"Do you even know what time it is?"
She was laughing at him now. Sebastian almost hung up right then. "No."
"Well, it's nine thirty here. Can you not sleep?"
There. The inquisition in her voice was far better than the humour.
"Having trouble."
"I thought you might."
Sebastian talked to his mother until the sun came up. Rather, he listened to her talk about the goings on with her friends and at work. It helped to distract him from himself. Artemis slithered around, coiling around his neck or his arm and sliding down his leg. She finally settled across the back of his shoulders, her tail wrapped around beneath his arm and her head over his heart. The snake did this a lot, laying her head over his heart. He figured she liked to hear it beat, as most women did when they cuddled.
"Are you doing alright?" The worry in Martha's voice made him cringe.
"Yes, mother. I'll call you again soon." Sebastian hung up as the office door opened.
"Have you been in here long?" Hellena asked from the doorway.
"A little while," he replied. "I was talking to my mother."
"Mama's boy."
Hellena came to stand next to him and looked him over. "You talk to your mother naked?"
Sebastian quirked an eyebrow at her.
"It's not like I told her I had no pants on."
Hellena chuckled. "Why didn't you put clothes on?"
"I didn't feel like it," he shrugged. God, this was such normal conversation, but it felt completely plastic to him now.
"May I treat you to lunch today?" Hellena asked. Her finger ran down his thigh to his knee then back up as she came around in front of him.
He almost asked whose money she planned to use, but Sebastian kept his mouth shut. She traced his chest along the line of Artemis' body. He felt the snake tense, then release against him.
Hellena knelt between his knees. She rubbed her cheek against the inside of his thigh and he spread them for her a little more. Her hand came up to cup his balls and he closed his eyes. Hellena's lips closed around the head of his dick and he sucked in a breath. Artemis
twitched,
her tongue flickered against his skin.
Hellena took him all the way in. When he hit the back of her throat he had a flash back to Mariss, her lips around his shaft, her eyes turned up to look at him, dainty hands resting against his thighs. Hellena took him into her throat and held him there for a moment.
Sebastian's balls tightened, his body tensed and so did Artemis. Her muscles contracted around his chest and she moved, snaking her way around his neck.
Hellena pulled back and took him again. Sebastian let out a low moan. Artemis stopped her slow crawl and tensed. Her tongue flickered against his ear.
Urged by the reaction of his body, Hellena took him into her throat again, gagging a little as his size was now more than it had been. Sebastian grunted, tensed, and Artemis tightened around his neck as she snaked along. Her tail trailed back across his chest as she wound her way around him. The sensation was interesting and more erotic than he would have thought. It brought him close to the edge.
Hellena changed tactics, moving her lips briskly over his head while she worked his length with her hand.
"Shit." Sebastian couldn't keep the word from slipping out as his body tensed. Artemis squeezed him tighter making his breath come in ragged pulls as he sucked in air.
"Hellena."
He touched her cheek and she pulled back as he came more quickly than he'd expected. His cum got on her face and the shirt she'd put on last night.
Artemis tensed with him each time he released. When he finally relaxed, so did she, slithering across his body until she was no longer wrapped around his throat. Sebastian took a deep breath and looked at Hellena. She wasn't looking at him, but trying to wipe her face off as quickly as she could.
"That came more quickly than I expected."
She shook her head, though he knew she was disgusted and a little perturbed.
"You didn't finish last night," she said. "I just wanted to help." When he reached for her, she jerked away, but looked up at him. "I'm not mad.
If it was anyone else…
But I'm okay. I know you didn't do it on purpose."
Sebastian felt
bad,
though there was little he could have done to stop. He knew the memories it brought back for her and he hated that he'd caused that.
"I'm just going to shower."
"I'll fix breakfast."
Hellena touched his cheek as she passed him. Sebastian sighed and sank into a slouch before he took Artemis back to her terrarium.
***
Hellena lifted her fork to her mouth and chewed. Sebastian hadn't ever realized how dainty of an eater she was. Mariss hardly ever made a mess when she was eating and Hellena was no different.
"What are you looking at?" She asked, and took a sip of her pop.
"You're a very polite eater. Are you about finished?"
She nodded. "I'm going to run to the restroom." She handed him her credit card. "I'm paying today."
She stood and walked away before he could argue. Sebastian tucked her card in his pocket and put his on the table, motioning to the waitress that he was ready for the check.
"It's a shame what she's doing.
Dios mio
.
I don't understand that woman."
