Ojbect (4 page)

She stepped forward and took the chair he gestured to.

“The Face-to-Face Club has other manors around the globe. Anywhere there is a city, there is a club nearby. It provides a necessary relief for the nobles and visitors.”

She remained silent.

“What I need you to do is to take over the accounts, dealing with the staff and ordering supplies for each manor. The supplies range from pool equipment to clothing for the guests. When Yimra needs time off, it will be up to you to act as hostess in her stead.”

“Yes, Lord Akking.”

He sat back. “You are not daunted by the idea?”

“Acting as hostess, yes. Working on your books, no.”

He grinned. “Good. Don’t worry about the hostessing. Yimra can help you with that.”

“When can I start looking over the books?”

“The data files are on the pad in the outer office. You can begin to peruse them immediately.”

Bella nodded and got to her feet. “I shall start right away.”

He blinked and sat back. “By all means.”

She paused.

“Yes?”

“Is the goal of the clubs to turn a profit or simply to provide a comforting experience?”

“The latter. A profit is not necessary.”

She smiled brightly. “Good to know.”

She turned her back on him and went to her new desk. The door closed behind her. She settled in, pulled out the data pads and got to work.

She didn’t know how long it was, but a hand got between her and the data. Bella blinked at the interruption and looked up into the dark purple eyes of her boss. “Yes, Lord Akking?”

“Yimra is worried about you. I have told her you are working, but you have missed the meal with the staff. She wants me to make sure you are eating.”

Bella looked up and saw the darkness outside the window. “Damn. Sorry. I was having fun.”

Her stomach growled.

“Apparently, Yimra was correct. Come on, I will show you to the kitchens.” He held out his hand, and she got to her feet and left the intriguing data behind.

He slipped his fingers through hers, and the doors opened for them as they headed for the main hallway.

“The entire facility is wired with high-tech security.”

He coughed lightly. “It is. How did you—”

“I read all the files.”

“You can’t have—”

“Yes, Lord Akking, all the files.” She winked and walked in step with him, her skirt rustling as they moved.

“I didn’t compliment you on that fetching gown.”

“It was one of Yimra’s picks.”

“Did you get into it on your own?”

She laughed. “Nearly. I had to be rescued at the last minute. The back lacing is too hard to reach.”

He smiled, and his silver-brown skin gleamed in the lamps lining the hallways.

It felt odd to be holding his hand, and right at the same time. She had never held hands with her boss before, but there had to be a first time for everything.

They walked down two flights, through back hallways until they reached the kitchen. The staff greeted Lord Akking warmly and offered to make him something.

He uttered the fateful words, “We can look after ourselves.”

Bella paused. “I haven’t done more than hit the buttons on a food dispenser for the last eight months. I don’t know what passes for Kloa cooking.”

He bustled her to the wide worktable and got her a chair. “Sit back and be amazed. I have been sneaking into these kitchens all over the world since I was a child.”

To her utter amazement, Lord Akking moved around the room with surety to make her dinner.

She watched the slow and elegant dance as he shifted his way through the cooler and came out with two armloads of raw materials. He started chopping, mincing, slicing and sautéing with his focus on the food.

“How far did you get in the records?”

She blinked. “Oh, I finished them. I was creating budgets and spending plans for the next three quarters.”

He paused with the knife over the assembled ingredients. “You are not serious.”

“Oh, I am. I really enjoy numbers. I always have.”

He resumed his work, and soon, amazing smells were coming from the pan while he hummed and kept flicking his hair back over his shoulder.

When he got two plates down, he settled them in front of her and to her right. He lifted the skillet over and split the contents between them. The hot pan was placed in the sink, and he brought utensils over to her.

He settled next to her on another kitchen stool and gestured to the bowl. “Take a bite. When I was going through school, I used to live on this. It is basically a scavenger hunt through the cooler.”

She took a bite, and her eyebrows went up. “Wow. That is something. I don’t know what it was, but I am willing to keep investigating.”

