by Lolita Lopez
*
Jas cast another glance at her cell as it buzzed across her coffee table. She didn’t even bother checking the screen. It was Cy—again. He’d been calling and texting all week. Since his return flight had landed earlier that morning, he’d been particularly insistent. As her phone sounded with another voice mail alert, Jas experienced the tiniest twinge of guilt. It was Wednesday evening, after all.
Right about now, Jas should have been strung up in one of Cy’s impressive rope ties or strapped to a spanking horse. Instead, she lounged on her couch in yoga pants and a faded tee and studied her lab journals. Reprogramming liver cells to act as islet cells was tricky work even in the best of circumstances, but focusing on her research while thinking of deliciously naughty sex with Cyrus was clearly futile. She set down her work and curled her knees toward her chest in her favorite thinking position.
Was it wrong to cut ties without warning? Did Cy deserve an explanation for her sudden chill? The lonely part of Jas, the side of her desperate for affection—any affection—screamed for her to pick up that phone and make amends. Years of therapy had taught Jas to ignore those pathetic impulses and embrace the logical and emotionally healthy ones. This break was for the best. Jas had finally realized Cy was never going to see her as anything more than a plaything, and she deserved better. She needed something more.
If he wanted her back, Cy was going to have to make one hell of a grand romantic gesture—and mean it. Anything less was unacceptable.
Of course, decisions to end relationships were easy to make. It was the follow-through that threatened to derail her resolve. Watching that phone light up and vibrate was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. But she would. She was determined to stand her ground on this one. Whatever the consequences.
*
Irritation gnawed at Cy’s already frazzled nerves. The columns of numbers on the quarterly report resting on his desk blurred before his eyes. Concentration was impossible. Growling, he roughly shoved the papers out of his way and sat back in his chair. Cy wiped his hand down his face and kneaded his temples. He felt like a junkie in need of a fix, only it wasn’t the white pony he wanted to ride but a deliciously voluptuous Latina a few buildings over.
Cy spun his chair around and stared out the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, looking out over the company’s research and development compound. Directly across the courtyard sat the building where Jas toiled day in and day out on her complex regenerative medicine theories. He could barely understand the simplified abstracts and reports she submitted to various committees for funding approval, but he never doubted her genius.
He could still remember the day a little over a year ago when Jas’ CV came across his desk courtesy of a headhunter. Skimming the cover letter, he’d expected to see the career details of a thirty-something biochemist on the following pages. Instead he’d been introduced to a stunningly brilliant twenty-four-year-old recent doctoral graduate with an impressive list of published papers detailing her solo and collaborative research efforts throughout her undergraduate and graduate years.
Her tenacity had astonished him. She’d entered university as a fifteen-year-old foster care kid, earned her emancipation at sixteen and graduated with a double bachelor’s degree at eighteen. Jas had immediately thrown herself into her doctoral work, focusing on stem cells and even dabbling a bit in bioinformatics so she could craft her own software to serve the complicated technological needs of her research.
That she’d managed to achieve so much with so little support from anyone had convinced him she was worth the risk of hiring despite her lack of post-doctoral work experience. It was a gamble that was already paying off. At the moment, Jas’ progress reports showed her research ahead of schedule and under cost estimates. Professionally, he had complete faith in her.
Personally? Well…
He spun back around and his gaze settled on the far edge of his desk. Without warning, the vision of Jas bent over his desk signing some form or other popped into his mind. That had been the first time he’d touched her. For weeks, he’d spied her from afar and played out naughty fantasies in his mind. When he’d walked into his office that morning and seen her bent over like that, ass in the air, her curves tightly hugged by the black-and-white-pinstripe pencil skirt, he’d lost all control.
In an instant he was behind her, his flattened palm riding the roundness of her full ass. Her sharp intake of breath should have sent him backpedaling and apologizing. But then she’d pressed back against his hand, and he’d just known.
God, he couldn’t keep this separation up a moment longer. Just knowing Jas was so close nearly killed him. It was time to grow up and face his fears. He’d already done his worst. He’d already failed her. But not anymore. Cy was determined to do right by her. He had to see her. Now.
