Saber collected his pants, smiling to himself. He fantasized about Ebony as he put his on his easily removable slacks. He left his shirt showing off his muscular torso. One lost their modesty quick in a strip club. The club beat with dance music that pulsed through his body. His own body hummed with expectation for the coming days. When he stepped out onto the main room floor a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder. A chill of dread crawled up his spine. He turned around to see one of the Boss's security guards glowering his usual menace at him.
"Boss wants to see you," he paused for dramatic effect. "Now." Authority creased into the deepest frown on the security guard's face. None of them were good looking. None of them even gave their names. But Saber knew this one well as "Butch".
"Not that I'm busy or anything...," Saber grumbled. Did Alvis tell on him? He would. Just for spite. A small knot formed in his stomach as he took the familiar path to the back office, his footsteps heavy as if he was on his way to the guillotine.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Damia was a red haired woman with diamond blue eyes in her early 40s. She had full C-cup breasts and a narrow waistline that tapered to a pert backside. Despite her age she was sexy and attractive. But her beauty was of the lethal, venomous kind. She could be cold and calculating. Sure she could imitate sweetness and consideration but Saber could detect the ruthless viper hidden beneath.
Saber steeled his nerves as he entered her office. She couldn't want sex. They had stopped having sex a year ago. He just assumed with relief that he wasn't one of her favorite boy toys anymore. Alvis seemed to occupy that status being 26. Damia loved the young bucks. Since Saber turned 32 she paid him less attention. But she was a possessive female. She didn't like seeing her exes happy.
She was wearing a silk emerald green blouse with a few buttons opened to reveal a generous amount of cleavage. Hugging her lower curves was a black pencil skirt. Nylon stockings with a pair of green pumps that made her shapely legs seem longer. Damia wore more make up to hide any wrinkles that botox didn't get rid of. When he stepped into her office her lush red lips stretched into a lazy Cheshire Cat smile that did not reach her icy blue eyes.
"Saber," she purred in her honeyed voice that cut a chill nonetheless with the help of her evil grin. The sound made the tiger shifter recoil inwardly. He held back a snarl.
"You wanted to see me?" Saber asked, appearing cool like her. Damia leaned back in her swivel chair like Snow White's queen on her throne.
"You had quite a night." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Did Alvis tattle on me?" Saber's face broke into a sardonic smirk managing to give a casual shrug of his broad shoulders.
"He doesn't take rejection too well," she shrugged elegantly herself. "But what I really meant was your performance in one of the champagne rooms." Her perfectly groomed eye brows lifted in curiosity. "You've never marked a client before. Why now?"
Saber froze. His muscles tightened with that fight or flight instinct. In his haze of lust he had forgotten that Damia had cameras in every corner of the club including the champagne rooms. Even now he could see the cold gears turning in her toxic mind.
"It slipped," he replied nonchalant though inside his stomach knotted. "It happens to shifters sometimes." He hoped he didn't give anything away. Damia was a perceptive female.
"Indeed...," Damia eyed him carefully. She was trying to crack into him and read all of his inner most secrets and feelings. Looking for the best way to make him hurt if she needed to in order to control him.
A lump formed in Saber's throat at her calculating stare. Damia suddenly eased her expression into a casual yet cunning smile. "I suppose you'll be seeing her again..." She left the last few words hanging in the air. Sometimes to strippers would go on "dates" with the clients. "As long as the club earns money I don't care what you do."
"Thank you, Mistress," Saber nodded, his whole body primed to bolt out of this room.
Damia's smile curved more at the title "mistress" that she insisted every employee address her as when in her presence. Saber was allowed to leave, a wave of relief washing over him allowing him to breathe again but when he turned the corner he saw Alvis looking smug, his arms crossed, his body casually leaning against the wall.
"Mistress whip you like you deserve?" he asked arrogantly.
"I seem to be walking upright with little trouble," Saber smirked back. To Saber's infinite delight the young tiger shifter scowled with hardened loathing, his handsome features sharpening into something unflattering. "Next time you tattle on me don't expect me to be so forgiving." Then he left before Alvis could form a retort.
Luckily Alvis was called into Damia's office from what Saber heard as he rounded a corner. Good. Now he could think about Ebony...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Oh no no no!" Ebony waved away the black smoke from the tray of dark chocolate croissants, the little pastries lumps of crispy black lumps. Suki coughed while opening a window while Amara dealt with the smoke alarm. The kitchen crammed with the thick smell of decadent burnt chocolate and charcoaled pastry.
"Damn it! There goes another batch...," Suki mourned, not without some trace of annoyance.
"Jesus, Ebony, you've been out of it all day," Amara complained, not at all afraid to conceal her frustration. Her obsidian eyes narrowed into slits. They may have differed in personality but when it came to cooking Ebony, Amara, and Suki were all 100% serious. Ebony understood that she hadn't been focused much today. Or even the past two days. She was constantly aroused ever since that night at The Scratching Post and it had been messing up her game.
"You honestly don't look good. Are you going to have a heat stroke, Ebb?" Suki asked concerned. Amara's puckering scowl altered into slight concern as well though her voice still sounded a bit tight.
"Maybe you should go home and take a rest, babe," Amara offered as a compromise. "We'll clean up and finish the pastries."
"No!" Ebony responded more fiercely than she intended. "It's ok... I'll clean up and finish." Then she smiled. "You guys go home though. It's late. I'll come back at 3 AM and finish them. They'll be so much better fresh anyway. I live right next door so it'll be easier for me."
Amara and Suki exchanged worried looks but ultimately allowed Ebony to have her way. They left her but Suki lingered a little to help wipe down some counters and the stove. Amara also did some prep for Ebony to restart her baking. Finally Ebony was alone. Her body was covered in sweat and flour and dark chocolate stains. She was exhausted but energized at the same time. Her blood was boiled honey making her movements languid and her mind fuzzy.
Taking a deep breath she looked at the clock. It was only 11pm. Shit. Sleep had been elusive the past 2 days and she couldn't exactly figure out why. The small wound on her shoulder didn't bleed but it still itched and burned. Her whole body seemed to be on fire. No wonder Suki thought Ebony was going to have a heat stroke.
Ebony was distracted all day by vivid daydreams of eyes of dark chocolate gleaming seductively at her while a sensual mouth curved in a beckoning smile. She felt big rough hands running down her body igniting more heat. Electricity tingled at her every nerve in her skin making her ready to jolt at the slightest brush. Her clit swollen and aching while her breasts felt heavier.
Ebony must have masturbated constantly since the night Saber bit her. She didn't want to blame him. But... did he give her some infection? Passing out from so many self made orgasms were the only relief she had. The batteries on her vibrator had been used up and the machine itself was worn out. And yet it STILL wasn't enough to give her peace. Maybe she should try again at least to get a nap before she had to wake up and bake 40 dark chocolate croissants. A shower firstβKnock, knock, knock!
"Did Suki forget something?" she wondered aloud. She felt a twinge of frustration when her body needed intense relief. But Ebony had an extraordinary amount of patience. Taking a deep breath she made her face carefully blank. Ebony did not expect the person at the door to be the one man she had fantasized and masturbated to would be at the back door of her restaurant. He was wearing a leather jacket, a plain jade green cotton shirt, and dark blue denim jeans. He looked like such a bad boy. A sleek jungle cat on the prowl with dark eyes penetrating the barrier of her clothes.