Laralie puckered her lips, but she said nothing. Sensing the tension, I nodded at Florian. “Why don't you give Laralie a little tour around the place. She seemed interested in the dildo-cake.”
Laughing, he scratched at his short, sandy hair. “The Volcano? Keswick designed that one years ago, but he refused to have it made until I found it in his backlog of files.”
“Right, go show off the frosting covered version of the beast you forced my hand on.”
He waved at me frantically. “For the ears of the ladies, I'll keep from making a dirty joke about your hands and forcing them onto things.”
“Why else come to a sex toy party if it's not to hear dirty jokes?” Laralie asked.
Florian pointed at her. “I like this one.”
Laralie bowed before facing Alexis. “I'll see you after, don't do anything I wouldn't do!” Together, the pair headed off towards the table of snacks. Florian bent down, speaking into her ear and causing her to laugh.
I gave Alexis a small nudge. “Would she blow off a party to get some privacy with the man she's in love with?”
She linked her fingers with mine, whispering back, “I think she would.”
“Good.” With long strides, I led her out the back door. “Then let's get out of here.”
****
“It's so quiet,” she said, stepping through the doors of Pure Pleasure. “Do you not have any security—ah!” A small, sharp beep had surprised her.
Grinning, I pulled the doors shut behind us. From my pocket, I slid out my phone to show her the screen. “This is my security. It's an app Florian and I created.”
She leaned close, watching the phone. There was a live feed of where we stood, and she looked up, trying to locate the camera. “How does it work?”
“Motion sensors. They feed into my phone, alerting me if there's anyone moving around in here after I set the alarm.”
“Huh. That's clever.”
“Don't flatter me too hard,” I teased. Scooping up her hand, I marveled at how I'd never get bored of that instant tingle. “This way. I want to show you something.”
We walked through a side-hall, the darkness thick around us. I didn't need any light to know where I was going; I'd walked these floors for thousands of hours. I knew my building like the back of my hand. The only one who might know it as well was Florian.
It was his idea to make a display room of our most popular toys, too.
“Oh my gosh,” Alexis laughed when I flicked on the overhead lamps. The room was wide, long tables of flat metal and glass along the walls. On top of each of them sat an array of multi-colored sex toys.
She pulled away from me, wandering the room with amazement strong on her face. “If I'd seen this room first, the dildo-cake wouldn't have shocked me.”
Following her, I trailed wherever her eyes paused. I wanted to see into her head, eager to know what she thought about each item. “It's mostly to show to investors, or the occasional curious visitor.”
Her hand went up, hovering just above the curved tip of a silver, modern-art styled toy. “This one is kind of pretty. Did you really design all of these?” She was acting amused, but her blush was creeping up her throat.
“Most.”
“Can I ask why?”
Alexis had stopped moving, her attention fixing on me. There was an undeniable eroticness to how she was standing, fingers just inches from the surface of something I'd designed to make women come again and again.
Swaying closer to her, I stood on the other side of the display case. “Because I'm obsessed with the idea of knowing I'm the reason girls are squirming in bed. But honestly, it's because it makes me a lot of money.”
A ripple moved over her brow. “That's all?”
Reaching across, I plucked the toy from the table. It was heavy, most of that coming from the sharp metal base meant to keep it pointing upright. “Did I need another reason?”
She half-turned away from me. “Saying it bluntly makes you sound heartless.”
I found myself staring helplessly at the curve of her ear. It was bare, empty, and I hated that. “Pet, I'm not heartless. My heart has plenty of room in it for you, and it has nothing to do with wanting to keep my bank accounts flush.”
Looking at the floor, then me, she sighed. “You're right. I was just hoping you had another reason for creating stuff. When I was...” Trailing off, she shook her head. “Never mind.”
“No, tell me.”
Her black pupils sucked up all the green in her eyes. “When I was planning to leave and go out to LA, I was—it'll sound so stupid.” At her waist, she twisted her fingers together. “I had these big dreams of getting accepted into a college for designing clothes. That was what I wanted to do. Remember the dress you saw me in five years ago?”
My heart dehydrated, shrinking. “You made that?”
She didn't answer with her words, but I knew.
Tension turned my muscles into useless rocks. They crumbled, cracked, threatening to crush everything inside of me that I dared to call human. I'd already accepted that I'd have to spend an eternity making up for my sins... for what I'd done to this woman.