Chapter Four - Argue, Flirt, Seduce, Rinse, Repeat
Five Days Until the Zamora Ball
"Kenziiiiiiii!" Bo whined as her best friend zipped her into another in a seemingly endless line of ball gowns. They were squeezed into the fitting room stall at a designer shop on Spadina Avenue, they'd been there for over an hour, and Bo's patience had evaporated long, long ago. "Let's just pick one and go. I don't even care anymore."
"BoBo! Fashion is art! You can't rush a masterpiece." Kenzi smoothed out the fabric, trying not to be too jealous of Bo's luscious, luscious curves. "Besides, if I let you go shopping by yourself, you'd show up to this Zamora shindig looking like a hooker. We're going for sophisticated sexy, not sleazy sexy."
"Hey."
"Don't get me wrong, no one pulls off sleazy better than you do."
"Hey!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Wait! I'm sorry!" Bo practically ripped the Donna Karan gown from her body and shoved it in Kenzi's arms. "I'm sorry, okay? You're gorgeous and beautiful and wearing leather in July is totally not ridiculous at all…"
Bo glared at her friend as she pulled her jeans over her hips. She was too pissed off at Kenzi to pull on her tank top properly as she kicked the dressing room door open and stormed onto the sales floor.
"Oof!" She hadn't been looking where she was going, and she slammed right into another human being. They fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, clothing and shopping bags.
"I'm so sorry!" Bo tried to stand, but the hem of her tank top was caught on the other person's belt buckle. Without stopping to consider that she was in public, she pulled her shirt off and reached down to untangle it. Bo felt a powerful burst of excitement rippling from the person – clearly a woman – below her, and she finally looked down at the woman's face.
Lauren bit her cheek to try and focus on something else…anything else…any-frickin'-thing-else…as the Succubus hovered over top of her, shirtless, with a hand on Lauren's belt buckle. Neither of them moved.
"Oh, this is just too damn good," Kenzi whispered to herself. She pulled out her cell and snapped a picture.
Residual anger mixed with stunned disbelief mixed with full body overdrive as Lauren's eyes slid from the Succubus' chest to her face, then back to her chest.
"Hey Doc! She's up here." Kenzi knelt next to Bo and grinned sarcastically. It snapped Lauren out of her daze and she managed to unhook Bo's shirt and wriggle out from underneath her. She quickly stood and adjusted her clothing and hair, trying to be nonchalant, pretending nothing had happened. A three-hundred part harmonic chorus of the word "shit" raced through her mind. She managed a grin, almost a grimace, as Bo pulled the shirt back on and scampered to her feet.
"Why don't you go pay for the dress?" Bo told Kenzi under her breath.
"And miss all the fun?" She looked back and forth between the two women. "Besides, the Doc and I have a few issues to work out," Kenzi said, punching her fist. "Bitch threatened me with my own knife."
Bo grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. "Get your ass over to the cash register and pay for the dress. I'll meet you outside." She squeezed Kenzi's arm, eliciting a pathetic squeak of pain.
"Okay, okay, I'm gone." Kenzi snatched her arm away, and pointed at Lauren. "But don't think this is over, Thundercrotch."
"Thundercrotch?" Lauren tilted her head to the side and watched Kenzi go. Bo helpfully picked up the bags Lauren had dropped.
"Kids these days." Bo shrugged and handed Lauren's purchases back. "I told you we'd see each other soon." Bo had to purse her lips to keep from laughing at the human doctor, who was fighting desperately to keep composure but failing miserably.
"You were right," Lauren said. Her words were icy, but the energy flowing from her was burning like a wildfire. Bo gulped. Holy shitballs this woman was intense.
"I wasn't looking where I was going…"
"Clearly," Lauren replied. Of all the dress shops in all of Toronto, this was the one she decided to come to. What the fuck? In an effort of Herculean proportion, she managed to dial down a couple of notches, from horny to frisky.
Bo noticed the difference, and tried to mask her disappointment. "Look, I just want to say I'm sorry. Not just for knocking you on your butt, but for the other day too, at the museum."
Lauren raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"It was nothing personal," Bo continued. "We were both hired to do a job. I just happened to do mine a little bit better, that's all."
"That's nice." Lauren shook her head and smirked. "Good apology. I'm leaving now."
"Wait, I was just trying to make a joke…" Bo grabbed her arm, with a slap of skin on skin. "Let me make it up to you. Okay? I'll buy you a drink."
