Free Possessed by Thayer King

love for her to become soused so that she could
interrogate her further. Others didn’t have the same qualms as she. Several of
her coworkers were taking advantage of the free drinks.
    IOP
had announced this after-work mixer two weeks ago. It was supposed to serve as
a welcome to two new doctors on staff, though they had actually been on staff
for a month. They were in the IOP lobby, the only room open enough that could
fit all the staff. Decorations were minimal—a banner welcoming doctors Kline
and Fuchs.
    “You
need to learn to relax,” he said with a kind smile that made his light blue
eyes twinkle. He had boyish good looks that gave him a youthful appearance,
though Keva would have put him at about forty.
    “Oh,
I am relaxed. I’m trying to avoid being comatose.”
    He
chuckled. “Now that the speeches are over, hopefully the threat of that is
reduced.”
    Keva
laughed. “They were rather dry,” she agreed in a low tone.
    “No
need whispering. It’s not a secret.”
    “No
IOP get-together would be complete without a lengthy talk before the
festivities can commence.”
    “Of
course not,” he said with a straight face. “Don’t want the employees to enjoy
it too much.” Finally his grin broke through. “But the free liquor helps.” He
lifted his glass and emptied it in a gulp.
    Keva
shook her head. “Be careful. You don’t want to end up like that.” She indicated
Dr. Miller with a nod of her head. The man was well on his way to being drunk.
His face was florid, and he seemed to be swaying on his feet. Tomorrow was a
workday. IOP scheduled these events midweek in the hopes that the staff would
take that into consideration and not overindulge. In the case of Dr. Miller and
a few others, it wasn’t enough of a deterrent.
    “Never
that.”
    Taking
a last sip of her wine, she placed the glass on the tray of a passing waiter.
Glancing at her watch, she determined that she had done her duty. She’d been seen
by the higher-ups. She’d welcomed the new doctors. She had no desire to hang
around and watch people embarrass themselves. “Well, I’ve had enough. I’m
heading up.”
    “I’ll
come with you.”
    “I
don’t want to pull you away from the fun.”
    “Please
do. You’d be doing me a favor. But if you insist on feeling guilty about it,
you can invite me in for coffee.”
    “Tonight
is not your night,” she said, leading the way to the elevators. “I’m out of
coffee.”
    He
slid into the elevator with her. Leaning casually against the railing, he said,
“I’ll take tea instead.”
    She
smiled. But then she noticed his admiring expression. Her breath caught. He
likes me. He’d always been nice to her but she had no idea that he was
interested in her romantically. Though he was handsome, she wasn’t attracted to
him. “Um, I’m not really a tea person. Maybe some other time?”
    “Sure,
but I’m going to hold you to that.”
    Keva
was relieved when the doors opened on her floor. “See you tomorrow.” She gave
him a small wave and hurried away to her apartment before he could suggest some
other beverage.
    Two
steps inside her place, she stopped with a frown. Music drifted down the
hallway from her bedroom. She didn’t own a radio and her mp3 player was broken.
Had she left the television on? And then recognition hit as she pushed her way
into her bedroom. It was violin music.
    Sebastian—no, Bastian —sat on her bed dressed in only a pair of black briefs playing
the violin. When she’d entered the music had been poignant and heartbreaking,
but then he saw her and the melody changed. It became seductive, stroking,
spilling over her skin like an electrically charged blanket. She could feel it in
her limbs, fingertips, and her face. It skated over her scalp, a mental orgasm
that made her shiver.
    His
hair fell over his muscled shoulders, a black silk curtain that swayed as he
moved the bow over the strings. It was a breathtaking sight. He was absorbed by
his music. His