Elegant Sins - Stasia Black Page 0,53

when you considered that we had fucked several times, been far more intimate than I’d ever truly been with anyone else, and we were on this crazy journey together operating as one.

We were teammates, on the same side, and yet, our side was very silent. We didn’t have a battle plan because we were going into war blind.

Time…

Long enough to start getting comfortable with each other and the situation, but also each passing day grew more tedious. I was anxious to get back to my life, my business... or what would soon be my business, and to see friends and family again.

I wanted normal not only for me, but for Grace as well. And after the branding, I worried just how much more of this Initiation both Grace and I could endure.

When Mrs. H entered the room with the boxes that would reveal what our night had in store, I could see something different in the way Mrs. H carried her weight and posture.

“You seem tired,” I said, grabbing the boxes from her. “When’s the last time you had a day off? You need some rest.”

She smiled and patted my arm. “Stop your worrying, laddie. I’ll rest when one of my boys isn’t in the manor going through what you’re going through. I owe it to your mother to be here looking after you during all this, and I wouldn’t be anywhere else. My place is here at The Oleander, and it always will be.”

For the first time since we began the Initiation, Mrs. H actually looked at Grace and gave her a light nod and a weak smile. Grace’s wide eyes revealed she also noticed and found the small act of civility surprising.

Mrs. H then said, “I’ll be back soon to escort Grace.” Without saying another word, she left the room.

“Escort me?” Grace asked as she approached the boxes that I had just placed on the bed. “Why not you? Do we have to be apart? Do I have to do something by myself tonight?”

I shook my head, hating that she sounded anxious. “That’s not how this works.”

I opened the boxes and instantly knew what the night would have in store from the attire and a single item placed on top of my tuxedo.

I lifted up the chopsticks and used them to point at the kimono that was in the box for Grace. “I actually have attended a number of events growing up around the Order like the one that will happen tonight. I’m pretty sure I know what’s going to happen.”

She held the kimono to her body and looked up at me, waiting for more explanation.

“It’s called Nyotaimori. It’s a Japanese practice of having a female—you—lying on a table completely naked with sushi, shumai, and sashimi pieces placed all over your body. The men in the room will eat off of you.”

Rather than being offended or horrified, Grace laughed, her green eyes sparkling with humor. “Are you kidding me? They want to cover me with raw fish? And you’ll all eat this raw fish off of my body?”

I had to smile at her reaction. “It’s a favorite here at The Oleander. The Order actually let the sons of the members attend many parties with a sushi girl as the centerpiece. It was the first time I’d ever seen a woman naked.”

She laughed again. “This is insane. I actually hope the fuckers get e-coli or something from eating off me. I pray I somehow give them the shits.”

My smile turned to a full belly laugh. And as much as I appreciated her lightening the mood, I also wanted to give her the instructions on how to make this situation easier on her.

“They’re going to prepare you in a freezer at first. To chill your body. You’ll also have to remain as still as you can and stare straight ahead. These men are like sharks. If they smell blood in the water, and even sense you’re upset or uncomfortable, they’ll try to break you right there on the table. Show zero emotion. None at all. Do you understand?”

When she didn’t respond right away, I took hold of her hand and squeezed until she looked me in the eyes.

“It’s important that you don’t give them what they want. They’ll want to see the humiliation and shame on your face. They’d love to see you flinch as they devour the fish inches from your private parts. And they will touch you. There is no way around that fact. I can’t protect you