Flesh & Blood (9 page)

They drove in silence to the first address on their list and Leah gradually felt ashamed of herself as well, feeling a sense of disbelief at what they’d done together, and her annoyance with herself and her confusion instilled in her a short temper with the men she interviewed, especially whenever they cast a lecherous eye at her lovely Asian colleague.

Chapter Five

Perhaps it was the bright light of the shop’s fitting room, for Leah gazed at herself in the mirror and was filled with a sense of wicked excitement and shocked disbelief that she was actually considering buying, much less wearing the dress in public.

A week earlier she’d never have considered wearing such a garment. It was made of a shiny gray lycra, very tight across her breasts with a plunging cleavage line revealing the firm inner slopes of her breasts, and two thin halter straps. The hemline was very short, the skirt split almost to the hip on one side. It was a very sexy dress, as thin as silk and molded to her curvaceous figure. It was a dress for a sexy girl to go clubbing in, a girl who wanted to be seen, to be lusted after, to be desired.

And that had never before been Leah. Like all girls she liked attracting men’s approval, appreciated and was flattered by male interest, when it wasn’t unwanted or made too obvious. But she didn’t like to be stared at or drooled over.

And if there was such a thing as ‘fuck me’ shoes, then the silver-gray five-inch heels she wore were they.

Leah’s hands moved slowly up and down her body as she stared at herself in the mirror, transfixed. What would they think of her at the station if she showed up dressed like this?

Her fingers slid up through her hair. She was hot; she looked hot, and seductive. Any man would want her. She reached behind her neck and undid the halter string there, then eased the mini-dress down over her hips, stepping out of it, naked.

It had been a long and strange day, and she tried not to dwell on what had happened between her and Sara. She felt embarrassed every time she did, but worse than that, she felt a shameful excitement, too, which she tried to shy away from.

She thought back to the afternoon, to the eyes of the men she had interviewed, to the way they looked at Sara, their lusting so obvious to her that she wanted to slap them. And Sara basking in it, so smug as she played up to them, as she teased them with suggestive words and poses, pretending ignorance of the slavering eyes upon her. Leah had felt such strong urges to admonish the flirty little tramp, or even to take the little bitch across her lap and spank her bottom for her. She didn’t, or course, but at one point as they left one building she did surreptitiously slap her bottom hard enough to make the girl yelp indignantly and blush, looking around hastily to make certain no one had observed the little chastisement.

Leah had to go and see Morales again, but she couldn’t do so with such an intense sexual need still gripping her, or the meeting would surely end in only one way – and she didn’t want to risk letting her defenses down like that again. She had been so stupid before and the thought of what might have happened to her was terrifying.

Having bought the dress she dropped the box containing it into the trunk of her car and drove home. She was not very hungry, but she put a readymade dinner for one in the microwave anyway. She went to her bedroom and crawled fluidly onto the bed for a few minutes, just to rest and have a little quiet time to herself.

The microwave pinged and her dinner was ready, so she sighed and slipped off the bed, returning to the kitchen. She took the dinner out and spooned it onto a plate, fetched utensils and condiments, then sat at the table and ate, without too much enthusiasm, feeling almost grateful when the phone rang and she had an excuse to eat no more of the convenient but dull meal.

‘Hello?’ she said into the receiver.

‘Detective MacInnes,’ a familiar male voice stated.

‘Lieutenant Bradfield?’

‘You did not file your report on your interviews today, detective,’ he said irritably. ‘There’s a high degree of pressure on this case. Perhaps you missed that point.’

She sat back on the sofa. ‘Sorry, I apologize, lieutenant,’ she said. ‘I thought Detective Yi was doing that.’

‘Well she didn’t,’ he snapped, ‘and in my opinion the responsibility falls to you, detective.’

‘Yes, I’m sorry, lieutenant,’ she said again. ‘But nothing we learned appeared to have any relevance to the case.’

‘You are not the judge of that,’ he said, clearly annoyed. ‘You and your junior colleagues are merely the eyes, the ears and the legs. It is your superiors who are the brains, who piece information together.’

She slumped in frustration on the sofa. ‘Yes, lieutenant, of course, lieutenant,’ she said, her tone and attitude slightly offhand. Miserable old bastard, she thought.

