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Don’t think about it

The s in the woodstove, or the scent of freshly cut lumber, or the aroma of cedar curls beneath his feet The best way to combat his bad mood was to carve He chose a s the swirls and whorls in the wood grain

Some carvers could look at a chunk of wood and see the form inside Ben’s brain didn’t function that way He just started chipping away, keeping the possibilities endless

He secured the wood in a block vise and lined up his chisels By the ti up, he’d noticed the coloration of the as similar to that of a barn owl

Maybe it was the mark of a simple man that all his tension fro He didn’t listen to hts were focused on the nextit would reveal about the piece In that concentration he found his own peace

A loud voice said, "Knock knock"

Ripped out of his creative space, Ben spun on his chair and faced Ainsley "How long have you been standing there?" ca more accusatory than he’d intended

She sauntered forward "Long enough to admire your deep level of concentration and your skill with a chisel Long enough to becoot your hands all over it"

Ben was uncoed into his private space Over the years he’d grownhobby" because no one knehis creative side meant to him, especially since his cousin Carter was the artist in the family He had no concept of time in here, which was intentional No criticism besides his ohich was intentional too "Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in"

"A to his lips but he couldn’t give voice to it

"I should’ve called first, but I was feeling restless, so I drove out"

He repeatedly scraped along a deep line "I reckon it ht be a wasted trip for you"

"Why?"

"I’runted noncoht next to hiaze ht "This is one of the things I do to unwind" He let his eyes slowly travel over her body "You’re familiar with the other"

Those warm hazel eyes chilled "I didn’t come out here to ask you to tie me up and fuck me, Bennett"

He couldn’t stop the surly, "So why did you co, slobbering, ju really makes my day"

His lips twitched "So you must’ve been disappointed when they were locked in the house"

"I’ll say It was a total wasted effort to line hed Da to cajole him out of a bad"So even your dogs are banished from your sacred space?"

"Yeah"

"I can’t blame you Between us? I’ve found Deuce to be hypercritical about any type of art And Ace? Well, Ace just goes along hatever criticism Deuce barks about"

"You are hilarious"

Ainsley h to brush woodchips froe in here"

"Ainsley--"

"LetI intended was to add ertips whisked away s "Here’s the truth, Ben I missed you Not Bennett Not who you are as a Dom, but you" She nuzzled the side of his face "Thank you for stopping by last night It was totally unexpected Co And exactly what I…needed I never understood how much I need to access that subood it could be"

The red splotches on her cheeks indicated how hard that’d been for her to adinning to ined "I don’t knohat to say to that"

"Say, I’ed her between his knees and reached up to frael" This woet him All sides of him And that was almost too much to hope for

She broke the kiss "Mmm I needed that too Tell you what Why don’t itch roles tonight? I’ll wrassle the dogs and then whip up so for dinner You can come inside when you’re done out here So, if you play your cards right and are suitably submissive to me, I’ll wrassle you and whip you too"

"And ill you be doin’ while you’re waiting on ht hty books?"