“Running braless sucks, you big jerk.”
Feigning the wound, Joseph winced and rubbed his arm as he laughed. “Maybe, little nymph, but being chased kept you on edge, didn’t it?” He grinned as he flicked a gaze at her bodice, which was still stretched beneath her breasts, putting them on display. “I’m glad to see you’ve lost your self-consciousness.”
Much to Josh’s disappointment, she covered herself and then stuck her tongue out at Joseph.
Joseph shook his head and turned to Josh and Lucas. “If she needs further discipline, you’re more than welcome to use my dungeon.”
Chapter Eleven
Lucas stood in Violet’s doorway late that afternoon, listening to her rant. To be honest, he didn’t blame her. The theme for the hedonistic feast downstairs, The Hunter and the Hunted, divided the guests into two groups: forest animals and huntsmen and huntswomen. Violet had been designated as a bunny. No role-playing was planned for the evening. It was simply the designation of costumes according to the individual’s position in their groups, in Violet’s case, determined by Joseph. He was just glad he wasn’t the one who had to submit to wearing whatever costume was picked for him. She tipped the small, handled gift bag to her and reached inside.
Waving a butt plug with a fluffy white bunny tail attached to it, she growled. “This thing is enormous. After this morning, I should have at least the day off from anything coming near my ass.”
“Baby, it’ll be okay. I’ll help you with it, and I brought lube.” He waved the bottled sheepishly and tried to keep the snort back. It wasn’t funny. Much.
She arched a brow as her eyes glimmered at him, her jaw working as though she was grinding her teeth. “Keep laughing, funny man. You have to sleep sometime, Lucas Jerome Abbot.”
He really wished Josh hadn’t told her his middle name.
“Come on, baby. We could have some fun putting your costume on.”
“Oh?” She removed the bunny-ear headband and upended the bag. “And which costume might that be?”
“Well, the face painter is going to paint a cute little bunny face on you for tonight—”
She shook the butt plug bunny tail under his nose again. “You could wake up with this stuffed up your nose. But don’t worry, I’ll use lube.” Her arms fell to her side, and she trudged away from the door, letting him in so he could close off their conversation from the hallway, where several people had passed in obvious amusement at his predicament.
She tossed the items onto the bed and began pacing. “I think I’ve been magnanimous about costumes so far. You don’t understand how far out of my comfort zone going around half-naked was for me earlier. And now you want me totally naked.”
“I do understand, baby—”
She frowned at him. “If you do, then I guess you don’t care. I brought a suitcase full of clothing I fully intended to wear. I knew I’d be wearing costumes, but nobody told me, or even asked me if I’d mind wearing such...such…” She pointed at the items on the bed. “The dress this morning was bad enough. I’ll be naked and humiliated.” She stuck her lip out and pouted as he gave her a sympathetic chuckle and drew her into his arms.
“Aww, honey, you’ll be the cutest little nekkid bunny down there.”
She gave another adorable growl. “I’m not refusing to wear it. I just want you both to know this isn’t fair. You’re completely covered up in your…sexy huntsman costume, with the sleeves rolled up showing off those sexy tanned muscles, and…my dimples and double D’s will be on full display.”
“You’re going to be with us, though, Violet. You’ll be safe. And, baby, I’m a big fan of your dimples, all of them, and your double D’s. Your complaint is registered, but I think we’re going to have a much bigger problem convincing the other men, and some of the women, in attendance that you aren’t interested in playing with any other groups.”
“Huh?”
He nodded, pleased when her eyes took on a bit of playful sparkle. “When we were downstairs earlier, while you were up here soaking in the tub and napping, several groups asked us if we might convince you to join them.”
“Really? Wow.”
“Including…”
Her brows rose in question. “Including…what?”
“More like who. The other lumberjacks.”
She stopped her pacing and looked up at him with shocked eyes. “What do they want with me?”
Lucas chuckled, able to process their earlier request more amiably than Josh had. He’d been territorial until the men had explained.
