by M. S. Parker
It had only lasted a few minutes, the drama outside still playing through. A discreet knock at the door reminded me that I still had something I needed to deal with.
“Yes?” I grimaced as I pulled out. Fortunately, the paper towel Aleena had brought out for my hand was enough to clean me. She headed for the bathroom to take care of herself.
It was Amber and I had no doubt she knew we hadn’t merely been taking care of my hand. Still, she kept her voice professional. “Um. Mr. Murphy would like to know how you want him to deal with Mr. Pence?”
I considered asking if killing him and dumping the body in an alley somewhere would be an option.
Sighing, I glanced at Aleena as she came out of the bathroom. Her face was flushed, but she looked otherwise collected.
She nodded at me that she was ready and I opened the door. She followed me out, keeping a professional distance between us.
Coolly, I stared at the man who now stood cuffed between two uniformed guards, then turned my gaze to my head of security. “What are my options?”
4
Aleena
“So it was that easy.” I stared at the wall. I rubbed my temples and murmured, “It almost feels like cheating.” I’d had a headache since Mitchell had been led out of the office, and it hadn’t let up even after we’d gotten home. I’d thought eating would help, but it hadn’t.
“It’s not cheating.” Dominic sat behind me his arms wrapped around my waist. We’d settled on the couch after a simple dinner of last night’s leftovers, my body automatically leaning into his. He made a low noise in his throat as he skimmed his lips up my neck. Then in a wry voice, he added, “And I wouldn’t call it easy.”
The bruise blooming on his cheek was still faint, but it would be live and in full color come morning. I’d given him ice at the office, but he’d taken the first blow on his cheekbone, the second on his jaw and the entire side of his face had been swollen. “I still can’t believe he hit you,” I said, shaking my head.
“Twice,” he reminded. “I let him hit me twice.”
“He still hit you and you still let him. Twice.” I sighed, confused. “Why?”
“It made sense.”
Slowly, I rubbed the base of my neck. This so wasn’t helping my headache. “Okay. Just how do you figure it made sense to let him hit you?”
He took my hand and dropped it on my lap. A moment later, his fingers were massaging my neck, then working up, under my hair, to my skull. That did help my headache.
“Because I know guys like him.” He sounded smug, but kept up the massage. “I couldn’t just outright fire him, not the way things were. He might’ve tried to sue, claiming I’d never intended to really hire him, that I just did it to seal the deal and intended to fire him for some made-up reason. He thought he had me over a barrel. But once he’d been made aware of the company policy and signed the contract agreeing to it, I had a legitimate reason once he fucked up. I knew he wouldn’t go quietly though, so I had to apply a bit more pressure. He attacked me. He got two punches in and then I defended myself. I have him on assault. That’s going to look really bad on his record. He can either let this go and I’ll be quiet about it.” He shrugged. “Or I can get ugly about it. Which one do you think is going to work out better for him in the long run?”
Good grief. I shook my head. “You know, this corporate America world? It’s a lot more cutthroat than I would have thought. And I never thought it was all cuddly bunnies.”
“I can give you cuddling if that’s what you want.” He ran a hand down my shoulders and across my stomach, then up to palm my breast. His fingers sought out my nipple and began working it to a stiff, throbbing peak.
“That…” My voice hitched. “That’s not cuddling, Dominic.”
“No.” He tugged again, sending jolts of pleasure straight through me. “But it can lead to it.”
He continued to toy with me, teasing my nipple through the thin cotton of my shirt and bra. Staring hard at the flickering television screen, I tried to focus on whatever it was we’d started watching. I couldn’t even remember. He liked to play these games, stroke me and work me to a fever pitch while we talked about work or some mundane things.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “Do you think this is going to affect things with Devoted?”
The images flickering on the screen made no sense and my breathing was beginning to sound terribly loud as he flicked the tip of his tongue against my ear.
