Aldeth Abani's Estate

[Devanus Zeller]

This is the home of Aldeth Abani, businessman and arms dealer.

[Gia Trakana]

OOC: Any godmoding in this post is done with permission

Larianna had been in a bad mood the rest of the day. That normally happened when your boss threatened your pay and your job. She liked her job, despite its challenges. In fact, the challenges were part of the reason she enjoyed it. Yes, the pay was certainly a good part of it, but she was fine with the pay she had received prior to her promotion five years ago. The pay she got now though was a considerable amount more, and of course, she liked it a hell of a lot more. It allowed her a lot more freedom. Of course, she had some saved up, just in case, but not nearly enough should Aldeth decide to demote or take the loss of the Yagara deal out of her pay. Neither were anything that she wanted, and she would do what she could to keep it and keep him happy.

Larianna didn’t go home after work, but merely stopped by one of the market stalls and grabbed an apple to eat. Finishing it on her way to Aldeth’s house, her grip tightened on the folder in her hand. It was the sales figures of the past two weeks that he’d been gone. The auburn-haired woman had not brought it along with her to their lunch meeting, and of course the news of the Yagara deal and probably pushed that thought from both of their minds. She knew that it wouldn’t completely take away the anger he felt at her over it, but at least he could see that overall, things were going very well. Part of her wondered if she shouldn’t just go home, and leave it until tomorrow. No, she should go and show it to him. It doesn’t mean that she has to be there that long.

Finally, Larianna turned onto the street that his estate was on. It was a short amount of time before she was there, and walking up to his door. She hoped that he wasn’t pissed off at her for interrupting him at at home, not that it was the first time she had been there. It was a short amount of time before Aldeth was there at the door, letting her in. She turned to him. Of course, her boss wanted to know what she wanted. “I brought you the sales figures,” she said, holding out a folder for him. “It’s over the last two weeks that you’ve been gone.” She shrugged her shoulders slightly. “I thought you’d want to see them.” She hoped that she was right, and that he had at least calmed down a little bit since this afternoon, but as long as she’d known him, she didn’t think that would be the case.

[Devanus Zeller]

Aldeth had elected not to go into work that day. After his infuriating lunch with Larianna, he had decided he could afford to just go home and blow off some steam, which for Aldeth meant getting drunk. He had not so much as sat down with his first martini, however, when his eyes fell on the files that Lara had given him at lunch. He wanted to forget about them, but now that he remembered they were here, he couldn't. As such, dinnertime found him seated on the couch, his drink forgotten on the bar, as he pored over every single detail. If he had to take the loss, he wanted to know where the concessions were made, and just whom he had to come down on. Larianna was good for that at least; she was an efficient spy, and had made notes in the margins about which members of the board had which ideas. Much as he might have liked to, Aldeth did not have the time or the resources to fire the lot of them every two weeks, and as such had to be very careful whom he tried to kick out and when.

When he heard the door, Aldeth glanced at the time. Now who would that be? His house was not exactly low-profile, but who would just show up unannounced? Standing up, Aldeth fixed his hair, which he had messed up over the course of the afternoon by running his fingers over his scalp, and straightened his clothes. Thus made presentable, he opened the door to find his EA standing there, yet another folder in her hands. She was there, apparently, to hand him the numbers for the two weeks he had been in Aurora Valley. Aldeth did not see why she could not have simply handed these to him the next morning, unless there was something he needed to see now.

"What's so urgent it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Aldeth asked sharply, following Larianna back to his living room as he flipped the folder open. Whatever anger had diminished over the course of the afternoon had only been replaced by stress, and thus his overall mood had not really improved any since she had last seen him. Dropping back onto the couch, Aldeth waved Larianna toward the bar. "Get me my drink; fix yourself one if you want." Whatever could be said against Aldeth, his upbringing had ensured he was rarely a terrible host.

Aldeth flipped through the file twice before going back to scrutinize it. There was nothing in it of particular note; in fact, if anything, things had gone better than he had anticipated. Profit would be up this quarter, even with the Yagara deal, but there was nothing in there that needed his immediate interest, even if the firing of one of the managers that had looked at Larianna inappropriately was slightly amusing. Looking up at her as she came over with his drink, Aldeth repeated his question. "This looks fine, so what was so important, you couldn't have told me about it tomorrow?" He was irritated, yes, but giving her the benefit of the doubt. She could be a failure, but she rarely screwed up without reason, and it was possible that there was something not actually in the file that needed discussing.

