A Change of Venue, A New Year's Proposal

The Minkus International boardroom on the twenty-eighth floor had the kind of climate control that made you forget seasons existed. Riley Amy Matthews-Hunter sat at the far end of the polished obsidian table, her fingers tracing idle patterns on the surface while she watched Maya Matthews-Hunter lean back in her leather chair with the casual confidence of someone who owned the room.

Isadora Minkus, called her Smackle, stood at the head of the table tapping her stylus against a tablet, her tall frame draped in a charcoal blazer that she'd clearly slept in. Her brunette hair was pulled into a messy knot, and her brown eyes kept darting between the agenda on the screen behind her and the four of them like she was running probability calculations on whether this meeting would end before midnight. It was actual only 2:00 in the afternoon.

Cathy "Red" McBride sat to Riley's left, her long legs crossed at the ankle under the table, red hair cascading over her shoulders like she'd walked straight out of a magazine shoot instead of the transportation office downstairs. She was supposed to be here as Minkus International's head of Transportation, but mostly she was watching Maya whisper something into Riley's ear that made Riley's brown eyes go wide and her cheeks flush a shade of pink that clashed beautifully with her brunette waves.

"Okay," Smackle said, clapping her hands once. "Halloween event recap. Numbers were good. Attendance was up thirty percent from best guest. The warehouse transformation was, and I'm quoting the review from Gotham After Dark, 'a fever dream of depravity and excellent catering.' So. Next year. Same venue? Bigger budget? Thoughts?"

Maya straightened in her chair. She looked at Riley, really looked at her, the way she did when she was about to pull something mischievous, and Riley felt that familiar spark ignite somewhere behind her sternum. That look had gotten Riley naked in a hiking trail, dressed in see-through lace at a nightclub, and collared in their penthouse's BDSM suite. Whatever Maya was about to say, Riley was already wet.

"Smackle," Maya said, her blue eyes gleaming, "Riley and I have been talking." She reached over and placed her hand on Riley's thigh under the table, squeezing just enough to make Riley's breath hitch. "We feel we should do another event at New Year's Eve instead of waiting a whole year."

Riley nodded, trying to look professional while Maya's thumb traced slow circles against the inside of her thigh. "The momentum from Halloween, with people still posting about it. If we wait twelve months, we lose the cultural footprint."

Smackle's stylus stopped mid-tap. Her eyes went sharp, calculating. "New Year's Eve. That's eight weeks out. You want me to produce a full-scale Minkus International event in eight weeks." "Less than eight," Maya said, grinning. "If you count Thanksgiving and Christmas, realistically six."

Smackle didn't blink. She pressed a button on her tablet. "Stuart. Boardroom. Now." The door opened forty seconds later, and Stuart Minkus walked in like he'd been waiting in the hallway his entire life for this summons. He was already talking. "If this is about the MM2 serum refrigeration issue, I told the lab team..." "It's not," Smackle cut him off. "Maya and Riley want a New Year's Eve event. Eight-week turnaround. I need you to give Board approval."

Stuart looked at Maya. Then at Riley, who was very carefully not looking at Maya's hand, which had slid higher up her thigh. Then back at Smackle. "What's the concept?" Riley smiles and said we need a cruise liner."

"A cruise liner," Stuart repeated. "Moored next to the Halloween warehouse," Maya continued, leaning forward. "The warehouse becomes the immersive pre-party zone, haunted house aesthetic transitioned into a decadent-type of masquerade. Guests board the ship at midnight as the fireworks explode over the harbor. The ship doesn't sail, it becomes a stationary venue, but you get the luxury, the decks, the views of the harbor fireworks. Two venues, one ticket."

Riley found her voice. "The warehouse continues to give us the underground, edgy vibe. The ship gives us premium sponsor appeal. We can charge tiered pricing."

Red uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, blue eyes sharp. "Security on a moored vessel is actually cleaner than an open-warehouse setup. Controlled access points, limited gangways. I can work with that."

Stuart was already typing on his phone. "I know a cruise line. Norwegian Dream, they've got a ship in dry dock in Newark. We can tow it to the pier adjacent to the warehouse by mid-December if I call tonight."

"Call tonight," Smackle said. She looked at Maya and Riley. "This is insane. I love it. Budget projection by Friday. Marketing rollout by Monday. Red, I want a full security schematic by end of next week."

The meeting, officially, was over. Stuart left first, already barking orders into his phone. Smackle gathered her tablet and paused at the door. "Eight weeks. You two better deliver something that makes Halloween look like a church social." The door clicked shut behind her.

Red stood, stretching her long frame, and paused. She looked at Maya's hand, still resting high on Riley's thigh, and smirked. "I'm going to pretend I didn't see that for professional reasons." She picked up her tablet. "But for personal reasons, nice moves, Matthews-Hunter." She winked at Riley and walked out, her red hair swinging behind her.

The door hadn't even finished closing before Maya swung her chair toward Riley and grabbed her by the blouse, pulling her into a kiss that was all tongue and teeth and the kind of hunger that had been building for the entire meeting. Riley moaned into it, her hands finding Maya's waist, pulling the smaller woman onto her lap.

