InstructionbySeduction (8 page)

Hale’s voice seemed to permeate her mind. She knew exactly
what he would say.
They don’t respect you because
you
don’t respect
you. They don’t respect the position because they know there’s no power in it
.

Leah sighed. She already knew what needed to be done. The
question was just whether or not she would be able to do it.

Leah successfully avoided Rusty for the rest of the day,
although she caught him staring in her direction a few times with a disgusted
look on his face.
If you had any nads you’d go confront him
, Leah
thought.
But I guess you don’t.

* * * * *

At the end of her shift Leah sprinted out of the store. On
her way home she stopped at Fit4Life and found Regina behind the desk again.

“Hey Regina.” Leah leaned up against the counter.

“Well hi there, sweetheart.” Regina put down the magazine
she was reading. “What can I do for you?”

“Did you say someone here was selling their car? Do you know
how much?”

“Well, Lance is getting rid of his old Honda. Don’t know
what he’s asking for it but he’ll be here on Monday if you want to stop by and
talk to him.”

“I will.”

“That cold weather finally getting to you?”

Leah smiled. “Yeah.”

It was a convenient-enough excuse, although the real reason
was shame. Mike’s comment had really hit a sore spot and he was right. How
could they respect a manager who shows up for work on a Schwinn like a grade-schooler?

Leah couldn’t wait to see Hale. She did her homework with
half of her attention. The other half was thinking about what would happen when
she opened the box that night. After the complete shit of the past several days,
Leah was in need of a little TLC. A good, hard fuck wouldn’t hurt either.

When she couldn’t take it anymore, Leah slammed her books
shut and pushed them away. She walked into her bedroom and took the box down off
her dresser. She paused a moment to feel it in her hands, marveling at the way
it still made her feel like she was in love. Then she lifted the lid and
waited.

Bang, bang, bang!

Leah sprinted for the door. She yanked it open and welcomed
in Hale, who entered with his usual nod, smirk and “Hey.”

“Hey,” Leah said. “I’ve missed you.”

“I know.”

Hale smirked again and headed for the fridge. This time he
pulled out two beers, opened them and gave one to Leah. He hung his jacket over
one of the chairs and sat down at the table. Hale motioned for her to join him.

Leah sat down and took a drink of her beer. It was good,
refreshing—but really she wanted Hale to open up her pants, not her adult
beverages.

“So you’re having a rough time of it, huh?” Hale took a long
chug of the beer.

“It’s been a challenge,” Leah conceded. Hale laughed.

“I like your spunk. ‘It’s been a challenge,’” he mimicked
her. Leah made a face.

“Challenges don’t make you come home and do something that
makes you feel bad about yourself.”

Leah looked away, ashamed. How the hell did he know
everything?

“Don’t be ashamed of yourself, Leah,” Hale said firmly.
“Everyone falters. You’ve made more strides for yourself in the last week than
many people make in a lifetime. So you keep holding your head up.”

“I will.” A small smile formed on Leah’s face. Hale always
knew what to say.

“So tell me what the problem is.”

“Well, I’m inexperienced, unprepared and I have no power.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t know what to do when the people working for me
disrespect me. I don’t know how to properly assert myself as a manager. I need
training. I need support and I need some fucking authority!”

Leah was shrieking now. She closed her eyes and tried to
calm down. She took a drink of the beer, then looked up at Hale. He was resting
in his chair, one arm slung over the back, looking completely at ease and
totally undisturbed by her outburst.

“Did you tell your boss these things?”

“Well…no.”

“Why not?”

“I guess I was afraid.”

“Of…?”

“Of him thinking I’m weak and I can’t do the job.”

“If you don’t get proper support doing the job becomes ten
times as difficult. I would think that your boss would appreciate you taking
the initiative to bring these things to his attention. How can he help you if
he doesn’t know what you need? Don’t you think he wants you to succeed?”

“Yes.”

