by Ravenna Tate
“I hope you don’t think you’re setting an example for each of us,” said Kane, his voice full of humor.
“At least I don’t have to travel to another city to see you get married,” said Blaine. He, too, was smiling. Blaine Parker owned Clear Channel Industries, which distributed media and music content via subscriptions for roughly half the cities in the world. Of all of them, Blaine was the one they’d easily vote most likely to never settle down.
“Might do you some good to watch a wedding in person,” said Addison. Addison Carlyle owned Carlyle Imports. His company employed most of the procurement teams that went above ground to search for items their customers wanted. Because his losses were so high, he charged a fortune from his clients and kept twenty percent of the fee even if the team didn’t make it back with the item. His contract for each item was ten pages long.
Ace took all this good-natured ribbing with a triumphant smile on his face. Emmett had never seen his friend look so damn happy, and decided he wanted to look that blissful one day, too. He glanced toward Liane, who looked like she wasn’t sure what to make of the men. When she caught him watching her, he winked and she smiled. Surely that was a good sign.
“All right,” said Emmett, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s get down to business.”
“Before we go any further,” said Dominic, “I have some exciting news. Merrick has found Rob Marin.”
Emmett waited while the excited chatter reached a crescendo. Merrick Anderson was Dominic Greco’s lead IT specialist. He’d been instrumental in helping them finger Rob to begin with once Harper noticed the similarities in her work for Ace.
“What do you mean he’s found him?” asked Kane.
“Bastard is using a different moniker, only it’s too damn close to his prior one,” said Dominic.
Harper had discovered Rob’s username, “Snake Man”, all over the message boards once the connection was made. Then Ace’s lead IT specialist had discovered the dumbass used it as part of his systems’ passwords. Not too bright. Because Rob had been on Ace’s hacker team, he had access to more than one system inside the company, and he’d used the same password for each of them. Again, not an intelligent move.
“Now he’s using Anaconda Dude, and is bragging about how he fooled Ace for years, and then slithered away.”
Ace snorted. “Slithered? Not quite. He was fired. He didn’t leave voluntarily. Dude’s not too smart, is he?”
“For a hacker,” said Dominic, “no, he’s not. The chatter around his comments is others basically telling him to stop drawing so much attention to himself. This is perfect because the names posting to him are ones we can now focus on more than others.”
Emmett cut his gaze toward Liane. “Then his will be the first name we enter in our new database. Liane, would you like to show the guys what you’ve come up with and explain how it will work?”
She gave him a look filled with gratitude, and his heart gave an odd lurch again. As he watched her present the database to his group of friends, he realized how intelligent and articulate she was, and he was even more impressed with her. She was so comfortable and sure of her design, and fielded questions from the group like an expert. He could tell from the looks on his friends’ faces and from the tones of their voices that they were also impressed with her.
After Liane finished, the presentation moved on to each of them sharing their updated list of names, and then the meeting was over. They were in Emmett’s office and he knew that no one would disturb them, so he turned off his monitor and pulled Liane onto his lap.
“I am so proud of you.”
“Are you now?”
“Yes. Very. Although I do think you were flirting a bit with Dominic.”
She laughed, and her face colored. “Can I help it if he kept calling my work awesome?”
He knew she hadn’t been, but it was so damn much fun to tease her that he played along with it. “No, you can’t help that, but you didn’t have to keep addressing him by name and using his company in every example.”
“Well, he is very good looking.”
“Oh, I see how it is.” Emmett’s dick was rock hard. He glanced toward the closed door to his office, and then pushed the intercom for Tania. She answered in less than one second. “Please be sure that Liane and I are not disturbed for any reason, Tania.”
“Yes, sir.”
Emmett didn’t give a shit that Tania sounded pissed off. Tania could go and work for someone else if she didn’t approve. Emmett scooted Liane around until she was over his knees, and then he lifted her skirt. “I think you should come to work without panties on from now on.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Seriously.” He pulled them down, and she moaned in such a sexy way that he nearly came in his pants. Glancing around his desk, he realized he’d have to use his bare hand. “Must remember to bring a paddle to keep in this office,” he muttered.
“Excuse me?”
“A paddle.” Emmett smacked each luscious ass cheek hard, three times in a row, alternating. “For when you flirt with my friends in meetings.” She yelled and tried to squirm away, but he held her down with his free hand, and pinned her legs with his right thigh. “Tania will hear you.”
She giggled. “I don’t care.”
“Well I do.” He spanked her three more times on each cheek, and now her cries sounded more like moans than any from real pain. Emmett was ready to lose it. She was enjoying this, and he couldn’t wait to get her home later and use a strap and a flogger on her. “Have you learned your lesson?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Oh, lord. He was only a man. This girl had no idea what she did to him. “We’ll continue with it later at my place, but you might not be walking tomorrow.”
“Then it’s a good thing I can work sitting down.”
“Oh, Liane. You will regret teasing me.” Despite his hand stinging like a bear now, he swatted her again, harder this time. Her soft sexy whimper pushed him close to the edge, but he was having too much fun to stop now. He’d have to hang on a bit longer because he enjoyed watching her like this.