The flavour pallet was all wrong, but it seemed to be perfectly correct in a different way. Her stomach was happy to get what it could.

She was a third of the way through it when he got to his feet and brought out a bottle of wine. He poured two glasses and set them on the table.

She reached out and sipped at the rich, dark purple wine. She smiled. “It matches your eyes.”

He laughed. “I am assured that the resemblance is coincidental. It is not an indicator of content.”

She giggled and looked at the wine suspiciously.

Bella returned to eating, but she felt distinctly relaxed. A second sip relaxed her even more, and by the third sip, she was debating asking him some pointed questions and failing the debate in leaps and bounds.

“Do you have sex with employees?”

He coughed and cleared his palate with the wine. “Not normally.”

She settled and neared the bottom of her plate. “Pity.”

His eating utensil dropped to the table and he picked it up. “Liaison Banks, are you feeling all right?”

She nodded. “Yes. I don’t have to drive anywhere, so I am feeling just fine.”

She finished her food and then finished her wine. It was going to be a fun walk back to her house. She hoped that the sensors could manage the zigzag pattern. It was all she could manage.

Before they had left the kitchen, Lord Akking had managed to deduce that she was plastered.

“This is highly irregular, Lord Akking.” She kicked her feet, but he had her up in his arms and was striding up to the third floor.

“I am aware of that. I was not aware of how easily your species would be affected by the wine.”

She wrinkled her nose and examined her fingers. Her right-hand fingers were bigger than her left. Weird.

She kicked again and then asked, “Where are we going?”

“To my quarters. I do not want you to be alone in your condition, and no one else is awake to care for you. Well, no one not on duty.”

“Don’t you have guestrooms?”

“I do, but I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”

“Why not?” She prodded at his chest with a finger. There was no yielding.

“Because I am not sure what will happen next. You seem to be having a strong reaction to our wine.”

“Most of my meals don’t have wine involved.” She smiled absently and looked up at him. “The food was really nice.”

“Thank you. You don’t cook?”

“I only have a basic understanding of what I am eating here. The food of Kloa isn’t configured like what I am used to.” She swung her feet restlessly.

He snorted. “You have a lot of energy for someone who nearly tipped over.”

She sighed. “Way back, when I was a teenager, I would engage in a little underage drinking and dance until I couldn’t feel my legs.”

“So, your legs are dancing?”

She looked over her knees to her feet kicking out from her skirt. “Yup. I think that’s what they are doing. I would have to be standing up to know for sure.”

Doors opened and closed as he walked the halls of the private wing of the club.

“Are there guests still here?” Bella blinked at him with eyes that were having trouble focusing.

“There are. We maintain six guestrooms, and three of them are currently occupied.”

She nodded slowly.

The final set of doors took them through a casual chamber with couches and a vid screen and, from there, a few steps took them into his bedroom.

He slid her down his body with a sigh. “You have a lot of muscle on you for someone so slender. I thought you would be a little wisp of a thing.”

She chuckled and held onto his shoulders for balance. “Wisp has never described me. Since I have not had anything else to do, I work out every night.”

She felt herself swaying against him; she chuckled. “It looks like the legs still want to dance.”

He whistled sharply and music filled the air.

“You have that ready to go?”

Lord Akking shrugged. “It comes in handy.”

He moved, and she stepped with him. To her surprise, he danced with her.

They stepped, turned, twisted, dipped and spun. Her laughter spilled out into the room, and after one spin, she held on tight. “Enough. I think I am good now.”

Her vision was clearing and blurring with alarming rapidity.

He held her tight and kissed her. Her surprise at the kiss ended on a squeak when her bodice came loose.

She could taste him on her lips when he leaned back. She was sure that her expression resembled an owl’s. “Um, I think I need to sleep the wine off.”

He caressed her cheek. “It is probably the best idea. How is your vision?”

She blinked. “Variable.”

“Then, I will help you with your clothing and that will be the end of things for the night. Your pulse is also very rapid.”

