by Lucy Lambert
“What happened between you and Mister Pierce?” Charlotte said.
Mindy’s pointy face got red, and her eyes hardened. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Do you know how long it took me to get here? To make Mister Pierce trust me? It’s all your fault.”
“What’s all my fault?”
Mindy grabbed a cardboard box that had been out of sight and put it down on her desk. “Mister Pierce gave me my notice. It’s my last day today, all because of you. I hope he’s worth it to you.”
Charlotte grabbed the edges of the desk for support as she felt herself begin trembling. Her knuckles turned white from the effort.
“You hope he was worth it for what?”
Mindy just sniffed as she opened a drawer and began shifting its contents into the box.
Moving on shaky legs, Charlotte walked over in front of Mindy’s desk. She put her hands on the cool surface and leaned over.
“Mindy, what do you mean?”
“You’ve won.”
“Won what?”
Mindy stopped packing the box and looked up at Charlotte. Charlotte could see a hot anger in there, a hatred. She knew she was the target of those feelings.
“Why, Landon Pierce of course. Why don’t you go up and see him? All he does is page and ask if you’ve come in yet.”
“Oh, my God...” Charlotte said.
Absentmindedly, Charlotte grabbed her clipboard before running up the stairs two at a time.
I’ve made such a mistake! Charlotte thought as she reached the top. Landon had been telling the truth. He hadn’t just been playing some prank on her.
She was about to yank the doors open, but she managed to stop herself. You don’t just go barging into a billionaire’s office uninvited. She still had some sense of propriety about her.
Taking a few breaths, Charlotte raised one shaking fist up to the door and knocked. The few moments of silence seemed to last forever.
“Come in,” she heard.
Opening the door, Charlotte went into Landon Pierce’s office. He sat at his desk, a disinterested look on his strong features as he opened a letter with a golden letter opener. He did a double take when he looked up at Charlotte.
Charlotte walked over to his desk. She put the clipboard down once she realized how hard she was squeezing it.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “It’s just... When Mindy came into your room, I assumed the worst. I’ve been hurt by men before, men who I thought were nice, but who turned out not to be.”
Landon held out one hand. Charlotte gave him one of hers. He squeezed her, and she felt warm and giddy again.
“Well, Mindy has been taken care of, as I’m sure you already know.”
Still holding her hand, Landon stepped around her desk. He wore a full suit. Its charcoal color complemented his eyes perfectly.
“Now, Miss Montgomery, I believe we were interrupted just as we were in the middle of something...”
Then he pressed against her. Charlotte laughed as he picked her up and sat her on his desk. His hands clasped at the small of her back. He pulled her close again. She looked down into his eyes for a moment right before their lips connected.
Her whole body tingled with an electric energy that made her break out in goosebumps all over.
Their lips writhed against each other. His mouth felt so hot over hers. She leaned back as he pushed himself hard against her. Her hands sought some hold on the desk to keep herself from falling back.
She knocked his phone to the floor. The receiver fell off the hook, and soon the sounds of their kissing were joined by the beeps of the phone line.
Landon’s lips moved from hers down to her neck. In between each kiss, he said, “I’m sorry....”
One of his hands began pushing her dress up, trying to squeeze more and more of her inner thigh.
Feeling the urge to pull his face harder against her, Charlotte pulled one of her hands off the desk. Her fingers knocked something else to the floor. She saw it was her clipboard. It flopped open. She ignored it, choosing instead to focus on how Landon’s hair felt between her fingers.
It took her a moment to realize that he had stopped. Her hand fell to his shoulder. He felt so tense.
“What... What’s wrong? Is it me?” Charlotte asked. Her heart began absolutely pounding in her chest. She didn’t know why she suddenly felt so nervous. She noticed he was looking at something.
“Oh!” Charlotte said as she followed his gaze right to her resignation letter.
Landon backed away from her. His squeezing fingers had left red marks on her thighs where he’d been touching her. Charlotte almost fell forward. She hadn’t realized how much she’d been using him as a support.
Landon bent over, picking up the clipboard. His eyes scanned the perfunctory lines. They seemed to linger a moment over her signature. His lips pursed for a moment, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
Charlotte leaned back as he looked at her. His eyes had transformed in mere moments. They were hard, businesslike as they looked at her. There also seemed to be a tightness around them that she thought might be a deep hurt he was doing his best to keep hidden.
“You were coming in to quit, and you couldn’t even be bothered to write a letter of your own?”
Slipping down from the desk, Charlotte held up her hands. She felt like she was on a rollercoaster ride. Why are things going so wrong? She asked herself.
Landon seemed to become more upset the longer her lack of response went on.
“I knew you were upset... I knew you might try to quit. I just thought someone of your character would realize how dangerous it is to toy with a person’s feelings,” Landon said.
He snapped the cover back over the letter. “Or have I so badly misjudged you? The woman who stands up for individuality and humanizing an office gives me a boilerplate resignation letter.”
“Landon...”
