Camilla had seemed busier than usual with work in the past couple of days. And she seemed a little stressed about it.
Maybe Lindsey could do something to help. “Can I come sit with you, Mistress?”
“Sure,” Camilla said. “Dry yourself off first. I don’t want water on this wrap.”
Lindsey swam to the steps and hopped out of the pool. After drying off, she spread her towel out next to Camilla’s chair and sat down on it, resting her head against the side of Camilla’s thigh. She could have just sat in the chair at the other side of Camilla instead of on the ground. But Lindsey’s small gestures of submission always seemed to please her Mistress. Maybe it would help her relax a little.
Camilla’s hand dropped down to caress the side of Lindsey’s face, while her other hand typed away on her phone. “How would you feel about having some friends of mine come visit?”
“Sure,” Lindsey said. What would Camilla’s friends be like? And what would Camilla say to them about Lindsey? Would she tell the truth about their unconventional arrangement?
“Maybe I’ll throw a dinner party. It’s been a while since I hosted one.”
“That sounds like fun.” Lindsey closed her eyes, letting the warm sun beat down on her skin. This was the life. Luxuriating by the pool next to a mansion, with her beautiful Mistress next to her.
Lindsey never imagined herself in this situation. But what was more unexpected were her feelings toward Camilla. She’d taken Faith’s advice and stopped worrying about what those feelings meant. It had made things a little clearer. But that still left her with one problem.
Everything between Lindsey and Camilla was just a lie.
Camilla yawned. “How’s your art going? Do you have anything to show me yet?”
“Not yet,” Lindsey replied. “Soon, though.” She was out of practice, both in terms of her craft and mentally. It was still a daily battle to sit down and force herself to work every morning. She still felt that paralyzing fear. But it was nowhere near as bad as before. And once she got started, creativity would flow from her for hours and hours.
“June said you’ve been wandering around with your sketchpad of a morning.”
“I’ve been sketching the grounds. There’s so much beautiful scenery here. I don’t usually draw landscapes, but the grounds are too picturesque not to try to capture.”
“My grandmother spent most of her retirement painting the grounds,” Camilla said. “She was very talented. Her paintings are stashed away in the east wing somewhere if you’d like to see them. I’ll have June dig them out for you.”
“That sounds like a lot of trouble,” Lindsey said. “I don’t want to make more work for June.”
“Nonsense. I pay her outrageously so that I can ask her to do whatever I need done. She won’t mind.”
“Then I’d love to see them. Thank you, Mistress.”
Camilla placed her phone down on the table next to her. “All right. Get up here.” She held out her hand and pulled Lindsey up onto her lap. “I can’t get anything done with you sitting there. You’re much too distracting.”
Lindsey grinned. “Sorry, Mistress.”
“You’re not sorry at all, are you?”
Lindsey threw her arms around Camilla’s neck. “No, Mistress, I’m not.”
Camilla’s mouth fell open. “What has gotten into you today? I ought to take you into the hedge maze where no one can find us and punish you.”
“Please do, Mistress.” Lindsey was pushing it. Camilla had made it clear in the past that she didn’t like misbehaving submissives. But her playful tone suggested that the kind of punishment she was referring to didn’t involve writing lines.
“Oh, you’re being such a brat right now.” Camilla grabbed Lindsey’s waist and pulled her closer. “Luckily, I know just how to stop you running that mouth of yours.”
Camilla covered Lindsey’s mouth with her own, kissing her in that soft, slow way that filled Lindsey with need. She shifted on Camilla’s lap, pressing herself against the other woman. Camilla’s hand slid up the side of Lindsey’s hip, all the way to her chest. A faint moan escaped Lindsey’s lips. She really hoped Camilla’s talk of taking her into the hedge maze wasn’t just a threat.
“Who the hell is this?”
Camilla tensed. Lindsey’s eyes flew open. She turned to see a short middle-aged woman standing right beside them. Several feet behind her, June was hurrying toward them, an apologetic look on her face.
“Denise?” Camilla said. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” the woman replied. “I’m visiting my baby sister.”