Kinky Boots (Mischief Books) (13 page)

But before she could settle into post-coital bliss, Finn broke the spell. ‘I need a shower.’ He stood quickly, and Jill felt as though something had been ripped from her.

‘Shit,’ Meinrad said, as they watched him disappear into the bathroom.

‘He’s jealous,’ Eleanor said softly. ‘That’s all. He’s jealous. Don’t worry, Jill. He’ll get over it.’

‘But I thought he wanted me to … us to, or I never would have,’ Jill said out loud.

Meinrad placed a kiss on her cheek, then sat up and began to dress. ‘He doesn’t know what the hell he wants since you came into the picture, love. And anyway, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s just that it’s never been like this before. He was never like this with Lisa.’

Inside her, it was as though Eleanor had just convulsed. She felt a tidal wave of emotions that nearly took her breath away. But she spoke over the discomfort. ‘Lisa? Did Eleanor possess her?’

Meinrad looked suddenly pale, paler even than he usually was. ‘Look, Jill, I have to go. I didn’t mean to cause problems. I’m sorry.’ As she stood to walk him to the door, he placed a quick kiss on her cheek and hurried to let himself out, leaving her standing in nothing but her mussed skirt in the middle of her lounge. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard the shower come on.

‘Go back to bed,’ Eleanor said softly. ‘He’ll be all right. You’ll see.’

She was too tired to argue with Eleanor, and sleep would be a far better way of coping with the swirl of emotions she felt right now than angsting them out while waiting for Finn to get over it. She suspected that Eleanor might be giving her just a little nudge in the sleep department, but she was OK with that at the moment.

She didn’t know how much later it was when Finn slipped into bed next to her and pulled her possessively into a spoon position. Or perhaps she only dreamed it.

‘I wasn’t comfortable with it. I wasn’t at all comfortable with it,’ Finn was saying.

‘It was beautiful. It was exquisite for all of us,’ came Eleanor’s reply. ‘And I’ve never felt you come so hard.’

There was a long silence, in which Jill realised, once again, that she was dreaming. This time they were in her bedroom. Like before, Eleanor was using her body, lying there on the bed next to Finn. And Jill, well, she was bound, just like she had been in the previous dream. Only this time, Jesus, this time she was bound and suspended above her own bed, like a giant bird, arms tied behind her back, legs bent and open wide. She was just high enough that if either of them reached out to her they would have been able to touch her with their fingertips. But they didn’t seem to notice her there at all.

‘I think you came so hard because you were uncomfortable with the situation,’ Eleanor said, leaning in and brushing a kiss across his stubbled cheek.

‘You can think what you want,’ Finn said. ‘He could have hurt her.’

‘Oh, now you’re just being ridiculous. You know that he wouldn’t hurt her. Meinrad above all the people in Sole Alliance knows how not to hurt someone if they don’t want to be hurt. Though I’m not entirely sure our Jill doesn’t like being hurt, at least just a little bit.’

Finn didn’t respond this time, and for a second Jill wondered if he’d fallen back asleep. Then Eleanor said. ‘It’s not that you don’t want Meinrad to hurt her, Finn. It’s that you don’t want anyone else to have her. Why don’t you admit it?’ She leaned close to his ear and Jill had to strain to hear what was said. ‘But you melted when she asked your permission. Don’t think I didn’t notice that. You want to control her.’

‘Damn right, I want to control her. If she asks my permission for everything she does, sexually I mean, then maybe she’ll stay safe.’

Jill shivered in her elegantly knotted web, and a picture of another woman suspended flashed like a ruptured after-image through her head. It was already past before she realised this woman had not been tied lovingly by another. This woman had tied the knot herself, a slip-knot around her neck, done in a moment of despair, done before anyone could stop her.

Then Jill’s nest of knots gave way beneath her, tumbling her back into her body. She cried out and pushed at the duvet.

It took her a second to reorient herself to the bed she was no longer above, to the arms of Finn now wrapped protectively around her. ‘Jill, Jill! Wake up. Are you all right?’ In the darkened room she felt his gaze more than saw it, but it felt grounding, a strange word she never would have used before her association with Eleanor and the Sole Alliance. She laid her head against his chest. ‘It’s all right It was just a dream. I’m fine. I’m OK.’

He pulled her close to him, forcing a little grunt from her with his enthusiasm. ‘You scared me,’ he said. ‘You seemed so distressed.’