[Gia Trakana]

Larianna knew that she had a made a mistake, but that was not something that she was going to admit to herself. It irritated her that he was still angry with her. In fact, she hated it. Part of her knew that she should have waited until morning to show him, because… really, how important was this? The other part had wanted to come anyway. For the moment, she kept that door shut. The auburn-haired woman followed her boss into his living room. She remembered it clearly. This was far from the first time that she had been in his house. He asked her to get his drink, and told her she could make her one. At least that was one thing – he was not an ungracious host. She mixed herself a drink real quick, a fruity drink that was on the light side. She was a lightweight, and not interested in getting drunk tonight, and especially not here in Aldeth’s house.

Again, Aldeth asked her why this couldn’t wait until morning, and she was irritated with herself that she had no answer. Larianna knew that if she didn’t think of something fast, all she would have to do was leave. He was still angry with her about business, and the thought occurred to her that she needed to get his mind off business if he was going to let her stay for any length of time at all. What else could they talk about besides business? Her mind went to the city that they were in. The Summer Solstice Festival was going at the moment, and their new Lord, Stratos Noaziel, and their Head of Security, Radkal Ryzom, were both going to be there. That would be it. After all, part of her was honestly curious about what he thought about their new, very young leader.

By the time she got back to Aldeth, Larianna already knew what she was going to say. “Actually, I wanted to ask your opinion on something,” she asked him. “I’m curious… what do you think about our new Lord, Stratos Noaziel.” She set the drink on the table in front of him. Grabbing a chair, she pulled it closer, but not close enough that he would think anything strange about it. “How old he is? Nineteen?” She thought it was ridiculous, actually. A nineteen year old? In charge of an entire city? The young woman didn’t care how skilled a combatant people said he was. Hadn’t Lady Gia of Aurora Valley been fifteen? What happened to having someone older and wiser be leader? She supposed age wasn’t a factor, but the idea of a teenager being in charge was simply ridiculous.

[Devanus Zeller]

So that was it, was it? Larianna had invited herself over to show him some routine reports and to ask what he thought of their new lord, Stratos. Somehow, Aldeth didn't think so. It was just silly on the face of it, and he did not believe that was what Lara was really here to talk about. Nor did he have the patience for such games. Aldeth had half a mind to throw her out, bodily if necessary. However, the topic she chose was one that he had a very strong opinion on, and was happy to at least share that. "Yes, I believe so." Aldeth shared Larianna's incredulity, though he kept his tone more neutral than hers.

Frankly, Aldeth did not know how Deproelior expected to be taken seriously by the other two cities with such a young and hot-headed leader. "If you ask me, having him as leader is going to spell the end for this city. Too young, too inexperienced, too impulsive. Hell, any of the army's generals would have done fine. I don't know what they were thinking. He's a prime example of why I'm not in politics." That was not to say that Aldeth could not make a political move on that stage; like giving one of Stratos' guards a faulty improvised explosive. Ah, yes, that could be fun.

Sipping professionally at his drink, Aldeth rubbed his temples with his other hand, tossing the file onto the table in front of him. What he should have done was turned the Aurora Valley trip into a vacation; after all, there was nothing the board could have messed up worse than the Yagara deal for the next little while. Even so, he could hardly trust the bastards to run his corporation for two weeks, never mind long enough for a proper vacation.

"I can only hope that the lord is leaving a positive impression at the festival, or else we're all in trouble." Being in the business of outfitting both armies, Aldeth knew full well that Deproelior alone would not fare well if Laknos sided with Aurora Valley. Somehow, even with what little he had seen of Stratos, Aldeth really, really doubted that he was the diplomatic type.

[Gia Trakana]

OOC: Godmoding done with permission

Larianna knew that it was stupid and slightly crazy that she had been in such a hurry to get in and out before she got here, and now that she was here, she didn’t want to leave. Logically, it made no sense, but then again, maybe there wasn’t really anything logical about it at all. The auburn-haired woman had admitted to herself a long time ago that she was very attracted to Aldeth. True, they had a drunken one night stand together five years ago, but of course, nothing else had happened. Why would it? He was her boss, and she was his secretary. True, shortly after that, he had promoted her to his Executive Assistant, a position that she still held to this day. She had convinced herself over the years that nothing else was going on, and that it had just been one mistake that they had both forgotten about.

