Answers

The screams of the pinned man were just beginning to die down when a new voice, smooth as silk, glided in. "What was that?" the newcomer, having ascended the spiral staircase that surrounded the base of the lift, asked of Anna. He was a tall, muscled man, his broad chest and shoulders glistening in a fresh layer of sweat. The chains hanging on his black pants jingled an ominous tune as he stopped, swiping the hand of one of his perfectly sculpted arms through his spiky hair, further showing his clean shaven, chiseled facial features.

"Rev was trying to touch one of the dancers. A crew is already on their way to clean out his room, and I have guests waiting to use the room." Anna answered in turn.

"Is this them?" the man asked, the bass in his voice naturally demanding.

"Yes, Mr. Sangre. They just came in."

"I'm leaving to handle some business in a few hours," Mr. Sangre stated while using the towel resting on his shoulders to wipe sweat from his brow and moving his hands past his washboard abs, bringing them to rest with his thumbs hooked on the waistband of his pants, pulling it down just enough to expose his clearly defined Adonis belt but nothing more. "They can stay in the penthouse if they like; everything of mine should be moved out by now and the sheets replaced. The room will be ready for you in an hour; I was just going to take a shower and be gone."

"I'll join you," Raine sang, her eyes locked on Sangre's perfect physique.

Mr. Sangre stopped in the lift's doorway, holding it open with one arm, and looked at the group over his shoulder. "You're new to the island aren't you?" Shaad and Raine both nodded their head, though Raine seemed to be stuck in a trance. "We require payment in advance here." Those words broke Raine from her trance just as the doors to the lift closed and an electronic humming indicated its movement.

"What's he mean pay in advance?" Raine complained, getting right in Anna's face.

"Hotel policy requires advance payment in case something happens to you during your time on the island. However, the hotel assures the safety and security of you and your belongings within these walls." Anna responded calmly. "So how long will you be staying?"

Raine raged on for a few minutes, elevating to cursing and shouting so loud that those nearest the group moved away so as not to be caught in any subsequent crossfire. During her rant, Raine glanced over numerous diatribes including the topic of trust and even a few moments of attempted negotiation.

Anna stood her ground and did well to not show it, but the taller woman's overbearing presence began to intimidate her, and she almost found her foot involuntarily sliding back just as she found her voice to retort. "If you have a complaint about the hotel's policy, I can call Mr. Sangre down. I'm sure he'd be happy to resolve the issue."

Raine was ready to continue her tirade, but this was where Shaad finally stepped in. "That won't be necessary. Here's 28 million beli," he said, practically shoving a briefcase in the woman's arms as he pulled Raine back by her shoulder. "How much does that get us?"

"28 million gets you three weeks in the penthouse," she answered, her voice regaining its previous composure and confidence.

"That sounds great," Shaad replied with a forced smile. "If we still need the room past that, we'll pay you at that time."

"Thank you for your business, and we apologize for the wait. Please have a round of drinks on the house while your room is prepared."

Shaad was nearly driven to shoving Raine as he steered her towards the bar, standing between her and Anna as she angrily glared back at the hotel manager. When they made it to the bar, Shaad all but forced her onto a stool. He then went ahead and ordered them drinks, Anna having already signaled the bartender that they were to receive one round on the house. "Two shots of your strongest alcohol and the house specialty, no alcohol."

"Two shots of Snake Venom and a Diamond Deal done clean," the bartender repeated, immediately making the drinks with such fluidity she likely could have done it blindfolded.

Raine downed the two glasses of nasty looking green liquor set before her in no time flat, emitting a scowl as the strong drink burned her throat. With her raging temper hardly cooled, Raine turned her frustrations on Shaad who hesitantly sipped at the glass of clear liquid, with ice seemingly floating on air within, in front of him. "Who the hell do you think you are freely spending my money!?"

"Wow! This drink is great; you should try one," Shaad could sense Raine seething at his attempt at a casual redirect but trudged on nonetheless. "Yea, you probably want it with alcohol though, right? Excuse me, can we get another. . . uh, Diamond Deal? This time with alcohol."

"I'm not playing with you! You just cost me at least 15 million beli. How'd you even find that money?"