‘I’m all right,’ she replied. But somehow the discomfort of the dream lingered.

Finn was already gone in the morning when she woke up.

* * *

Her arrival at the office on Monday morning was greeted with relief. ‘Mrs Kenny wants to see you, in Mr Devlin’s office,’ the receptionist said, shifting nervously in her seat.

‘What’s going on?’ Jill asked. Mrs Kenny was Devlin’s superior, and Jill had only ever met the woman once in the three years she’d been working at
Full On
.

‘No idea.’ The receptionist avoided her gaze and shifted the few items on her desk as though she were attempting to look busy.

Inside Devlin’s office, Jill was instantly aware that something was wrong. The man’s personal items were gone and the office was empty.

‘Sit down, Jill.’ The well-preserved Mrs Kenny wore a mauve power suit that had expensive written all over it, and before Jill had completely settled in the chair the woman began. ‘Mr Devlin has left us.’

Jill barely managed to utter a little gasp of surprise before the woman waved her hand as though she were shooing away a mosquito. ‘It was sudden. Personal problems of some type, but, for whatever reason, he felt it most urgent that he leave immediately.’ Mrs Kenny folded her hands on top of the bare desk and held Jill in a cast-iron stare. ‘I’m sorry for the man’s problems, Jill, as I’m sure you can imagine, but I still have a business to run, and I’m not blind to the fact that a good deal of what gets done around here is getting done by you.’ The woman straightened her jacket and looked down at her watch. ‘There should be a meeting of staff to plan this week’s eZine this morning, am I right?’

She didn’t wait for Jill’s reply. ‘Certainly I’m not informed enough on events and long-term plans to run that meeting, Jill, but I know you are. And you’re probably more qualified than Devlin was to run this eZine. That means you’ll have to pick up the slack, straighten up the mess Devlin left and get things back up to speed.’

Jill was about to tell her that she had only come in to talk to HR about her severance, but then it hit her. Devlin hadn’t told anyone about her quitting. He’d opted to just leave. Technically she was still employed at
Full On
, and her reason to quit was no longer there.

‘The job’s yours, Ms Hart.’

That got her attention. And when Jill did nothing more than offer a gasp of surprise, Mrs Kenny raised an eyebrow. ‘Well? What are you waiting for? Once the planning meeting’s over see HR about your new employment status and have them change the name on the door. I’ll have my secretary schedule a lunch for us in two weeks, and we can discuss your vision for
Full On
. I’m excited to see what you can do.’

She stood and offered Jill her hand. ‘Good luck, Ms Hart. By the way, I enjoyed your busker story.’ Then she turned and left, closing the door to Jill’s office behind her, leaving Jill to try and catch up with what had just happened. Meanwhile Eleanor did a fine job of demon smug that made Jill feel, well, not exactly orgasmic, but pretty fucking close.

* * *

Being in charge at
Full On
, as Jill suspected, wasn’t an easy task. And it was not made easier by the disarray Devlin had left it in. She had managed a quick text to Vivie and to Finn filling them in on her new employment status. Vivie had answered back almost immediately with excited congratulations. Finn, on the other hand, had not replied.

Fortunately she had been too busy to dwell on the absence of a response from Finn, and by what should have been the end of the day Jill was beginning to realise that it really wasn’t going to be the end of the day. Not that she minded. She was up for the challenge. She had fantasised more than once about what she would do if the reins of power ever got wrenched from that wanker Devlin’s hands and turned over to her. She just never really believed it would happen. Still, that meant when five o’clock came she was hard at work, and when six rolled around, she was no closer to leaving. Up to her elbows in stuff that should have been done last Friday, she whipped off a quick text to Finn.

Have to work late. Will be home as soon as I can.

J

It was nearly seven, and she was about to leave when her BlackBerry rang. It was Finn.

‘Where the hell are you, Jill? I’ve been looking all over for you. This is no joke. Who are you with? What the fuck does Eleanor have you doing?’

Her stomach knotted and she felt as though she’d been slapped. ‘What do you mean, who am I with? Didn’t you get my text? I told you I’m at the office. I had to work late. I’ve been –’

He cut her off. ‘I thought you were quitting. And now all of a sudden you’re the boss? What did she do? What did Eleanor do?’

