JENNIE

She stroked me through the silky material, and I couldn't believe that my body was capable of feeling so many emotions at once: fear, shame, and something else that made it so much easier to ignore the first two.

Heat flared with every light caress—hot, hotter, searing—smothering my own half-hearted protests before I could even voice them; this is indecent! Bad Jennie!

All the air left my lungs. I couldn't breathe. Think.

Sitting there, on the edge of the desk, I was trapped, and Lisa's cold smile told me that she was well aware of the fact.

With a shift of her body she leaned closer, placing her mouth directly against my ear.

"I believe that your body has different needs besides just a cheap, plastic ring," she informed me, unnervingly matter-of-fact. "Different wants …"

A lump formed at the back of my throat—choking me—as her hand slid between my knees and nudged them apart. Before I could react, she seized the hem of my dress between two fingers and began to draw the fabric up, pausing before she could reveal more than just mid-thigh.

"Should I stop?"

I blinked and tried to remember English. Stop? What's that?

"Jennie?" her tone was impatient, but the way her thumb toyed with the flesh of my inner thigh made it impossible for me to form a coherent response. "Use your manners; is this a suitable reward?"

On 'this' she brushed me through the lace of my panties and I nearly came off of the desk. Instinctively, my hands flew out on either side to grip the edge of the wood for dear life.

Breathe! I was so lost in the sensations swirling through my body that I almost missed what she said next.

"I can't hear you. Should I stop?"

Say yes! Before I could even open my mouth, the pad of her thumb began to ease beneath the rim of cotton …

And I was lost.

Fire licked up and down my spine as she carefully began to pull back the material from sensitive flesh. As if of their own accord, my legs sprung apart, freeing that touch to roam …and all the while, she spoke heatedly into my ear.

"Should I stop, Jennie?"

My teeth descended into my bottom lip so fiercely that I tasted blood—all in an effort to hold back a reply. Pain rose up to combat the pleasure, but it was a losing battle; I had begun to arch into her touch, anyway.

"You want this," Lisa murmured as if reading my mind, voicing what I wouldn't say.

Oh, God. I did. I wanted it—this hazy pleasure she promised.

It was wrong. I had no idea why my body reacted this way, only to her, but …

I couldn't pull away.

Without warning, she added a second finger alongside the first, twisting and teasing my senses into oblivion.

I felt nothing—and then I felt everything. Sensation exploded in dizzying degrees and I could only fight to keep my eyes from rolling back into my head as Lisa steadily gave me my 'reward.'

She was gentler than she'd ever been before, caressing my flesh with an intimate knowledge that made my skin flush with shame. In and out …

Around.

I couldn't deny the ache that had my hips arching into her despite myself, seeking more, more, more!

With every stroke, that inferno raged higher, pushing me closer to a terrifying promise that made my mouth water in anticipation. A desperate thought played like a song through my mind; so close. I could only cling to the desk for dear life as Lisa delivered one last brutal stroke …

The last thing I was aware of was falling back against the desk. My mouth was open, but little sound came out. In fact, it seemed way more important to focus on just breathing as reality splintered into a million jagged pieces.

When clarity finally returned, it came in tiny snatches.

Piercing gray eyes burning through my blurred vision.

The fact that my dress had been shoved up over my waist.

That I was slung over the side of a desk like a cheap, tawdry office slut.

Oh God.

I pulled myself upright, wincing as the last tendrils of heat flared and died. Lisa stood a few paces away from me, tugging at her collar, and I wondered in horror if I had clawed at her clothing again.

That crisp white shirt wasn't the only thing out of place.

One of my heels had fallen to the floor. A stack of papers had been knocked off the desk—disrupting the otherwise neat and clean office.

As I struggled to collect my senses, Lisa waited.

One hand toyed with a button at the hollow of her throat, while the other hung down by her side. My cheeks burned with shame as I observed those slightly curved fingers.

"Satisfied?" she asked, eyes burning bright.

I choked on my own voice. It took me a good five minutes before I could even remember how to form a proper sentence.

"I … I—"

"It's polite to thank someone who has bestowed upon you a gift," she reminded in a casual tone, cutting over me.

My stomach flipped. Gift?

"T-Thank you."

Her eyes narrowed, expectant, and I hastily added a whispered, "Mam."

She stood there for a few seconds. Then her hand fell from her collar and she turned away from me. A single jerk of her head was my only indication to follow, as she crossed the office to stand beside a different door than the one we had entered through.