"Here you go."

Shaad grabbed the drink as it was set down and moved it towards Raine only to have it slapped away, shattering against a couple of bottles behind the bar, and earning them both a glare from the bartender as liquor poured onto the floor. "Sorry, I'll take care of that. Could you just give us a minute?" Shaad apologized, waving off the bartender and security as they approached Raine with violent intent. "Raine, this was not a time for negotiation. We had two choices: accept the terms or go somewhere else. And, neither of us wanted to check out the other accommodations this island may offer. As for the money, that hiding spot wasn't as secure as you may have thought."

Shaad tried to turn away, focus on his own drink and how he'd settle the new debt Raine just created for him, but Raine twisted the pendant around his neck and pulled his face to hers, speaking low and threateningly. "That's what the butter knives on your back are for. They refuse, you convince them. What part of that is too hard for your tiny brain to comprehend?"

"That simply wasn't an option," he declared," returning her combative glower with equal ferocity and an added dimension of pleading. "That guy's way too strong to be in the Blues, definitely like nothing I've come across in quite a while. Neither of us would stand a chance against him."

Raine released Shaad's pendant but maintained the close distance and eye contact. "And, how ya figure that?"

"Call it instinct. Gauging strength was imperative in surviving on that island, especially early on. I had to know which beasts weren't worth the trouble, and how much energy to expend. I would've died long ago if I couldn't measure those details, and I'd waste a lot of energy if I went all out against every opponent."

Raine contemplated his words, pushing him away with a disgruntled sigh before asking another question. "Then why'd you let me claim your bounty?"

"I know my limits; that's not a fight I want any part of," Shaad scoffed.

"Hmph," Raine dismissed, her expression softening marginally as she stood up. "You owe me 30 million beli. . . and a detailed explanation of how you found my money."

Shaad spun around flabbergasted and uneasy, not seeing, but vividly imagining, the taunting smirk on his navigator's luscious lips. That wasn't something he was really ready to go through. "I don't have the money to pay for the damages," he meekly explained to the bartender impatiently rapping her fingers against the smooth porcelain counter. She gave him a blank stare that compelled him to speak more, though none of the statements that bubbled from his mouth put him in a more advantageous position. Eventually, he settled on simply asking, "How can I make this right?" with an innocuous smile.

By the time Shaad finally stumbled into the hotel lift and the engines whirred to life, he was closer to the walking dead than a spirited young man just starting a new phase in his life. He stumbled into the penthouse after briefly fumbling with the key and fell face first onto the empty bed and embraced the cool softness, barely lucid enough to remove his swords and sheath.

"You ready to tell me that story now?" Shaad heard Raine's voice resonate from beside him. He turned to see her sitting in the bedside reading chair in nothing but a towel with her legs crossed. Shaad buried his face in the pillow when Raine got up and opened the curtains with a mischievous grin, letting the first rays of the rising sun break through.

"Not now," he groaned out in a muffled voice.

Shaad felt a weight beside him on the luxurious, king size bed, but he ignored it. The high quality satin sheets felt too good and the soft mattress embraced him so. He couldn't ignore it any longer, though, as the weight shifted and lightly set itself on his back. "Please tell me you have something on under that towel," he whimpered.

"I think you can tell the answer to that," Raine whispered in his ear.

Indeed, Shaad could tell, and in response he released a loud groan into the large, fluffy pillow. "Just let me sleep," he pleaded. "I'm too tired for your games."

Without a word, Raine reached under Shaad's shirt, gently massaging his bare back in slow, sensuous strokes. As she let her hands explore up his back, she gently lay down atop him, ever so slightly pressing her sumptuous chest into his shoulder blades and whispering in his ear in a husky voice that caused Shaad to harden despite himself. "We haven't even started, and you're already spent? Do you intend to leave me unsatisfied?" Raine stretched out that last word in the sexiest way possible. But, when Shaad merely remained silent, Raine lifted up and began to knead more roughly into his dreary muscles, drawing a wince from her captain. "You will give me what I want, and it can either be a pleasant or unpleasant experience."