‘I will expect your report first thing in the morning, detective,’ he insisted. ‘And be grateful I don’t order you to come in now and do it.’

‘Yes, lieutenant,’ she said, ‘whatever you say, lieutenant.’

‘Very well,’ he said gruffly, concluding the conversation.

‘And goodbye to you as well, you asshole,’ she said to the dial tone, then she hung up, poking her tongue out at the phone, and standing she went back to her bedroom, lifting her new mini-dress from the box on her bed with intense reverence and awe.

She’d worry about the paperwork later; tonight she needed to release some stress; tonight she was going out for some fun!

Leah moved slowly through the hot club, the thumping bass of the music pounding all around her. People danced, crowds shuffling in the semi-darkness. A male face occasionally caught her gaze, eyes brightening until she moved on. She dodged a stumbling pair of laughing drunks, and then sidled through a group of men standing near the bar, looking for a drink.

The sensual fabric of the dress caressed her upper thighs, the slit up the side taunting ogling eyes as it opened and closed as she moved. Women gazed at her, assessing, comparing, sometimes intrigued, sometimes disapproving. Men stared, smiling appreciatively, licking lips, narrowing eyes, wanting her, commenting to each other as they eyed her, their lurid desires transmitted so obviously to her, what they wanted to do to her, what they wanted her to do to them. And she felt deliciously cruel, for she silently promised them the fulfillment of their desires, but she would give them nothing but a tantalizing vision to remember and regret never possessing. And it was desperately exciting to behave in such a provocative, seductive manner, as if something long forbidden were now freed from societal and professional disapproval.

At the bar a man bought her a drink, leering, eyes filled with hunger for her. She chatted idly, demurely, gazing about, feeling his hand sliding down her arm to her hip, then round to cup her bottom. With an alluring smile she slipped away from him, moving further along the bar.

A hand caught her wrist and guided her away from the bar a little. He was tall and arrogant looking, his face filled with smug self-assurance as he held her hips, walking backwards into the midst of the heaving, dancing throng. Normally she’d have reacted and had him on his knees in a flash, gasping in pain and begging for release. But now she followed obediently, her mind drifting a little, waiting to see what happened.

She began to dance with him, and that frenetic energy which had filled her body and mind for the past week surged to the fore as she rolled her hips and moved to the music. Her experience with Sara was still heavy on her mind. She had allowed herself to be seduced by the girl, right out of the blue. It wasn’t as if she could excuse herself to giving in after a long period of flirting and coaxing by the lovely Asian. It just happened and Leah allowed and savored it. She’d just melted, and she was doing the same now, without a thought for the consequences, knowing she might let this stranger do anything he wanted to her.

What she’d done with Sara and what she might do later this evening was too much like what she’d felt with Morales, and too much like the bizarre dream she’d had about being tied and fucked from behind by some phantom on her balcony. And with Sara it had happened with someone she knew, someone she worked with. She didn’t try to explain Sara’s own conduct; Sara was a wild child and she knew that. But understanding why she had given in to her was much more troubling. She was going to have to confront Morales, because somehow, in some way she couldn’t understand, he was responsible for the way she was behaving.

She brushed aside the thought that what she was wearing was a part of her strangely changed behavior. The hem of the short dress swayed seductively around her thighs as she swung her hips, and her swollen nipples strained against the tight clutch of the thin lycra, her breasts moving freely beneath it as she twisted and writhed to the rhythms of the music, and she was intensely aware of wearing nothing beneath. Nothing. And that thought did not petrify her as it would have not so long ago. But she did feel deliciously anxious every time she raised and entwined her arms above her head and felt the hem rise too, giving her a heady sense of danger. She’d never been an exhibitionist, but now the thought of strangers glimpsing more of her than perhaps they should only helped raise the heat of her desire. She felt wild and wanton, and it wasn’t so much a matter of whether she would let someone from the club fuck her, but who, and how wickedly exciting that felt.

And then her dance partner was melting away into the heaving mass of sweating bodies as another man moved in to take his place. She felt a mild sense of irritation that the first man would give her up so quickly, so easily, but the last look she glimpsed on his face before the shadows and writhing bodies engulfed him was bewilderment, and she turned and looked at the man now dancing with her, and found her eyes falling into his.