He smacked her ass slower now to ease the sting on his hand. Each swat produced a fresh moan from her, and when he slipped a finger underneath, her pussy was soaking wet. “Liane, have you learned your lesson yet?” He couldn’t take much more, but at the same time this was more decadent than anything he’d done in a very long time. He didn’t want it to end.
“For now I have.”
Oh God! “Meaning what?”
“Meaning I think I might forget it again later.” That sultry, teasing voice! Where had she been hiding this wanton seductiveness?
He caressed her pink ass cheeks, imagining what they would look like later after he’d warmed them up with a flogger and punished them with a leather strap. Would she really let him do that? He also wanted to tie her up. The thought of that made his cock throb to the point of pain, so he helped her stand and then pulled her close.
The look of lust and adoration in her eyes took his breath away. She was so into this, and he couldn’t have asked for more. He kissed her, shoving his tongue into her mouth roughly and pulling her closer still so he could grab her lovely ass. He was going to fuck her in there later. He had to possess all her holes. He wanted her entire body and her soul.
When he released the kiss, he took his dick out of pants and told her to bend over the desk. She glanced toward the door once more, but he placed two fingers under her chin and turned her face toward his. “We won’t be disturbed, and you’ve earned this, bad girl. It’s part of your punishment.”
He gave each ass cheek a hard swat, and she groaned again, her eyelids fluttering. The lust on her beautiful face was like nothing he’d ever seen. “Now bend over that desk or I will find something in this office to paddle you with, and you won’t be able to walk back to my apartment.”
“Yes, Mr. Radcliffe.”
Oh my lord! He nearly came again. She bent over the des
k, and he pushed two fingers into her pussy from behind, grateful she was so wet because he had no lube here. He’d have to rectify that situation as soon as possible.
Emmett pushed up against her ass and sank his cock into her, crying out loudly as her pussy walls contracted around him. She was coming already. Oh my God. This woman was every damn fantasy he’d ever had, rolled up into one stunning body and clever mind. How could he help but want all of her?
Emmett pounded into her, oblivious of where they were. He didn’t give a shit. She felt so damn good he couldn’t hold back his own cries, and when he came, it was loud and proud. Her pussy still hadn’t stopped contracting, and her own cries were now down to whimpers and soft moans. He reached underneath and played with her clit until her orgasm finally ended, and then he pulled out.
“Stay here,” he said, panting. “I have a private bathroom. Be right back.” He’d have to keep those wet wipes or something in his desk if he was going to fuck her in here routinely. When he returned, she was where he’d left her, and she smiled at him with so much tenderness in her eyes that he nearly came again.
He gently cleaned her with a warm cloth, and then handed her a towel so she could dry off. When they were both as clean as they were going to get, he pulled her close and kissed her. She melted into his embrace, and he knew he needed to knock off early and return to his apartment, because he was ready to fuck her all over again.
“Get your laptop and anything else you need to work remotely. We’re working from my apartment for the rest of the week.”
She stared into his eyes for long moments, and he held his breath. “Wish I hadn’t bothered renting my apartment.”
“We can fix that.”
She laughed, but it came out as more of a nervous sound than a happy one. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m moving too fast for you, aren’t I?”
“Well, it’s never happened like this for me. I don’t know what to think right now, or how to react.”
Emmett caressed her face. “Me either. That’s the point, Liane. I never do this. Never. I date woman, I fuck them, and once in a while they spend the night with me. I don’t ask them to bring along what they need to work from my apartment, and I don’t fuck them in my office on my desk. I’m actually a very private person, and I’m not uncomfortable being alone.”
He watched the emotions cross her face as she digested his words. “So what’s different about me? How can you know you want me around that much already? We met two days ago.”
This time he laughed nervously. “I wish I knew. But it doesn’t matter. I always trust my gut. Always. And my gut tells me I need to be with you all the time.”
She still didn’t look convinced, and he reminded himself again of what she’d been through. She’d lost her entire family. Then an attorney, whom he intended to find, had blackmailed her into having sex with him, so she could take care of a shitty mess of legal issues for her deceased family, and for the two who had survived. No one should have to go through half as much.
He was moving too fast. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him or enjoy him, but this was nothing like she’d ever experienced before, and he had to keep that in mind. But what if it was him? What if she simply wasn’t as attracted to him as he assumed she was? Maybe she was merely overwhelmed and felt she couldn’t say no to him?
Feeling like the biggest fool on the planet, he sat her on the edge of the desk and stood in front of her, one hand on each shoulder. “Okay. True confession time. Before you answer my question, you need to know two things. I want the absolute truth, and your job is still intact regardless of what you tell me. Okay?”
“Okay, but you’re kind of scaring me.”
He smiled slightly. “No, baby. It’s me who’s terrified right now.”
“Of what? Emmett, you’re so damn intense.”
“Yes, I am. This is who I am. Here’s what I need to know.” He took a deep breath. “Do you find me attractive?”
