Savor (30 page)

to house five hundred candles. During a power outage, I’d say we were covered.

I asked the servants who brought in the candles to spread them out all over the room,

concentrating on the space around the bed. Then I asked them to pull all the heavy drapes

closed. One asked if I wanted help lighting the wicks, and I declined. I found perverse

pleasure in lighting candles. Something about how the yellow flames banished the darkness

and brought the best kind of illumination. Soft light. The kind that made everything seem

sexier than they really were.

Not wanting the servants to feel left out, I asked one to fetch my tripod, another to bring in several bottles of wine—some empty and others still sealed. When he asked me what vintage,

I chortled. I couldn’t help it. The Lunar Manor staff took their work very seriously. The last maid I asked to inform Phoenix where we would be having the shoot.

The candles brought warmth to the room. And some of the scented ones masked the

musty air I crinkled my nose at when I’d first discovered the room. It seemed the space

hadn’t been used in a while, but the sheets were fresh enough. I asked the servant who

returned with my tripod to turn down the bed while I set up and took some test shots. I

needed the perfect setting if I wanted the boudoir photos to come out just right. Candle light, although wonderful, wreaked havoc on sensitive digital cameras. For a second I wished for

film. Only for a second.

The servant I asked to fetch the wine bottles returned with a companion carrying wine

glasses and a corkscrew. What service! They anticipated what I needed without my having to

ask. I complimented them both and asked them to scatter the empty bottles in and around

the bed. Like someone had a late night party. They seemed to really understand what I’d

meant because the bottles looked naturally discarded when we were done. The ones

unopened I had them position on the bedside table then I had them open one and pour some

into a glass. When one of them handed me the glass, I smiled.

“Not for me,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s a prop for the shoot.”

Embarrassed pink spread across the guy’s face. I wanted to give him a hug and tell him he

hadn’t done anything wrong. Ah, servants. I found them infinitely cute. How could I return to

the real world now?

I promised myself I’d make a buttload of money just so I could have my very own

servants. An assistant at least. All professional photographers had one. The ones that made

money, anyway.

Nodding in satisfaction at the new life goal added to my list, I continued directing the staff.

We moved several candles around depending on my lighting needs. For a while I toyed with

the idea of using lighting kits, but why light all those candles if I went technical in the end?

No, I told myself. I’d challenge myself and go with old school light.

We had the set up half-finished when Calixta barged in, pulling a rolling clothes’ stand

with her. Another servant brought in a folding chair while a second lugged a huge makeup kit.

Shooing away the servants she’d brought with her, Calixta laid the suitcase flat on the floor

and flipped the lid. She pulled out several stacked shelves bursting with cosmetics.

“For a cat’s eye and red lip that’s a whole lot of beauty products,” I commented, crossing

my arms, watching in amazement.

I should have realized the error of my ways when Calixta glared at me. “You can never

have enough beauty products. The simplest of makeups take the most work. You know how

hard it is to make someone look naturally beautiful? You have to create a new foundation to

work with!”

“Oh lord,” I sighed out, the beginnings of a headache coming to life in the back of my head.

“I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Raising a perfectly contoured eyebrow, Calixta smirked. “I don’t tell you how to point and

shoot, do I?”

“I’m not getting myself into this argument.” I backed away slowly. Predators were known

to go for the jugular.

“You leave the makeup and clothes to me and I’ll leave the photos to you. We cool?”

“Yeah.” I moved toward the clothes rack filled with lingerie. Calixta had brought quite a

selection with her. She had corsets and thongs. Matching panty and bra sets. Even garters and

stockings. I scanned through the rack when raised voices drew my attention outside.

The servants in the room with us left immediately, their eyes all on the floor. I didn’t ask

them to stay since the set up was complete. I moved away from the clothes rack toward the

door, recognizing Luka’s and Phoenix’s voices.

“You don’t want to do that,” Calixta warned from behind me.

