Chapter Share: Chapter Deux, “Whispers of the Flesh”
Welcome back to my blogosphere!
Today, I’m sharing the second chapter of my upcoming book and the follow-up to my Makaela Williams series aptly titled Whispers of the Flesh. With this book, we’re going to delve a little more into the succubus life and follow Makaela on this journey.
In this chapter, she is finally returning to work after her hiatus from having become a succubus and she is not taking it on very well, to say the least. The changes are coming on quickly, and she has to learn to control it in due time. But in this chapter, she cannot control herself and what’s happening. I’m sure we can all relate to being at work and having something unexpected happen, except we’re not creatures who are stirred by the energy of others to such an extreme extent.
I’ll stop all my talking and just let you get right to it so here it is, Chapter Two:
Chapter Two
I walked into the office of my job, prepared to see stares and looks of deep concerns. I hadn’t been in the office for over two weeks due to the fiasco with the change that came over me. Dimitri, who was incredibly caring and supportive, demanded that I took the time off to recover. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I want you better, and you can’t do that working. Take the time off and then bring your best back with you,” he told me when he called to give me the sick days off. I didn’t want to accept it but I did anyway because he was right. I couldn’t work in the condition I was in.
Unbeknownst to him and myself, I started feeling normal the very next day.
The time off gave me exactly what I needed to lounge around and spend some QT with my best friend Sandy, but it also gave me time to research what exactly Andrei was and what that would make me. I did my Googles and didn’t come up with much for incubus outside of the band with the namesake. All I gathered from the search was that incubi were sex demons who preyed on sleeping victims, and I was disappointed. Andrei mentioned he fed from strong emotions, like fear or sensuality, but nothing about sex with sleeping women. I put a mental note to ask him about that when I searched, but when I saw him, it all escaped me. It was unfortunate that he still had that effect on me, but I meant to really have a very deep talk about that with him. As long as I didn’t get into his eyes, I was sure I could do it.
I looked around the office area, looked through all of the cubicles lined up on either side of the clear aisles, and saw pleasant faces. It brought a little genuine smile to my face to be back and see them all. I didn’t particularly want to stay at the job, but I didn’t hate it as much when I walked in. I let my quick steps guide me right to my office and almost forgot that I had an Ana in front of it, sitting patiently at her desk. My smile nearly slipped but I caught myself.
Ana swiveled in her chair, her blue eyes positively dancing. She always looked happy so this was nothing new to me to see her face bright, complexion clean and clear and under control. Her rosy cheeks were glowing, blond hair bouncing when she moved even slightly. Her upturned nose still adorable and her smiling lips were glossy. And I still wasn’t a fan of hers. “Welcome back, Kaela! You look healthy, and your hair is beautiful today. I love it!”
I had to agree with her on the last part, my hair definitely looked good. I did a perm-rod set and the curls came out perfect, surprisingly. I timidly touched my hair and thanked her for her kind words. She stood up from her seat and wrapped her arms around me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hug her back or gently push her away, we weren’t that close for her to be touching me. I was close to pushing her off when I saw D out of the corner of my eye. I slowly turned my head and there he was, standing in front of his office door looking as comfortable as always.
I gave Ana a gentle pat on her back then she slowly let me go. “It’s just been weird without you here so I am not sorry for hugging you. It’s good to have you back. I was kind of worried you weren’t going to.”
She leaned in closer. “I thought you had taken them up on their offer for a corporate position. I wouldn’t have been mad if you did, just sad to see you go though if you had.”
I pursed my lips, feeling my own gloss grow stickier than it had when I first applied it. “Well, I’m here, so no corporate position. Not sure why or how you got that information but I’m here. Did I get any pressing calls while I was out?”
I went to my office door to unlock it as she told me that all of my important calls were sent directly over to D, and that comforted me. I thanked her as my door opened without fuss. I expected to find the roses still inside but they were all cleaned out, and my office was spick and span from top to bottom. My desk was spotless save for the computer and the files, some paperwork, and a few books neatly stacked. Everything was still in its place. My framed paintings, license to work as a sex operator, and my bulletin board was all still there. I wasn’t sure why I thought they would let my office go to ruins while I was out, but the thought was there in the back of my mind. I just assumed no one would’ve given a fuck. I was wrong.
“There she is.” I turned and there he was: D. It took me a great deal of restraint to not rush over and crush him in my arms with the biggest hug I could muster. His smirk warmed my heart. His crystalline green eyes shined with happiness, hands stuffed in the front pockets of his dark denim pants. He was still giving his casual best with his denim, white t-shirt, and blue Chuck Taylors. The whiteness of his shirt made his olive skin pop along with his striking eyes. His face was clean shaven, leaving what I teased as his beauty mark on his upper lip exposed. It was a cute mole, and he hated when I noticed it but it looked like today he didn’t care.
