“You’re welcome. Saw you pull in behind me and wanted to do something nice for you. A little late for breakfast, don’t you think?” The slightly imperious tone of his question should’ve gotten her back up but she noticed the concern in his eyes.
“I had my hands full this morning with Toby, and helping Jayne, and didn’t take time to eat.”
“How is Seth?”
Lucy shuddered, remembering the scene when she’d run into the ER waiting room the night before. “Seth was still waiting to be seen, with his hand wrapped in a bloody dish towel when I got to the ER. He was his usual cool self but Toby was freaked out, which meant Jayne was a little freaked out. Toby wouldn’t stop crying unless Seth held him, which was really hard one-handed. You know how low-key and calm Jayne usually is, right?”
With a grin, Beck nodded. “Yeah.”
“They’d been waiting for over an hour by the time I arrived and she finally got fed up. She handed Toby to me, who was squalling so loudly I couldn’t hear anything. She walked up to the reception desk and wouldn’t stop asking until they finally took Seth back to be seen. I’d have been raising holy hell but Jayne was a lady the whole time. Never raised her voice. Just wouldn’t back down. After they moved Seth I took poor Toby home. He conked out in my SUV. You know what that means?”
Lucy smiled wryly as she heard Beck curse in a low tone while she moved around the room. “He revved up for another round when you got home.”
“Yep. He was not a happy camper. He was like that until after midnight when they finally got home.”
“Sorry, Lucy. So you’re pretty tired, aren’t you?”
Shrugging, she replied, “It’s what you do when family needs you. I’ll catch up on my sleep tonight.”
“You sure you want to do this? If I’d known…”
Turning to him, Lucy went over and sat in the chair on the other side of the small table from him, staring into his eyes. “I like being needed, Beck. Don’t tell me that you’d leave right now. Let me help you feel better.”
He shifted again as though he was uncomfortable and she smiled.
“Okay. What do you want me to do?”
“I’ll leave the room and give you a few minutes to strip.” Normally she wouldn’t use that word but her inner devil made her do it. She’d normally ask her clients to disrobe to whatever their comfort level was and then work around underclothing if she had to. The urge to giggle was strong when she heard him gulp.
“Strip?”
Ah, a massage virgin. She bit her lip to suppress her smile. It’d just piss him off.
“You said on the phone that you have all-over body aches so I’m giving you a full body massage today.” At his discomfited look, she cut him off. “Usually I don’t tell a customer what they’re getting. I’d let them decide. But looking at you, I think you really need it. You don’t have to strip to bare skin if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly fine with you leaving your underwear on but everything else comes off.” Her fingers itched to unbutton that that sexy-as-hell flannel shirt for him. “Once you’re undressed, get into position facedown on that massage table.” She pointed to the one she’d prepared. She noted that he seemed relieved by her words. “I’ll give you a few minutes and I’ll knock before I come in.”
“Okay.”
“And Beck?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”
She let the smile spread across her lips as she let herself out of the room and contemplated the upcoming massage session.
I love my job.
Chapter Six
Beck was grateful Lucy had instructed him to get on the table facedown. It might give his raging hard-on a chance to calm down if it was squished into submission. The thought didn’t give him a whole lot of hope when it twitched behind his fly as he recalled the way she’d said the word “strip” to him. Given the sexy smile she’d worn, she understood his concern but she hadn’t hinted at it or teased him for which he was grateful.
I wonder if I can sneak past her and out the front door unnoticed.
That stray thought made him feel like a pussy. She was a full-grown woman. A beautiful, luscious woman. And his response was a normal, adult masculine response to her, even if it was taking him by surprise lately. He’d always appreciated her beauty before and he didn’t see what was suddenly different about her to make his cock act like it was attached to a randy teenager.
She said strip. I guess I strip…down to my underwear. He pulled off his work boots and removed his jeans and faded flannel shirt, folded them and put them on the chair. He looked down and groaned at the sight of his boxer briefs.
Maybe she’d understand about bachelors and ratty boxers. It’d been a while since he bought new ones and these were beyond worn.
He heard her voice in his head again. “Strip.” And he did. He hid the underwear in his jeans pocket and vowed to stop at Stigall’s on the way home for new ones. Standing buck-ass nekkid in the back room of one of the historical buildings in downtown Divine suddenly felt weird. He got onto the table and under the sheet and the black and gold patterned coverlet, trapping his ridiculously hard erection between him and the plush cushion of the massage table.
Way to break in her equipment, perv.
He positioned his face in the cradle that extended over the front edge of the table, groaning at the pull of aching muscles, and got as comfortable as he could. The strands of his beard itched where they were pressed against his chin and his long hair brushed at his shoulders. He sighed, wondering if he should’ve just cut it all off himself. He wasn’t sure how she’d react to him if he took a razor to his whole head. What she thought mattered.
“Knock-knock.” She tapped on the door and cracked it open a bit, spilling a thin strip of bright daylight across the floor. He was relieved that it didn’t shine on him because the possibility of being visible like this from the street gave him the willies.
