Ineffable (2 page)

He nodded. “Say my name.”

She just smiled that Madonna smile, and turned to go as Tommy called out for her again.

He caught her arm. “Say Nori,” he insisted, hissing when she suddenly moved in close again. God, those luscious tits; she was skating on thin ice.

“I think you might be a little bit of a perv, Mr. Ineffable. Maybe you like to boss women around? Play scenes, tie women up in swings and all that type shit?”

His heart sped up. Did she like those things? It skipped a beat when she said, “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind a little kink. But there’s one thing you should know about me before this goes any further.”

Nori was so turned on he had to swallow hard before he could manage a word. “What?”

She leaned in and he shuddered when her lips touched his ear. “I cannot stand when people try to tell me what to do. I most certainly do not perform on cue. And I never, ever, do anything, unless I want to.” Then she bit him. Hard.

He jerked away, and stood staring after her like a lovesick suitor, wondering how on earth he was going to last until he got her in his arms.

Chapter three

That night at home, highball glass in hand, he looked out over the city and considered his next move. It had to be soon. He was so horny he could barely function. He’d barely done three hours’ worth of work today, him, an unabashed workaholic.

He believed work was good for you, providing you played as hard as you worked. But play was all he thought about lately. He couldn’t get Margot out of his head. Worse, he had no idea what to do about it.

Ordinarily he’d send flowers, a huge bouquet with a cleverly worded card. “Thinking of you endlessly” usually worked quickly.

If that didn’t work he’d invite a woman to the store, have her pick something out. He’d go with and be attentive, perhaps loiter outside the changing room if she was interested in clothing rather than the jewelry case. Women liked that even more than flowers. It never failed to get him what he wanted. But he had a feeling if he suggested that with Margot she’d laugh in his face and dismiss him completely. He couldn’t take the risk.

God, why couldn’t he think straight? And now he’d touched her. That one stellar, extremely thorough kiss was rolling back and forth in his thoughts on a loop. He felt like a woman, endlessly mooning about one moment, turning it over and over in his head like it held the keys to the bloody universe. It was a wonder he was still on his feet and not in a ball of fucking goo on the floor.

But God in heaven, she was like a walking, talking, banquet of sex. Lips like fruit, long legs the perfect entrée to loose himself in, round heavy tits likely sweeter than any dessert he might want, skin like the smoothest wine and just as potent. As soon as she gave him a chance he planned to lay her down and fucking gorge himself.

He needed to see her. Tomorrow. Mentally he ran over his day. There were two early morning meetings on his calendar, then he had to visit the Chicago manager of Ineffable. Profits were down slightly, for no good reason that he could see, and it needed to stop. It was their fucking headquarters for God’s sake. What the hell was the broad thinking? Maybe he’d swing by Tommy’s first. See who was around. He might be able to stumble upon a lick, as she liked to say.

He was up bright and early at the gym where he worked out for over an hour, trying to purge some of the energy roiling through his system. But his normal sanguine had deserted him. Almost as soon as he showered he felt out of sorts again. He had to force himself to sit at his desk and email until his first meeting. He managed, just, but the second his last meeting wrapped he headed out. Tommy was his first stop.

You at work,
he texted.

Yeah,
she answered.
Come on by.

On my way. Want coffee?

Yeah, peace.

Nori grinned and held up a hand to hail a cab. Excellent.

Tommy drank the coffee like it was water.

“Thank God,” she rasped. “I had a headache like you would not believe. It’s already receding. I love caffeine.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fuckin’ swamped, and I need to go by Margot’s.”

Perfect. It was just the opening he needed. Maybe too perfect. He’d better figure out sooner rather than later why she was making it so easy for him to fuck her friend. You never knew with Tommy. She’d be smiling beatifically one minute, and the next you’d find yourself bleeding, your foot caught in a trap. “Why? Is she okay?”

“Yeah. She okay.”

Nori wanted to shake her when Nia came in the room and she turned away.

“What is this?” She asked, accepting the storyboards her assistant offered.

“Willie brought them over. He said his computer is acting crazy.”

