Good Intentions (15 page)

apartment a few days later, nothing more. “An’ then the next day, it’s like day three now, I go by his apartment again ‘cause he ain’t answerin’ his phone, an’ I still hear fuckin’, but I don’t hear Damon no more. Not like I did before. Just a bit of wheezing or something.” Mike laughed and made a mimicking motion and wheezing noise to give his impression of an elderly man giving it to a woman from behind. He smacked an imaginary ass with a shaking, arthritic hand. “And then the next day Kimesha went by again and smell ed somethin’ awful in his apartment, and got the landlord… and Damon was stone cold dead, motherfucker.” J’Von sighed. “So?” “So, man, that bitch fucked him to death.” Mike burst out laughing again, but Tony was serious. “And nobody saw Damon’s stash or any of the money he’d been sitting on after that, remember?” J’Von frowned and nodded. He did remember that part. He didn’t know about this story of Damon’s death, though, because nobody had told him about it. Nobody had asked Kimesha for her side of things, because nobody really liked that angry bitch anyway. The one silver lining in Damon’s death was that Kimesha didn’t come around anymore. “Wait, what money?” Mike asked, his laughter fading. “Damon was movin’ a lotta coke when he died,” J’Von said quietly. “Movin’, or maybe had already moved it. But nobody knows if the cops got the money an’ just didn’t say nothin’, or if someone else grabbed it.” J’Von looked at Mike and waited for the wheels to turn in his head. Neither J’Von nor Mike was gul ible enough to believe that Damon had died from too much pussy. That was just stupid. But the notion that a woman as hot as that one was in his apartment looking less for sex and more for cash was believable. Damon had died. Tyrel had gone to jail partly because Damon wasn’t around to clear his name—not that he’d have ever done so, realistical y. And al that money just disappeared. And there was the last person who had seen Damon

alive, driving by. “They went in the mal parking garage?” J’Von asked. * Lorelei smell ed him almost as soon as they came off the escalator from the bottom floor. She knew what he was from the scent, though not who specifical y. There were better than even odds that he would not be so quick to detect her presence, at least not right away. But turning around would do no good; once aware that she’d been near, he might realize her condition and consider her vulnerable. This had to be dealt with, quickly and decisively… and preferably not in front of Alex. She needed a way to keep him occupied. “I would guess that you don’t have a clear idea of what sort of clothes you’d like to see me in,” she said cool y, “at least in public.” “Not real y,” Alex shrugged. “I figured you should just wear whatever you like. You look really good now, but I’d bet you’d look good in anything. I’d be happy with you in jeans and a t-shirt or whatever’s comfortable.” “Hm. You do prefer a bit of glamour, though. That much is plain.” “Well , I don’t know who doesn’t appreciate someone going to the trouble of looking good, but I wouldn’t expect that al the time. Can’t be wine and roses every night of the week.” She smiled. “Silly master.” “Hey, you should really cal me Alex,” he whispered to her.

“Oh, no one’s listening to us… Alex,” she added as a concession. “What you mean to say is that because you do not go to great effort for fashion, you wouldn’t expect it of others.” He looked down at his outfit, frowning. He didn’t think he dressed like a slob. “You love various Goth looks,” Lorelei continued, “and business casual with a hint of sexiness. You have several prominent memories of girls in formalwear from a couple of dances in high school. I imagine you would rejoice if al the world’s hipsters died in flames?” “I wouldn’t want to use that turn of phrase in front of someone like you, but yeah, I can’t stand hipsters. Trying too hard to make a point of looking like they’re not trying. Past that, I guess I just like whatever works for a given woman? If you want me to pick out clothes for you, it’s going to be a disaster. I want you to get what you know makes you look good. I’m pretty sure that’s just about anything.” Lorelei nodded. “I can accept that.” She slipped her hand in his. “However, we should begin at the beginning.” Lorelei led him with calm, confident purpose toward a shop that Alex hadn’t dared set foot in since he was ten years old and at his mother’s side. “Um,” he tried to protest, “this is a lingerie store.” “It’s not especially racy. There is more here than lingerie.” “Yeah, like five tight shirts and some hand lotion,” Alex said. She did not slow down; they were really going into this trendy, spacious store for things that Alex honestly didn’t know how to discuss with other women without sounding perverted. “I would prefer a more upscale store specializing in much more al uring intimate wear,” Lorelei admitted, “but we were going for casual, right?” “Isn’t bringing me in here going to be… um…”

