Teaching Maya by Tara Crescent Read Free Book Online

little buzzed. 
    “ A vacation would be nice,” I admitted. “But would you believe, I'm becoming such a workaholic that I have no idea where to go, and what to do?”
    Ivar shook his head in disapproval. “Vacations are important, kiddo. I take a full two months off a year. Marco, Paul, Kelly, Nate, all of them do the same. You'll burn up in this job if you don't learn to unwind.” 
    “ Why don't you go to Paris? Paris is lovely in winter.”
    I looked at Ivar sharply, but his face gave nothing away. What did he know? I wondered. Yes, Ryan and Ivar were very good friends, but I assumed Ryan would keep the details of our tryst quiet.
    “ Maybe,” I kept my voice light, and wandered away to the balcony.
    I sipped my glass of wine in the balcony, and struggled to keep back the tears. Somewhere, without knowing it, I’d fallen i n love with Ryan. The real Ryan; the one who was calm, competent and amused, but also warm and caring.
    He’d never replied to my text; I hadn’t heard from him since the family retreat. The logical part of me didn’t really expect to. We had had a sexual interlude, and once it was over, the expectation was that we’d both go back to our lives. But deep inside, there had been a part of me that had been hoping he’d call.
    I was holding it together during the day, but every night since I got back to San Francisco, my sleep was consumed by nightmares. I would dream of Ryan with another woman. The images were eating me up inside. Ryan, holding a whip, staring down at a tied up girl. Ryan, smiling his easy, warm, approving smile as this woman complied willingly with his orders. Ryan’s mouth on some other woman’s breasts; his dick in some other woman’s pussy. It was keeping me from sleeping at night, and driving me insane.
    Silly Maya, I whispered to myself. Don’t play adult games if you can’t deal with adult consequences. I blinked the tears back and fought for self-control. I had held my feelings at bay for the last three months, and had poured myself into work. Now though, with work finally approaching normalcy, I’d have to face my nightmares, and deal with them.
    “ All by yourself, Maya?” Kelly’s voice cut through my reverie. I had been so lost in my thoughts; I hadn’t heard the balcony door slide open.
    “ Hey Kelly.” I liked Kelly. She was amazingly competent, like everyone else who worked at the firm, but Kelly also had a wicked sense of humour, and she didn’t take herself too seriously. She was a lot of fun to work with.
    “ You look lost in thought, kiddo.”
    “ Ivar thinks I should go on vacation, and I was pondering where to go,” I lied smoothly. It was plausible enough.
    “ Gods, I know! I’m going to take a week off myself, and spend the entire week in bed; I’m so tired! Maybe a bit of reading, the new Clayborn book is coming out soon, and getting some great reviews.”
    My heart skipped a beat. “There’s a new Clayborn book out?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice casual.
    “ Yeah, he was on the radio this morning, promoting it. He was saying that he had spent the last few months putting the final touches on it. It’s on every best-seller list, of course.”
    Oh. My heart was suddenly a bit lighter, and a tiny ray of hope appeared. Ryan wouldn’t have had time to do very much else if he had been writing for three months. No other women, perhaps?
    But then, as I thought about it just a bit more, my heart sank again. What did it matter who he was sleeping with? He had made it clear that he’d regretted sleeping with me, and that it wouldn’t happen again.
    My dream that night was the worst yet. I was tied on a cross. Clamps on my nipples. My arms and legs spread wide. Ryan started whipping me with a long bullwhip. It hurt a lot. Welts appeared on my skin as I cried out in agony. “Hold on, kitten,” Ryan soothed. His voice was calm and reassuring. He walked towards me, his hand reaching out to stroke my cheek.
    But suddenly, I was