Authors: Lexi Duval
“
OK. And, can you tell my anything else? Guards?
Cameras? Do you know anything of the nighttime security?”
“
Well, that won't be necessary.”
He slips his hand into a drawer again, and passes me a
small, rectangular piece of card. I inspect it quickly, and raise my
eyes to him once more. There's a sly smile on his face.
“
An invite?” I ask. “He's having a party next
weekend?”
“
He is. The horrible little man is getting engaged.
It's an engagement party and, well, half of the East Coast
aristocracy will be turning up.”
“
And how does it help me that the place will be filled
with people?”
“
Because, Kristen, you will be my guest.”
He takes another sip of scotch, and peers at me with
interest.
“
So, how about it? The safe is located in a study at
the back of the mansion, well away from the party. You should have no
trouble getting in.”
“
And if there's security guarding it?”
“
There won't be. And, if there is, then that's
something that you're going to have to work out, isn't it.”
I think for a moment, running through the potential
permutations and risks. Gradually, I begin shaking my head.
“
It's too risky,” I say. “Too many elements I
can't control.”
“
Kristen, you do realize that this isn't an offer.
It's an order. You
will
do this for me. Just think of how
brilliant it will be for the little toad to lose his prized
possession from right under his nose at his own party.”
He smiles wide at the thought, his mouth curling into a
perfidious grin.
“
And, imagine how it will improve the legend of the
Night Panther
. Surely you like the sound of that?”
He's pushing the right buttons, probing in the right
places. I like my media handle, as all criminals enjoy the status
bestowed upon them. But is it worth the risk?
And do I have a choice?
“
Next Saturday?” I ask.
He nods.
“
That gives you ten days to work up a plan and do your
research. Will that work?”
I consider things again, knowing that I'll have to at
least try. If I can't make it work on the night, however, he'll have
to accept that and let me try again on my own terms. Something tells
me he really wants this necklace, if only to rub his rival's face in
it and watch him squirm.
“
I'll see what I can do.”
I sink the rest of my scotch as if to seal the deal and
end the conversation, before standing from my chair and picking up my
jacket. I turn, coat and file in hand, and begin pacing toward the
door.
“
Um...Kristen, I don't recall telling you to leave
quite yet.”
I stop in my tracks, and turn toward him.
“
Lock the door, would you?”
I spike of anticipation rushes through me.
I move to the door, twist the lock, and turn back to
him. He's already on the phone, speaking with his secretary.
“
Hold my calls will you, Claire. I'll call you back
when I'm available again.”
He keeps his eyes on me the entire time.
“
Now come a little closer, Kristen.”
I do as I'm told, falling back into the pattern of a few
nights ago. Part of me is starting to boil at the control he's
exerting over me. But another is unwilling to stop, and not wanting
to either...
“
What color are you panties?”
“
White.”
“
Show me.”
With my jacket and file still under one arm, I drop my
other down my skirt, and begin sliding it up my leg. My left thigh is
exposed, and at the top, a pair of functional white panties. Not
sexy, not frilly, but comfortable and all I thought I'd need today.
A smile runs over his face.
“
Very nice, Kristen. Now put your jacket down, and
remove your clothes.”
“
What?”
“
Did you not hear?”
I hesitate for a few moments, before doing what he tells
me. I drop my jacket, unzip my skirt, and pull off my sweater,
leaving me in only my functional bra and panties and flat black
shoes.
“
You're just toying with me now, Sage. Can't you just
let me get on with this job?”
He stares at me, and slowly shakes his head.
“
You've plenty of time for that, Kristen. But I have
other uses for you too. Now come here, and sit on the desk.”
I take a deep breath, the battle still raging inside me,
and go toward him. I go around his desk and sit right in front of
him, the grandeur of the Manhattan skyline visible through the large
windows. In other buildings, I can make out shapes of people working,
and wonder if they can see us.
Sage clearly doesn't care.
He leans forward, opens my legs, and slips his fingers
inside me. I'm not wet, and the friction doesn't feel as pleasurable
as before, my mind taken by my professional duties right now and not
sex.
Slowly, however, he works at me, and soon his head has
dived in and he's eating my pussy, lubricating me with his saliva.
Gradually, my own moisture builds, and my mind clouds, and I begin to
forget once more about the job that needs to be done.
“
Do you like it when I eat you out?” he asks.
I nod.
“
And when I fuck you. Do you enjoy that too?”
I nod again.
“
Well then, today is your lucky day.”
He stands, opens up his trousers, and pulls out his
dick.
“
Suck me first, and then I'll fuck you. And after
that, then you can get to work.”
His orders simultaneously grate on me and make me even
more horny.
And with his eyes staring and his cock swelling, I slip
off the table and send his full length down my throat.
Chapter Three
For the next few days I turn my mind only to the next
job.
It's the way I've lived my life for years now, my world
measured from one job to the next, from payout to payout.
From time to time, I castigate myself for being so
greedy. For me, money has become less valuable, and it must be my
avarice that's been driving me. I am a multimillionaire, having
gathered great wealth through the many treasures I've stolen, and
could quite easily stop and retire right now.
