I cleared my throat and answered with an honesty that shocked me, “I’m not sure what we’re doing, but I feel like if I don’t take this chance I might miss out on something special.”
Marco hummed at my words before he reached over and touched my hand briefly. “Us too. How long have you worked for Miss Rose?” he asked as he pulled the Jaguar smoothly away from the curb and towards the road leading out of town.
“Close to a year and a half, maybe a bit longer. I owe Miss Rose a lot.” I didn’t think I could actually verbalise how much Miss Rose had done for me.
“Rose is a treasure. This town doesn’t know how lucky they are to have her,” Marco said.
I agreed with him heartily. “Miss Rose is one of the funniest, smartest people I know. I never thought I’d be working in a sex shop, but I love it. Most of the customers are nice. We get a few creeps, but generally they leave me alone.”
I watched the scenery go past the window. It was mostly dark, but I could see the lights of farmhouses and cottages as we sped along. The weather guys had warned it was going to be a cold one tonight and we might get the first snows of the year. “Did you see that it might snow tonight?” I couldn’t keep the excitement out of my voice. I loved the snow, but growing up I was never allowed to play out in it. My father had opinions on that sort of thing.
“Oh I know. Roe has been excited ever since he heard the weather report. He really loves theideaof a white Christmas, just not so much the actual snow. You should have seen him when I took him back to my boyhood home to see the northern lights. He loved the lights but swore I was trying to freeze his balls off. As if I would be that mean to his balls.” Marco chuckled fondly at the image, and I felt a twinge of something like envy. I wasn’t sure if envy was the right word, but I knew I would give anything to be somebody special to someone like Roman and Marcus.
“You’re not born around here?”
“What gave it away? The accent, right? Though Roman tells me it has toned down a lot in the years I’ve lived here.”
I nodded, his accent though not pronounced, was still noticeable.
“Where do you think I’m from?”
“Hmm, what do I get if I guess right?” I asked, feeling a touch of boldness that normally I never would. What was going on with me tonight?
“Oh, I will think of something.” Marco answered.
“I gotta warn you, I’m pretty good at guessing where people are from.” I moved around in my car seat so I was looking at him.
“Alright, sprite. Guess away.”
I tapped my lip and looked him up and down. “Okay, what was the name of your hometown?”
“Oh, sneaky, but I’ll answer. The town I was born in is called Vaasa.” Marco said and smiled smugly.
“Vaasa.” I said the name aloud. Marco didn’t know that as a kid I spent my weekends reading atlases and National Geographics, dreaming of amazing places I would visit. Norway, Finland and Sweden were my favourites. I grinned when my brain threw out the answer. “Finland. Vaasa is on the western coast on the gulf of Bothnia.” My smile grew broader when Marco threw his head back laughing.
“You are a clever little sprite. How did you know?”
I looked down at my hands and sighed. “I spent a lot of time with my nose buried in books. I loved reading about places I wanted to go to when I finally got away from home.”
I felt Marco’s eyes on me and I looked up.
“Something tells me there is a story there, but I’m not going to push you, sprite. Just know that Roe and I really want to get to know everything about you.”
“Why?” The word was out before I could stop it.
“That, my cute boy, is something Roman and I will show you. Just know that we both find you fascinating and funny, and there is a sweetness inside you that calls to both of us,” Marco answered as he drove the Jag into a long gravel road. Large trees lined its length, and I suddenly felt like I was on my way to Narnia and at any minute Aslan would step out of the woods.
Colourful spotlights were set at the foot of the trees closer to the house, adding to the already magical feel of the place. I sat forward, eager to get a look at the house itself. I’d heard so manystories from Lilly about the place—somewhere where all your kinky desires could be met and then some. I wasn’t really sure what my kinks were apart from wanting a Daddy, and even then I hadn’t really thought past the whole idea of someone I could call my Daddy. I snuck a peek at Marco and my cheeks flooded with warmth when I imagined calling him Daddy. It was silly. I barely knew the man. But maybe he was right. Something was connecting us. I’d know for sure when we met up with Roman in a few minutes. I told myself it was crazy. There was no way that they both wanted me.
“Here we are, home sweet kinky home,” Marco said as he pulled the Jag up in front of a magnificent red brick and stone building. It was like something out of Downton Abbey, maybe a bit smaller but still amazing. The windows in the lower floors were all lit up and warm light flowed out through the main double doors. I let out a shocked gasp when I saw a magnificent fir tree growing in the middle of the courtyard, its upper branches nearly reaching the second story of the house.
“Whoa, that would make a hell of a Christmas tree.” I was already imagining it festooned with festive lights and baubles.
I jumped a little when Marco’s breath ghosted against my face. He’d undone his seat belt and leaned over to look out my window, smiling. “Yeah, funnily enough Roman shares the same idea. He is all with the planning, but you know who’s going to have to climb the ladder and wear the safety harness.”
I giggled at the put-upon sigh he gave. I could see he didn’t really mean it by the smile that was tugging at his lips. “You?”
“That’s right, sprite. He’s going to have me climbing all over that damn tree to have it lit up for Christmas.” Marco reached down between us and unbuckled my seat belt, “Lucky I’m crazy about the man.” He gave me a goofy smile that I couldn’t help return.
