Perfect Chemistry

by Jodi Redford

  She attempted to detect any words that she should possibly read between the lines, and immediately chastised herself for being so paranoid. “Thank you. I appreciate you saying that.”

  “Well, it’s true. And we’re going to take good care of you.”

  “Err, what?”

  Devlin parked his gorgeous ass on the edge of her workstation. “Your performance review is coming up. I know it’s kind of letting the cat out the bag, but we’ve already decided to up your salary enough to guarantee you never leave us.” He flashed her a dazzling smile.

  It took a moment for the stars to stop spinning in her head. Good grief. The man was absolutely detrimental to her health. Not to mention her concentration. It took several seconds for his statement to penetrate her brain fog. “Oh, that’s awesome.” And it was. Almost as awesome as if he’d meant they’d be taking care of her in ways that’d end in an orgasm. But a raise was certainly better than a sharp stick in the eyeball. “Do you have any idea how much it will be?”

  “Well, seeing how I’m half of the party giving it, I might have an inkling,” he teased.

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  “Gotta leave something for the actual review. Otherwise it’s going to get boring for you just sitting there staring at us.”

  Heh. Little did he know she already had a Masters in staring at them. Half an hour in their office would be a breeze.

  Devlin propped his heel on the toe of his loafers and took a swig of water from his mug. Even the way his throat muscles worked was ridiculously sexy. Yeah, she definitely needed to get laid if watching a man drink ended up soaking her panties through.

  He blotted his mouth with his shirt cuff. “Any big plans for the evening?”

  Other than fucking you and Leo out of my system with the first guy I find tonight? “No, not really. Meeting up with some friends later. That’s about it.”

  He looked at her for a long moment, leaving her with the certainty that he wanted to say something. Instead he cracked another smile and pushed away from her desk. “Enjoy your night then.”

  She watched him stride in the direction of his office, disappointment wedged against her sternum. Getting on with her life and putting a stop to these useless fantasies was absolutely the smartest thing she could do. It wouldn’t be easy. But she had no choice.

  Resigning herself to that bit of sage advice, she snagged her purse and trudged to the elevator.

  The Blue Goose was jammed to the gills. Not surprising. The place always became a meat locker by the time Thursday rolled around. At least the band wasn’t playing tonight. Conversation would be impossible. She wiggled her way through the crowd, adroitly avoiding the gropes and pinches bee-lining for her butt. Wiping her brow, she slid in to the booth where Jane and Marissa were parked. “Sorry I’m late.”

  Jane scooped a pretzel from the bowl in the middle of the table. “You should be. You missed the Rhinestone Cowboy.”

  “Aw, damn it.” The dude was a regular at the bars and nightclubs along Commerce Avenue. He practically qualified as a landmark. Jane—being Jane—had boogied with him on the dance floor a time or two. Sidney always declined out of fear of being permanently blinded by all that bling under the strobe lights. Sighing, she snatched a pretzel and munched on it dejectedly.

  Marissa rubbed Sidney’s shoulder soothingly. “I’m sure he’ll be back.”

  “Who?”

  “Rhinestone Cowboy.”

  Sidney flicked her wrist at Marissa. “That’s not why I’m bummed.” Her admission immediately gained her friends’ undivided attention and concern.

  “What happened?” Jane demanded.

  Their obviously harried waitress appeared to take their drink orders. The moment the girl trotted off, Sidney filled Jane and Marissa in on her endless string of boneheaded blunders since arriving at work that morning.

  “They are giving you a raise,” Marissa reassured her. “With that being the case, the situation can’t be as bad as you think it is.”

  “Maybe. But it doesn’t change the fact that I still feel like an idiot.”

  “Y’all are overlooking the most important detail here,” Jane chimed in.

  “And what pray tell is that?” Sidney snuck another pretzel. At least it wasn’t stick shaped. She didn’t need the kind of trouble that would bring.

  “Hot Leo apparently squeezes one off in his office now and then.”

  Choking on her bite of pretzel, Sidney gaped at her friend. Oh Lord. Like she needed that kind of erotic material hanging in her overstocked closet of dirty fantasies. “He was only joking.”