Cy’s mind raced with plausible excuses as he slipped into his suit jacket and left his office. Ben, his assistant, looked up from his computer screen. Cy waved dismissively as he pressed the elevator button. “I’m just popping over to R&D.”
Ben nodded and returned to his work. Cy stepped into the elevator and hit the ground floor button. He made the distance between the lobby and the research building in good time, pausing just long enough to satisfy the obligatory handshakes and small talk with the employees crossing his path. His heart raced as he joined a small crowd of lab techs and scientists in the first available elevator.
When he stepped out on the ninth floor, he was greeted by a sea of employees milling around in front of the elevator bank. He glanced at his watch and noticed it was lunchtime. Cy picked up his pace, hoping not to miss Jas. His heart stuttered as he neared the double doors leading to her lab. What the hell am I going to say?
Flying by the seat of his pants, Cy entered the lab through the automatic doors, his nose immediately registering the various stringent scents of the room. Machines whirred and hummed. Whiteboards mounted on the walls were covered in chemical formulas, to-do lists and safety notes. A few technicians remained at their workstations but the bulk of the lab sat empty.
A middle-aged woman looked up from her powerful microscope as Cy passed her station. “Looking for Dr. Flores?”
Cy nodded. “Is she in?”
“Office. She takes her lunch there.”
Cy thanked the woman and moved forward. He wasn’t surprised Jas took her lunch in her office. By all accounts, she was meticulous with her money. Brown-bagging it seemed right up her alley. As he reached her office, he could see her through the open blinds. She slipped off a pale yellow-and-white-striped cardigan and draped it over the back of her desk chair. Even in her simple coral cotton dress with hair pulled into a messy updo, she left him breathless. Crossing the office, she stopped in front of a small fridge sitting atop a bookshelf. He considered knocking but decided he wanted to catch her unaware.
Heart in his throat, Cy barged into Jas’ office and quickly shut and locked the door behind him. Startled, Jas looked up from the fridge. Her green eyes widened as she tightly gripped a plastic container in her hand. She swallowed hard. A satisfied thrill rippled through his belly. “Put that back in the fridge.”
“What?” Amusement and confusion skipped across her face.
“Put it back in the fridge.” Cy turned his back on her as he twisted the thin plastic rods controlling the slats of the black blinds. With the blinds closed, he walked toward the stereo unit hooked into her MP3 player and increased the volume. He shrugged out of his jacket and placed it on the nearest chair. He heard the fridge door close and caught her gaze as she turned toward him. He noticed the tic in her cheek. Just as he wanted her…
Without a word, Cy sat on the simple wooden chair behind her desk. Any other day he would have complained about the uncomfortable seat, but not today. The chair had no arms and would serve his purpose well. Their gazes clashed and held. The uncertainty and hunger there was unmistakable. Cy patted his lap. “Come here, Jasmine.”
Jas glanced at his legs and then his
face. He thought she might refuse. After a second’s hesitation, she did as he’d asked. Without prompting, she assumed the spanking position, resting the full weight of her body on his lap. Cy’s mouth went dry at the sight of her turned over his knees. He plucked the clawlike clip from her hair and tossed it onto her desk. His fingers ran through her loose black curls. As he surveyed her penitent form, Cy noticed the hot pink and lime green sneakers on her feet. He’d have expected some kind of strappy sandal on anyone else, but Jas was always business and safety in the lab.
When his left hand touched the small of her back, she relaxed into him. He heard a soft sigh escape her lips. Ever so slowly, he pulled up her tiered skirt and bared the pink cotton panties beneath. He cupped her buttocks through the fabric and marveled at the gooseflesh spreading across her skin. Grasping the elastic waist of her panties, Cy peeled them down to reveal the tanned flesh he loved so much. Faint lines still covered her ass from the caning he’d given her more than a week ago. He brushed his hand across her skin, warming it with his palms. Already his cock twitched at the sensation of being in control.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Cy said as his hands kneaded her fleshy cheeks.
“Yes,” Jas breathlessly replied.
