“There you are! Have fun on your horseback ride?” she waggles her eyebrows at Chloe, and Chloe can’t help but roll her eyes as she sits down.
A plate of food is placed quickly in front of her by Mary Lou, and she thanks her before digging in.
“So? Come on, I want details.” Danielle has abandoned her phone and plate of food and is leaning towards Chloe with a sly smile on her face.
“It was...he was...amazing.” Chloe picks at her mashed potatoes with her fork, and she can't help the wide smile that splits her face. It really was amazing. “He’s so kind and gentle. He kissed me.” She blushes hard. “I wish he had done more than just kiss me,” she admits. There’s a crash from the kitchen, but both women turn quickly back to each other.
“And? How was it? Do you think this will go anywhere?” Danielle asks.
“Where can it go?” Chloe’s mood is immediately soured. “We’re leaving in ten days. What am I goingto do? Have a long-distance relationship with a man I just met in Montana?”
Danielle stirs her tea slowly. “You could move here?”
Chloe scoffs, actually scoffs. “Are you serious? Move to Montana, to the middle of nowhere?”
Danielle shrugs and sips her tea. It was always like her to get wild ideas. Chloe can’t even fathom it. If New York City winters are bad, what would Montana winters be like? And what would she do, leave her life behind and move across the country for some man? No, thank you, she’s not uprooting her life for some fling.
Her mood ruined, she eats quickly, cleaning her plate as she’s starving and the food is delicious, and goes back upstairs to her room. She turns on her phone, checking for messages, but there are none. She was hoping for something, anything, from work that would suggest she was needed or missed, but there’s nothing. She burrows under the blankets and wonders what Axel is doing. Probably taking care of lodge business. Danielle had opted to stay downstairs by the fire while Chloe pouted and went up to her room.
Axel said he wanted to spend more time with her while she was here. Did he have feelings for Chloe, too? Did he want to fuck her? She groans out in frustration. He’s so sexy. Tall and built like a brick house. He could wrap her in his arms, and she would feel safe forever. She wonders what he would be like in bed. He was so gentle in kissing her, so sweet and caring. Not rough and grinding into her. Not ready to take her right there in the stables. No, he had asked if he could kiss her, gotten her permission, then kissed her likehe cared for her. Keeping his body close but not flush with hers. She wonders if he had gotten hard the way she had gotten wet. If he felt the arousal as much as she had.
Her hand drifts lower on her body. She feels the tightening in her stomach and squirms a little in the bed. It has been so long since she touched herself. Years really. She remembers her last lover asking that she touch herself while he watched, but besides that, it has been years since she masturbated, her vibrator untouched and probably out of batteries. She slips her hand inside her pajamas and panties. Feeling the soft hair there before she ventures further. She should have touched him. Run her hands along his chest and arms, felt his muscles. She could kick herself for leaving her hands at her sides.
She’s wet, almost soaking, as she slides her fingers into her folds. It feels good, really good. She finds the swollen nub with her one hand while the other moves to her breast. What would it feel like if he touched her? Would he know what to do? Could he make her come? He had been so attentive with his kisses that she has no doubt he would want to pleasure her. She rubs her fingers in circles. Pinching her nipple at the same time. Sliding her hand all over her chest, up to the cheek he had caressed. It’s been so long since she orgasmed, but she can feel the telltale signs building. That warmth that blooms within her, the tingling of her spine. Then she’s coming, moaning loudly and back bowing off the bed. Pleasure shooting quickly through her. It’s not the best orgasm she’s ever had, but it’s a close second, and it was by herself without a lot of stimulation. She wonders what it would be like with him.
Chapter Thirteen
Axel
Axel cleans up his office. It’s not messy by any means, but he wants it to be presentable, nice for Chloe. He pulls in another chair so they can sit next to each other. He’s nervous. He knows he does a good job running the business. Knows he can’t take care of everything, which is why they have Maury, their accountant, to help.
He hears her before he sees her. Her voice is soft and carries down the hall to his office. Sweet and calming to his nerves. He stands to greet her, and his face splits into a big smile when she walks through the door. Gunner smirks at him before leaving Chloe and heading back.
“Good morning,” Axel says, walking around the desk to greet her.
“Morning,” she responds. Her smile is bright and she looks awake for it being early still.
He motions towards the desk for her, and she sits down in front of the computer. Hecan scent her, honeysuckle. It will fill his office and linger for a long time; he loves it. Loves having her in his space.
As she sits in front of his computer, he feels proud of his mate. She’s smart and hardworking, and if anyone can help him, it’s her. Many bears would feel shame at having a human outsider help them, but not Axel, he couldn’t be prouder.
Chloe spends a long time looking through spreadsheets and files. She asks questions at the beginning, and then it's just her moving through things on her own. Axel sits quietly. He doesn’t want to interrupt her, but the quieter she gets, the more nervous he becomes that something’s wrong. Could he have messed up somewhere? Is this all his fault? He tries not to worry and waits for Chloe to tell him something.
He’s just fetched them another cup of coffee when she clears her throat. She’s been quiet for two hours now, and he can sense her anxiety.
“Axel, I’ll have to look over things some more before I know anything for sure.”
“But you think it’s something, right? You think something’s wrong?”
She worries her bottom lip with her teeth like she doesn’t want to say anything. For a moment, she just clicks around on the screen without talking.
“Like I said, I don’t know anything for sure yet. But...it looks like you make a lot of payments to someone named Maury?”
“Yes, he’s our tax guy. He tells us how much we owe in taxes for the land and the lodge, and we send the payments to him, and he takes care of it.”
“I don’t know much about property taxes, but this seems like an awful lot.”
“I thought so too, but he showed me the payment stubs. About a year after my dad died, our old accountant moved to Idaho and referred us to Maury. He’s been doing the accounting ever since. Should I call him?”
