Honey Ch. 01

Her eyes stung with tears from his admission but she was more afraid than sad.

'What do you want from me?' she asked. 'I'm honestly sorry for your loss, but I've suffered enough for one day.'

'I know. I'm not trying to hurt you. I only want to make you an offer. A chance for you to feel fulfilled at last.'

She took another sip of wine. 'You're offering me a job? I don't work in tech, I work in advertising.'

'You work in the industry of lies. You sell ideals, not truths. Your people are very good at it. And you're very good at hiding behind those lies, so much so you've almost forgotten your own truth. You've forgotten what you wanted.'

'What did I want?'

'Olivia Henderson.'

The name had her choking on her next mouthful of wine. She covered her mouth again, stupidly thinking he'd read her high school diary.

'You and Olivia were best friends. You kept things that way despite wanting more from her.'

Hanna was shaking now and resisting reaching for her pills. 'How is that even any of your business?'

'Because I think I have a solution for you. You can say no, of course.'

'What? You know Olivia and she's had unrequited feelings for me all this time?'

'No. She's married now with three kids.'

Hanna laughed out loud. 'Of course she is. It's all she ever wanted. Two girls and a boy.'

'And she got exactly that, then left you out in the cold.'

'Stop it.' Hanna put down the glass and went for her purse to rummage through it.

Brandon grabbed her hands. 'Hanna, don't. I'm not here to upset you.'

'Then what the hell is this?'

'Come with me to my apartment. I want you to meet someone.'

'You're staging an intervention now?'

'I think you should speak with her, see what she has to say. And if you're not interested, we can leave it at that.'

'I don't need a therapist. I'm not on the verge of suicide. It's sweet you're concerned for me, and I have no idea why, but-'

'She's not a therapist. She's... an associate of mine. Someone I've known for a few years now. She's very sweet and amenable.'

Hanna was about to ask if this woman was a prostitute. Brandon was soliciting her. He wanted to have sex with her and some random whore.

'I won't meet her. I won't be played like this. If you wanted this from me you should've been upfront.'

'I don't want anything like that from you, I swear. I want you to trust me, that's all.'

Just then, when she needed her resolve and constitution more than ever, Hanna saw what Bridget had seen. His eyes were almost hypnotic. He could make any woman do his bidding with the right tone of voice. Even she was enchanted now.

'Just to talk, that's all?'

'To begin with.'

'Why do you want to help me?'

'It's better we go upstairs.'

He wasn't urgent about this, but she felt lured by him nonetheless. He calmly led her to the top floor, his apartment situated at the end of a long, over-lit corridor. She kept her coat tight around herself, her body language suggesting she had no interest in being touched or manipulated.

Brandon went ahead of her and unlocked his door. She made note of the number in case she needed to call for help from his bathroom. With this in mind, she remembered she'd not brought her mace, and now she wished she had.

His apartment was massive. The circular sunken living room was bigger than her bedroom, and a wide corridor ran off to the right of her. He went ahead to a room on the left.

'Cassidy?' He called out to no response.

'Can I use your bathroom?' Hanna asked quickly.

'Sure. It's on the left.'

He pointed at the corridor and she hastily went in once she found the bathroom, closing the door and locking it then letting out her breath. She went to the vanity and gripped the edge, desperate to find her centre. She needed an Ativan. She needed to go home.

What the hell am I doing here?

'Hanna, I presume?' asked a gentle feminine voice behind her.

Hanna's gasp echoed off the tiles and she spun about in a flurry to see a raven-haired girl bathing in the huge ornate tub. She was covered in bubbles and a flute glass of champagne sat on the rim beside her.

'I'm sorry,' Hanna said with her hand on her pounding heart. 'The door was unlocked.'

'Oh, I never lock the door. Brandon has his own bathroom, there's no need for me to.'

'You're his associate?'

The girl tipped her head back as she laughed. 'God, I love it when he calls me that.'

'Then who are you?'

'Whoever you need me to be, sweetness.'

Hanna's throat closed over as the girl stood up, the suds slipping off her slender frame. She stepped out of the tub without a scrap of shame, walking casually to the shelf to pick up a white towel. She dried herself slowly in full view of Hanna, who'd now lost her breath completely.

She was stunning; the kind of girl Hanna had wanted when she realised she wanted to be with women.

Hanna liked being with men. She enjoyed having sex with them; she and Richard had chemistry. But once, when they'd gotten horribly drunk on a date, she'd admitted to thinking about women to get off. She thought he'd be into the idea of a three-way, wasn't it every guy's fantasy? How could he say no?