Was that true, though? Larianna had been denying herself that maybe she was curious, maybe she wanted to see if they had chemistry without the alcohol. Was that the reason why she didn’t want to leave today? It certainly seemed that way, didn’t it? The woman figured that he was attracted to her, especially after that night five years ago. However, how much, and to what extent? She didn’t know. The auburn-haired woman also didn’t know if she tried anything that he wouldn’t reject her out right, probably insulting her in the process. Of course, she had no way of knowing that he wouldn’t accept her advances either, especially since she was fairly certain that he was attracted to her.

“I agree,” Larianna said, the thoughts going through her head not affecting her response time to Aldeth. “It seems rather ridiculous, if you ask me. One hopes that they had a good reason for putting him in such a position, and that this won’t all blow up in their faces – and us by virtue of living here.” He was right. If Stratos leave a bad impression at the festival, it would bode ill for everyone who lived in Deproelior. She may not be all that loyal to her city, but that didn’t mean that she wanted things to go south just yet. Yes, a war was good for Aldeth’s business, but still… It was a delicate situation, and having a foolish, young arrogant leader did not seem like a good idea to her at all.

Larianna’s mind went back to the reason why she was here. The auburn-haired woman knew that if she went through with this, it was risky. It could complicate both of their lives if he accepted it, and it would still complicate hers if he didn’t. She had no idea how Aldeth would really react to it, and that mad her nervous. Part of her knew that she could just leave and be done with it, apologizing for bothering him at home. He was not stupid, though, and surely he realized how lame it sounded that she had wanted to ask him about the new ruler, something she could ask him at any time and would not have had to go to his house after hours unannounced to do so. However, she could just let him think that, and he’d have no proof to the contrary. Of course, she was already here, and there was no guarantee of when she’d be over here again.

A slight sigh escaped the woman’s lips, and Larianna decided that she might as well go through with it. She set down her half-drunk drink that she had made herself, and had to quickly decide how she was going to go about this. Last time, she had been drunk, and had kissed him on a whim. Yes, they had ended up sleeping together, but she had no idea how he would react if she just did that now, when they were both sober. She couldn't think of anything else to get things going in the right direction. However, the auburn-haired woman was strong-willed and assertive. If she had wanted something, she always went for it unless she had a good reason not to. There was no reason why this should be any different.

Standing, Larianna walked over to him, pulling her skirt up to her thighs. She put one leg on either side of him, grabbing his drink and sitting it down on the table, so he didn't spill it or anything. With that, she kissed him passionately as she pressed herself up against him. She put both of his hands on her back – one on her lower back, the other farther up. One of her hands she had on his chest, the other on his shoulder. He broke the kiss, grabbed her waist, and asked her what she thought she was doing.

Fear ran though her. What in the hell was she thinking? Pissing him off was not something that she wanted to do, but Larianna was stuck - both literally and figuratively. Aldeth made sure that she couldn't think, thanks to a good move by herself, of course. Part of her almost considered trying to get her way out of this, but there was no good in doing that was there? Besides, she had a feeling that he wouldn't let her leave until he was damn well good and ready. What else was she supposed to do then? She was also a bit annoyed, because she was almost certain that he was attracted to her as well. "I'm sorry," she said. "It was stupid, but you can't tell me that it never crossed your mind."

[Devanus Zeller]

Aldeth was a man who was rarely truly surprised. He was a man of great intellect, necessarily, and someone who tried to stay at least two steps ahead of all forms of competition at all times, not to mention the law or snooping investors that may have suspected that he was playing both sides of the fence. Even when distracted by anger, as he often was, his mind was still sharp as a tack, ever calculating all possible angles and exploring the ones that looked most promising. However, even his mind had not predicted what Larianna had just done. In the space of a short few seconds, she had disarmed him, straddled him, and subsequently kissed him. Aldeth had been so caught off-guard that he had instinctively kissed her back until his mind had caught up to reality and he broke away. His hands found her waist, securing her in her current awkward position, as he demanded to know just what in the hell she had been thinking.

The night they had shared half a decade ago was something that Aldeth almost never thought about. His mind was busy with business matters nearly constantly, and when it did get around to recreation, Larianna was not where it drifted. He had written off as a mistake at the time, and relegated it to the bin in his mind of thoughts not worth the brain power. For Larianna, however, this was evidently not the case. Aldeth was not, now that he reflected on it, particularly surprised. Women were attracted to power like his, and looks like his, and Larianna had had a taste of him once. It was only natural she should want more, being in his presence every day. Yes, now that he paused to think about it, it was really only surprising that she had taken this long to try something like this. She was a headstrong woman, he had always known that, so it was just like her to do something this brazen without regard for her place.

That was something that Aldeth was all too happy to remind her of.

