by Chanel Ivy
HER
CARNAL GAMES
SERIES
Book One: Her Carnal Love
Book Two: Her Carnal Desire
Book Three: Her Carnal Undoing
By Chanel Ivy
ISBN: 9781676518143
Thank you for purchasing the Her Carnal Games Series. I hope you enjoy it and will leave a review. Every single one of them is much appreciated!
Please make sure to check out my other titles:
Her Hostile Takeover
Her Hearts Ignition
Her First Crush
Her First and Only Desire
Her Serial Obsession-Book:Queen of Hearts Serial Killer Series
His Reckless Intentions
Also, keep an eye out for more of my books to be released soon, along with the accompanying audiobooks for all of my titles on Audible.
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Happy reading ya’ll!
~Chanel Ivy
HER
CARNAL LOVE
Book One of the
Her Carnal Games Series
By
Chanel Ivy
Copyright © 2019 by Forever Morris Publishing, LLC
This book is a work of fiction. The name, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, business establishments, or actual events, or organization(s) is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without written permission of the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of any author’s rights.
First Edition November 2019
Published by Forever Morris Publishing, LLC
ForeverMorrisPublishing.com
®
ISBN: 9781707202669
Chapter 1
The alarm blared at six-thirty in the morning like every other weekday, and I hit snooze like I do all the time. My name is Mia Blackburn, and I’m a workaholic. It’s a positive and negative trait that I’m well aware is of my own doing. If I learned to say “No,” to everyone at work, then maybe I wouldn’t be at the office longer than everyone else, but I’ve always found it hard to stick up for myself. Growing up in a military family with all older brothers and ending up pregnant at seventeen with an emotionally abusive boyfriend who soon became my husband will do that to a girl.
I’m thirty-two now and divorced with a fifteen-year-old son, Todd, whom I barely see because my ex is a lying, conniving bastard, but now we’re getting off-topic. Well, not really. My ex and the distance from my son are mostly the reasons why I bury myself in my job. I need that distraction from real life and the fact that I’m missing my son’s teen years. I get to see him once a month, but Ben, my ex, seems to find ways around letting even that happen. There’s always some school or extracurricular trip Todd is going on or some other life event that he just can’t miss leaving me not being able to spend the time I’m supposed to have with my son.
Being a young mother and eeking out an existence in corporate America is not something I dreamed of for myself, but it’s where I found myself in life. I’ve come to terms with never becoming a successful painter like I always dreamed of, and yeah, it does make me a little sad, but hey, that’s life, right?
Ever since my divorce five years ago, I’ve worked for Cross Financial. They’re a hugely successful financial firm that manages billions of dollars for the elite one percent. The upper echelon of society if you will. I’d tell you that our client list is impressive, but I don’t get paid enough even to know who our clients are. That’s one of the big things at Cross Financial, complete and total anonymity for our clients. That’s why they come to us - for our responsibly discreet financial methods.
I started as an Investment Banking Analyst delivering deal-related materials, performing industry research, and financial reviews of portfolio performance. Now I manage the team I started with all those years ago. It isn’t much of an improvement, but it’s something when you consider I only just barely got my high school diploma because I was busy having a baby, and my husband didn’t want me to go to college. He said there was no need, that he’d take care of our son and me forever. Now he’s taking care of our son and his twenty-year-old wife with a shopping addiction.
I’m glad I followed my gut instinct and took online college classes while Ben was at work, and Todd was at school. I really wanted to go to school physically, but it was hard enough hiding the tuition payments from Ben without having to explain why I was leaving every day. Knowing Ben, he’d probably have me followed, thinking I was cheating on him. His overbearing and controlling nature was, ultimately, why our marriage didn’t work out. Well, that and the fact that he started banging his much younger and much hotter personal trainer.
Believe it or not, I was relieved when I found out he was cheating on me. It gave me a way out of a marriage that wasn’t fulfilling for me since before he put a ring on my finger. Why get married in the first place, you ask? Number one, I was young. Number two, I was naïve. Number three, my parents told me it was either get an abortion or get married. I didn’t like the idea of being a mom at seventeen, but I wasn’t going to make my child pay for my mistakes.
So here I am, a single thirty-two-year-old, living alone in a two-bedroom condo in Charlotte, North Carolina. The last time I had sex was over five years ago, and it was as forgettable as what I had for breakfast yesterday. To hammer my point home, I have no clue what I had for breakfast yesterday.
My goal this summer was to get into better shape by actually using the free gym at work, start eating better and start making more time for myself. I wanted to pick up painting again. I loved art all throughout high school, and I always dreamed of being an artist one day. My life up until now left me no real room for my personal goals, and that was going to change. I was going to stop spending so much time at the office doing other people’s jobs and start delegating. Taking charge and saying no to my office mates was going to be my first self-improvement goal starting today. What better day to start than the first day of Spring that happened to be a Monday, right? By the end of summer, I was going to be a whole new woman. That was the plan anyway.