“You have four admirers. We think they must’ve overheard us chatting with Joseph.”
“What were you talking to Joseph about? Wait. You conspired with him about this morning’s costume, I’m sure. What wouldn’t you talk to him about?” she muttered, scowling at him as she crossed her arms under her lush breasts. Her taut nipples were visible through the thin fabric of her robe, and he had to force himself to focus on her eyes before she really did stuff the butt plug up his nose.
“What was supposed to be a simple assist in a role-playing scene is now…more. I think they suspect that was your first time taking two men at once, and they want to make sure you’re okay. They may even feel a little protective.”
He couldn’t fault the four men for it. What he really wanted was her attention for just the two of them.
Lucas had expected the guests to be blasé about whatever occurred during the weekend, which he should probably attribute to him stereotyping them, but he hadn’t been prepared for the men’s reactions to Violet. They were sincere in the request to join their trio for the evening feast, and he suspected a couple of them had crushes. What was it about seeing a beautiful woman giving over that could make a man her slave? He needed to answer that question for himself, foremost.
She frowned and then grinned. “Protective of me?”
“Yes, not that we need them to be. We can take care of you just fine. But they wondered if they can join us for tonight.”
“What does Josh say?”
“Well, let’s say he isn’t happy about their interest.” And neither am I.
“Fine,” she said, with a sudden broad smile that made him wonder what she was up to.
“But—”
“Are you worried they might hurt me?”
He hadn’t expected her to go for it. “No, but—”
“Nope. No buts. If I have to wear this ridiculous get-up, then I should get to have some fun, too.”
“Baby…”
She raised a brow and put a hand on her hip. “It’s okay to make me parade nekkid, but it’s asking too much for the two of you to allow men who have already proved they can be trusted to join us?”
Before he could debate the point further, someone knocked at the door. She pulled the robe firmly around her and he opened the door, revealing a tall, and too damned good-looking young man holding what looked like a tackle box.
“Hi. I’m Ari,” he said with a nod before looking past Lucas to Violet. Lucas wanted to knock off the wide smile spreading across his face. “I’m here to do Miss Tyler’s body painting. It is Miss, right?”
Body painting? What the fuck? I thought Joseph said face painting. When Joseph had mentioned he could send Ari to complete her costume, both he and Lucas had assumed Ari was a woman and that the art would be limited to her face.
Ari brushed past Lucas and reached out to her to take her hand.
Violet giggled as he spun her. “Yes, that’s me.”
Ari looked her up and down and murmured, “We’re going to have lots of fun painting you, my lush, beautiful little bunny.”
“She’s already—” Spoken for, and don’t be thinking she’s your anything.
“Did you say body painting?” Violet asked as she glanced at Lucas, her enthusiasm tempering a little. “I’ve never had body painting done before.”
“That’s what was requested. Don’t worry. It’s safe and washes off with soap and water. If you don’t mind, I need
to get started, as I have several others yet to do.”
Biting her lip, Violet glanced at him and then said, “What do you need me to do?”
“Remove your robe, and I’ll do the rest.” Ari turned back to him and must’ve seen the instinct to kill in his expression. He put up his hands with amusement obvious in his eyes. “I promise she’ll be fine, sir. I’m an artist, and that’s all I’m here to do.”
Another knock came at the door, and when he opened it, he found one of the wait staff standing in the hall. “Mr. Abbott? You’re needed in the lounge as soon as reasonably possible. Mr. Hazelle and your brother are waiting.”
“Did they say what they wanted?”
“No, sir. Just that you should come at the earliest possible opportunity. Mr. Hazelle mentioned the matter was urgent.”
He was tempted to make Joseph and Josh wait. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her alone with a guy she barely knew, after having told her he wouldn’t do that.
Violet met his eyes, and then she turned to Ari. “How long will this take?”
“Not long. Maybe twenty minutes.”
