Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Candy
Candy and Votra didn’t make it to the office early the next morning. If Candy had it her way, they wouldn’t have made it to the office at all. She woke up naked and tangled in Votra’s long limbs and all she wanted was to stay that way.
She was surprised that Votra wasn’t awake before her.
She was still out cold when Candy woke up, and Candy was struck by how peaceful she looked.
The seemingly ever-present creases at the corners of her lips were gone.
Her face was smooth, calm. Unbothered. Candy wished she looked like this all the time.
She traced every slope of Votra’s face with her fingertip; down the bony structure that almost made her look like she had a nose, across her sharp cheekbones, along her defined jaw.
A pang of tenderness settled somewhere in the middle of her chest as she found herself wishing that every morning could be like this.
Could it be? Were they still just fuck buddies? Sure, last night was their first time having sex after agreeing not to, but it felt like so much more than that.
She’d let go last night, more than she’d ever let go with anyone, and she wanted to think that Votra had, too. Candy liked being domineering in the bedroom, and Ross had always hated it. He felt emasculated, relegating her to a life of always being under him, always being the one begging.
But with Votra, she lost all control but simultaneously felt more in control than she’d ever felt before. She relished the feeling of Votra coming undone under her hands. But more than that, she loved seeing the side of Votra that unabashedly demanded what she wanted. What she needed.
And Candy really liked being needed by her.
Candy let out a quiet sigh, folding her hands on top of Votra’s steadily rising and falling chest and resting her chin on top of them. She’d at least let herself enjoy the peace while it lasted.
“Good morning,” Votra said, her voice a low, sexy rumble that almost made Candy want to jump her bones again.
“It’s not morning anymore,” Candy smiled, brushing her lips across Votra’s jaw. “You hungry?”
“It is not morning?” Votra’s eyes flew open in a panic, and Candy pressed her palm against her chest to stop her from sitting up.
“Votra. It’s fine. When’s the last time you slept in this late?” she challenged, quirking her eyebrows at her. When Votra thought for a beat too long, Candy snorted. “Exactly. You obviously needed this.”
Votra huffed. “We should get to the office. We have a lot to do.”
“Let me take you out for lunch first.” For one, she was so hungry, she felt like her stomach was caving in on itself. There was no way Votra wasn’t hungry too.
But she wasn’t ready for this to end. She didn’t want to go back to the office and just… go back to work like she hadn’t just had the best night of her life.
Votra opened her mouth to argue and Candy silenced her with her lips. “I’m taking you out and then we’ll go back to work, okay?” She raked her teeth over her lower lip. “Be a good girl and say yes.”
“Yes. Okay.” Her answer was so quick, Candy didn’t have the time to come up with another argument.
“Good. Glad we’re on the same page.” Candy shoved herself out of bed, belatedly realizing that the only clothes she had on hand were the skin-tight dress she’d had to recruit Votra to help wrestle her out of last night and the pair of soaked beyond reuse underwear crumpled at the end of the bed.
She puffed out her cheeks, placing her hands on her hips.
“I am assuming you do not want to put on the dress from last night,” Votra said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.
Her hands skimmed around Candy to rest on her stomach, and she pressed a kiss to the middle of Candy’s back.
She arched into it, her body already reacting more than she needed it to right now.
“Probably not.” Candy moved backwards to sit in Votra’s lap, pressing her ass against her already attentive cock. Votra moaned in her ear, the hands that were once on her stomach moving up to cup her breasts. Candy swiveled her hips, grinding her already wet core against Votra.
She could get used to this. Lazy, sex-soaked mornings in Votra’s bed, followed by a cute little lunch date. She was learning pretty quickly that she could get Votra to bend to her will easily. She could be having cute little lunch dates every day.
“I thought you wanted to get lunch,” Votra groaned, tweaking one of Candy’s nipples between two fingers.
Candy whined at her touch, shoving her tits into Votra’s hands. “Lunch can wait.” Votra kissed down the length of Candy’s shoulder, and Candy reached back, gripping one of Votra’s horns. She didn’t have hair that Candy could yank, but she kind of liked that Votra had built in handlebars.