‘Did you know you were marked?’ he said in a soft, throaty whisper that she somehow heard easily over the loud pulse of the music. She stared at him, her movements gradually slowing until she stood motionless amongst a frenzy of gyrating limbs. He drew her arms back, leading her towards a dark corner of the dance floor.

‘What?’ she said finally. He moved against her, his body molding to hers as he moved slowly to the music, catching every third beat to make it a slow dance, grinding his pelvis against hers as his arms slipped around her. His hands slid down to her bottom and squeezed, drawing her in harder against him, and Leah felt a wild thrill rolling through her body. She could feel him hardening against her as they danced, their eyes locked, their limbs moving almost instinctively, following the rhythm of the music.

She felt herself falling into his eyes, a breathless sense of anticipation and heat seeping through the pores of her skin as their bodies ground together. Her nipples ached as they pressed against his chest, and her lungs felt tight, her breasts swelling with arousal. His hands slid beneath her short skirt, lifting it, caressing her soft, overheated flesh. Another thrill staggered her as his palms made contact with her flesh, and another as she thought of others watching them. His lips found hers and she moaned into his mouth as his tongue thrust down against hers.

His hands skimmed lightly across the surface of her bottom, then pressed in more strongly, fingers kneading her buttocks, sliding firmly and hungrily over her skin, cupping her, forcing her legs wider, grinding his erection against her as couples moved around them and the music thumped.

Lights flashed through the darkness around them: green, blue, white and red, as they twisted through the gyrating bodies.

She felt him sliding the hem higher, and she was jerked out of her erotic reverie by the realization that he’d lifted the back up past her hips, the front following, and that anyone who looked would be able to see she was naked beneath. Shock flooded her but the dress was still moving, rucked up around her breasts, lifting her arms, sliding up over her head and off.

Naked but for her high heels she froze, stunned, her mouth open as though she wanted to protest but couldn’t. He dropped the dress and seized her again, still dancing, pulling her naked body against him as they turned and twisted as one. The other dancers continued to writhe and move around them as if seeing nothing out of place.

His lips met hers, crushing down, his tongue thrusting between them as his hands stroked up and down her back and down to squeeze her buttocks again. Together they turned and turned again, brushing against the other dancers. She trembled with a shamefully intense lust burning within her lower belly. She pulled her head back, staring around; unable to understand what was happening and why no one was reacting. A harsh grip on her hair tugged her head back and she cried out in pain, but his lips muffled the sound as they again crushed firmly against hers.

They danced as if in a dream, and Leah’s body continued to move to the music, her nipples, rigid and straining, raw and sensitive, rubbed against the harsh fabric of his blazer, sending flickering sensations of exquisite pleasure through her breasts.

She was naked! It couldn’t be! Why wasn’t anyone seeing? Was it all another bizarre dream?

She moaned as he cupped her breast and squeezed, as his fingers twisted in her hair and forced her head back. He growled as he bit into the sweep of her throat, and she bucked and trembled as pain flowed through her, doused an instant later by an even more consuming sexual hunger. Her hips ground repeatedly against him and she arched her back, whimpering in overheated confusion.

He turned her, lifting her right arm high, grinding himself into her buttocks as he bit the nape of her neck, and then, finally, through half glazed eyes, she saw someone who did not ignore them. He was a tall man with dark eyes, and he strode slowly towards her as her hips rolled and she trembled to the sharp prick of his teeth against her throat.

The newcomer began to dance, his hips moving in time to theirs, his fingers sliding through her hair as his face grew nearer, his eyes enormous. His hands moved down her shoulders, down her sides to her hips, and his body pushed in, his groin rubbing against her moist sex. He too was hard beneath shining vinyl trousers and she gave a sob of helpless excitement as he leaned in to run his tongue down the other side of her throat.

His hands slid down and round to her buttocks, pulling her hips in against him, while the other man’s hands eased down onto her breasts, squeezing her back. Their lips and tongues ravished her throat as the three rocked to the pounding drums and clashing electric guitars.