“Then you need to tell him what you want. You need to
believe in yourself enough to ask for what you want, how you want it and when
you want it. Your needs are just as valuable as anyone else’s. You need to know
that and act like it.”

“It all makes sense when you lay it out.” Leah nodded. “Why
can’t you come to work with me?”

Hale laughed softly, shaking his head.

“I’ll tell you what I can do right now.”

Leah’s spirits immediately lifted. She felt something good
coming on.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I can give you some practice in asking for what you want.”

Hale stood and took hold of Leah’s hand. He lifted her up to
a standing position and slowly pushed her up against the wall next to the
table. Leaning in, he kissed her hard on the lips. Leah opened to him and let
his tongue caress hers. She melted under his touch. After the week she’d had
Hale was like salvation in a tie.

When he finally released her she was panting.

“Don’t forget to breathe.” He smiled. “Now tell me what you
want. I want you to tell me exactly how and where you want me to fuck you. I
want you tell me how hard, how deep and how long. If you want me to spank you
or tie you up. I want you to give me specific details on how you want it.”

Hale’s words made Leah’s heart beat in triple-time. She
wanted to do it. She desperately wanted to have full rein over a sexual
encounter. But just like when she was sitting in Bob’s office. She couldn’t say
the words.

“Come on, Leah,” Hale said. “Order me.”

He said it like it was a dare. Leah imagined twenty things
and twenty ways she would like Hale to take her but she couldn’t make a single
one of them come out of her mouth.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“Why?” Hale demanded.

“I don’t know.”

“That’s a lie. You can’t do it because you’re letting fear
rule you. You’re also believing lies about yourself. Bullshit about how you’re
not good enough to get what you want. You feel like you don’t deserve it. Isn’t
that the truth?”

“Yes,” Leah managed to squeak out.

“If you can’t tell me what you want then how are you
supposed to tell your boss what you need?”

“I don’t know.”

Hale stepped away from Leah and reached for his jacket.

“What are you doing?” she asked, stricken.

“Learn to ask for what you want. Then I’ll come back.”

“Don’t go!” she squeaked. “I need you!”

“Then learn to tell me what you want. Take care.”

Hale leaned in and kissed her gently then headed out the
door. Leah watched, stunned, then dashed over to the front door. She yanked it
open, only to find the empty hallway greeting her.

“Hale,” she whispered.

All that night and the next day—which thankfully Leah had
off—she thought about what Hale had said. At first she was angry. How dare he
come to her like that and then just leave her high and dry? Well, she was more
warm and wet but still it was rude. Terribly rude.

And true. Everything he’d said to her was a hard truth that
she’d needed to hear. She
did
believe that she didn’t deserve it. She
was
letting fear rule her life. She always had.

But that doesn’t mean it always will
.

Leah went to her kickboxing class Sunday night. She punched
and kicked the hell out of the bag, occasionally surprising even herself with
the force she put out. At the end of class, she was still standing. She wasn’t
lying on the floor bemoaning the day she was born.

“I feel sorry for whoever you’re pissed with,” Brenda said.
“They’re gonna get it.”

“Yes they are,” Leah agreed, even though it was going to be
herself that was going to get it.
Hale wants me to ask for what I want? By
God, I’m going to do it and he is going to be shocked
.

Monday after classes Leah went straight to Fit4Life and
asked for Lance. When the six-foot-four mountain of muscle arrived next to her
she felt like an ant.

“Hi there,” he said with a grin. “I’m Lance.”

Leah smiled back. She bet he was a big teddy bear.

“I’m Leah. I hear you have a car for sale. Can I see it?”

“Sure,” Lance said. “But I’ll warn you it’s seen better
days.”

“As long as it runs and has heating and air I’m happy.”

“That it does.”

Lance walked with Leah out to parking lot. He showed her an
aging blue Honda Civic. The paint was faded and the interior was worn but it
was clean and it started right up when Leah turned the key in the ignition.