At her question, he snorted derisively, "So what if it has? What in the hell makes you think you have the right to just sit on my lap and kiss me just because it crossed your mind. Things cross my mind daily of what I might like to do to people, but even I don't just do them. For example..." Aldeth paused here. Given his position and his hold on Lara, this would be awkward, but he would manage it. Shifting his weight powerfully, Aldeth pushed off against the couch and stood up, his hands still around Larianna's waist, pinning it to his as he walked over to the picture window until her back was pressed against the glass. Thus in position, he continued, "It has crossed my mind to throw you out of this window after that little stunt. Are you saying I should do that?"

Aldeth had no problems admitting to himself that it had been a pleasant kiss. The night five years previous had been a mistake, but not an unpleasant one. The sex hadn't been great, but it had been alright, and she certainly had an attractive enough body; that much had not changed in the intervening time. None of that, however, excused just how presumptuous she had been in kissing him. Him! The great Aldeth Abani. Who was she to dare to do such a thing? Aldeth's grip tightened around Lara's waist as the thoughts flickered through his head. He would just have to teach her a lesson, oh yes.

His eyes flickered to the window briefly. It was quite a fall from here; if Larianna even survived it, she would be incapacitated for quite some time. That would certainly teach her a lesson, but though he hated to admit it, training someone else for her position would take time he did not have. No, he would have to find a solution less physically damaging. Fortunately, one immediately occurred to him. If she was going to try and kiss him, then she was going to get a lot more than she bargained for.

With his weight pinning her to the window, Aldeth removed one hand from around her waist and enveloped her left shoulder, taking the other and grabbing the top of her dress roughly, raking his fingers against the skin just above her breasts. "Thank you, Lara, for showing me the error of my ways. His voice dripped with sarcasm. "I see now that if a glorified secretary can do whatever she wants, then surely a man such as myself can." With one mighty tug, Aldeth ripped the top half of the dress clean away, leaving her exposed from the waist up. Taking a step back from the window, he tossed the cloth to the side, plucked her off of his waist, and dropped her unceremoniously to the floor.

[Gia Trakana]

Larianna had a feeling that she might have gotten herself into a situation where there was no good outcome. She listened to him rant, and he was obviously mad at her. She should have seen that coming. She prided herself on being intelligent, but there was nothing that she could do about that now. The auburn-haired woman couldn’t deny that she had enjoyed the kissing, and obviously part of him had, too. He had kissed her back before he broke it. He proceeded to pick up her up and walk her over to the window, pushing her back up against it. Her mind flashed back to the night five years ago. He had pushed her up against a wall that night, but the circumstances had been quite different. Of course, she was not stupid enough to answer his question. Her answer would no, of course he shouldn’t throw her out a window. She wasn’t sure if he’d actually do it, but it sent an unpleasant chill down her spine nonetheless.

Larianna gasped in surprise as he repositioned his arms, and proceeded to rip the top of her lavender dress. He then moved away from the window, tore the cloth that had been the top of her dress off, and then dropped her on the floor. The auburn-haired woman resisted the urge to complain about the bruises she would have in the morning from that little stunt, but she far preferred being half naked and on the floor to being thrown out a window. She knew that he probably had only resisted the urge because replacing her would not be an easy job – it was doable, but nothing something he could on a whim. Of course, now, she was half-naked in front of her boss on the floor. Her dress, one of her favorites, was torn, and she was glad that the bottom half was still holding up. If it had been any less tight, it probably be wouldn’t be. The question remained what she was going to do now.

Larianna pulled herself off the floor, and did not give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was upset about the dress. She had other things to worry about right now, and she was going to throw a tantrum like some little kid. She was a full grown woman, and she could damn well buy another dress. Of course, she had to get home first, and she wasn’t sure how she was going to do that. Surely, people would start at a woman walking home in a skirt and a bra. “Was that your plan?” She asked, keeping all note of sarcasm out of her voice. “Just ripping my dress in half, or did you have something else planned?” She walked forward until she was only a few inches from him, and looked up at him. “Oh, wait, you always have something else planned, don’t you? You’re perfect.”

Larianna knew full well that could come off as flattery, and surely she knew that Aldeth thought he was sure. She didn’t, of course. Her boss may have his strong points, but he had a negative point to match each one. He didn’t see it that way, and she knew that. It wasn’t her intention to flatter him right now,; she was really just feeling snarky. She also knew that if the flattery didn’t distract him, he could do something else to her, or just throw her out. Either way, she just had to ask if he had some other grand scheme in mind. Part of her was curious. The other part just wanted to see if he did do something else or if he just laughed at her and threw her out. That would make walking home rather awkward, and surely he would laugh about that. She knew that one of these days her curiosity would get her into trouble, if it hasn’t already.

