Insurmountable (Serpentine #1)

by Skye Callahan

  Their dismissive attitudes were due in large part to Gabe. He’d only been working at this location for two years, but he’d been with the organization for over a decade. Experience he used to throw his weight around, but the bad habits he’d learned along the way created a shining example for the other men to goof off. And the fact that he was sitting next to me, balls deep in Kat’s mouth added a hint of bitterness to the mix.

  He acted like a jackass and got rewarded at every turn while I got the blame for his screw ups. He’d been the one in charge of managing background checks on patrons. Even if he delegated the duties, it was his responsibility to make sure it was done right. But, he’d never give a damn.

  I shifted in my seat to relax my back, forgetting all about the slave at my feet until she had her fingers at my zipper tugging it open. She’d misread my movement as an order, and if I pushed her away, Ross would have a fucking field day. So, I let her go, letting nature take its course while my mind worked a thousand miles away.

  “You seem preoccupied,” Ross said, yanking my thoughts back into the room.

  “I’ve had a lot on my mind this week.” I had wanted to tackle the obvious personnel issue again, but I couldn’t go into any detail with VIPs in the room.

  “Maybe,” Gabe said between grunts. “You should relax,” he grunted again, “have some fun, and get some sleep, instead of playing Mr. Invincible and working around the clock.”

  Gabby pulled at my dick and I stiffened.

  Once again, all I could think of was Alley, particularly how I would have preferred her touch and her lips to this.

  “You are a workaholic,” Ross added.

  “Thank you all.” I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to reset my brain and return to the frame of mind that I needed to get through these nights. I concentrated on the adrenaline, the rush of arousal.

  I felt the table shift and opened my eyes. Dessert had arrived, in the form of two girls coated in whipped cream, caramel, and chocolate sauce.

  Delightful, I thought sarcastically.

  They situated themselves in the middle of the table and began licking the sweet concoctions off of each other. Every man around the table came to attention—except for me. I’d seen it all too many times to really care and not even this little treat was enough to snap the sour out of my mood.

  My muscles tightened as Gabby sucked harder, taking me deeper into my mouth, but then, Gabe stood and leaned over the table to lap up his share of dessert, and not even the physical sensations could save me.

  * * *

  Alley was still laying where I left her when I returned after dinner. I touched her neck and she stirred.

  “I don’t want to get up,” she whispered without opening her eyes.

  “You don’t have to. I’m going to take a shower. Sleep.” I wanted to make sure she was still okay, but I couldn’t handle crawling into bed until I was clean.

  After I showered, I slid beneath the covers next to her and gave into exhaustion.

  Coming Undone

  Alley

  Three days passed and Miles still hadn’t asked me for anything. He gave me my peace and quiet, but aside for dinner when he went up to the Overlook, he stayed close by, gave me more food for a single meal than I was used to seeing in a day, changed my bandages, and checked to make sure everything was healing properly.

  I couldn’t get used to that kind of attention. I was used to gawking, grabbing, slapping, orders, and threats.

  But the worst was the way he looked at me. The way it kindled the fallacy that I might still be somebody.

  I curled up on the couch after lunch. He usually watched the news, then flipped the TV over to the sports channel. At least it gave me something else to pay attention to.

  Miles’s phone pinged, and he scowled when he looked down. “Ross wants to see us.”

  Time for the end. I always knew it was coming. I tugged at the hem of Miles’s dress shirt that I wore. It was huge and soft, and comfortable, and best of all it came nearly down to my knees and covered my arms. It was the most covered I had been in years.

  “Should I change, Sir?”

  He stood, pulling me to my feet as well. Then, he tilted my chin up, in an attempt to force me to face him.

  To face my fate.

  “What do you want Little Dove?”

  Want? That was such a dangerous word in my world. Freedom. I couldn’t have that. Home. I could never go there again. My family was of the strict, one-way variety. They’d never accept what I’d done to survive. They’d only see that it was my fault.

