Counsellor (Acquisition Series Book 1) (7 page)

She walked me into the thankfully empty breakfast room. “I’ve known them since they were wee ones, so I still think of them as boys.”

She called for Laura, effectively cutting off my incredulous commentary with the sight of a breakfast tray piled high with deliciousness.

Renee sipped her coffee as I demolished my breakfast. If she was right about having a big day planned, I certainly had a big enough breakfast to power through it.

I wiped my mouth daintily, though it did nothing to undo my earlier lack of manners.

Renee finished her coffee. “Ready to get started?”

I stood and stretched like a lazy cat. “Lead the way.”

“One more thing.” She showed me down the hallway, leading me deeper into the house than I’d been as of yet. “You are about to meet some new people. They’re outsiders. They wouldn’t understand what’s going on. It would be best if you told them as little as possible in order to avoid any unpleasant complications. They know you’re going to a ball. Just keep it at that.”

“So I shouldn’t tell them that I’m an Acquisition and utterly at the mercy of Vinemont?”

Her quick step faltered for a second but then she regained her pace. “Exactly.”

***

The spa was in a wing toward the back of the house. It was in what seemed to be a converted sunroom. The walls and ceiling were made of paned glass, letting in natural light and warmth. It was an open area with river stone floors, a sunken hot tub in the center of the room, a large wood sauna set to one side, and massage tables to the other. It smelled wonderful, like expensive bath oils and some sort of woodsy incense.

Two men and two women stood waiting for us. Renee went in first and introduced me down the row of staff.

“This is Alex. He’s from New Orleans. He’ll be in charge of your hair and makeup for the night.”

He was a young man with a bright orange faux hawk, multiple piercings in his eyebrows, peacock-colored eyeshadow, and colorful tattoos on each arm.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Rousseau. When I’m done, you are going to be the belle of the ball.”

I looked at Renee, my eyebrows high. “Does everyone know about the ball but me?”

Alex placed a well-manicured hand on my arm. “Oh no, honey. I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement longer than my di—um, longer than my arm, just to get this job, and I still have no idea what you’re up to.” He winked. “I just know that whatever it is, you are going to look fabulous.”

Renee moved me along to the next person. “This is Juliet. She’ll be buffing your skin and doing your nails.”

“Buffing my skin?”

“Gets rid of all the dead skin cells, makes your skin look like an 18-year-old’s.” She ran her fingers down my neck and peered at me almost scientifically. “Doesn’t look like you’ve gotten much sun. Perfect. I’ll have you shined up like a new penny.” She took my hands in hers and examined my nails. They were permanently stained various colors from my paints.

She frowned, her blonde bob falling against her plump cheek as she surveyed the damage. “These will take some work. We may need to use gel to cover the staining.”

“Okay I guess?” I’d never really paid much attention to things like my fingernails.

She flipped my hands over and pushed up my sleeves, inspecting further. When she saw the scars along my wrists, she dropped my hands.

Her light blue eyes found mine. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. That was a long time ago.” I didn’t know these people. Still, they were people, and like Renee, they seemed to want to help me. I smiled at her. “It doesn’t bother me. You can look at them.”

She reclaimed my wrists and ran her fingers over the raised skin. “I think I may have a few tricks to make these less noticeable.” She returned my smile, seemingly at ease again.

The next woman had dark hair, a unibrow, and was by far the shortest person in the room.

“Yong will do your waxing.”

I whipped my head around to Renee. “Wait, waxing?”

Yong nodded and put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me down so she could inspect my face. “Brows need work…lip looks okay…I’ll do full face anyway. Everything else looks fine. When’s the last time you had a Brazilian?”

My thighs clenched together involuntarily. “The wax? Never. I don’t generally wax anything.”

Yong frowned, her unibrow like a dark caterpillar encroaching on her eyes. “I can tell. This will take some work. When I’m done, you’ll be smooth as a baby everywhere.”

“Um, thanks, I guess?”

She grinned. “I’ll go start getting everything ready. It’s going to sting some, but you’ll love the results.”

She passed through an adjoining door, walking quickly and with purpose.

“And this is Dmitri.” Renee introduced me to the last person in the row. He stood almost seven feet tall and seemed built of pure muscle. His head was shaved, though dark hair obviously grew there in abundance. He took my hand, his beefy palm swallowing mine whole.

“Very nice to meet you.” His Russian accent was so thick it made his words almost unintelligible. But like the others, he had a smile and warmth for me. I appreciated any compassion they had to offer.

“And what do you do, Dmitri?”

He released my hand and held his palms in front of me. “Massage.”

“Oh.” I swallowed hard.

“I no hurt you.” He squeezed my hand encouragingly. “Well, maybe a little. You like. Promise.”

“First, into the hot tub,” Juliet said. “I need your skin nice and pruny.” She stepped toward the massage tables. “Come on, get on in. We have a lot to do.”

“You want me to just strip in front of everyone?” I looked from Renee to Juliet and then up at Dmitri.

I crossed my arms over my chest. They could clean me up and dress me like a doll, but I wasn’t going to run around naked for their amusement.

Dmitri laughed, the sound filling the large room and making it seem somehow small. “Nothing new to me, Miss Stella. But I wait over there if make you more comfortable.” He shrugged and went through the same door as Yong.

“Needless to say, this”—Alex waved his hand up and down at my body—“does nothing for me. But I’ll still be a gentleman and wait in my booth. I’m going to need to send out for a bit more color, anyway. I’m thinking we’re going to make your red a bit more strawberry and maybe a touch of…” His words trailed off as he left the room.

Renee backed up and took a seat near the door before pulling a small book from her pocket. “I’ll stay with you in case you need anything. Just try to relax. Enjoy it. Mr. Sinclair has spared no expense.”