Sebastian turned at the sound of the familiar voice and spotted Eloisa at a table by the window with a woman he didn't recognize. He shouldn't have listened in on the conversation, but then, if he hadn't he wouldn't have heard the next part.
"She's been looking for the right funding for years and she finally found it."
The other woman, she had dark hair that fell past her shoulders and hid her face, said something he couldn't hear.
"She didn't have to ask him for anything. He came to her offering it up like a gift from heaven. She's not going to ask for that kind of money.
¿Eres estúpido?
"
The waitress came to pick up his check. As she moved away, Eloisa looked up. Her eyes widened with shock and fear and Sebastian realized he was sneering. He wiped the expression from his face, filling his eyes with emptiness as Eloisa turned away quickly and called for her check.
The waitress brought his credit card back.
"Will you let the woman I was with know that I went to the car?"
"Sure, Mr. Boa."
He winked at her to be polite and left the restaurant quickly. It wasn't far from Mariss’ work building, so he was sure Eloisa was on her lunch break. He slipped around the corner in the direction he knew she would take to walk back to work and waited. A few moments later, Eloisa came hurrying by, her friend close by her side.
Sebastian grabbed her by the arm as she passed. Eloisa gave a cry of alarm and the friend stopped dead in her tracks, trembling.
"Mr. Boa," Eloisa gasped.
"Tell your friend to run along," he said. The friend didn't have to be told. She turned and ran the other way. "Who were you talking about at the restaurant?" he asked. His tone made it clear he was in no mood to be toyed with. The vein in his neck throbbed with his fury.
"I- I… Mr. Boa, you're hurting me."
Sebastian loosened his grip enough for Eloisa to pull away.
"Who were you talking about?" he demanded, getting
more angry
by the second.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Boa. I'm really sorry.
Lo siento mucho
."
Eloisa backed away. Her eyes held a depth of sorrow that Sebastian didn't understand. She turned and hurried after her friend.
Sebastian watched her go until she disappeared. When he got to the car, Hellena was already waiting. He slid in beside her.
"Take me to the club," he told the driver. Taking out his
mobile
he sent a text Juliet to meet him there.
Lost Investment
In the middle of the day
The Tea Room
was empty, so Sebastian felt it was as good a place as any for his meeting to decide the future of Mariss' company. He was lucky that Henry was in town and he had to tell a few white lies to get him there on such short notice.
"Come on, Henry. You won't catch anything," he prompted as the older man stepped hesitantly over the threshold of Sebastian's office. He gave Sebastian an annoyed glance, but closed the door behind him as he sat.
"I'm not so sure about that. It still smells of sex in here."
"Hm."
Sebastian nodded. "That's just my natural pheromones."
"That so?"
Henry asked.
"Yes. I believe Mariss calls is 'hot testosterone on a cracker'."
Henry blinked, surprised,
then
let his deep laughter fill the small room. "Is that what she said? I'm not surprised."
"No, I don't guess you would be. She told me the story of how the two of you met. I'd be interested to know the bits she left out."
"Yes, well, you'd have to ask her about that, wouldn't you?
Speaking of Mrs. Red.
Where is the lovely woman? Surely, you didn't use her as a ruse to get me here on my own?"
Sebastian snorted. "That's absolutely what I did, Henry. Now, shall we get on with the festivities?" He opened his desk and pulled out a folder. "When I bought into Mariss' company, I didn't realize that you gave me a portion of your share. I was looking over the paperwork. You were half owner before I came along."
"That's right," Henry agreed. "I sold you most of my share. Mariss and I had been in discussions about slowly weeding me out as owner for some time."
"Why is that?" Sebastian asked. As he talked, he slipped some newspaper articles and photos into a manila envelope along with a letter he'd written.
"Eventually, my involvement was going to become known and we wanted to cut ties before anything nefarious was concocted." Henry's eyes narrowed, but if he was suspicious he kept it to himself.
"I see. Yes, you did say something like that the other day." Sebastian took out a plain envelope this time and started penning a letter to go with it.
"What are you doing there?" Henry asked.
"Catching up on some neglected work.
Here's what I want to do, Henry. I want to buy your portion of Red Wife Media Group."
"Without Mariss present?
What are you up to, Boa?"
"Nothing that concerns you.
I know you aren't willing to sell under these circumstances, so I'm willing to offer half of my club to you in exchange."
Henry's eyebrow went up.
"Really?
What would I want with a place like this?"
