Page 1 of Of Mercury and Mist

ONE

Micha

The pitter-patter of feet echoed down the hallway, the noise bouncing off the walls. As I waited, the sound transformed to carefully measured steps designed to avoid detection.

The woman’s excitement was tangible, momentarily clouding my senses, and I couldn’t help myself. I inhaled, drinking in the anxiety through my parted lips.

Her emotions were so heightened I could taste each of them from all the way around the corner where I stood, hidden from prying eyes. Each sentiment she experienced had its own unique flavor. It was the savory spice of her worry that dripped down my throat, drawing my hunger. She’d given away her intent, flooding the air with waves of adrenaline and topping it with a sprinkling of fear. It was delicious, but everything about her was.

I knew what she was doing. There was no other conclusion to come to, though I desperately wished there were. At this hour, there was one reason for her to be sneaking around like a common thief. Her effort to continue on silently was unmistakable.

Disappointment weighed heavily on my soul, the same as if she’d held me underwater. I should’ve known. Humans were so tricky, after all. Foolish of me to expect she’d be any different. Ridiculous of her to think I wouldn’t be watching.

Unfortunately, there was only one way to handle this treason.

The exit signs hanging overhead illuminated with an orange glow, and thin, neon blue bands of light shone from underneath the row of doors beaming against dark, glossy flooring. The combination was just enough to silhouette her lithe form, to lovingly trace her graceful curves. I’d have seen her either way, but she sparkled like a grand prize with the extra touch of manmade light highlighting her figure.

It was easy for me to disappear in the dark shadows, to become utterly invisible. Surprising her would be very sweet and I was thankful no one else would discover her. She belonged to me.

As much as she’d always frustrated me, I wasn’t eager to finish her. She wasn’t the first woman to steal from me, but she would be the last.

I’d thought she was different, and it was infuriating that my impaired judgment made me blind to her actions. After everything I’d done for her, this was how she repaid me.

The woman was spectacular, and it confounded me she’d stoop to this level, sneaking around where she didn’t belong.

She was phenomenal at her job and constantly ahead of everyone else. She got along with anyone she encountered, even when she held herself at an arm’s length. She was scared of something, it seemed like.

Ashley was the lead in employee in our social media department here at Ipomoea, the pharmaceutical company me and my best friend Josiah owned and ran. While she had other managers to answer to, I was her boss. Finding her here after hours, in an area where she did not have security clearance, did not bode well.

Our rules were harsh and punishment for breaking them—swift. There were no second chances. Many of our products were innovative and experimental and security breaches had the potential to destroy what we’d painstakingly built. Every employee signed a confidential contract and non-disclosure agreements upon hiring. Punctuality, discretion, respect, cleanliness, and adherence to those rules were nonnegotiable.

I’d had to use a heavy hand with her more than once to keep her in line with my expectations. Perhaps it was her independence that led her to this illicit after-hours activity of hers.

I’d tried but she didn’t appreciate my input or direction to correct her behavior, and she thought I didn’t know she had me listed in her contacts as “Asshole.” Remembering that tidbit sent a frisson of pleasure coursing through me. I was significant enough in her mind, she’d given me a special moniker.

She seemed oblivious to my affection. She didn’t notice the effect she had on me and others, the way she lit up every room the moment she entered, her joy and love of life was infectious, touching everyone around her. No one was immune, including me. I’d taken special interest in her, always making sure she had whatever she needed, including her favorite coffee. Before Ashley, I’d never favored any employee above the others. It was a shame it had to end this way.

Thump, thump, thump.

The frenetic beat of her heart pulsed in my ears.

Her scent grew stronger as anxiety and the resulting rush of adrenaline in her veins urged her to suddenly race onward toward her demise. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be in this area of the building without permission, and she knew the consequences. What happened next would be entirely her own doing.

When she signed the employment contracts, the agreement was legally binding. It was always too late when people found out our termination process was in fact quite literal.

Ipomoea was owned and run by vampires and demons, and our security was nearly infallible. She would quickly find out we were not a business where one could break the rules.

The electronic chirp of a keycard being used broke the silence.

The woman’s scent grew stronger, refilling my head with her mouthwatering aroma The unique fragrance had bewitched me the very moment I’d first set eyes on her. Her in a little skirt and the fuzzy black sweater she wore all the time permanently stamped a picture inside my fantasies while I sat at my desk in quiet moments. She’d walked into the office that first day, her curly hair bouncing around her shoulders, and instantly, I was smitten.

Employees were off-limits for what I had in mind with her. Sinking my teeth into her heart like an apple while plunging my cock into her silky depths for relief were regrettably forbidden.

It’d turned out I wasn’t the only one recently afflicted with a burning desire for one of these mortal women we’d hired. Ashley and a friend had been at a street festival when the other woman spotted Josiah, my best friend and boss, standing over a body. The friend had assumed the scene was merely a reenactment or show put on by a theater group enlisted to provide the evening’s entertainment.

It was not. It was the result of a breach in our security.

No one should have seen us, but we’d gotten distracted. Ashley’s friend Della would have been killed, but Josiah wouldn’t let me touch her.

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