The Stand Off

by Z. Stefani

  “What?” Lux asked with a partial frown as she went straight for the coffee pot.

  “You’re late,” Pixie said.

  “So.” She shrugged as she filled her cup.

  “So, you’re never late.”

  “I didn’t get much sleep.”

  “Having dreams about the neck biting, wrecking ball man?” Pixie grinned.

  Lux rolled her eyes and walked away as Pixie chuckled.

  ***

  After Lux finished teaching her class, she was ready for a little break. She couldn’t decide whether she wanted to take a long, hot bubble bath or a lengthy nap. She was preparing to go upstairs when Remy, one of the students, ran up to her.

  “Lux, Kiki told me to tell you that there’s men in the other side of the building again,” Remy said holding his saxophone.

  “Thank you Remy. How are you doing with your new song?” Lux asked calmly despite her rising frustration.

  “It’s coming along great; thanks again for the extra reeds.”

  “How is your mother feeling?” Lux asked.

  “She’s doing much better; she said to thank Momma Pax for the soup.”

  “I’ll tell her.”

  “When is she going to come back to class?”

  “Soon,” Lux nodded, wishing it were true.

  “Thank you Lux,” he said in a sing-song voice and smiled brightly before he ran off.

  Lux took a slow, deep breath before she turned around and headed to the other side of the building to see what was going on. She had just hit the decorated main hallway when she saw the same group of men from yesterday. Today, instead of signs and tape, they were putting up barriers to block the Lounge entrances. She immediately recognized the man she’d spoken to previously and headed straight for him.

  “What are you doing?” she asked as she looked at his name tag, “Floyd.”

  “Putting up the barriers to block off the sections,” he said nervously, despite his large, six foot plus frame.

  “No! You get these things out of here right now!” she demanded.

  “Sorry Miss, we’re just doing our job.” He shrugged helplessly.

  “You see that disgusting line your horrible boss forced you to put on the floor?”

  She pointed to the line of red tape across the middle of the lounge.

  “Yes.”

  “That means that your road block is on my side,” she grabbed the heavy barrier and pulled it from him. “So that means that this is mine!”

  She glared at him for a moment before she turned around and began to drag the long roadblock down the hall. Paying no attention to her aching muscles, she hauled it out of the front door. She heaved it down the front steps; she was so angry that she’d forgotten how heavy it was. She cursed Dean under her breath the entire time, calling him vile names as she dragged the road block to the street.

  “What are you doing Lux?” Pixie asked as she raced out of the building behind her sister.

  “I need to borrow your truck; here take my car.” She tossed Pixie her keys.

  “What is this?”

  “They are trying to barricade the other side of the building now,” Lux explained.

  Pixie gasped in horror and shook her head, “No way.”

  “Yes,” Lux answered with a sharp nod.

  She dragged the road block over to Pixie’s day glow, tangerine truck. Like Lux’s car, it was a piece of shit, but had a great paintjob. Lolo was an amazing artist who specialized in fixing up car exteriors.

  “I didn’t think it would come to this,” Pixie sighed.

  “This is just the beginning. Help me get this roadblock in the back.”

  “Where are you taking it?” Pixie asked as she helped Lux lift it into the back of the truck.

  “To Mr. Blake.” She took the keys from Pixie and got into the driver’s side.

  “I’m coming with,” Pixie jumped into the passenger’s seat.

  “I can’t believe he did this.”

  Lux started the car and immediately turned the music down when it blared through the speakers.

  “You’re not going to do anything crazy are you?” Pixie asked.

  “Define crazy,” she asked as she drove down the road.

  “Oh you know, dragging a roadblock into Dean Blake’s office or something like that.”

  “Then I guess we have different definitions of crazy. I don’t consider that crazy, I consider that fair play. He should be thankful I am considerate enough to return his property to him.”

  “Can we talk about this, Lux?”

  “No,” she barked.

  “Okay,” Pixie sighed again as she turned the music back up and began to sing along.

  Although Lux was obeying most of the traffic laws, she would occasionally speed. Her need to vent on Dean was currently more powerful than her ability to obey the traffic laws.

  “This crazy, ridiculously fast, and erratic driving is making me a tad nervous, dear sister. Not to mention that look on your face. Let’s not forget how rash you can be when provoked,” Pixie said as she looked at Lux.

  “Then you better hold on,” Lux warned as she sped the rest of the way.

  Once outside the building, Pixie turned to her sister and spoke, “Do you want me to come in with you?”

