by ERIN BEDFORD
Chapter 9
Piper
Of all the disgusting bullshit jobs I could land, I had to end up with this one. My nose wrinkled up as I scrubbed the inside of the toilet bowl of Wynn's bathroom. I'd already finished the others, this was my last room and to be honest, cleaning someone's toilet kind of took the edge off my attraction to him. Not all of it but a smidgen.
I blamed karma. I'd been too big of a bitch. Pissed off one too many people and now karma was back to bite me in the ass.
Sure, this job started out great. Big house, hot bosses, but then it progressively just got worse. I mean doing their laundry was one thing. At least none of them had skid marks in their underwear - not that I was checking mind you. And I had to say cleaning windows wasn't exactly a horrible job, I mean, it killed my back by the end of the day, but it wasn't as bad as having to clean the very thrones that these assholes sit on.
They weren't disgusting by any means but just the thought of cleaning them made me shudder. Now that I was in Wynn's bathroom, I wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and die.
Please don't suddenly need something from your room.
I'd been chanting the opposite of that thought over and over again as I picked up the gorgeous man's room but then the moment I had to get down on my hands and knees and put my hand in his toilet, I'd changed my tune.
Letting out a long drawn out sigh, I closed the lid of the toilet and tossed the cleaning brush into my bucket of supplies. “Fucking finished.”
I used one hand to pull the rubber glove off the other and then grabbed the inside edge of the other to turn the gloves inside out. The last thing I needed was to spread germs all over the now clean bathroom. Plus, I had an issue with touching my face and I gagged at the thought of doing it with the gloves on.
Picking up my bucket, I started for the door. I didn't know why but for some reason I paused. I sat the bucket down and twisted on my heel, taking in Wynn's bedroom. I'd been in it several times but never had I snooped. Never had I had the urge to dig through his things and find out what made Wynn tick.
It would be wrong. An invasion of privacy.
Only if they catch you.
I let out a nervous giggle and spin around the room, trying to decide what to look at first. My eyes land on his dresser. Everyone knows the best place to hide things you didn't want anyone to find was in your dresser drawers. Especially the underwear drawer.
Practically skipping over to it, I pulled the top drawer open. Socks. Lots of socks. I dug a little deeper. I frowned. Well that sucked. There wasn't anything interesting in his sock drawer.
Shoving the top drawer closed I went to the next one. This one too held nothing of interest, just a bunch of t-shirts. The next few drawers lacked the same secrets and my excited quickly dwindled.
“Well, that sucks.” I pursed my lips and tapped my finger against my chin, trying to think of where someone like Wynn might hide something valuable to him. My eyes land on his closet. “Ah, of course.” I snapped my fingers and rushed over to the closet door.
Throwing it open, I took my time going through each and every item hanging up. After a moment or two, I found nothing. Nada. A bunch of expensive suits, ties, and belts. There wasn't even a balled up facial tissue in his pocket.
The only peculiar thing was a shirt that looked like it could be from the sixteen hundreds. Made out of white linen with a puffy collar and long sleeves, it would be perfect for a costume party or even one of those Renaissance fairs. The thought of Wynn going to one of those made me giggle. He'd have women throwing themselves over each other to give him their favors.
Not giving up hope of finding something embarrassing, I dropped to my knees and dug around the back of the closet. Even his shoes were nice and neat on a shoe rack, each of them made by some expensive company. There wasn't a tennis shoe among them though which was a bit odd but not exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.
“Maybe he doesn't have any skeletons in his closet.” I muttered to myself, standing and closing the door. My eyes drift over to the bed and a small smile spread across my lips. “Maybe he hides them under the bed!”
Racing across the room, I didn't even pause to think about it before throwing myself onto his large four poster bed. Making a sort of snow angel movement, I rolled around on top of his comforter and pillows breathing in the scent of him. I could just imagine waking up in this bed with Wynn. Some mornings, I would wake before him and I'd roll over to kiss him awake.
