Bound by Their Kisses(8)
It seemed the more she denied herself, the harder it became. Still, that part of herself that screamed in self-preservation warned that they would take over her life, consume her, and squash any dreams or aspirations she might have to better herself. They would want a submissive who looked to them for everything to the point that she would sink into nothingness, her individuality molded to their wishes.
Again she shook off those useless thoughts and washed up her dishes before heading to the bathroom for a shower. It was past time for her to be in bed so she could get up the next morning to get ready for work.
Please let the hot water actually work tonight.
When she turned on the water and adjusted it to suit her, the pipes moaned and rattled. Tessa held out her hand to test the temperature and sighed in relief. No cold shower tonight. She stepped in and quickly soaped her body, knowing that her good luck could change at any second. Sure enough, as soon as she had soaped her entire body, the pipes groaned and the water slowly began to lose heat. Tessa rushed to rinse off before she had to endure nothing but cold water. Just as she finished, an icy cascade replaced the lukewarm shower of before.
Tessa jumped out so fast she nearly fell, scraping her foot on the track that held the sliding shower door and banging her hip into the vanity in the process.
“Damn!” She held on to the vanity with an iron grip until she got past the pain to her hip and foot.
What more could possibly go wrong? No, she thought, don’t say that. You know it can always get worse. Tessa turned off the shower, wiped up the water she’d tracked on the floor, and realized her foot was bleeding. See, that was why she should never utter those treacherous words.
The cut didn’t seem to be very deep, but it was going to be sore for a few days. In the meantime, being on her feet wasn’t going to be fun. Tessa cleaned it and bandaged it, praying it didn’t become infected. Though she kept everything as clean as possible, it was hard to clean old crap that should have been replaced a long time ago.
Her bed consisted of a mattress on the floor, and her nightstand was a milk crate with a wind-up alarm clock. She set the alarm for six and quickly pulled on her nightshirt before slipping beneath the sheet. Since she couldn’t run the overhead ceiling fan without leaving on the light, Tessa had a box fan to stir the air. Though it wasn’t exactly hot in the apartment, it was stuffy.
With fall not too far off, the days remained hot, but the nights cooled off to a comfortable temperature that could get a little chilly at times. Tessa was thankful it would be a while before she had to worry about cold, wet weather again. Last year she’d been lucky and was able to get a ride to work sometimes with a lady who worked at the bank, but she hadn’t seen or heard from the woman in several months now. Tessa didn’t know if she was still around. Maybe her hours had changed or she had quit work. Either way, it meant a miserable walk to and from work if she didn’t find another ride.
She sighed. Why couldn’t she stop worrying so much over everything? She had a good job. Worrying over every little thing when she couldn’t do anything about it right then was only going to lead to a sleepless night and ulcers. With that thought, Tessa closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. As if her mind had to have the last word, an image of herself pressed intimately between Tag and Zander, complete with that little gasp of breath that always hit her if one of them touched her, flashed across her mind as she drifted off.
Chapter Three
Friday morning started out well enough. Tessa managed to get to work almost twenty minutes early, and since Steve had shown up earlier than usual, she didn’t have to wait around for him to unlock the door for her. She’d even remembered to pack a lunch, which was something she often forgot these days. Something about restless nights didn’t go well with a clear head in the morning.
From there, the day seemed to go downhill. First, a woman bumped into one of the displays of butt plugs, knocking them everywhere. It took Tessa nearly an hour between taking care of customers and answering the phone to arrange the display back like it was. Then a busload of tourists swarmed the store while a leaking tire on the bus was repaired. While it meant some rather nice sales, the sheer number of people in the store at one time had been overwhelming. Even though Steve had come out to help, the two of them had been run ragged for nearly an hour until they moved on down the street.
She hesitated to hope the rest of the day proved to be quieter since that always backfired on her. Instead she stayed busy packaging some of Kelly’s jewelry to be shipped. Between customers, she was pleased to have gotten over half of the orders completed.