She opened her mouth and gave him a look filled first with incredulity, and then humor. “Are you kidding? You’ve got to be joking. Emmett, are you out of your mind? Of course I do. You’re gorgeous. Seriously. How do you not know that?”
He’d been told that by many women, but coming from Liane it meant more than it ever had. “Thank you.”
Concern filled her face. “Did you honestly believe I wasn’t physically attracted to you?”
He sighed out loud. “I’m worried that you’re doing this because you think you have to, not because you want to.”
She shook her head before he finished the sentence. “No. Not at all. I promise you. I’m doing this because I want to. You overwhelm me, but I don’t feel pressured. I don’t feel like I have to do this. Is that what you need to hear?”
“Yes.”
The muscles in her face relaxed. “Now it’s time for me to confess something to you. Until we had dinner last night, I wasn’t sure I was going to let you seduce me. I didn’t want to be just one more woman you had conquered.”
He took a deep breath and gave her shoulders a squeeze. Coming from anyone else, that comment would have ended the relationship, and quickly. Hearing Liane say it brought home how shallow he’d been for so long. He had no idea what it was about her, but she made him want to be a better person. It was crazy. He’d known her less than seventy-two hours, and yet it was right and real. He felt it in his soul. “You’re not another conquest. You never will be. That’s not what this is.”
“How can you know that?”
“I told you. I don’t know, but I feel it in here.” He placed a hand over his heart.
“Have you said that to another woman before?”
He shook head. “No. Nothing like that. Never.”
A slight smile played on her lips. “Emmett, this is crazy. I am so attracted to you I can hardly believe it. So okay. I’ll stay at your place for a few days and we’ll see where this leads us, but I want the option of moving back into my own apartment to stay open.”
“Yes. Absolutely. I won’t stop you. Thank you!” He picked her up and twirled her around, and then he kissed her again. When he released her mouth, they gathered their laptops and anything else they’d need to work, and walked out of the building holding hands. Emmett felt like a teen in school again, on his way to a movie with a girl he’d been crushing on forever.
He would have Liane. All of her, body, heart, and soul. She was his. He’d claimed her, and that’s all there was to it.
Chapter Nine
Liane’s head was reeling by the time they picked up some things from her apartment and returned to Emmett’s place. She wasn’t sure what to believe, but she did know he wasn’t using her nor did he intend to hurt her. The man was so damn intense and overwhelming, but he was also charming, romantic, and just dominant enough to fuel her desire.
She didn’t feel like she was being steamrolled. Rather, she liked the way he went after what he wanted without acting like an arrogant jerk. She’d been wrong on Monday. She’d mistaken his confidence and determination for arrogance. She saw that now. The fact that he’d had to ask her if she found him attractive, and was worried she was having sex with him because she felt she had no choice told her more about his character than anything she’d learned so far in a bio or on a website.
She had really enjoyed the way his friends teased Ace about his upcoming marriage. It was obvious from their interactions on the video chat that the twelve were close and had been for a long time. It was also apparent how much they liked and respected each other. She was honored to have been invited to sit in on their meetings, and was determined to do a superb job on the database so she didn’t disappoint Emmett or any of his friends.
The sex was insanely erotic and amazing. It was almost too good to be true. He was so skilled she hardly had to do anything except enjoy it and learn from him. Simply walking side by side with him now as they approached his building sent her arousal through the roof again.
She’
d never met anyone like Emmett, and she’d never given this much of herself willingly in such a short time. Even with Keith it had taken them months to actually make love. And Connor didn’t count. That had not been consensual. This was. What she’d done with Emmett had not only been consensual, but every delicious, decadent act was something Liane was more than willing to do.
When they reached his apartment, Emmett led her straight upstairs. He tossed their laptop bags on a chair and then pulled her into a tight embrace, crushing his mouth against hers. She parted her lips to let his tongue inside, and moaned deep in her throat as he assaulted her with a kiss that set her entire body on fire.
He tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled it, forcing her head back as he deepened the kiss. She could hardly breathe, but she wasn’t about to stop him. Her pussy was soaked, and her clit throbbed. When he finally released her mouth, he nearly ripped her clothes trying to get them off. She tried to undress him at the same time, and soon they were both laughing at their combined efforts.
Emmett took a step back, panting. “Let’s undress ourselves. Quickly. I can’t even think right now let alone manage buttons and zippers.”
She nodded, unable to voice words. Her mind was focused on one thing only. Having him inside her again. She peeled off her clothes, letting them fall where she stood, and he did the same, his gaze melting her with its intensity and lust.
He just stood there, eyeing her naked body lazily, even as his shoulders rose and fell with the effort of breathing. Liane was out of her mind. She whimpered softly, stretching out her arms toward him, silently begging him to take her.
Emmett moved toward her and cupped her face roughly. He pushed his tongue inside her mouth again, then eased them both onto the floor. She cried out in pleasure as he fastened his mouth on one nipple, then the other, biting them and sucking them without mercy. When he spread her legs and licked her pussy, she came with a blinding intensity that took her breath away. Before it even came close to finishing, he sank his dick into her wetness, crying out loudly as he filled her to the brim.
