A Sweet Deal for Karen [Hardwick Bay 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Page 10
“I didn’t like it.” Karen’s voice was soft and small.
“One day I’d like you to trust us enough to just play a little. I promise if we don’t make it good enough for you to want more, then we won’t continue. Do you think you could try that?” Allan kept his voice calm and neutral.
He stopped playing with her rosette. He definitely didn’t want her to get some idea in her head that if she said no, all was over between them. Allan loved ass play and he was confident he could make it so pleasurable for her, she would allow he and Zander to take her together. But first, they would tread carefully.
“Maybe. Probably.” Karen’s voice betrayed her doubts.
Allan was proud of her that she was willing to experiment again on something that had obviously gone awry the first time.
“Brave woman,” he praised her. “I love that about you. You’re willing to take your own path in life.” Letting the subject drop for now, his hands began moving again. Roving her body and hitting her hot spots, Allan roused her again. Neck, elbow, inner thighs—he paid attention to all of them. Soon she was moaning softly and her hips were rocking in eagerness. Her skin had a little flush beginning to spread.
Karen’s hands, or rather hand, was exploring him, too. Her good hand kneaded his biceps, caressed his chest, and lightly scraped her fingernails across his abdomen, grazing the border of his pubic hair.
Fuck that felt good! His hips jerked forward on their own and he heard a wicked chuckle from Karen.
“If you keep doing that, this will be over embarrassingly fast,” Allan told his sweet vixen sternly. He got on his knees and pulled Karen onto her hands and knees.
“Can you brace yourself on your elbows? I don’t want you to hurt your hand.” Allan wanted to take her from behind, but was a little worried about her injury.
“I’m okay, but you’re not going to…” She trailed off, her voice a little higher with worry, her spine suddenly as rigid as his dick.
Apparently whoever the jerk was that tried to take Karen’s ass had really hurt her.
“No, Karen, I said in the future and when you were ready, remember?” He needed Karen to know he would keep his word to her.
He felt her relax and he started to play with her pussy. Soon she was back on board and moving her hips, drenching his hand with her cream. Allan quickly sheathed his cock and entered her with one smooth stroke. He was slightly thinner and longer than Zander, so he knew her pussy was stretched enough to take him easily. A harsh growl escaped him as he bottomed out inside Karen.
Karen made a garbled sound that was a mix between a cry of pleasure and a groan. She clenched around his dick. Allan gave her measured steady thrusts with the entire length of his cock, designed to quickly drive her nuts. He had watched her beg Zander for hard and fast, and he knew this pace would keep her on the edge for as long as he could hang in. Which was not going to be as long as he would like. She felt amazing around his cock—tight, hot, so wet.
He couldn’t stand it anymore. His orgasm had been denied for too long and he could feel his balls start to tighten as lightning prepared to erupt from his spine down to explode the head of his cock. He reached around, hanging on by a thread, and rubbed Karen’s clit hard as he gave her several hard and fast thrusts.
Just in time, she climaxed, wailing his name as he came so hard he felt dizzy. Thank god he sent her over in time. He collapsed over top of her, barely able to hold his body up with shaking arms.
“Jesus, Karen. You are the incredible one.” Allan echoed Zander’s previous words to Karen. He was panting heavily, his body starved for oxygen after that potent orgasm. He managed to rise and ease himself out of her pussy, cradling her as he eased her onto her side.
Karen managed a couple of shaky breaths. “I may not survive the two of you. You’ll kill me with sex.” She paused, then giggled. “Wouldn’t that make your reputation in prison? Murder by intercourse. The inmates would love you.”
Zander groaned and rolled his eyes. “I love your sense of humor but the prison sex talk shrinks my balls. Let’s have a shower and get some sleep.”
Chapter 14
The next couple of weeks went by quickly. Karen was shocked at how she settled into a pleasant routine with Allan and Zander. True, they were sometimes irritating in their occasionally overzealous attempts to be helpful. Most of the time, though, it was great.
Allan was the morning person who was happy to get up and start the coffee, enjoying a little time to himself while Karen and Zander moved a little slower. Karen was usually second downstairs. She didn’t like to get up any earlier than necessary, but once up, she was up. Zander was last to get up and slow to become functional.
At least one of them, usually both, would accompany her to the store and they both learned the basics of chocolate making. Karen was able to keep ahead of her demand for her products with their help. She could do most of it herself, but until she moved into a smaller splint, she needed the spare hands.
She saw Hanna and Lisa when they came to help at the store and at ball. She cheered on the team, and truth be told, she was actually a little sorry not to be playing. Who would have thought? Karen Winsor actually missed playing a team sport.
Hanna went through a bad patch with her men, Kent and Carter. Karen and the rest of Hanna’s women friends had to stage an intervention with pizza and wine to plan how to get them back together. Thank goodness it had worked. Hanna deserved the two wonderful men that loved her to bits, and Karen was relieved that Hanna had another chance at happiness.
Sitting out on the patio Friday night, Karen was shocked to realize how relaxed she felt. She hadn’t spent every minute worrying about the store. It was doing okay, even with the added expense of additional staff. It was kind of nice to get away at the end of the day and not feel that she should be downstairs doing something just because it was there.