Okay, if I was being honest with myself, I wouldn't stop at a kiss. In the movies someone always wakes up the other person with oral and I'd be lying if I didn't have a dark fantasy of doing that sometime and Wynn would be just the person that would enjoy that sort of thing.
None of my past boyfriends were very adventurous. Even in the bedroom. Sure, we might have tried out a few positions outside of the normal but it was always in the cover of darkness and under the blankets. I wondered for a second what that said about me and my taste in men. Did I always pick the ones that were safe? Predictable? And what did it say about me now that I was drooling all over a man's bed I just met - who for all intent and purposes was technically my boss?
“Great, Piper.” I grumbled, sliding off the bed. “Way to be a creeper.”
I went about fixing the comforter, remaking it so that it was smooth and untouched. Or at least looked it.
Then with little enthusiasm, I knelt on the ground and peeked beneath the bed skirt. Nothing but dust bunnies.
“If you're looking for my playboys, I don't keep them there.”
With a startled sound, I jerked up. My gaze darted to the bedroom door where Wynn leaned against the frame a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. Clamoring to my feet, I dusted my jeans and t-shirt off. “I was just looking to see if I needed to clean under there.”
“And do you?” Wynn asked, moving into the room. His long legs moved in a slow and lazy pace, his hands tucked into his pockets as if he had all the time in the world.
“Do I what?” I found myself gaping at him, my own feet slowing on the way to my discarded bucket.
Wynn chuckled, a sound that made my insides giddy. “Do you need to clean under my bed?”
I broke my eyes away from his and glanced back at the bed. My brow furrowed, I shook my head. “It's a bit dusty but I'll come back later and get under all of your beds. That way I can do it all at once.”
When I turned my head back Wynn was right in front of me, barely a foot between us. His eye lids drooped, and a small smile played at his lips. He reached out a hand toward me. I hated that I flinched. Even more so that he thought it was funny. Then he tucked a piece of my falling hair behind my ear. “I don't know if anyone has told you, but we really appreciate all the hard work you have done, Piper.”
That single touch of his finger brushing my ear sent an electric current through my veins settling low between my thighs. I let out a gurgling sound, my knees threatening to give out on me. The second Wynn pulled his hand away the feeling was gone, and I could semi breathe again.
Embarrassed beyond relief, I swallowed hard and nodded stiffly. “Of course, it's my pleasure.” I choked out the last word my face a flame at the wolfish grin on Wynn's lips as his hand touched my arm. Once more my knees seem to weaken, and an intense rush of desire raced through me. I almost orgasmed on the spot.
Shaking my head, I moved away from his touch and darted for the door. “I have to go clean something.” It wasn't until I was half way down the stairs that I realized I'd forgotten my bucket of cleaning supplies.
Chapter 10
Wynn
A smirk on my lips, my eyes followed the sexy little maid as she practically ran out of my bedroom. Okay, so I might have cheated a bit but I barely even had to push my power into her and she almost fell apart on at the seams. I could only imagine how she'd react if I really gave it my all.
Chuckling to myself, I moved around my room looking for anything she might have found. I didn't make a habit of
keeping my secrets in my bedroom. Not that I particularly had any outside of my powers and being a vampire. After several hundred years, one stopped being attached to materialistic things.
I opened my closet and took a deep breath. Piper was in here as well, her scent - a sweet mixture of lilacs and honey - covered the clothing inside. One item in particularly had her scent all over it.
Frowning, I pulled out the shirt I'd kept all these years. When our sire found me, I'd been a playboy in Vienna. Spending my father's money and hiding beneath women's skirts. It didn't matter to me if they were attached or otherwise. I wanted nothing more than to get drunk and get my cock wet. Unfortunately, my father had other plans for me.
He'd wanted me to grow up and take over the family business. However, I'd never been one for politics. Or being serious for that matter. All that ass kissing and playing by the rules were never my style. Which was why I didn't care that I'd already cheated Antoine's ban on using my powers.
