by Sandy Lynn
“I don’t suppose it’d be possible to be able to have the earth swallow me whole when I embarrass myself?” She was joking, trying to relieve the knot that had formed in her stomach. She didn’t want to see Demetri again, but the knowledge that she would have to comforted her in a strange way.
“Of course. But I must say it is quite painful, and I’m sure after the first few times, you would regret it. But if that is what you wish...”
“No—no. I was joking. Sorry. I guess it was a bad joke.” Stacy sighed. Looking at Ms. Pope, she got the feeling that the woman knew more than she let on. And right now, she appeared to be waiting for her to simply realize what she wanted. As though Ms. Pope already knew what her bonus would be and was simply humoring her. She wondered what exactly the other woman was.
“You will find out the answers to your questions in time. And now is not that time. May I remind you we both have other appointments awaiting us?”
“I’ve decided. Would it be possible to block my thoughts from you, and anyone or anything else that could read my mind?” Stacy tried to gauge the woman’s reaction.
“Continue.”
“I just—I want my personal life to remain personal. I don’t want to have to worry about you or anyone else knowing exactly what happened in my bedroom.”
“Only your bedroom?” Ms. Pope’s tone was amused.
“No. Okay, I would like my sexual activities to be classified as off-limits.”
“May we amend that to any sexual activities which do not pertain directly to BSC business to be made off-limits to anyone with affiliations—past or present—to BSC?”
“Yes.”
“Done.” Ms. Pope smiled as she passed an envelope and pen over to Stacy. “Simply sign on the dotted line.”
“How is this possible? What’s going to happen?”
“Magick. The sooner you get used to the idea, the easier your job shall be.”
Did she really want someone working magick on her? Looking at Ms. Pope, she decided that as uncomfortable as she may be with that idea, she was even more uncomfortable with the thought that anyone who knew how could have free access to her brain. Especially the memories of her time with Demetri. Those thoughts seemed more private than anything else.
Picking up the pen, she signed her name on the dotted line. As soon as she put the pen down, Ms. Pope sighed in relief.
“May I just say I believe you chose your bonus very wisely? And I sincerely thank you for that. Tina will tutor you on several of our computer programs, and how to synchronize the calendar on your cell phone with the one we keep on the computer. Once that has been set up, if we schedule any appointments or meetings for you, you will be notified of them at once.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She moved toward the door.
“And please, do not be late for either the gynecologist appointment or attorney appointments you have later today.”
That stopped her. “How—how did you—why would you set an appointment for—”
Ms. Pope arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Did you not want to get on a method of birth control as quickly as possible?”
“I thought that part of my life was off limits?”
“No. That pertains to BSC. And it is in our best interests as well as yours. Besides, those thoughts entered your head before your bonus was granted.”
Stacy opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and shook her head. What did it matter? At least now she would see a doctor much quicker than if she’d tried to schedule an appointment with her regular gynecologist.
“You can’t see her any longer. Because of our clientele, you will now require special attention in that area. I’m certain your previous doctor would not be able to prescribe the cream you’ll need after having been with an incubus or succubus.”
Once again Stacy opened her mouth only to immediately shut it again. She decided this was one of those times she didn’t need to ask questions. She’d known her life was going to change when she signed her contract. And this was apparently one of those ways.
Twisting the doorknob, Stacy was on her way out of the door into the weird hallway when she heard Ms. Pope speaking behind her.
“I’m very proud of the way you’re adjusting so easily. You’re going to be a true asset to us.”
The woman’s words were soft. Stacy wasn’t certain if she was supposed to hear them or not, so she kept her mouth shut and returned to the main office.
* * * * * *
Approaching the office of her new divorce attorney, Stacy wasn’t sure if she wanted to whimper or hit something. She felt like a pin cushion. She was annoyed at the details she’d had to give her new doctor. Not only did she have to detail her family history and previous medical history, they’d wanted to know so much more.
They’d asked her how many men she’d been with, positions used during intercourse, if she practiced oral sex—if she swallowed!—and even asked detailed questions about how kinky she’d been in the past and what areas she would be interested in exploring. She was certain that her face was as red as her doctor’s eyes by the time the questioning had ended. Then the fun part came. She was given every test they could think of—at least that’s how she felt. They’d taken her blood, given her an annual, checked all the normal things her previous doctor would check and several that had her grimacing. Amongst other things, they’d checked to see if she’d ever experimented with anal sex, even though she’d told them she hadn’t.
Thankfully the doctor had been very comforting and Stacy was pleasantly surprised that she’d quickly been able to forget that the woman had a pair of blood red horns sticking up from her midnight colored hair.
But there was a nurse in that office Stacy had instantly dubbed ‘the Bitch from Hell’. This nurse, unlike Dr. Greyson, had gone out of her way to make Stacy feel uncomfortable, like an outsider.
She’d even had the nerve to make a comment about being able to tell she’d been with a werewolf the night before and how presumptuous she thought Stacy was.