And now I'm kicking myself for not doing so before
taking Sage's earrings. That score would have truly set me up for
life, and I might have been able to find a happy little corner of the
world somewhere and live a normal life.
Move to Cost Rica and start a surf school. Buy a club in
Sydney. Run a restaurant on the South Coast of England. With the sort
of money I would have had after that score, I could have done just
about anything.
But no.
I fucked up, and now I'm here, doing a job for free, and
never quite knowing whether Sage Dalton will be true to his word or
not. And however good the sex is, when the dust settles and the fog
of lust in my head clears, I begin to feel more and more dirty for
the sexual control he's exerting.
However, I need to focus on this job, and after that I
can reevaluate my life and consider another path. This has been a
true wake up call, and perhaps getting a whole new identity and
starting afresh is just what I need.
But only after...
Sage offers me some more inside information on the
target, Morgan Trayfoot, and I continue to do my own research into
him and his Long Island estate. I also manage to get hold of
blueprints for the property, studying them with the focus and
attention of a scholar so that I know every little secret within.
This job will represent a first though – I won't be
infiltrating secretly at night, but on the arm of a billionaire
during an engagement party. At first glance, it might seem like an
unnecessarily risky move by Sage, entering the house with a criminal
like me.
But on closer inspection, he can happily plead innocence
over all of it. His argument, I'm sure, will simply be that he had no
idea I was a thief, and that I was purely using him to gain access to
the mansion.
His lawyers will lap it up and tear me apart if I try to
say otherwise. So, really, the risk is all on me.
And I know it.
So, with Sage's information of the whereabouts of the
safe, I consider my options, and draw up several plans and back up
plans to follow through in case things go wrong.
I also scope out possible points of escape if I need to
use them. Routes I can take through the mansion and out of the estate
to safety where I'll have a good chance of outrunning and outwitting
the cops.
Really, it's all about planning. And the more I plan,
the more confident I feel that the night will go without a hitch.
I hear from Sage from time to time over the ten days
leading to the party. He calls me on secure lines and asks me how
everything is going. Clearly, he's interested in knowing exactly what
steps I'm taking to secure the necklace, something I put down to his
perfectionist nature and intrigue at my life.
When speaking with him on the phone, I begin to see a
slightly different side to him. Not the side that revels in his
control of me and demands that I perform sex acts on him, but one
that's a little more charitable. A side that aims to help me, seems
genuinely interested in my world, and truly wants me to succeed.
I begin to get the impression that his desire for me to
get the necklace isn't only down to his desire to have it. It's also
because he genuinely enjoys my legend as the
Night Panther
,
and in my heart of hearts I don't believe he wants to see me go back
to jail.
I suppose some of that is because I described it all in
such horrendous detail that night we had dinner. Fueled by alcohol
and somewhat venting over certain elements of my life and my past, I
told him things I've never uttered.
And through my hazy memory of some of that night, I
remember the words he told me then: “you're too bright a bird to be
caged, Kristen.”
So, when I truly think about it, I begin to doubt
whether he'd even follow through with his threats of handing me over
to the police. In that single stroke, he'd condemn me to a world I
hate, and would extinguish the legend of the
Night Panther
all
at once.
He wouldn't do that, would he?
Regardless, I have to follow through. There's no other
choice, and consequences be damned, I'll settle my debt with Sage or
get caught one way or another.
In the days leading up to the party, I finalize my
arrangements. After this night, I will leave the city and start
somewhere new. Whether I leave the tag of the Night Panther behind is
another matter, but I'll certainly leave the city.
There will be serious heat, and when the heat comes,
it's best to not be near.
Because this will not be a regular heist. The necklace
is worth a staggering five million dollars and is famous throughout
the world, having been worn my French Queens and Princesses for
hundreds of years.
The manhunt will be national, perhaps even
international, and I have to be prepared for the backlash that will
come along with it. I've told Sage exactly the same, but he doesn't
seem too concerned.
“
Nothing can possibly link me to this,” he tells me
with such assurance that I have to believe him.
“
As long as you're sure,” I say, noting that if I'm
seen lifting the necklace, a lot of questions will be asked of him.
“
I'm sure you'll figure something out,” he says
calmly.
And day by day, the night approaches, and the
anticipation builds. And I know that, whatever happens, this night
will represent a watershed moment for me.
Sink, or swim. There's no other way...
Chapter Four
“
I like your dress,” says Sage, eyes sliding over
me.
“
You don't look so bad yourself,” I return, looking
over his tuxedo.
“
Are you all ready for tonight?”
I nod confidently. There's no place for doubt now. And
no place for nerves.
“
As I'll ever be.”
“
Good. Because I want that necklace, Kristen.”
I fucking know that...
I'm back at Sage's mansion, and soon we're due to leave
and make the short trip towards Morgan Trayfoot's estate. Once more,
the proximity of their homes has likely added to the rivalry.
My dress is black, demure, reserved. As before, I'm
wearing dark make up, my hair tied back in a bun, my shoes
nondescript. It's all part of my plan, and I hope it pays off.
“
What color is the inside?” asks Sage, referencing
my dress
“
Crimson red,” I say.