Page 7 of Stained
Danica moved away, taking her bottle with her. “Thank you for the drink, Ms. Colbert. I look forward to seeing you around.”
She cleared her throat again, remembering to put her keys away. “Good night, ma’am.”
The boss stopped in the doorway. Before Alicia could ask if she needed anything else, Danica left, the door still open.
A sigh escaped Alicia’s poor and fraught body as soon as she was alone again.Wow. Was the room lighter? The air easier to breathe? Danica had such a gravitas about her that Aliciaalmost choked on it. Willingly, too. That black hole was doing its damndest to suck her in and flatten her like a pancake. No wonder her coworkers had warned her. When Danica wasn’t striking fear into people’s hearts, she was probably toying with them, making them wonder how long it would be until the other shoe dropped and they lost their jobs… or worse…
What was worse? Alicia didn’t want to know. Danica had been pleasant with her so far tonight, but that could’ve been for any reason. Like her being new. Or maybe Danica had a good day and wasn’t drunk enough to turn into a raging asshole. There were so many factors.Maybe I should ask Susan about her.Find out what kind of woman Danica Moreau was. Or at least what kind of woman they would warn against.
Alicia returned to the groove of cleaning. It was almost one-thirty in the morning. In another hour, the club would be closed, and then half an hour afterthat,she would finally be released to go home for a bath and a good night’s sleep. Then it would start all over again the next night.I’m ready. This job wasn’t so bad. She could do this. If she turned off the filter that made her see the strange things with stranger eyes, she would survive. She wasn’t an easy woman to scandalize, especially by her late 20s.
She had finished straightening up the feather pillows on one of the couches when the door clicked shut behind her. Alicia glanced over her shoulder.
Danica was about two feet behind her, holding a finger up to her lips… shielding a wicked, wicked smirk.
Chapter 2
“Is there something I can help you with?”
Danica extended her silencing finger to Alicia’s lips.Guess I’ll shut up.Where was the light? The air? Alicia held her breath in case it was the difference between life and suffocation.
“Two words, Ms. Colbert.” Danica’s voice was the air now. Gentle. Thick.Quiet. Alicia thought she had to strain to hear her. On the contrary, the room was so quiet she could hear her own heart beating. “Yes. No. That’s it. Those are the only words you’re allowed to say for now. Do you understand?”
She swallowed. “Yes,” she squeaked. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Ah. I suppose I should allow that as a third word.Ma’amis fine. I like the way you say ‘ma’am,’ Ms. Colbert. Very much so.”
Another gulp, eyes wide, hands curling into nervous fists.What’s going on? Is she flirting with me?No. No way. This woman did not flirt. She was rich. Beautiful. Confident. Those types of women didn’t flirt. They demanded. Up front.
Oh. My. God.
Alicia realized why Susan steered her away from Ms. Moreau. That reason came for her right now.
She stumbled back against the couch, landing with bowed legs and hands snatching the armrest. She had just fluffed these pillows, too!
Danica loomed over her, refraining from touching, but her fingers twitching in delight. For her? Really?
Alicia wouldn’t pretend that she had never experienced situations like this before. College was ripe with them. She had spent the better part of her undergrad years watching one frat guy after another come up to her, acting like the hottest shit in the universe. What was her problem? Didn’t she know she was lanky and blonde? She owed them her body! They were promised hot girls when they got to college, and they would damn well have whatever hot girl pleased them. Luckily for Alicia, most of those guys were too chickenshit to try anything terrible, but she had left more than one frat party resigned to never going again.
Adulthood hadn’t been much better. Actually, in a lot of ways, it was worse. Men on the street catcalled her. Going to the club with Candice guaranteed a few guys would corner them on the dance floor and try to get their numbers.
All those situations had been different. In every one of those, Alicia’s natural defense was to ignore, to betray, to run away. She wanted nothing to do with them. They were weak in spirit. Gross in body. Abhorrent in heart. Some combination of all three.
Danica was none of those things. Not the first two, anyway. Alicia didn’t know her well enough to speak of her heart.
She had a spirit strong enough to make Alicia recognize it earlier that night. Her body? Ha! The more Danica loomed over her, arms surrounding Alicia as she lowered her lips, the more Alicia recognized an exquisite beauty. Somehow, this woman took classic femininity and drove it up to eleven… thousand.
That perfume bloomed around her countenance. A hundred blossoms flowered, their scent overwhelming her as Danica’s lips grazed her cheek. Fuck! She was this close?
Alicia was far from a kissing virgin, whether vanilla or the French variety. Nevertheless, she felt like the most inexperienced lass in the cosmos when Danica whispered, “Yes?”
That wildly thumping heart within Alicia’s rib cage knew exactly what she meant. “Y…” No, no! This was wrong. This was terrible! She should not be in this situation while on the job! No matter how hot her boss was!No! Say no, dummy!
“Yes?”
The word barely eked from her lips when Danica kissed hers.
The woman, for all her gentle whispering, was not a gentle kisser. The moment Danica kissed her was the moment Alicia witnessed the brunt of such power. She thought she knew nothing about her heart? How about feeling it through that kiss? Strong. Determined. Experienced. Danica Moreau was not a woman who wasted time. She probably couldn’t afford to with her packed money-making schedule. Still, didn’t a woman need to take a break here and there to relax? Of course she did. Why wouldn’t she? She deserved it. So what if Alicia could get in trouble for this? That was always in the back of her mind as she accepted Danica’s tongue deep into her mouth. Alicia’s hands eased up a soft lapel, wrapped around the back of Danica’s head, and brought her closer.Closer.