She nodded and smiled encouragingly at Lucas. “It’s fine. I’ll be down there in a bit.” She went to him and put her arms around his waist and whispered, “It’s fine. He’s employed by Joseph, so he wouldn’t try anything. Would he?”
He let out a breath, knowing she was being the reasonable one.
“Probably not if he wants to keep working for him.” If he wants to keep his fingers unbroken. “Okay, I’ll go see what they need that’s so urgent. See you in a few.”
The kiss he gave her was perhaps deeper and a little longer than necessary, but the caveman in him wanted to make his claim clear. It was obvious she genuinely wanted to try body paint, and he couldn’t fault her for the desire, but he wondered if she was also considering how up close and personal Ari was about to get.
Joseph wouldn’t hire someone he hadn’t thoroughly checked out. That thought was what got him moving back downstairs, even though he’d worry until he saw her again.
He met Josh and Joseph in the lounge, which was currently deserted and being readied by the staff for the evening’s activities.
“What’s the matter?” he asked when he saw the frown on Josh’s face and the concern in Joseph’s eyes.
“Is Violet upstairs?”
“Yes, and by the way, if I’d known Ari was a—
Joseph held up a hand and cut him off. “Her shop was vandalized this morning, Lucas.”
“What?”
“I just got off the phone with Hank Stinson. A couple of the plate glass windows at the Emporium were shattered. They hit several other businesses downtown. They used power line insulators.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“One of the workers needed a few stitches in her forearm, but that’s already taken care of,” Josh said. “They’ve secured the windows with plywood.”
Lucas shook his head. “A power line insulator?”
Josh nodded. “Those things are heavy enough to break a window.”
“Was anything else damaged?”
Joseph shook his head. “Hank said the employees had a good scare out of it, and they had quite a bit of glass to clean up, but they were fine otherwise.”
Lucas nodded and looked at his brother. “So the situation is pretty much handled?”
Josh nodded and then looked at Joseph, who said, “Hank couldn’t get a hold of her on her home phone, and she wasn’t answering her cell phone this morning.”
“She came up to our room to rest after our scene. I probably should’ve gotten her phone from her room for her,” Lucas said, feeling guilty for not thinking of it.
Joseph shrugged. “I encourage attendees to ignore their phones while they’re here if at all possible. Hank found out from Violet’s friends she was out here for the weekend and called me. Her employees knew only that she was taking a much-needed weekend off. They told Hank he shouldn’t bother her but he needed to at least pass the information on to us to relay to her. He also wanted her to know the guard cat was acting weird.”
Lucas snorted. “Tex? He usually lies in the window sunning himself all day.”
Joseph said, “Hank said he’s holed up in Violet’s office. While they were covering the window, they could hear him yowling occasionally. Hank coaxed him out and petted him for a minute, but when he tried to pick him up, Tex got loose and hid again. He’s probably just a little agitated over all the chaos.”
Lucas nodded, unsure about whether they should go tell her now or wait. She’d be concerned about the windows, but the cat held a real soft place in her heart. “So we have to decide if we tell her now and disrupt her weekend or wait and tell her later?”
The three of them looked at each other, and Lucas imagined they were all putting themselves in Violet’s shoes as they discussed the pros and cons. She busied herself taking care of everyone else, making time for others, but never took time for herself. In his opinion, she was fast on the way to becoming a workaholic, and nothing would solidify any guilt she felt about taking off like something like this happening while she was off having fun. They might never get her out of the shop again. Either way, it was a risk.
“No. Let’s wait until the morning to tell her,” Josh said, as if reading his mind. “She doesn’t deserve to have her weekend ruined when the situation is already well in hand. If the cat begins to sound more distressed, I’m sure they’ll let us know, or at least call her phone.”
Lucas nodded, satisfied, and hoped she’d agree with them when they told her. In the meantime, he raised an eyebrow and said, “Not to change the subject, but Joseph, did you realize Ari is a man?”
Josh growled. “What?”
Joseph simply smirked. “Of course. I interviewed him myself. He does body painting for many venues. He has a stellar reputation.”