“First class ticket from L.A. and a sweet paycheck,” Juliet agreed.

I smirked. “Well, we definitely want Vinemont to get his money’s worth.” I stripped without ceremony and stepped into the bubbling water in the center of the room.

“I met him for all of five seconds. That man is absolutely dreamy.” Juliet knelt in a corner of the room and began removing various equipment from a large rolling case.

Was she going to use all that on me?

“Yeah, if you like tall, dark, and psychotic,” I said.

Renee snorted.

I slid further down into the enveloping warmth, and lay my head back.

“So are you really going to a ball?” Juliet asked.

“That’s what I keep hearing.”

Juliet squealed a little. “That’s just so, so exciting! And like, romantic. We don’t do stuff like balls in L.A.—I should have been born Southern. I wish I could go with you.”

“No, you don’t.” I closed my eyes and let my whispered words fade into the bubbling heat around me.

***

Four hours later, I was putty in Dmitri’s strong hands. I lay completely naked—my sense of modesty waxed away right along with all my body hair—and let his magical fingers work me over.

“You so tense,
Krasivaya
.” Dmitri had taken to referring to me as krasivaya. I didn’t know what it meant and I honestly didn’t care as long as he kept smoothing his hands over my body and making my muscles sing.

I’d been buffed, oiled, manicured, pedicured, handfed by Renee as my nails dried, and now I was being turned into a limp noodle by Dmitri.

“It’s almost my turn. I can’t wait.” Alex clapped his hands as he stood next to me. “You know, I’ve never really cared for the female form, but I might make an exception for yours. It’s actually pretty. If you had a dick, I’d definitely fuck you.”

I snickered as Dmitri’s large palm pressed into my lower back.

“Why so many girl-men in this country? In Russia, we have no such men. Only real men.” Dmitri moved to my ass and rubbed from there down to my thighs in strong strokes, as if squeegeeing my stress away.

“Is that so? I have an ex-boyfriend who came straight from Russia with man love. That St. Petersburg boy could power bottom like a son of a bitch.”

“Truly?” Dmitri squeezed and rolled my thighs.

“I had the orgasms to prove it.”

I moaned as Dmitri’s hands worked the tension from me. Had I been afraid of him? He was a massage god.

“Ah, hear that? That is what real men desire to hear. To make woman tremble with desire for him. You need to learn this. Then you be real man.”

“Yeah, I’ll get right to work on that.” Alex patted my behind. “You’re mine next. And I promise, unlike some
real men
”—he mimicked a Russian accent—“I won’t have a raging boner when I’m touching you.”

I giggled. I didn’t care if Dmitri was jacking off all over me, just so long as he kept pushing my tension all the way down my body and out my toes. I’d gotten massages before, but nothing compared to this. Not even close.

“How’s the Acquisition doing?”

Lucius’ voice undid Dmitri’s work and made my muscles seize.

Dmitri must have felt the change because he let out a litany in angry Russian. His hands rested possessively on my lower back as Lucius leisurely made his way to me. Whereas Vinemont was a methodical serial killer, Lucius was more of a smooth assassin. His fluid movements and swimmer’s body hinted at quickness and wiry strength.

Renee stood and pocketed her book, but didn’t move.

I couldn’t get up, because Lucius would see me fully naked. His seeing only my ass, once again, seemed like the lesser of two evils.

“Krasivaya
doesn’t like you, comrade. You interfere with her pleasure.” Dmitri’s voice was a cautionary rumble.

Lucius stopped next to me, his black boots filling my vision. “I’m certain that’s not so. I could give her plenty more pleasure if we had this room all to ourselves.”

“Well, you don’t.” Dmitri stepped around the table and stood chest to chest with Lucius.

“What, because you’re here? A hired set of hands?” Lucius placed his hand on my ass and squeezed.

I tried to jerk away from him, but I had nowhere to go. Dmitri yanked Lucius’ hand away from me. I scrambled off the table and backed away from them, nudity be damned.

Dmitri and Lucius faced off against each other, neither man backing down.

Lucius smiled up at Dmitri, as if declaring a truce with the bigger man. Instead of walking away, Lucius struck quickly with a vicious haymaker across Dmitri’s jaw. A classic sucker punch. Dmitri staggered back. Rage lit the Russian’s face and he swung, catching Lucius on the chin and sending him reeling away. Instead of falling, Lucius seemed emboldened and charged the larger man.

Juliet and Alex each came to either side of me.

“Now this is entertainment,” Alex said. “I wish they hadn’t confiscated my cell. I’d post a vid of this hunk on hunk action and make a fortune.”

“Lucius!” Vinemont rushed into the room. He saw me and stopped, his mouth opening slightly.

I slung an arm across my breasts and crossed my legs, though it didn’t do much good. I was completely bare down there now, with nothing left to the imagination.

Lucius turned and looked at me too, his signature lascivious smile returning to his otherwise handsome face. Dmitri took the opportunity to get him in a headlock. They struggled against each other, Lucius trying to buck Dmitri’s vice-like hold around his neck. Lucius shoved an elbow back hard into Dmitri’s ribs, breaking the Russian’s hold and slipping away.

Vinemont appeared to come back to himself and darted between the two men. “Lucius, get the hell out of here!”

“This is my house, too, Sin,” Lucius said. “I can go wherever the fuck I want. We’re brothers, remember?” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “We share.”

“Not this we don’t,” Vinemont growled.

“We’ll see.” Lucius dragged his thumb across his chin, wiping the blood from his split lip. He squared off against Dmitri again. “You hit pretty good for a red.”

“You hit pretty good for a
devushka
.”

“
Ya yebat' etu devochku pryamo pered vami
,” Lucius replied with a matching accent. He glanced over at me again.

Dmitri took a threatening step forward, menace oozing from his pores.