The Spa Game - Year Two Ch. 13

Thank you again for the ratings and comments, and for those of you who are sticking with the series.

This chapter is probably the longest one I've put out so far, and I'll apologize in advance because not a lot of it is action; there's a bit to start out and what I think is a good finish, but it takes a little while to get there. Hopefully it will still be a pleasant journey.

Chip Key: Nickname: value, favor, color

Clouds: 1, Touching, White

Canaries: 2, Kissing, Yellow

Lipstick: 5, Oral, Red

Skies: 10, Sex, Blue

Grass: 25, Anal, Green

Doubles/Oranges: 50, Double, Orange

Fucked: 100, Forefit, Black

========================

Vicky woke up with a start, having been shocked out of a dream. She couldn't remember details of the dream, but the shock had been from some sort of a safety line letting go. She frantically reached behind her.

Her hand gripped Vincent's hip and he immediately pulled her in tight again, one arm around her chest. She exhaled slowly in relief.

"Thank you for staying," she said after a moment.

"You were rather insistent," Vincent said.

"Still..."

They sat in silence again and Vicky felt very comfortable. Obviously the bed was top notch and spooning with Vincent wasn't something she would complain about but there was a sense of familiarity she couldn't place, given that she'd never been to this house or snuggled with Vincent McCabe before. Then she figured it out and couldn't suppress a small chuckle.

"Something funny?"

She looked at a glowing clock nearby to be sure, then said, "Well, we're together in a room, in the dark, in the wee small hours of the morning, talking to each other without seeing each other."

"Not quite," Vincent said, "as I can see you quite well."

"You can't look at my face."

"Do you want to move?" he asked.

"No," she said.

Like their times in the solarium there was a long break before either of them spoke.

"The man who shot you," Vincent finally said, "apparently has ties to a middle eastern conglomerate."

"Why would a business in the middle east want to attack you?" Vicky asked.

"They weren't," Vincent said, "There is a matter I'm involved with regarding a ship docking in an Irish port. My father has some influence over the area. Ammad had asked me about it this weekend. The gentleman you...encountered was trying to make me a counter offer. He didn't want his presence known and overreacted."

Vicky felt like her awareness vanished as she sank into her memories, jolted by what Vincent just said.

"The problem is too many people want her right now, but nobody wants to freely admit they're after her."

"You have enough influence to smooth the waters, I think."

"Well let's get her set up first and then we can discuss whatever favors may be traded."

A boat...they were talking about a fucking boat.

Vicky sighed. "You probably need to go. I shouldn't have kept you," she said.

"You did ask me to stay-" Vincent said.

"I was being selfish and I was...overwhelmed," she decided was the best phrase.

Vincent paused, then said, "If...I want to apologiz-"

"Don't," Vicky cut him off, "Don't you dare apologize."

She felt Vincent move away from her and she was surprised at how strong her desire was to reach back for him. She felt his weight shift, but not leave the bed. They remained like that for a while until Vincent finally spoke.

"Please allow me to finish," he began, "I'm rather confused right now, but I get you don't want to talk about it. Can you at least promise me we'll be able to discuss it later? Maybe in our...usual way?"

"Sure," Vicky said without hesitation, some part of her brain apparently jumping over the rest of it that was currently in turmoil. Shortly after, she felt Vincent' weight leave the bed. There was some rustling and the sound of the drawers in the dresser, then he was out the door.

*****

Vicky assumed she dozed or napped in the intervening hour because while she never felt like she truly slept, she seemed to be jumping through time on the bed; every time she looked at the clock far more time passed than she felt should have. At one point she swore she simply blinked but a full half hour passed by. Eventually her bladder forced the issue and she got up.

Using the bathroom revealed some new problems, ones she wasn't entirely sure how to deal with in that setting. Ordinarily she wouldn't be bothered but then another worry crept its way into her mind based on her and Vincent's vigorous activity the previous night. Despite the risk of embarrassment or worse, she ventured out into the house in just a bathrobe.

She was mildly relieved when she found Siobhan in the living room working on a laptop. She might have changed from the previous night but if so it was only into an identical outfit.

"Siobhan?" Vicky tentatively asked.

"Morning luv, you're up early," she said, then her face turned serious, "Everything alright?"