Lauren flipped her hair. "Listen. I appreciate that you're making an effort. I really do. But we aren't teammates. You stole from my friends and I, and that makes you the competition. If this were a hockey game, I'd be roughing you, or butt-ending you, or body-checking you into the boards."
"Mmmm….hockey sounds fun." Bo took a step closer, and put a hand on Lauren's waist.
Lauren dropped her head to the floor and bit her lower lip. Her tenuous control had floated off into the ether at the touch of Bo's hand. When she looked back up at the Succubus, a shy grin spread across her face. "Are you always…on? Isn't that exhausting?"
"You have no idea, Doctor." Bo leaned in and placed a single, soft kiss on Lauren's neck. Lauren gasped at the feel of Bo's soft lips on her skin. "It's torture." She slid her hands from Lauren's waist to her abs, lifting her shirt just enough to feel bare skin underneath her fingertips. She kneaded the muscles with her thumbs and sent the smallest possible pulse into Lauren's body. Lauren moaned softly in approval, and Bo traced a line of kisses from her neck to her earlobe. She grinned and whispered softly in the Doctor's ear, "Now, how about that drink?"
Lauren opened her mouth to answer, but the moment was destroyed by an ear-splitting, cochlea-puncturing howl from the alarms at the front of the store. Bo looked up in time to see Kenzi's pink wig disappear through the revolving glass doors. "DAMN IT KENZI." Bo growled. She turned to the human with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. To be continued." Bo winked and left to chase after her kleptomaniac roommate.
Lauren felt like she'd been jolted awake in the middle of a dream. She stood, stunned, for what seemed like minutes before she could shake off the feel of Bo's hands on her body. "Shit," she whispered. "Fucking shit." She frowned and shook her head, furious that she'd allowed herself to be manipulated by the Succubus AGAIN. "Fucking SHIT!"
Four Days Until the Zamora Ball
Ciara's stomach convulsed and she almost spit her wine onto the table. "She literally fell on top of you?"
"Yes." Lauren polished off a shot of Trick's best tequila and made a sour face. "Literally."
Ciara laughed, a sound that was almost like bells tinkling. "Well, it may have been the first time, but I'm sure it won't be the last."
Lauren pretended to be shocked, and slapped her friend on the thigh. "I never knew fairies had such dirty minds."
"My friend, when you live as long as I do, and you move as fast as I do, the partners pile up and the inhibitions just fall away."
"Ciara," Dyson greeted her with another glass of wine, and sat next to her.
"Heeey, Ciara!" Hale sat down at her other side. "How ya doing?"
Ciara gave Lauren a meaningful look, and Lauren bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I'm fine, guys. Lauren is here too, by the way." The fairy pointed to the doctor.
"Hi," she tilted her head and waved, "you may not have noticed in your drooling over Ciara but yes, there is another person at the table."
"It would seem our Dr. Lewis had an encounter with the Succubus yesterday," Ciara grinned mischievously, and Lauren kicked her shin.
"Oh really?" Hale turned to Lauren, suddenly very interested. "An…encounter?"
Lauren waved it off, but she felt her face getting red. "We just bumped into each other. It was no big deal."
Dyson smirked. "If it's no big deal, why are you blushing?"
Lauren took a deep breath. "I can see why evidence and symptoms may suggest blushing; however the condition I am currently exhibiting is flushing or more accurately 'alcohol flush reaction'. The erythema, or redness, is caused by the accumulation of acetaldehyde, which is a metabolic byproduct of the absorption of alcohol. Research indicates that acetaldehyde accumulation may be caused by a polymorphism in the gene encoding the ADH1B enzyme, which…..why haven't you stopped me by now?"
Hale clapped for her. "That was a brilliant save, Doc. Outstanding save."'
"Thank you." She smiled, bowed slightly, and took another drink. Sometimes it paid to be a nerd. "So Dyson, why did you want us to meet here?"
Dyson placed a folder in the middle of the table, and opened it to the first page. The team leaned in for a closer look. "The Necklace of Harmonia, said to have been forged by Hephaestus, blacksmith of the Greek gods. It allows any who wear it to retain youth and beauty for eternity, but it also brings misfortune and disaster to those he or she loves. Friends, family. Pets."
Lauren looked at the picture. The chain was thick gold, shaped like two intertwined serpents and inlaid with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. It was a little bit gaudy for her taste. "Why would anyone want this if it brings disaster to the people they care about?"
"If you don't have anyone to love, you don't have anyone to hurt." Dyson shrugged. The declaration was met by a sympathetic 'awwww' from Ciara. "I sent out a few feelers, and we already have three interested parties. That means a bidding war, and big money."
