Free Seduction in Death by J. D. Robb Page B

and in privilege. They'd grown up almost like brothers. In a very real sense, as they'd been created in much the same way, for much the same purpose, they considered themselves even more than brothers.
    From the beginning, even as infants, they had recognized each other. Had recognized what hid beneath those small, soft bodies.
    They'd attended the same schools. Had competed academically, socially, throughout their lives. They fed each other, and found in each other the only one who understood that they were beyond the common and ordinary rules that governed society.
    Kevin's mother had birthed him, then turned him over to paid tenders so that she could pursue her own ambitions. Lucias's mother had kept him close, and found in him her only ambition.
    And both had been smothered with excesses, indulged in every whim, directed to excel, and taught to expect nothing less than everything.
    Now they were men, Lucias was fond of saying, and could do as they pleased.
    Neither worked for a living, nor needed to. They found the idea of contributing to a society they disdained laughable. In the town house they'd bought together, they'd created their own world, their own rules.
    The primary rule was never, never to be bored.
    Lucias turned to a monitor, scanning the various components and equations that rushed over the screen. Yes, he thought, yes. That was correct. That was perfect. And satisfied, he strolled over to the bar, a gleaming antique from the 1940s, and mixed a drink.
    "Whiskey and soda," he said. "That'll set you right up."
    Kevin only waved a hand, sighed heavily.
    "Don't be tedious, Kev."
    "Oh pardon me. I'm just a bit out of sorts because I killed someone."
    Chuckling, Lucias carried the highball glasses across the room. "It doesn't matter. If it did, I'd be very angry with you. After all, I was very clear on the dosage, and the choice. You weren't to mix the two solutions, Kevin."
    "I know it." Irritable, Kevin took the glass, frowned into it. "I got carried away with the whole thing. I've never had a woman so completely under my spell. I didn't know it could be that way."
    "That was the point of the game, wasn't it?" Smiling, Lucias lifted his glass in toast, drank. "Women have never been what we wanted them to be for us. Christ, look at our mothers. Mine's spineless and yours is bloodless."
    "At least yours shows an interest in you."
    "You don't know how lucky you are." Lucias gestured with his glass. "The bitch would hang around my neck like a pendant if I didn't keep away from her. Small wonder dear old Dad spends the majority of his time out of town."
    Lucias stretched out his legs. "In any case, back to the point. Women. If they were interested in either of us, they were usually dull intellectuals or brainless money-grubbers. We deserve better, Kevin. We deserve exactly the women we want, as many as we want, and in precisely the way we want them."
    "We do. Of course we do. But God, Lucias, when I realized she was dead -- "
    "Yes, yes." Lucias sat in the matching chair, leaned forward eagerly. "Tell me again."
    "She was so sexy. Beautiful, exotic, confident. The kind of woman I've always wanted. And she couldn't keep her hands off me. I could've had her in the cab, in the elevator. I scored a hell of a lot of points even before we were in her apartment."
    "We'll tally them up shortly." Lucias gave an impatient wave. "Go on."
    "I had to keep slowing her down. I didn't want it to be over too quickly. I wanted the romance of it, for both of us. The slow steps of seduction. And of course..," The first hints of amusement crossed his face. "To continue to rack up as many points as possible during the allotted time period."
    "Naturally," Lucias agreed, and toasted.
    "It was working. She let me do whatever I wanted. She enjoyed it."
    "Yes. Yes. Then?"
    "I told her to wait so I could set the scene in the bedroom. Just as I'd planned. It was perfect. It was all perfect. The lighting, the music, the scent of the air."
    "And