I paid no attention to her. If Luka and Phoenix argued loud enough for the whole house to

hear, then my coming closer didn’t matter much. When I reached the door, I stopped, holding

my breath.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Luka said.

“And why not?” Phoenix challenged. “You have no right to tell me what to do.”

“No.” Luka sucked in a breath. “But I can share my opinion.”

“Oh yeah! Well, better keep your opinion to yourself. I’m doing this, Luka, whether you

agree with it or not. We’re not your little toys to play with when it suits your purposes.”

“That’s not what you are to me. You know that.”

“It sure feels that way.” A pause then, “Will you leave me alone? For the first time in my

life I’m doing something that makes me feel confident and, God forbid, happy. You have no

right to mess with that.”

The headache at the back of my head moved forward. Phoenix’s screeching wasn’t helping

matters. I gritted my teeth to keep from reaching up and massaging my forehead.

“You’re right,” Luka said. “I don’t have any rights here anymore.”

“Luka,” she whispered.

“No. No. Do what you want.”

Footsteps receded followed by stomping heading toward the room Calixta and I stood in.

Seconds later, Phoenix burst in wearing a silk robe and curlers in her hair. She slumped into

the makeup chair, not noticing me at the door or Calixta still kneeling over her mountain of

cosmetics. Covering her face, she breathed in deeply.

I swallowed. The silence had gotten heavy really fast and it made my skin itch. It needed to

be broken so I asked, “What was that about?”

Phoenix sat up and smiled. Her lower lip wobbled slightly but she rallied by saying, “This

is gorgeous, Dakota!”

“You could have at least given me some light to work with,” Calixta grumbled from the

floor.

“I didn’t ask you to do her makeup here,” I spat back before returning my attention to

Phoenix. “Don’t dodge my question. Everyone heard that blow out. Might as well spill. Does it

have something to do with the shoot?”

Phoenix shook her head so hard one of the curlers fell off. Calixta tsked, catching the thing

as it bounced toward her.

“Luka’s just being Luka.” Phoenix shrugged a little too hard. “He can be a pain in the ass

when he decides to be too controlling. Don’t worry about it.”

From the lightness in Phoenix’s tone, I wouldn’t have caught the finality in her words if

not for her pointed stare. I pursed my lips at the loudness of the period in her last sentence and turned my focus on the shoot. If she didn’t want to share then who was I to ask for

further clarification? In less than two weeks, I’d be out of here.

“Where are the music sheets?”

“Oh, they’re on their way.” Phoenix tilted her chin up as Calixta stood over her with a

bottle of foundation and a brush.

An hour later, I had Phoenix sprawled on the bed in a lacey black garter set. I looked at her

through the lens as she rolled on her stomach and kicked up her stockinged feet. The test

shots were looking good. The candle light danced down her tumble of wavy hair. I let Calixta

stay, allowing her to adjust the makeup and clothing as needed. Hell if I’d give myself

permission to adjust Phoenix’s breastage for proper effect.

The room grew warmer for some reason. I fanned myself when I asked, “How’s the

temperature?”

Phoenix didn’t seem to be sweating, even when I zoomed in on her. And when she said she

was fine, I nodded, taking a deep breath. The headache I’d been feeling pounded along the

walls of my head now. It was like I had lightning in my brain. Sweat covered my forehead. I

batted at it with tissue from the box Calixta had on hand.

“You okay?” Calixta whispered when she passed me.

“Yeah,” I breathed out. “Just a little warm in here.” I concentrated on the scene set up I

had in mind. “Will you lie on your back with your head toward the foot of the bed? Yes, that’s perfect.” I moved away from the camera and grabbed a stack of music sheets. “Okay, I’m

going to need you to remove your bra.”

Phoenix complied, tossing the lace aside without an ounce of shyness. Well, considering I

had a set of photos of her and Demitri heating up my laptop, I didn’t expect her to feel self-

conscious now. I rained down the music sheets on her and she giggled.

