Vivian
Oh, dear, sweet baby Jesus.
“A-gin!”
Up in the air and back down for another tummy tuba.
More shrieks of laughter. And that made Rowan laugh nearly as much as the little boy. They shared the same hazel eyes that crinkled the same way when they laughed.
Vivian hadn’t given much thought to Ashley’s train station theory previously, but she was now pretty sure she had just pulled into baby town.
“Lady!” exclaimed the little boy, spotting her, and Rowan looked up, letting the toddler sit on his chest.
“Hi,” he said, smiling at her without moving. She thought it was the first time she’d seen him look genuinely relaxed and happy. His carpet was littered with toy tanks and a few Cheerios.
“Hi. Sorry if I’m interrupting. I didn’t realize you were in a crucial meeting with a VIP client,” said Vivian, smiling back. Hadn’t she told Christine no on step-kids? Why was this the most adorable thing ever? It was cuter than puppy videos, but this should be a red flag, right?
“Well, Oliver is the most important client,” said Rowan, laughing. “But you’re not interrupting.”
“Unca Roan!” exclaimed the little boy, grabbing Rowan’s face with both pudgy hands. “A-gin!”
Oh. Uncle. And it was green flags all the way down the track.
“Again?! I’m starting to think you’re destined for the paratroopers.”
Vivian chuckled. In the distance, she heard the ding of the elevator and the sound of hurrying feet.
“That’s going to be Forest,” said Rowan without moving from the floor. He tossed the little boy up in the air again as the door burst open.
“I’m here. I’m here. Sorry, sorry.”
The man looked to be in his thirties and with dark, disheveled hair as if he’d run all the way up from the parking garage. Vivian recognized the piercing green-flecked eyes that Rowan shared with Oliver, but the slightly frantic edge was not something she associated with the Valkyrie aura.
“Daddy!” chirped the little boy.
“Breathe, Forest,” ordered Rowan, using what Vivian thought of as his commanding voice, and Forest automatically inhaled. “We’re fine,” said Rowan more softly.
“Sorry,” said Forest again. “I didn’t mean to be late.”
“Everything’s fine,” said Rowan. “Olly is training for the paratroopers, and I am getting my arm workout for the day.”
Forest snorted, then he spotted Vivian and looked embarrassed.
“Hi. Sorry. I’m Forest Valkyrie. The small one is my son. The big one is my brother.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Vivian, holding out her hand. “Vivian Kaye.”
“Vivian is my building rep,” said Rowan, without moving from the floor. Oliver was now driving a tank over his chest. “She works downstairs at Hoskins, Branch, and Kato.”
“Oh, they handled Olly’s citizenship after Vera passed,” said Forest.
“Olly’s mom was from Australia,” said Rowan by way of explanation, and Vivian nodded.
“Nice guy named…” Forest hesitated, seeming to search his memory. “Grant Ichikawa.”
“Oh, yeah. Grant’s great,” agreed Vivian. Grant was one of the nicer lawyers at the firm.
“I didn’t know they did other stuff,” said Rowan. “I thought they all did Estate Planning like everyone else in the damn building.”
“That’s Howard’s specialty,” said Vivian. “We have civil and criminal divisions, too.”
“Estate planning,” said Forest, dropping into one of the chairs that Rowan had pushed up against the wall. He looked exhausted. “I’m going to have to figure that out at some point.”
“You don’t have a will?” asked Rowan, surprised.
“Like you do,” said Forest sourly.
“I’ve had a will since I was eighteen and entered the service,” said Rowan. “I had to assign death benefits.”
“You never said anything!”
“You were twelve, and Ash was nine, and you were already freaking out about me leaving. I didn’t need to add an oh by the way if I die you’ll get a bunch of money and don’t worry I’ve put it in a trust so Mom doesn’t blow it all on her shit boyfriends.”
Vivian blinked at the casual description of their childhood. It seemed to explain a few things about how seriously Rowan took himself.
“But, but,” said Forest. “I don’t even know how to get a will.” The panic was evident in his eyes. It was as if Rowan had just assigned him a new and insurmountable task.
“Forest, it’s fine. I’m in a high-risk profession. It just makes sense. You’re in real estate development and construction.”
“An elevator could break and I could plummet to my death or an I-beam could drop on me on the next site visit!”
“Then you should probably get one,” agreed Rowan soothingly. “But there’s no rush.”
“I’ll tell you what,” said Vivian, feeling sorry for Forest, who had anxiety rolling off him in waves.
“If you worked with Grant before, then you’re already a client.
