Crazy Seduction(erotica)

Her eyes flicked back to him as he smiled at the blonde, whose intentions for him were clearly visible in her blue eyes. Minkah felt a brief stab of jealousy but brutally pushed that aside.

She decided this observation session was over. She needed to refocus her mind on the mission. She’d go for a walk to clear her head and-

Minkah saw the big redhead approaching from the far entrance to this gallery. She read his intent in his body language and automatically turned to walk the other way. She briefly collided with the tall, pale woman before moving on to exit the room. She kept moving until she was outside. A brief glance back showed no sign of the redhead, but a tall, dark-skinned woman in a dark suit was watching her intently. Minkah’s cover was blown. Considering the red-bearded man was the head of VRL security, this woman was obviously part of his team. Minkah headed down the sidewalk but sensed no followers. She walked away to go back to her safe house.

There, she’d take a moment to get her focus back. She’d stake out her target’s home later tonight to watch for an opportunity to capture him.

She had to get this mission back on track.

-=-

“Are you all right, Miss?”

“What?” Lorelei asked in surprise as she turned to look into the concerned eyes of the large red-bearded man standing next to her.

“You were bumped fairly hard,” the man said, quickly scanning her for injuries.

Lorelei couldn’t stop the smile from popping up on her lips at his genuine concern.

“I’m fine. It wasn’t too bad, though she could have apologized,” she responded.

He seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief, but worry was still present in his expression. Then she caught movement in the corner of her eye and looked to see the gorgeous brunette who’d followed him into the gallery. Were those red highlights in her hair?

“Is everything all right, Roy?” the woman asked, and Lorelei picked up a hint of a Spanish accent.

He looked back toward her. “Yes… I believe so.”

The woman focused on Lorelei, and recognition flared in her eyes as her smile widened. “You’re Ms. Reichenbach! The painter!”

Lorelei was surprised as she wasn’t expecting anyone to recognize her as she did her best to keep her face out of the papers. She nodded in confusion.

The woman held out her hand as she gestured to the paintings around them. “It was seeing you in this context that made me recognize you. I’m Camila Villamor.”

Lorelei shook the soft hand and smiled hesitantly. “You can call me Lorelei.”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Camila gave her another brilliant smile. “This is my good friend, Roy Duncan.”

Lorelei shook his hand as well. His concern hadn’t wholly faded, and that made her a little nervous as she still felt fine.

Camila continued. “A friend of mine recently inherited an estate which contained one of your paintings. Incredible!”

“Oh! Thank you,” Lorelei felt a little more at ease until she spotted the tall blonde joining them with the gorgeous man in tow. Why? Her stomach tightened as the butterflies duked it out inside. From this close, Lorelei could see the woman had quite a muscular physique!

“Camila? Roy? What are you two doing here?” the large woman asked, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

“Hi Sigrid, this is Lorelei Reichenbach! She’s the artist who painted the river scene we found in Meixiu’s mansion.”

Blue eyes turned to look at her. “Oh… OH!” The woman’s voice went up in surprise.

“What? Is this VRL night at the Met?” the handsome man quipped as he joined them. He smiled shyly at Lorelei, who was puzzled by his question.

“Henry, this is Lorelei Reichenbach. She painted Meixiu’s river scene painting. The one that seems to move?” Camila said, holding his eyes.

Henry’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, that’s a beautiful painting!” he said with a smile and reached to shake her hand.

When they touched, Lorelei gasped as a spark jumped between them. He looked equally surprised as he pulled his hand back, flexing it to relieve the tingles.

“What did you mean about VRL night?” Lorelei asked, recovering first.

Camila answered smoothly. “We all work at VRL. I’m the CEO, Roy is Head of Security, Sigrid is Head of Human Resources, and Henry is our CIO.”

“And?” Lorelei prompted as that didn’t explain the dating couple’s surprise to see them.

“We came to ensure you were safe,” Roy said.

Lorelei’s nerves began to hum. “Safe? In what way?”

Roy glanced around, but his team had cleared the gallery. He sighed in relief. “From the Hidden Races Council.”

Lorelei sang a quick tune to freeze everyone in place as her eyes flew wide. She prepared to run. Then she watched the group look at each other. “What was that?” Henry asked curiously.

Camila’s eyes showed compassion. “I believe Lorelei is a Naiad. That puts her at risk from the Hidden Races Council.”

