by Logan Fox
Routine? It had definitely become that to Seth: he wasn’t anywhere near to erect.
The thought made her angry. Was he gay? Why did the sight of her naked and soaped up not bring the slightest stir from his cock? She looked up at him. Perhaps he noticed the scowl, or perhaps he’d been asked the question she was about to ask too many times to count.
Seth sighed and tugged her closer again.
“I’m married,” he said.
Pearl choked, pushing at him until he let her lever her torso away. “Are you fucking serious?”
He sighed again and absently rinsed her hair with his fingers as he stared down at her with those black eyes of his.
“She was one of the first foxes. We hit it off. Got married when her contract expired. The rest is history.”
Pearl gaped at him. Seth reached past her and turned off the shower. Before she could call him out on such an obvious lie, he spun her around and dragged her hair through his fist, squeezing out the excess water.
He stepped away to retrieve a towel for her.
“She’s okay with you being surrounded by naked women all day?” Pearl managed as Seth wrapped her in a towel.
Seth shrugged. “It’s just a job, kitten.”
He grabbed a smaller towel and began toweling her hair dry, not once looking at her eyes while she interrogated him.
“And the dungeon? She’s okay with you watching a bunch of girls getting tied up and fucked?”
Seth shrugged. “Sure.”
Pearl let out an astonished huff, but this didn’t faze Seth. He patted her face dry and draped the towel over her head. Then he caught her shoulders in his large hands and squeezed them.
Finally, he looked at her. His black eyes grew warm for just an instant as he smiled faintly down at her.
“Sometimes she even joins me,” he rumbled quietly. “Like yesterday.”
Before abandoning her to the rest of her ablutions, Seth reminded Pearl that she would be meeting Tanner later. Pearl watched the burly man leave the bathroom, jeans back on but still shirtless and damp.
Muffled voices came from the living room, closely followed by a smattering of quickly hushed giggles.
Pearl dried herself off and used one of the hairdryers attached to the wall by the basins to style her hair. There was a range of cosmetics inside the bathroom cupboard, and she patted on a tinted moisturizer and some lip gloss to add a bit of color to her pale face.
She stared at her reflection for a moment, her limbs growing stiff as she listed the discrepancies she saw between today and last week when she’d been just another stripper with nothing more ominous on her mind than what movie she and Cheryl should watch.
Now, her face was pale and waxen. Her hair looked limp. Faint shadows darkened the skin beneath her eyes.
How did Gia do it? The girl looked like a centerfold, with her bright cheeks and shimmering hair.
Drugs. She was most likely in the honeymoon phase of a crack addiction. A few months from now, she’d look even worse than Pearl.
Pearl let out a long sigh and brushed her teeth with one of the disposable toothbrushes clustered in a drawer. There were just as many disposable razors in there too.
Opening a random cupboard door revealed a row of perfume bottles — some brands that she recognized only by name, not by sight, and some that she didn’t. If she could smuggle a few of these out, it might come to what she was being paid for the month.
Pearl tried to laugh, but the sound emerged as a strangled choke.
After discarding her damp towel, bath sheet, and underwear in the bathroom hamper, Pearl spritzed herself with one of the bottles of Lancôme. She wallowed in its cedar wood and patchouli scent for a few seconds and slipped into a bathrobe she’d found in another cupboard before letting herself out of the bathroom.
Everyone except Gia had left.
The girl turned around on the couch, chewing on something as she watched Pearl move around in the kitchenette to make herself a cup of coffee.
When the girl’s intense scrutiny became too much to bear, Pearl glanced at her over her shoulder and said: “Hi?”
“Heya,” Gia said.
“Want some more coffee?” Pearl asked, turning back to her work.
“Nah.”
A few seconds of silence unfolded, broken only by the sound of Pearl stirring her coffee.
“You’re pretty,” Gia commented.
“Uh… thanks,” Pearl said, frowning at the girl over her shoulder. “You too.”
“We all are,” Gia said with a sigh. “That’s kinda the point.”
“I guess.” Pearl found cereal in one of the cupboards and dished out a bowl of it with almond milk when she couldn’t find regular poor people’s cow milk. When in Rome…
She sat across from Gia, feeling the girl’s eyes on her as she began spooning cereal into her mouth. Obviously, whatever had made the girl so anti-Pearl last night had evaporated with the morning sun. Gia looked like she did the day Pearl met her: bright eyed and bushy tailed. A phrase which, now, had perverse overtones.
“Where you from?” Gia asked, cocking her head like a cocker spaniel.
“New York,” Pearl replied through a mouth of cereal. God, but she was starving.
“Cool,” Gia murmured. “California,” she said, pointing at herself with a thumb.
“Sunny there, isn’t it?”
“Always.” Gia giggled. “Weed’s good, too.”
Pearl cocked her eyebrows at this, but Gia didn’t seem to notice. Perhaps showing an interest wasn’t the wisest thing — she didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that her luggage contained contraband.
And her cellphone.
Cheryl.
She glanced up at Gia, swallowed down her mouthful of cereal with a slurp of coffee, and gave the girl a smile. This was returned with a wide grin.
“Did they take your stuff too, when you first got here?” Pearl asked, trying to sound casual.
“Yeah,” Gia said. “I’m sure I’ll get it back, though. It’s not like they’re going to sell it or nothin’.”
“Yup,” Pearl agreed quietly. “So, they really only let us call out once a week?”
Gia shrugged. “You can ask whenever. They usually say no. Sometimes they say yes.” Another grin, this was one too tawdry for such an innocent face. “Depends how persuasive you are.”
Pearl took another deep swallow of coffee, breaking eye contact with the girl. A blush crept up her neck as her mind served her a flash of yesterday: Gia begging for the wolf to fuck her, begging for him not to tease her with just a single taste of his cock. She managed to suppress a shudder.
“Who’s the most… persuadable?” Pearl asked, trying for as offhand a tone as possible.
Gia giggled. “Caden.”
Pearl choked on her cereal. She hurriedly drained the rest of her coffee, trying to wash away the memory of those piercing blue eyes and the smell of Caden’s crisp, lemony cologne.
“Are you fucking serious?” she managed.
Gia nodded her head. Her blond hair was loose this morning, falling in soft waves to just under her breasts. The strands shifted like silk against her as she shrugged.
“You just gotta get to know him,” Gia said. “He’s a softy, really.”
Pearl throttled a snort and drank the milk out of her cereal bowl. It was quite good actually, flavored as it was with chocolate from the cereal.
“And Tanner?” Pearl asked quietly.
Gia’s beaming face dissolved into a slack, unreadable mask. Another shrug, this one more of a twitch than anything else.
“He’s okay,” she mumbled. Her eyes fluttered across the room like nervous butterflies.
Then the girl smiled. “Hey, do you smoke?”
“What?” Pearl asked before she could stop herself.
Gia’s grin widened. “I knew it!” She cocked her head to the bedroom. “I got a little left. We can hotbox the broom cupboard.”
Pearl let out a sho
rt laugh. When Gia’s smile didn’t change, she lifted her eyebrows at the girl.
“You’re not serious.”
“It’ll be fun. Come on.” Gia bolted off the couch and disappeared into their room. Pearl watched as the door swung closed behind her. The girl reappeared a few seconds later, her hand cupped against her stomach. How she’d managed to keep contraband on her while being so bad at subterfuge was impossible to comprehend.
She beckoned Pearl to follow her through a door leading off the fox den. This led to a narrow passage with three closed doors. At the end, a security gate barred a frosted glass door. Daylight glimmered through the pale glass, obfuscated rays making the peach-colored tiles glow.
“Servant’s entrance,” Gia said to Pearl. “It’s always locked. Like, always always.”
Pearl glanced at the girl. Gia tugged at the second door in the passage, and it opened to reveal a narrow cupboard.