“Stay still,” I admonished, swiping my hand across the sweat on my top lip. My skin felt

warm and clammy at the same time to the touch.

“Are you feeling alright?” Phoenix frowned when she looked up at me.

“I’m fine.” I attempted a smile, but the jackhammers in my head wouldn’t let me. “Calixta,

can you hand me more of the sheets?”

Without complaint, the makeup artist did so and we tossed paper onto Phoenix until her

body was covered with them.

“Okay,” I returned behind my camera, “I want to you hug the sheets to your body like they

are Demitri. Good, just like that. Then pull your legs up so I see your knees. Stop, that’s

perfect. Now, let your head fall over the end of the bed. Calixta, can you—”

I didn’t have to finish my sentence. Calixta gathered Phoenix’s hair in her hands and let

the lush strands cascade over the end of the bed.

“Perfect.” I positioned myself behind the viewfinder, my finger ready at the trigger. “Okay,

Phoenix, I want you to look at me from upside down. Yes, tilt your head back.” I began

releasing the shutter. “Good, good. Now think of Demitri making love to you. Yes, moan if

you want to.”

Like a professional model, Phoenix held on to the music sheets like they were her lover,

which was what I was going for. I snapped a couple more shots of her in ecstasy. Then I asked

Calixta to rain more sheets over Phoenix. Like she was about to orgasm, Phoenix arched her

back up and parted her lips.

My breathing came hard and ragged now. Not that I was in any way turned on by the

woman making love to sheets of paper on the bed. Sweat trickled down the side of my face.

My vision blurred. I had to blink several times to clear it. I licked at my lips, my throat

suddenly parched. A shiver went through my body. My hand fell from my camera.

Light-headed, I bent over, hands on my knees, concentrating on taking in as much air as I

could to dissipate the furnace my lungs had become.

“Dakota?” Calixta bent over me.

“I just need to close my eye a second.” A wave of nausea hit me, twisting my stomach like a

pretzel.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Phoenix asked from the other side of me. It must have been

her hand rubbing circles on my back because I couldn’t imagine Calixta being that

compassionate.

“I’m fine, really.” No sooner did the words fall out of my mouth that my world tilted at a

bad angle and everything around me went black. Dimly, I heard someone scream then

nothing.

Chapter Thirty-One

Fever

I went in and out of consciousness. Floating just above the darkness before falling back

down again. My body burned inside and out. But no matter how hot I thought I got, cold

sweat dotted my skin. Shivers rolled up and down my torso and every time I tried to breathe,

something ragged reached my ears. I struggled against something I didn’t know. In the

distance I heard faint voices speaking in a rhythmic pattern…like chanting. But as soon as I

latched on to the idea I fell back into the icky abyss.

During my moments of partial lucidity, I caught snippets of conversation. One in

particular was a heated argument concerning my care. Apparently, someone refused to leave

my room no matter how many people begged. I tumbled back into the blackness before I

caught the tail end of the argument. I had no idea who won.

The good thing about the darkness? No dreams. I swam in a pit of nothing. No images. For

a time, I fought to wake up, bored out of my skull. I had work to do, pictures to take. I

couldn’t spend all this time laid up, yet no matter how hard I struggled to swim toward the

surface, something always pulled me back down.

At one point, I thought the prick on my arm would help. I moaned, but no one came to my

rescue. The shaking stopped gradually after the prick. My breathing eased. Pretty soon, my

lungs weren’t in flames anymore. I calmed significantly too, not fighting to wake up as badly.

I figured it would only be a matter of time until I opened my eyes. So I waited. And waited.

When I reached a point where I could wait no longer, a soft touch on my forehead helped

me swim the last few yards to the surface. My eyelid fluttered open to a blurred vision of

someone sitting by my body. The warm fingers kept stroking, smoothing away the hair that

fell over my forehead.

“Did I wake you?” an equally soft voice asked.