Not that she didn’t like her apartment above the store. It was a great little spot and being close to work had a lot of advantages. She hadn’t realized that not getting away might actually be a disadvantage.
Her phone rang and startled her. She picked it up and checked the caller ID. She sighed before she answered. “Hi, Mom.”
“We wanted you to know we are not at the cottage this weekend.” Her mother’s voice was its usual frosty, but tight, too. Why was her mom calling to say they wouldn’t be somewhere?
“Okay, thanks for letting me know.” She decided to be a good little fishy and take the bait. “Any particular reason?”
“There’s an event at Mary and Bob’s firm and we are going to put in a good word for you for the personal assistant position.”
Ah, there it was.
“That’s not necessary.”
“I wish you would come to your senses and realize that store really does not hold a decent future for you.” Her mother’s voice sounded like she had drank an extra-large mug of irritation.
“Well, we disagree on that.” Karen debated on letting them in on her injury. Her sense of filial duty won over. “By the way, I hurt my hand a little at ball.”
An exasperated huff came from her mother. “I am not surprised. If you are going to take up a sport, why can you not golf so you can make appropriate business contacts? What did you do?”
“My finger’s broken and I’m in a bit of a splint, but it’s okay. I’ve got some extra help at the store to cover and I’ll get a smaller splint in a couple of weeks I think.” Karen kept her voice light and unconcerned. She wasn’t overly worried about the store, but knew she would have to suffer through her mom’s reaction.
“Well, there goes whatever meager profits you’re making. Maybe this will make you come to your senses. There is no security in that store. You need a proper job with responsibility, benefits, and a pension plan. An assistant’s job like this doesn’t come along often. You should be making the most of the opportunity.”
Her mom was on a roll now. Yep, should have gone with the not-telling option. Karen eased th
e phone away from her ear a little and let her mom rant on. After a minute or two LeeAnn wound down with, “You had better get your resume together and fax it to Mary’s office this weekend!”
Karen decided to cut it all short. “Thanks for thinking of me, Mom. Maybe I’ll see you another weekend. Bye.” She stabbed the phone to cut the connection.
Allan had wandered out as the conversation wound down. “Nice of your Mom to call.”
Karen snorted. “Not really. She wants me to close the store and get a real job.”
Allan frowned as Zander joined them. “I don’t get it.”
“Don’t get what?” Zander interjected.
“My parents aren’t really into me owning my own business. They’re all about how many university degrees you have and stuff. They want me to get a corporate job with benefits and a pension where I wear a suit and work in an office.” Karen was trying to keep the sadness off her face, but knew she was doing a poor job. Her mom just made her feel so…rejected.
“Well, A, I don’t see you in a corporate suit job. That’s just not who you are. We know you’d be miserable. And, B, your store is doing great. You’ve built a business you should be damn proud of.” Allan still had a frown on his face and was looking at her intently. It was like he was willing pride into her.
“Yeah, well, that’s not how they see it.”
“I’m lucky I have Allan and his family,” Zander said. “My mom took off when I was just little and my dad drank himself to death a few years ago. I lived with various relatives growing up, but they all had their own kids. I had to figure out a few things for myself.”
Zander had piqued her curiosity. She knew he was trying to tell her something, without dictating to her. “Like what?”
“Well, that I am a good person regardless of the opinions of my relatives. Oh, it’s not like they hated me growing up, their own kids just came first and that’s okay.” He shrugged. “I can’t deny it didn’t hurt me a lot, but they weren’t trying to mess me up, they were just trying to get along. I had the opposite situation from you, though. They all expected me to fail and were surprised, and a bit jealous, when I turned out okay.” He gave a slightly bitter laugh.
“We both think you’re a great person just the way you are. I hope you realize it soon, too.” Allan was still watching her intently.
“I’m getting eaten alive here,” Karen said, slapping at a mosquito. “Let’s go inside and watch a movie or something.” She was getting bit, but really, she needed time to think.
They headed in and settled on the couch to watch a movie. Karen didn’t really pay attention.
She once saw a raccoon at a stream. It had some food and it kept dunking the morsel in the water and swishing it around. Then it would pick it up and look at it closely only to repeat the process, until finally it shoved the tidbit into its mouth and chewed. Karen felt like that was what she was doing with her evaluation of her life. Dunking it in water, swishing it around, and seeing if once she washed the mud off it, it would look tastier.
The store wasn’t going to go under. Sure, she would have less profit this month, but she would still make all her bills and still have enough to live on. Okay, barely.
And, if she didn’t have help from Zander, Allan, and her friends, she would dip into her line of credit to stay afloat. She did pay for some insurance for herself, but she didn’t have short-term disability coverage.
Yeah, a corporate job would give her sick time and benefits, but at what cost? She wouldn’t love it the way she loved her little store. And she’d have to live closer to the city. Yuck. No more beautiful Hardwick Bay a block away from her apartment. No more quirky small town with fun people.
On the other hand, she could do it, and have all the security and benefits. Not worry about making her rent and loan payments in March when business was slow. Not have to listen to her parents rag on her about not having a real job. Finally earn some of their love and respect.