“No.” He curved his free arm around my waist and pulled me more firmly against him. I felt his cock against the small of my back. My pussy throbbed and I started to press my thighs together to relieve some of the tension.
“Don’t.” Dominic’s voice was firm.
Groaning, I dropped my head back onto his shoulder.
He pinched my nipple hard and I gasped.
He went back to discussing business. “They shouldn’t have messed with Eddie. They knew he and I were talking. Had they left him alone, then I would have left them alone. They made their bed. Now they can lie in it. Besides, I doubt they’d want to risk looking bad for an asshole like Mitchell. I might not press charges, but enough people know what kind of man he is. Word will get around.”
He began to unbutton the plain cotton shirt I’d put on when we’d gotten home. Underneath, I was still wearing the black silk bra I’d worn to work. I was no longer wearing matching panties since those had been soaked. For some reason, I’d decided not to bother with them at all when I’d traded my skirt for a pair of comfortable leggings.
I stared at his hands as he freed each button. The sight of his hands baring my skin was painfully erotic and once more, I went to cross my thighs, hoping to ease the ache building there.
“I told you, don’t.”
“Dammit, Dominic!” I put my hands on his thighs, my nails biting into his skin through his dress pants. He hadn’t changed his clothes other than removing his tie.
“I want to see your pretty tits, Aleena.” He made the comment in the same tone of voice he would have used if he’d been telling some guy behind a counter that he wanted to look at a watch. The same tone I’d heard him use at a restaurant when deciding on the red wine instead of the white.
It shouldn’t have been so fucking hot.
He skimmed his hands from my breasts down to my waist and said softly, “There’s a brunch on Sunday. For Trouver L’Amour.”
“I know.” I rolled my hips back against him. I wanted him inside me. I didn’t care that I’d had him only a few hours ago. I wanted him. Now.
“I’d like you to come.”
He could have thrown a bucket of cold water in my face and it would have had less effect. I tensed, and his hands stilled. Slowly, I started to pull away. He let me go and I rose, crossing to stand in front of the window. I needed some distance.
Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself and stared outside. Twilight was falling over Central Park, but I couldn’t appreciate the beauty of it. An ache tried to choke me, drowning out the pleasure I’d just been experiencing.
I should’ve been happy about this, but I couldn’t be. I was still dealing with the humiliation from the last party. Hell, screw that. I was still dealing with the humiliation from dealing with his mother and Penelope on a regular basis. Dealing with Mitchell Pence.
I was still struggling to deal with all of it.
And I hadn’t even told Dominic that there was more.
Lately, people at Trouver L’Amour and some at Winter Business Holdings were beginning to look at me oddly. I’d been hired as his personal assistant, hired to run his personal life. While that coincided with his business life, I was more involved in those things than I used to be. No one told me, but I knew Fawna hadn’t spent so much time at work with him, and certainly hadn’t attended business functions together.
People were beginning to realize we were involved.
And earlier today, he’d had me up against the door of his office in Trouver L’Amour.
I’d been too
aroused, too caught up in him to think at first, but later, I wished I had told him to stop. If Amber didn’t know for certain before, she’d certainly figured it out today, and I doubted if the security guards had bought my lame excuse of tending to Dominic’s hand. It didn’t matter that I’d only meant to give him the time he needed to cool off. What mattered was what had happened and what people were thinking of it. Of me.
Forcing myself to speak, I asked him softly, “Why are you asking me?”
For the longest time, he didn’t answer, and I began to wonder if I wanted him to.
Finally, he sighed. His voice was just as quiet as mine. “Because I want you there.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.” Shivering again, I rubbed my arms. The touch of skin against skin startled me and I looked down, realizing for the first time that I was standing there with my shirt and bra open. I didn’t even remember him opening my bra. I quickly fixed it, closed the front clasp and hurriedly did up the buttons on my shirt. “I don’t have to go. It’s a business function and you’ll have a million people there asking questions and passing you cards. Basically, you need your assistant, but Amber’s your assistant for the business, so she should go. But if you’re asking me…” I shook my head, not wanting to put words in his mouth. I needed to hear them from him. “Dominic, why do you want me there?”
