He walked through the shadowed entryway, leaving daylight behind, into the dimness of the bar's interior. Maia was behind the bar, and as soon as Daniel sat down, she set a shot of vodka in front of him. "Have one on the house," she said in a slightly strained tone, and slid an envelope to him. While he was trying to think of how to phrase his question as to what was going on, she'd already walked down the bar to another customer.
His name was on the envelope in flowing script. Daniel turned it over curiously, then opened the flap -- it wasn't sealed -- and drew out a piece of paper folded in two. "Daniel cheri," it said, "come upstairs after you've had your drink, it will be my treat tonight. Don't keep me waiting too long. Manon"
He refolded the paper, put it back into its envelope and folded the envelope, placing it in his billfold. He put a five on the counter for Maia's tip, and downed his vodka in a single gulp.
Daniel looked over at the stairs, then at the empty shot glass. He really should leave now, he thought. Then his eyes met the camera, and he felt Manon watching him. He should at least go up there and tell her no in person, thank her for the drink It would be so much more polite. No, an inner voice told him, the only way I'm getting out of here without doing exactly what she wants is to leave now. But he didn't quite hear that voice, taking the first, then the next step up the staircase.
Daniel knocked once on the door. Manon's voice came through clearly, "Come right in." His hand shook slightly as he turned the doorknob.
He stepped inside, then closed the door behind him. There was a short passageway with a turn, and he rounded the corner to halt, blink once in surprise, and stammer, "Wha-Hello." He'd stopped himself just a fraction after starting to say "What the hell?" and decided it was all for the best, as he'd planned just to thank her for the drink and head home.
Manon's office held a desk at one end, with a chair behind it and two chairs in front. Then looknig past that, Daniel saw a large fluffy round rug and at the far end, a closet door. Overhead where they were easily viewable from the entire room except the chairs in front of the desk, were four monitors, three showing the inside of the Solstice and one the exterior right outside the entrance. From here, Manon could watch everything going on inside her bar and see who had come in as well.
Michael was seated behind Manon's desk, with Manon herself sitting on his lap. She smiled at Daniel. "Hello, cheri," she said. Michael looked to one side, as though he did not see Daniel, or did not want to see him. Manon locked her eyes on Daniel's. She slid off Michael's lap, walked around her desk and hopped lightly onto it, so she was sitting on the edge facing Daniel. She wore a loosely belted silk robe, and Daniel got the impression as she crossed and recrossed her legs, getting comfortable, that there was nothing more underneath the robe.
Daniel stood, his head now on a level with Manon's. He walked up to her, gave her an uncomfortable smile, and said, "Thank you for the drink, but I have an early evening tonight, I can't stay and ... I can't stay long. You have a very nice setup up here." He started to turn away, but she reached out a hand to him, and he took it.
Manon drew him close. "Cheri, you must stay, I need you," she said softly.
"Let him go," Michael said, the first words he'd spoken.
Manon turned and spoke chidingly. "Don't be possessive, Miche," she said. She looked back at Daniel, taking his other hand in hers. "For a week now, I have been dreaming, desiring, of you, cheri. Of the two of you, and now that I have you here at last, I will not let you run away."
Daniel tried to breathe normally. "You are very beautiful, Manon, and I would be lying if I said I was not tempted, but I have a fiancee and I have a lot of work tomorrow and I really do have to go," he said quickly, and pulled his hand from hers with an effort, and turned to go.
She slid the robe off with a silken sound and turned him again with a touch. Their lips met and Daniel found he could not think of leaving any more. Manon's fingers found the fastening of his trousers, and she slid them down his legs slowly, lips leaving a trail of fire and lipstick down the length of his thigh. She lifted one leg, shedding shoe, sock and trouser leg from it with a single motion, then did the same to the other. Daniel stood in shorts and shirt; Manon stood nude and began to unbutton his shirt. He remembered he'd left tie and jacket in his car.
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," Michael's voice said softly in the distance.