“Awkward? No. Many ladies bring their men in here to explain what they’d like to see in the bedroom. Isn’t that right?” Lorelei asked the sales associate that was suddenly right in front of the couple. In point of fact, her appearance wasn’t sudden at al , but Alex wasn’t even sure where he was supposed to be looking. He was convinced, despite a total lack of evidence, that his presence here must make half the customers feel very self-conscious. He was also sure that he was the only male in the whole store. Alex therefore wasn’t looking where Lorelei was leading him until the other woman spoke. “Absolutely,” she smiled boldly without missing a beat. Alex’s gaze rose up from the floor to trace quickly up those shapely legs in black lace stockings, a tight, knee-length black skirt and an ample bust under a black tee. His eyes finally settled on her rather pretty face. Pert nose, smooth skin, short, curly black hair. Amusement in her almond eyes. “Hi, I’m Audrey,” she said, offering her hand. “I’m the store manager.” Alex blinked. Store managers didn’t offer to shake hands. She was clearly fucking with him only because this was so embarrassing. He considered dying, right there on the spot. Instead, he simply shook her hand and mumbled, “Hi, I’m Alex.” Audrey winked. Then, as Lorelei spoke again, her expression seemed to change. The hot lingerie store manager started looking at Alex like he would make an exciting addition to her bedroom furniture. “My boyfriend here has been a bit deprived,” Lorelei said to Audrey. She was standing a bit closer to the other woman than she needed to, speaking almost directly into her ear. “He’s—wel , forgive me for being so forward, but he’s a thril a minute in the bedroom. I’d do literally anything he asked of me, but he just doesn’t know what to ask for. No idea what to cal things, real y. Religious upbringing.” “I see,” Audrey nodded. Her eyes were locked on Alex’s. “So now that he’s free to enjoy himself, I’d love make sure he has a good time. You know, wear the right things to drive him mad. I couldn’t blame any woman for throwing herself at him…Anyway, I think he knows what he likes, but

he could still stand an education from an expert.” “I’d be more than happy to help,” Audrey offered. Her chest rose and fell a bit heavily. “I’ve got a lot of shopping to do, and the mal won’t be open too much longer. Could I leave him in your capable hands? I’m sure he’l show a lot of gratitude.” Her tone conveyed a very clear offer. “Absolutely,” Audrey said. She still had his hand. Lorelei leaned over and kissed his neck. “Let go and have some fun, master,” she hissed. “It will be good for al three of us.” “What—are you leaving?” Alex blinked. “I’ve a couple of other places to visit here, and not much time tonight,” Lorelei said as she walked away. “I’l know when you’re ready to leave.” * J’Von, Tony and Mike were wandering the terraces of Pacific Place when they spotted their prey leaving the store alone. “We gonna go get her?” Mike asked. “What, right here in the middle of the mal ?” Tony frowned. “This is a rich people’s mal . Cops’l be on us like flies on shit if we screw up.” “He’s right,” J’Von nodded, “but we ought’a let her go, anyway. Think I saw her boy still there in the store. She’l come

back.” “So what? You wanna wait?” “If that bitch really did do Damon, she gotta be, like, mob or some shit,” J’Von thought aloud. “For real. But her boy there, he look like he’s her kid brother or somethin’. He’s the weak link. We grab him, it don’t matter if we get her right away or not. She’l have to play bal .” “The fuck’s he doin’ in there, anyway?” Tony grumbled. J’Von’s eyes slid over to regard his friend nonchalantly. “Maybe homeboy needs some new panties?” * “These are thongs, and these are what we cal boy cut panties, which is what I generally prefer,” Audrey explained with that cool, teasing smile. She played the whole lecturer angle fairly straight, but her grin, the look in her eyes and the way she stayed well within in Alex’s personal space hinted at much more of an educational experience than simple vocabulary. Alex felt like he could die. This was embarrassing. It was also irresistible, entirely because of Audrey’s physical nearness and the looks she gave him as she took him through her store…but still embarrassing. “You see a little bit more skin with thongs, of course, but there are times when less is more. Boy cut panties hold a little more al ure.” “Huh,” he managed rather eloquently.

“It’s probably best if I just give a hands-on demonstration,” she said, a little more quietly and a little more closely. “Maybe something a little more intimate.” Okay, perhaps this isn’t something to die over, Alex considered as he felt her breath on his right ear and the side of his neck. “Alex Carlisle?” a voice asked. He glanced over to his left. Across the table full of thongs and lacy boy shorts was the tal , lovely girl who’d kept at least a quarter of his higher brain functions preoccupied over the course of his junior and senior years. She had (unwittingly and innocently, and he knew it) cost him countless hours of sleep. He had turned up late for his second crack at the SATs when she’d had a flat tire and cal ed him in a last-resort panic. He missed pretty much every decent play his high school footbal team made on the field because he was paying more attention to her in her cheerleading uniform. He hadn’t seen her in over a year. She had gone to the University of Washington. He went to community college. It was al the same city, but it hardly mattered. They didn’t even turn up at the same parties. There was nothing but brief, infrequent communication online. Now here she was in snug black slacks, a similarly snug black tee, a headset over her tied-back brown hair and a nametag that read, “Taylor.” This was now definitely something to die over. Right here, right now. Heart attack. Stroke. Brain aneurysm. Aaaany second now. “You two know each other?” Audrey said, needing only a second to recover. “We went to high school together,” Taylor said warily. “Um. Hi, Taylor,” Alex managed. “How are you?”