Shaad let out a frustrated sigh followed by a pained yelp as Raine pressed into his kidneys. "Ooh, somebody worked you over good. The sooner you talk, the sooner the pain just washes away."

Shaad was silent, taking a deep breath as he came to terms with telling Raine the story behind the money. "I went to the ship after we separated to grab a few things and make sure no one had robbed it," he began, his voice catching as he felt Raine's full, luscious lips brush over his bruised kidneys. His mind wracked between the pleasure of her soft lips and the stinging pain he felt as well as trying to organize his story. "No one had robbed it, but. . . gasp, the crew you commissioned was trying to take off with the ship. . . I. . . gasp, went a little overboard in stopping them. One hit me over the back with a chair, so I smashed his head through the mast. A second swung at me with a sledgehammer, and he followed his friend through the mast. It then fell on top of them and through the side of the ship."

Raine's teeth dug into Shaad's tender side when he spoke of the destruction aboard the ship, but she released the sensitive flesh and kissed it before resuming her ministrations, listening intently as Shaad got over the flash of pain and continued his explanation.

"The next two attacked together; I slammed their heads together and tossed 'em overboard. But, I left my back open and got cut as a result." Raine transferred her attentions to Shaad's left side and traced a nail along the aforementioned scar, applying the same tender love and care to that side as she did the other. "I spun around and side kicked him through the upper wall and into your room."

That statement also drew out Raine's ire, prompting her to pinch down on his lower rib, eliciting a strained grimace.

"The last one tried to jump on me from above. I back stepped him and axe kicked him through the deck." Shaad paused, not wanting to tell the rest, but knowing he had to when the pleasant feeling of Raine's mouth against his skin also ceased. "When I checked the damage to your room. . . His head had smashed through the bed's headboard and was stuck in the wall. I removed his head, and that's when I saw the two briefcases. I checked what was inside, placed the contents of the nearly empty one with the fuller second one, and took it with me when I left."

Raine slipped her hands out from under Shaad's shirt and sat straight backed on his legs. Shaad groaned into the pillow while he awaited what he could only imagine was next. The room was silent for a while, and when Raine finally spoke, her voice was hard and even, devoid of its seductive sexiness from before. "You owe me double whatever it cost to repair the ship."

Shaad was surprised by the straightforwardness of her response, but he sucked in a deep breath as he prepared to break even more bad news. "Actually. . . when I looked for the last one that attacked me. . . Uh, how do I put this? . . . I'd kicked him through the entire ship, including the keel. I don't know much about ships, but -"

"The keel is the most important part of the ship; without it, there is no ship."

"Yea, that," Shaad mumbled. "Well, even if it could be fixed. . . the ship was halfway sunk by the time I left. The people here apparently aren't too keen on helping." Shaad quipped in a vain attempt at easing the palpable tension that had filled the room.

His joke, though, fell on deaf ears, and Raine lifted herself off him in silence. He turned in time to see her adjusting the towel around her body, but didn't say anything. "Then, it'll cost you triple the cost of a new ship," she stated flatly.

Shaad would've jumped to his feet had he not been so worn out, but his eyebrows did jump into his hairline. Raine ignored his reaction, though. Instead, she sat down beside his prone form and soothingly rubbed the sore spot over his kidneys and lower ribs. "I know you're better than to let those weaklings do this to you, so what happened?" she asked with some genuine concern.

"That information will cost you," he answered with a smirk.

"Hmph, I think that piece you wanted to know about fight clubs will cover it, don't you?" she returned a dubious smirk of her own.

Shaad had almost forgot about that, responding hurriedly. "You got it? Tell me."

"Of course, I got it. Who do you think I am? But, you first."

"I had to run a few errands to pay for your little tantrum at the bar." There was a hint of sourness in his tone, but it faded as he continued. "I hadn't had any time to recoup my energy all day, and it caught up to me. Had to take a few shots to get through one particularly arduous task; nothing I can't handle."

"You did all that for me?" she cooed bewitchingly. "You're so sweet."

Shaad enjoyed Raine's tender ministrations, but stayed focused. "What about the fights?"

"You're in luck; there's something that should suit your taste in only a few days."