Besides, who was she going to tell? For all Piper knew, she was just extremely attracted to me. I bet if I chased after her, I'd find her hiding away somewhere with her fingers down her panties. The thought of it made me hard.
Jesus fuck.
The way her full luscious lips had parted as my powers raced over her, I'd almost said fuck it and thrown her own my bed and showed her how exactly we appreciated her hard work. She was so responsive. So innocent. The little human maid might have been with men before but not the way I wanted her. No, if I had the chance, I'd show her the finer points of pleasure. How sometimes being teased just to the edge was just as good as the real thing.
I groaned and adjusted myself in my pants, my hard on getting worse.
Moving away from the closet, I followed the trail of her scent to the emasculate bathroom. She really was a great maid. I'd give her that. Even if I'd rather she her on her knees before me than cleaning a toilet.
From the bathroom, I walked over to my bed. What she had thought she'd find underneath it was beyond me. Who kept things under there? It would be the first place anyone would look. All of my private things were locked away in a safety deposit box or were down in the basement by my day time resting place. Some place I should be right now with the rest of my brothers, but I couldn't stop hearing her moving around up here. I had to see what Piper was up to.
Stopping by my bed, I frowned. My eyes narrowed on the covers which looked undisturbed, but my nose said otherwise. Placing a knee up on the bed, I climbed onto it. My nostrils flared as I picked up her heady scent. She'd laid on my bed. More than that, she'd practically rubbed herself all over it like some kind of cat in heat. Laying down in the spot she had laid on, I trailed a hand over my stomach.
Just the thought of the blonde maid on my bed made me want to rush out of the room and bring her back. It was quite obvious that even without my powers, she wanted me and who was I to tell a beautiful woman no? I'd never done it before, why start now?
Because Antoine would punish you.
Oh, but it would be worth it.
The last time I remembered having a woman this intriguing near me was right before my sire found me. I'd been with the Count of Mansfeld's wife. I let out a laugh. That day had been more entertaining than any of my days in my undead life. The countess and I had been mid-coitus when her husband showed up. I'd climbed out of the bedroom window in the middle of the day and had to out run a pack of dogs the count had sic'd on me.
What a night. There hadn't been a woman that much of a challenge since then. They all fell head over heels in love with me the moment they met me. The few times they hadn't, all I needed to do was push a bit of my power into them and they were putty in my hands.
Piper wanted me though. I could tell. However, she hadn't tried to climb into bed with me or even kiss me. Perhaps, she had more self-restraint than the others?
Pfft. I shook my head and sat up. She'd fall just like everyone else. No one was that interesting anymore.
Walking across the room, I headed for the door. I'd been up far too long as it was, the day time wasn't a pleasant time for those of my kind. It wasn't that we couldn't be awake, but we were nocturnal creatures. Everything in our bodies screamed at us to hide and sleep in the dark. The sun was the enemy. The cruelest and least merciful of any enemy we'd ever had.
Even the vampire hunters could be persuaded to leave us be after a bit, but the sun would never hear our words. Or if it did, how could one stop being what it was for the sake of others?
A philosophical thought for another day.
Passing by the bucket Piper had left, I almost grabbed it. Then with a sly grin sat it back down. Let her gather the courage to come back to my room. If I was lucky, I'd be there to catch her again. This time though, I wasn't sure I'd be able to play by the rules.
Chapter 11
Piper
The next few days were pretty much all the same. I got up, found the note shoved under my door, and started the day. Some days, Gretchen would serve me breakfast, other days, I’d make my own. Darren rarely sat with me at meals, and when he did, he didn’t talk to me much, no matter how much I tried.
“Why, you look absolutely thrilled to be here,” Rayne said as he plopped down on the stairs next to where I was scrubbing a stain from the floor.
I had finished all my chores early and had been looking forward to a nice relaxing evening instead of collapsing in my bed. However, God hated me.