[Devanus Zeller]

She had spunk, Aldeth had to give her that. Not many people would have dared stand up to him in the way that she was, and fewer still after he had ripped their clothing in two. Still, that did nothing to improve her position in Aldeth's mind, though the image of her was certainly more pleasing, as she looked a good deal more ridiculous in her current getup. Aldeth did nothing to hide his bemused smile at the sight of her approaching him dressed as she was.

As it happened, Aldeth did not have much of a plan beyond what he had just done. He had quite literally taken his cue from her and done whatever had come to mind in that moment. Now, however, she was questioning his plans, and by extension his perfection in always having a plan, and so one formed in his mind in that very instant. Of course he had a plan; Aldeth did nothing without some end goal in mind, and every move, even an apparent concession, was in pursuit of that goal. Just because he had one, however, did not mean that he needed to reveal it to Larianna. No, she could keep wondering what he was up to. He quite liked the idea of keeping her guessing.

"Of course I have something else planned," Aldeth sneered down at her, dismissing her comment for the ridiculous notion that it was. He lowered his head to her level, bringing his face close to hers, and for a moment moved as if he might kiss her, before roughly brushing past her and returning to the couch. "But first, I plan on finishing my drink." Crossing his legs, Aldeth undid his shirt with one hand while reclaiming his glass with the other. Then, one by one, he rolled up his sleeves, exposing his muscular forearms. This was a look that Larianna knew well; when Aldeth favoured practicality over appearances, that could only mean that he was getting down to the most serious of business.

Taking a long, slow drink from the tumbler, Aldeth regarded Larianna with an unpleasant smile. "If you want to find out what my grand plan is, Lara, all you have to do is stand there until I finish my drink. After that, you're not going to have any choice, so if you feel like running home dressed like that, this is your chance." Aldeth had no intention of letting Larianna leave, but he did not think that she would. No, she had gotten herself into this much trouble, and he had not thrown her out yet. Besides, she had come here with the intention to bed him, and one of them was already partway to being naked, so that was surely a win for her.

Aldeth took his time finishing the drink, relishing the fact that it was obvious that Larianna was tempted to leave, and yet she was not. He had her right where he wanted her, and now that he drained the last bit of alcohol from the glass, he was going to demonstrate exactly how deep a hole she had dug for herself. Standing up off of the couch, Aldeth cracked his neck twice before heading down the stairs to the front door. Even from the lounge where Larianna was, she could hear the sound of metal scraping and Aldeth pulled his security shutter into place. He had meant what he had said about this being her last chance; there was no other way out of the house - that she knew of, anyway - except the window, and she wasn't about to be jumping through that. The metal he had just sealed would not be unlocked without his key, and moreover, she was not anywhere near strong enough to lift it herself. She was well and truly trapped here now.

Walking back up the stairs, very much in no hurry at all, Aldeth gave Larianna a smile as he approached her. "Now, as to my actual plan. I was thinking I could tear this dress the rest of the way off of you, but I don't see the point to that anymore. You had your chance to leave; now you won't be going anywhere." Aldeth's voice was silky smooth; if it were not for his previous anger, it would have been hard to detect the danger that Larianna was in. Raising one hand to her shoulder, Aldeth trailed his fingertips across the skin of her arm and then her back, stopping briefly as he reached her bra. With one flick of his fingers, it was undone, and Aldeth smiled again, whispering into her ear. "That's why you came here, isn't it? It had nothing to do with those figures; you could have shown them to me tomorrow. You were curious about thoughts that kept crossing your mind..." Aldeth was not touching her anymore; he was pacing slowly around her, encircling her as he watched her react. Aldeth was fairly certain that the metaphor of the spider and the fly had never been more appropriate.

Larianna, for her part, had shut up. She was standing stock-still, as if afraid to move or even breathe. She had not even stopped her bra from falling to the floor. Whatever urge had compelled her to stay when he had given her a chance to leave, Aldeth was sure she was cursing it now. He had her trapped, and he was whispering barely veiled threats. Not to mention that he was twice her size, stronger, and faster than her. There was nothing she or anyone else could do to stop him from doing whatever he wanted with her. That fact was delicious to him just as much as it was terrifying to Larianna. Aldeth was not truly a sadist, but after how she had disrespected him, he could not deny he was taking immense pleasure in her terror now.