I’ll email him now, and tomorrow, he’ll send you a questionnaire and some stuff to fill out, and then we can draw up a will for you to approve or modify. ”
“Questionnaire?” asked Forest.
“So that we can get a sense of how you want your assets divided. That kind of thing. And who would get custody of Oliver.”
“Rowan would take Olly, of course,” said Forest as if it were obvious. Then he blinked at Rowan. “You would, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, of course,” said Rowan. He pretended to eat the tank Oliver drove over his face and Olly chuckled. “Although, I might have to fight Uncle Ash for you. Yes, I would.” Vivian tried not to melt over his growly but sweet baby-talk voice.
Vivian took out her phone and stepped around Rowan to lean against his desk while she typed.
“I’m sure Ash would be fine,” said Forest. “But I don’t really think he’s ready for kids. And obviously we can’t let Mom have him.”
Vivian tried not to take that as a statement about Rowan’s readiness for kids.
“Well, considering that you’re not about to die, I think it’s kind of a moot point,” said Rowan, sounding amused as the tank drove up his face.
“There,” said Vivian, hitting send. “Grant will take care of you. You’ll barely have to think, I promise.”
“Thanks,” said Forest, looking like he genuinely meant it. “I’ve been meaning to get to that, but I didn’t even know where to start.”
“Amazing what happens when you ask for help,” said Rowan, in what Vivian thought was slightly too pointed of a commentary.
“Help is nice, but sometimes it’s just faster and easier to do it myself,” said Forest. “I don’t want to spend forever explaining what I want to someone.”
Vivian resonated with that, but she had also learned that attitude wasn’t sustainable.
Not in her work and not in her personal life.
That’s why she had the brain trust of girls on a permanent text thread.
She didn’t know why boys didn’t get themselves a brain trust of bros.
She looked around the office and then down at the floor and wondered if that was Rowan’s entire business model.
“Mm-hmm,” said Rowan, and Vivian thought it was a tactical withdrawal from the argument. Olly climbed off Rowan and toddled toward Forest.
“Daddy. Tank!”
“Yes, that is a big tank,” agreed Forest, scooping up his son. “You ready to go home and get some dinner, big man?”
“Nugits!”
“Right,” said Forest, looking around. “Where’s all his stuff?”
“Piled in a cart by the elevator,” said Rowan. “You can wheel it down with you and leave the cart by the elevator when you’re done.”
“Didn’t use any of it, did you?” asked Forest with a sigh.
“Where do you think I got the Cheerios?”
Forest shook his head and hoisted Olly up. “Thanks, Row. I really do appreciate it.”
“Any time,” said Rowan from the floor. Forest’s footsteps receded, and Rowan looked up at her.
“Thank you,” he said after they heard the elevator door close.
“Forest’s wound so tight these days sometimes I think he’s going to bust a spring.
He’s hiring a new nanny, but if that doesn’t take the edge off, Ash and I will have an intervention. ”
“It was literally the least I could do,” she said.
Vivian realized she had a dopy smile on her face for no good reason and looked for something to say.
“Are you going to lie on the floor all night?”
His head twisted to one side slightly. “I don’t know… I kind of like the view.”
Her first instinct was to look up and see what had him so fascinated, and then Vivian realized that she was what was up for him.
“Rowan Valkyrie,” she said, trying to pretend she wasn’t smiling, “can you see up my skirt?”
A cocky grin spread over his face.
“Yes, but not nearly as far as I’d like,” he said, and Vivian bit her lip trying to suppress a giggle.
Putting out a hand, Rowan drew a finger along the seam at the back of her ankle.
Vivian shivered at his touch, goosebumps forming on her skin.
Her navy blue shirt dress had a forties vibe, and the seamed stockings worked with the look.
She didn’t think anyone else had thought about how far up the seam went.
“I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do,” he said softly. “I didn’t know if I should call you.”
“I wasn’t sure either. I meant to come up earlier, but it was kind of a circus today. I could have called, but I didn’t want to... just call,” Vivian finished lamely.
“Mm. And what do you want?” Rowan asked, his finger traveling up the back of her calf. It was one damn finger and her stomach did a triple backflip. A hot flush warmed her cheeks.
“Well,” said Vivian, breathlessly. Her fingers fidgeted with her skirt, and very slowly, she gathered up the fabric, lifting the hem higher. “I know yesterday you said you could keep a secret.”
The grin on his face stretched even wider.
“I can,” he promised.