“This is not what we talked about,” Tommy spat, flipping through them. “I’m gonna fucking act crazy if he doesn’t do what I say. Get his ass on the phone, now. Nori, I gotta go.”

His brows rose. Apparently he’d been dismissed. “You look really busy. Why don’t I check on Margot for you.”

She eyed him. “Yeah? It could be ugly.”

He laughed. “Excuse me?”

She shrugged, dropping into her desk chair and spinning toward her laptop. “Sometimes people have a bad day for a reason,” she said cryptically.

And she’s gone, Nori thought as Tommy yelled for the phone right before Nia came rushing in with a cordless. But that was okay; he had one little artist to check on, and a store, something whispered.

Shit. Right. The store.

Nori knew he was being impatient, but he was in a hurry, and this particular problem wasn’t one he should have to deal with. If an employee isn’t working, and the individual has been given an opportunity to straighten out, enough already. Business moves too fast, and customers are too demanding and too fickle to dither over anything as critical as management.

Candy, however, was begging for leniency, and that leniency was now standing in between him and the most exciting piece of pussy he’d met in his entire life.

“I don’t understand why she can’t sell this shit, Candy. This location is fabulous. The product is fabulous. The stores on either side of us are fucking profitable, and fabulous. What’s the problem?”

Candy looked uncomfortable.

“I’m sick of this.” He was also in a tearing rush to get to Margot. “This was your hire. Give her one more chance to straighten out, one, or get rid of her. I don’t have time for this shit. Maybe now you’ll fucking believe me when I say HR is a specialized thing. You do marketing. I do business. We do not do fucking HR. When we do, we get this,” Nori flung a hand out to indicate the manager who was probably listening at the door.

“Know what? I’ll prove to you that management is at fault for the problems we’re having at this store. It’s not our merchandise, the economy, the location, the time of day or any other fucking thing you or that silly woman can come up with. The very first customer I encounter when I leave this room, if I can get her to buy something, you get rid of that manager when I say. Deal?”

“Deal,” she said reluctantly.

Nori nodded, pleased she knew she didn’t have a choice.

Serendipitously, there was a lady arriving when they stepped out of the office. The manager moved toward her, but Nori waved her away.

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

“Are you in the mood to buy something today?”

“Yeah.”

“Event?” Nori asked, smiling.

“Yeah. I gotta go somewhere tonight, and I want to have something new.”

“Dinner?” She looked like a Lincoln Park Trixie. Her husband was probably a trader at the Merc or a young, ambitious VP at a bank.

“Yeah.”

No brain here. Her appeal was in her large, natural tits, round butt, and her long, curvy legs. “You know where?”

“No, but it will probably be somewhere nice.”

“You’ll want to be sexy.”

“Yeah.”

“But you’ll also want to be comfortable; it’ll be chilly when the sun sets.”

“Yeah,” the woman nodded.

“Pants okay?”

She answered almost every question with, “yeah,” and a smile. In the end she bought some faux black leather pants with a lush, kimono sleeved silk blouse in a brilliant jade green, black and red flower pattern.

And she chose to wear them out of the store. When she got to the counter to pay she saw one of Margot’s necklaces.

“Can I see that?”

“Sure. It’s by a local artist, Margot Temple.”

“Oh, I remember seeing her on Windy City Chicago. This is part of her capsule collection?”

“No, this is a one of a kind piece. One of several she brought over for us in advance of her official collection release in a few months. If you’d like to sign up for our mailing list, we’ll let you know when the collection comes in.”

“Yeah.”

Candy watched as the woman bought the necklace – which cost twice as much as her other purchases combined – moving her hair out of the way so Nori could fasten it and adjust it over her new blouse.

“You look perfect,” he said, hands on her shoulders as they looked into one of the mirrors.

“Yeah,” she grinned at him, appreciating his handsome reflection as much as her own.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

Yeah, Candy thought, and turned to look at their sour-faced, soon-to-be ex-store manager.

Next stop Margot. He knocked.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Nori.”

“Who?”

“Nori! From Ineffable.”