I started feeling like I was drinking him in, everything about him. The hairs on my arms stood stiff, and my eyes had a laser focus on D’s lips. I tried to tear my eyes away to keep from staring at the fullness of his bottom lip that I used to kiss, but it was almost like getting me to not drink water—it wasn’t happening.
My pulse sped up. “Hey D. How has everything been in the office? What did I miss?”
A quizzical look played across his face as he stepped further into my office. “Everything has been pretty good. Are you okay?”
I nodded and scrambled to my desk, turning on my monitor then the modem. “Of course, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Are you sure you’re okay? Because you’re kind of…your eyes are looking a little different. Are you wearing contacts?” He walked closer to my desk and tried to reach out to me.
I shrugged him off before he could fully reach out to touch me and kept my eyes on the monitor, acting more interested in it coming to life than him trying to make a conversation with me. “I’m not wearing any damn contacts. Touching my eyeballs creeps me out.”
“Kaela, why are you acting so weird?” His laugh was light but nervous. Hell, I was nervous, too.
I was devouring him. Whatever he was feeling, I was enjoying it. I felt my body respond in a way it only does when I was aroused. I was stimulated and feeding, just like I had when Ursula was nice enough to share her energy with me. His emotions were so strong and tasted so good. I wanted nothing more than to grab him in a hug and rub my cheek against his neck, let him fill me up. I was starting to understand a little about how Andrei received his feedings. I didn’t want to do that to D, at least not in the office. I was quickly reminded about our hug in the hallway of my apartment when he dropped me off from the hospital. I thought about how it made me feel better, safe, sated. Even then I was feeding from him. I sunk low in my seat at my desk, careful not to meet D’s eyes.
“You’re acting a little strange. I’ll let you get reacquainted with your office. Come by my office when you’re not feeling so out of it, okay?” D lightly patted my back as he departed from my space, and even that was more than it should’ve been.
I released my breath and rushed to my office door to close it. I pressed my body firmly against it, allowing the coolness of it to reach through my dress shirt, bringing me back down from the heat I was living in. I felt a need to get him to come back inside so I could just have whatever he was feeling to enter me. I was aching for it. I hissed through my clenched teeth, closed my eyes and tried to reach out to him. I thought about him, hoping he’d feel me calling out to him. I absently caressed the door with my cheek, my nose, my lips, and hands. I rubbed my body against the door as if in a dance all of my own.
I felt someone outside of my door, felt their energy wafting off of them in a furious beat. I gasped, reaching down to the handle of my door then hurriedly stopped myself. I wanted to grab whoever it was and throw them against the wall, basically sexually harass them.
A knock came to the door and I didn’t even jump. It was almost like my body was expecting it and was ready for it. “Makaela, open up.” It was too perfect. It was Dimitri. It was like he felt my summon and came, but was it willingly?
I banged my head against the door softly, letting my forehead rest against it. No, no, no, no. Go away, I didn’t mean it, I thought. He knocked once again and I ignored it. It was painful, but I ignored him, ignored his presence.
“We have a meeting in an hour. Pull yourself together, okay?” I heard his footsteps retreat.
I slipped down my door, turned to sit on the floor with my back against it. There were sweat beads that developed on my forehead, chest, and neck. I felt it start to cool against my skin and dissipate. I was feeling out of sorts but knew it had worked. Andrei had successfully ruined my humanity and made me “more” for sure. If I had no certainty about it before, I was crystal clear on it now. More than I was earlier.
———————————————
“Makaela! Welcome back! We’re so happy you’re feeling better!” Morissa said as she hugged me so tight, she could’ve cracked my back if she really put more squeeze into it. I felt the other me flare up, trying to suck her emotions in, but I tried my best to keep it at bay. I could tell she was genuinely happy to see me though, so I was okay. Andy gave me a great big hug as well, and Mark for what it was worth gave me a handshake. I didn’t like him and he was very well aware of that. I got nothing from him and was very happy about it. The last person I wanted to feed from was Mark.
“Thank you guys,” I smiled warmly as we all sat at the table. My eyes met D’s and I was immediately ashamed of how I reacted to him earlier. I promptly averted my attention to the window across from me.
I could feel D’s eyes on me but I paid it no attention. “We’re all happy to see you back, Makaela. Back in the office and back at this table. I hope you’re up for it. Are you?”
