“Heya,” Alex said blearily. “Mornin’.”
Kat looked at him curiously as she sat down at the workstation next to his. “Wow, your eyes are seriously bloodshot. Did you sleep at all last night?”
“Not really.”
“Huh. Hot date?” she grinned.
“Kind of, but no.”
She snickered, then looked at her task list and frowned. “It’s hot in here,” she said. Alex glanced over absent-mindedly as Kat pulled off her sweater. He was treated to the sight of her tight, bare midriff as her undershirt caught on the sweater. As it was lifted away, Alex could make out the shape of her bra under her top. She didn’t seem to mind his stare at all.
“Oh. I should grab my filing,” Kat thought aloud. Alex’s office crush moved forward, leaning in with her chest brushing up against his head as she pulled a stack of paperwork out of the filing cabinet beside him.
She sat back down. He found it hard not to stare. His gaze lingered on the straps of her bra against her smooth, toned skin and the way the cups shaped and pushed up her breasts. She brushed away her brown hair to expose her collarbones and her neck, which Alex looked at for a brief, longing moment. Kat paused only to glance at him and smile. He knew she should have been bothered. He was leering. But she didn’t seem the slightest bit disturbed.
“I wish I had worn shorts today,” Kat mused aloud. “Maybe I should run home and put on a pair at lunch?”
Alex had often fantasized about all the different ways he could hit on her. He thought about being charming, being tender, being sweet. He had thought about flowers or coming up with just the right thing to say. He didn’t lack confidence; she simply wasn’t available. Now, though, all he could think about was pushing her up against the wall and tearing her clothes off. He felt unreasonably sure she would welcome it, too.
With an effort of will, Alex tore his eyes off her and turned to his work.
His day continued on just that way, only steadily worse with curious behavior and innuendo from the ladies in his office. Keating amp; Rose had perhaps thirty employees in all, but a number of them were rather attractive women. It had actually become something of a concern for the senior partners and the office manager as they recognized their hiring patterns…but Alex never complained.
All day long, he could swear that the ladies looked at him differently. Several abandoned all sense of personal space when with him. He saw more leg and cleavage than he could ever remember. Six times, he was summoned into the office of one attorney or another to help sort through paperwork and other tasks that he was never asked to perform before. Flattering as the attention was, it seemed out of place.
Stephanie, the copy room clerk, turned it up the most. Closest to Alex in age and very pretty, Alex crushed on her from day one but she showed no interest in him. Alex was a bit of a geek while Stephanie was a hip club bunny; they got along at work, but she clearly never felt any spark with him. Every time he came across her that day, though, he felt her staring at him with come-hither eyes. The petite Latina found excuses to touch or bump into him. Twice, she had reason to bend over so that he could see the top of her thin panties as her slacks slipped down.
Women asked if he’d been working out. They asked if he was wearing new cologne. All the ladies in the office found a moment to lean in close and sniff, some of them several times. They complimented repeatedly on his appearance, though he’d worn old jeans and a t-shirt in anticipation of doing a heavy-duty dusting job on the file racks. Winks, smiles and suggestive jokes filled every conversation.
Alex continually caught himself behaving strangely, too. He couldn’t believe no one called him out on it, because he kept staring at every curve and every exposed bit of flesh. Alex had a heightened awareness of how each woman’s clothes fit on her, and he continually pondered what each one might have on underneath based on the way the outer fabric hung. The constant preoccupation with attraction and sex banished his fatigue entirely.
Three times, he went into the restroom in hopes of finding some relief from his unending arousal. It was hopeless each time. Alex remained undeniably turned on and obsessed with sex. He felt like he would explode, but in the end he couldn’t resolve it on his own.
The madness felt good, but worried him deeply. Alex pushed through his day wondering if he was going insane.
* * *
“Lorelei?” Alex called out as he opened the front door. His hands trembled at the thought of facing her again. It was all he could do to get through the day and then ride his motorcycle home safely. Several times, he almost wiped out while looking at attractive women driving beside him or walking on the sidewalk.
“Yes? I’m right here,” she answered. Alex found her in the living room, sitting by the glass door to the townhome’s tiny back porch. She had apparently appropriated a simple blue sundress from his mother’s closet. Alex didn’t even question whether that was strange or how it fit her so well. She held a book from his shelf in her hands.
“Lorelei, did you-am I-am I going insane?” he asked.
She cocked her head to one side curiously. “I’m sorry?”
“I can’t stop thinking about sex. I’m leering at every woman I see like a slobbering pervert.” He held his voice and temper as steady as he could. Even now, exasperated as he was, he didn’t want his relationship with Lorelei-whatever it was-to grow hostile. “And I think they’re all flirting with me, but I’m so crazy right now I don’t know if they are or if I’m imagining it!”
Slowly, she nodded, and reached up to take his hands. “I wasn’t sure if things like that would happen or not, but this is all real. I kissed you this morning with lust for you on my lips. My connection to you naturally increases your sex appeal, and your interest.”
“Oh my God, are you serious? So I’m driving them nuts, too?”
“No, no,” Lorelei laughed dismissively. “Nothing so dramatic. They are all fine. They simply recognize that you have something special to offer. It’s simple body language-perhaps intense, but harmless.”
“So I’m a complete pervert, then? This is all me?”
“No, Alex. Please, stop and think,” she said, reaching up to take his hands. “Look at me. Your desire for me is plain. You fought it all night and still do. You don’t have to hide it. I see it, I feel it, and I enjoy it. I know what I am, Alex. I know that I am extraordinarily attractive. It is not arrogance, just understanding. I was made to be so. Your desire is flattering and very welcome. I don’t understand why you will not act.
“Demon though I may be, I am your loyal servant now. I am on your side, Alex. You can trust me.”
After a long moment, Alex asked, “What’s happening to me?”
“We are bound, as has been said,” Lorelei explained gently. “The bond is different from anything I have ever experienced, but you are both my master and, it would seem, my prey. I cannot harm you, of course,” she added quickly, “but understand that I was made to seduce and fornicate. I will not drag you down as I have any other prey, but your lust is connected to me. When I claim a new prey, his lusts are inflamed, and they feed me. I enjoy sex. I truly cannot get enough. Yet my power is drawn not from my pleasure or my desire, but from yours.”
“Until you take over?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I may prey upon your lusts, but I must also protect you. Unlike other prey, you will not whither away in servicing my desires. And again, you are more pleasant than those I have served in the past. I bear you no ill will.
“Alex… I can feel your arousal. I have known when you have sought to pleasure yourself, and to find release. No, don’t be embarrassed,” she said, reaching up to gently touch his lips. “It was natural, even sensible. I am certain you sought relief only to save yourself and others from embarrassment or discomfort. But I can sense that you grow only more aroused. I would be happy to relieve you.”