Stacy wanted to inflict much physical harm on that nurse. She decided to casually make sure Ms. Pope knew if they ever had a contract for revenge against her, she would gladly volunteer to help carry it out.
Her cell phone rang just before she entered the glass office.
“Hello?” Looking around, she wondered who could be calling her. Who could possibly have the number? She didn’t even know it yet.
“How’d the doctor’s visit go?”
Tina, she thought with relief. Stacy smiled. Even though she’d only known the other woman for a short amount of time in reality, she felt as though they’d been friends forever. “Dr. Greyson was great. It felt like she went out of her way to make me feel comfortable.” She wanted to ask what the doctor was, but didn’t want to be rude. She truly did like the other woman, but this world was so new to her that she wanted to start learning the different species—Races? Creatures?—she was meeting. But she certainly didn’t want to offend anyone in the process. Especially someone as sweet as Dr. Greyson.
“Yeah, she’s the best. She’s half demon and half succubus, so she knows what it’s like to be treated like an outsider.”
“Cool,” was all she could think of to say.
“I figured you were curious. She’s a great woman. One hell of a dancer, and she can drink even a hardcore alcoholic under the table.”
“I liked her a lot. One of her nurses, on the other hand...” Stacy made a grumbling sound in her throat. “The woman went out of her way to embarrass me.”
“Ah, the bitch. She doesn’t like mortals. What did she say?”
Her face flamed even though Stacy knew Tina knew about Demetri. “She made a comment about me having been—” She lowered her voice until it was a bare whisper. “Having been with a werewolf last night.”
Tina laughed. “Oh, you didn’t get the bitch, then. You just got the slut that’s obsessed with Demetri.”
“What?” Stacy felt rage building inside
of her. She wanted to know how the other woman knew it was Demetri she’d been with. She decided she would definitely have to make sure Ms. Pope knew she wanted to be involved in any torture of that woman. “But how could she know...”
“She just won’t accept that he doesn’t want to have sex with her.”
Stacy wanted to ask how Tina knew this, but she kept her jaw clenched shut. She didn’t need to know about Demetri’s sexual history. And she certainly didn’t want to think about Tina—a woman who was quickly becoming her best friend—and him together like that.
“He told me about her,” her friend told her when Stacy remained silent. “We’re just friends, Stacy. I’ve never done anything more than kiss him, and that happened ten years ago under a piece of mistletoe some horny faery made us hang in the office.”
“I wasn’t going to ask.” But she was secretly glad Tina had volunteered the information.
“But I’m telling you. I know you were wondering, and thank you for not asking. Of course, I don’t know how you managed it. Not knowing about the sexual history of the man I’m totally head over heels for would have driven me crazy.”
“I’m not head over heels for him.” Stacy shook her head for emphasis. She wasn’t. At least, not yet. Which was precisely the reason she would refuse to see him again—outside of their mediation appointments, of course.
“If you say so. Look, after your appointment with Mr. Edwards, you meet with Savon to start your meditation lessons, then you’re free for the evening. Unless something comes up.”
Stacy didn’t have to see her to know the woman was wiggling her eyebrows. “Savon?”
“Your new guru. Ms. Pope really wants you to get control of your thoughts,” Tina laughed. “She’s gone above and beyond, making sure that he makes himself available to you for assistance at a moment’s notice.”
“My thoughts are not that bad,” Stacy sulked.
“Don’t worry about it. Ms. Pope likes you, let her do this for you.”
“How can you say she likes me? I give her a migraine when I’m in her office.”
“Because if she didn’t, you’d be banished to one of the torture rooms. They’re protected so no thoughts can get through. So trust me, she does like you.”
“If you say so,” Stacy conceded. “I gotta go. If I don’t, I’m going to be late. Though I don’t know why I couldn’t just keep the lawyer I’d already spoken to. She already knows what’s going on, and I wouldn’t have to keep repeating myself.”
“Mr. Edwards is the best. Trust me, you’ll be glad you have him on your side.”
“I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Have fun,” Tina chuckled.
Stacy shook her head and decided her friend had a warped sense of humor.
Stopping in front of the receptionist, she waited until the woman looked up. “Hi, Stacy Jones here to see—”
“Mr. Edwards has been expecting you. Please go straight back. He’s in the last office on the right.”
Wow, BSC must really have lit a fire under them, she thought as she walked through the hallway. Pausing, she wondered if they had done so figuratively, or literally. Her appointment wasn’t for another few minutes, and it had been her experience that lawyers allowed their clients to wait, as though to let them know that they were in charge of the meetings. To reinforce that unlike their clients, their time was valuable.
When she knocked on the door, a deep voice from inside called for her to come on in.
Opening the door, Stacy froze when she saw her lawyer. While wearing trousers had definitely been a pain in her ass at the doctor’s office, she was suddenly grateful she’d chosen to wear them.