  “Alley?” he whispered in my ear and brushed his lips against my neck.

  My thoughts—my wants—faded. Always give them what they want. “Whatever you want, Sir.”

  “No. I asked what you want.” He kissed again, his lips on my neck, his hands on my waist.

  It’s not real. But if I could pretend, I could live in this illusion. “I want to stay here, Sir.”

  “That’s all I wanted to hear.” He pushed me into the wall and hoisted my legs up around his hips. He was so much larger than me that I couldn’t even wrap my legs completely around him, but he easily held me, pinned there between his hot body and the cool wall.

  His mouth captured mine, hot, demanding, insisting, but gentle.

  Fuck, I had to concentrate. I couldn’t lose it. I wiggled against him, squeezing his hips with my legs and pulling him closer. Give him what he wants. Make it fast. Do your job.

  But every breath of his smell took my rationing away.

  This never happened. Never.

  It can’t be happening.

  Then, I remembered the message on his phone. “He’s going to be mad if we leave him waiting.” I feared Ross far more than Miles.

  But, Miles didn’t stop kissing my neck or pressing his hips against me, pinning me harder against the wall.

  “Pity,” he mumbled. “I’m busy and haven’t checked my messages yet. If he was in a hurry, he’d send someone down.”

  He sucked on the base of my neck right where it met my shoulder and I fell deeper under his spell. His hot fingers found the straps of my thong and snapped them, holding me to the wall with just his hips. Then, just as quickly he adjusted to hold me against him with one arm while he freed his cock and slid me down onto it. He didn’t waste a second, filling me to the base of his shaft.

  Impaling me to the wall. My eyes fell closed, and I pressed the back of my head into the wall as a loud moan vibrated out of my throat.

  I could fuck any man they sent me to fuck. I could play my part. I could let my body go through the process—and most of the time, I did come. That was my job. But I never felt it. Before that moment with Miles, every sexual act had been purely a physical response to necessity and the right stimulation.

  Every time Miles thrust inside of me, he filled me with a wave of ecstasy. In the same moment, it released me, showing me a new kind of freedom, and it confined me into a new and horrifying prison. One that existed based on hope and not fear. Hope was never grounded or reliable. He showed me a brand new pleasure, laced with the fear that I’d never experience it again.

  I dug my fingers into his muscular shoulders as he pounded me into the wall.

  A quickie. Quickies were the best because often they meant an early end to the night. But this one, I didn’t want to end. I wished I could sear every detail and sensation into my brain. The electrifying surge that pulsated through my core every time he sank deep enough in me to rub his pelvic bone against my clit. The stretch of him filling me. His hands squeezing my ass tighter. His hot mouth along my neck, jaw, and collarbone. The deep pants and groans in my ear.

  “Oh fuck,” the first unscripted words to fall out of my mouth in ecstasy.

  He kissed me again, moaning into my mouth and plunging his tongue deep into mine until his taste overpowered my senses.

  I knew only him. Only the binding force he built and stoked in my core.

  “Come for me, Alley,” he whispered,
knowing that his permission was all I needed to let that force surge through my body. The orgasm came like a breached levy that had stood for far too many years against the floodwaters, pounding through every muscle and searing through my nerves with exquisite force.

  It wrecked me.

  Miles wrecked me.

  He still held me against the wall panting against the side of my head, his arms curled around me, cock still inside of me. Then, he finally let me slide down to the floor, supporting me with one hand while he straightened my shirt and my hair. When I was righted, he pulled his pants back up over his hips, fastened them, and tightened his belt.

  “I guess we should get to that meeting now,” he said with an ease that said this happened all the time. Just another everyday occurrence at the Retreat.

  I didn’t have even a moment to clean up before he pulled me toward the door and led me down the hallway to the elevator. I kept my head lowered as he swiped his card and pressed a button.

  I had other things on my mind. Pressing my legs together in a useless attempt to stop the liquid running down my legs. There was no way it wouldn’t be visible by the time we got to wherever we were going.

