shoulder. “You’d better not be the lagniappe. I won’t have it.”
He didn’t answer and she felt a ripple of disquiet.
Voodoo.
A snake skeleton wound around the throat of a woman buried alive.
Her arms tightened protectively around him.
6:05 A.M.
Twin Branch Arms Motel
“I DON’T LIKE THIS PLACE.” Stella wrinkled her nose as Pierce unlocked the door of Room 7. “It’s cheap and looks like one of the places I took my johns when I was doing tricks.”
“You’re still doing tricks,” Pierce said. “Only you’re doing them when I tell you to do them.” He threw open the door. “Now go change into that gold robe. Gelber should be here in about forty-five minutes.”
“I’m not sure that I want to screw him if he’s going to make me come to places like this.” She opened her overnight bag and pulled out the gold robe. “I’ll have to teach him to treat me as I deserve to be treated.”
“I assure you that you wouldn’t like that at all.” He moved toward the TV across the room. “Be happy that I’m not going to—”
“Don’t turn on the TV.” She had stopped and was stripping and slipping on the gold robe. “I want music. Turn on Queen on the iPod.”
“That’s what you said in the car coming here.” He turned to look at her. “Don’t turn on the radio. Play the iPod. And what’s this obsession with Queen?”
“I like that song, ‘We Will Rock You.’” She fluffed her hair and took her discarded clothes back to the overnight bag on the bed. “I think it suits me. I can see myself rocking the whole damn world.”
“I’m sure you can,” he said dryly. “Just concentrate on rocking Gelber. In the end, that’s all you’re good for. You should be grateful I’m setting you up with a man who will be weak enough to let you control him. You’d be nothing if I hadn’t taken you in hand and taught you. You’d still be a promiscuous two-bit whore putting out for any guy who would buy you a drink or a joint. The idea of your having any lasting effect on anyone is laughable.” He switched on the TV. “And you can’t have your iPod right now. I want to watch TV.”
She smiled. “Then go ahead and watch it, Harry. It doesn’t make any difference now. And I’m grateful for everything you taught me and everything I learned myself just from being with you. But you’re wrong, you know. I will rock the world.”
“Be quiet. I’m trying to watch the news.” He could hear her moving behind him beside the bed. “And settle down.”
“Wouldn’t you like me to give you a quickie before Gelber gets here? I could make it exciting for you.”
“Not now. I have to concentrate on what I’m going to say to Gelber to make accepting you a fair trade for that cashier’s check. It’s not going to be easy. There are some things more important than sex.”
“No, there aren’t. Not if you pick the right moment.”
“That’s your philosophy, a whore’s philosophy.”
“And one you embraced and developed since you met me.” Her voice was soft and seductive. Though he was looking at the TV, he could smell the scent of her perfume as she came toward him. “This is the right moment, Harry.”
“I told you that I—” He turned his head and she came into his line of vision. Shock jolted through him. Her gold robe was hanging open and every step revealed a flash of glowing skin and voluptuous body, but that wasn’t what stunned him. It was her face, her eyes, the expression of total sensuality and power.
“You see it, don’t you?” She sat on the arm of his chair, and one hand was rubbing his chest. “I can make your whole world go away.” Her lips were only a heartbeat away. “Your heart is pounding. You want it.” Her tongue touched his lower lip. “Tell me.”
It was a surrender, but he didn’t give a damn. There was something about her in this instant that was totally mind-blowing. He was on fire. “I—want it. But hurry, dammit.”
“Oh, yes. You’re worried Gelber will interrupt us.” She slid her other hand around his neck. “Don’t you worry. I’ll hurry, Harry.”
A sharp jab in the back of his neck.
He jerked. “What the hell? You clawed me.”
“But you like me to claw you sometimes. I’ve heard you pant and groan as I run my nails over you.” She pulled back from him and smiled. “You thought you were