But they both knew what he'd want with a place like this.
"Convince the other benefactors to sell to me and I will give you half of the club in London as well."
"You won't get the majority of the shares, Sebastian. Even if the others and I agree to sell all our shares, you still will only have half at the most."
"Yes, I've done my homework," Sebastian said. "Mariss will always hold half or majority."
"What are you trying to do?" Henry's suspicious tone put Sebastian on edge.
"I'm not trying to do anything." Sebastian tried to chuckle, but it came out as a sneer. "You want to sell, I want to buy." He finished off the letter and put it in the envelope. That envelope he put inside another manila envelope and sealed them both.
"Your feelings are hurt," Henry said like he was having an epiphany.
"My god.
The two of you really were involved! I find that hard to believe, but your actions are so obvious."
"My actions?"
Sebastian grunted. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. I simply want to-"
"You listen to me, Sebastian Boa." Henry leaned forward and pointed a finger in Sebastian's face. The stern look Henry gave was like a father chastising his son. "If you do anything to try and hurt Mariss, I will make sure you-"
"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Sebastian thundered. He almost came out of his seat with the anger that boiled through him.
"Don't get self-righteous with me, Boa." Henry settled back in his seat and glared at him with a look of satisfaction. "You fell for her."
Sebastian frowned, trying in vain to keep the sudden swell of angry emotion tamped down to a manageable level. He knew when he was fighting a losing battle. Staring over the desktop at Henry, he gave in and said, "Why didn't you tell me she was such a…"
"A what?"
Henry's eyebrow went up with the question. "My experience with her clearly doesn't go to the extents with which yours does. What I know, is that she doesn't get entangled with people as easily as she did with you."
"Spare me the talk of how honorable she is. She used me, Henry.
For my money."
Henry's frown was ferocious. It etched deep lines in his face that showed the age he kept so carefully hidden.
"Mariss?
What would she need to do that for?
And why?
You don't make any sense, Boa. Don't let your feelings get in the way."
"Feelings?"
"Yes. She's obviously hurt your feelings. Was it because she wouldn't leave her husband for you? I'm well aware of the current situation. As I understand it, she warned you.
More than once."
"That's enough, Henry." Henry's smile was triumphant. "Do we have a sale or what?"
"I'll sell to you and I'll speak to the other men, but I can't make promises that they'll sell."
"Oh, they'll sell," Sebastian promised.
"If you do anything to harm Mariss, Sebastian, I'll ruin you."
Sebastian didn't say anything, though he didn't doubt Henry had the means to make good on his threat. He drew the meeting to a close and walked Henry out the front as one of his employees was coming in to start getting ready for the day. Her thin blonde hair demanded that she wear extensions on a regular basis. She was one of the favorites, though.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Sebastian gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Do
me
a favor, will you? Run these to my friend Bart at the tabloid. Keep it low-key, yes?"
"Yes, Mr. Boa." The slight girl walked away down the street to do Sebastian's bidding. In the end, they always did, didn't they? Just like Henry.
***
Juliet barged into Sebastian's office with a look on her face that made him stop what he was doing.
"Juliet?"
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she shouted.
"I beg your pardon? There's no need-"
"Like hell! What are you trying to do? I just came from Mariss' office. After each one of her benefactors pulled out one by one, she broke down in a sobbing heap. We had to call her husband and he had to get on a plane to fly home." Juliet slapped her hand down on his desk, leaning in so he could see just how furious she was. "We had to take her to the hospital and they had to sedate her because she flew into a furious rage."
Sebastian swallowed, remembering all too well what that could mean. "What happened? Was someone hurt?" He refused to feel guilty.
"She tried to hurt herself, Sebastian."
Understanding dawned.
"Yeah.
Now you understand. Why are you doing this?" she begged, her eyes pleading and showing just how much she cared for Mariss. "What did she do to you, besides exactly what she said she would do?"
"What?" Sebastian blinked and closed his eyes against the confusion spinning around in his head.
"Mariss told you she wouldn't leave her husband for you. You didn't believe her did you?"
He glared into Juliet's furious face. "She used me," he defended weakly.
"For what?"
Juliet was incredulous. "You are a selfish, self-centered, cruel bastard, Sebastian. I can't work for you anymore. Leave Mariss alone. She has done nothing to you, but
keep
her word. You are a weak, pathetic piece of shit."
With that, she stormed from the office. The front door slammed a moment later, leaving Sebastian staring after her to pick up the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that was his confused brain.