  “No I want you to park in front and keep the truck running… just in case.”

  “Good idea.”

  “I’ll be out in 20 minutes or less.”

  “And if you’re not?”

  “I’ll need a distraction.”

  “Gotcha. I’ll be waiting for you out front.” She winked.

  Lux boldly dragged the dirty, road block into the building and through the posh lobby. She ignored the stares and whispers as she headed towards the elevator. She hauled it inside of the elevator but had to slant it a little to make it fit. Once she arrived at the top floor, she dragged it past the receptionist at the main desk. The receptionist just smiled, but Lux saw her grab the phone and heard her warn Dean Blake’s personal secretary. Lux put a little pep in her step as she pulled the road block down the hall to Dean’s office.

  Lux watched his personal secretary hang up the phone and shake her head vigorously.

  “He’s busy right now, he can’t be disturbed.”

  “Save it,” she said as she dragged it to the door.

  “He’s on an important phone call.”

  “Not for long,” Lux said before she knocked on his door and immediately opened it; thankful that it was not locked.

  The secretary poked her head in the door and cried in her cartoonish voice, “I’m sorry Mr. Blake; I told her that you were very busy. I tried to stop her.”

  “Leave us,” he said to his secretary, who promptly nodded and closed the door.

  Dean sat at his desk and watched with curiosity as Lux dragged the road block into his office. Lux dropped the end she’d been holding up and it hit the floor with a loud thud. She stood before the road block, her hands on her hips as she stared at him.

  “What is this?” he asked.

  “One of the many road blocks that your men are putting up in my building.”

  “What section?”

  “You know what section.”

  “I own that section,” he reminded her.

  “You don’t own the section where they put the barriers.”

  “Does it really make a difference? The part that I own happens to be a big portion of that nightclub. Your part of the lounge will be useless once my half is in a pile on the ground.”

  “That lounge is the only thing that keeps us going financially, the one thing that allows us to continue.”

  “With what I offered you, you could open a new lounge.”

  “I told you, I’m not giving up The Music Hall,” She snapped at him.

  “Then get used to the blocks. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said dismissively, and Lux narrowed her eyes.

  She stomped over to his desk, grabbed the pen from his hand, and threw it acro
ss the room.

  “No I will not excuse you. You call your men right now and tell them to remove those blocks! We have a new band debuting, we need that club cleared.”

  He rose from his chair and walked around the desk to stand before her. Her little display of anger had turned him on beyond reason. He looked into her eyes to see the thin, gold flecks sparking in the hazel-brown depths. She was something else; something he still couldn’t put his finger on. He’d never met anyone like her before. She, alone, managed to provoke these foreign emotions in him.

  “And what would you do for me in return?” he asked unflinchingly.

  “I’ll hold off on exposing all of those dirty little secrets.”

  “Of course you will; that’s your leverage. If you use that card now, you won’t have it when you need it. Besides if I really cared, I would have already done something about it.”

  “You did. You called off the original wrecking date.”

  “I had a deal with the governor I needed to see to before I let you release those photos. Our deal is set in stone; those pictures could never affect it now.”

  “I’ll pay you.”

  “I don’t want your money; I have more than enough as it is.” He took another step towards her.

  “Then I would thank you and tell you that you’re not the egomaniacal, tyrannical, greedy, hotheaded, spoiled, dream-wrecking yuppie that I believed you were.”

  “I could pay a room full of people to tell me that. What could you give to me that I can’t buy from someone else?”

  “What. Do. You. Want? Stop playing games and just tell me.”

  “Recently, very recently, I’ve come across something that I may want almost as much as that property.”

  “What is it?”

  “Not what… who.”

  “What do you mean by whom?” her irritation was growing with his fragmented sentences.

  “By who, I mean you.” When he spoke, his words seemed to echo through her head at top volume. “Your attitude is refreshing, albeit infuriating. I would love to have you at my disposal.”

  “Like I would ever willingly be at your disposal. I’m not into servitude.”

  “Servitude is the perfect word because you would serve me; day and night. Make no mistake about that.” He stepped closer as she stepped back.

  “Do you mean serve you as in: your personal lap dog -slash- assistant slave?” she raised her chin haughtily despite the look of repulsion that she wore.

  “No, as in my: on all fours, legs spread wide while I’m shoving my cock in various holes- slash- full-time slave.”

  She looked at him for a moment while the impact of his words hit her like a brick. She stood there for what seemed like an hour while his words fully penetrated and her body responded accordingly.