She nodded. It certainly felt like she had thunder in her veins and a tripping sledgehammer for a heart. She hoped it was the wine.

Bella climbed the few steps up to the bed and sat, reaching down a moment before Lord Akking pushed her hands away. He slipped off her shoes, lightly massaged her feet and helped her stand.

“Undressing ladies is a bit of a hobby. Allow me to indulge it.”

She shivered as he eased the dress from her shoulders, down her arms and over her hips. Undergarments were not used on Kloa; the fabric was generally thick enough to hide any intimate regions.

He reached past her and flipped the bedding back, pressing a kiss to her shoulder as he did so. “In you go.”

Bella stepped out of the crumpled fabric and tucked herself in. She rolled to her side and watched as Lord Akking lifted her dress and draped it over one arm while her shoes dangled from his fingers. He hung the dress up on a rack designed for that purpose and began unsnapping his tunic.

With her eyes as wide as she could make them and everything but them hidden by the blankets, she watched as the expanse of skin grew with every removed piece of fabric. Staring at his groin was rude, but she had to admit that whoever designed the Kloa had done an interesting job. He was semi-erect and already seven inches or more. The girth was impressive, causing Bella to clench her thighs together as she felt herself getting wet. The mental image of putting that nudity to work was quite invigorating.

As the bed dipped slightly, she turned her back to him and tried to give in to the bone-deep fatigue she was experiencing.

She saw images and fantasies dancing behind her eyes as she dozed off. There might have been a smile on her lips, but she liked to think that she had more self-control.

Bella woke, rubbed her cheek on a chest and froze. She winced. In her sleep, she had crossed to his side of the bed, and she was currently plastered against his entire left side.

Her thigh was resting against his cock, and she slowly eased it down. Lord Akking’s hand gripped her thigh and held it.

She looked up, and he smiled.

“You were keeping me warm, Liaison Banks.”

There was deep amusement in his eyes as his hand slowly moved up her thigh until it rested on the curve of her buttock. He tapped her with a slow beat.

“I think I need to get to work.”

He chuckled. “Are you sober?”

She leaned back and nodded slowly. “I am.”

“Good.” His expression turned into a smirk. “You are late for work.”

Bella stared at him in shock before whirling to one side, careful not to castrate her boss.

She put her shoes on and tugged the dress into place once again. It took some contorting, but she managed to get the back of her dress closed. In a final move, she leaned forward and tugged her breasts into place before heading for the door.

“Well done. I was joking. None of the day staff have to go on duty for another two hours.” He stretched and kicked his blanket aside.

She stared at him, muttered about over-muscled idiots and masochistic designers and left his quarters.

She stalked through the halls, out the service entrance and across the lawns with the pathway spinning up to catch her steps. She was striding up her own stairs in a matter of minutes, propelled by her own steam.

The staff were starting to stir, and a few waved at her as she stepped across her threshold. Bella paused, turned and smiled brightly, waving in return. She wasn’t going to ruin her repertoire with her new co-workers even if she was boiling with irritation and embarrassment.

After she waved hello, she headed past her door and up the steps. The door closed behind her. Her hands undid the lacing at the back of her gown, and it gradually released. She hiked her skirts and kicked her shoes off before stomping into the lav.

She looked at the taps for actual water and sighed. With resolve, she turned to the other connections, and when she pushed the gown off, Bella stepped into the blast of the sonic shower.

When her hair hung straight and her skin was squeaky clean, she grabbed the crumpled gown, slung it over one arm and stomped back into the bedroom. She flicked through the clothing and found a gown in a dark purple that had a keyhole neckline, but a high collar. She sighed as she got dressed. It fastened up the front with two dozen small hooks.

She went to the dressing table and picked up some pins, curling most of her hair into a neat chignon and tugging a few tendrils loose. The employee pendant nestled in the open neckline.

The last part of her new outfit was a set of shoes, and she was completely dressed and on her way downstairs when she heard the knock.