Summary: Mara Sweet hated her satyr colleague, Cyd Stylcock. He was obnoxious, flirtatious, always late with the paperwork, and - worse - everyone seemed to love him. His presence just further aggravated Mara after her messy break-up. And to make matters worse, she was coming down with a fever.
Something in Mara snaps when Cyd, bringing his paperwork in at the last possible second, waltzes into her office. Dizzy from fever, she does something she never thought she’d do in a million years: grope her colleague.
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The whole way to the grocery store, Cyd followed Mara. And the whole way, she walked just a little bit ahead of him and utterly ignored his presence. She hoped, if she didn’t give him any attention, he’d eventually leave her alone. His incessant need to follow her had to stem from not having the attention of someone else. Surely, he’d disappear when someone else fed his ego.
But he didn’t leave her alone. He lingered close by, looking at something on a nearby shelf as she waited in the line to speak to a pharmacist. About ten minutes after getting to the counter and speaking to a pharmacist about the new prescription, Mara realized she was once again alone.
Heaving a sigh to herself, her sense relieved but her hormones upset, she shoved her medicine in her purse and headed for the Asian take-out counter.
Like an unwanted pest, Cyd materialized out of the air as Mara squinted at the menu above the counter. “Hey, there you are. Thought I lost you.”
“I was hoping to lose you.” Mara narrowed her eyes at the shopping bag hanging from his elbow. Through the plastic, she made out a popular brand of condoms. Her attention snapped back to the menu, irritation mingling with a sense of hormonal anticipation.
Did he really think she was going to fuck him? Or was she just looking into his actions too much? He had something to do at nine, didn’t he? Maybe it was a date. He was a big enough flirt, it wouldn’t surprise Mara if he had something lined up on a work night. A bead of jealousy swelled up in her chest. All she had was an empty apartment to return home to.
“How may I help you?” The worker at the take-out counter had finally finished with the previous customer.
Forgetting about Cyd, Mara turned to the worker, mouth opening to place her order. Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple. Nothing was when Cyd Stylcock was around.
“Yeah, I’ll have the sweet and sour tofu stir fry with steamed rice and a veggie spring roll.” He spoke before Mara, stepping up next to her as if they were always planning to order together.
“I was in line before you, you ass,” Mara snapped as she turned a glare on the satyr man.
“My treat. You had a rough day. What do you want?” The ease with which Cyd smiled down at her made something in Mara roil both pleasantly and heatedly.
Her glare remained angled at his face, her lips scrunched in anger as an uncomfortable warmth bit at her cheeks. But Mara’s hunger and practical side won over. If he wanted to pay for her food, fine. “Tofu pad thai, level four spicy, with a veggie spring roll.”
At her order, Cyd’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Shooting her a skeptical look, hiding behind his grin, he pushed, “Level four, really?”
“Bite me.” Rolling her eyes, Mara didn’t want to hear what he had to say about her high spice tolerance. He’d probably comment on being surprised and then making some asinine joke at her expense. Something twinkling in his eyes betrayed his plan to say something. Before he could mutter whatever awful thing poised on his lips, Mara turned sharply. “I’m going to go sit down.”
“Oh, not taking it home?” His words innocently trailed after her. She thought they masked some level of disappointment though.
Originally, Mara had planned to take the food home, but not now. Not with Cyd one again at her heels. And with condoms on him. “Nope. Eating it here.”
Mara briefly debated on a single table with one chair or a table in the corner with four chairs. In the end, she decided at least sharing the meal he had bought for her would be doable. Seating herself at the corner table, she pulled her new prescription from her purse and dry-swallowed the recommended dose. She wasn’t going to risk temptation around a co-worker.
When Cyd brought the food out - packaged away in take-out containers and bags as if she’d changed her mind, Mara noticed - he quickly spotted her. As he settled across the table from her, placing the meals on the table, she wanted to say the medicine was working. No wanton thoughts invaded her mind as she stared at him. Nope, he was just Cyd, the annoying flirty co-worker. That was it.
As she cracked the top open on her container and unwrapped her chopsticks, Mara couldn’t help but test just how effective the medicine was. Not looking up at Cyd, she settled on a direct but unobtrusive, “So, the condoms.”
To his credit, Cyd gave a bashful chuckle as he popped open his food’s container. “Oh, you saw that?”
“Mhmn,” she hummed around her bite of food, her eyes flickering up to his face. The burn of her meal lingered on her tongue, making its way to her stomach. “Did you really think I’d invite you to my place?”