He said no. More than once. He didn't share his lovers, not for a bad experience but for the fact it didn't appeal. He seemed slightly disturbed, possibly even disgusted, that Hanna had such inclinations. So she never spoke on it again, humiliated enough to drop the matter for good.

Her affections for Olivia ran deeper. Brandon was right about this, though that he knew at all was alarming. It wasn't the place to bring it up, and Hanna suffered seeing Olivia with a string of blockheads and jerks, all the while dreaming of the day she could kiss Olivia and tell her she loved her. After that, she never fell for another woman again, but her attractions to some of them were more powerful than Richard would have liked had he known.

Repressing this had burnt a hole inside her. Brandon knew what was missing just by looking at her.

'I'm Cassidy,' the girl said as she put on a terrycloth robe and ran the towel through her long tresses. Her eyes were almond shaped and her lips were thin and perfectly symmetrical. Her features were angular, but the curve of her body was softer, and her skin was a lovely olive shade. Hanna fought not to stare at her breasts as she dried her legs.

'Should we go out and talk?' Cassidy asked.

Hanna was horribly warm now and she knew her face was flushed.

'Sorry, I keep the heated tiles on a little too high with the fan,' Cassidy said. 'When you've lived in the coldest of places you tend to overindulge in the heat.'

Cassidy led Hanna back to the living room just as Brandon emerged.

'Sorry, darling,' Cassidy said to him. 'Our guest was a lot earlier than I'd anticipated. I may have startled her.'

Brandon smiled at both of them. 'Are you alright, Hanna?'

'She just needs another drink, don't you, sweetness?'

'Don't tease her, Cassidy. She and I are good friends.'

Cassidy smiled back at him. 'High school sweethearts?'

Hanna wanted to run. The pair of them and this exchange were beyond suspect. To avoid any skittish behaviour, she took a seat instead and promised herself she'd stay no longer than half an hour.

She accepted the glass of champagne Cassidy handed to her, and there were strawberries in a dish and another bottle of champagne on ice. The scene was set, so Hanna could deduce nothing but this turning into the three-way she'd thought she'd wanted with Richard. She was chickenshit. She had no guts to live this out.

Cassidy sat a respectful distance from Hanna on the sofa, getting comfortable and running her slender fingers through her damp hair. She wasn't going to change out of the robe, this much was obvious to Hanna. Why get dressed properly when your entire goal was to be naked at any moment?

Brandon seated himself on the opposite sofa, and the space between them seemed far too large for such an intimate arrangement.

'I've already told you Hanna and I went to school, Cassidy.'

'Then you did your homework, as you called it, and found out where she worked. C'mon, Brandon, can you see how Hanna might find that creepy and unusual?'

'She has online profiles with this information. I wasn't stalking her.'

'It's true, I have public profiles for my work,' Hanna said, embarrassed now she realised it was easy to dig up all sorts of things these days.

Except her darkest of secrets.

The champagne was sweet on her tongue, yet it did little to keep her mouth from going dry.

Cassidy turned to her. 'Do you like your job, Hanna?'

'I do, actually. I miss working on campaigns, I've not done too much hands-on stuff lately, not now I'm running the place, but I consult a lot on the major accounts and keep in touch with our most important clients.'

'Brandon's one of them,' Cassidy said. 'Will you be keeping in touch with him?'

'Oh, one of my seniors, Paul, he's on that campaign so he'll be in charge. I don't have a lot to contribute. I work on commercials for hair products, jewellery, cars... Things I have but don't actually give a shit about.'

'You work in the business of lies,' Cassidy said, more or less parroting Brandon and sounding much like a disciple than an associate.

'What do you do?' Hanna asked her.

'I tend to the needs of others.'

'So you're a nurse?' Hanna wasn't playing dumb, she was baiting Cassidy. She needed at least one person to be upfront right now.

'Sometimes. Occasionally I get to play priest. Once in a while, torturer. But that's not why I'm here for you, Hanna.'

'She doesn't work for me,' Brandon said. 'I let her stay here, but she's free to leave whenever. I ask of her services now and then, but not for the reasons you may think.'

'She's an escort,' Hanna replied. 'I get that.'