She moved around the room, making rustling sounds, getting her equipment ready. He couldn’t see anything except for the dark-colored hardwood floor that was directly beneath the table as he contemplated whether he’d made a good decision in calling her. His cock throbbed, letting him know it had a mind of its own and was on board with the plan currently in place.
Nothing to do now but submit. You’re nekkid under the sheet.
He breathed in deep and noticed the scent of eucalyptus and something else that smelled herbal, maybe lavender. He breathed in deep and felt his head swim a little as he exhaled slowly.
She put her hand on his shoulder and said, “Beck, I’ll be right back.”
Returning a few seconds later, she said, “I’m pulling your hair back, okay?”
“Damn, I’m sorry, Lucy. I should’ve thought of that.”
“It’s okay. You just relax and don’t worry about a thing. This is my own personal hair clip I’m using. It’s clean. I just don’t want to make an oily mess of your hair or accidentally pull it while I’m working on your shoulders, okay?”
“Sure.”
Her fingers were gentle as they traced though his hair, her nails lightly scratching at his scalp as she drew his long hair back and up. The tugging sensation sent pleasant shivers down his back and he smiled when he heard her sigh softly. It was a nice sound. She didn’t just yank his hair up and out of the way. He felt like it was part of the massage. She finally twisted it back and secured it with the clip and then patted his back.
She moved around him and he felt the light touch of her hand through the coverings as she circled the table and came to his other shoulder. Her voice was like honey as she spoke.
“Tell me if the pressure I’m applying becomes too much. I’m going deep in places, but if it’s too painful, please let me know.”
“Okay.”
A cool draft of air skimmed across his back as she folded the coverings down to his waist. He wanted to beat his inner adolescent when he wondered if she’d noticed yet that he was butt nekkid und
She’s a professional, dude. She’s not gonna care.
He heard a slight sound and then her warm, slick hands slid over his shoulders in a light touch designed to spread whatever substance she was using for the massage around. It smelled of menthol and had a slight tingle to it. Her hands grew warmer as she worked on his shoulders. Her touch was light at first but gradually went deeper as she continued and the phrase “it hurts so good” came to mind.
She used her hands and her forearms to warm the muscles up and work them until he began to feel like a limp noodle from the waist up. The Spanish guitar melody was soothing and he let out a slow breath as she slowly slid the length of her forearm up one side of his back.
“How’s the pressure?” she asked in a soft tone.
“It’s good. You’re making me sleepy.”
“Drift if you want to. I’ll let you know when it’s time to turn over,” she whispered as she folded the sheet even lower, exposing the tops of his hips.
Just like that, he was wide awake.
The next few minutes were spent in self-talk attempting to calm his dick down as she manipulated the muscles in his back all the way down to just above his tailbone. He breathed in the herbal scents and decided to give conversation a try to distract himself.
“So, do you have lots of clients lined up tomorrow?”
She made a soft assenting sound. “Yes. It’ll be a full day. Next week will be about the same.”
He hated the thought of her working herself too hard. “You planning to bring in another massage therapist to help?”
“I just got away from working with a group of women. I want to be on my own for a bit but I’ll probably bring in another therapist eventually.”
Her hands slid in a broad stroke up his spine and then she began working around his shoulders. He gasped as her fingers went to the source of his pain beneath a shoulder blade and he nearly came up off the table.
“Sorry. You’re a mass of knots here,” she said as she manipulated his arm so it hung off the table in front of him and continued working the area with a lighter touch.
“Don’t apologize. It’s just tender there right now. Keep doing what you were doing.”
“Okay.” After a few minutes of muscle work that he had to just breathe and relax through, she stepped away for a second and returned. All of his senses lit up and he nearly came off the table again, when he realized what she was holding in her hands as she applied even pressure up and down his back.
Chloe had once offered to use heated rocks on him but he’d turned her down, thinking it was just too frou-frou-y for a guy to try. He was torn between begging for mercy and kissing her ass, the pleasure and pain conundrum was so baffling.
She rubbed the smooth, hot rocks up and down his back, heating his skin and the muscles underneath. She also used them as she massaged his arms and then slid the still-warm rocks into his palms to hold for her while she stepped away again. He realized what she was doing an instant before she applied a second set of smooth rocks to his back that felt even hotter but he wasn’t sure if that was a trick of his mind. Then she really let him have it.
Holy fuck!
Conversation was pointless as he breathed through the pain, pleasure, and release of all the knots. But as she moved to each new area he felt soothed and cared for. Her hands alternated between tracing over his skin as she moved from point to point, and then gradually worked her way into each muscle group. At times, he was on the verge of screaming until the tension let go.
“You’re stiff as a board, Beck. Have you ever had a massage?” Her voice was sympathetic.
“Yes, my…” His words trailed off but he felt like he could trust Lucy. “Chloe was a massage therapist, too.”
She paused for a second and then let out a soft groan. “Oh, damn. I’m sorry. I never made that connection. She worked at Madeleine’s, too. I’m the one who…”
“Filled her old position?” He’d never wanted to talk to Lucy about that, hadn’t wanted to associate Chloe too closely with her. “Yeah, she left town about the same time you came to Divine.”
Lucy slid her hands down his arm and removed the cooling rock from his hand and then stroked his palm. She squeezed his hand in a soothing gesture. “When I met you, that’s what you were dealing with?”