“No! I’m not finished yet. You’re going to listen. I was ready to share something with you, something I haven’t shared in a long time. Congratulations, Miss Montgomery, you’ve made a fool out of me. Is this your idea of revenge for taking over your old company?”
The tears pushed at the back of Charlotte’s eyes as she sought an answer. The anger on his face seemed so out of place.
She couldn’t look him in the eye anymore.
“I’m sorry... I’ll get my things and go.”
She started walking past him. Then he grabbed her by the arm. He didn’t hurt her, but she couldn’t get free of that grip. She could feel the restraint in those fingers, the battle he fought in himself.
“Go? I’ve already fired Mindy. You really are trying to leave me in the lurch, aren’t you? No. This is your two-week notice. I’ll need that time to find another assistant. You better do your job, and do it well, for that time. If you don’t... Well, you’ll never work anywhere I have any sway. Seeing as my business is transnational... Get the picture?”
All the color had drained from Charlotte’s face. It was like a nightmare, the worst kind, where you at first thought it was a fantasy coming true, but then had everything ripped right out from under you.
“Yes,” was all Charlotte could manage.
Landon let go of her.
She closed the door behind herself as she left the office. The click of the latch seemed loud as a gunshot in the expansive foyer. Mindy, at least, had already left. Charlotte was happy for that.
When she got down to her desk, she noticed that Mindy had forgotten her tissues. Charlotte grabbed them, yanking out a handful. She dried her eyes, took a breath, and sat down.
Charlotte threw herself into work. It seemed so easy, answering calls and arranging Pierce’s schedule. It was at once the most difficult thing to forget the way he felt against her, and the easiest.
Work was a way to numb herself to her situation. Every time there was a lull between calls, she caught herself thinking about how big a mess everything was. When they happened, she scrutinized Pierce’s sc
hedule, trying to optimize it at much as humanly possible.
Then Pierce buzzed her on the intercom.
“Miss Montgomery, please make sure my car is ready in ten minutes. You will be needed as well. Make sure you have all your necessary note-taking materials. Be down at the car as soon as you can.”
The intercom clicked off before she could reply.
Charlotte tried not to think about having to spend an indeterminate amount of time in the back of a car with a man who clearly hated her as she gathered her things.
There must have been a back door in his office, because Charlotte did not see Pierce leave. When she got to the car out front, he was already in it.
They spent the ride in silence as the car hurtled down the highway. Wherever they were going, it was in a hurry. Several times, they passed police cars in speed traps. The police would pull out, their lights and sirens on, right behind them. A few moments later, the lights and sirens died out and the police car would fall back.
“Oh!” Charlotte said as the car lurched to a sudden stop.
They’d pulled up in front of a nondescript white building. It was low, and on either side of it were office towers that seemed designed to keep the smaller building out of sight.
A guard with a gun strapped to his shoulder appeared from the building. Landon opened the window and flashed a card. The guard saluted, opened the door, and stepped back. Landon and Charlotte climbed out.
“Follow me sir, miss,” the guard said. He turned and walked toward the building.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” Charlotte said.
“It was an emergency. I had no time to get someone else. It should go without saying that everything you’re about to see and hear is to be kept to yourself. When you get back to the office, there will be a non-disclosure agreement waiting for you to sign.”
The door the guard opened let into a very small room. When he pressed a cleverly hidden button, Charlotte realized it was an elevator. Her stomach seemed to rise into her throat as the elevator sank deep underground.
Charlotte kept noticing how the guard would glance at Pierce. A bead of sweat moved down the guard’s forehead, and he seemed to shake a little. Charlotte frowned at him, wondering what was the matter with him.
The elevator finally slowed to a halt and the door opened. Charlotte sucked in a breath as they stepped out. There was a large, circular table. Many men sat around it, some in uniforms, some in suits. They all turned to look at Pierce. Pierce himself walked straight to the single empty chair and sat in it.
Charlotte noticed other people who seemed to be aides as well, all standing behind a seated person. She took up a similar position behind Pierce.
“Thank you for joining us. As you already know, the country has just experienced a large cyber attack...”
Charlotte felt the blood chill in her veins as she scrambled to record as much as possible. She realized it was some sort of national security meeting. Hazarding a few glances, she began recognizing some of the faces around the table. They were all politicians, important businessmen, soldiers.
She began looking longingly back at the door, hoping to get out. Whatever this was, she didn’t want any part of it. She wished Mindy were still around. Pierce would have taken her instead, Charlotte knew.
Again, she saw that guard. He seemed so nervous. He kept glancing at Landon, and his fingers kept straying to his gun.
“Mister Pierce, this all rests on you and your company. Do you believe that the mainframe delivered by Pierce Technologies has the hardware to counter this threat?”
His fingers pressed into a steeple, Landon leaned forward. “Yes, Mister Secretary, I have faith in my company and my technology.”
The guard glanced at Charlotte, then back to Landon. Charlotte had a terrible feeling building in her stomach. She knew something awful was going to happen.
Finally, the men stopped talking. When the man Pierce had referred to as “Mister Secretary” stood, everyone else did as well. They all began moving toward various doors along the wall, which turned out to be elevators.