Aldeth continued to pace his way around her, occasionally brushing his hand against the skin of her shoulder, arm, or collarbone. He said nothing as he stared at her, daring her to move or speak out against him, but she would not. That was good; that was what he had intended. Maybe now she would think twice before acting on her base urges. That was a right reserved for her betters, like Aldeth. With that thought, another idea crossed Aldeth's mind. Stopping his movements when he was facing her directly, Aldeth leaned down, sinking his hand into the back of her hair and pulling her face towards him, kissing her as roughly as he had been grabbing her. It lasted only a moment, and Aldeth gave her another smile as he pulled away, running a finger across his lips as he let go of her hair. "I trust from now on you will remember that the only one of the two of us that gets to do things just because it crosses their mind is me, won't you, Lara?"

[Gia Trakana]

Larianna watched as Aldeth sneered down at her about always having a plan. That wasn’t true, and she damn well knew it. The auburn-haired woman knew that the man had not had a plan when he’d torn the top of her dress off – one of her favorite dresses, too, and she was still a little put off about that. He made a move as if he was about to kiss her, but then roughly brushed past her and went back to his couch, saying that he was going to finish his drink first. That didn’t surprise her in the last, and part of her was curious as to what he had planned. If he had anything planned at all, but she was fairly certain he did by now, if he hadn’t before. She still didn’t think he did. Then, the executive assistant caught sight of the unpleasant smile on her boss’ face, and almost took him up on his offer to leave. It gave her a bad feeling, but she was not about to walk home just yet, it was too late outside.

Larianna knew that she was being vain, and part of her said that she needed to leave, but she was also stubborn. He took his time finishing his drink, which annoyed her to no end. He was doing it on purpose, of course, as she felt that sometimes he lived to irritate her. Once he finished, he went down to the front door. The auburn-haired woman could hear the sound of metal scrapping, and a sinking feel came into the pit of her stomach. He had just locked her in here? She was more than locked in by the sounds of that metal – she was trapped. She didn’t know what the metal was, but if she knew him at all, it was probably a good way to make sure that she couldn’t leave? He was the only way out of here now, but… why lock her inside like that? He knew damn well she couldn’t outrun him or anything. If he didn’t want her to leave, there was no way that she could, even without whatever that metal thing was.

A wave of fear swept over Larianna. What if he was going to do something to her, something he wanted to make sure that there was no way that the secretary could escape from, even if she tried? That sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach only got worse. Why would he do that, though? It didn’t make sense. If he didn’t want to accept her advances, if you could call her kiss that, all that he needed to do was yell at her and throw her out. She wasn’t an idiot – impulsive, yes, but if he had thrown her out then that would have been the end of it. What was he going to do to her? It hadn’t occurred to her that he could be doing this just for the sick enjoyment of seeing how scared she was, and that he had nothing bad planned. In her mind, she was certain that he had to be planning something terrible to seal the door shut the way that he did.

Aldeth came back to her, and began speaking. Normally, his touch would have made her react a little differently, but all Larianna could think about right now as the danger that she was in. Her mind and body were filled with nothing but fear, and all the auburn-haired woman could do was look at him, fear in her hazel eyes. He unhooked her bra, and part of her knew that she could try and clutch it to her chest and convince him to stop this, but she couldn’t speak let alone move. Her boss was pacing around her, and she wanted nothing more than to yell, if for no other reason than she could make sure that he knew she didn’t like this and that she was going to do down without a fight. She had no idea what he was going to do, though, and that terrified her. She had never been in a position before where she’d been afraid of her life, and she was fairly certain that she never wanted to be again.

Larianna knew that standing here like an idiot would not do her any good. She had to at least say something; not that saying anything to him had ever done any good in the past. The auburn-haired woman also knew that not saying anything was probably not the best idea. He brushed his hand against her shoulder, her arm, her collarbone. Her body was still numb, so she felt no pleasure in it at all. She felt his hand sink into her hair roughly, and the fact that she was feeling that and not just fear was a positive thing for her. He then kissed her roughly, even for a moment. The combination of the two had awoken her a bit, so to speak, because she although she was scared, at least she was feeling something else besides fear.

