The man cleared his throat. "Are you Jennifer Labian?" His tone was warm, but
businesslike, and yet she found herself relaxing.
"Yes, how can I help you?"
"Ms. Labian, my name is Mr. Starke; this is my associate Suchin." Only one name,
she thought to herself? He smiled at her; at what must have been the expression on her
face. "We are representatives of a firm that has taken a, shall we say ... special ...
interest in your predicament."
"My predicament?"
The woman stepped forward, "Please don't waste our time, Ms. Labian, we both know
you're in debt beyond your abilities." Her voice was high, almost lyrical.
To Jen's surprise, this bold assertion elicited a sharp glance from Starke at his
companion. Sunchin quailed, the affected disdain suddenly gone from her face as she
stepped back into her former spot. If she hadn't had just seen it, she wouldn't have
believed it. What was going on here? How could one glance completely upend such
arrogance?
Starke smiled, "Please excuse my associate. She is new to this, and sometimes
speaks when she should listen." Jen nodded, her eyes still on the Asian, whose eyes were
now downcast.
"To continue, please," his voice drew her back, the other woman's predicament
suddenly forgotten once her eyes met his, "my firm is aware of the nature of your not
inconsiderable debts, and we have come to work with you to reach an amicable resolution to
your situation."
"I don't understand."
"Ms. Labian, we work for a consortium called the Lenox Group. We have business
interests and holdings around the globe. Those holdings and interests serve a select
client base, and we guard them fiercely."
"But, what does that have to do with me?" She gripped the door a little more
tightly.
"Your debts have begun to touch on one of our interests. One of our subsidiary
corporations purchased a block of student loan debt from several universities and, in the
process of reviewing the files of our newest acquisition, your account was flagged for
review and resolution."
"Resolution?" She tried not to let her voice quaver.
He smiled again, this time a genuine smile, one that made her smile.
"No, no, nothing so sinister as what you're obviously thinking. We are not a debt
collection agency. Our interest in you is more ... complicated than that."
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Complicated how?"
"We will pay all of your debts, in exchange for your entering into a contract for
your services with our firm."
"Excuse me?" It seemed like time had stopped. He'd said something, but it sounded
to her like gibberish. Something about paying her debts?!? She felt dizzy ... like
someone had told her Santa Claus was real.
He gave her a warm smile. "Yes, I usually get that reaction."
Starke took a moment to remove his glasses and run a sham over them. Jen knew he
was pausing for dramatic effect, even as her brain cannibalized itself with the unbearable
wait. After a torturous thirty seconds, he put his glasses back on and looked at her. "I
said, we would like to resolve this situation to our mutual benefit by relieving you of
your debts."
"Why?"
"Ah, yes, the 'why' of it. Most of your kind don't ask that question."
My kind? she wondered. What does that mean?
"Well, we run a business venture. So naturally our offer would be in exchange for
your entering into a service contract with our firm."
Jennifer shook her head, conscious of the way her hair bounced; she was in
desperate need of a shower. A long morning's preparation for her afternoon class had left
her positively rumpled.
"All of my debts?" She asked it slowly, deliberately.
He nodded, smiling at her single mindedness.
And she swore she heard a suppressed giggle from Suchin.
"All of them."
"But why?" she asked again, "what do I have to offer your firm that could possibly
be of such value? I owe quite a lot of money." She couldn't even bring herself to admit it
to her mother, let alone two total strangers.
"We know. One hundred forty two thousand dollars is not a trivial sum, so please do
consider our offer." A smug look stole across his face.
Her temper, so rare these days, flared. How dare he!
If he saw her irritation, Starke gave no notice, as if her offended ego was of no
consequence. "Remember, we've purchased your debt."
She held up a hand, confused. "You didn't answer my question. What do I have that
is worth one hundred forty thousand dollars?"
He stepped in then, until he stood so close to her she thought he was going to kiss
her. She could smell him, a strong, masculine scent, with just a trace of some very
expensive cologne.
Jen found herself responding to him, parts of body awakening at his closeness to
generate a slow heat that filled her with some very peculiar urges. It was totally
unexpected. Totally irrational.
But it was there ... a deep throb within her. Some connection between them.
Something that made her hunger for him.
She swallowed as his blue eyes met hers, fighting to stay focused. His icy gaze
didn't help, telling her that he'd sooner see her on her knees before him.
Starke's answer, almost a whisper, rocked her to her very core: "You."
She gasped, understanding flooding in. Suddenly it all made sense ...
"No," she breathed, not wanting to believe.
"Yes," again, the sibilant whisper, "you could be quite valuable to us."
That shocked her. Years of being single, of spending her nights with books instead
of a lover had left her ego decidedly muted. To have this inexplicably attractive stranger
tell her that she was valuable -- in a purely sexual sense -- was surreal. And yet ...
could she be what they so clearly wanted? Her body ached with the possibility.
To be appreciated as a woman rather than a scholar; to be appreciated only as a
woman.
Her good-girl upbringing reasserted itself for a moment. She'd always liked sex,
but this was ridiculous.
"But I couldn't possibly...I mean...it's...it's just not done."
"More than you think," this from Suchin, delivered with a wry smile that told Jen
in an instant that the Asian beauty belonged to Mr. Starke. Jen tore her gaze from the man
before her and looked at the Asian beauty, her mind almost unable to process what was
being discussed.
Bright almond eyes met hers with a look that spoke of fulfillment.
Jen's mind burned with images of the slender, haughty woman on her knees servicing
Starke...being taken by him in a public park...riding him in a bed of crisp white
sheets...the possibilities she conjured up for Suchin seemed endless. And she found
herself wishing that she had such opportunities.
"But.." she lost her voice.
Starke's hand on her chin was warm, but firm, as he turned her head away from
Suchin. "Don't look at her. Look at me."
There was power in his voice, and despite the shock of what they were discussing--
despite the fact that this stranger had been standing on her doorstep for less than ten
minutes-- Jen found herself thrilling to his commands.
She looked at him, meeting his gaze. Jen could barely breathe.
"How long," she croaked.
"Three years," he replied, with a tone that made her think that time was too short
for his liking. His touch burned as he stepped in even closer, until the front of his suit
jacket brushed against her breasts.
Her nipples ached as they strained against the rough cotton of her tank top, and
she marveled at how wet she suddenly was. Who was this man?!?
"Don't say no, just yet, Ms. Labian. Think it through. There are tremendous
benefits to this arrangement. Simply for having this discussion, we've erased
twenty-thousand dollars of your debt with a credit card, I believe. Right, Suchin?"
"Yes, sir, with her card through the First Pioneers Bank of San Antonio."
Jen's started; they were that far into her accounts?
"What's more," he continued, reaching out to take her hands in his," the benefits
to this arrangement aren't purely financial. We've been informed of your particular, shall
we say, appetites, and we're prepared to indulge them as a part of your contract."
"My appetites?" Her mouth was dry, and the words croaked out.
Starke's smile told her that he knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Yes, that singular activity we both know you crave."
Somehow they knew she loved to suck cock. How, she didn't know. It wasn't something
she broadcast. Did it mean they'd contacted her former lovers? Had they surveiled her at
some point?
Jen's pussy suddenly burned white hot, and she shivered with desire. Did it matter?
Starke seemed to be promising her everything her long-denied libido cried out for. Jen
pursed her lips, considering the wonderful possibilities.
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