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Satin Bruises	By : AstonDeLioncourt Category: Anita Blake > General Views: 1955 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: We do NOT own any of the Anita Blake characters, they belong to Mrs. Laurell K. Hamilton. We also do NOT make any profit from writing this story. This story is purely for fun.

Chapter List
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Raleigh smiled at the expression on her sister's face as she looked at the heirloom ring. Her twin was slightly stunned, and Raleigh could see the excitement bubbling up behind Reilly's ocean-colored eyes.

"Raleigh," Reilly started. Raleigh smiled.

"Yes?" She prompted, trying not to laugh.

"Raleigh, this-" she got a bit further before Raleigh nearly shouted.

"Yes??"

"Raleigh this is an engagement ring!" Reilly yelled, jumping up and down joyfully. Raleigh, heels in hand, bounced right along with her. The ecstatic twins were a sight; one in a lavender silk nightie, the other dressed for the town. Micah could help but admire the view as his fiancée went into raptures. The girls were both talking, loudly exclaiming over the cut and quality, and number of guests, cutting one another off, and talking over the top of each other, voices getting more and more energetic. Before he could even blink, Reilly had thrown her arms around his neck and was half laughing as she kissed his cheek.

"We have to celebrate!" Reilly insisted, disentangling herself from her future brother-in-law. Raleigh was quick to agree, and the girls were off, planning the announcements, and plotting cocktail engagements and guest lists before Micah could even grasp that there had been a subject change. Finally, exhausted and hoarse, Raleigh and Micah departed for the circus, and Reilly slunk back upstairs. As she mounted the stairs, Reilly could hear voices drifting down the hall from her study. Curious, she started down the hall.

Asher came out of the study into the hallway, looking calm and distant, and held out a hand to Reilly.

"Ah, mon cherie, I was just about to fetch you," he said in his most cultured tones. Instantly on guard, Reilly moved down the hallway to take his hand. Cautiously, Reilly let down the shields that constantly separated her from her two men. Asher's emotions melted into her, as they stood in the hallway, and then she looked at him looking at her and when they took each other's hands his skin felt her as she touched him and they separated and flowed back into one another again until they weren't sure where one ended and the other began. Reilly inhaled, settling back in to her own skin, made tense by the absolute fury, and the brittle terror pulsing from Asher.

They entered the office, and Jean-Claude sat behind Reilly's desk. Beautiful and monochrome, he looked out of place among the rich textures and warm wood of her study. Across from him sat a woman, petite and blonde, wearing an expensive designer ensemble. Her body language was tense, and as Asher and Reilly entered she looked around and raised one dark eyebrow at them.

"I must say, Jean-Claude," she purred, a faint french accent flowing out from behind her fangs, "you do attract...intriguing women." Disdain colored her tone and she turned away from Reilly. Raising a brow at Asher, Reilly moved behind Jean-Claude, putting a dainty hand on his shoulder. Asher stayed where he was, unhappiness in every line of his body.

"You will show the proper respect to my human servant," Jean-Claude hissed, words cutting through the room. He put his hand over Reilly's and memories crashed through her, Jean-Claude temporarily inside of her skin with her. The woman's lip curled as she looked at Reilly.

"I am-"

"Musette," Reilly answered her calmly. The woman nodded. Watching Reilly with thinly veiled contempt.

"You are here, in our territory ahead of schedule. You have already broken treaty with us once before. We are well within our rights to kill you." Reilly stated, tone still detached.

"Ah, but you won't," the woman replied slowly, her words dripping with poisoned daggers. "Besides, I am just here to deliver a simple and very direct message. This whole Aleksi Romanov business was...a test of sorts. If he did manage to kill you, we would have killed two birds with one stone by getting rid of Jean-Claude and appointing someone with more...conviction."

"But since Jean-Claude killed Aleksi with his bare hands..."

"Mon Dieu you do state the obvious, don't you? This we know. Therefore, you will be happy to know that you all can keep this territory. But know this, from now on, you will have to fight for it. You may run this city however you wish, but the Council will no longer deter..."

Reilly boldly interrupted Musette. "Ah, I get it. If somebody wants it, you'll let them try at take it."

Asher stared at the woman in shock. Jean-Claude closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. Musette, on the other hand, sat still as stone, just staring at Reilly. Finally, the woman laughed, her voice cold and steely, a truly uncomfortable noise. Musette stood up, still laughing.

"I must say Jean-Claude, you always seem to attract ballsy women."

Without saying anything else, Musette left the room, still chuckling to herself. Reilly watched the woman slam the door behind her, then looked at Asher, who still seemed to be in a state of disbelief.

"Well," Reilly began. "She's an epic bitch."

Jean-Claude, his face still in his elegant hands, began laughing musically. Asher and Reilly looked down at him curiously. Finally, Asher spoke.

"Cher? What's funny?" the baffled vampire asked, looking to Reilly for help. She shrugged, and looked down at their lover for his answer. Jean-Claude finally took his hands away from his face and deftly pulled Reilly into his lap. A smile still dancing on his lips, he kissed Reilly's cheek.

"You are," he replied. "I haven't the slightest idea why, but the 'epic bitch' comment was priceless."