“Why?” He waited for her answer but there was none. His left hand came down hard against her right cheek. She wiggled on his lap. Cy smacked the left cheek and then the right again with rapid strokes. Jas inhaled sharply. “Why, Jasmine?”
“I can’t,” she said, strained.
“Can’t?” He slapped her ass harder this time, letting the blows fall multiple times. “Or won’t?”
“Please…”
Cy didn’t pause his spanking. He knew that tone of voice all too well. She wasn’t asking him to stop but to continue. He gave her exactly what she wanted. A hot blush colored her skin where his palm landed time and again. She squirmed and moaned, rocking her pelvis against his thigh. If he slipped his fingers between the silken lips of her sex, he’d find her slick cream waiting for him. She needed him just as badly as he did her.
“Why, Jasmine?” Cy repeated between spanks. “Why?”
A strangled sob tore from her throat. “Because you’ll never love me.”
Cy’s hand abruptly halted in midair. Her painful admission threatened to rip his heart from his chest. Did she really think him incapable of loving her?
He considered his behavior toward her when not engaged in their games or sex…
Of course she’d think that of him.
He’d been worried his love for her would never be enough when all along it might have been just what she needed.
In a few smooth moves, Cy lifted Jas from his knees and deposited her bare ass onto her desktop. Her dress bunched around her waist, her panties stretched between her thighs. Her tearful eyes lifted to his. Overcome with emotion, Cy tangled his hands in her hair and crushed their mouths together. She clutched at his shoulders.
Soon her greedy little fingers drifted to his belt buckle. He needed no other encouragement. He grabbed her panties and yanked down, jerking them over her left ankle and sneaker. Stepping between her thighs, he freed his rock-hard cock from his boxers and lined it up with her slick pussy. Gripping the back of her neck, Cy kissed Jas and thrust inside her, burying himself to his balls in her hot cunt. Stars burst behind his eyelids as he sunk home. Christ, he’d missed this. He belonged right here, like this, always.
There was little finesse to their rough, almost-desperate coupling. Jas clung to his neck, peppered his mouth with kisses and neck with tiny bites as he slammed into her with enough force to shake the desk. He was glad he’d had the forethought to turn up her music. Without the music, her colleagues would probably have their ears pressed against the windows and door, listening to every groan and grunt. Then again, their natural curiosity might have driven them to eavesdropping despite the music.
Fuck them, Cy decided, and continued his breakneck pace. Jas’ hand smoothed down his shaven head. Her nails bit into the back of his neck. The utter trust in her eyes floored him. Sitting there, being fucked on her desk by the CEO, risked her reputation in the worst possible ways. Yet she willingly joined him.
Guilt clawed his belly. The unnatural urge to confess his sins, to wipe his slate clean, surged through him. Clasping her face, he stilled his movements, left his cock buried to the hilt in her wet sheath. Jas whimpered and clutched his ass, pressing him forward. “Please, Cy.”
“Wait,” he murmured against her forehead.
“No. Now, Cy. More.”
Shaking his head, he held her gaze. “I had another woman over last night.”
Anger flashed across Jasmine’s face. Her nostril’s flared. “Did you fuck her?”
“I couldn’t even get hard.” Jas’ face softened at his embarrassing admission. “I sent her away.”
“Away.”
Cy nodded and then pushed his face into her hair, inhaled the familiar, calming scent of lavender. “You’ve ruined me, Jasmine,” he whispered against her ear. “You’ve ruined me for anyone else but you.”
“Oh god,” Jasmine murmured. Her head moved back, her mouth seeking his. They shared a needy kiss, tongues circling, lips sliding. “Fuck me, Cy. Take me. Right here. Make me come.”
His cock leapt inside her. Hands grasping her waist, Cy resumed his mad thrusting. Jas clutched the edge of the desk as he pounded her pussy with his stiff dick. The sound of slapping flesh and wet suction drove him wild. Wanton as ever, she reached between their bodies and massaged her clit. She shivered as her fingers circled her little nub. Her cunt clenched at him. At the first ripple of her orgasm, his sac tightened. Jas shuddered and gasped as she rode out the powerful waves. He slammed into her once, twice, and then growled as his cum shot down the length of his cock and spilled into her.