And there were some beautiful parks in the city. She would have weekends off to go wherever she wanted, to the Bay, hiking, whatever. She might even be able to travel, take a vacation down south or something. That could be exciting.
But she would have to leave Allan and Zander. They wouldn’t want to relocate to the big city. They’d landed in Hardwick Bay by chance. Hired on by Ontario Hydro, the men settled in a town near where they were based. She knew they were astounded to find that what they secretly dreamed of was a reality in Hardwick Bay.
They had their beautiful house, their jobs, and the freedom to have the ménage lifestyle they wanted. Not to mention that showing up with the two of them in tow would ruin whatever gains she made with her family. LeeAnn and Howard were definitely not up for their daughter living a ménage. No way. No how.
But she hadn’t signed on for a relationship anyway. This was just some fun, casual, though amazing, sex and it would be over soon enough. So she shouldn’t really be taking their relationship into account. At least that was what she firmly told herself.
What to do?
Karen tried to watch the movie, but had missed a lot of it with her thoughts. She had no idea what was going on. Who was chasing who? Just as she was about to ask, her phone rang again.
She saw her sister’s name on the call display. Karen’s heart suddenly sped up. Why on earth would her sister call? It wasn’t like they were chatty. She could count on her hand the number of times her sister called her in a year.
“Hello?” Karen stood up and left the guys to their movie, moving into the kitchen.
“Hi, sis.” Mary’s voice was downright cheerful. “I’m heading to the cottage tomorrow and I thought I’d stop and have breakfast with you. I’ll be at your place at eight thirty, ’kay?”
“Um, yeah.” Karen couldn’t deny her sister breakfast, even if it was outrageously unusual for her to call, much less want to go out together. “What’s up? You almost never call when you’re in Hardwick Bay.”
“Well, I think that needs to change. See you tomorrow.” Mary’s voice was still cheerful, but the words were underpinned with big steel girders.
Before Karen could say anything more, Mary hung up.
Karen was left looking at her phone like it was some sort of alien communication device. What the hell? Her sister’s behavior was decidedly odd last time she had seen her and now this. Had she felt relaxed earlier on the patio? Ha. Jokes on you, Karen. Her sister was being all weird, her parents seemed to be ramping up their get-a-real-job campaign and her injury made her think about how vulnerable her financial security was.
What shit was going to hit the fan at breakfast tomorrow?
Chapter 15
Mary rang Karen’s doorbell promptly at eight thirty the next morning. Karen was dressed and waiting. She’d had Allan and Zander bring her to the apartment earlier, since her sister hadn’t given her the chance to explain that she wasn’t actually living at the store right now.
Mary was older than Karen by two years and had always been the golden daughter. She was responsible, trustworthy, and followed the family path appropriately right down to the bland gray business suits. Karen loved her sister, but always felt a combination of jealousy mixed with the feeling of not good enough and a dash of to hell with you thrown in.
Today, however, a lace doily of worry sat neatly overtop those feelings, concealing, but not really containing them. Karen actually wondered if her sister had a brain tumor that was spurring this breakfast date.
She opened the door to find Mary dressed in denim shorts, an orange top, and sandals that laced up her calves. Again, what the hell? Last time at the cottage she had been in beige Capri pants and a white, lacy T-shirt top. Parental approved, Karen was sure.
Karen was so stiff, Mary must have felt like she was hugging a mannequin.
“Morning, sis! Love the front of the store. Can I see your apartment? Oh my God what happened to your hand?” Mary’s voice went up in volume and pitch at this last question and her eyes widened.
The two women trooped upstairs to Karen’s colorful nest. Mary burst out laughing when she entered. The sight of her sister throwing back her head and giving her body over to joy made mannequin Karen slightly more mobile. The cautious reserve Karen felt around her sister slowly started to shrink.
“This is all you, really, isn’t it? I bet the only reason the walls are beige is that the owner of the building put some sort of restriction on paint color.” Mary turned around in the living room, her eyes eating up every pop of color like it was the candy downstairs.
“Something like that,” Karen murmured.
Mary headed to look at the bedroom and bath while Karen grabbed her purse.
“So, uh, what’s going on?” she asked as Mary came back to the living room.
Mary’s face took on what Karen always thought of as her mom’s trial lawyer look—completely void of any revealing expression whatsoever. “I don’t know what you mean.”
That lace doily of worry was blown away by a strong puff of anger. Karen suddenly just wanted to get breakfast over with. The tiny bit of hope that her sister wanted a better relationship died on the bright rug in the living room. It had been such a small hope it didn’t even leave a stain.
“Fine,” Karen said tonelessly. “Let’s go.”
They walked in silence to The Cottage. It was open but not particularly busy.
“Hi, Karen,” greeted Gina warmly. “This must be your sister, she looks so much like you!”
Normally Karen would say she was hard pressed to find any similarities between her and her normally well-coiffed, put together, gray business suit wearing sister, but today with the orange shirt and slightly ruffled hair…
“Yeah, Gina, this is my sister, Mary.” Karen introduced this person beside her who, despite the clothing, had turned back into her sister with her mother’s expression in the apartment.