  “Yeah, that’s what they all say. But ten to one he does. I mean, he is around that liquid Spanish Fly juice twelve fucking hours a day. Talk about some serious contact buzz. He’d constantly walk around with Mount St. Boner in his pants if he wasn’t beating the meat. In fact, I bet Devlin does it too. Shit, wouldn’t be surprised if they do it together.”

  “Seeing how the elixir is specifically formulated for women, I highly doubt it has that kind of an effect on him. Regardless, I’d really appreciate it if we could can it with any further references to my bosses indulging in a daily circle jerk. So not helping here.” She shivered and tried to kill the provocative image of Leo and Devlin sprawled in their chairs, heads thrown back and faces strained in pleasure, fists furiously pumping away at their engorged cocks. Smothering a whimper, she squirmed on the leather banquet seat. Where was that damn drink when she needed it? Swiveling her head, she peered desperately for their server.

  A heated exchange passed between Marissa and Jane in which Marissa scolded their friend for contributing to Sidney’s potential tumble from the fantasy-free wagon. Like that ship hadn’t already left the harbor. She’d been limping along the freakin’ shoreline for the last ten minutes, no sign of a rescue boat anywhere in sight.

  The waitress appeared with their drinks and Sidney gulped several fortifying swallows of her Long Island before digging in her purse for her credit card. She frowned when her fingers scraped the bottom of her bag without encountering either her wallet or her cellphone. “Uh, guys. I might have a problem here.”

  Jane and Marissa stopped their bickering to gaze at her expectantly. Desperately attempting to hold her worry at bay, Sidney gave the scoop on her missing wallet. The next several minutes were a wasted and comical attempt at hide and seek as the three of them inspected every nook and cranny of their booth. Sidney even went so far as to crawl on her hands and knees underneath the table to look there. Always an exceedingly undignified position for a woman in a tight short skirt. No sign of her wallet, but she found a nickel and a condom packet—unused, thank God. She left both objects right where they were. Full scale panic sinking its teeth in, she wiggled out from under the booth and grabbed her purse.

  “Where are you going?” Jane demanded.

  “Back to the office.” Fingers crossed that’s where her wallet and cellphone were. Maybe when she’d texted the girls earlier she’d forgotten to put everything back in her purse. She’d certainly been distracted enough by Devlin’s presence at her desk to not pay close attention to what she’d been doing. Just further proof that she needed to nip her attraction to him and Leo in the bud before she became any further danger to herself.

  “I presume you don’t have your driver’s license,” Jane pointed out.

  A quick rifle through the interior pocket of her purse produced the item in question. “I forgot to return it to my wallet after I went to renew my tabs on Monday.” The only bright spot in this entire situation. Who knew she’d ever be grateful for a visit to the DMV?

  Not waiting around to listen to the inevitable diatribe on her constant brain farts lately, she rushed for the exit.

  The trip to Carleton Towers was a study in useless anxiety. Cursing at every red signal probably wasn’t necessary or productive, but it felt good. She careened into a vacant spot near the entrance. Second bonus of the night—hardly anyone stuck around work p
ast seven p.m., so the premium parking spaces were a free-for-all. Halfway to the doors she recalled her missing badge. Tossing out a few new swear words, she returned to her car and whipped the lanyard around her neck before hightailing it back to the building and swiping her card at the entry.

  Less than a minute later the elevator deposited her on the eighteenth floor and she dashed in the direction of her office. The moment she stepped into the reception area she instantly spied her wallet and cellphone sitting in silent mockery next to her wireless mouse. Her groan a mix of relief and weariness, she crossed to her desk and slumped in her chair. Now that she’d broken every land speed and traffic law to get here, she had no desire to move for at least five minutes.

  The sudden cramp in her calf muscles a firm reminder that running in six inch Louis Vuitton knockoffs was butt-ass dumb, she winced and kicked off her heels. Massaging her leg, she glanced around the dimly lit space. It was odd being alone in the office. Hell, she was probably the only one on the entire floor. She could kind of see the appeal of working an afterhours shift. No one around to bug you, and there was a certain peace in the quiet solitude. And biggest advantage of all—she didn’t have the overwhelming appeal of her hunky bosses to contend with. Then again, Leo and Devlin were notorious late night workers themselves, so she probably wouldn’t get much relief there.