"What do we have to do?" Hale asked.
"The stone is currently owned by Gregory DeWitt."
"As in, DeWitt McCall and Barrowman? The finance company that just went belly up?"
"That's the one. The family declared bankruptcy and they're auctioning off a great deal of their personal belongings. I found the necklace in a catalog of items that are due to be shipped to Sotheby's in London in two days. I did some digging, and right now we know the necklace is being kept in a safe on the thirty-first floor of the JM Commerce Tower downtown, in Gregory DeWitt's office. He's a human, so he has no idea how valuable or dangerous the necklace is."
"So we'd be doing a public service by removing it from the human population." Hale winked, and Dyson nodded.
"I want inside that building. Security codes, access cards, CCTV feeds, guard rotation schedules, blueprints…"
"The works. Not a problem." Lauren nodded confidently. "I'll have it ready by tomorrow morning."
"What's that?"
Lauren froze upon hearing what was becoming an all too familiar voice. She felt the Succubus' hand on her shoulder. "Nice jacket," Bo said. "I do love brown leather."
Dyson slammed the folder shut. "What do you want?"
"Relax, I'm not trying to steal information. I just wanted to steal the doctor for a few minutes."
"I don't think so," he growled.
"Hey, dog breath!" Lauren smacked his arm. "I can speak for myself." She looked up at the Succubus, before making a decision and rising from her chair. "Five minutes, tops."
"Great." Bo smiled widely and gestured to a couch in the corner.
Lauren leaned to whisper in Ciara's ear. "If I'm not back in five minutes, come and get me out of there." Lauren turned to get an eyeful of Bo's rear end as she walked away. "You may need to bring a crowbar."
She followed Bo to the couch. Bo sat and patted the seat next to her. Lauren chose a spot a few feet away, and crossed her legs. Lauren knew it was a combative position, a 'you're not getting any of what's in here position'. She was trying to send a statement, but Bo simply laughed.
"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot, so let's start over. I'm Bo, I'm unaligned, I travel a lot, and I like giving and receiving back rubs." Bo stuck out her hand.
Lauren looked at the hand like it might come to life and swallow her whole. "No touching," she replied. "I'm not falling for that again."
"Fair enough." Bo pulled her hand away. "Your turn."
"I'm Lauren. Ward of the Light Fae. Doctor, genius. And I don't like games."
"You think this is a game?" Bo asked, genuinely offended.
"You're a succubus. You could have any person in here that you want, but for some reason you picked me to torment. I am probably the only human or Fae in here that would turn you down tonight, you being who you are and looking the way you do. That, to me, screams game."
"Ouch. Not gonna lie Doc, that hurt a little bit." Bo leaned back on the sofa. "You're kind of a bitch."
Lauren bit her lip and grinned. She couldn't help it, at the look of indignation Bo gave her. A small flare of attraction rippled from Lauren before she could snatch it back. "You have no idea how intimidating it is, trying to sit here and have a conversation with you."
"I could say the same." Bo scootched closer.
"Oh puh-lease." Lauren rolled her eyes skyward. "What is this, Seduction 101? I expect so much better from you."
"Well soooorrry. I don't usually have to talk my way into someone's pants." Bo reached her hand out to stroke Lauren's cheek, but Lauren pulled back with a grin.
"I said no touching."
Bo dropped her head, brunette hair spilling around her face. She looked up at Lauren and frowned. "I think I just got Doc-blocked."
"Yeah, I think you did. Better get used to it." Lauren placed a finger under Bo's chin, and lifted it until she was staring directly into the succubus' eyes. "Drop your business with the Morrigan. Forget about the Orsedd Stone. And then…maybe…we'll do more than talk." She leaned forward and placed a soft, gentle, barely-there kiss on Bo's lips.
And then, fighting every instinct Doctor Lauren Lewis possessed in her fragile human body, she stood up and walked away from the most attractive creature on the face of the earth. She bit her lip and smiled widely as she practically strutted, swaggered, back to her waiting teammates. She gave them a subtle fist pump and did a hip swivel dance as she sat back down next to Dyson. She couldn't keep the smile off her face for the rest of the night, feeding off of the thought that she, Badass Lauren Lewis, had finally won a round against the Succubus.
Bo watched her walk away, frustrated and annoyed and more turned on than she'd ever been in her entire life. She'd never had to pursue anyone, ever. No one had ever turned her down. Bo licked her lips. "Oh, it's on. It is sooooo on."