"I...don't know. Are you...how much..."

Vicky was at a loss for how to explain what she needed without sounding silly, but fortunately Siobhan saved her.

"I'm fully trained as a nurse if that's what's worrying you," she said.

"And...you don't have to tell Vincent?"

"This a woman problem luv?" Siobhan asked.

"I...it might be," Vicky said.

"I'll be straight with you," she said, her accent making it sound more like 'straight wit ye', "if you've got warts down there I'm not keeping it from him. But if it doesn't concern him he won't hear about it unless you tell him."

"Okay," Vicky said after a deep breath, and described her issue.

They retreated to the bathroom just for access to water and easy cleanup. After a brief session with some gloves and activities that would have required more than a few white chips at the spa, Siobhan said, "Nothing to worry about luv. Just a normal visit from our favorite aunt. I've got supplies in my bag for you."

"Thanks. Now I feel silly."

"Don't worry about it, been a while since I fingered a pretty girl," Siobhan said. Vicky felt herself blush and look away, and Siobhan said, "Oh I was just teasing. Be right back."

Vicky waited in the bathroom, moving to the toilet as a precaution, until Siobhan came back with a tampon and painkillers. Vicky looked at them curiously.

"I'm not getting cramps," she said.

"That's for the soreness," Siobhan explained, "It's gonna get a bit worse before it gets better, but you should be fine by tonight. Might want to keep some on hand."

Vicky blushed again, "I didn't realize we were that loud."

"You weren't. That room's soundproofed."

"Then-" Vicky started to ask but stopped herself as her brain caught up with the implications. Siobhan left the room and Vicky situated herself, then went into the next room. A new set of clothing had been laid out for her. It was merely a set of yoga pants and a plain gray T-shirt but it would be enough to cover modesty needs and they felt more familiar than most of the clothes she regularly wore (before Veretrum she hadn't believed yoga pants could cost more than $300 a pair, now she was surprised when she saw more reasonably priced ones).

She hesitantly made her way back down to the living and dining area where Siobhan was back working on her computer. "We can pick you up some breakfast on the way back if you like," she said, "or you'll be back in enough time to use the school's cafeteria. Don't have much here unless we're prepared for it though."

"Thanks, I'll probably just get something back at the school," Vicky said, "Do I have to go now?"

"Well I have to get you back before classes start or there's a risk you'll be reported missing from campus and frankly we don't want that headache," she said, "but if you want to hang out for another hour or two that'd be all right."

Vicky nodded but didn't leave. She looked at Siobhan, who seemed to be intently focusing on her work, almost intentionally ignoring Vicky, but she really studied the girl, who she now realized was younger than she thought at first. She'd assumed Siobhan was close to thirty, but she realized the harder look and the lines on her skin were from exertion, not age. She clearly spent a lot of time outside in the sun, wind, and other elements and it callused basically her whole body.

Siobhan glanced up at her once and did a double take, "Christ you're just like him, aren't you?"

"What?" Vicky asked.

"The whole Sherlock thing. Tell me then, what have you got on me?"

"Um..." Vicky hesitated.

"Oh come on," Siobhan said, "I've seen that look, just not from you. Come on, break me down, I want to see how well you did."

"Okay," Vicky said, refocusing on the woman, "You do a lot of training, or did a lot of training. You look older than you are but you're okay with that. Dislocated your left shoulder once? Not recently though. You...really worry about Vincent, you take your job seriously."

"Okay, now ask the question that's worrying you," Siobhan said.

"It's not worrying me," Vicky said and she realized as she said it she was telling the truth, "I'm just a bit...confused by it."

"We're actually the same age," Siobhan said, "Vincent and me, I mean. His father always has like, three goals to every decision he makes. I was in a junior military program in the UK and his father's people met with me and my parents. Don't know how they chose me, but I got an offer to be Vincent's bodyguard. He still had full on real guards around, but while he was at school I was his close-in guard. I got extra training for that instead of the regular military stuff. I guess his father thought it would be too constricting having one of those twenty year olds that looks like a teen doing it. Also, I figured out later, he wanted me to help Vincent with girls."

"Oh," Vicky said, putting a lot of weight behind it.