“What are you doing here?” “Alex here is shopping for his girlfriend,” Audrey smiled, “and she asked me to help him out a bit.” Taylor looked at him with obvious disbelief. She managed to keep her jaw from dropping. “You have a girlfriend? And you’re buying her lingerie?” “W-wel , we hadn’t really gotten to talking about the relationship labels yet, y’know?” Alex offered awkwardly. It was honest enough. He wasn’t remotely capable of more sophisticated thinking than that at the moment. “I mean, we just met recently. Um. How are you doing? Did I ask that already?” “You did,” she said, eyes narrowing suspiciously. She couldn’t help but notice that Audrey was holding Alex’s hand. “Taylor, I’m going to take my dinner break now,” Audrey broke in. “While I’m gone, could you count down the registers? We’ve done a lot of cash today.” “Sure,” Taylor nodded slowly. She moved off without breaking her gaze right away. * It took longer than it should have, she realized, to figure out where he was. She left Alex in the store to stride along the walkway that wrapped around the five-story open atrium of the mal . In part, it was because her senses were as dul ed as the rest of her abilities. That was her primary reason for confronting this: she didn’t trust in her ability to conceal herself. Not yet. There was no tel ing how long it would take before she could begin recovery in earnest. That was entirely up to Alex and his ability to overcome his inhibitions. He was finally on his way, and she felt better already, but there was a long

way to— Desire. The sensation took her by surprise. So much desire. Sharper, much more intense than the mere lust-on-sight that she’d left him with. This was deep, serious longing, and so very delicious. Aged, at least relative to his short span of sexual maturity. Knowing his desires as she did, Lorelei had a deep suspicion of whom he’d encountered. That was intriguing. The feeling was soon muted but not erased. Longing like that, born at such an early age, would never entirely fade. In the moment, though, he was distracted by that earlier, newer desire for Audrey, who was mutually interested. It took awhile, as did the search for the source of the scent that had drawn Lorelei out, but eventually that desire began to build in anticipation. Every moment of it left her feeling that much stronger. Alex wasn’t running away from it at al . She felt him embrace this current lust. That was when she realized where the smell was coming from. He was upstairs, in one of the restaurants. Lorelei got onto the escalators, ascending to the top of the mal . It was the Asian seafood buffet. He was in there. That made sense. He had even established invisible wards around the place. A week ago, she could have crushed such defenses with ease, but now it would take effort. Once inside, she would be under constant assault on levels no mortal would sense. She gave better than even odds that he’d know she was present now, but she waited outside anyway. It made sense to take advantage of the delay, to see if he’d come out to meet her or if she’d have to go in. Timing often made al the difference in the world. It wouldn’t show to observers, but this confrontation would likely be very draining. A small shiver ran through her. It was nothing visible to any of the many observers looking her up and down, but it was very wellcome. This was only the beginning. Satisfaction would eventually fol ow, as would nourishment. There. Right there. Oh, so good. Good boy. Very good boy. Feeling better prepared, the succubus walked into the restaurant.

* “It’s al a matter of how things come off,” Audrey explained softly to the guest seated on the cushioned chair in front of her. She swayed a bit and touched him more now that they were alone, shielded from scrutiny by the tal dressing room door and the Kylie Minogue music piped through the store PA system. “Anticipation makes it better.” The store manager turned her back to him, gyrating subtly. She took Alex’s hand in hers and guided it to the zipper on her skirt. He no longer looked like a deer in her headlights. He’d at least accomplished that much. Part of him was still very conscious that Taylor was out there somewhere, but he had put the worst of those feelings behind him a while ago. That just wasn’t going to happen, and he probably never had any chance to break out of the “just a friend” box, anyway. She had gone to UW with her basketbal star boyfriend. He went to community college. He had certainly moved on in the last couple of nights. Life wasn’t about eventually finding true love with your unrequited crush from high school. That fairy tale sold movie tickets, but it wasn’t real. Reality involved getting burned a few times as you grew up, and going through multiple experiences with other people before finally figuring out who you wanted to be with. Taylor had taught him that much, at least, and he didn’t owe her anything. He didn’t owe anyone loyalty or monogamy until there was mutual agreement, and until then, there were other fish in the sea. Some fish had skirts that slid from their hips to reveal lacy black boy shorts and thigh-high stockings that al together highlighted a nice ass. “Like how that comes off?” she grinned over her shoulder. “I do,” Alex nodded. He was cooler about this now. In the moment. Audrey had never burned him and wasn’t