Landon and Charlotte made their way through the throng toward the elevator they’d come in by. The guard gave them a nervous salute. Landon nodded at him, waiting for the elevator.
Then, instead of returning to his side, the hand the guard had saluted with pulled the gun from around his back. He levelled it at Landon, who stared wide eyed at it.
“No!” Charlotte said, not thinking about what she was doing.
She slammed into the guard. They both hit the wall. She felt the cool and deadly steel of the gun jammed between their bodies.
“Move!” The guard said, shoving at her.
Charlotte stumbled back. Everyone was in an uproar, milling about and watching. None of the other guards near the other elevators could make their way through the press.
The guard levelled the gun at Landon again. He squeezed the trigger.
Charlotte leapt in, swinging her arm up. It hit the barrel of the gun. It fired into the ceiling.
Cursing, the guard turned the weapon on her. Charlotte stared into the evil black eye of the barrel, knowing her last moments were at hand.
She saw his finger start squeezing around the trigger. Charlotte closed her eyes.
“No!”
It was Landon. She watched as he wrestled with the guard. Landon was the larger man, and in good shape. He managed to wrench the gun away. It clattered on the floor. There was a “thunk” noise.
Landon had punched the guard in the face. The guard crumpled to the floor, unconscious.
Then Landon was in front of her. He held out his hand. She took it and he helped her stand. His knuckles were bleeding.
“You... You saved me,” she said.
The hardness seemed to have gone out of his eyes as he looked into hers. “You saved me first.”
Landon declined help from a man claiming he was a medic. The elevator opened, and he and Charlotte stepped in. The car was waiting for them. The driver’s eyes widened as he saw their dishevelled appearances, but knew better than to ask.
They sped back down the highway.
“Look, Miss Montgomery... Charlotte... I think I may have been wrong about you.”
That was all that Charlotte had been waiting to hear. She’d been perched on the edge of her seat, looking at him as he massaged his hand.
“Oh!” He said as she lunged across the back of the car at him.
His pain apparently forgotten, he wrapped her in his arms again.
“I’m sorry,” Charlotte said, “So very sorry...”
“Shh...” Landon said.
He angled her face up towards his. They locked eyes for a moment. He kissed her again, very gently at first. Their lips brushed together. He smiled as he felt her quiver at his touch. Then he pressed his lips back against hers.
She trembled in his arms. That same electric energy from before filled her. She opened her lips. Their tongues touched. She loved the way he tasted, and the warmth she felt coming from him.
They attacked each other with their mingling desire. They’d both just survived an assassination attempt, and Charlotte wanted to truly feel every second that remained to her with him. She wanted to put all the mistakes behind her.
She straddled him. He had to push her dress up her thighs so that her legs weren’t squeezed together.
Charlotte moaned, throwing her head back as she felt him hardening against her sex.
“I want you,” she said, running her fingers through his hair, “I want you so badly.”
He gritted his teeth as she ground her hips against him. “I know,” was all he said.
His fingers moved up under her dress. They squeezed her bottom, kneading the flesh. He pulled her sex harder against his member. She could feel her wetness dampening her panties.
Again, he kissed her neck. His lips were hot on her flesh, and she arched her neck out for him. His lips travelled down to her cleavage, leaving a wet trail be
hind. His hips grinded against hers.
She needed him inside her. All that was between her tight wetness and his hard shaft were a few layers of clothes.
“I need you... I need you...” she kept saying to him.
Her hand moved down between them as she lifted her hips up enough to squeeze her fingers down. She massaged his shaft, feeling her juices flow as he hardened even more at her touch.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Landon let go of her bottom. He undid his belt and pants, pulling down the zipper.
“Yes...” Charlotte said.
She slipped her hand down into his pants. She found him there, already long and stiff for her. She pulled his member out of its confines as he snagged her panties with one finger and pulled them to the side.
Charlotte shuddered as she lowered herself down onto him. Her tightness parted around his member as it entered her. She moaned as she felt walls stretch, letting him in deeper and deeper.
All that electricity in her body seemed to flow down into her sex then. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she lifted herself up along his length, then let herself drop back down. Landon grunted as the tight grip she had on him pushed down on his member, bunching the skin back.
He seemed to feel her energy, too. His fingers grabbed her bottom again, lifting her up. They moaned each other’s name as she continued sliding up and down him. She could hear how wet he’d made her, and how much she’d already soaked his shaft with her juices.
“It’s so big...” She told him, putting her lips to his ear.
She nibbled on his earlobe, and he swelled inside her.
“Yes... Yes!” Charlotte said.
He thrust into her harder and harder. He’d let himself go completely, not holding anything back. Their flesh slapped together as he filled her again and again.
“Landon... Landon...” Charlotte said.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders. She could feel herself becoming tighter around him, gripping him as hard as she could. The energy in her seemed to concentrate in a ball. Tendrils of electricity flicked up her spine, down into her legs, out into her fingertips.
She screamed his name as the ball expanded to encompass her entire body, lighting up every nerve in her climax.