Brown eyes sparkled at her, showing a mixture of pleasure and desire. His dark hair was pulled back away from his face, and she decided she much preferred it to hang freely and add to his untamed appearance. When he stood up, her mouth watered as she took in the navy blue suit he wore.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Stacy,” Demetri smiled. “Won’t you come inside and close the door?” His voice washed over her body like a physical caress and she quickly responded. His smile grew larger and she knew he could smell her arousal.
“I really, really, really should have gone with that earth swallowing option,” she whispered to herself.
Chapter Six
Demetri chuckled as he left his position behind the desk and approached her. Stacy just stood there, frozen. He couldn’t really be her lawyer, could he? He knew she’d committed adultery. She’d committed it with him! Wasn’t that a conflict of interest? Would he pull her into his arms and give her a quickie on his desk?
“I’d really like to be able to faint now,” she told herself, closing her eyes. She willed it to happen, but to no avail.
“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or an insult.” Behind her, she heard the door shut a moment before she felt his hand on her lower back. He gently guided her forward, into his office and helped her to sit down. When he was no longer touching her, Stacy’s eyes flew open. She watched him return to his position behind the desk. For a moment she was insulted at how he seemed to be able to forget what they’d done together so effectively.
“Ms. Jones,” he started. “I need to know why you want a divorce and what you want out of the combined assets you and your husband have attained through the course of the marriage.”
How was he able to be so impersonal about the whole thing? How could he act as though he hadn’t held her in his arms earlier that day or made her scream his name the previous night? “Isn’t this a conflict of interest? Is it ethical for you to be working on my divorce?”
“I don’t believe there is a conflict of interest. And why wouldn’t it be ethical? We will never see the inside of a courtroom. I simply need to know what it is you desire to leave the marriage with.”
It hurt her that he was able to be so detached. But she decided if he could be professional, so could she. As far as she was concerned nothing happened between them last night. Nope, he was just her lawyer. And she would act that way. Straightening in her chair, she answered him.
“My husband cheated on me. I know of at least one affair. He flaunted it at my former workplace and I caught him kissing his who—her.”
He wrote down notes on a legal pad. “What led you to believe he was having an affair?”
“The black dental floss he forgot to take out of his pocket before I did his laundry was a pretty good clue.” She couldn’t help the bitterness that tinted her voice.
Demetri looked up. “Black dental floss?”
“Yes. Thongs. The underwear that looks like someone took two pieces of scrap material that wasn’t big enough to be used for anything and fastened them together. I don’t wear them. And the pair I found in his pocket looked like it had been a couple of pieces of string in a former life.”
Stacy watched him as she spoke. She saw his eyes dart down to her lap, then back up to her face so fast that she wondered if she’d imagined it. And did his breathing seem heavier? No, that was just her imagination working overtime.
Demetri cleared his throat and, after shifting slightly in his seat, he wrote down more notes.
For the next hour, he asked her questions about her marriage. Some of them she’d expected to hear, some left her perplexed. But, she tried to convince herself, he’s only trying to be thorough, much like Dr. Greyson.
“And finally, what do you want?”
“I only want what’s mine. I want the possessions that I was forced to leave in the house when I moved out. I was able to grab my jewelry boxes and my clothes before he stopped me. I only want what belongs to me and my freedom.”
Demetri nodded as he stared at her. “That’s very generous of you. It’s been my experience that women in your position want to leave their ex with nothing.”
“I just want him out of my life. Besides, it’s not as though...” She felt her face flame, but refused to look away from him. “I’m not innocent.”
; “Yes, you are. I don’t think anyone could fault you for what you’ve done.”
The look on his face had her struggling not to squirm in her seat. His eyes were practically scorching her, and she could feel a matching pool of heat gathering in her body for him. Even worse, she knew that he knew precisely what effect he had on her. That he could smell the extent of her arousal. “That’s not the point. So, what happens now?”
“Now.” He cleared his throat. “Now, I’ll have one of the private investigators we have on retainer follow your—him and get proof of his infidelity. Given your extremely generous offer to let him keep everything but a few items, and the pictures we are sure to get, I’m positive he’ll accept the divorce without incident. You should be free of him in no time.”
“Thank you.” Standing up, Stacy willed her legs to stop trembling. This was business, that’s all. He was a client for her employer and her lawyer. Nothing else. She walked around the chair and toward the door.
She knew she shouldn’t have been surprised when she felt him behind her before she could twist the knob but she was. Especially given his aloof attitude from moments before.
“I think I like the way you were dressed better last night.”
“I—there are—I felt this would be more appropriate under the circumstances,” she whispered. The circumstances she spoke of were the marks he’d left on her body. The bitch nurse had gotten truly vicious when she’d seen them. Stacy was now sure said bitch had been ‘unable to find her vein’ the first three times she tried to draw blood as payback for them. At least, now that she knew the nurse lusted after Demetri she was certain that was the reason. She made another mental note to find out how the other woman had known it was him that Stacy had been with.