I gathered myself up and was able to meet his eyes to give him the affirmative. He didn’t break his eyes away so I had to do it. I didn’t want it to become uncomfortable, at least not in front of the other members of the meeting. My body liked his desire and wanted more of it. Then it dawned on me that he was indeed feeling more than friendly love for me. That it was, in fact, desire, and that’s why I was having such a strong reaction to his feelings. I looked at D with new eyes at that moment. He kept his eyes on me. The look in the green oceans of his eyes made my heart race, but he didn’t take his eyes away from mine. I thought we were over that part of our lives, but his gaze and feelings said differently.
I broke from his stare and warmed up to everyone else (except for Mark) at the table. “I’m glad to be back, you guys. Thank you for the nice welcome, what did I miss?”
“We’re expanding! You haven’t been out very long at all, but we got word from corporate that we’re opening up another office overseas,” Andy was literally beaming. He looked like a proud mother who just found out her child was graduating with honors from college.
“We’re opening up a new location in London. Canada, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and of course our little team here are all solid. We’re opening up London early next year with plans to grow in Paris, Milan, China, and Japan. They’re looking to become global within the next five to ten years.”
I could feel my reaction being less than excited, but it was very exciting news. It meant that I was probably going to see less of Andrei, and that left me feeling a bit happy inside. With so many locations opening up in Europe and Asia, he wouldn’t have time to bother me. It also made me a little sad, but I’d live.
“That’s really amazing. How does this affect us?” I asked Andy.
He shrugged. “We’re not entirely sure how it affects us directly, they just sent an email stating that we’ll be expanding. If anything, they’ll probably have D or one of the other major managers go help with getting the offices up and running. Hire operators and the rest of the managing team. That’s all I can think of.”
I looked over at D to see his face. He was looking out of the window, face hard to read. When he finally noticed how quiet we got, he turned his face towards us. “Sorry, what were we talking about?”
“The expansion,” I told him as I watched him.
He nodded. “Yeah, um…yeah, it’s pretty major.”
It was my turn to notice he was being distant and odd. I began to wonder if D was already ahead of us and knew he would be going overseas. I just left that as yet another note in the back of my mind to bring up later, grill him on it.
“Well, if they do need anyone I am more than willing to volunteer as tribute. European women are amazing,” Mark threw in. No one was surprised that he would be gung-ho about being able to go to the new offices. He was, after all, a male whore in every way. His smug smile reached all the way up to his blue eyes. I wanted to gag, but I just breathed deeply and released.
“I’m pretty stoked about that, that’s great news. Great to hear that a lot has actually happened while I’ve been away.” I felt myself let go of some tension I was holding, and allowed myself to fully live in the moment of the meeting.
“That’s right,” Mark began, literally twiddling his thumbs. “I know you didn’t think that a little sickness would stop our show, did you?”
If looks could kill, I would’ve bled Mark on the spot with the way I glared at him. Instead, I casually side-swept his snide remark. “I wouldn’t even think that my being sick would do such a thing. The fact that you say that is really problematic though. Anyway, what else did I happen to miss?”
“Well, since you did ask, our lovely ambassador has been doing her rounds, making her appearances and they’ve kind of helped as far as marketing and promo goes. Kind of,” Andy had an unamused look on his face. Something told me he didn’t think too highly of Hailey.
“Hailey causing you problems?” I grinned.
Andy shook his head but I could tell something was up. “No, no. Not at all. She’s just a little…demanding? If that’s the right word for it?”
Morissa rolled her eyes. “She’s a pain in the ass. Andy just doesn’t want to say anything because he’s being too nice, but she’s extremely unprofessional. Beyond unprofessional at this point, but we’re handling it. Marketing is handling it I should say. Unfortunately, because Andy and I are the point of contact for her regarding getting a hold of anyone in the company, she’s been taking advantage of the situation. She forgets we pay her, not the other way around.”
I shook my head. “No, she’s well aware of that. She just doesn’t care. She’s thinking because we pay her to be the face that she’s, you know, invaluable. She has to be made to know that she’s just another pretty face.” I smiled. Morissa returned it.
“You are right, Kaela. I’m sure marketing will figure something out. So far, she hasn’t done anything damaging to our brand,” Morissa shrugged, her red hair touching her shoulders, barely.
It seemed Morissa had cut her hair shorter from when I last saw her. It was now a blunt cut bob, and it worked for her. She still had her milky skin that was adorned with freckles upon freckles. She wore barely any makeup today, and it didn’t matter. Her complexion was incredibly smooth, her emerald eyes soft and friendly, and her fire-drenched hair was as vibrant as it always had been. I rather enjoyed the full roundness of her face, her soft and plump body. I never noticed it before, but her cheeks were just so naturally rosy. Morissa looked to be glowing. I squinted as a suspicion ran through my mind, but I kept it to myself.
