Chapter 7 SEVEN

The club was loud and annoying. Sweaty bodies swayed under dim lights, drowning in bass, smoke from pipes, and scent. Red and violet strobes painted half-naked limbs in flashes. Moans mixed with laughter. The air smelled like heat and perfume and desperation.

Mark sat in the VIP lounge of The Sanctum, the club which was below Lucas's sex club, completely untouched by it all. His posture was perfect and proper. His expression unreadable. A glass of scotch sat untouched on the table in front of him.

"You look like a man forced into therapy," Lukas said, sliding in beside him, his grin far too knowing and teasing.

"I came, like I said I would." Mark replied flatly.

"And I'm proud of you. Growth is good" Lukas said, mockingly raising his glass at him. "Now tell me why you look like you just swallowed a stapler or one has been used on you."

Mark didn't respond to his taunts. He was too busy thinking how he should tell him about what was going on.

"What's wrong man, you are actually scaring me. First you call me asking about women and feelings, then you agreed to come for a show and then you actually did come." Lucas said leaning forward.

"It's my secretary." Mark said in a clipped tone.

"Yh you mentioned that you have a new one, what about her." Lucas looked perplexed on why they were talking about a secretary.

"I have been having strange feelings and thoughts when I'm around her." Mark spat out like such words burned him.

Lukas gave him a sidelong glance. "So... is it the girl? Is she that pretty."

Mark's eye twitched. "She's not the problem."

"Uh-huh. You're obsessing. I know that look, you are not just curious. You have been completely rattled." Lukas leaned forward, lowering his voice. "This girl's making you feel, isn't she? She's making you feel a whole lot of things."

Mark's jaw clenched.

Lukas chuckled. "Let me guess, she's probably a quiet one? Big doe eyes? Walks like she's afraid to take up space but breathes like she wants to be devoured? And you just can't help but want to be the one who devours her."

"It's not like that." Mark refused. "I don't want to devour anyone, she just reacts in certain ways near me."

"And you want to push her reactions more. You want to see how far she will go and how much you affect her." Lucas said.

Mark didn't answer, but that told Lukas everything he needed.

"Alright," Lukas said, finishing his drink and signaling toward the stage. "Time for a little experiment. One lap dance from one of the hottest girls tonight. You don't even have to touch. Just watch. Let's see what stirs, if anything and she has a resemblance to your Doe eyed girl."

Mark followed him reluctantly and sat on a love couch in front of a pole dancing pod.

The dancer approached, gorgeous, dripping confidence. She slid onto his lap with practiced ease, hips rolling, perfume overwhelming. Her fingers grazed his chest, her lips dangerously close to his ear. Her eyes were big and cute alright but they weren't Teresa's, they didn't have the influx of emotions or the flash or fear and something deeper, something that he wanted to uncover so badly.

Mark didn't flinch.

But he didn't react either.

He felt nothing. Not aroused. Not interested. Just... tired. It felt clinical, forced, like watching a scene through a dirty window. Mechanical, loud, very obvious and predictable movement.

He shifted under her, his face tightening with discomfort. The woman noticed but didn't stop.

He leaned toward Lukas and said lowly, "This is disgusting."

Then he shoved the woman off his lap rudely, stood up and walked away.

---

By the time he reached his car, Mark was pulsing with something he couldn't name. Irritation? Guilt? Some grotesque disappointment in his own body? He didn't understand.

As he slid into the back seat, he unlocked his phone and did something impulsive. Something he only did for official usage.

He opened the company's employee monitoring app and clicked on Teresa's profile.

Teresa's badge had last been scanned at 9:16 p.m. So she was still at the office. Still inside. All alone.

He didn't think not that he wanted to . He just told the driver, "Take me to the office. Now."

******

The building was silent. Only a few security lights buzzed quietly overhead as Mark stepped into the executive hallway. His shoes clicked softly against the polished floor.

He hadn't planned what he'd say. He wasn't sure why he even came. Maybe he needed to see her, make sure she wasn't just another trick of his mind. Maybe he wanted to test her reaction again to fulfill some sick fantasy and feeling that he had.

But then he saw the light beneath his office door. His face scrunched up in irritation at the thought of an unauthorized person being in his personal space. He made to storm inside and confront the person.

And then he heard something that made him stop at the door.

A whimper. A female's, desperate and needy.

Mark froze in place.

The door was slightly ajar and so after some moments of hesitation, he pushed it open, quietly.

And there she was.

Teresa. The demon that had been haunting his thoughts and was now in his office.

She was bent back in his chair, her shirt unbuttoned revealing her creamy breasts that were held in her pink bra, one hand gripping the armrest, the other buried between her legs.

Her skirt lay crumpled on the floor like a fallen flag. Her panties, baby pink, rested on his desk like a forgotten sin.

She hadn't seen him yet.

He should've left once he saw her disheveled look. He should have called security to deal with her.

But he didn't.

He stood there and watched.

Every breath she took was shaky, urgent. Her hips rocked gently, her eyes fluttered shut, and her lips parted in breathless, needy gasps. A soft moan escaped her throat, and he felt it, like something crawling beneath his skin.

"Mark..."

She whispered it.

He didn't move.

He couldn't dare and that moment. A sick sense of satisfaction rose within him.

She unraveled right there, fingers trembling as she came with a shaky gasp, her body curling forward as if the pleasure physically overtook her.

Then, she looked up.

Saw him.

Everything inside her froze.

Her mouth opened, no sound came out. Her chest rose and fell in panic. Her big eyes widened in fear.

Mark didn't blink.

He just looked at her, then her panties. Then back at her. Still, he said nothing.

Just turned.And walked out.