Tainted Hearts (4 page)

She tucked a strand of her wild
strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear and tilted her face, studying
him. “It’s too perfect. They should have left some minor flaw.”

“The voice of experience? Are you enhanced?”
Her musical laughter matched her elfin face. Marc couldn’t hold
back a smile.

“My chin is pointed, my eyes slant, and my
bottom lip is significantly fuller than the top. I’d have demanded
my money back. Even a second-rate hack could do better than
this.”

He enjoyed each charming characteristic of
her distinctive features. “I’m not sure nature would appreciate
being ranked lower than a second-rate hack. I think your face is
fascinating.”

“Fascinating? Are faces supposed to be
fascinating?”

When the masses had suddenly stopped aging,
plastic surgeons had turned to vanity enhancements to augment their
declining trade. “In a world of cookie-cutter features and
standardized—”

“If that’s how you feel about cosmetic
enhancement, why did you have it done?”

She was stubborn and curious, a lethal
combination. How much could he tell her without her guessing the
truth? She’d already jumped to all the right conclusions. It was
only a matter of time before she figured out he wasn’t just
involved with the Methuselah Project, he was responsible for it.
Better distract her with a little misdirection.

“How old are you, Ms. Fitzpatrick?”

“Why?”

“Thirty? Thirty-five? Early cases of the
syndrome had been diagnosed by the time you were old enough to take
Methuselah. That didn’t stop millions of devoted fans, but I’m
betting you never touched it, not even once. You’re pure as the
driven snow, aren’t you?” He laughed, leaning back in his chair.
“No wonder Job is after you. What an alliance you two would make.
The self-proclaimed savior of the world has found his Virgin
Mary.”

“That’s not funny.” Her eyes flashed with
emerald fire. “What do you know about Job? What makes you think
he’s after me?”

He smiled, standing to gather their dishes.
“You accused me of being him when you first woke up.”

“I guess I did, didn’t I? But you’re not
from PURE. You’re from the opposite end of the spectrum. You’re
connected with Methuselah. So, what was your role in the
project?”

“Why is it important that you know?” He
carried their plates into the kitchen.

“It’s not. I just wondered if your facial
enhancement had less to do with vanity and more to do with— Is
someone after you?”

Damn, she was perceptive. “Do you still want
to go outside?” He evaded her question.

“I want to go home.”

“You can’t go home. Your boss wants you to
lay low for a few days. It might as well be here.”

Job faced the wall of video screens,
silently watching his followers carry out their duties. Their trust
empowered him, exhilarated him. They moved from one task to the
next without hesitation, confident in their leader, resolute in the
cause.

“Where is she?” Job asked without turning
around. He knew the answer, knew his lieutenant had failed, but he
was interested to see how Elihu would deal with his failure.

“She disappeared.”

He heard defiance in Elihu’s tone. No
subjugation, no lamentation, just belligerence. “No one just
disappears.” Job turned from the video screens. “You were supposed
to bring her to me. Why is she not here?”

Elihu bowed his head, but his squared
shoulders revealed his stubbornness. Job glared at the top of his
dark head. This was the second time Elihu had failed. Unacceptable.
“When did you lose track of her? Did she leave the mediplex?”

“I’m not sure, sir. I thought she boarded
the Sinclair-Dietrich shuttle, but the shuttle didn’t return to SD
Towers.”

Job narrowed his eyes. He enjoyed devising
creative ways of punishing his followers. Discipline must be
maintained and his underlings responded more quickly when they were
unsure of the penalties awaiting them.

“How is Rahab’s training progressing?” The
unexpected subject change brought Elihu’s head up. Job smiled. His
body hardened in anticipation of what he’d decided to do. “She’s
been with you for what, three weeks now? She’s spirited and
energetic. Perhaps she’s distracting you.”

Elihu’s expression clouded, his thick brows
gathered above blazing dark eyes. “I accept full responsibility for
my failings. Rahab has nothing to do with this.”

With a pleased chuckle, Job walked to his
wall monitor and adjusted the images until he found Rahab busily
working at her data station. “Rahab, come to my office
immediately.”

Elihu placed his hand on Job’s arm. “Please,
sir, don’t involve Rahab in my punishment. I will—”

“Silence. You swore an oath to me, Elihu. Is
it now your intention to negate that oath?”

