"... Thank you! We'll be in touch!"
Sarah watched the applicant get up, a cold but amused smile curving her mouth an instant as he fumbled with the folder in his hands, before extending it to shake hers and the rest of the panels and exiting.
"That was colder than usual, Sarah."
"But necessary. He is a potential recruit for an organization that will be far more rigid in its approach than I have been. If he wets himself here, he will not be a good bet to forward. But if you're questioning my methods?"
Sarah inclined her head at the panel member before her, leaving her statement to trail off as he shook his head and took his leave of her, closing the door behind him with a distinct click.
Sarah felt the façade drop as she spun away from the desk to look at the creeping twilight through the window. She was going crazy. It had been a week, long seven days in which she had counted the one hundred and sixty eight hours in eighty six thousand, four hundred minutes since she had found herself, alone, on the floor of her living room, in her own robes, the silver skein on her wrist, now cold but still very visible. She rubbed it now, almost absently knowing that it was all that she had to prove to herself that she had been in the land of the fae for a time; not just the land but before the council where she had recounted the prophecy her mother had revealed to her. And had seen the awareness in the eyes of the fae and taken in also, that the prophecy concerned herself and Ada'an.
She let her breath out on a sigh knowing it wasn't just the revelation or the circumstances that were bothering her but also that she did not know what would happen now especially with that infernal, infuriating Prince who had become her lover, succeeding in drawing her out in a way that she had only seen in her dreams. The disturbing dreams had stopped too, and Sarah was alarmed to think she missed the eroticism of her charged visions. But she snapped back at the crackle of the intercom as the call came through for the next meeting.
"Sarah..., the meeting is about to start."
-- oooooooo --
It had been a long day, again and Sarah knew she looked exhausted. She was burning the candle at both ends but somehow, she couldn't sleep and seemed to have this constant urge to keep busy, almost afraid to know what would happen if she had time on her hands. And Di, still wasn't back. For all her flightiness, Sarah knew she could talk to Di, even if Di recommended going to a shrink.
But for now, she just wanted a bath, warm enough to sink and sleep into and it was these thoughts that led her through her apartment, dropping her jacket and scarf and pulling the pins from her hair to allow it fall from her tight scalp. Her shoes followed and then her trousers, passing through her bedroom in darkness dressed just in a lace and froth concoction that just as soon may not be there. She walked into the bathroom, switching on lights, almost grinning at the opulence there at odds with the minimalist approach in the rest of the apartment.
It was large, since she had converted the second bedroom into her own personal fantasy. The large sunken tub had a Jacuzzi and was its own personal world, illuminated by lights placed behind glass in little alcoves in the wall. A large mirror beyond the tub, added to the size of the bathroom, with a large marble counter with the sink placed at an angle before it.
Sarah felt the temperature of the water, slipping off the rest of her clothes before piling up her hair on of her head, loose enough so that a few strands slipped loose, turning off the larger lights before sinking into the froth of pale pink bubbles and the lightly churning water.
Even as she felt the water soothe her body, her eyes closed her head laying back, her mind wandering, and in that state susceptible enough to allow her fantasy prince an access she would never have admitted to. She could almost feel his fingers tracing the curve of her shoulders dotted with froth here and there, over the vulnerable curve of her neck to the sweet hollow between her collar bones. She could feel his breath deepen as his hand would move lower, beneath the bubbles, curving around her breast, each touch gentle, almost reverential so as not to shake her fantasy and her mouth softened and curved into a smile...
"I'm glad to see the thought of my touch at least makes you smile my Mistress!"
And the voice, the soft amusement seemed so much a part of her imagination that it took an instant for her mind to recognize that her skin was heating, not from an imagined touch, but a very real finger that caressed her and her eyes flew open, almost sitting up, before the hand forestalled her.
Ada'an had no chance of stopping the grin that stretched his wide sensual mouth and added to the gleam to his eyes that were already molten as he looked at the color that now climbed over her cheeks.
"It also adds to my pleasure that you missed me..."
Sarah's eyes narrowed, as she curved away from his hand, watching the smile widen as he sat back on the steps leading to the tub in all his princely glory, even the torque around his neck suiting the otherwise very human garb of form fitting jeans and a similar shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
"What are you doing here, Again? I thought your task was done?" Sarah's inner self actually went through the notion of slapping a hand over her mouth, not at the words, but at the faintly accusing undertone that they carried.
"I knew you missed me!" He grinned again at the hiss of breath that was expelled but wiped all vestige of amusement from his face as he continued.
