Instead of answering, Kaelee shucked her jeans. She pivoted so she could put her head on a pillow between Greta’s thighs.
As Greta parted her legs wider, she fell forward. Her face was inches from Kaelee’s pussy. “Hands or mouth?”
“Fingers in me,” Kaelee said, her voice again unsteady. “Unless I say other… just that. Maybe… I could. Iwantto let you.”
“Your rules,” Greta moaned as Kaelee pulled her hips down, and her tongue darted out. Within moments she was back at the edge of orgasm, hips moving in a combination of her own movement and Kaelee’s firm direction.
The closer Greta came to orgasm, the more Kaelee’s hips bucked under Greta’s hand.
Finally, as Greta tumbled over, Kaelee gasped, “Tongue.”
Greta lowered her mouth and licked. She only had a few seconds before Kaelee orgasmed and pulled away. In the next instant, Kaelee had flipped Greta around and pulled her close. Her body was trembling in aftershocks, and tears spilled from her eyes.
“Thank you,” Greta whispered, kissing a tear away.
Kaelee laughed. “Pretty phenomenal for me, too. I’ll get there. With you, I’ll get to the point of letting you go down on me for real.”
“I’ll be here, but Kaelee, if you aren’t ready? I’ll still be here.” Greta snuggled in. “Even if that’s all it ever is, a few seconds, or if that’s the only time, I still want to be here with you. You get that, right?”
“I do.” Kaelee’s embrace tightened. “I want that, but I want to get past my hangup there, too, and I want that withyou.”
Greta made a purring noise. “Happy to be of service eventually then.”
31Greta
MID-DECEMBER
By Thursday, Greta was back in New York and alone. Being with Kaelee and socializing with Toni and Addie had her thinking about the changes she wanted in her life. She sat down with Ian and Emily in her office. They had Kaelee’s blessing to get the ball rolling on the potential legal situation.
Luckily, Emily had sent a message yesterday that her biopsy was negative. Greta would’ve had a hell of a time asking Emily to be there to manage the legal drama if Emily were sick, too.
“Thank you for meeting with me.” Greta smiled at both Ian and Emily.
“Of course.” Emily gave her a curious look.
On Greta’s desk was a copy of Kaelee’s book, which she handed to Emily. “First and most exciting order of business. Look at this.”
The page edges were a dark burgundy on the top and bottom, and the front edges were printed with flames licking up them. The cover itself was hidden under the dust jacket, but like the dust jacket, it had a beautiful, stylized image of a flaming phoenix. The bird’s eyes were red foil, as were the title and Kaelee’s name.
“The book looks great.” Emily flipped it over and looked under the cover, taking note of the details. “It’s so different from Toni’s art style.”
“Different genres,” Greta reminded her mildly. “Toni’s book issupposed to say ‘literary’ and ‘historical’ whereas Kaelee’s book is trendy fantasy.”
“True.” Emily rested the book on her lap. “Do you realize that Kaeleecalledme? Do you know how hard it is to get her to communicate about anything that isn’t in writing? She sends ‘memo of conversation’ emails after every call.”
“She did that to Charlie in PR, too,” Ian offered lightly. “She’s a record keeper, organized, early. I am lucky I’ll get to edit her next book. I will run anything I am unsure about by Greta, Emily, but I hope you know that I’ll be a thorough, diligent editor.”
“Obviously.” Emily smiled at him.
“Ian will be her editor going forward,” Greta stressed. “However, she has asked me to start the preliminary details on the legal front… as her…person.” Her voice didn’t waver, despite the anxiety this decision, this public admission of emotion, caused her.
“It’s really not like you to let your private life become public.” Emily gave her an assessing look.
At that Greta relaxed a little bit. “Oh, trust me, I know. I’ve lived and breathed this job and nothing else for the last two years. I’m still going to do that above and beyond expectations, but that’s not enough. It’s not living.”
Ian shot her an approving smile.
“Icareabout Kaelee, Emily,” Greta said. “I don’t know what, if anything, will come of it in the long run, but I’m grateful for right now. Kaelee is… aremarkableperson. I want to be sure she is protected, beyond what the publisher’s legal team handles. We don’t want another Toni and Addie media storm.”