Reluctantly, the other man shook his head,
his eyes still rebellious.

“Good. You’re valuable to me, but everyone
is expendable. Do you understand?”

Elihu nodded stiffly, once.

The office door slid open a few minutes
later and Rahab moved inward only far enough to allow the door to
close behind her. “You asked to see me, sir.”

Job beckoned her to him. He could sense
Elihu’s tension mount with each step she took, and it thrilled him.
Power was intoxicating, addicting, and Job absorbed it through
every pore.

He watched the girl cross his office,
cautiously yet unafraid. She was a pretty little thing. With silky
brown hair and large dark eyes.

“I expect you to participate in Elihu’s
punishment,” Job informed her in a calm, casual tone. “If you
speak, his punishment will be increased. If you hesitate, his
punishment will be increased. If you fail to participate in Elihu’s
punishment, I will be forced to punish you.” His gaze captured
hers. “Believe me, Rahab, you don’t want that.”

“Sir, I’m begging you—”

“Silence!” Job turned on Elihu, furious that
his lieutenant had dared to speak. “You just added to the severity
of your punishment. Do not speak unless spoken to and then only to
answer my questions.”

He nodded, his tormented gaze darting toward
the woman.

Job circled Rahab, boldly assessing her
body. Elihu instinctively lunged, but snatched his hand back just
in time. A strangled sound escaped his throat and fury contorted
his features. Each outward sign of Elihu’s discomfort filled Job
with satisfaction.

Rahab met his gaze directly, her dark eyes
warm and welcoming. This was not about Elihu’s punishment for her.
Was she hoping to use this opportunity to her advantage?

“Tell me exactly what happened at the
mediplex, Elihu. Every detail—nothing is insignificant.”

“I watched Ms. Fitzpatrick arrive. She was
late, as she often is.” His voice cracked, his hands fisted tightly
at his sides.

“Continue.” He paused behind Rahab, inhaling
the sweet scent of her hair.

“I was certain it was Ms. Fitzpatrick who
got on the shuttle, but the shuttle didn’t return to the tower. I
told you all of this, sir. I know nothing more.”

Stepping to Rahab’s side, he freed the first
two buttons at the front of her dress. Elihu averted his face. Job
grabbed the back of his neck. “Watch. Watch as I touch your lover,
know that I will do this and so much more.”

“I can’t bear it! Please, beat me instead.
Let her go.”

Job drew back his hand and slapped Elihu
across the face, knocking him against the wall. “I warned you to
remain silent!”

“Master, may I speak?” Rahab lowered her
head, but not before Job saw a flash of calculation in her dark
eyes.

He wanted to laugh at her subservient tone.
She might fool Elihu with her superficial posturing, but she was
far from broken. “Speak.”

Careful to keep her eyes downcast, she
angled her body toward the light, outlining her shape in a perfect
silhouette. “Give Elihu the opportunity to right this wrong and I
will be your body slave until he succeeds.”

“Rahab!” Elihu cried. “I would never ask
this of you.”

Excitement wrestled with Job’s need for
violence. Rahab’s submissiveness was too sweet to resist. “I accept
your offer. Until Elihu brings me my queen, you shall be my
slave.”

“I will not rest until I find her, sir,”
Elihu vowed.

Job laughed. Grasping Rahab by the hair he
kissed her brutally, possessively. His gaze never left Elihu’s as
his tongue moved in her mouth. He spun her around and pulled her
back against his chest. “You’ll not touch Rahab again until you
succeed. What’s yours is mine! Say it.”

“What’s mine is yours.”

“Louder! Say her name.”

“Rahab is yours, Master. Until I’ve made
this right—what’s mine is yours.”

“Get out of my sight.” When the door closed
behind Elihu, Job turned Rahab to face him and studied her
expression. “What are you up to, sweet slave? It is not desire I
see burning in your eyes.”

“It’s not a matter of desire, sir. I’m not
worthy of your seed.”

His gaze swept her slim body, sleekly
muscled and youthfully fit. She would be a vigorous bedmate he had
no doubt. “What is your Purity Rating?”

“I am a 0.03.”