“Okay,” Josh said, hands on his hips. “Then tell us he’s also gay.”
Joseph shook his head. “He’s straight as an arrow as far as I can tell. His orientation didn’t come up in the interview, but I got a definite heterosexual impression of him.” Joseph clapped them both on the shoulder with a chuckle. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’s in good hands. But once she’s downstairs, I’d keep close watch. Ari is very good at accentuating the positive.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Lucas asked, and then he heard her giggle on the stairs.
* * * *
Feeling remarkably more in control of her nerves, Violet smiled as Ari bent over her hand and kissed her knuckles at the top of the stairs and then gave her a courtly bow.
“Farewell, lovely Violet,” he said, flirting at her with his bedroom eyes. “I have other forest animals to see to now, though none of them will capture my heart or tease my muse as much as you.”
“Thank you for doing such a...I feel very—What you’ve done is…”
The warmth in Ari’s smile chased away the last of the butterflies in her stomach. “It’s okay to say you feel beautiful, Violet. You are, you know.” He spoke as if it were fact, rather than a question. “Hold still. You have a little smudge…” He licked the tip of his index finger and smoothed it gently along the outer curve of her recently painted breast, concentrating so hard that the furrow reappeared between his brows, as it had when he’d done the rest of her body painting.
Even though she wasn’t attracted to him, it was hard not to notice Ari’s attractiveness, especially not as close up as he currently was, standing there on the stairs as other guests walked by.
A man she recognized from earlier in the morning looked back as he passed her and whistled softly. She blushed and smiled, feeling remarkably more confident than she had when coming downstairs that morning, and then turned her attention back to Ari as his touch jostled her breast a bit more.
She tried to will away the reaction, but heat filled her cheeks as her nipples went from a barely erect state to fiercely tight and tingly. It’d been oddly arousing earlier wh
en he’d painted them a softly shaded pink. He’d hardly seemed to notice as he’d stroked the paint over her skin and used his airbrush to create the smooth, gorgeous effect, but she’d been mortified when her body had reacted to his touch. And not only her nipples, either. She’d written it off as a reaction to all the sex she’d been having, and all the exposure, the public exhibition, she’d seen and been participating in. Surely her body was just having a Pavlovian response to his touch.
Ari backed up, nodded in satisfaction, and then reached up to give one of the bunny ears on her headband a jaunty little twist. “There, that’s better. One last turn for me?”
Violet giggled as she obliged him, lifting her arms and turning, showing off the all-over body painting he’d done for her. Long swaths of a soft gray color adorned her arms, torso, back, ass cheeks, and thighs. A shimmering white graced her upper chest and throat and her midline. Her mound was left bare, except for the blonde curls adorning it, but Ari had still accented it with the soft gray, arrowing toward her pussy, to draw the eyes of any observer.
His work had been quick, and she’d prayed fervently he’d be done down there before he realized she was growing a little wet from the attention. Looking in the mirror earlier, she’d gasped when she’d seen what he’d done with her face, which was where he’d spent most of his time.
She’d expected a cute little Disney-esque bunny face. Something out of Bambi—maybe Thumper’s girlfriend. But no… At first, she hadn’t recognized herself because he’d so altered her appearance.
Ari had painted her into a sexy, big-eyed anime bunny. Using shading, liner, and matching her exact eye color, he’d made her eyes look huge and innocent, just like an anime character, and painted her nose, lips, and chin to create a bunny way sexier than she’d ever seen in any cartoon. If it hadn’t been for her hair, she would’ve thought she was looking at someone else. Even she thought she looked hot as she’d marveled at his handiwork in the full-length mirror. The paint accentuated the sleek slope of her abdomen, from beneath her ribs to the curve of her hips. Even the way he’d accentuated the roundness of her butt cheeks somehow had managed to evoke a giggle from her when she looked at her backside.
Lumberjack Weekend [Divine Creek Ranch 21] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 12