“W-Why doesn’t my singing work on you?” Lorelei blurted nervously.

Roy glanced around again. “This really isn’t the place to talk about that. I don’t know who that woman who bumped you works for, but she was an agent, so it’s likely she was Council,” he replied. That made Lorelei’s nerves flare again.

Henry looked between the others then held out his hand to Lorelei once more. “These are the good guys. They saved me from the Council as well.”

Lorelei hesitantly took his hand in hers once more, and the spark was smaller this time, but as they continued to hold, a definite tingle could be felt. Her eyes opened in surprise as it felt like… the flow of a river, of a sort.

“What-what are you?” she asked with a quiet voice.

Henry grinned as he looked to the unease on the faces of the others. “Yeah, that’s… one of those things we’re not supposed to talk about. But you’re right, I’m not Human. Can we go someplace private to talk about this?” He released Lorelei’s hand as he looked to Sigrid. “Rain check?” She nodded with a pout.

“My team will make us a corridor to the side entrance, and our ride will meet us there,” Roy said.

“Your team?” Lorelei asked.

“He’s the Head of Security. He likes to keep his team close by,” Camila said with a gentle smile, and Roy frowned at her.

As they headed to the gallery exit, Roy stopped them. “The Human guards seem to be in some distress.”

Lorelei suddenly realized her song must have caught them. She sang another little tune to relax them and to make them forget what they just saw. She nodded to Roy, then they moved on.

“My team noticed your little test back in the lobby of VRL and brought it to my attention.” He gestured to the cameras in the rooms they passed through. “The surveillance cameras caught the behavior of the people, and it stood out like a red flag. You’ll want to be aware of that.” He smiled at Lorelei, and she saw he was trying to be helpful, so she nodded.

“Two of my crew can no longer recall what they saw once they heard your song. Is that reversible?” he asked.

“Yes,” she responded, and relief crossed his features.

They walked through the museum toward the side entrance, Henry pointing out some of the art to the others as they went. Lorelei observed how comfortable this group was with each other, and she felt a longing to belong. She was tired of being lonely. The fact that her singing had no effect on them meant she couldn’t manipulate them, and that felt… liberating, and a little unsettling as she couldn’t rely on her abilities to assist her. She’d have to make friends the old fashioned way, and she wasn’t particularly good at that.

Henry was looking at her again. “Everything okay?” he asked gently.

She blushed. “Yes, I’m just not used to people being… unaffected.”

He grinned. “I think you’ll find we’re pretty susceptible to a smile.”

She couldn’t help but grin back at him at his corny words.

Sigrid groaned. “Henry, that was so cheesy!” she teased him. “You’re such a flirt, and this was supposed to be our date!”

He held up his hands in surrender, his expression innocent of guile. “I wasn’t flirting! I was-” He stopped and dropped his hands when he saw Sigrid was just teasing him. He gave her an annoyed look, which pushed her over into a burst of giggles.

Lorelei was amazed to hear such a girlish sound from a woman who looked strong enough to punch through one of the museum’s stone columns. Their open and genuine behavior with each other relaxed Lorelei’s nerves. She just didn’t pick up any signs of ill intent from them, especially Henry.

Roy got a faraway look in his eyes then relaxed. “The agent left the area.” He looked to Camila. “Where to?”

She thought about that for a moment. “VRL? My office?”

“Can we order in? I’m starving!” Henry pleaded.

Camila smiled at him fondly. “Yes.” She looked to Lorelei. “Any preferences in food?”

Lorelei blinked. “Umm, not really. I’m not overly fond of pizza… or sushi.”

“Thai?” Sigrid asked, hopefully.

Lorelei smiled. “I like Thai.”

Camila nodded.

They left the building and crossed the sidewalk. They shuffled the order with the extra passengers, and Henry sat in the middle bench seat of the central vehicle that Lorelei was directed to. Then they were driving back to the office.

“So, you were at VRL today?” Henry began.

She smiled shyly. “Yes, I needed a better place for my investments.”

He grinned. “VRL is an awesome investment house! And I’m not just saying that as the CIO. The people are the best! Even these guys!” He said, hooking his thumb toward the back seat where three big men in dark suits sat. She heard them chuckle.

She was feeling much more at ease and was looking forward to getting to know the people of VRL.

Henry, especially.