Larianna heard his voice ask her a question, and took a moment for the woman to recognize the words. She was sure that Aldeth expected an answer to that one. She closed her eyes for a moment before finding her voice. “Yes, sir,” she said, this time, not conveniently forgetting to add on the respect he was supposed to deserve. She was still terrified, and she knew that her voice wouldn’t have its usual strength and conviction. She wanted out. Right now, she didn’t give a damn if he was going to give her what she wanted or not, because she was sure that it couldn’t be good. Even if he was only doing this to scare her, and wasn’t intending on hurting her, she didn’t care anymore. As attracted to him as she was, she didn’t like being scared like this, and she wanted as far away from anyone who made her feel like this as possible. What good would that do her, though? She was stuck here until he chose to let her leave, and she hated feeling so helpless. Why in the world hadn’t she seen what he’d said when he told her that she wouldn't be able to leave?

[Devanus Zeller]

Being a businessman with a long history of verbal manipulation Aldeth had an impressive vocabular. To describe the sensation that was rippling through him now, however, he found himself drawing a blank. The best he could do was to call the whole thing delicious. Larianna's fear was practically tangible, and it had frozen her completely. That was precisely the reaction that he had been intending to achieve; he had made up his mind at the window that he was not going to lay a hand on her. After all, he still had his dignity, and she was only a woman. It would have been highly unseemly to do that, especially when she was in no position to resist him. No, he had now contented himself with her fear, and indeed he found that his anger had abated in wake of this pleasant wave of fear radiating out from his executive assistant.

As quickly as it had pleased him, however, Larianna's fear bored him. Aldeth took no true gratification in her utter terror, only temporary satisfaction in the wake of what she had done without permission. He was certain that she would not be so foolish in the future. Now it was time to see if she had any resolve left in her after he had scared the crap out of her. Taking a deep breath at her response, confident that she had learned her lesson now, he offered a genuine, small smile. "Good." He made no further move to touch her; he had felt her chills at his fingers before, but there was no sense in doing that any longer.

In two broad strides, Aldeth was at the bar, picking out two glasses and pouring two mixed drinks. He had no intention of getting drunk - he was not about to get into that situation with Lara twice - but he needed something to calm his nerves after all of the adrenaline that had flooded his system a few minutes earlier. Humming to himself as he worked, Aldeth avoided looking at Larianna until he was seated on the couch. Taking a sip from one drink, he put the other on the table and pushed it in Lara's direction. "Come. Sit. Drink." His voice was firm, but the harshness that had been in it a moment ago was gone.

Some might have regarded Aldeth's sudden turnaround as a sign of insanity, or of taking pleasure at Larianna's bewilderment, but in truth it was neither. Larianna had stepped out of line, and he had put her back into her place with a masterful stroke without laying a hand into her. That was the sort of genius Aldeth prided himself on, and he considered the matter closed. After all, he was rather stuck with her unless he wanted to get desperate, and one stolen kiss was not enough to make him put himself through the annoyance of ensuring she stayed quiet, never mind training someone to replace her.

Unbuttoning his shirt one further, Aldeth released his sleeves letting them fall loosely over his forearms. His skin felt heated from the rage he had been feeling, and the drink was calming both in its toxic nature and its temperature. He had to congratulate Larianna on one thing if nothing else; she had completely distracted him from the Yagara atrocity with that little stunt. Now he was fully relaxed, and confident he could sort that mess out the very next day.

[Gia Trakana]

A shocked look crossed Larianna’s face when Aldeth gave her a small smile – a genuine one – said “Good” and then walked over to the bar. She watched as he grabbed two glasses and poured a couple of drinks. He was even humming! This was by far the strangest night she had ever, and she wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. He told her to come and sit down, so she grabbed her bra off the floor, and did just that. Walking over to the chair she had been sitting in earlier, she grabbed the drink he provide and sipped on it. She had no idea what else to do or what else to say. What did he have planned? Was there anything else planned? Had that been it or was this some stick twisted joke to put her into a false sense of security? Her mind was racing, as was her heart, and neither had any indication that they were going to slow down anytime soon.

Larianna would, of course, be grateful that the ordeal was over, if that was indeed true. As she sipped her drink, the auburn-haired woman had no way of knowing if that was true or not. If it was, she thanked whatever god or gods were out for letting it pass with her unharmed. That still didn’t mean that she appreciated being trapped inside a house with a man when she had no idea what said man would do next, especially when he had just made a point of making her fear for her life. That was not a good thing, and she did not appreciate it. It had not been a proper course of action after her kiss. Yes, her kiss had been out of line and inappropriate, and she knew that. The only thing that gave her any comfort at this point in time was the fact that there was at least some space between them.