“How much?” she asked.

“Seven hundred,” Lance said. Leah winced. She had just under
four hundred in her savings account and her raise wouldn’t cover that much
more.

“Four hundred,” Leah countered confidently.

“I can’t let it go for less than six.”

At first Leah wanted to give up.
It’s too much. I can’t
afford it. May as well go on my merry way.
Then she thought of Hale.
You
deserve what you want. Think, Leah, think. How do you make this work? Ask for
it.

“How about if I give you four hundred now and two hundred in
a month?”

Lance looked unconvinced.

“I don’t know…”

“I come to classes at the gym and Barbara knows where I
live. If I don’t pay you, you can come beat me up.”

Lance laughed. “I still don’t think I can go for that.”

“You can hold my bike as collateral,” Leah said. “It’s a
nice bike. Fifteen-speed. Good tires.”

“You haven’t been riding your bike around this winter, have
you?”

“Of course. No other way to get around. I only take the bus
when it rains.”

“Jesus, girl. You got heart. Okay, I’ll take four hundred
now and two hundred in thirty days. And I’ll hold onto your bike.”

Leah smiled.

“Deal. Let’s make the trade tomorrow.”

When Leah showed up at work, she marched directly into Bob’s
office and said, “Bob, I need to see you about some things. Do you have a
minute?”

Bob nodded, this time swallowing his late lunch instead of
breakfast. He took a sip of a Diet Coke. “Sure thing.”

Leah turned and shut the door and sat down in front of him.

“I need some things to help me do my new job better.”

“Okay, fire away.”

Leah took a deep breath.

“Well, first I need some training. Maybe a new-manager class
or something. I don’t feel like I’m being effective in how I relate to the
employees. Second, I need some more support, either from you or from Maria. I
need someone to walk through the day with me and show me how I can do better.
And lastly, I need some authority. Everyone knows that I don’t have any power
to discipline or approve or anything. So they abuse me because they can. And I
don’t like it.”

Bob sat back in his chair looking like she could have
knocked him over with a feather. Then he gave her a big smile. “I really like
you, Leah. And I like what I’m seeing. I like a person who isn’t afraid to ask
for what they want.”

Leah nodded, unsure if that required a response.

“And I can help you. I’ll arrange for Maria to walk through
your shift with you tomorrow or Wednesday. You find a training class that you
think will suit your needs and give me the details so I can set it up.”

“Thank you very much. And the authority thing?”

“The authority thing is a different issue. There’s only so
much that a shift manager can actually do according to company policy. But
Leah, I think if you apply what you learn from Maria and the class you go to,
that the employees will begin to respect you because you demand it, not just
the position.”

Leah returned to her apartment after work, blowing into the
place like a Midwestern tornado. She was flushed from the ride home but she was
filled with energy from the day’s exploits. She was getting a car. She was
getting support and training. She wasn’t getting the ability to fire people but
she chalked it up to just another lesson.
Just because you ask for it
doesn’t mean you’re going to get it…but if you don’t ask, you’re guaranteed to
not get it.

Leah ran through the shower and tucked herself into her bathrobe.
She dried her hair and looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled. Her natural
color, it turned out, suited her just fine. Leah smirked at her reflection. “Okay
Hale, you fucker. You want me to tell you what I want? Get ready.”

The box seemed to vibrate in her hands as Leah took it off
the dresser and held it. It was full of something—she might never know what but
it was changing every bit of her from the inside out. Leah pushed on the lid
and held her breath.

Bang, bang, bang!

Leah smiled, taking her time putting the box back on the
dresser and sticking her feet into her slippers. She walked over to the door
feeling more in charge of her life than she ever thought possible. Leah opened
the door and before Hale had a chance to give her the nod she grabbed him by
his shirt collar and yanked him into the apartment.

“Damn,” Hale said, right before Leah slammed the door shut
and pushed him up against it.

“That’s right. Damn.” Leah pressed herself up against Hale
and kissed him hard, pushing her tongue past his lips and devouring him. Hale’s
hands moved to her hips, squeezing her encouragingly. Leah released his mouth
and said, “I hope you’re well rested.”

Hale raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Why is that?”

“Because you are going fuck me in every way I can think of
for as long as I can stay awake. Now. Take your pants off.”

“I like this side of you.” His voice was low and hungry.

Hale reached down and unzipped his pants while Leah worked
on his tie. Piece by piece his suit fell to the floor, right in front of the
door. Leah ran her fingertips lightly over his nipples and he shivered.
Smiling, Leah kissed his chest then kissed down his stomach, slowly lowering
herself until she came to her knees before him.

“You’re not allowed to come,” she said, then took his
swollen cock into her mouth. Hale relaxed his body against the door, then
reached down and caressed Leah’s hair as she sucked and licked him.

Leah had never understood what the appeal was for a woman to
perform oral sex on a man until she tried it. She was sure it was a different
experience with Hale than it would be with anyone else but the deep connection
she experienced was eye-opening. It was like an awakening. She got immediate
feedback on if what she was doing was good because she could feel it in her
mouth. It was almost as much about her as it was for him. And the more she
worked him over the hotter she got. She could think of other appealing places
for him to put that stiff deliciousness.

Releasing him, Leah stood and leaned into Hale, whispering into
his ear like he had done so many times to her. “Your turn to lick me.”

Hale pushed away from the door and took hold of Leah,
spinning her then lowering her down to the floor. Leah laughed, marveling at
how easily he moved her, like she weighed nothing. Hale crawled on top of her,
straddling her body, and pulled on the belt of her robe.

Pulling the folds of cloth away from Leah’s body, Hale ran
his tongue down her torso, between her breasts all the way down to her very
heated folds. Leah shivered at the sensation, how the moist line turned from
warm to cool as he moved down her body. As Hale settled in between her legs,
Leah propped herself up on her elbows. “I want to watch.”

Hale gave her a royal smirk, heat burning in his eyes like
nothing she’d ever seen.
Think of what I would have missed if I hadn’t
learned to ask for what I want
, she mused, returning Hale’s smirk.

Hale kissed lazily down her leg from her knee, then back up.
Every touch from him sent her further toward desperation. Every soft kiss was a
tease. Each gentle exhale on her soft inner thighs was a cruel taunt. Leah
tossed her head back and nudged her pelvis upward. She rolled her head, wanting
it, needing it. Finally she could take no more.

“God damn it, Hale. Now.”

Hale’s laugh lasted only a moment then he gave Leah what she
wanted. She shuddered at the first swipe of his tongue across her needy flesh.
The heat of his mouth and the heat of her cleft met in a fiery fury, leaving
Leah breathless but for the few moans she could manage.

Leah tried to watch but spent most of the time with her head
thrown back, her back arched, reveling in the incredible sensations that Hale
was extracting from her body. She shook and whimpered, then Hale’s tongue hit
the point of no return and she screamed.

The orgasm racked Leah’s body savagely. She couldn’t stop
screaming as it rocketed through her, then in the aftermath she could barely
catch her breath.

“Breathe, Leah.” Hale’s voice came softly. “Inhale, exhale.”

Leah trembled as she laughed, trying to inhale. “My God,
you’re good at that.”

“Almost as good as you.”

Leah blushed. “There’s no way. You don’t scream and come
like the world just exploded.”

“It’s more important that you do. Guys can come any time,
anywhere for any reason. But when a woman comes it’s a thing of beauty. An
event worthy of…repeating.”

Leah sat up and looked at Hale. She took in the perfection
of everything about him, from his perfectly styled hair to his perfectly
symmetrical face, to the infuriating smirk on his mouth that made her want to
do nothing but fuck him all night long. Leah shrugged off her robe, which still
hung on to her body by her shoulders, then looked back at Hale. Their eyes
locked, green staring into green, in a connection that confused and enthralled
Leah.