“I thought maybe...” She inched her hemline even higher. “You might be interested in other... secrets.” Vivian knew that wasn’t what she came to ask, but it seemed like the most pertinent thing to ascertain at the moment.
He flipped over, and then he was on his knees in front of her.
He slid his palms up the back of her legs, grazing over her calves and slowly moving to the back of her thighs.
Her skin prickled like a heat wave had hit.
He slid one hand to the front of her thigh, and then pop, pop, pop, he undid the bottom three buttons of her dress.
The next three buttons he undid with his teeth and tongue.
Vivian made a little meep of excitement. This was way better than she’d even hoped for.
He’d reached the lacy three inches at the top of her stockings that hit just at the plump part of her thighs.
“Well, so far,” he purred, dropping kisses on the skin that showed above the edge of the stocking, “I think these are valuable secrets.”
“Top Secret Clearance required,” she said, squeaking at the end in pleasured shock as he licked her thigh.
“My eyes only,” he growled and flicked another few buttons.
Her dress split up to her bra, and Rowan inhaled as if the sight of her silk and lace-covered body was the most breathtaking thing he’d ever seen.
With his eyes fixed on hers, he trailed kisses across her stomach.
She reached up and undid the last two buttons with a shaking hand.
“This is so against the employee handbook,” she muttered, and Rowan grinned.
“But it’ll be worth it.”
He pushed her dress open wide and froze, his eyes fixed on her breasts.
“Bows?” he asked, finally tearing his eyes off the cut-out details on her bra to look up to her face.
“Well, I like to think they’re a gift,” said Vivian. “So they need bows on top of them.”
Rowan’s chuckle was all the assurance she needed that he agreed.
He leaned in and flicked his tongue under the nearest decorative bow detail, teasing her nipple.
At the same time, his thumb caressed across the satin-clad place between her thighs.
Vivian shivered in a cascade of sensation.
His tongue flicking in and out of the cut-outs of the bra was the most divine thing she could have imagined.
There were two ways to wear a garter belt—under or over panties.
Over was how they were always shown in pictures, AKA the sexy way.
But under was the way that made it possible for panties to come off without disconnecting everything from the stockings, AKA the way that going to the bathroom is possible.
Vivian had dithered greatly over her selection but eventually went with the garter belt on top because she wanted to look good.
But now she realized that she didn’t want to look sexy—she wanted to have sex.
And her underwear would be challenging to remove.
She was being foiled by her own lingerie choices.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
His thumb slipped underneath the edge of her panties and made a light little circle.
She let out her air in a little woof of shock, her legs spreading involuntarily. She wanted more of that.
He kissed across her stomach, and Vivian was no longer worried if she had a little roll there, or was extra curvy in her hips, because he definitely wasn’t.
Vivian had not thought that she was prone to public location sex.
She was a very safe and sane individual.
It was just that right now, she wanted to be dangerous with Rowan.
Dangerous, dirty, and downright bad. What she wanted was for him to put his mouth on her most intimate parts and make her scream his name, but she was also still worried about the underwear situation.
His kisses trailed onto the satin of her panties, and without missing a beat, he simply moved the fabric off to one side. OK, so he was an improviser who did not let obstacles get in his way. Problem solvvvvvvvvv….
Vivian’s thoughts ran out as his tongue caressed her.
She exhaled and buried her fingers in his hair.
Rolling her hips, she blessed the belly dancing class she’d taken and grabbed the edge of the desk.
He alternated between his tongue on her clit, and his fingers inside her, and Vivian found herself rocking gently to the rhythm.
“Ohhhhhhh.” It wasn’t a word so much as one long sustained moan. “Rowannnn.”
She knew her voice had gone all pouty, but she wasn’t sure she had control of that anymore. She had no fucking clue what Rowan was doing down there and did not care because it was better than anyone else she’d ever had. He put one of her legs over his shoulder, and she tilted back, panting.
The room seemed to spin, and she felt hot and cold at the same time. She swore to whatever god was out there if Rowan let her come, she would fuck his brains out on this damn desk. She had reached the point where dick sounded really good, but she knew she’d come soon if he just…
“Oh, fucking God, right there! Oh, fuck, Rowan! Please, please, please!”
The heat between her legs seemed unbearable. She didn’t know how to beg any harder. His tongue seemed to wrap around her clit, and he pressed in so hard and deep that it felt like everything in her body climaxed at once.
Everything was blurry, and she could barely breathe, let alone think. But, oh, Rowan Valkyrie was in for it once she could figure out how to move again.
Read more work by Bethany Maines here: