by Logan Fox
“You can do that—” he cut off with a shake of his head. “Do that later, kitten. Time to get back to the real world.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but Seth moved too fast. In a second, he had the journal trapped in his hands. He made it disappear into his back pocket, snatching the pen from her unresisting fingers.
“Aftercare, Pearl. Then you get your toys back.”
She wanted to argue with him, to tell him that they weren’t toys at all, but the scene had left her lethargic and pliable. Seth’s determination swept over her, rendering her unable to voice protest as he drew her down the hall.
Seth took her outside to the pool. It was late afternoon; there was still a good hour or two’s light left before twilight. But as the doors leading outside swung open, the noise of splashing, giggles, and laughter crashed into them.
The hand around the back of her neck tightened. Pearl drew to a clumsy stop. She forced her eyes up from the paving.
Tanner, a pair of foxes, that stick of a secretary of his, and his always present bodyguards were scattered throughout the pool area. Tanner and the foxes were in the pool, his bodyguards hovering nearby while Evelyn tried to hold a conversation with him about something he had to sign. He was attempting to remove one fox’s swimsuit, despite her giggled protestations.
“Jesus Christ,” Seth muttered quietly above her. “Let’s go.”
“It’s fine,” Pearl said. “There’s a sauna, right?” She pointed to the wooden building Seth had brought her to the last time they’d come out here for her aftercare. “It’ll be quiet in there.”
“You sure, kitten?” The hand around her neck tightened. “This is your time, you shouldn’t—”
“I just want to take a load off, Seth. My legs are killing me.”
Seth steered her toward the building.
“Evening!” Tanner called out, making Pearl jump. “Joining us?”
“No,” Seth yelled back, perhaps a bit louder than he should have. There was a moment’s silence, broken by another giggle.
“Your loss. Water’s fucking beautiful.”
Seth jerked open the door and followed her inside, his boots clomping on the wooden floor. The building reeked of wood and cherry blossoms. A quick glance around the wooden room revealed the miniature cherry tree nestled in the far corner next to the basin.
“Wanna shower first?”
“After,” Pearl murmured. God, but she could sleep for a week. She felt so drained. So… relaxed.
“Just let me grab a towel—”
Seth’s cellphone rang, cutting him off. He tugged it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, dismissed the call, and shoved it back.
“Let’s get—”
The phone began ringing again.
“For fuck’s sake,” Seth muttered.
Pearl let the blanket slide to the floor. It was warm in here, too warm for that thick thing to be draped around her. She walked to the closet Seth had pointed out and opened the door. Swimsuits and towels, all packed in neat rows.
“Shit, Pearl, I have to answer this. Caden gets pissed if—”
She waved a hand behind her. “I’ve been in a sauna before. I know how it works.”
Seth exhaled loudly before answering the phone with a gruff, “What?”
Pearl took out a towel and wrapped it around herself. The panel outside the sauna door took her less than a few seconds to decipher. The wooden door leading to the sauna resisted her for a brief second before opening. Inside, the square of a room held two levels of flowing benches. She could still hear Seth through the partially open door.
“No, not going to happen. She’s just—” The man cut off with an irritated huff. “Caden, she can’t—”
Seth began tapping his foot, the tip of his boot thumping against the wooden floor.
“I don’t care if he—”
More thumps. Pearl pressed the door closed with the heel of her palm and went to the furthest bench, running her fingertips over the smooth wood.
“No. And I said no.” A fierce growl.
Pearl shuddered at the sound, casting a glance over her shoulder at the closed door.
Steam billowed out of a handful of strategically placed vents, obscuring her view. She inhaled a deep lungful, forcing herself not to cough at the tickle in her throat. She perched on the edge of the bench, leaning forward so the steam struck her face. Her skin grew hot and tight, a shiver coursing through her at the delicious sensation.
“—talk about this.” The door to the sauna shot open, sending the soft clouds of mist churning away from her. Pearl shivered at the gust of cool air that sidled inside with Seth.
He held his phone in his hand, the lips between his beard and mustache compressed into a thin line.
“I have to speak to Caden. Are you going to be okay for a few minutes on your own? I would never leave you normally, but this is—”
“I’m fine, Seth,” Pearl waved a limp hand in his direction. “Just close the fucking door. It’s cold.”
Seth hesitated, glancing down at his phone as if silently cursing it, and then hurried forward. He grabbed her shoulders, gave her a fierce hug, and left the room.
The door made a soft sucking sound as he pulled it closed behind him.
Pearl stared after her handler, blinking a few times. She shook her head, inhaling another deep breath, and slowly sank onto her side. The diaphanous layers of steam were mesmerizing to watch as they billowed out from the hidden vents, but her eyes were heavy, her limbs numb.
She rolled onto her back, rested her raised knees against the bench beside her, and let sleep take her.
The door to the steam room opened with a reluctant kissing sound. Pearl started, her eyes fluttering open. For a moment, seeing nothing but pale white, her heart contracted in panic. She turned her head, trying to find something of substance to latch onto.
She found Tanner… and his two foxes. They stumbled into the steam room, sending bits of fog scrambling out of their way as they collapsed on the closest bench.
They didn’t look in her direction; perhaps they hadn’t even noticed her, caught up as they were with each other.
Pearl let her eyes fall closed again. She’d been dreaming about her wolf. It had been a sensuous, erotic fantasy where she wasn’t sure if that wolf’s head was all that fake anymore. But the wolf’s body was still his: strong and lithe and trembling at her touch.
“Why are you still wearing this, Tina?” Tanner’s voice made Pearl jerk awake again. “I thought I told you to take it off.”
“Yeah, Tina,” came another voice. The fox sounded too drunk to stand, which was probably why her billowing shadow wobbled as much as it did. Pearl scowled at them through the steam, but they didn’t pay her any mind. Again, probably because they didn’t know she was here.
“There, it’s off, okay? Happy now?” Tina’s voice.
Pearl sat up then, blinking furiously to untangle substance from steam. This was her chance. She could find out—
No, she couldn’t. Not with Tanner in the room.
Pearl’s shoulders slumped. A trickle of sweat made its slow way down her spine, a second joining it from a nearby shoulder blade. She felt too woozy to stand, too dizzy to even attempt words.
How long had she been in here? Her mouth felt bone-dry, her hair soaking wet from sweat. And where the hell was her towel?
“Mmm,” came Tanner’s appreciative murmur. “Much better.”
“It’s too hot in here,” whined the unnamed fox, her wobbling shadow collapsing onto the pale suggestion of a bench.
“That’s the point, baby girl.” Tanner was still standing, grasping what Pearl could only assume was Tina. “That’s the whole fucking point.”
Tina giggled, whether in agreement or because of something Tanner was doing to her, Pearl didn’t know.
She should leave. She had to leave. This could not end well. Either they never spotted her, and she had to sit through whatever lechery Tanner had planned with the
two girls in this steamy room, or they would eventually spot her.
And what… make her join?
Her skin prickled.
Where was Seth? Why hadn’t he come back yet?
“Ugh, I’m sweating.” The anonymous fox got to her feet again. “Can I wait outside?”
“It’s cold outside,” Tanner said quietly. “Stay here.”
“It’s too hot,” said death-wish fox as she strutted to the door. “I can’t even—”
There was a muffled gasp. Feet shuffled on the bare wood. Pearl sat bolt upright, arms crossing reflexively over her breasts. The suicidal fox made a panicked sound in the back of her throat.
“That wasn’t a request, baby girl.”
Tina laughed. “Let her go, Sir. I’ve been waiting long enough to have you all to myself.”
Tanner grunted. Pearl’s eyes strained to make out what the hell was happening, but the steam occluded her vision until the trio became nothing but shapeless blobs.
“Please, Sir?” Tina’s voice had dropped to a throaty whisper. “You can do whatever you want me in here and no one will ever know.”
Pearl’s heart knocked against her ribcage.
There was another sound from Tanner, a groan mingled with a sigh, and then a thud.
“Go. I’ll settle with you later.”
The sauna’s door opened, rifling the steam clouds just enough to allow Pearl a clear view of Tanner and Tina. The fox was pressed against him, a hand over the bulge in his yellow trunks, the other gripping the back of his neck. She was on tiptoes, her bare breasts flush against his chest and lips parted as if expecting a kiss.
Tanner bent his neck, catching hold of Tina’s earlobe between his teeth. He whispered something to her, the words too muffled for Pearl to catch. She wanted to stand, to slip past them and sneak out the door. But they stood in the centre of the small steam room, making escape impossible.
“Wasn’t me,” said Tina.
Pearl stiffened.
Tanner gave a low laugh. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Strange, that. Ethan was pretty adamant who he gave that keycard to.”
Tina sighed, obviously in response to Tanner’s mouth against her throat and not the question.
“Ethan’s full of shit. He’s trying to pin it on anyone he can.”
“You had nothing to do with it?”
“Nothing…” Tina breathed. “Not a thing.”
Tanner, either satisfied or for the moment out of questions, leaned away from Tina and ran his hands over her body. The girl groaned and arched her back. She slid her hands down the front of Tanner’s swimming trunks.
Pearl watched them for a few minutes, waiting for them to move to a row of benches and possibly clear a path for her. But they stayed standing, Tanner manhandling Tina’s ass and breasts as she massaged his cock and moaned quietly into his neck.
She should just stand up. Make a noise to let them know she was here. That way, she could excuse herself and push past them, hopefully without any repercussions.
But she knew what would happen if she tried that. Tanner would look at her with that lewd smile tugging at his lips, already imagining how well he could leverage two girls and one cock.
She shuddered and tightened the grip around her chest.
Where the hell was Seth?
As if his name summoned him, the sauna’s door swung open and the man himself stepped inside.
The steam parted for him too, and he jerked at the sight of Tanner and Tina, still caught up in their embrace. Then his eyes shifted past the couple and found Pearl. Relief made his shoulders sag, and he gave Tanner a faint scowl before striding past them toward Pearl.
Relief made her limbs feel weak. Pearl gave Seth a small smile, one he didn’t return.
“Hey, man.” Tanner twisted to Seth, a crooked smile on his face. Then his eyes caught on Pearl, and that smile slid away like melting snow. His eyes flashed from her face to her throat, settling with an intensity that made her reach up and touch her skin.
The collar. She’d forgotten about her wolf’s collar.
Tina giggled, squirming against Tanner as if impatient for him to focus on her again. She turned her head, saw Pearl, and smiled widely. She lifted a hand, wiggling her fingertips at Pearl and mouthing “Hi.”
Pearl couldn’t respond: Seth stepped in front of her, blocking her view, blocking her from Tanner. He bent down, putting his face close to hers, his black eyes empty.
“We have to go, kitten.”
“Okay.” She started up, swooning backward before Seth caught hold of her elbow and hoisted her to her feet.
“What’s wrong?” A note of alarm in the handler’s voice.
Then Seth’s eyes followed the sudden frantic movement of her hand. Saw her trying to take the collar off.
“Shit.” Seth glanced over his shoulder and then back at her, his hand darting up. He slid a finger behind the collar and tugged once, hard. Pearl’s head bobbed forward as the collar came free with a snap.
Seth stared down at her, eyes wide with concern. She could only look back, her heart knocking into her ribs. Seth shook his head, ran his thumb over her windpipe, and turned around.
“I’m sorry,” Seth said, heading for the door and drawing her along behind him. “I tried to change his mind. He said the guy asked for you. If they ask for you, you have to go.”
Tanner’s gaze was still fixed on her. He watched her draw near, sparing Seth barely a flicker of his eyes as the hulk of a man passed.
As Pearl drew level with him, Tanner’s hand snaked out and caught hold of her wrist. She drew a sharp breath at the unexpected touch, which made a new smile appear on Tanner’s mouth as if by magic.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about, baby girl,” Tanner said, his grey eyes narrowing slightly. “It’s been a wild few days, but I promise I’ll make some time to break you in.”
“Sir, we have to—” Seth began.
Tanner plucked away his hand, lifting it — palm toward Seth — as his smile grew another inch.
“Later, alligator.”
Seth pulled her out of the steam room. The air outside closed around her in an icy fist; she drew a deep, involuntary breath.
Her mind sparked, as if the cold air had jump-started a few weeks’s worth of rusted neurons.
“Where are you taking me?” Pearl asked, her mind replaying Seth’s words.
“Another scene.” Seth glanced behind, perhaps realized for the first time that she was naked, and came to a halt. He took two lumbering steps, jerked open the closet by the steam room, and snatched out a towel. “We have to hurry. He’s been here almost an hour already.”
“Another one?” Pearl’s lips worked as she tried to formulate a protest.
Seth tugged her close and wrapped the towel around her, lifting her unresisting arms to wind it around her breasts and tuck it in under her armpit.
“I tried, kitten, I did. But Caden’s a stubborn sonnabitch when he wants to be. Says you’ve been slacking. I tried—”
She could barely stand. The steam had wilted her muscles like spinach, and he expected her to go into another scene?
“Can I just lie there?” she murmured, dragging a hand over her face as she tried to wring feeling back into her cheeks.
“Pearl, I’m—”
“What if I fall asleep? Will they fire me?” The thought made her laugh: her snoring, on her back on the altar, while a wolf jack hammered her.
“Hey.” Seth stopped. They were a few feet away from the Fox Pit’s doors, twilight nearly gone from the sky and a few solitary stars twinkling in anticipation of night. “Are you all right?”
Pearl snorted. “No. I’m exhausted.”
Seth let out a massive sigh, releasing her to run both hands through his hair and down his beard. He turned his head to the approaching night and squeezed his eyes shut.
When he faced her again, bleakness filled his eyes. “There’s nothing I can do. I tried everything.”
“I
know.” Pearl shrugged. “And I get it. It’s my job. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to argue.”
“Fuck’s sake,” Seth muttered, and jerked open the villa’s doors.
When Seth tugged her into the pre-scene bathroom and handed her the stripper outfit she’d worn the other day, Pearl’s heart almost exploded with adrenalin.
Greg.
He’d come for her.
She blinked at Seth, forced her hand up to take the outfit from him, and managed a mumbled something that might have been thanks.
He left her to change this time, telling her to wash up as best she could. And she tried: splashing water on her pits and running a soapy hand over her sex. But she still felt dirty, even after washing her face and fluffing up her hair with a towel.
Because it was Greg, not another nameless wolf. Greg — the guy she’d angry-fucked because he’d thought of her as some defenseless girl who’d gotten herself in over her head.
Greg, who’d come to save her after she’d begged him for his help.
Shameful tears sprang into her eyes. She squeezed them closed, willing away the jets of emotions threatening to scorch her mind into oblivion again.
Even after she’d yelled at him and told him off, he’d still come back for her.
“We have to hurry,” Seth said as he let himself in.
Pearl hurriedly straightened, swiping the back of her hand over her eyes. But Seth knew. He always knew when one of his foxes was hurting.
He didn’t say anything as he closed the distance between them with a single stretch of his legs. His arms slid around her, holding her tight against his warm chest. She turned her head, pressing her cheek to his beard as he ran a big, gentle hand over her hair.
“I’m sorry, kitten. I did my best.”
Pearl shook her head. “It’s not that,” she managed. Speaking weakened her defenses, but she felt compelled to alleviate his guilt. This had nothing to do with him: he was just an innocent bystander, caught up in a whirlwind of deceit and regret. He probably wouldn’t even understand if she tried to explain it to him.
So instead she hugged him back, forcing away her tears and doing her best not to think about Greg. Because this was probably her last chance to see him, and she had to make sure that anyone watching — Seth, his wife, Caden even — didn’t pick up on the fact that he was here to rescue her.