Cheek to cheek, they shook and panted. His knees threatened to fail so he leaned against her for support. The soothing caress of her fingertips against his neck relaxed him so deeply he thought he might fall asleep. Pulling back, he kissed her softly. “The things you do to me, woman.”
Jas smiled and kiss him back. “If you only knew what you do to me.”
“I have an inkling,” Cy playfully replied. He plucked a few tissues from the box on her desk and used them to minimize the mess as he pulled out of her.
Jas wrinkled her nose at the wet sensation and he laughed. She swatted at him and rolled her eyes as they cleaned up and righted their clothes. She helped him smooth his shirt and buckle his belt. As she fixed her hair, Jas realized she didn’t feel even the slightest hint of regret. Whatever had happened between them only moments ago had changed something.
Everything…?
She waited for Cy to say something, anything. He stood in front of her and touched her face gently. “Come over tonight?”
“Tonight?” Jas asked in surprise. “But—it’s Thursday.”
“I know. I want you to come tonight.”
His honesty shocked her. Still, she needed to hear it. She needed to know. “Why?”
“Because I need you,” he answered simply.
Flutters shook her belly. “All right. Tonight.”
Cy grinned and kissed her forehead. He slowly backed away and left her leaning against her desk. He turned down her music and grabbed his jacket, slinging it carelessly over his shoulder. She watched him unlock the door and open it slightly. He glanced over his shoulder. She’d never seen him look so vulnerable, so needy. Jas sent an encouraging smile in his direction. He gave her a playful wink and left.
Jas sank into her chair, feeling suddenly weak and inexplicably excited. A satisfied smile curved her lips. Apparently absence did make the heart grow fonder.
Chapter Three
A vibrator buzzed and leather creaked as Jas fought to maintain her balance. Forced into a semi-fetal position by Cy’s bonds, she hung suspended from the ceiling in his bedroom, only her toes touching the rectangular wooden stool placed beneath her. If she rocked her weig
ht by just the tiniest fraction of an ounce, the fat leather straps circling her waist and sitting across her breasts bit into her skin even worse. She did whatever she could to keep her balance on the stool in a desperate attempt to lessen the bite of the bondage by shifting some of the load to her burning calves. Another set of straps looped around her thighs. Connected to a heavy-duty steel ring via a series of ropes, those four straps bore most of her suspended weight. A rope threaded through her braided ponytail and hooked to the same ceiling ring kept her head neatly in place, chin up, eyes forward.
More straps bound her wrists to her ankles and upper arms to the sides of her thighs, just above her knees. Clothespins pinched each side of her pussy, the lips pulled wide open with twine threaded through the tiny holes in the wood and tied to the ankle straps. A fuchsia plug sat inside her anus, prepping her for whatever deviant act Cy had in mind for later.
Sweat glistened on her skin. Her pussy juices ran down her inner thighs. Cy, naked and bronzed, had already begun his sensual torture. Earlier she’d been bound with her wrists above her head, feet nearly flat on the ground as he’d flogged her breasts and belly and pussy. The heavy thud of the wide cowhide alternated with the sharp slap of the bullhide warmed up her skin and put her in the right state of mind for the night. A rosy hue still colored her flogged skin.
Before he’d strung her up, Cy had warned her the position would be one of the most trying she’d yet experienced. After their last caning session, Jas thought she knew something about discomfort but this was on a whole new level. And she absolutely fucking loved it.
After their week’s separation, Jas’ return to Cy felt strangely like a homecoming. To be tested like this made it even more special. Even in her current predicament, Jas couldn’t squash the amused grin tugging at her mouth. Bizarre as it sounded—and probably looked—this thing between them was simply right.
That all-too-familiar clench in the pit of her tummy tugged Jas out of her contemplation and back to the present. Cy held the ball-shaped vibrating wand against her clitoris. For the last few minutes he’d forced her through a cycle of near orgasms and then complete denial of stimulation. No matter how hard she begged, he refused to give her the release she needed. Presently, he rubbed the vibrating ball back and forth against her swollen clit. “Please,” she begged. “Oh god, Cy! I’m going to come. Please!”
