I Am Only One {Mature Vampire Romance}

Book 3|27. Playroom

We both began to search. I methodically pulled out drawer after drawer, shocked by the sheer volume of sex toys. An assortment of dildos, cock rings, vibrators and butt plugs in every shaped and color under the sun, were piled up in three different drawers.  Fuck, there was no way in hell I was going to reach my hand in to dig around. Remembering a lamp I had seen earlier, I made my way back to the desk. It took no time at all for me to snap the shade, bulb and base apart, leaving me a useable stick.

I returned to the first drawer. It was doubtful she had photos stashed underneath all of that crap, but I wasn't going to leave anything to chance. I poked the lamp-pole-stick into the mess of toys, and pushed them around, so that I could see to the bottom.

Behind me, Talon muttered, "I found her phone." His announcement was followed by the tell-tale sound of metal and plastic being crumpled into a thousand pieces.

I turned and caught his eye. "How are you holding up?"

His face was set in a grimace, but he nodded. I wanted to stop and give him a hug, but now wasn't the time. I closed the first drawer and opened the second, repeating my rifling process. Thankfully, no photos there either. But on the third drawer of sex toys, I found several nestled in the bottom. Shit.

I couldn't help but notice various pets, including Talon, in the images as I pushed the toys to the side, but they changed nothing of the way I felt about him. They did however, ignite my fiery passion to see Seraphine burn on a stake.

"Talon," I murmured.

He joined me and cringed when he looked over my shoulder into the drawer. I grabbed his hand and held his darkened gaze, silently trying to give him my strength. He inhaled slowly and released the breath, his chest lifting and falling with the movement. His voice was hard and steady. "I'm okay."

Relief washed over me. He did appear to be doing better. Gone was his earlier emotional frailty. Now, his jaw was set in fierce determination, his eyes focused and calculating. I murmured, "We need a way to extract the photos without touching anything."

He nodded, removed his shirt and tore a strip from the bottom. I was taken aback again at his new physique. His chest was chiseled. His abs prominent. The muscles in his arms and neck strained with tension, as though his skin was too small to contain them. He wrapped the fabric loosely around his hands, so that he could still manipulate his fingers and reached into the drawer. He pulled out about twenty images and held them face down.

I contemplated the best way to destroy them. It wasn't enough to tear them apart. I wanted them reduced to ash. I wished I could burn the whole damn room to the ground. I glanced up. "Do you know where a lighter is?" 

He walked to the desk and returned with a small lighter in hand.

We needed a fire-safe place to burn them. A sink should do the trick. "Where is the bathroom?" Without a word, he turned and headed toward a side door. I followed him into a large on suite bathroom, and placed the lighter on the counter. "Put the photos in the sink. When we are finished, we will burn them all at one time."

He did as I asked and we resumed our task. Thirty minutes later, we finished our sweep of the apartment. We had found several more images, close to fifty in total, as well as another memory stick and two flash drives. We destroyed the electronics and made quick work of lighting up the pictures, washing the ash down the sink when we were finished. 

When we exited the apartment, we found Marku and York lounging in a nearby atrium. Marku's eyebrow rose almost imperceptivity when he saw Talon's naked chest, but he didn't ask any questions.

I was silent the entire way back to Marku's suites, actively trying to control my blood boiling and seething beneath my skin. Right before we entered Tobias' room, where the pets and Seraphine were waiting, I stopped cold. My hand shot out as I placed it on Talon's chest. He stopped walking and looked at me in confusion.  Even after my short 'cooling-off' walk, I wasn't sure if I could stop myself and ground out, "Talon, don't let me kill her."

His expression was stony as he nodded his agreement. We continued through the door. But even with my warning, the second we entered the room and my eyes met hers, I couldn't help myself. I hissed and bolted across the room. She would not live, not one more minute!

Abruptly, my body was met with a strong opposing force. Two arms wrapped around my frame like steel. My breath whooshed out. Oddly enough, it wasn't Talon who held me tightly. I looked up to find Marku smirking down at me. "Always happy to be of service," he purred.

"Thank you," I snarled. I actually meant it. I was glad he had stopped me and calmed down to the point I was no longer homicidal, but my rage was still all I could focus on.  Her punishment needed to begin now. "It's time for you to hold up your side of our agreement. You agreed I could see Cage, and I intend to give Seraphine to Echo and my men for their pleasure this evening."

Marku's eyes turned stormy. A muscled clenched in his jaw, and his arms tightened around me. My eyes narrowed and I reminded him pointedly, "You promised."

He studied me for a long moment and then loosened his hold. "Very well. But he stays in the cell and I will be by your side at all times."

It wasn't ideal. I would have preferred to talk with Cage privately, to explain the agreement I had made and the events of the prior night. But Marku wasn't going to give me the opportunity. His expression was clear. He wasn't going to budge. 

I knew a confrontation was coming between him and Cage. I could feel it.  I didn't trust Marku, and was almost certain he planned to share all of the gory details of our sexual interlude the night before. Fuck.

But there wasn't a choice to make.

I needed to see Cage.

I ground my teeth together and nodded, "Agreed..."

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NEXTchapter is in Cage's POV...woo hoo!