  The moment the use of relief bloomed in her head, the word naturally rooted into a more sexual connotation. Jane’s earlier insistence on Leo and Devlin masturbating in their offices took center stage. A tingle coursed through Sidney’s clit, and she crossed her legs in a futile attempt to lessen the torment. It didn’t matter that she was utterly unconvinced of Jane’s cockamamie theory. Her depraved mind was all too eager to latch on to it with gleeful eagerness.

  Well aware that she was dangerously close to sinking neck-deep into the quicksand, she abandoned her seat and walked down the hall. She hesitated in Devlin’s doorway for a second before entering the room, a forbidden thrill flushing her skin. It probably made her the lamest naughty girl in history, but it did feel incredibly bold and daring to be in his office without a valid excuse for being there. Maybe she’d really spice things up by fondling his stylus. Biting back a giggle, she circled the room, deliberately touching everything. At least she didn’t do anything lewd like rub her boobs on his desk top. She did have some restraint.

  After treating Leo’s office to a similar nosy inspection, she reluctantly conceded that she’d invaded their privacy to a satisfactory enough degree and started to head for the exit. That’s when the double doors leading into the laboratory caught her eye. Her footsteps stalling, she gnawed her bottom lip.

  She really shouldn’t go in there. Not that she’d get in trouble if she did. She’d been inside the lab a handful of times since joining Phenom. Besides, Leo and Devlin granted her unrestricted access to anywhere in the building, so what was the big deal? Really, it was downright silly that her nerves were dancing the Jitterbug like this. What was the worst that could happen? The colony of mutant Venus Flytraps they were secretly growing in there would eat her the moment she crossed the threshold?

  “Hahaha. Right.” She was at least thirty percent positive that wouldn’t happen. Not terrible odds when you got down to it. Sucking in a steadying breath, she closed the distance between her and those mystical beckoning doors and waved her badge in front of the keypad. The deadbolts released with an audible click.

  “Here goes nothing.” She stepped inside, and blinked reflexively as the motion activated lights illuminated the stark white space. Her luck was taking a turn—no Little Shop of Horrors botanical abominations waiting to pounce. The tiles cool and slippery beneath her stocking-clad feet, she tiptoed to the closest workstation. A rack of test tubes and beakers were lined up in a row on the glass countertop. Each one held a clear, rosy pink substance. It had to be the Xtacy elixir. Although she’d never actually seen the product up close and personal, she’d cataloged enough test trial photos of it this past year to know what she was looking at.

  Again her wayward thoughts trekked to Jane’s wild claims. He is around that liquid Spanish Fly juice twelve fucking hours a day. Talk about some serious contact buzz.

  Even if the elixir worked on men, not freakin’ likely it’d have that powerful of an effect. It’d have to be some crazy Harry Potter-ized shit to drive someone into manic chicken choking. Twitching her nose, she plucked the last vial on the left from its holder and sniffed at it. The subtly sweet aroma of roses drifted up her nostrils, along with some other unrecognizable scent that held a distinctly tangy undertone. Overall, it was pleasant, but nothing to write home—

  A warm, decadent lick of sensation curled low in her tummy, its sensual tendrils spiraling outward. Her nipples pebbled and her clit throbbed. “Ooh.” Well now. That was certainly interesting. Intrigued, she experimented with a longer, fuller inhalation. The gentle ripple in her lady parts kicked into a full blown tidal wave of intensity. Holy shit. She jolted, and the test tube went flying. Horrified, she scrabbled to catch the vial but it slipped out of reach and shattered on the floor, its contents splattering everywhere.

  “No, no, no.” Heart racing, she began to drop onto her hands and knees before recalling the shards of glass. After a frantic scan of her surroundings for something to mop the mess up with, she settled on the paper towel dispenser hanging on the opposite wall. Wadding a bunch of the towels, she furiously scrubbed at the liquid pooled on the tiles, trying her best to scoop up the broken pieces of the test tube at the same time.

  Somewhere during the process it became abundantly clear that she was either breathing in an inordinate amount of the elixir, or absorbing it through her skin. Regardless of the point of contact, the aphrodisiac was undeniably having a field day with her body.