"You planned that," Riley gasped when Maya broke the kiss to attack her neck. "The cruise liner, you had that ready before you even walked in." "I had it ready before I got dressed this morning," Maya murmured against her pulse point. Her fingers worked open the buttons of Riley's blouse with practiced speed. "I also planned this."

She pushed the blouse off Riley's shoulders and unclasped her front-hook bra in one motion, freeing her 34C breasts to the cool boardroom air. Riley's nipples hardened immediately, and Maya dipped her head, taking one into her mouth while her hand rolled the other between her fingers. "Fuck, Maya, someone could come back." "The door locks." Maya pulled back just long enough to tap something on her phone. A soft electronic click echoed from the door. "I had Smackle install that lock after the last time we did this in here."

Riley laughed, "bet she knew that she and Farkle wanted installed too." Her words dissolved into a whimper as Maya's mouth found her other breast, tongue swirling in that maddening way she knew drove Riley insane. Maya's hand slid up Riley's skirt, fingers tracing the damp fabric of her panties.

"So wet already," Maya whispered, blue eyes looking up at Riley with that dominant gleam that always made Riley's stomach flip. "All from a little thigh touching during a board meeting. You're such a good girl for me."

Riley's hips bucked when Maya pushed the fabric aside and slid two fingers through her slick folds, finding her clit with unerring accuracy. Maya worked her in slow, deliberate circles, her mouth still teasing Riley's nipples, switching between them with a rhythm that had Riley clawing at the leather armrests. The boardroom's climate control hummed overhead, and the Manhattan skyline glittered through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind them like they were performing for the entire city.

"On the table," Riley panted. "I want you on the table." Maya's eyes flashed. She stood, shimmied out of her pencil skirt and panties in one motion, and hopped up onto the polished obsidian surface, her bare ass meeting the cool surface with a gasp. She spread her legs, blonde hair fanning out behind her, and looked at Riley with pure challenge.

Their Phoenix Beads started to glow.

"Catch me if you can," she said, their old hiking trail trigger phrase, the one that always meant the game was on. Riley didn't need to be told twice. She buried her face between Maya's thighs, tongue finding her clit with the kind of precision that came from years of memorizing every sound Maya made. Maya's back arched off the table, fingers tangling in Riley's brunette hair, pulling her deeper.

"Right there Maya moaned "fuck, don't stop. Riley didn't stop. She worked her tongue in circles, then flattened it for broad strokes, then sucked gently while sliding two fingers inside Maya, curling them against the spot that made Maya's thighs clamp around her head like a vice. The table creaked under Maya's writhing.

Maya came with a cry that echoed off the glass walls, her pussy clenching around Riley's fingers, juices coating Riley's chin. Riley worked her through it, slowing gradually, pressing soft kisses to Maya's inner thighs as the tremors subsided.

Maya pulled Riley up by the collar of her open blouse and kissed her own taste from Riley's lips. "Your turn," she whispered. She slipped off the table, pushed Riley back into the chair, and knelt between her legs. She yanked Riley's thong down, tossed it over her shoulder, and dove in with an enthusiasm that made Riley's eyes roll back. Maya's tongue was relentless. Fast, focused, paired with fingers that fucked Riley deep and hard while her thumb worked her clit.

Riley gripped Maya's hair, hips grinding against her mouth, chasing the orgasm that built like a wave about to break. The city lights blurred through the windows. The boardroom smelled like sex and leather and ambition.

"Maya I'm, oh fuck, I'm coming!" Riley shattered, her orgasm ripping through her in pulses that left her shaking in the chair, Maya's name on her lips like a prayer. Maya held her through it, mouth softening, fingers slowing, until Riley's breathing evened out and the trembling stopped.

They sat there for a long moment, Riley in the chair, blouse open, legs splayed; Maya on the floor between them, chin glistening, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. Maya stood, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and straightened her bra. "So. New Year's Eve. Cruise liner. Moored next to the warehouse."

Riley laughed, buttoning her blouse with trembling fingers. "You just orchestrated a major corporate event, and made me come in the same fifteen minutes." "I'm efficient." Maya kissed her forehead. "Now let's go home. I want to celebrate properly in our bed, with the collar, and you're going to wear that see-through thing I picked out last week."

Riley followed her to the door, legs still unsteady, and paused to look back at the boardroom table, gleaming, polished, thoroughly christened. "New Year's Eve is going to be incredible," Riley said.

Maya unlocked the door and winked. "Baby, if we can fuck like that in a boardroom during a meeting, imagine what we'll do on a cruise ship." At that moment, Smackle appeared and they knew she knew what had been happening.

Smackle looked long at them. She chuckled, "did you know that when we installed the new locking device, we had cameras installed too. So ladies, thank you for the show. Farkle and I are going to fuck likes dogs watching your show."

"So next time you are in the mood after a meeting, remember that cameras are filming. And perhaps next time I may invite you two up to the penthouse for a three girl event."

Both Maya and Riley looked sheepishly at Smackle. But Smackle kissed them both on the lips and told them to go home.