Chapter 20
Another week has flown by, which means it’s already Friday and time to head to Maple Ridge Hollow in a few hours. But first, boss duties call, i.e. making sure the spa will survive the next few days without my micromanaging.
I try to be a hands-off boss, but this place is my baby. Since alternating weekends away from the city with Luc, I’ve found it easier to trust Melody, my part-time manager, with Friday and Saturday managerial duties.
We’re closed on Sundays, which eases my stress.
My phone buzzes in the pocket of my dress as I shoulder open the door to my office. Arms filled to near bursting with boxes, the phone call will have to wait.
Sunlight streams through the large windows, littering the sleek tile floor with its bright rays.
Setting the boxes of skincare samples on my desk, I pull my phone out and am met with my handsome, brooding bull. Shirtless and in my bed, a rare, sexy grin takes over his face. It’s a photo I snapped last weekend when he came to visit.
Answering the call, I bring the phone to my ear and settle into my desk chair. “Hey, you.”
“Vanessa,” he purrs, voice a low, sensual rumble.
I shiver. My mind conjures up an image of Luc hovering over me, eyes darkened with lust. Moisture trickles into my panties, slicking them to my rapidly heating flesh.
“Luc, you can’t do that when I’m at work!” I chastise, but there’s no force behind my words.
“Do what?” I can picture his thick eyebrows dipping low over his crystalline eyes.
Huffing a laugh, I settle farther into my chair. “Say my name like that… all growly and sexy. I’m gonna be all worked up by the time I leave.”
“Maybe that’s my plan, mon soleil. Get you hot and bothered. Your pussy dripping wet while you sit in the car for the next hour, thinking about all the ways I’m going to stuff you with my fat cock once you get here.”
Fanning myself, I moan as my eyes close. “And what about you?”
There’s rustling, then he asks, “What about me?”
I twirl a wavy lock of hair around my finger, spinning in my chair to face the window.
The early March sun beats down on the snowbanks outside, melting them.
“Shouldn’t you have to submit to the same torture?
It only seems fair that you spend the next hour so hard you can’t think straight, Luc.
” My voice drops an octave, raspy with seduction.
“Because I want you rock hard and desperate for a taste of this sweet pussy when I get there.”
“Fuck, Ness,” he growls before the line fills with more rustling.
This is our little game. Midday calls to see how wound up we can get each other.
We talk about serious stuff, too. Like what dish I’ll be massacring for dinner and how much maple sap he’s collected, but this is way more fun.
“You will be. You’ll have my tight little cunt stretched around your big cock, filling me over and over until I scream your name.
” Just to torture him more, I whisper, “Until you put a baby in me.”
His groan vibrates down the line, followed by a whispered, “Oh, merde.”
Since he admitted to having a breeding kink a few weeks ago, we’ve been experimenting left and right. To say I’m a fan would be an understatement. I’ve never done breeding play with other partners, but I’ve never come as hard or as often as I do with Luc, so it must be working.
Another, softer groan brings my attention back to the minotaur on the other end of the phone. My mouth curls at the corners. “Did you just come?”
Silence.
Did he hang up? I pull the phone from my ear. The screen shows an ongoing call, so I place it back to my ear. “Luc?”
“Uh, yeah, I did. That’s what you do to me, mon soleil. I miss you so goddamn much.”
Gone is our playful banter, replaced by a seriousness that has my heart aching. “I know, Luc. I miss you, too.”
We’ve been dancing around this issue for a while now. The nightly video calls and weekend visits… they aren’t enough. The separation is getting harder at the end of the weekend when one of us inevitably returns home. Me, to the city, and him, to Maple Ridge Hollow.
But the commitment-phobe in me rears its ugly head. What if I uproot my whole life and it doesn’t work out?
“I’m tying up some loose ends, and I’ll be on my way to you,” I say, not ready to face the shadow of doubt looming over me. If I don’t acknowledge the possibility of Luc and I ending, then it won’t happen. Right?
Yeah, and denial is a river in Egypt.
Luc’s deep, rumbling words snap me back to the present. “Drive safe, mon soleil. I’ll be waiting.”
“Naked?”
His chuckle warms me from the inside out. “Better get here and find out.” Then he hangs up.
With a new fire lit under my butt, or my cunt, I power down my computer and grab my purse. Skincare samples can wait until Monday.
I lock my office before heading to the one next to mine.
Melody, my first employee turned manager, sits behind her desk, fingers flying furiously across her keyboard.
“Hey, Mel.” I tuck my purse strap over my shoulder and lean against the doorframe.
Her head pops up, glowing emerald eyes landing on me. “Hey, Ness. You headed out for the weekend?” She finishes her question with a wink.
When I told her about Luc and how I needed to take a step away from the spa on the weekends, she was enthusiastically supportive of me pursuing a serious relationship.
Crossing to her desk, I plop down in the chair across from her. “You’re sure you have everything under control? I can stay until close. Luc can wait.”
Melody laughs, her glittering green wings fluttering behind her back as she folds her hands on her desk.
“I’ve worked here since you first opened, Ness.
I can handle it. Now go spend some time with your big bull.
And I’m more than happy to take on more responsibility, like opening on Monday, if you want to stay an extra day.
” She winks once more to really drive home her point.
If anyone can handle it, it’s Mel. Like she said, she’s been with me since the beginning. There’s no one I trust more with my baby.
“How would you feel about taking on an even bigger role? Like full-time manager for this location?”
Her delicate black eyebrows rise. “Did you find a property for the new location?”
I shake my head. “Not yet, but I’ve been scouting a few potential properties… in Maple Ridge Hollow.”
Brown glossy lips pull into a wide smile. “That’s great, Ness! So you need me to keep the ship afloat while you’re gone?”
I chuckle. “Something like that. I think I’m going to be spending a lot more time in Maple Ridge Hollow if things keep heading in the same direction with Luc.”
“You know you can count on me.”
“I already do.” Smiling, I squeeze her hand. “I appreciate everything you do around here. Let’s grab lunch on Monday and talk about officially making you full-time manager… and a pay raise.”
She beams. “You got it, boss!”
My phone pings in my pocket. Discretely—because Luc’s been known to send a scandalous picture or ten—I slide it from my pocket so the screen is facing away from Mel.
Dark-brown fur and a pierced nipple fill my gaze.
Water droplets bead on his dark skin, drawing my eyes south, but the image cuts off above the good stuff. Tease.
Clearing my throat, my cheeks flame. I shove my phone back in my pocket and stand. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a bull to see. Put a meeting on my calendar for Monday and we’ll talk.”
She giggles, probably at the obnoxious flush on my cheeks. “Have fun, Ness!”
Oh, I plan to.