“Fuck me, Hale. Hard and furious. I want to feel it
tomorrow.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said, the desire crackling
in his voice like an inferno. He raised himself on all fours, leaned into Leah
and kissed her. She opened to him, finding the taste of herself on his lips and
tongue both intriguing and embarrassing.
What a bad girl I am
, she
thought, then let her body slide back down to the floor. Hale followed her down
and she could feel his erection pressing against her slick opening.

“Hard and furious,” Hale said. “Are you sure?”

“I am very sure. Want me to say it again?”

“I did rather like hearing you say it.”

Leah smiled. “Fuck me, Hale. Like you mean it.”

Hale pushed into her suddenly, a smooth but abrupt trespass.
Leah cried out beneath him, his entrance expected and yet a surprise at the
same time. He slid his hands up under Leah’s shoulders and gripped them,
holding her firmly beneath him.

“Like I mean it,” he said, and began thrusting forcefully.
Leah moaned and writhed beneath him, taking in all of him and reveling in the
pleasure raining down on her.

“Faster,” Leah breathed.

Hale doubled his speed, sending Leah into oblivion. When she
closed her eyes, every nerve ending in her body moaned and sighed with her.
When she opened her eyes she saw Hale staring down at her, looking like he was
enjoying every second of her pleasurable torment.

“Hale,” Leah whispered, then let the sweep of pleasure ride
through her. With Hale still pumping as hard as he could, Leah’s orgasm opened
within her slowly then burst through her body. She couldn’t even scream. She
couldn’t even breathe. She could only tremble beneath him as she let the wash
move through her.

“Are you forgetting to breathe again?” Hale asked.

Leah laughed and shook her head side to side as she lay on the
floor in recovery. Hale pulled out of her, dripping with his own juices, and she
said, “I missed it again, didn’t I? Why does that always happen?”

“You’re just too powerful for me.”

“That’s not it,” Leah said. “Tell me why.”

“I’m here for you,” he said slowly. “Only.”

“What are you?”

Hale smiled. “You know. You just need to remember. I can’t
tell you. Only you can tell you.”

“I don’t like that answer.”

“I know. I wouldn’t either.”

* * * * *

The next day Leah sprinted down to Fit4Life, having cleaned
out her savings account. She was ready to hand over her bike and the cash and
finally have something with more than two wheels. Lance still couldn’t believe
she had been riding her bike all winter.

“You’ve got to have killer quads,” he said. “But it’s not
good for you, all that cold air.”

“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” Leah shrugged.

“Doesn’t your boyfriend have a car?”

Leah paused. The easy answer was no but did she really have
a boyfriend?
A boyfriend takes you out to dinner and buys you flowers. You
go to the movies together and to Thanksgiving dinner. You don’t just wait for
him to appear out of nowhere and magically knock on the door so he can fuck
your brains out.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Whatever.”

“I don’t,” Leah said with a laugh.

“Okay, maybe you don’t now. But you will soon. You look like
a million bucks. Plus with your smile I can’t believe they haven’t been lining
up.”

“They line up at my register.” Leah grinned but in reality
her soul was singing at Lance’s comment.
You look like a million bucks
.
When had anyone ever said that to her before?

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance said. “Hey, you can take two months to
come up with the rest of the cash if you need it. I’m really not in a big
hurry.”

“Thank you,” Leah said gratefully. She had been a little
concerned about where she was going to come up with that cash. “I’ll get it to
you as soon as I can.”

“No problem at all. And if you’re interested in doing some
weight training ask Regina about the class times. I teach a few of them.” Lance
smiled at Leah, almost a shy grin, then turned and walked back into the gym,
leaving Leah with a set of keys and a Honda with 180,000 miles on it. Leah
stared.
That guy
, she thought,
was
looking at me…like that?