Taming the Beast

As Mrs. Farley cleared the remnants of their perfectly done roast and vegetables, Duncan asked, “So what do you think of the library?”

“It’s amazing.” She suspected she sounded like a wide-eyed, gauche schoolgirl, but she couldn’t hide her enthusiasm. “You have books about everything. Every subject, every author practically… If I owned that library, I’d never leave it.”

Nick laughed. “We do love it, but you can see why it needs help. It’s so disorganized.”

She nodded her agreement with that assessment. “It certainly is, and it’s going to take me at least two weeks to organize, and that’s a conservative estimate. It could take even longer. I hope that’s all right?”

Duncan and Nick nodded without consulting each other. It was fascinating to see how they sometimes moved as almost one person, like they were twins instead of just friends. Were they just friends? She had no idea what their relationship was, and she started to speculate that maybe they were closer than friends.

That sent a slight surge of disappointment through her. She didn’t care about their orientation, but if they were gay, there was no way they would have any interest in her. That was for the best anyway, because she’d come to organize their library, not hop into bed with both of them.

Her eyes widened, and she choked on the sip of water she’d just taken. When had her fantasies taken her to that point, that she was imagining sleeping with both of them? That wasn’t like her at all, and it certainly wasn’t like her to be imagining having both of them at the same time while seated at the table across from them.

She hoped her coughing fit explained the sudden flush of color in her cheeks. It was attributable to her own embarrassment and lusty thoughts, but she was content to let them think it was lack of oxygen. Once she’d regained her breath again, she nodded to assure them she was fine when they asked.

“You should stay as long as you need to. We want the job done properly, and there’s no need to rush.”

Duncan’s assurance sent a wave of relief washing through her. It was nice to have job security, even if it was only for a few weeks. It was even nicer to have an excuse to stay away from the city for a while longer and let Sam cool down and finally accept she wasn’t going to marry him.

As Mrs. Farley served them chocolate mousse in parfait glasses, she said, “I’m looking forward to getting started on my project.”

There was an intensity in Nick’s eyes that was difficult to explain, along with an almost animalistic growl in his tone when he said, “As are we.”

She dropped her gaze from his and focused on the chocolate, deciding it was probably better not to try to ascertain what he’d meant with his ambiguous statement. It seemed a little too eager to be related strictly to having their library in order, but she couldn’t read too much into it.

As Sam had pointed out on more than one occasion, she was awkward in social functions, and she had a difficult time evaluating and reading people. He was a thoughtless ass for pointing that out, but it didn’t make it less true.

She had enough difficulty deciphering the intents of the guys she knew, and they were nowhere near as sophisticated or complex as she suspected the two men who had hired her were. The smartest thing she could do would be to keep her head down, avoid their notice, and finish with her library project as quickly as possible. They were paying her enough for the project that it would give her at least six months to find another position, so the sooner she finished, the sooner she could sort out a more permanent future.

Yes, that was the wisest course of action, and she wouldn’t allow herself to deviate from it.

She woke in the middle of the night, her body shaking from the intensity of the orgasm that had overwhelmed her in her sleep. Baylee sat up, gasping for breath as the sensations coursing through her body gradually slowed. She’d never come in her sleep before, no matter how intense the dream.

Then again, she hadn’t dreamed about taking two men as her lovers simultaneously before either. She could recall with vivid clarity every detail of the dream, and just thinking about it was enough to make her already overheated body start to perspire and send a pulse of need through her despite her recent release.

Feeling the need to clear her head before she cleansed her body, she slid from the bed and walked to the balcony attached to her room. It opened with glass-paned French doors, and she only bothered with one before stepping out into the chilly night air. There would soon be snow, especially in this part of upstate Maine, and she could almost taste it in the air. It was too cold to be out in the thin nightgown, but it was refreshing in a crisp way and helped clear the lingering cloud of arousal from her brain. Her body was still slick, but sated, and she could focus again.

She wasn’t certain whether to be amused or appalled at her sexy dream and its unintended fruition. It was a sad commentary on her sex life that the fantasy/dream of her two employers taking her so robustly had given her a better orgasm than any sex she’d actually had with another person.

Briefly, she wondered how reality would compare to the dream, but reminded herself that was the wrong line of thought. She couldn’t stop her subconscious from dreaming about them, or creating wicked fantasies, but she didn’t have to actively indulge in them when she was awake and alert.

Movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she swung her gaze in that direction. Midvale Manor was in the middle of a clearing, but surrounded by thick forest. It had been a little gloomy driving up the long driveway, and that had been in the middle of the afternoon, when there was still ample light out.

At first, she wasn’t certain what had caught her attention, and she was about to look away when she saw movement again. The leaves rustled, and eyes turned in her direction. She gasped at the sight of them. They glowed faintly red in the illumination provided by the half-moon. She was even more startled to realize its gaze appeared to be focused on her, and the animal looked like it

was staring up at her, capturing her gaze with its own.

She shook her head and looked away, moving from the balcony and back into her room. She locked the door after closing it behind her and drew the blinds so that they covered the French doors. A chill of fear, combined with a genuine chill from being outside in her thin nightgown, made her body shake. She returned to her bed and dove under the covers, pulling them up above her ears as she huddled into a ball in an attempt to get warm.

It was an unsettling experience and definitely ended the night on a sour note. She made a soft sound of distress that she buried against the comforter when she recalled the eerie red eyes. They had been almond shape, and while not fiercely red like blood, they had still been the strangest thing she’d ever seen. She knew animal shine was common with all animals, but she’d only ever seen green or gold.

Making a mental note to ask her employers about whatever might lurk in their forest in the morning, she finally managed to fall back asleep. After all, whatever that animal had been, it couldn’t get to her. She was safely on the third floor of Midvale Manor, behind locked doors. There was nothing to be afraid of, and no reason to let its presence on the grounds frighten her.

When Baylee woke for the day, she made her way downstairs and went to the dining room first. Her plan was to seek out the kitchen, and perhaps Mrs. Farley, if there was no food waiting in the dining room. Her hunch had proven correct though, and she entered the room to find several dishes spread across the table in a tempting display. She also found her bosses sitting with empty plates in front of them. As she pulled out a chair to sit down, waving away Duncan and Nick when they both rose in an attempt to help her, she said, “This looks delicious. I guess I had perfect timing.”

“We were waiting for you,” said Duncan.

“Please don’t feel like you have to do that.”