I only hit snooze once this morning since the plan was to get to the office early and hit the gym. So I reluctantly drug myself out of bed and out to my old two-door hunk of crap car. Off to the office, I went.
It was quarter after seven by the time I got in, and unfortunately, Stuart was already there. Stuart is one of the guys on my team who thinks banging his boss is a sport. Because I’m his manager, I get to be the focus of most of his pent-up masculine energy. Needless to say, I avoid him at all costs.
I evaded eye contact, but once he saw me on the thigh machine, Stuart made a beeline right in my direction.
“Miss. Mia Blackburn is in the building, ladies and gentlemen,” Stuart laughed as he patted my bare shoulder. “What’s a perfect specimen like yourself doing in the gym, Mia? You’re naturally slim and thick in all the right places. If you catch my drift,” he winked and grunted disgustingly.
“I do catch your drift, Stuart, and so would Human Resources,” I quipped back, continuing to focus on my exercises.
Stuart’s face turned sour. “Oh, somebody get me some aloe because I just got burned!” he laughed again. “All jokes aside, it’s nice to see you getti
ng in a good workout Mia. You’ve got to do more to take care of yourself the older you get, am I right?”
I shook my head and gave Stuart the sideways ‘go away’ glare as I continued to squeeze my thighs together on the torture device I was currently using.
Thankfully, he took the hint and wandered off to pretend to work out while he creepily watched the women in tank tops and spandex exercise. I never reported Stuart to HR, but now that I was trying to take more charge in my life, I at least thought about it this time. Then I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble or the paperwork. Plus, I didn’t need to alienate any of my co-workers or my staff against me. For some reason, Stuart was well-liked in the office.
I finished up my pre-planned workout routine leaving myself thirty minutes to shower and get something to eat before I had to be sitting at my desk. I wasn’t necessarily comfortable showering at work, but they had separate stalls, so it wasn’t like people were walking around naked. I had to tell myself that this was the new me, the risk-taker, the live outside of my comfort zones me.
I gathered my towel, clothes, and my shower kit and squeaked in my flip flops down to the stall at the farthest end of the hall. To my left, there was a giant frosted glass door with a temperature gauge next to it. I didn’t know they had a sauna in here. I might have to try this after work to relax after a long day.
I’d never been in a steam room before, so I was curious as to what to expect. I put my things down in the shower stall across from the sauna and turned back to the massive door.
I opened it, slowly peeking only my head in at first to be sure there was no one inside as steam rolled out of the room beside me. There didn’t appear to be anyone inside, but it was foggy, so it was hard to tell. The stray hairs that had escaped my ponytail during my workout instantly plastered to my face, but the wet heat was pleasant, and I felt my muscles relax right away. I was thinking to myself how great of a find this was when a soft voice came from the corner of the room.
“You know, you’re supposed to shower before you come in here.”
I looked in the direction the voice had come from, and I saw the silhouette of a slender woman with incredibly long legs, but I couldn’t make out her face.
“I’m so sorry. I never knew this was here, so I just wanted to pop my head in and see what it was like. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I said as I turned to leave feeling my face redden with embarrassment.
“Well, it’s very relaxing. You should definitely try it. There’s normally no one here late at night, too, so if you want to be alone, after ten is the best time I find.” The woman’s voice was as smooth as silk with the faintest hint of a British accent, which was intriguing.
“I’ll keep that in mind... umm?”
“Emma.”
“Thanks for the advice, Emma. I’m Mia Blackburn, by the way. Again, sorry to have interrupted your relaxation.”
“Oh, you were no interruption. On the contrary, you’re a pleasant surprise. How about we make that ten o’clock sauna appointment for you official? I’ll meet you here tonight and show you how to... um, work everything.”
I felt an unusual fluttering in my stomach, like butterflies, at the mysterious Emma’s proposal.
“That’s really nice of you, but if I’m still at work at ten tonight, I’ll need more than one bottle of pink Moscato when I get home,” I giggled.
“Think about it. I’ll be here at ten. If you show up, I’ll make sure to have that bottle of Moscato waiting for you,” the woman’s voice said in a sultry tone that gave me goosebumps.
She stood opening her towel, revealing only a profile of her glistening toned body before she covered herself and exited through another door behind her.
What the hell just happened? Was I just propositioned by another woman, at work no less? I think I was, and I think I liked it.
Chapter 2
It was now rounding six o’clock, and I was still working. So much for sticking to my guns and saying no to people. One of the other managers, Alice, had to go home early. Her kid was sick in school, so she had to go pick him up. Alice was frustrated at the inconvenience, but I envied her. I wished I could get those calls. I wished my son needed me like I wanted him to. As I was wallowing in my grief for my relationship with my own kid, I agreed to be her out of office go-to and manage her team while she went home to take care of her child.
Now I was stuck here finishing her work and mine while both of our teams had left over an hour ago. How do I always get myself into situations like this?