Tension rippled under his voice and I could hear the frustration as he replied, “Because I don’t want my personal assistant there. I want to be there with the woman I’m involved with. I want you there, Aleena.”
“And if I don’t want to go?” I sounded terribly small when I asked. I felt terribly small. I knew he could hear my reluctance and I didn’t want him to think it was him, especially after I’d pushed so hard for proof that he wasn’t ashamed of me. I just didn’t know if I was up to doing this again already.
“Then you don’t go,” Dominic said. He said it simply and calmly and there was no anger in his voice. “I can’t force you to go and I would never try. But I want you there and I don’t want you there as my assistant. I want you there as the woman I’m dating, Aleena.”
My throat was tight. I thought about the way Penelope always looked at me. The way Dominic’s mom looked at me. As if I’d somehow fucked my way into a life I didn’t deserve. I thought about all the sidelong looks I’d been receiving over the past week. Penelope and Mrs. Snow weren’t the only two who thought it.
“People know about us,” I said abruptly. I turned to face him as I spoke, wanting to see his reaction.
He made a dismissive gesture. “Do you think I give a fuck?”
“I care.” Crossing my arms, I took two steps toward him. “I don’t want people thinking I got my job just because you’re fucking me. I don’t want people thinking you put me in this position because you wanted an easy piece of ass.”
He rose from the couch, coming forward in a slow, lazy prowl. Fire danced in his eyes and I could see the anger I’d incited in him. He reached up and caught my chin, his grip almost painful. “Then go with me.”
It was a dare. I could see it in his eyes.
“Let me show them what you are to me.”
He backed me up against the window, his arms moving to cage me in. In the way it always did when he was near, my heart began to race. My skin overheated and I could barely breathe. Love and lust swept through me. He was a drug, an addiction and the need for him went straight to my core.
He bent low and pressed his lips to the delicate skin at the base of my throat. “Come with me, Aleena,” he challenged me. “Let me show them what you are to me.”
I couldn’t have said no if I tried. Mute, I nodded.
I was helpless as he began to undo the buttons I’d just done up. The shirt fell away and my bra joined it a few seconds later. He made a noise like a growl when he pulled off my leggings and found me bare underneath, the sound making me instantly wet. When he straightened, I reached for his shirt, but he caught my hands with his.
“No,” he said. “Not tonight.” He kissed the tops of each hand.
I made a sound of frustration, but he just laughed. When he swept me up in his arms, I caught my breath. “What...” Swallowing a nervous laugh, I asked him, “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to show you what you are to me.”
“Am I allowed to talk tonight?” I asked as he carried me into the room. Not one of our bedrooms, but the room we used when he wanted to tie me up. I often found it ironic, how much he loved restraining me considering how he tied me up emotionally as well.
He stood me on the floor near the bed. “You’re allowed to talk,” he said, answering my question.
He walked around me and cupped my breasts from behind. I could feel the brush of his clothes against my bare skin and shivered. With a soft chuckle, he tweaked my nipples, hard enough to hurt and I cried out, arching into his touch. I still didn’t understand why my brain was wired the way it was, craving the thin pricks of pain that melted into pleasure, but I didn’t need to understand it, as long as I had him.
“You’re allowed to moan.” He skimmed his hands down my torso to my hips, his fingers not quite brushing against the thin curls that covered my pussy. “You’re allowed to scream.” He nudged me toward the bed and I let him maneuver me onto the slick silk. “You’re allowed to beg. In fact, I encourage it.”