'No, you don't,' Cassidy cut in rather bluntly as she set her glass down. 'What I was, was homeless. A street urchin, ever since I was nine. I grew up to learn my body could get me out of trouble, but when I was nineteen I decided I needed to be more than the slave to some pimp. So I learned all I could of what people needed, and there are many things I will not do. But what I will do, I do well. And I get paid well for my services.'

'I don't need your services,' Hanna said abruptly.

'Oh, I think you do,' Cassidy said, smiling like a pretty snake, her green eyes sparkling at Hanna.

'Cassidy, don't intimidate Hanna. She's in a very fragile place. You should be earning her trust right now.'

Brandon's authoritative voice only just curbed Cassidy's attack.

'I apologise. You must've had a horrid day. If you need to talk, we're listening.'

Hanna shook her head in bewilderment. 'No, I think I should leave. Thank you both for your concern.'

She stood and Cassidy looked to Brandon.

'She's allowed to go. We can't make her stay.'

'She needs me,' Cassidy responded. 'You said so.'

'I need to go home and forget this day ever happened.' Turning on Brandon, Hanna said, 'You'll be working with Paul and he'll consult directly with me. I see no reason for us to continue talking.'

Hanna marched to the door, surprised to find Brandon hadn't locked them in. She heard him follow her into the hallway.

'Hanna, wait. Please. Don't leave like this.'

'You just said to Cassidy I can go.'

'I don't want you leaving angry.'

'Then can you just tell me what you want?'

'To help you.'

'By humiliating me?'

'Not at all. She's all yours. I'll leave you alone with her for one night.'

'Not like this,' she murmured, certain Cassidy would be straining to listen in. 'I know nothing of her, and I barely know you.'

'You barely know yourself anymore. I don't live a lie. I refuse to.'

'So then tell me your secrets, since you've infiltrated mine. Make me trust you. Work that charm on me.'

'I can't do it in the hallway,' he said smartly.

Hanna bent and gave in to temptation. The argument she'd been having over this being all wrong was growing weak, the champagne tickling her and making her too tipsy and curious to go home. Cassidy was still seated on the sofa. Brandon locked the door this time, and Hanna started to accept the web she'd been snared in wasn't going to result in any harm.

'I'm sorry,' Cassidy told her. 'I shouldn't be so blunt. I'm used to people who are confident about wanting me around.'

Hanna was trying to ascertain Cassidy's age, guessing her to be no older than twenty-one. Such a short life to have suffered such turmoil then gained so much power. She had to admit she was intimidated by Cassidy more than she was aroused.

Brandon had already sat down where he'd been before. Hanna took off her coat and draped it over the back of the sofa, intolerant of the heat now, and she sat as Cassidy poured her another glass.

'There's a reason you're here now,' Cassidy said.

'Do you like what you do?' Hanna asked Cassidy in an effort to rebuff any focus on her.

'I enjoy pleasing others. Provided I'm in control.'

Hanna regarded Brandon again. 'And what do you get out of this exchange?'

'The satisfaction of knowing I've helped you fulfil your desires.'

Brandon put this so simply Hanna wasn't nearly convinced.

'Please,' she laughed. 'You want nothing in return for this?'

'It's not nothing to me,' he said, oddly not offended.

'But you must have some other motivation.'

Brandon's gaze shifted from Hanna's. 'I've had countless opportunities to engage in whatever sordid things were on offer. I've been with women who would never admit to the things they wanted, for some reason it frustrated me more to see them deny themselves. I've loved one girl, and it didn't work out. I see no reason to spend my life with someone, but I can make someone happy all the same. Or at least less miserable than they are now.'

'Why me?'

'You always seemed more miserable than any other person I knew. Aside from my sister, that is.'

'What if I were still married?'

'Then you wouldn't be here now, would you? Unless your urges got the better of you. I'm sure there were a few temptations in that time you had to deny yourself because you'd made a promise to do so.'

'That's how marriages work, Brandon.'

'How awful,' said Cassidy, sipping her champagne. 'How... boring.'

Hanna couldn't find the anger to counter this. Cassidy was right, it had gotten boring being with one person. On the nights Richard was working late and Hanna was too frustrated to wait for him, she'd taken her laptop to bed to look up graphic images of girls, clearing the cache immediately after she was done pleasuring herself in case Richard happened to come across her browser history.

Richard never knew. She'd asked him if he'd ever wanted things he felt were too unconventional to try, and he'd said no. He didn't even own a single porn mag as a teen. It wasn't he was a prude, but he'd not even tried to go down on her and it was something Hanna had enjoyed with other guys. Even if she was happy to have Richard's cock in her mouth, he hadn't liked it for long.

