Grave Mistakes (Hellgate Guardians #1)(21)
I can definitely confirm now that Echo has black eyes. They’re eerie, especially against his super pale skin and white hair, and I wonder for a moment if the contacts he’s wearing bother him. Those, paired with his tattoos that span across his arms and up his neck give him a forbidden look that doesn't quite match up with the smirk on his face.
Jerif’s black skin has this quality that makes it look silky and hard as rock at the same time. His fiery hair makes me want to run my fingers through the multi-colored strands, so similar to flames that I swear he’s radiating heat.
Iceman is just...well, blue in all the right ways. While Crux looks the most normal, with his lazy day at the beach vibe. All four of them are overwhelmingly attractive, and being here, stuck in the middle of their full attention is incredibly intimidating.
“Miss Gates—I mean Delta,” Iceman starts, clearing his throat a little. It sounds more like a nervous tic as opposed to a necessity. “We’re all very curious about what source Ring you’re from.”
I sit back a little in my chair like I’m contemplating his question, but really, I’m freaking the fuck out inside. What is my source ring? Fuck. This has to be some kind of security guard lingo that an experienced professional would know. Did they not look at my resume at all?
Iceman keeps going. “You see, we’ve been receiving only Quīnques for centuries, maybe a Quattour every once in a while, but clearly, you’re not from either of those Rings.”
Umm...what the fuck is he saying? Kinkys and Squatters? Is this some hip new version of sex-speak? Has a cooler way to talk hit the streets and I’m completely oblivious? Dammit, he tricked me with the formal talk. I suddenly feel like an idiot, because something has just dawned on me. Was I was hired for some freaky sex-cult shit?
Iceman goes on, completely oblivious to the turmoil bubbling in my brain. “We didn’t anticipate that an Inner Ring would see the ad, let alone respond to it. We would have handled things much differently,” he tells me, his tone bartering for forgiveness.
He stares at me for a few beats, and I realize he wants me to say something, but I’m fucking lost. I should’ve known as soon as I put on this uniform that this was not a straight-laced “security” job. That ad was probably chock-full of code words for this underground sex ring crap he’s talking about.
“We understand your hesitancy,” Iceman offers, mistaking my silence for caution. “The times being what they are, we all go out warded all the time, but we swear on The Morning Star’s wings that anything said between us will stay between us.”
I stare at him, not sure how the hell to respond to anything he just said.
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry,” Crux says, before giving me a warm smile and tapping his palm to his chest. “I’m a Trēs Ring, and so is Echo. Jerif is a Duo, and Rafferty is an ūnus.”
Crux gives me an encouraging head nod, clearly communicating that it’s my turn to kiss and tell, only, I didn’t get the yummy kiss first. Instead, I got a shit ton more confused. I’m fairly certain he just said something about Iceman—whose real name is apparently Rafferty—and his anus.
Fuck.
I definitely answered a sex ad.
I let out a deep sigh and shake my head. “I knew this was too good to be true. It was a sex ad, wasn’t it?” I demand, slapping my hands on my leather-clad knees. “This is some kind of roleplay fetish, right?” I groan. “Fuck, I should’ve seen that coming. I mean, look how you tried to dress me.” I look around the room, realization dawning on me. “Is your big party some kinky cosplay thing? Or some freaky Eyes Wide Shut kind of action?” I ask, shaking my head. “If Tom Cruise is here, it’s a hard pass. Seriously, that dude freaks me out.”
The four men gape at me without replying. My eyes scan over each of my bosses, but I’m not buying the shock and confusion they’re all wearing on their faces. Next, they’ll be declaring that they’ve never done this before, and for just one night they can make it worth my while.
Unfortunately, that thought makes my vagina clench, and a zing of interest shoots right to my clit. I mean, fucking any one of these dudes—or all of them—wouldn’t be a hardship by any stretch of the imagination, but then what? I sign on to be some sex slave? Either that, or I have to walk away from all my big plans that crucially involve making good money, and that’s a hard pill to swallow.
Now, this might be where a smarter person would get up and hightail it out of here, but...I’m weirdly intrigued. And broke. Like, really broke. So broke I can’t even pay attention. Plus, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten my itch scratched. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing?
After a few more seconds of stunned silence, Crux suddenly starts laughing, making Jerif and Iceman shoot him disapproving looks. “She’s cagey as fuck, but at least she’s entertaining,” he announces between fits of laughter.
“There will be no cages!” I bark out, and that just makes him laugh even harder.
Echo cracks a smile and brings a hand up to his mouth to cover it while Jerif just stands there shaking his head and looking annoyed.
“My money is on ūnus,” Jerif states evenly before leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers like some bad Mr. Burns impression. I wait for him to say excellent, but it doesn’t come.