  “Over my dead body,” she retorted although the thought shot a spark of electricity through her nether region and her vagina was beginning to heat up.

  “I’m not into that; I want you alive and begging. I would love to hear that reckless mouth of yours begging me to make you come.”

  He grabbed her hand and squeezed for a moment before she yanked it back.

  His words continued to shock her; and for the first time in her life, she was actually speechless. Although she could not form a conscious thought in her head, she could feel the moisture begin to seep from her vagina. She had to get out of this room… now! This was one area where she was obviously defenseless. She could combat against anything with him, except this. She knew her limitations.

  Sensing her resistance, he grabbed her by the back of her neck and slammed his lips against hers. He felt it immediately, that spark she hid deep inside was ignited. Then just as quickly as she had silently consented, she yanked back. She pulled her hand back to slap him, but he caught her wrist and held it tight.

  “If you slap me, then I get to slap your breasts until you apologize for your behavior. We both know how stubborn you are; I got a feeling I’ll be smacking those tits all night.”

  “You can’t talk to me like that,” she protested as she mentally begged her body to cool down.

  “Think nasty thoughts, disgustingly vile thoughts!” She internally chanted.

  “You changed the dynamics of this business relationship the minute you started snooping into my sex life. You saw all the nasty things that I did to the governor’s wife so don’t play innocent with me. I know exactly what you saw, nothing I say could shock you more than what is on those pictures.”

  She was suddenly overwhelmed with the images she had seen in the pictures. The ropes, the clamps, the crazy contraptions… and that whip. She tried to mentally stall her nipples from hardening.

  “You’re perversity runs deep,” she said in a soft tone.

  “It does. You should stop looking at the pictures. If you want to know how I fuck, then you should just let me show you.”

  “You’re so vulgar,” she spat, although the thought was interesting.

  “Am I? Then why are you so turned on?” he asked.

  It was at that moment that she realized that he knew the truth. She knew that he could see exactly what she’d been trying to hide. She wasn’t shocked; the man thrived on sex. He was probably well schooled on the signs. She was busted, caught with the smoking gun in hand. But she wouldn’t be Lux Hart if she didn’t try to fight her way out of it.

  “Don’t mistake my shock and repulsion for stimulation,” she barked at him.

  “I’m not; I know the difference very well.”

  “Obviously not,” she retorted.

  “Why would you come back to my office?”

  “To return your road block.”

  “You could have sent someone else to return that. Tell me why you’re really here?”

  “I told you already!”

  “I think you came to see me.”

  His eyes were relentless, and she was beginning to feel the heat from his untamed stare igniting her body. Could he tell that her nipples had hardened? Could he see the steam that she swore was billowing from between her legs?

  “You’re too cocky. You’re so used to women ripping off their panties and sliding to home base on your face, that you assume all women feel the same. Sorry to have to be the one to mutilate your fucking ego, pal, but not all women want you… I certainly don’t.”

  She tried to walk away, but he grabbed her and held her in place.

  “That’s not being cocky, that’s reading the signs. I’m confident enough to know if I yanked up that skirt and slid my hand in your panties, I would pull back wet fingers.” He said in a tone that made her clit hum relentlessly. He was right, but she would be damned if she let him know how deeply she was affected by his words.

  “If you slid your hand in my panties you would have no fingers left to pull back,” she hissed, refusing to succumb to his effective vulgarity.

  “Is that a bet?” He slid his hand down her belly and rested his fingers against her sex.

  “Don’t touch me.” She tried to grab his hand, but he grabbed both of her wrists and held them tightly.

  “Why not? You’re in my office making demands, why can’t I make a few of my own? I warned you how it would be if you came back here.”

  He pulled her closer, and she was overwhelmed by his presence. He smelled so fresh and so appealing. She could once again feel his muscles working against her skin. She wanted to yank up her shirt and rub her breasts against his bare chest.

  “Stop it!” her inner voice echoed through her head. She had to get the hell away from him… immediately.

  “Let go of me!” she hissed and tried to pull away from him, but he refused to let her go.

  “You’re even sexier when you’re mad. You’re eyes spark, you yell, and your nipples get hard.” He held her tightly as the side of his mouth curled up into a smug smile. “I’m betting you get wet, too.”

  “If you don’t let go of me…”

  “What are you going to do? Struggle some more? I wish you would
, I love the way your tits bounce under your shirt when you struggle. If you struggle hard enough, maybe you’ll pop that top button.”

  She instantly stopped struggling and glared at him.