pull in every week?”
“No, but I bet you’re going to tell me.”
“Or…” she said as she eased her hand up along Cole’s stomach and chest, “you could find out for yourself.”
“Why would you want to give me such an opportunity?”
“Because the two of us could make things in this town run smoothly. I could keep the Nymar in line and you could—”
“I could be the one to take out anyone who you don’t like,” he cut in.
“You could take out the troublemakers. Isn’t that what Skinners do already?”
Pushing her hand away, Cole said, “You’re not supposed to come down to Cicero. You were warned, and I suppose you needed to see if Paige and I were really paying attention. We are, and if anyone wanders where they’re not supposed to go, we’ll shut down all your places. Starting with this one.”
Stephanie put on a hurt expression as she tugged at Cole’s belt. Somehow, she managed to get it open in a matter of seconds. “There are other fringe benefits,” she said as she took his hand and guided it to the front of her body. “And the first one’s free.”
Cole tried to pull his hand back, but lost the will to struggle when he felt just how soft Stephanie’s body was. Her breast was firm and her nipple rigid with anticipation. Even the Nymar markings added a smooth, ridged texture to her flesh. Soon, her leg was rubbing against his and he could feel the warmth between her thighs through his jeans.
He knew damn well what she was doing, and thanks to some of his more recent sparring sessions, wasn’t so eager to partake. “Get away from me, Steph.”
“You don’t mean that, sweet stuff.”
“Yeah,” Cole snapped as he shoved her away. “I do.”
The slightest hint of confusion drifted across her face as she grabbed his waist. She struggled with him as if she’d forgotten she wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing, holding on using the strength that set her well above human norms.
Breaking her hold with more force than he would have normally used for any woman, Cole took Stephanie by the wrist and tried to shove her aside. She was Nymar and he knew that well enough, but it still went against his grain to treat a naked girl like that. Even with his clear thinking and extra effort, he was only able to move her a foot or so in the other direction.
Rather than admire the way the black tendrils framed her upper and lower assets, Cole looked at her mouth. Like any Nymar being threatened, the fangs were starting to show. Instead of just the two upper sets, however, the lower ones were also making an appearance. Those thicker bottom fangs were only used when they needed to dig in deep and keep their prey from getting away during feeding. Showing them meant Stephanie was gearing up for a fight.
Cole reached over his shoulder and removed the spear from its harness. “Stay the hell away from Cicero,” he snarled. “And keep your whores in their kennel.”
She crouched down and scooped up her dress. Pressing the clothing against her chest, she looked up at one of those sculptures along the upper corner of the wall and said, “Are you going to keep watching this bullshit, Ace, or is someone gonna kill this jackoff?”
Chapter 7
As Cole kicked the chair away from the door, he wondered if he might have pushed things just a bit too far. The simple truth of the matter was that Stephanie had a knack for pissing him off. All she thought she had to do was strip and whisper a few things to get her way. What made him even madder was that the simple, age-old tactic had almost worked.
When he pulled open the door, Cole saw two Nymar racing toward him. One wore a black suit and the other looked more like a bouncer from the bar downstairs. He gripped his spear in both hands, brought the weapon across his face to protect himself, and then snapped it forward to crack it against the chin of the Nymar in the suit. That one twisted around and hissed loudly as he bounced off the wall. The bouncer ducked down and sent a quick uppercut into Cole’s stomach. Fortunately, Stephanie had been right about one thing: he had indeed been working out.
The punch hurt, but mostly just bounced off tensed muscle. He still had his spear held high, so he brought it around to swat the Nymar’s hand away to create an opening just big enough for him to bring his right leg up into a simple straight kick. His foot pounded against the bouncer’s hip and sent the guy staggering back a few steps.
More footsteps pounded up the stairs from the bar. A second later Astin was in the waiting room and looking for something to damage. He didn’t have to look far before spotting the commotion in the hallway.
“Astin!” someone barked from the opposite end of the hall.
Astin, Cole, and both of the other Nymar looked toward the sound of that voice to find a wiry guy with a partially shaved head strutting toward the fight. The guy appeared to be somewhere in his early twenties and wore a dark gray suit that looked as if it had been tailored to fit a teenage girl. His black markings stretched all the way up from his neck to his cheek, but didn’t quite make it to the symbol shaved into the left side of his scalp. It was a diamond. The last time Cole had seen Ace, the symbol had been a club.
“No need for things to get worse,” the wiry Nymar said. “You’ll upset our clients.”
Astin understood exactly what he’d been told and took his hand away from whatever was holstered under his arm.
Stephanie didn’t hit the brakes so easily. In fact, she exploded from the room, still barely covering herself with her dress as she shrieked, “Nobody treats me like that, Ace! If someone doesn’t shred this Skinner motherfucker soon, I’ll do it and then work my way through the rest of you!”
That made the customer in the waiting room squirm more than anything else.
While most of the Nymar reflexively backed away from her, Ace held his ground. “Put some clothes on, Steph,” he said. “You look ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous, huh? You want to see—”
“Everyone’s seen more than enough,” Ace cut in. “Don’t ya think?”
Stephanie bared her teeth, but her fangs were actually slipping back up under her gums. While drawing her mouth into a tight line, she pulled her dress on over her head and twisted it around so she could fit the straps on properly.
By this time several of the other doors along the hallway were opening and girls were peeking out. A few anxious men and women were trying to get a peek as well, but were being pulled back inside by their Nymar hosts. Farther down the hall, one of the doors near the back staircase opened and a woman sauntered through.
“Hello, Ace,” Cole said without lowering his guard. “Glad to see you can still rein in your girl, here.”
“I don’t want my place busted up, that’s all,” Ace replied. “That don’t mean you’re about to walk out of here without sportin’ a couple fresh bruises. This about Rita wandering too close to Cicero?”