Cicero kept her gaze away. She heard the boots fall, but kept herself firmly focused on looking at the window ledge. There was a small ant crawling over the wood and she watched the tiny witness with a serious concentration. Tam’s hold upon her was strong, but despite how some would translate it, it did not feel aggressive to Cicero. She was not a delicate woman and the pressure felt more secure as if giving her some grounding to the dizzy feeling in her head.
This wasn’t the first time Cicero had worked with a man that desired her. But those men had always been so very shallow. She thought nothing of them. They were just tools of the slaver-industry and she knew that having a devoted admirer increased her chances of gaining loyalty. Yet, she hadn’t expected it from Tam. He seemed so much more than to fall for her. Especially when he already had a wife and a life outside of the slaver ranks. Did he really like her or was he just trying to escape from something else? It seemed unreasonable that he actually cared for her as a person and she didn’t want to lessen her image of him by thinking that he did.
The woman watched as the ant crawled over the ledge, disappearing onto the wall underneath. She allowed Tam to turn her face, staring up at him. Cicero could tell what he wanted, what he desired. She would be lying if she said she didn’t want to explore such an option... even if it may be wrong (but she had already done so many wrong things in her life) and end terribly... but there was a job to be done. They had business to attend to and didn’t need such a distraction the morning before a large shipment. It would be better to be professional now and deal with such feelings later. Cicero reached up, placing two fingers upon Tam’s lips. Standing up off the ledge, she pressed close against Tam. She leaned in, nuzzling his neck for a moment before moving up. As she whispered, her lips brushed against his ear, “We should focus...”