‘My boss quit and I took his job, arsehole. I took his job because I’m the person qualified, and I’m the person his boss put in charge. And since when has being civil become such a difficult task?’ She disconnected before the situation could escalate. ‘Wanker!’ She said under her breath as she slammed her laptop shut and shoved everything into her bag. ‘What the hell happened to being polite? Is that so difficult to do? Did he bother to text me back and ask me what was up? Did he bother to call me and clear up the misunderstanding, to congratulate me, to even check in on me? No. He just bites my head off.’

‘He was worried,’ Eleanor said.

Just then her BlackBerry signalled a text. It was from Finn.

Sending Chelsea to yours to look after you. Don’t know what time I’ll be in.

F

She fired back.

I don’t need a child-minder. Give Chelsea the night free and fuck off to wherever you want.

J

As she sent it off, she said. ‘I don’t want to hear it, Eleanor. It’s been a long day.’

She got the equivalent of a shrug. Then she added, ‘Clearly he’s not all that worried about me or he wouldn’t be sending someone else. And who knows where the hell he’s getting off to?’

‘What you need is a drink at Juno,’ Eleanor said. ‘Maybe a glass of fizz to celebrate your promotion.’

Jill squared her shoulders. ‘That’s a good idea. That’s exactly what I need, to celebrate. Let’s go.’

* * *

At the Water Poet, Finn was halfway through his second pint by the time he’d got the whole sordid story off his chest. Meinrad ordered another lime and soda and leaned against the bar. ‘That didn’t go too well.’

‘I don’t need a lecture, Meinrad,’ Finn said. ‘I know that didn’t go too well. Is Chelsea on her way?’

‘She’s not happy about it,’ Meinrad said. ‘Whatever’s going on between the two of you, you and Jill, I mean, if it doesn’t have anything to do with Eleanor then it doesn’t have anything to do with Sole Alliance. You know that.’

Finn stared down into his pint. ‘Yeah, I know, mate, but I’ve got to have some time to think. I didn’t expect this. And last night when you … when you made love to her …’ He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a sharp breath. ‘I mean it was just sex, wasn’t it? And she was all right with it. And it was good for her. I could tell that it was. You made sure that it was.’ That she had been fine with fucking another man right there in front of him, even with his permission, still burned like fire in the pit of Finn’s stomach. And that he had not been fine with it burned even worse.

Meinrad made no reply.

‘Eleanor’s right,’ Finn said.

‘About what?’

‘I don’t want anyone else touching her. I don’t want anyone else touching Jill.’

‘Oh, that,’ Meinrad replied. ‘I think you were the only one who hadn’t figured that out, mate.’

‘When she told me she was at work, when she told me about the promotion, all I could think about was what Eleanor had done to get her that promotion. I didn’t even text her back, I was so angry. I thought …’

‘You thought Eleanor knew who she had to fuck to get the position and made it happen.’

It sounded really stupid when Meinrad said it, but that was pretty much it.

‘Jill doesn’t really seem the type for that,’ Meinrad said. Then he sipped his lime and soda. ‘Still, I suppose she might have a go at Chelsea if you leave them alone together and she’s angry enough, which she probably is.’ He shook his head. ‘She has quite a temper. What a revenge fuck that would be. Might stop by myself – if nothing else, just to watch.’

Finn flipped him off.

‘You’re a fool, Finn. If the woman were interested in anyone else, she wouldn’t look like she does every time she sees you.’

‘Look like she does?’ Finn said. ‘Like how?’

Meinrad downed the rest of his drink and stared into his glass. ‘Like you’re the only person in the room, or at least the only person she can see.’

A bout of raucous singing erupted at the bar and the two scooted a little further away. Finn downed the rest of his pint and realised that Meinrad was giving him the evil eye.

‘What?’

‘Finn –’ Meinrad leaned closer to be heard over the singing ‘– Jill’s not Lisa. She’s not anything like Lisa. Surely you can see that? What happened with Lisa won’t happen with Jill.’

‘We don’t know that, do we? We don’t know what will happen when Eleanor leaves Jill, or even if Eleanor stays. Maybe what happened with Lisa always happens. Maybe it’s the result of being possessed by a several-thousand-year-old lust demon. Maybe …’

‘Maybe lots of things, Finn. But there’s no going back now, is there? And you won’t let what happened to Lisa happen to Jill, none of us will, now that we know. I promise you.’