“Well, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
Mara was unmoved by his display and took another bite of her meal before responding. “Never gonna happen.”
He only gave a noncommittal hum in response, his grin growing as Mara’s scowl deepened.
“They’re not for me, they’re for my younger brother and his wife.” He shrugged, as if it was normal to buy condoms for his own brother. At Mara’s inquiring raise of an eyebrow, Cyd added, “I’m babysitting tonight and I thought I’d razz them by getting them condoms.”
Narrowing her eyes, Mara wrinkled her nose and swallowed her bite before asking, “They’re married? Then why the-“
Cyd had just swallowed a bite of food before motioning his chopsticks at Mara. “They have four kids! And they’re going on a date night! Any more kids and I’ll need a daycare license to babysit for them.”
“Uh huh,” she snorted, rolling her eyes. Despite herself, the corner of her lips twitched upward at his rather ridiculous claim. The two continued to eat in silence. Mara tried not to rush her meal, even though all she wanted was to go home and be left alone.
Well, that wasn’t true. She was heading home to an empty apartment when she’d usually have her now-ex waiting. Her mind churned forth a million little things she missed. Soft touches, the brush of their bodies as they passed each other, whispers in her ear, idle kisses. All of it, gone now.
“Anyway, what are your plans tonight?” At his question, Mara startled out of her sad reverie. She angled a pointed look at him, silently taking another bite of her food. Cyd leaned even further over the table, the wood creaking under the movement as he gave a coaxing grin, “Kids are a pretty good libido suppressor.”
Mara wrinkled her nose and frowned. “You’re asking me to come babysit with you?”
“Yeah, why not?” He lifted one shoulder in a lackadaisical shrug. “They’re little terrors. You’ll be too stressed to be horny.”
“So they’re like you,” she shot back, pointedly dropping her chopsticks into her empty container.
To Mara’s satisfaction, Cyd paused with a bite halfway to his mouth. “Hey now! I’m not that bad.”
Cyd’s ever-present grin morphed into a pout and, under that expression, Mara realized the medicine hadn’t fully taken effect yet. Her insides flipped, like heated syrup rolling about a glass container. She needed to go before she had another cock-grabbing session like earlier. Thankfully, he still had part of a meal to finish, so now was an opportune moment to leave.
Standing, Mara gathered her trash and her bag and moved toward the exit. “I think I’ll pass. Having to deal with one of you is enough for me.”
“Fine, fine.” Cyd surprised her by speedily gathering up his things and clasping the container closed. She had barely gotten to the grocery store’s doors when he came up alongside her. “See you tomorrow at work?”
What a nuisance, she thought as heat warmed her stomach.
She raised her hand in a parting wave, but – Cyd aggravatingly noticed – she did not answer him as she waltzed away.
x x x
Three days. Three fucking days.
Or more precisely, three non-fucking days.
The heat and pressure at her center had worsened. Every show she watched, every slightly suggestive song she listened to, every book she read made it worse. A particularly attractive actor, a thrumming baseline, a smutty sex scene. Every godsdamn thing made this fever worse.
She had even called in sick to work the last three days. Not to avoid Cyd, but to make certain she didn’t fall into a haze and go groping anyone again. Just the very thought made shame burn at her cheeks.
Desperate, Mara decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. The doctor had suggested non-medicinal options, since the prescription had a low chance of working on the basis of her low-cubare blood quotient.
Turns out, the medicine was like Adderall. For people with ADHD, Adderall calmed them down, just like this medicine for the cubare. However, the medicine made libido worse for non-cubare, just like Adderall hyped up people without ADHD.
Thus, Mara found herself at the club on a Thursday night, scoping her options out. She was completely unaware of someone approaching at her elbow, until a voice behind her growled, “There you are.”
Startled, Mara swung around to face Cyd before recognition registered in her head.
She had never heard his voice dip so low and husky. Her eyes widened, feeling like everything about her co-worker was somehow bigger than how he was in the office. He stood taller than usual, his curlicue ram horns seemed to take up much more air space than she remembered. Something like a grimace curled his lips, flashing off his sharper-than-human teeth.
She could only stare, not comprehending his appearance at the club. “What are you doing here?”
“Tracking you down. Now, come on.” Cyd reached out, his large hand curling around her elbow.
The touch was like fire for Mara, sinking right to her center. Startled, she tried to jerk her arm away from him, but his grip was firm. Which shouldn’t have enticed like it did, but something at her center jolted excitedly. Her mind, on the other hand, balked and she all but snarled, “Excuse me?”
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