  Miles pressed his mouth to my ear. “When we enter the office, you kneel next to me. Knees wide.”

  And that was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to show that he’d claimed me like a fucking animal.

  What if he’s just using me, too?

  But if he’d agreed to keep me…. I knew that going through with this meant putting everything on the line. It meant putting myself on the line. Not like I did every other night. This was different. This made me vulnerable. It played to my emotions, especially with that dreaded hope. The hope that I might find safety with Miles. That I might find pleasure with him.

  The fear that I might lose all of that just as quickly.

  I followed him down the hallway to the end where he pushed open a door and led me into an elaborate office with a wall of windows behind the desk. Power. Freedom.

  Keeping my head down, I sank to my knees, just as Miles had ordered, and waited for the judge to announce my sentence.

  “It appears she’s healed just fine,” Ross said from behind his large, wooden, and elaborately carved desk. “Care to tell me why you haven’t mentioned putting her back to work?”

  Ross approached us both, but I couldn’t look up—not only because I’d be going against my role. Even if he ordered me to look up, I’d be too embarrassed. That was a first as well. I could see the sparkling trails where the evidence of our quick tryst had run down my leg, and I wished that I could wipe it away or hide it somehow.

  “And that’s definitely not approved attire for slaves here.”

  Miles made a sound in his throat. “You know that bonus you brought up a couple of months ago.”

  “Miles, this isn’t the time—” Ross began.

  “You said if I got my planned system up and running, and managed to save as much money as I had projected that I would get a bonus. Last I checked, the system is running better than projected.”

  “Fine, but—”

  “I don’t want money. I want Alley.”

  “You. Want. What?” Ross sounded like he nearly choked on his own tongue and then, I wished I could have seen his face.

  “I want her. I won’t be the first to have a personal slave, and right now we have plenty of girls to cover the business without her.”

  “You want your own girl, then go out and get her. Alley is bought and paid for. Property of the Retreat.”

  “As such, I’m forgoing the bonus you promised. I’m sure you’ll find it to be an even trade. Unless you think Gabe can do my job to the same level.”

  “You’ve been here for nearly a decade, and you’re threatening to quit over a girl? You’re going soft, and that’s dangerous in this business—not only going soft but being perceived as such.”

  “Believe me, boss, there’s nothing soft about it. And with my increased responsibilities, she’ll be a bonus around the apartment. Stress relief, cleaning, cooking—”

  “You really think that whore can cook?”

  I had to listen to the entire exchange without reacting. Even though Ross was correct on the cooking part. They didn’t really teach that in my line of work. I’d picked up a few things as a kid—grilled cheese, spaghetti, all the easy, mostly pre-packaged stuff—but I had only turned sixteen when Milo bought me. I had no practical life experience.

  That was yet another reason I couldn’t fathom freedom or anything else beyond this life, really. Eight years as a whore does strange and fucked up things to people. And to be honest, in that world, I was rapidly reaching “retirement”. Everyone wanted young fresh girls, and that made me an old bag at twenty-four. Growing to even the ripe old age of thirty-five was beyond my comprehension.

  “She can learn,” Miles said. “It’s not brain surgery. And besides, that’ll be my problem, not yours.”

  Ross groaned and rocked back on his heels. Deliberating. Stalling. Thinking of a new argument. A new reason to keep his talons wedged deeply in my flesh and soul. “Seeing as we have a surplus of petite blondes at the moment, I’ll agree, but you’ll present her if ordered for any reason.”

  “Deal.”

  “They’re all replaceable,” Ross said in a light, lilting voice. Words I’d heard far too often. They sank to my stomach and made me sick.

  “Come on, Alley,” Miles said, dismissing his own boss and taking a step back.

  Ross snorted. “Isn’t that where you’re supposed to argue that they’re more expensive to replace?”

  “What’s the point?”

