Nine Marines' Shared Property - Nicole Casey Page 0,32

either side of her feet. The men were wrapped in a loincloth and had bags over their heads.

We walked past them into another room whose walls and ceiling were painted navy blue. On our right a magician, painted ghostly white, occupied a small stage. His right arm was extended straight, and perched on top of it were four doves. The magician waved his cape over his arm, and the doves vanished. He took his cape in his other hand, waved it to reveal now his left arm extended to the other side, and perched on top of it were three doves. He repeated this motion until all the doves had vanished then he let his cape fall to a puddle at his feet. He clapped his hands, and four doves flew to him from four directions to perch atop his outstretched arms.

The chairs that faced the stage were empty, aside from one where a woman straddled a man, her back to the stage. She was kissing and grinding on the man seated there. A small group of people stood around the chair and seemed more interested in that show than the one on the stage.

We continued to walk, heading for a curtain at the far end of the room which I suspected led to another room. As we approached the curtain, I saw, to my left, a man with chains running from his nose and eyebrow piercings to his exposed nipples. Instead of a mask, his eyes and forehead were wrapped in what looked like barbed wire with streaks of what I hoped was fake blood running down his cheeks. Grotesque yet fascinating.

Holly saw him, too. She stood still, looking at him mesmerized.

From my right, what at first I thought was a painting of a wolf hung on the wall, moved and began coming toward me. Its fur was mangy and crusted with dried blood. Its long arms ended with sharp claws that caught the little light in the room and sparkled.

In a low, raspy voice, the wolf said, “My, what a shapely body you have.”

Despite the disguised voice, from his tall figure and naked chin, I recognized the wolf to be Manny—at least I was almost sure it was Manny.

“Be careful,” I said. “Ice can burn.”

Slowly, he reached for me.

I did not step away.

The tip of his claws touched my cheek then ran down my jaw.

I rolled my head back so that I could feel the claws against my neck.

He ran his paw around to the back of my neck. The fur of his hand tickled, while his sharp claws lightly pricked.

I closed my eyes. And suddenly his other paw was at my waist and he pulled me to him.

I opened my eyes. His head was arched back, and I was staring at his neck. His paw squeezed my ass and pulled me closer to him still. I felt his hard cock press against my belly.

“Manny,” I whispered, somewhere between a confirmation and a question.

His teeth met the top of my head. “I devoured Manny,” he grumbled. “And, I’ll do the same to you.”

I slapped his arms off of me and pulled away. I did, however, let my hand fall to his crotch and I brushed his cock while I spun away from him.

His paw was on my shoulder.

I slipped through the curtain into the next room.

The relative brightness of the emerald green walls was in stark contrast to the room I’d just left and further contributed to my disorientation. I turned in circles only realizing then that I’d been separated from Holly.

The wolf came through the curtains.

I took a few hurried steps forward. Sofas and tables were scattered about the room, partially hidden under tented veils and drapes of beads and cloth. I caught a glimpse of someone, half man half lizard, slithering over the body of a bride laid out on a table, her arms strapped to the legs of the table.

I gasped.

“See something you like?”

I spun around to see the wolf walking slowly toward me. I was less sure, now, that it was Manny. I stepped back and bumped into a table. Beads hung from the ceiling, preventing me from seeing it clearly. But I heard the sound of faint moans, so I pulled the beads to the side and dared a look inside.

A man, his head covered in a bag, lay on the table. Bunches of grapes, berries and litchi covered his body. At least three women—or men, it was hard to see clearly—feasted on