“You weren’t kidding,” Pearl murmured as she squeezed in beside Gia. A mop, standing on its handle, shared the space — looking like a dreadlocked stoner. Surprisingly, she couldn’t see a broom. When the door closed behind them, the darkness was absolute. Pearl heard Gia fumbling and then a small, bare bulb above them bloomed into life. It washed the inside of the small cupboard with a pale, sickly light and gave their companion — who was badly in need of a shampoo — an evil cast.
Gia lit a small joint with a pink Hello Kitty lighter. She took a long tug at the roll-up and handed it to Pearl.
She took it and toked it.
The air became hazy.
“You like it here?” Pearl asked when the last of the joint was finished. Gia took the roach and crushed it against the side of the cupboard where several circles of charred marijuana stained that portion of the wall.
Gia shrugged after a few seconds. “I guess.” Her voice was strained as she held her breath, forcing her lungs to extract as much weed from the dank smoke as possible.
“What made you say yes?”
Another shrug. “Needed the money. Plus—” Gia looked up at her with drooping eyes as she exhaled “—I like sex. A lot. So… why not, right?”
Pearl squirmed and reached for the door.
Gia caught her hand.
“What?” Pearl asked, concerned with the sudden intensity in the girl’s blue eyes. Their silent friend watched them from behind its dirty, bedraggled fringe — now swaying slightly from an accidental jostle by Gia’s elbow.
“It turned out to be fool’s gold.”
“Huh?” Pearl tugged at her arm, trying to get Gia to let go, but the girl held on and leaned closer.
“I thought: this is it. The thing that’s going to change my life. What I’ve been waiting for.” Gia shook her head fiercely. “It isn’t. Because it’s fool’s gold; as fake as their smiles and their ‘give-a-shit’ speeches. They don’t give a shit. And this—” she waved a hand “—isn’t worth the money.”
“You thought it was,” Pearl murmured. “I thought it was.”
“That’ll change, trust me. They don’t care about you. We’re like furniture to them. Seth’s the only one that knows we have feelings, and even he’s just…” Gia shrugged.
“Just what?”
“A way of keeping us happy.” Then she smiled, whatever ominous train of thought she’d been following derailing a second later. “It’s good right?”
Pearl swallowed and shook her head. “What is?”
Gia laughed and stumbled out of the closet, dragging Pearl with her.
“The weed, stupid. I love the way Durban tastes, don’t you? I think I still have some cookies in my room. We’re not really allowed them ‘cos they’re soooo bad for you — Caden’s a serious health nut — but if you want them for aftercare Seth can smuggle them in.”
Pearl followed the girl’s babbling, skipping figure as she led them back into the den.
As they slipped back into the room, Seth turned to them, eyebrows drawing together. Pearl’s stomach did a somersault at the anger in his eyes. Gia squeaked and ran away, slamming their bedroom door behind her and leaving Pearl stranded in the empty living room.
Well… empty except for Seth.
Seth filled Pearl’s world, looming over her as he stepped closer.
“Never took you as the impulsive type,” he growled, his eyes scanning Pearl with a quick, scathing scrutiny that made her want to cover herself. “Get dressed.”
When Pearl didn’t move on account of her legs having grown roots into the carpet, Seth let out a low sound in the back of his throat and grabbed her arms, herding her inside her room. Gia disappeared under her duvet as they crashed through the door, her head reappearing a few seconds later, blond hair disheveled. She peeked out at them, blue eyes wide, and began to giggle.
Which made Pearl giggle.
Which made Seth harrumph in disgust.
He threw open the cupboard door and yanked out a dress, throwing it at Pearl. She fumbled with it, laughter dissolving her bones. Underwear landed on her head.
“I can dress—” she began breathlessly, but then Seth was advancing on her and she swallowed the rest of the protest.
He made a grab for her, but she evaded him with a squeal that sounded almost as high-pitched as Gia’s had. Shit, no! She didn’t want him manhandling her again.
This started a sporadic chase around the room, Seth knocking over the partition as Pearl darted behind it. She screamed, half-laughing, half-crying as she scrambled over Gia.
“Come here!” Seth bellowed.