How had she built him up in her head to be a decent lover when he was hardly even amenable? She was a good lover, she'd been told so. Her expertise was wasted on Richard.

'You mustn't think much of me for subscribing to that kind of relationship.'

'Why would I belittle you?' Brandon said kindly. 'I've never judged anyone for getting married or needing things others said they shouldn't need. I stay out of everyone's business, and I expect they stay out of mine.'

Cassidy positioned herself to face Hanna, propping her head on her hand. Her smile was more innocent now.

'It's not your fault you went along with things you thought were right. Everyone does it. I've done it. But I decided to stop. Now you have the chance to do the same.'

Hanna took a mouthful of champagne before she answered. 'I have your word you'll say nothing of this to anyone, Brandon?'

'You're sharing secrets with me here, Hanna. This isn't one way. Don't you think I'd expect the same of you?'

Hanna dropped her eyes, not out of shame but to think. She didn't feel completely safe being left alone with Cassidy. She wanted Brandon to stay, to keep watch. But would he remain so passive as to let her carry out her whims?

'I'd like you to stay,' she said to him quietly.

'That's fine. I can do whatever you wish.'

Her anxiety was too profound for her to ignore her medication. She took out her purse and found her pills. 'I just need one,' she said quickly.

Cassidy reached across and took everything out of her hands, placing it all neatly on the coffee table.

'No you don't. It'll ruin it for you. Trust me.'

Hanna tensed up having Cassidy so close to her now. She smelt clean, there wasn't another fragrance masking her scent. Her robe was slightly open and Hanna could see the curves down between her breasts.

She let Cassidy kiss her once as a test. It thrilled Hanna to finally have this, and she was quick to want more. It was innocent, very simple. Cassidy was patient with her and kept her touches light. Hanna felt Brandon's eyes on her, still thinking he would cross the room at some point to join them.

Cassidy was moving Hanna back against the sofa ever so slowly as the kissing continued. Hanna kept her eyes closed, breathing steadily at first then sharply when Cassidy hitched up her dress. She melted against her own will.

'Slow down, Cassidy,' Brandon instructed. 'Don't rush.'

His voice actually made Hanna quiver. He was controlling Cassidy, this was how he wanted it to be. She instinctively knew he wasn't going to lay a hand on her now.

Hanna had woken up that morning with a headache, gathering herself in the shower to be ready to meet Richard and end things by noon. Then she'd gone back to work as if nothing had happened. Now, not even eight hours later, she was being seduced by a stranger under the gaze of an acquaintance.

Brandon knew what Hanna needed and he instructed Cassidy, patiently dictating her moves and rendering Hanna helpless. Cassidy undressed Hanna with a certain care, delicate about her kisses as they went lower. Her small hands caressed Hanna's breasts gently, her mouth moving lower until her lips were on her cunt.

From then on Hanna belonged to Cassidy as much as she did to Brandon. Relinquishing control, succumbing to weakness, there was no harm in this for her. Her terror subsided, and she was discontent with being pleased, now wanting to pleasure Cassidy in the same manner.

Brandon was silent then, he wasn't going to tell Hanna what to do. Cassidy stood up for Hanna, putting one foot on the sofa and exposing her sweet little flower with no amount of coyness. Hanna kissed her thigh first, lightly running her tongue along the edge of her pelvic bone then licking the wetness to find Cassidy's clit. Cassidy's moaning was much louder, her fingers sliding through Hanna's hair.

Hanna was lost in this, already knowing she'd want more once it was over. She wanted Cassidy at her mercy, and she slipped her finger inside to toy with her, gladdened that she wasn't doing a thing wrong for her first time at this.

Cassidy was begging her not to stop, the balance of power at last shifting in Hanna's favour. She smiled up at Cassidy when she was done, and Cassidy glanced down, looking besotted.

'God, you're beautiful,' Cassidy murmured.

She returned the favour for Hanna, and Brandon kept up his watch. When Hanna opened her eyes to see him looking at her, he only had a small smile. She had no idea if he were at all affected by the sight of her flushed and naked, recovering from her orgasm.

He did absolutely nothing as Cassidy took Hanna's hands and peeled her off the sofa.

'Come with me,' she purred. 'I want to wash your hair.'

Brandon was watching them leave, Hanna saw him when she glanced over her shoulder, his expression too neutral for her liking.