To my readers:
I must say that this is my first attempt at writing erotica and I could not have done it without the help from my editor, Eluckenbach. So thank you Eluckenbach! I am hoping to continue writing in this genre and any feedback will be welcome.
Thanks and happy reading!
SecretEssence
*****
Standing hunched over the counter in her bakery's kitchen, Ivy Moretti breathed in the heady aroma of freshly baked chocolate, as she created intricate white roses along the sides of the wedding cake perched in front of her.
Ivy's Aphrodisiac. The name came to her one night while she was out taking her nightly run. She always wanted someone to crave her and now thousands did. At least they did her sweets. Her love life was a completely different story all together.
Ivy had always dreamed of owning her own bakery and three years ago, that dream came true. Smiling to herself, she remembers how Kathy, her stepmother had reacted upon hearing of the bakery.
******
"What do you mean you want to open a bakery?" questioned her stepmother.
"You misunderstood me Kathy. I have opened a bakery." Ivy smiled sweetly at her step-mom as she watched her perfectly polished face flush with tightly controlled anger.
Kathy's head snapped towards Cole, Ivy's father causing her coffered black hair to sway slightly in its tight confines. "Exactly how did she open a bakery? She doesn't have a cent to her name."
"Dad helped me find a backer, and because I already found the perfect location in the Village, everything just fell in place." Ivy wanted to gloat in Kathy's face, but she would not make this any harder on her father than it was already going to be.
"Cole," Kathy whined. "I thought we discussed this. Remember, you said we were not going to get involved with anymore of Ivy's little schemes."
"No Kathy, you discussed. I listened to your point-of-view and decided to help Ivy find a silent backer." Cole patient tone sounded as if he were talking to a child and not to his new wife.
Kathy face reddened as she became irate at Cole's explanation. "You never help Michael when he comes to you! Is that because he's my son and not you precious dead wife's little girl?" The word wife came out as a sneer.
Ivy knew that her father could handle Kathy on his own, but she would not let the bitch talk about her mother with disrespect.
Ivy's eyes narrowed on Kathy as she walked towards her. "Don't you talk about my mother in that tone, you stupid cow! She was more of wife and mother than you can ever hope to be!" Anger and pain radiated through her body as she came to a stop inches from Kathy.
Kathy stepped back in the face of Ivy's rage and looked to Cole for help.
"Ivy honey, I'm sure Kathy didn't mean to disrespect your mother. You know how she tends to speak before she thinks," Cole said as he stepped between the two women, trying to defuse the situation.
Ivy could hear the pleading in her father's voice and see the fire in his ever-changing smoke-gray eyes and backed away from Kathy. "I only tolerate you because I love my Dad, but understand this. If you ever hurt him or speak badly of my mother again nothing will stop me from kicking your bony ass."
As Ivy stormed out of the room, she heard the warning her father gave Kathy and smiled with the knowledge that Kathy would be out of their lives before the end of the year.
******
Nikolai Petrov sat surrounded by the black buttery leather of his high-backed chair as he went over his company's figures from the last month. The large bay of windows rising up behind him is letting in the filtered rays of sunshine as they warmed him through the thick panes of glass.
Placing the folder down on his mahogany desk, he leaned back and closed his gray-green eyes. Exhaling loudly, he links his hands together behind his head and ponders at the success his investment company has seen. His partner and confidant, Cole Moretti had helped Nikolai with more than getting his hands into the investment market. In essence, Cole had saved him from a very troubled road and Nikolai would always be eternally grateful because of it. Nikolai opened his eyes to take in the lush opulence around him. It still amazed him to think that all of this was his. He still laughed to himself when he thought about his first splurge.
Spending two hundred thousand dollars on the mother of pearl world globe that stood proudly in the corner of his office had nearly caused him to be sick. However, as his mother said, "You've worked too hard not to enjoy yourself Niko, just make sure you are not enjoying it alone."
His mother was constantly worrying about his marital status. Being forty-two and never married, he could understand her concerns. He just could not seem to get motivated enough to do anything about it. The buzz of his intercom pulls him from his thoughts and back to reality.
"Yes, Tracie," he answers.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you Mr. Petrov, but Mr. Fielding is here and insists on speaking with you," Tracie explains.
Releasing the intercom button Nikolai rubs at his suddenly throbbing temples. "It's okay Tracie. You can show him in."
The heavy mahogany door opens to reveal Tracie's elegantly long body, as she ushers in the aging Mr. Fielding. Nikolai knew that Tracie too was concerned with his single status, but for entirely selfish reasons. Unfortunately, he could not seem to get past her snobby, cold demeanor.
"Mr. Petrov," started the little old man before Tracie even had time to shut the door behind her. "I'm sorry to bother you without calling first, but I have something I think you would be interested in looking at," Mr. Fielding said quickly.
"Is there some concern with my finances?" asked Nikolai.
"Oh no Mr. Petrov, quite the opposite in fact. Do you recall agreeing to be a silent backer for Mr. Moretti's daughter's bakery?" questioned the accountant.
Nikolai's dark brows drew together as he thought back to his friend coming to him with a harmless sounding proposition. "Yes, about three years ago right? Has something happened?"