"No, don't think like that," Siobhan said warningly, "I never met with his father and got told to bend over for his son. But you know, you put two teenagers together for a while and if they're wired to be attracted to each other there's at least gonna be some experimenting. I was safe for him to fool around with and I don't have to tell you why I didn't mind. Plus I could help him navigate the fact that he's gorgeous but a potential target. That wasn't always a picnic, but at least he smartened up fast."

"So what about...I mean when he got here..." Vicky stammered.

"It was never serious for us," Siobhan said, "Well maybe for like a couple of weeks, but we're better off as friends. And yeah, I was a default side piece a lot, but I'm good with it, honestly. Plus I'm one of the only ones he doesn't hold back with. Don't read into that, it's just that...well, that's how he started out. I warned him off doing it to other people, but he took that way too far and shut down. Good on you for getting him to stick around."

"I shouldn't have done that," she said.

"Why not?" Siobhan pressed.

"It was...false pretenses," Vicky said.

"So you are just here trying to get at his money?"

"No!" Vicky snapped immediately, then felt herself heat up when Siobhan looked at her with a teasing expression, "I thought...I thought I wasn't going to see him again, because I was an idiot, and I just...really wanted to fuck him, honestly."

"Maybe you better explain that," Siobhan suggested. In spite of not really knowing this woman, Vicky quickly ran down her confusion about Vincent's intent.

"And I just immediately went to it being about me," Vicky finished, "God how full of myself am I? I wasn't even on his mind."

"Well before you crucify yourself there was a lot you didn't have context for," Siobhan said.

"That's my point, though, I never have the right context. I'm never in the right mindset to think like anyone at that school. I'm just kidding myself. I mean, even what I'm doing at the spa is just going to let everyone keep me in mind if they need a mistress when they find something their spouse won't do in the bedroom. Or out of the bedroom maybe. I thought maybe being able to read people would help but obviously I fucked that up too."

"Look, birdie, I think you're great, I really do, but you have to stop making assumptions when you don't have context, if you haven't figured that out," Siobhan said

"What do you mean?" Vicky asked.

"Oh come on, you're not daft. You know he doesn't shag like that at the little society you're in. The lasses would all be waving each other off. I mean, sure a lot of em would put up with a bruised cunt for one night with him because he's fucking gorgeous but it wouldn't be a secret how he is in bed. He keeps a tight leash on himself and you got him to break it. He's had to be brought here with some women before and you're the only one he's ever shagged, much less stayed in the room with. That Charmichael bird was here at least twice and the only time either of 'em lost their clothes was when they showered. Separately."

Vicky looked at Siobhan, her mind doing somersaults as she tried to both hope for and deny what Siobhan was saying. Sibohan sighed and leaned over to her.

"Look," Siobhan said, "I really shouldn't be telling you this, so I'd appreciate it if you don't get me sacked. Vincent would usually get together with me every month or so. Not like clockwork, but sometimes I'd see him getting tense or ansty and I know he'd need to blow off steam, so I'd drag him into a room for a nice hard fuck. Release of pressure, that's all, though I won't deny I sort of looked forward to it, and I like to think he had fun too. Make of that what you will, but ever since the year started, I've stayed away. He's energized, he's interested, and he's not brooding half as much. He's been having fun with it. It worried me a bit until he sent me your file to vet."

"He vets all the people at the spa," Vicky said.

"We vet all the people at the spa," Siobhan said, "You're the first one he asked us to check on specifically."

Vicky slumped back in her chair, bowled over a bit by the revelation but still desperately trying not to make unwarranted assumptions.

"Now you've got some work to do," Siobhan said.

"Me?" Vicky asked.

Siobhan nodded and said, "He's gonna assume you're angry at him or scared of him or whatever. Honestly if you want a clean break to go home and live alone until you can inherit and get a bunch of cats now's your best time."

"How the hell do you know about the cats plan?" Vicky asked.

"I didn't, but more than half your media pictures have that damn Siamese in them, so I figured it was a safe guess," Siobhan said, the teasing glint back in her eye.

"I hate you," Vicky quipped, "And Buttons is a wonderful, friendly cat."