I slid off the table, sinking down to my knees, and grabbed my fallen shoe from the floor. Then I stood and crept after her, painfully aware of every single nerve in my body.

She pushed open the door to reveal a small bathroom and entered first, washing her own hands at the marble sink with a silent vigor.

I watched her, oddly entranced as the water glanced off that pale skin. Without shutting off the faucet, she dried her hands on a rag fished from underneath the counter and faced me, eyes silver.

"Come here."

My body jerked forward, tethered to the sound of her voice, unable to resist. The moment I came close enough, she grabbed me by the arm and steered me before the counter.

I faced my reflection as I would a stranger.

My eyes were wide—enormous. I could make out every single shade of green swirling through the irises. I had this distant, far-off look, like the survivor of some traumatic, life changing catastrophe.

Numb, I could only stand there as Lisa wet another fresh cloth and then crouched down before me on one knee.

"N-No! You don't have to ..." I jerked back, shaking my head, but her free hand latched onto my wrist and the pad of her thumb brushed the back of my hand in warning. Stay still.

I hissed out a sigh and tilted my head back to stare at the ceiling while those icy hands pulled the rest of my underwear down my legs.

"W-why?" I stammered when she tossed the black cotton into a nearby trash can.

She didn't answer, and I could only grit my teeth as she brought the cloth down between my legs.

She swiped a few times with the washrag and then dried with a towel. The whole time I tried to reiterate to myself that her touch was just as detached as a real doctor's would be…

So why the hell couldn't I breathe even as the warmth of the water replaced her icy chill?

When she finished, Lisa stood up and yanked my hem back down. Then she switched off the water and maneuvered me back into the main office with one hand on my shoulder.

"I have another meeting in an hour," she declared, closing the bathroom door behind us.

I gulped. Another 'arrangement?' Even more terrifying: another chance to earn a 'reward'?

"But you've done enough for today," she continued before the dark fantasies in my mind could truly take off. "I'm sending you home. Though, I'll have you stop for new clothes, first. Obviously none of my selections are fitting and I'd rather not have you looking like an underage convent escapee."

She turned back to the desk and settled herself into the plush chair behind it, while I just stood there, still with one heel dangling from my fingers.

"Leave?" My voice was unusually high pitched. I felt like a child who wasn't sure if they had just received a spanking or a cookie—albeit a frozen, bitter, mind-altering cookie.

Lisa bent to retrieve the stack of papers I'd knocked off and shoved them into a drawer. Then she sat back and laced her hands together behind her head.

"Yes. Follow the hallway down to the elevators. Go to the first floor. Becky will show you out and the car is waiting out front."

Everything sounded so neat, precise. Though, after glancing around her flawless office, I was pretty sure by now that she was a perfectionist.

In fact, the only thing remotely out of place in the entire building was me, standing there with my hair in my eyes and one sad heel on my foot.

"Most people would take this opportunity to leave now," Lisa said quietly, expression unreadable. "Unless you would like for me to find something else for you to do …"

I turned and staggered through the door before she could do just that. In the elevator I managed to slip on my other shoe, but I was in a daze as I wandered past a smiling Becky, who chirped a pleasant goodbye I barely heard.

The sunlight was blinding as I made my way through the sleek glass doors and out into the courtyard. Sure enough, parked beside the curb was that infamous black car and the familiar driver standing beside it.

Without a word, he held the door to the backseat open for me and I scrambled inside. It seemed like once the door closed behind me, my brain felt it was the time to swarm me with a barrage of images; Lisa. Me. Ice.

I was hyperventilating by the time the driver took the steering wheel and pulled away from the Manoban Industries complex. Recalling Lisa's last words, I expected that—ten minutes later—when the car finally came to a stop, it would be in front of Kim Manor.

Not a plain brick building without so much as a sign on the front. The driver exited the car and came around to my end without a word of explanation.

"Is this …the right place?" I asked, fearfully eyeing the battered front door.

"Yes, Miss." The driver nodded. "Ms. Manoban mentioned something about clothing."

Oh. I shuffled forward, daintily placing my heels on the curb—though I had no idea what kind of clothing could possibly be bought in a place like this. The driver didn't give me any hints or words of encouragement as I straightened my back, wobbling a little in my heels.

It felt very much like that first night at Anemia …

I had no choice but to wander toward that battered metal door and hope that nothing nasty waited inside.