Larianna had noticed that the harshness in his voice was gone, and that he seemed to be relaxed. What good did that do her? She was now afraid to even move or speak. Yes, the anger from a moment before seemed to be gone, but she didn’t know. What else was she supposed to do? The auburn-haired woman wanted to leave, but she didn’t think that asking to leave would do any good. Part of her wanted to turn in her resignation, and give him whatever he wanted to keep her quiet, but another part of her didn’t think that would happen. She kept sipping on her drink, hoping he would get up and let her out, or say or do something. She was very uneasy right now, and his change of mood had not helped any.

[Devanus Zeller]

Larianna obeyed him without a word, still evidently terrified to step out of line lest he revert to his previous behaviour. This was both logical and sensible, and Aldeth found that it annoyed him immensely. He considered the whole debacle completed, so she should as well. There was nothing more to it than that; now they were just enjoying a drink as they might of if she had not been foolish in the first place. True, he had not yet released the metal shutter on the door, but that should not have been a concern when he was obviously not about to do her any harm. He had had plenty of opportunity to do that already, and he had not taken it. Perhaps she was less intelligent than he had given her credit for, or perhaps he was even more effective at terrifying her than he had thought, and she could not seem to right her emotions. Typical woman! This was why Aldeth had nothing but contempt for females who thought they could run companies; they were all too caught up in their emotions, and it was only by playing on that irrationality that true progress could be made. He was happy for them to keep trying, so he could step on them on the way to the top. It was a philosophy that had served him well up until this point.

Regarding her with a very bored look on his face, Aldeth let his eyes flick down to her bra. She had picked it up and brought it with her but had not elected to turn it on. Even his ego was not large enough to let him believe that she was even remotely aroused at this point, so that was an oddity. Then again, nothing she had done tonight made any sense to him at all besides the base nature of her advances, so he decided to chalk it up to something else he did not understand and not waste any more brain power on it.

It crossed Aldeth's mind that Larianna had apparently had all of her spunk and snarkiness scared out of her, and that she would likely - for once - do exactly as she was told right now, but he found this did not excite him as much as he would have expected. The simple fact of the matter was that he did not have anything for her to do, and her sitting there in silence - despite her nudity from the waist up - was not contributing anything positively to the situation. And really, that was the least she could do, considering the trouble she had put him through tonight. He was being a good host, but she was not being anything resembling a considerate guest, and Aldeth was just enough of an upper-classman to be tremendously irritated by this callous disregard for appearances. The only thing she was doing right was drinking what was put in front of her, but that would have to change.

After finishing his drink, still in silence, Aldeth decided he had waited long enough for Larianna to get her head out of her ass. "Lighten up. You're sucking all of the energy out of the room, which is an impressive feat considering that you're topless. If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it by now. Relax and have a drink. Not too many, though. Wouldn't want that." Aldeth laughed at his own joke, putting his empty glass down on the table. His hand reached for the folder with the numbers in them before shying away. No, there would be no business tonight. The last thing he needed was anything else to raise his blood pressure. Larianna was more than capable of doing that all by herself.

[Gia Trakana]

Larianna sat there in silence with Aldeth, sipping on the drink. The auburn-haired woman never took her eyes off him. He seemed bored, which part of her was almost as afraid of as her being angry. Why was he bored, though? Because nothing was going on, nothing was happening? Well, he’d killed all the positive emotion in the room as far as she was concerned. What was his problem? She didn’t know, and right now, she didn’t care. She had always known what kind of person he was; she never deluded herself in that respect. However, now, she felt maybe she underestimated him and what he was capable of. Now that she knew, she wanted out of this house as fast as possible.

Larianna’s thoughts were broken up by a very familiar voice. Her hazel eyes narrowed. How dare he? How dare he, after all that, say it was her fault that she was scared? What did he expect? Anger washed over her, and the secretary was furious at him now. She kept her insults at bay, because as much it seemed as if he wanted her snarkiness back, she didn’t think that pissing him off by letting loose a string of insults would be a good idea. It would probably only serve to make him angry, and she been there, done that, thank you very much. Yes, what he said was true – if he wanted to hurt her, he would have done it by now. She realized that now. It didn’t make the situation any better.

“Well, excuse me!” Larianna said, the nervous and fear apparently all but gone, at least as far as her tone of voice was considered. “It’s not every day that someone scares me so much that I think…” She shook her head. What she thought didn’t matter, and if he cared, well… he didn’t, and that was all there was to it. “Nevermind.” His words had struck a chord, though. She was still topless, something which he was partially responsible for. Setting down her drink, she put her bra back on and then picked it up again. There wasn’t that much left, but the auburn-haired woman downed what was left. She wanted this night to be over, and she would do whatever it took to get him to let her leave.