He didn’t speak, just made a positive-sounding grunt in reply. She placed a heavy, warm pad on his back and replaced the sheet and coverlet over his waist and then unfolded it to cover his shoulders and back. He nearly moaned in relief as the moist heat sank into his muscles.
After uncovering his feet, she wrapped each one in a hot towel and then began massaging his legs. They were both quiet for a few minutes as she worked and his thoughts drifted until she uncovered his left leg high up enough that she damn near uncovered his butt cheek. But she was careful to tuck the sheet around him so that he didn’t worry about flashing her while she worked.
“I really did appreciate that cup of coffee.” He’d thought she wanted to say more but she left it at that.
“I liked doing something that would take care of you, Lucy. You always take care of everyone else. I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole. Difficult. Belligerent.”
Lucy let out a soft chuckle as she put her body weight into a long, slow stroke up the back of his thigh. A corresponding thrill raced down his spine. “You? No. Really?”
“I’m glad you can laugh about it.”
Her voice was soft and she sounded vulnerable as she said, “I’ve played that night over in my mind probably hundreds of times.”
“Which night?”
“The night we met.” She scoffed lightly and her tone hinted at sarcasm. “Your words played in my head for days…weeks after you said them.”
Of all the times he’d put his foot in his mouth, she went back to the first time they’d met? He couldn’t understand why but got a bad feeling.
Fuck. What did I do now? “What did I say?”
He lifted up on an elbow but she pushed him back down and worked the heel of her hand down the outside of his thigh. “Lie still or you’re going to tighten all those knots up again. Do you remember that I asked you for a dance that night? I read you all wrong. I thought you were flirting and that maybe you’d like to dance with me. Now that I know more about Chloe, and the timing…”
“What did I say?”
Lucy’s hands stilled for a moment. “You looked me up and down and your exact words were, ‘I think you’re more woman than I can handle, sweetheart,’ and you turned me down.”
“Shit. Shit. I’m sorry.” He could hear in her tone what she’d thought he meant but that wasn’t how he’d felt at all. It was never a question of her not being thin enough.
Lucy placed her palm on his lower back to stay him as she kept working. “When I finally talked to Patrick about it recently, he told me what he thought you meant by that and convinced me I might be wrong. But it was a bad time for me personally, too, and your words cut me. Patrick told me he felt terrible for not asking me to dance but he was dealing with his own issues and couldn’t risk me turning him down and I didn’t have the guts to ask him anyway, and…”
“I promise I didn’t mean it like that.” The fact that he’d hurt her when she had demons of her own added a new layer to his guilt.
“I’ve come around to that. You tend to stick your foot in your mouth sometimes so I make allowances.”
Son of a bitch. She had to make allowances for him? He let out a sigh as he replayed the scenario in his mind from her perspective. Being facedown on the table made it easier to talk about it. “Lucy, I spent all evening watching you dance up a storm with that other guy, Vance, who’s a well-known ladies’ man.”
“Yeah, he is,” she whispered, making it hard for him to gauge her emotions. She unwrapped his feet and he couldn’t believe he was able to lie still while she worked them over, too. He had very ticklish feet, but it was important to him to let Lucy have her way with him. Their conversation had followed a slow ebb and flow as she massaged the back side of his lower half and stretched him out. She was stronger than she looked.
“I was a wreck, Lucy. I took one look at you and knew I just couldn’t handle someone as…vibrant as you, not in the state I was in. You were so damned sexy in those high-heeled cowgirl boots and jeans, and I knew I could never do you justice. You deserved better. Still do.”
That’s not all. Tell her, coward.
Lucy finished with his legs and covered them up again. After removing the moist heat pack from his back, she trailed her hand along his spine and removed whatever was holding his hair without comment. Her heady scent combined with the eucalyptus as she bent near him and softly said, “Time to turn over. I’ll hold the sheet up for you while you get comfortable.”
Suddenly a soft cool draft wafted over his skin and he was uncovered, but she held the sheet up so he still had privacy. A fat lot of good that’s gonna do me when my boner tents the covers. No missing that greedy motherfucker. As if it knew its moment had come, his dick swelled some more and got even harder.
He let out a long sigh and framed an apology as he tilted his cock toward his hip with his palm. She laid the sheet and coverlet over him and then folded it down at the shoulders, smiling at him as he opened his eyes while she was bent over him.
“Sorry, sweetness,” he murmured as he held his cock down willing it back asleep. Not that it listened, with her that close to him. The pleasant sting as a droplet of pre-cum cleared the head made him grit his teeth.
“For what?” she asked as she folded the sheet and coverlet down from his shoulders again. Then she looked down and noticed the silhouette of his hand over his groin. A brilliant blush filled her cheeks but she continued smiling at him, merriment in her eyes. “It’s a totally natural reaction. Must mean you’re really on the mend.”
She bit her lip as she glanced at his groin again and her eyes rounded as she lifted each arm to place it on top of the sheet, revealing the clear outline of his shaft. It seemed to throb visibly and he had to resist fidgeting and possibly stimulating it even more as her gaze rested on it.
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