Darren had stopped me in the kitchen and told me of a mysterious red stain that had suddenly appeared. As the maid, of course, it was my job to get rid of it. Since I wasn’t exactly an expert in tile cleaning, I had been scrubbing at the same spot for over an hour, and still, the ugly red spot had hardly budged.
“Can I help you?” I sighed and tossed my scrubbing brush back into my bucket of water.
Rayne smirked down at me, his hands laced in front of him as he leaned on his knees. “No, just enjoying your pitiful existence.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned back to my bucket and grimaced at the reddish colored water. I’d gotten this much stuff out of the tile, but still, it glared at me like a neon light. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. I glanced at Rayne’s overly smug face and then back to the stain.
“You did this, didn’t you?” I arched a brow at him, ready for a reason to smack him upside the head like he deserved.
Annoying punk.
Leaning back on the stairs, Rayne sniggered. “Now, why would I do that? I have so many other more important things to do than to make more work for you.”
I snorted. “Yeah, like I believe that.”
Standing up, Rayne stomped over to where I knelt and crouched down beside me. “You should watch your tongue unless you want to be out of a job and back to living in your car.”
I gaped at him. “How did you know that?”
“I have my ways.” When I only stared at him, he sighed. “It’s called the Internet. I did a background check on you. You’ve been job hopping for the last few months after you got laid off.” His nose scrunched up in disgust. “Also, your car is a mess. You should take more pride in your things.”
Why, that snot-nosed little brat. Who did he think he was?
Irritation filled me, and I jumped to my feet. “And you should mind your own business. What I do or don’t do with my own stuff is my business, not yours.” I huffed and picked up my bucket of water, glaring down at him. “If you ever do something like this again, I will make sure all your clothes are dyed pink in the next wash.”
I whipped back around, making sure the water in the bucket sloshed over the side and splashed Rayne’s feet.
“Hey!” Rayne jumped back and snarled. “Watch it. You better come back here and apologize. You’re nothing but a maid.”
“And you’re nothing but a spoiled brat,” I snapped back at him, flipping him off. I marched back toward the kitchen, muttering to myself the entire way.
I might be a maid, but that didn’t give him the right to treat me like shit. I
worked hard to clean their clothes and keep their ridiculously large house clean. Really, who needed this many rooms? There were only six of them and way too much unused square footage to need this big of a house.
I slammed my bucket down on the counter a bit more forcefully than needed.
Darren stood at the stove, his back to me as he stirred a pot on the burner. He glanced away from the pot for a moment to arch a brow. “Bad day?”
I grunted and went to the sink. Dumping the water into the sink, I twisted toward Darren, one hip leaned against the counter. “Tell me, did all these guys personally shove sticks up their asses or were they born that way?”
“I wouldn’t speak so freely of the masters,” Darren warned though I caught a hint of a smile on his lips. “They have excellent hearing.”
I sniffed, not at all worried. “Then hear this, bite me!”
Darren chuckled, his shoulders shaking with the effort. He went back to stirring the delicious smelling pot. Remarkably, not even the prospect of food made up for my day.
“What, you think that’s funny?” I spat, staring at him like he had lost his mind.
“Just your wording. The irony.” Darren shook his head and then started to plate the food. He gestured to the bar for me to sit.
I flopped into my seat and forked up the pasta creation in front of me, but I was so mad that I couldn’t even get any into my mouth. I threw my fork back down and growled. “These guys are the worst pains in the asses I’ve ever come across. If they aren’t trying to embarrass me, they’re trying to break my back with the amount of work they give me.”
“So, quit if you hate it so much,” Darren answered. Besides, I’m the one who writes your list of chores. Maybe it should be me you hate.”
He had a point. However, writing a list didn’t make him an asshole, not like that little, redheaded jerk face.
“I can’t hate you. You’re just doing what you’re told. Just like me.”
Darren made a huff of confirmation.