He grabbed Pearl’s ankle and heaved her over the bed. She screamed again, the sound almost immediately swallowed by gales of laughter as Gia leaped onto Seth’s back. Pearl took advantage of the situation by throwing her arms around Seth’s neck.
The two of them managed to bring the giant down. He crashed onto the bed, cursing them.
Gia flung herself over his chest, the petite blond looking like a toy compared with Seth’s bulk.
“Run, Pearl! Run!” Gia yelled.
But as Pearl turned for the door, Seth caught hold of the belt of her bathrobe and tugged. She fell into them, Seth’s elbow driving into her stomach and winding her.
She gasped for air, giggling and making futile swings in Seth’s direction.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Seth muttered, sitting up and spilling Gia into his lap. “I swear I’m splitting you two up when we get back.”
He sounded almost out of breath. Gia wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
“It’s my fault,” she said. “I made her do it. Please don’t take it out on her.”
Seth let out an enormous sigh that stirred the hair around Gia’s face. Then he looked up at Pearl, his black eyes grave and narrowed.
“They’ll sack me if they find out you guys have weed in here.”
Gia collapsed against him. “No more.” She slapped her hands together. “All gone.”
“Promise, kitten?” Seth murmured down to her. He stroked her head, and Gia snuggled against him, nodding into his beard.
“Let her dress,” Gia murmured. “I’ll keep you company.”
“Gia—” Seth began, but Gia swiveled around on his lap and grabbed his monstrous shoulders in her tiny hands, tugging him closer with superhuman strength.
Pearl backed away as their kiss intensified, her eyes widening of their own accord. Married, huh? Sure as fuck looked like it.
Men were scum.
Pearl found the clothes Seth had tossed at her. What she’d thought was underwear turned out to be a bikini. She sighed. Of course it was a bikini. But at least it didn’t have a tail attached. She giggled to herself and hurriedly squeezed her lips closed before Seth could hear her.
Tugging her clothes on, Pearl ran her fingers through her hair and turned back to the pair on the bed.
Gia had somehow managed to get Seth on his back and straddled his torso as she ravished kisses over his face and down the side of his neck.
Pearl cleared her throat.
Seth sat up, setting Gia aside like a book he planned to pick up later, and stood. She gritted her teeth as he took the brush from her cupboard and ran it through her hair.
He frowned down at her. “Forgot about these,” he muttered, drawing his thumb over her left eyebrow. “I’ll do them tonight.”
“Okay,” Pearl said.
He gripped her shoulders, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.
“Time to meet Tanner,” Seth rumbled. “Ready?”
The Fox Pit was shaped like a gigantic, square ‘U’. The left wing contained the fox den, the dungeon, and Caden’s apartments. Perhaps more — she hadn’t seen what lay behind all the doors yet.
The library, living area, and Caden’s office took up the bottom length of the ‘U’ with its massive double doors leading out to the patio where Seth had educated her on her first afternoon here. Beyond the patio lay the labyrinth, and beyond that a large swathe of land with a suggestion of horses and sporting fields.
Seth led Pearl through the living area. Instead of heading outside, he walked up toward the inner portion of the ‘U’. Another set of double-doors — ones she hadn’t noticed either of the times she’d been taken through the living area — led to a different outside area.
Here, it was possible to grasp both the shape and enormity of the villa. And how enormous it was, especially when you took into account the ocean of a swimming pool nestled inside the ‘U’: replete with fountain, water slide, and a few marooned islands tiled with slabs of pale stone.
Now she could see the right wing of the villa, which mirrored the left. Another den, perhaps? Another batch of foxes? Another dungeon?
Her speculation was cut short by Seth’s fingers on her spine, urging her forward.
Had she been gaping?
Pearl swung forward, narrowing her eyes at the intensity of the sunlight shimmering from the pool’s crystal blue waters.
Her gaze latched on a small contingent of people a few feet away from her and Seth. Ample paving collared the pool, allowing more than enough space for the cluster of loungers and a portable mahogany bar.
Suits? Really? Pearl began to snort, remembered the intensity in Seth’s eyes, and forced sobriety onto her features.