Morissa could see my mind working and immediately her cheeks’ rosy hue deepened. She bit her bottom lip and smirked. I just lifted my brows. She barely nodded but I knew she understood what I was thinking of asking without even having to do it. She confirmed it for me.
A feeling of pure giddiness coursed through me, but I stayed silent on the matter. I just glowed right along with her.
“I’m sure they will work on her, Morissa. I’m sure they will.”
Andy looked at Morissa then back at me, wondering why we were so damn happy all of a sudden. It wasn’t up to me to share so I didn’t. A little woman-to-woman was needed.
“Alright,” D sighed, pressing his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose, “I’m glad we’re done talking about Hailey. The real reason I wanted to have this meeting, aside from numbers, was to discuss how best to get ready for this expansion in case they do need me to head overseas.”
“Why does it have to be you?” Mark was leaning back in his chair, arms behind his head in his black pullover, sleeves pushed up past his elbows. He was sounding pretty ridiculous but we knew better than to entertain his shenanigans.
“Firstly, it would only have to be me because I’m in charge here, and I’ve done a pretty damn good job here, wouldn’t you agree?” D was willing to entertain Mark. I wasn’t. Neither was Morissa or Andy and yet I wasn’t surprised that D did.
Mark was his friend, like real friend outside of work. They shared a lot in common, and it made sense, except D was a great deal more humble and knowledgeable than Mark. Mark was that trust fund baby with a star in the family tree. Old money that made new money. Even with his daily reminder of his being the great-grandson of Margot Rudebaker, he still wasn’t shit. He still relied on someone else to have the type of life he grew up knowing. He didn’t plan on changing, and alas, he was apart of our company thanks to his dad being a chairman of the board. D’s family’s money was much longer, but D was much more in touch with reality and the real world than Mark ever was or could hope to be.
Mark sulked but managed to make it look not as sad as it could’ve been. He smoothed his dark hair back. “I mean why do you think it’s you though? It could be someone else going instead.”
I looked around the table at D, Morissa, and Andy. I saw nothing on their faces that gave me eager or anxious. Mark was the only one who had an issue with it. I was sad to hear that D would possibly be going away, but it was the perfect day to put Mark in his place.
D shook his head. “It wouldn’t be you, Mark, but if you’d like to be transferred to the new location when it opens up, we can get the paperwork started today.”
I raised my brows. Mark shuffled around in his seat, and his expression went cold.
D stared at Mark, waiting for his next response while the rest of us grew uncomfortable. I was in the mix of that and anxious to see what else happened. I hadn’t seen D go at Mark like that before. I began to wonder what was going on while I was out to have D have no patience for Mark and his usual quips.
He finally sat back in his chair. “I think this meeting is done. Mark, we’ll discuss this further in my office after lunch.”
Mark shot D a look that almost made me laugh. He was pissed. Mark stood from his chair, pushing it back with a harshness of his current anger. “No. We won’t be talking about this after lunch. There’s nothing to discuss.” He walked out and we watched. It was probably a good thing the door wasn’t the kind that you could slam as it was on a hydraulic. If he could have, he would’ve slammed it for effect.
We all rose from our seats and began to exit the room. As I was about to follow Andy and Morissa out, D halted me. He let the door close behind them fully before he let go of my arm.
“Hey, I just wanted to apologize for assuming you wouldn’t be able to make it through the meeting, I should know better than that,” he apologized. I didn’t think it was necessary.
“I’m cool, I didn’t think you were even thinking like that,” I touched his arm, trying to comfort him.
He nodded and smiled. “Good.”
His smile quickly turned to seriousness, his eyes glassy. I became worried. I felt like he was going to confirm that he was leaving or some other depressing news. “Okay, what’s up now? Someone die?”
He chuckled briefly. “No. But I’m not going to Europe to help with the new staff.”
My heart caught in my throat then sank to my feet. I had a feeling I already knew what he was going to say next because it was just too good, too perfect. Perfect for Andrei, the guy I almost forgot was the CEO of the damned company and could be the main one to pull this type of stunt.
“I’ll be here, but they asked for you, Makaela.” He reached out his hand to grab my shoulder, squeezing gently. His smile returned. “Congratulations.”
And there you have it folks, chapter two! Here’s to a complete and edited book by this summer for you all to devour! See you next week for another short story OR chapter share! If you’re wondering about the beginning of all this, check out the book “Voices on the Air” available on Amazon, iTunes iBooks, and Google Play Books.