True Pure ratings of 0.0, like his, were
rare indeed. He was determined that his queen would be Pure and all
his followers knew it. “Why make this offer when you knew I
couldn’t accept?”

She dared a glance at his face, then quickly
lowered her gaze. “I offered to be your body slave and I will serve
you faithfully. Elihu needed an incentive to—”

He raised her chin until their gazes locked.
“You may be too smart for your own good. Right now your spirit
amuses me. You will attend my bath and sleep at the foot of my bed.
If Elihu learns that is all you do, we will both watch as you
pleasure my guards.”

Lifting her face to the sun’s warm caress,
Tuesday tried to forget she was a prisoner. A cool breeze, fragrant
with the fresh scent of pine and damp earth, swirled about her,
stirring her dress in a lazy dance. She closed her eyes and
imagined twirling across the wooden deck in a graceful series of
pirouettes.

Laughing at the ridiculous flight of fancy,
a truer image replaced the first. She completed the first turn only
to twist her ankle and fall—hard—on her well-padded rear end.
Graceful she was not. A ballerina? More like a dancing bear.

“What’s so funny?”

Her captor’s deep voice dissolved the
remnants of her bittersweet fantasy. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” The
setting might be spectacular but she was still a prisoner.

“What were you imagining?”

“Nothing,” she said firmly.

Stepping up beside her, he cupped her chin
and turned her face toward his. “Come on,” he coaxed. “What were
you picturing?”

“You—taken away in chains.” She twisted out
of his light hold and hurried along the railing.

“Chains? Wow, that’s drastic. Don’t cops use
magnetic restraints?”

She glanced over her shoulder. He lounged in
the corner where she’d left him, sunlight painting his rich brown
hair with shades of gold. The teasing hint of a smile curved one
corner of his mouth. Damn, the man was gorgeous, compelling in a
way she didn’t want to think about. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never
had a run-in with the authorities.”

“Just the military?”

“Bettencourt hardly counts as military. He’s
the president’s lapdog.”

His smile filled with challenge but his
voice barely reached her. “And it’s better to incite the president
than the military?”

“President Rawsen, for the most part, is a
reasonable man.” Folding her arms atop the coarse railing, she
breathed in more pine-tinged air and reverently absorbed the
scenery.

A plank groaned as his weight shifted. “Then
you don’t think the ultimatum came from Rawsen?”

She started to answer, but caught herself,
returning her gaze to his face. “What does this have to do with
your daughter?”

“You’re right. It’s none of my business.” He
strode toward her, trapping her in the corner of the railing at the
other end of the deck. “You’ve had enough time to think. Name your
price.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“I’ll find out what Rawsen really
wants.”

If she could trust him, the offer might mean
something. “There’s nothing you have that I want, need, or—”

“It’s not just what I have, it’s what I can
get. I’ll do anything for Elise. If you want to run CPT, I’ll make
it happen. If you want—”

“I don’t want—”

“I can fund your research indefinitely. I
can make charitable donations in your name. You’re not giving me a
chance, Tuesday. There has to be something.”

“I don’t have a price! I don’t—”

His hands framed her face, compelling her to
meet his intense gaze. “This isn’t about you or me. It’s about a
little girl who’s running out of time.”

She pressed her lips together, annoyed
yet…undone. His warmth wrapped around her, his determination
mesmerizing. She should push him away, demand that he return her to
Baltimore and… Her gaze focused on his mouth. So close. Would he
kiss her?

Why would she want him to!

“I want nothing from you.”

Leaning in close, he warmed her skin with
his breath and whispered above her ear, “Are you sure about that?”
He paused. A telling shiver coursed down her spine. “You’ve been
alone a long time. We both have.”

She shoved against his chest, but he
wouldn’t budge. “You’d make yourself a whore?”

“Without hesitation.” His gaze burned into
hers and his hands moved to her shoulders, his thumbs stroking the
sides of her neck. “She’s all I have left in the world. I’d do
anything for her. Do you understand me?
Anything.
” He
softened the sudden intensity of his expression with a playful
smile. “Besides, making love to you wouldn’t be much of a
sacrifice. I can be at your beck and call until Elise is approved
for a SP-64. I’ll fulfill sexual fantasies you haven’t dared to
dream—yet.”