I lay face down, my nipples hard and throbbing as they pressed into the cool sheets. He fastened the leather restraints around my wrists, the interior fur soft against my skin. I was thankful he’d thought of that because, as much as I loved being restrained, I didn’t want to go to work tomorrow with marks on my wrists. When he moved to my legs, he pulled them far apart, exposing every inch of me. Because of my height, and binding my hands close to the headboard, he had to extend the foot-post restraints as far as they would go before he could fasten them around my wrists.
When I was spread out before him and vulnerable, he bent over me and whispered, “You’re allowed to come. As often as you want. Just know that I won’t be stopping until I’m done.”
Fuck. I hated when he teased me and made me wait, but I had a feeling this was going to be almost as torturous. I was usually ready to pass out after two orgasms.
He boosted my hips up and my breathing started to hitch as he shoved a wedge between my hips and the mattress, elevating my ass and taking some of the pressure off of my shoulders and chest.
“Do you remember what I told you I wanted to do to you?”
A thrill of excited fear went through me. “You’ve told me a lot of things.”
His thumb traced the seam between my ass cheeks. “This was something specific. Very specific. And I think you know what I’m talking about.”
The bed squeaked as he pulled away.
When he returned, I twisted my head around, trying to look at him, but I couldn’t turn far enough. The sheets beneath me had been cool, but they were hot now. My entire body was hot, burning, craving...I was scared of what was coming, but at the same time, I wanted it. At first, I’d thought I wanted it only because Dominic did, but I realized now that I wanted it for me.
Something cool and wet dripped on my asshole and I flinched.
“Relax,” Dominic said gently. He placed a hand on the small of my back and made soothing circles. “I’m just getting you ready.”
“Are you…?” my voice cracked. I didn’t think I was ready for this yet. I wanted it, but I wasn’t ready.
“Not tonight, Aleena.”
I wasn’t sure which was greater, my relief or my disappointment.
“Tonight,” he continued. “I’m going to ride you.”
The words brought hot, blatant images to mind, but I still wasn’t sure. He pushed his finger inside my ass and I gasped at the sudden pain.
“Push down,” he instructed.
I squirmed and tried to twist away instead. I didn’t know where I thought I’d be going, only that I wanted to get away from that intruding finger.
/> Immediately, he spanked me. Hard. The shock of it brought tears to my eyes.
“Did you hear me?” he demanded, his voice firm.
“Yes, sir,” I managed.
“Then do it. Push down and take it,” he said, pushing the tip of his finger against my ass again.
I whimpered…and then gasped, because when I did what he’d said, a delicious, hot sensation raced through me as his finger penetrated me. He withdrew and then pushed forward again. This time, it didn’t hurt. There was still a slight burn, but it didn’t feel any worse than the place on my ass where he’d spanked me.
“That’s my girl,” he murmured. “Let me have you.”
I didn’t tell him that he already did. Body, mind and soul. I was his, whether I wanted to be or not. And right now, I definitely wanted.
“Such a good girl.” The hand on my back slid up my spine and back again. “Letting me fuck your ass with my fingers. I’m going to use something else tonight, and then, I’ll give you my cock.”
I barely heard him as I moved tentatively back against his finger, not just letting him do it, but helping him. When he stopped, I mewled and twisted, trying to bring him back to me.
He held me still with one hand on my hip. “I’m going to give you something bigger than my fingers now.” His voice was ragged, raw.
I nodded. I’d forgotten to be embarrassed, forgotten that good girls weren’t supposed to like these sorts of things. All I cared about was him and what he was doing to me.
He pushed something blunt and thick against me and I made desperate little thrusts back with my hips, trying to bring it inside me despite the burn as it began to stretch me.
“Slow down, baby.” He kissed the base of my spine as the object opened me wider. “Take it easy.”
Easy? He expected me to take it easy as he pushed something bigger than two of his fingers into my ass? It hurt, but it filled me and I needed that right now. He kept his hand on my hip, controlling the steady, agonizing movement until my body was shaking and he was done. I waited for him to move it, to do something to quench the ache inside me.