  I stood, sneaking a look at Ross’s face as I turned and followed Miles out of the office and down the hall back to the elevator. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth pressed into a line. A sudden surge of satisfaction came over me at the sight.

  As the elevator doors closed, I felt a smile creep across my face. This whole situation was so unfamiliar. So strange. Miles was by far the most puzzling man I’d met in this world.

  “What are you smiling at, Little Dove?”

  He’d caught me. I bit my lower lip and backed away.

  “Oh, no.” He pressed a button, scanned his card, and the elevator stopped. “No hiding from me. Not after I just fought my boss for you.”

  He had. But I had a feeling it wouldn’t be over so easily. Ross would have a comeback. If not now, next week, next month.

  Miles pressed me against the wall, pinning my hands over my head with one of his large hands. Would he change now that I was his?

  His other hand slid up my shirt, caressing the sensitive skin just below my hip bone.

  Focus. Remember your job.

  I focused on the only rule I’d ever had and never thought I’d need—don’t fall for anyone. Falling meant eventually landing.

  I pressed my hips against his, rubbing his erection through his pants. Get him off. Get it done. Do your job. Concentrate, Alley, concentrate.

  Miles’s phone dinged and he smirked as he checked the screen. Then, he put it back in his pocket and raised his middle finger toward the back corner of the elevator compartment. Releasing my hands, he started unbuttoning my shirt.

  “I need to borrow this,” he whispered.

  We were being watched. Not as if I wasn’t used to that. But everything felt different with Miles. I couldn’t detach. I felt it all. And it was dangerous.

  Dangerous. Terrifying. And it gave me a rush.

  Miles lowered the shirt over my arms, then pushed it up through a square in the ceiling, letting it hang down over the corner.

  “Now then,” he whispered, grabbing my hips. He took my right breast in his mouth, sucking and rolling my nipple with his tongue and lips.

  I moaned, arching my back. I wanted more. For the first time. I wanted more.

  Your job. Your duty. I kept reminding myself. I reached for the front of his pants, but once again, he grabbed my hands and pressed them against the wall.
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  “You’re mine, Little Dove. Mine to do with as I want.” He released my wrists and slid his long fingers inside of me. Rubbing my clit with his thumb he stroked me, pressing against the most sensitive nerve endings.

  Every movement was slow and thorough. My eyelids fluttered, and I threw my head back. Then, his fingers left me. He traced my wetness up my stomach, then pressed his fingers to my lips. I opened my mouth, taking in the taste of both of us. Salty. Bitter. I sucked on his fingers until he pulled them free again. Then, his lips traveled down my sternum, across my stomach, following the path his fingers had left.

  He won’t.

  My mind raced as he sank to his knees in front of me.

  Never.

  He lifted my left leg, putting it over his shoulder, then he pressed his mouth against my clit and sucked. My back arched with intense pleasure I didn’t think was possible.

  Why?

  His tongue pressed at the bundle of nerves and he bit gently at it between licks and sucks. Then, his fingers slid inside of me again, pushing me faster and faster toward the edge.

  Torture. The most pleasurable fucking torture I could imagine.

  At the moment in life I thought I’d been stripped of everything I had, he’d given me something in a matter of hours that I never thought possible.

  I screamed and bucked, clawing at his shoulders as the orgasm ripped through my consciousness and consumed my reality.

  For a few seconds, the shuddering and gasps for oxygen were all that I knew. In one small moment, Miles had ripped my entire world apart. When I came back to reality, he was holding me up. His hands to my hips and my cheek to his chest.

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  He pressed his finger to my lips. “I think that since you’re mine now, that makes me Master, not Sir. But I don’t intend to be thanked for doing what I please.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Now then,” he whispered against my neck. “Tell me why you were smiling and why you hid it from me.”

  I didn’t know what to say. “I—um—” my voice shook worse than my hands “—no one’s ever.” I swallowed. Why couldn’t I find the words? I wasn’t even sure what I was afraid of. “I’ve never seen someone stand up to the boss before.”