He was starting to wonder if he should knock again when she finally flung the door open. He couldn’t have told anyone what he’d planned to say then. He almost didn’t remember how to talk. She was wearing shorts so short he could see the sides of her hips. There was no way she was wearing underwear. She walked away and he was sure of it.

The shorts weren’t tight, just short. Her ass was small but beautifully shaped and bitable. And the shirt she was wearing just barely qualified to be called a shirt. It was more like a bra top. Did they call them bandeaus? Whatever, it was black, and her tits were large and round and absolutely succulent. The top was tight, but he could detect the slightest bit of bounce. His mouth watered. Reluctantly he shifted his eyes to hers.

“What’re you doing here?”

His brows rose at her unfriendly words, but she offered no apology. Ordinarily he’d have spit on the floor before he explained himself – but he’d just been caught eyeballing her tits – so he said, “Tommy was coming, but a problem cropped up at the office. I told her I’d stop by and look in on you. Why are you drunk?”

Nori was proud of his calm tone. His insides felt like they were boiling.

She looked at him with equal calm, lifting a half empty glass to her lips without dropping his gaze.

“It’s my anniversary,” she said mildly, tossing the rest of the wine down her throat.

His heart stuttered, but his façade held. It was one of his finest moments. He felt completely murderous at the idea of her with another man. “What anniversary?”

“Why of my short lived marriage, Nori.”

He couldn’t hide his shock, and anger shot through him when she laughed.

“Yeah. When I was seventeen, I married a 20-year-old mechanic named George.”

He didn’t appreciate her sarcasm, and he liked even less that he hadn’t known something that important about her. It was completely irrational since all he really knew was that he wanted to fuck this woman desperately. But right then and there he vowed that sooner rather than later he would know everything there was to know about her. Even if he had to pry the facts out of her with a crowbar. “How could you marry? It’s illegal in Illinois to –”

“We were married in Indiana,” she interrupted. She snorted contemptuously. “You know who lives in Indiana? Hoosiers and dirt bags. Low lifes and shit heels of all shapes and sizes. They grow them there,” she informed him. “Like weeds.”

She spoke matter-of-factly; she could’ve been telling him it was sprinkling outside. But he could sense her frailty and upset, and though he’d never admit it, her wounded state appealed to him. He wanted to protect her.

“Yeah? I didn’t know that.” He moved closer. “Go on.”

“We were married for 39 days. Then my parents had it annulled. That was a long ass 39 days,” she whispered.

“What happened?”

“What happened? Hmmm. Lemme see if I can remember. Well, on my honeymoon at the Red Roof Inn, my handsome new husband raped me. He told me later when I complained that he’d hurt me that it was just passion. And he raped me, excuse me, showed me his passion, every single day for 39 straight sunrises and 38 sunsets. He also beat me every single day for 39 sunrises and 38 sunsets.

“That last day, after he’d drunk himself to sleep, I walked away. Give or take a bus here or there, I walked half way to Illinois. Then someone took pity on me and gave me a lift the rest of the way.”

Good God, he thought. But instinct told him not to offer sympathy. “Why did you marry him?”

She laughed, a weary, passionless sound so unlike her, his lips narrowed with the effort not to touch her. Suddenly he hated her vulnerable. He wanted her strong again. “Tell me,” he said quietly.

She shrugged. “He was handsome, tall and pretty with twinkling hazel eyes and a beautiful smile. He was charming and funny and smart, or so I thought. And he constantly told me how smart and funny and beautiful I was.” She reached for her glass, found it empty and sighed irritably.

“He used to look at me like he saw the moon rise out of my skinny black ass.” she snorted again. “He fooled me good. Taught me a good lesson though, one I have never to this day had to repeat.”

He didn’t want to hear this. “What lesson?”

He watched her rise on slender thighs to reach over the side of the couch. She retrieved a bottle he hadn’t seen sitting next to a stack of books and refilled her glass.

“Why never to be fooled again, silly.” And she toasted him before settling back on the couch to nurse her drink.

Jesus Christ. Nori sat down beside her, took the drink from her hand and drained it. Then he refilled it.