Manon laughed, stopping at the last button and looking over her shoulder. "Stop it, Miche," she said, then finished her task, removing Daniel's shirt and tossing it on a chair. She ran her fingers around the waistband of his shorts. He could hardly breathe, and his erection was starting to hurt, it was so hard. The shorts caught on it, and Manon pulled out the waistband as she pulled them down to reveal it. "Ah," she breathed. Manon placed a delicate kiss at the tip and then finished taking off Daniel's shorts.
"Your new toy came with the deluxe model," Michael said.
"You must not be envious, Miche," she replied, hopping up onto the desk again, and proceeding over it to the other side, where Michael still sat. "You are both perfect, each in your own way."
"If I were going to be envious, I'd choose someone who had something to be envied," Michael said slyly. He ran his hands caressingly over Manon. Daniel stood, almost frozen, watching. Manon undressed Michael as she had him, but more swiftly, more familiarly. She kissed the hollow of his collarbone as she opened his shirt. Daniel realized as he watched what had prompted Michael's comment -- he was only averagely endowed, an inch or more smaller than Daniel, with both of them fully erect.
Manon drew Michael over to the rug, and crooked a finger at Daniel. He did not move, till she walked over and took his hand, then he followed her back to it. "I would like to try this standing," she said, "between my two most virile men." She put two fingers between her legs, and they came out glistening. Manon dabbed them on Daniel's lips. "Taste, cheri," she said softly. She knelt and took Michael into her mouth briefly, leaving him dripping with saliva. Then she nuzzled her back to him, still facing Daniel. He saw her face contort in pleasure as she pulled him to her. Michael lifted her up and Daniel slid inside between her lower lips, feeling her inner muscle clench around him. Manon wrapped her legs tightly around Daniel's waist. He could feel Michael moving slowly in and out behind her, through the thin wall of Manon's muscle that separated them.
Blood roared in Daniel's ears so that he could hardly hear when Manon asked them to lie down, but he disengaged long enough to allow her and Michael to recline on their sides, Michael still moving slowly within her. He licked his lips, the taste of Manon still on them, and felt drawn to taste more. He lay in front of her to do so and he found she was tasting him as well, drawing him deep into her mouth, and he touched his tongue to where the taste was strongest, and found Michael's balls slid along his forehead. The sensation added oddly to his arousal, and he sought it, licking across Manon's wetness onto Michael's sac, and back again.
"Don't," Michael said in a choked voice, and that made Daniel all the more aroused. Michael didn't like him, Michael didn't want him here, Michael didn't think he was good enough for Manon, or anyone, well Daniel would give Michael something to hate him for, and they'd see what Michael did about it. The thought nearly put him over the edge of climax and he felt Manon's tongue tickle, her mouth slowing its movements to delay him. He felt Manon tense under his tongue, and began dedicating his tongue completely to her pleasure, almost forgetting Michael was there, even that he was there, just lost in her scent, her taste, her sounds and movements. He felt her climax, licked her a few more times softly, then she did something with her mouth that made him close, did it again and he flooded her mouth, arching his back so their only point of contact was her mouth on him, and then not even that as she slid to one side, then face down, Michael atop her spasming in his own final moments.
Daniel lay face down in the soft rug, breathing, trying to remember who he was, where he was. After a bit he felt Manon's hand stroke his back, from shoulder to thigh. Her palm returned to cup his rear, making small circles of heat. "You are very good when you are bad, cheri," she said.
"Almost as good as me?" Michael said, sounding almost cheerful, which somehow surprised Daniel.
Daniel thought Manon was answering Michael when she said, "Not quite, but that is because you are in a class of your own, Miche. But I am sure he can improve." She patted Daniel's rear. "Can't you, cheri?" He didn't answer.
Daniel waited till Michael had dressed and left before rising. He found he was covered in drying bodily fluids, flaking off. Manon showed him the tiny bathroom attached to her office and he eyed the shower, considering. He tried to wash off in the sink but there really was too much in his hair and he decided to take the shower.
He couldn't look Maia in the eye as he walked down the stairs with his hair still damp. He went straight to the exit and drove home.