  Moaning, she tossed aside the sodden paper towels and wiped her perspiring forehead with the back of her hand. Her skin was too damn warm and...tingly. Dropping her arm, she wrestled with the buttons on her blouse, desperate to get some cool air on her overheated flesh. Her clumsy fingers bumped against her lace covered nipples and she bit her tongue to keep from whimpering. This was beyond torture. Seriously, what kind of sadists were Leo and Devlin to unleash this wicked horniness on womankind?

  Cursing her bosses to hell and back, she tore her top off and struggled to free herself from her bra straps. The damn things had taken on a life of their own and seemed determined to keep her trapped within their evil imprisonment for all eternity. Finally she gave up and resorted to scrunching her bra down to her waist. Rather than finding instant relief from the hot flashes sizzling her skin, the chilly air wafting from the AC amped up her torment. It felt like every inch of her skin was being subjected to whisper-fine kisses. While the titillating caress wasn’t exactly unpleasant, it was also doing nothing to ease the itchy need taking over her entire being.

  Her breaths coming in ragged bursts, she stroked her palms up along her abdomen before cupping her breasts. Normally she wasn’t overly sensitive to having them played with, but even the touch of her own hands intensified the wanton ache spreading through every cell in her body. She rolled her nipples between her fingertips, the pinch shooting like an arrow straight to her clit. Biting her lip, she pressed her knees together, the movement constricting the burst of pleasure into a tensed coil. One wrong move and she’d completely lose it.

  She caught her reflection in the shiny surface of the stainless steel equipment locker across the way. Her hair was a bedraggled disaster and she was wearing a bra belt. Yeah, clearly she so had her shit together here. Equally tempted to laugh and cry, she compromised with a giggling sob. She shifted her weight to the left, and bit back another whimper when the crotch of her panties pulled taut between her pussy lips. A hedonistic craving gripped her tight, overwhelming her with images of Leo and Devlin stripping her naked and laying her out on the nearby worktable. No restraints were anywhere in sight, but her fevered imagining easily fabricated ones, and her bosses secured her in
the straps before shrugging from their lab coats. They wore nothing underneath. Wonderful how fantasies conveniently disposed of pesky things like clothes.

  Her breasts quivering with each breath she sucked in and expelled out, she waited to see what punishment they had in store for her willful trespassing. Leo strode to the equipment locker and grabbed something before returning to her. While Devlin leaned over her and licked her nipples into stiff prominence, Leo dabbed a healthy portion of the Xtacy elixir onto her clit and suctioned one of the tiny devices he’d fetched from the cupboard into place on her throbbing bud. He passed a matching pair of suction cups to Devlin to be affixed to her nipples. The second all three of the apparatuses were activated an excruciating current of arousal ceaselessly zip lined throughout her body.

  She cried, begged, and cursed for them to let her come, but her pleadings fell on deaf ears. Instead Devlin pressed a lever that angled the table so her head was slightly lower than her feet. His beautiful cock nudged at her lips and she dutifully opened to take him. The firm, velvety crown slid along the roof of her mouth and nudged against her tonsils. Utilizing a slower-than-molasses pace, he fucked her mouth, each pump of his hips lodging him slightly deeper down her throat.

  The teeny cups on her nipples and clit increased their maddening suction until she was arching in her restraints. It was almost as if the contraptions were directly synched with her sensory neurons and in particular to her response to Devlin. That hypothesis proved highly probable when Leo freed the straps on her ankles and dropped the end portion of the table supporting her legs. Even before he positioned his cock at her slit, she knew he was going to fuck her. Well, her body did anyway, because the suction cups went haywire and her pussy flooded with moisture. She was so wet the succulent sound of his penetration filled the room.

  The erotic soundtrack of their moans and the slapping of flesh was more than she could take. But still they tormented her with pleasure beyond compare without actually allowing her release. Every time the hint of her orgasm peeked from the horizon, Leo slipped from her pussy, causing the suction cups to ease up. As soon as the tidal wave ebbed to a peaceful ripple, he pushed inside her again and steadily spiked her pleasure back into the stratosphere before pulling out and repeating the process. He and Devlin relentlessly teased and tortured her this way for what seemed an eternity.