"Ain't no such thing, that animal's taking the piss if you think so. Anyway, if you actually want to get through to him again you have to be indirect. Don't apologize or try to explain because he won't believe you. He gets too many people trying to sweet talk him or make excuses. Give him a challenge where it's obvious you're interested. He likes to have control taken away sometimes."

"Really?"

"He's not into BDSM, don't get that impression," Siobhan warned, "He's going to be the alpha regardless. But if you can strip away his control and give him a way to win it back, you'll hook him. And if he has to work for it, it might just absolve him of the guilt."

"Thanks," Vicky said after a few minutes of digesting what the woman said. Then she fidgeted and asked, "If you don't mind my asking...why...?"

Siobhan smiled and shook her head without taking her eyes off her laptop screen. "Like I said, we aren't a thing, and I'm not the peasant servant pining for the love of my lord. We're mates that shag on occasion. And he's been in better sorts lately than I've seen him for a long while."

Vicky had been studying Siobhan again while she responded and noticed an overall tension that seemed to increase as she talked. Vicky wasn't positive, but she thought she knew what the source was. She slowly got up and moved around behind the bodyguard after she finished speaking.

"You aren't sneaky, you know," Siobhan said.

"Wasn't trying to be," Vicky replied, and began rubbing the girl's shoulders. She started with a generic shoulder rub but paid attention to where a squeeze seemed to have more effect. She also noticed a very different and very interesting reaction when her hands started to move closer to Siobhan's neck or farther forward on her collarbone.

After a few minutes of the amateur massage Siobhan was definitely less tense and Vicky decided to explore some possibilities based on those responses from Siobhan's neck. Her motions became less like rubbing and more akin to caressing. She felt Siobhan shiver a bit and her breathing got more labored, but she seemed to be trying to ignore it, possibly thinking Vicky was just moving to her neck without realizing what effect it had.

Vicky had been rubbing through Siobhan's turtleneck to this point, but then she slipped her fingers down through the neck and slid her hands around, folding the collar down and giving her more of Siobhan's skin to caress. The contact sent shivers through Siobhan's body. Siobhan's hands stopped moving on her keyboard with any rhythm, and her typing speed dropped considerably.

"That feels good," Siobhan ventured, trying to sound casual, but Vicky heard the quiver in the woman's voice.

Vicky leaned in to Siobhan's ear. "It feels more than good, doesn't it?" she asked teasingly.

Siobhan tensed up, but Vicky's hands started loosening her up again, though Siobhan seemed to be fighting it a bit now. Deciding to push the issue, Vicky slid her hand down over Siobhan's shirt, caressing the swell of her breast. Siobhan's hand came up and grabbed hers.

"Miss Silva-"

"Vicky."

"Vicky...I-"

"You said it's been months since Vincent was with you. I saw you just now, talking about last night. How long did you listen at the door? How much time did you spend imagining what was happening in the bedroom?"

Siobhan was still tense, but Vicky could feel she was on a hair trigger, like she was standing at the top of a ski slope, trying to decide to push off or go back to the chair lift.

Vicky gently fondled the breast under her left hand and said, "How long since someone took care of you?"

Siobhan let out a sigh and Vicky could tell she'd just pushed herself down the slope. Vicky's mouth replaced her hand on Vicky's neck, and she slipped her hands under Siobhan's shirt from below. She pushed the woman's sports bra up and the woman's breasts slid into her hands, each a bit more than a handful. Her nipples were already obvious under Vicky's palms, and she started kneading the fleshy globes until they raised up to hard nubs. When she moved her fingers around to pinch them she got her first moan out of the Irish woman.

One of Siobhan's arms came up and gripped Vicky's head, pulling her harder into her neck. Vicky realized at that point that if Siobhan had wanted her to stop there would have been no question; her arm had full control over her head, the grip was so strong. After some more licking, nibbling, and fondling the arm pulled her head back a bit and Siobhan turned her head. Vicky moved in for the kiss without prompting, each of them slipping their tongues together gently but insistently.

Vicky felt Siobhan's hips twitching and she slid her hand off of one breast, traveling down over the tight, smooth stomach. She felt Siobhan's powerful abs clench as she passed the woman's navel.

"Don't I have to give you a bunch of poker chips for that kind of thing?" she said breathlessly.

"If we play poker I'll have you eating my ass in an hour," Vicky teased gently.