I refreshed my email once I finished answering all of Alice’s, and I had almost a hundred new emails of my own. Forty of which were marked urgent. I was going to be here forever, so I did what every self-respecting workaholic would do. I ordered dinner.
The Chinese Garden guy knew my name before I even said hello. He asked me if I wanted my usual, and I confirmed I wanted the chicken and snow peas, but I asked for no rice. I might have been eating dinner at my desk, but I could still watch my carbs. The guy who took my order had a good laugh at my no rice request before he told me it would be here in thirty minutes and hung up. I couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed that I couldn’t even go one day without taking on someone else’s work. I knew I should have told Alice that I couldn’t do it. That she should get somebody else, but I just didn’t have it in me.
Before I knew it, I had devoured my meal, the cleaning crew had come and gone, and it was nine-thirty, but I had gotten through all of my emails. I stood up and stretched as my computer powered down, leaving me with an odd feeling of accomplishment.
I looked down at my gym bag, and the butterflies in my stomach returned. Should I go? It was late enough. I did need to know how to work the controls to the room if I planned on using it more often. Plus, Emma did say I was supposed to shower before I used the sauna, and I had time to do that now.
I looked at my keys dangling outside of my purse, and I knew I should have just gone home, but I also knew I’d regret not taking a chance as well. Emma seemed charming. Maybe she’d turn out to be an incredible new friend.
“Fuck it,” I said aloud to my empty cubicle as I grabbed my bag and my purse and headed downstairs to the gym.
The gym still had all of its lights on, but it was eerily quiet. The only people there was the young girl at the front desk area to scan my badge, letting me in and a guy wiping down all of the machines with cleanser. Emma was right. There was no one here this late at night.
I shoved all of my belongings into a locker after stripping, grabbed two clean towels, and headed for the showers. I put my long dark hair back up in a ponytail before I rinsed off the stink of the long workday from my skin. Wrapping myself in the rough white terrycloth towel made me feel like a new woman.
I stepped out of the shower and stared at the large frosted glass door to the sauna. I was doing this. This was the new upgraded version of me. The risk-taker if you will. I inhaled deeply and blew the breath out slowly, trying to relax the pounding of my heart in my chest as I told myself there was nothing to be anxious about and opened the door.
Steam billowed out, and I stepped in, closing the door slowly behind me. It didn’t seem like anyone else was in here with me, so I took a seat on the smooth wooden bench and relaxed as much as I could shutting my eyes. I felt the stress of the day virtually melt away, and it was terrific.
I was so wrapped up in my relaxation that I didn’t notice the other door open, but I did feel the temperature drop quickly before more steam pumped into the room, increasing the heat on my skin again. I opened my eyes, and through the thick vapor hanging in the air, I could make out a tall, dark-haired woman standing in front of me wearing a towel.
“I wasn’t sure you were going to show up,” Emma said in her enchanting accent.
I smiled, even though I didn’t know if she could see me since I hadn’t seen her face yet. “I wasn’t sure I was going to come either, but I got stuck working late, and I figured I was here, so why not?”
“You’re not supposed to drink in the steam room, but I figured since we’re both here to make sure we don’t pass out, one glass wouldn’t hurt,” Emma said as she stepped closer and held up a bottle of Moscato and two glasses.
I told myself that I was going with the flow, so I agreed and took a glass from her. She sat next to me and poured the bubbly liquid into my glass. I looked up at her, and she had the most beautifully striking blue eyes and thick heavy lashes. She was very attractive, with her perfectly oval face, plump lips, and perfect skin, but I had an odd feeling that I knew her from somewhere. I just couldn’t put my finger on where I had seen her before.
I took a sip letting the cold alcohol tickle my mouth before I swallowed it.
“This is delicious, Emma. What kind is this?”
“It’s Armand de Brignac Rose. I got it just for you today since you mentioned that you liked Moscato.”
I watched her mannerisms, and every movement seemed like there was an intention behind it. The way she brushed her dark brown hair behind her ear. How she sipped her drink, her lips barely touching the glass. It all seemed like it was a show for me, and it was exciting in a unique way. I had never looked at another woman like that before, but Emma definitely had me questioning myself.
“So, Emma, where do I know you from? I mean, I know you work here, obviously, but I feel like I already know you even though I don’t think I’ve seen you around my office before,” I asked.
A short quick laugh escaped her lips. “Let’s not worry about that, right now. I want to get to know you better, Mia. Tell me about yourself?” she asked as she moved closer to me and crossed her legs, pulling the towel higher up her tan thighs.
“Well, I’ve worked here for five years, and most days, my job sucks. I do the work of two or three people on the regular, and I only get paid for doing my own. And even that is less than my male counterparts, so there’s that. Not like I’m bitter or anything,” I laughed and took another sip of my drink. I had to be careful, though. This Moscato seemed to be stronger than what I was used to, and my lips were already feeling loose.