Reilly gazed at Jean-Claude, confused, then looked up at Asher, who merely shrugged. Jean-Claude chuckled again and brought Reilly's lips to his. Asher smiled at them, stroking Reilly's curls. Jean-Claude adjusted Reilly in his lap and stood up. Reilly buried her face in Jean-Claude's shoulder, twirling his black curls around her fingers. Jean-Claude looked at Asher, winked and softly jerked his head towards their bedroom. Asher smiled and followed his lovers upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reilly's phone sprang to life, shocking her to consciousness. She sat up and looked around, confused and disoriented. Her phone lit up on the nightstand, vibrating in circles. The woman looked at Jean-Claude, sleeping like a rock, his hair in his face, then at Asher, who wrapped himself around her like she was his life line. She leaned over him and grabbed her phone.

"Uh..." she grunted. "Who is it?"

"Reilly," Raleigh's voice floated happily through the phone. "It's ten thirty babe, time to get up. We got cocktail parties to plan and work to do."

Reilly leapt out of bed and began throwing on clothes. "I've got to take Connor to school!" she nearly shrieked, phone still plastered to her face.

"Child, shut up!" Raleigh replied. "Micah took him to school. I woke him up to get used to the whole Daddy thing."

"You're starting to sound like Nanny," Reilly huffed as she shuffled into the bathroom. She turned the light on and squinted at herself in the huge mirror. Her hair looked as if it were trying to devour her head.

"Yeah...well...whatever. I'll be there in fifteen, be ready."

Raleigh hung up abruptly. Reilly sighed, then hung up her phone, still staring at herself in the mirror. It would take more than fifteen minutes to tame the wild mess on top of her head. She grabbed a comb and started sorting out the auburn forest. After combing everything out, pulled her hair back into an elegant bun, applied her makeup and got dressed into her black linen slacks and a blue satin camisole. As soon as Raleigh knocked on the door, she donned her black and blue flats.

Reilly traipsed down the stairs to meet her sister and froze when she saw her. Raleigh was waiting at the bottom of the stairs...in a flowy white peasant skirt and a red off the shoulder blouse. Her hair was let down and straightened, she wore natural make up in golds and browns to make her eyes pop behind her dainty glasses. The entire ensemble was completed with brown Grecian sandles. Reilly smiled widely and walked down the rest of the stairs.

"Well, you look like a lady for once," Reilly said loudly, rousing her sister's attention. Raleigh smiled at her.

"Yeah, I know. Micah got the outfit for me, thinks it looks pretty."

"It does, it suits you. We should get you some more outfits like that, but first we need to take care of business."

"Aye, this be true," Raleigh replied. "Let's head on over to the Circus."

"Want to stop for coffee first?"

Raleigh opened the front door and went out onto the porch. "You know I can't have coffee any more. I have to avoid caffeine like the plague."

"Ha! That's right, you're a prego! Well, you can get decaf."

"Fuck decaf," Raleigh snapped, hoisting herself into the Tundra. "If you want, we can still stop by Starbucks. I'm jonsing for a muffin."

"Why are you driving the truck?"

" 'Cause I wanna drive da big cah," Raleigh said in her best pouty voice. "Micah can't resist my puppy eyes."

Reilly smiled and slid on her sunglasses, looking out of the window as her sister cranked up the tunes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raleigh paid for her muffin and her sister's Raspberry Beve Latte then made her way towards their little table next to the window, but out of the sun. Reilly took a little sip from her Styrofoam cup, decided it was too hot, and put the cup down.

"I'm thinking blue and creams for the color scheme," she began as her sister popped a chunk of muffin into her mouth.

"Oh God I love that!" Raleigh gushed, her mouth full. "And I'm not having that stupid puffy dress crap. I want a sleek form fitting one that flows out from the hips."

"Straps or strapless?"

"Tough call. I want to have the ceremony after the twins so...that will have a little bit of an effect, but I'm definitely leaning toward strapless."

"Oh nice. Ya know, ya can't wear a white dress."

"Fuck you Reilly."

Raleigh shoved another chunk of muffin into her mouth, smirking at her sister. Reilly sipped from her coffee once more, then opened her mouth to say something, but she was rudely interrupted by a strange woman who sat down with them.

"Raleigh," the woman started, pulling out a notepad and a pen. "what can you tell me about the upcoming wedding?"

Reilly looked at the woman, then at Raleigh, who stared at the reporter. Reilly shoved her chair back an inch.

"I'm sorry, who the hell are you?" Raleigh asked incredulously.

"Lyn Campbell, St. Louis Teller," the woman said simply.

"Did your parents teach you anything about manners?!" Raleigh whispered, trying to avoid making a scene. "You think that just because you're a reporter you can just bother people at any whim? I am trying to have breakfast with my sister and here you come, rude! If you wanted to know about the wedding, you should have made an appointment with me, like people who are actually worth something. Who's your rival paper?"

"St. Louis News," Lyn mumbled, shying away from the angry twin.

"Fantastic. Now get the hell out of my face."

Jilted, the reporter slinked out of the coffee shop. Reilly stared at her twin, who continued eating as if nothing had happened. Then, Raleigh paused and spoke the exact words that her sister had been thinking.

"How did she know about the wedding?"

"Micah proposed in a restaurant didn't he?"

"Yeah, Valentino's. You don't think that Mario called the papers do you?"

"I can almost guarantee you he did," Reilly answered.

"Straight up ass," Raleigh mumbled. "Oh well, I need to call S.L News and see if they want an interview."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, her phone rang in her purse. She fished it out and answered it. After a brief conversation of "yes", "absolutely, I would love to" and other polite words, she hung up the phone and looked at her sister.

"How do we do that?" she asked.

"Let me guess, St. Louis News?"

"Yeah, they want an interview. Asked nicely and everything."

"And you agreed?"

"Duh. Like I said, they asked nicely."

The girls finished their breakfast and went to the Circus.
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Satin Bruises