Votra’s erection was pressed against her, demanding attention, when quite easily the most unattractive sound Candy had ever heard echoed from the room next to them. “Sounds like Qaed’s awake,” Candy groaned.
And he was having a hell of a time, from the sounds of it. The poor guy retched so loudly, so aggressively, that every little bit of arousal in Candy shriveled up. She wrinkled her nose, falling back against Votra. “You gonna go check on him?”
“I really do not want to.” But Votra’s hands moved from Candy’s boobs and she knew this was over. Fucking Qaed. “But I should. You can borrow some of my clothes if you would like to.”
“Honey, nothing you own is going to fit me, I can promise you that.” She peeled herself away from Votra begrudgingly. “Go check on Qaed. I’m just gonna text Xyxy and ask her to bring something over.”
“Alright.” Votra pulled on her pajamas from last night and headed for the door. “I apologize in advance for what you are probably going to hear. I am going to give him medicine and he is going to be very dramatic about it.”
“You’re a good sister,” Candy said softly. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”
After the most shameful Walk of Shame Candy had ever done in her life, which consisted of her wrapping herself in Votra’s comforter and walking to the front door to accept a change of clothing from Xyxy, Candy was finally clothed in a pair of denim cut-offs and a black halter top.
It took a while for Votra to rejoin her and, true to her word, Qaed was incredibly dramatic.
His groans filtered through the thin walls of the apartment, and Candy didn’t know how Votra had the patience for it.
Sure, she’d do it for her own sister, Cori, but she’d be really annoyed about it.
When Votra came back into the bedroom, she looked positively disheveled.
“I think my appetite is gone,” she grunted, sloughing off her shirt in favor of yet another one of the button ups that Candy loved so much.
This one was a black satin–and sleeveless–and she paired it with a blazer and pinstriped slacks that hugged her sharp hips in a way that begged for Candy to put her hands there.
So she did. She pressed a kiss to the nape of Votra’s neck and was answered with a shiver. “You need to eat. We’re going.”
“That is easy for you to say. You did not have to see what I just saw.” Votra leaned into Candy’s touch, and Candy briefly considered picking up where they’d left off before Qaed so rudely interrupted them. But her stomach was growling, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could wait.
Luckily, Votra didn’t make her wait very long.
She flew them out to a restaurant not far from the office called Felicette, a charming little bistro that reminded Candy of the very hipster cafes that popped up on every corner in New York.
Except the ones in New York didn’t have cute little robot hosts with bowties.
“Hello, and welcome to Felicette!” the host chirped, a brilliant smile etched on its digital face. “How many in your party?”
“Two, please,” Candy said.
The droid led them through the small dining room, across the elegant, mosaic tiled floor to a table pressed against the back wall. “Does this suit you?” it asked.
It took Candy a second to realize that Votra was looking to her for an answer. “Oh, yeah, this is great! Thank you!” Votra pulled Candy’s seat out for her, at which she grinned. “Such a gentleman.”
She didn’t recognize anything on the menu; a small introduction on the front page told her this was food from Medras, which she was pretty sure was where Yule was from.
“So, I know you’re stressed that we’re not at work right now, but would it help you to talk about it?
” she asked, resting her chin in her palm.
Votra let out a breath like she’d been holding it. “Yes, it would. Thank you.”
Poor thing. Candy wondered if she’d ever been relaxed a day in her life. “Okay, so the launch party is next week.” Alright, saying that out loud kind of stressed her out, too. “How are you feeling about it?”
“Honestly?” Votra thanked the waiter quietly as he dropped off glasses of water for them. “I am nervous out of my mind.”
“Yeah, me too,” Candy said, taking a sip of water. “What are you most scared about?”
Votra went quiet, studying the menu like she was about to be tested on it. “Can I admit something silly?” Her voice was so small that it made Candy’s chest constrict.
“Of course.”
“I invited my parents to the launch party just before I hired you. I got a text back from one of my fathers this morning, while I was in the middle of cleaning Qaed up, telling me that they are not coming.” There was a slight tremble to Votra’s form as she spoke, and Candy immediately reached her hand out to take Votra’s.
“Why not?” she asked softly.