Chapter 36
KARIN POV
“You look pretty, mommy,” Jemma says as she beams up at me. She tugs at my tutu. “Can I dance, too?”
“Of course you can,” I say, returning her smile.
She jumps up and down, making the large yellow bow in her hair wiggle. “Yay! I’m going to be a famous ballerina like you!” I find myself elated at the idea of her considering me someone she could look up to.
I’m dreaming.
I realize, but it doesn’t matter. If anything, I’d been secretly hoping that I would dream of her again. I watch as she runs across the massive ballroom to turn on the music. The sweet melody emitted from the speaker fills the air with music that somehow brings a familiar routine to my mind. Jemma does a twirl and falls on her bottom, causing a fit of giggles.
“Oops,” she says, still laughing. “I got dizzy.”
I walked over and helped her stand. “That’s alright. Just remember to find a focal point that way when you spin, you won’t get dizzy.” I do a spin that ends perfectly. Jemma claps and I take a bow before picking her up. “Want to try again?” She nods feverishly. Interlocking our fingers, I spun around the room while holding her and singing a made-up song. “My Jemma Jem, you are the greatest in the world. My Jemma Jem, I love seeing your smile as we twirl. My Jemma Jem, a famous dancer you will be. My Jemma Jem—”
“With your mom I do agree!” Ansel shouted from the doorway, making us stop. Entering, he continued to sing off key. “My Jemma Jem, you shine more than a pretty nickel.” Jemma and I scrunch our faces at his words, and he shrugs. Taking her from my arms, he grinned at her. “My Jemma Jem, and now for a bit of tickles.” Ansel tickled her, and she laughed loudly as she wiggled to get out of his arms.
“Mommy, help!” she shouts through giggles.
I tickle Ansel’s side and he laughs lightly. “Two against one, huh?” he asks and grabs me. The three of us struggle to tickle one another, and soon we tumble to the floor. Jemma and I attack Ansel again and he chuckles. “Okay, okay, I concede. I’m no match for the two of you.” Jemma and I stand and cheer about our win. He stands. “Just so you know, I allowed you to win.” We raised our hands, prepared to attack again, and he threw up his hands defensively. “Just kidding!”
“Mhm, that’s more like it,” I say. Smirking, he pulled me to him, making me gasp.
“Be careful, Little Wolf,” he says huskily, and I blush. Leaning down, he kissed me deeply.
“Eww!” Jemma yelled, and we broke apart.
Ansel chuckled and smoothed her hair. He walked over to the piano and took a seat. “Jem, would you please?” he said, pointing to the speaker that was still playing. She quickly shut it off. “Thank you. Ready?” he asks me, and I nod. The moment his beautiful music begins, my body comes alive.
“My favorite song,” I say, and he smiles.
“I know,” he replies. “Care to join me?” The song pours through me, and I begin to dance. Each of my movements matched his music. Peering at Jemma, my heart swells at the gleam in her eyes as she watches us. Ansel seems to notice it too, and the way he plays intensifies. Jemma stands, and much to our surprise, she falls in line perfectly with me. Her movements are identical to mine, with precision that left me speechless. Ansel stopped playing and claps. “Incredible,” he says.
Fog pierces the ballroom, and the room starts to spin. I know I’m waking up, but before I do, I can feel Jemma grab my hand. “See you soon, mommy,” she says, smiling. I don’t have time to respond.
“Lady Karin,” Maggie says, gently shaking me awake. I stir and slowly sit up. “Sorry. I would have let you sleep longer, but I need to start cleaning things up.”
“It’s alright, Mag.” I stretch and yawn lightly. The memory of last night hits me and I blush.
Maggie smirks. “You seem tired. I’m guessing you had a great night?”
“Why do you say that?” Maggie points to my ripped underwear on the floor.
I cough loudly. “I am completely mortified. Things got a bit out of hand.”
“No need to be. I’m happy that things have aggressively sorted themselves out.”
It was then I realized something. “Mags, have you seen Ansel?” I ask.
“No more formalities either? Last night must have indeed been eventful.”
My blush increased. “Don’t tease me. Seriously, have you seen him?”
She briefly stopped cleaning. “Yes, he was in the manor earlier, but he said that he had an appointment.”
“Pleasure by night, work by morning,” I say. I look at the nightstand, but there isn’t a note. “Figures. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” I mumble, unable to shake off my disappointment. Maggie remained quiet and continued to clean. I watch her meticulously fold up my clothes and pack them in suitcases. I tilt my head. “What are you doing?”
“Sir Ansel instructed me to pack up all your things so that a few of the gammas can pick them up.”
My heart dropped to my shoes. “What?”
“Yes, he told me early this morning.”
“Did he say where I was going?”
“No…I’m sorry.”
Wow.
I didn’t know what to say. I thought last night changed everything. I guess I was wrong.
“There’s one more thing,” Maggie said hesitantly. “Sir Ansel made it clear that aside from a list of people provided, you aren’t allowed to speak to anyone else without his permission.”
Maggie reached into her pocket and handed me a slip of paper. Reading it, my sadness instantly turns to anger. “I’m going to kill him!” I crumble the paper and toss it in the trash so hard it makes the bin fall over. Going into the bathroom, I work to get ready in preparation for yet another confrontation with Ansel.
ANSEL POV
“How are you feeling this morning, Ansel?” Aron asked as he flipped to a clean page in his notebook. “I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised that you’re here on time. Usually, I have to track you down.”
Ansel waved him off. “I’m feeling fine. I have a busy scheduled today and I need to stay on task.”
“Noted.” Aron raised his head from his notebook and studied Ansel. “I have never seen you slouch into the couch.” Ansel yawned, and Aron leaned forward. “Seeing you tired is also new for me. I’ve known you to go days running on coffee and adrenaline. Again, I ask, what’s going on with you?”
“Will you stop being so suspicious?” Ansel said, laughing. “What’s wrong with me being a little relaxed?”
“Nothing if you’re a person who relaxes.” He stared at Ansel and then his face broke out in the wide grin. “Relaxed, smiley, and tired…you had sex!” he shouted.
Ansel leered at him, but it soon turned into a smile. “I should have known I couldn’t get anything past you.”
“Mhm, but I enjoy the fact you tried. Was it with Lady Karin?”
Ansel leered at him again. “Who else would it be with, Aron?”
“Just making sure. So, how was it?” Ansel cocked his head back, and Aron shook his head. “Two for two with the horrible questions. I’m really off my game today. Let me rephrase. How do you feel about it?”
Ansel processed the question for a moment. “I feel good,” he said.
“Wonderful. You’re making great progress. I think we’re ready for phase two. Getting you to a place mentally where, unlike things with Cherry, you’re able to find pleasure in the sexual experience in hopes of completing it. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that for Karin to conceive, you’re going to have to provide the other important ingredient. It may take some time, but I have every confidence in you.” As Aron continued to ramble on, Ansel, for the first time in a while, found himself embarrassed about the topic. “Are you listening? I know we jest a lot, but this is very important.”
“I’m listening,” Ansel replied, and Aron studied him again.
“Unless…you’ve already conquered that phase too,” he said.
