by Cynthia Dane
Eva looked around the locker room, as if there were anyone else there. She then pulled a piece of folded paper from one of her pockets and put it in Jasmine’s hand. “You’ve got to give this to Nadia. I’ll owe you.”
“What!”
“Shh!” Eva closed Jasmine’s hand over the note. “Come on. Spot me this favor. Like I said, I’ll owe you one. Want me to talk you up to some of the other women I know? I can do that. Maybe get you some invitations… but come on. I’m going crazy! She won’t talk to me!”
Jasmine stared at the now crumpled note in her palm. “Dare I ask what this is?”
“What the fuck do you think it is? Pages from the Marquis de Sade’s diary? Pfft. Hey, though, don’t read it. Seriously.”
“All right.” Jasmine put it in her pocket. “I don’t make any promises about her. She’s made it pretty clear she doesn’t want to date you.”
“I know. That’s why I’m going through you, her friend, and her boss’s fiancée. She’s gotta at least take the note from you, because she sure as well won’t take it from me. I’ve been there twice in two months and she always conveniently goes to y’all’s break room when I’m around.” Eva grunted in frustration. “You know, she didn’t have anything bad to say about that night you caught us stealing the sheets. She even gave me her number, although she ended up blocking mine. What the fuck gives? I never got an explanation.”
Jasmine almost laughed. “You got it bad for her, huh?”
“Have you seen her?”
“A few times, yeah.” Eva would be into the ultra-femme types. The lipstick lesbians, she believed they were called. Nadia definitely fit that description. “Well, if you want to know what she’s told me…”
“Duh?”
“She’s said that you’re too domineering for her. You intimidate her, and she thinks you’re into lifestyle stuff like your brother. She’s not.”
“Well, shit.” Eva sat back, crossing her arms. “I’m not either! That stuff’s fun for the bedroom, but I’m not into stuff outside of it like my stupid brother. Give me that note back. I’ll make an addendum.”
“Oh, no.” Jasmine scooted off the bench, already forgetting the pain on her face. “I’ll take it from here, thanks. Like I said, though, I make no promises. If she keeps telling you no, you need to let her go.”
Eva shot her a look that almost pierced Jasmine’s bruised nose.
She briefly hit the showers, taking ginger care of her minor injury. Jasmine then dressed in her skirt and blouse again, brushed her hair, and emerged in the maw of the gym, where she bade her farewells to the women who had waited there. Gwen and Eva were only half interested in her departure, but Kathryn went out of her way to flash the tiniest smile. Perhaps Eva had said something.
It was a quick jaunt to the Thomas-Cole building – recently renamed as such – from the sports center. Quick enough that Jasmine eschewed the car and walked, hoping that her nose would feel better by the time she graced her fiancé’s office with her presence. She was in luck. Not only was her nose getting over itself, but any traces of blood left on her skin could not be seen. Jasmine double-checked this in the elevator mirrors while the operator watched her from the very corner of his eye.
This place is still kind of a mess. Jasmine was starting to think that every time she came into the executive offices. Before, any hint of “Jackson” had been hastily removed from signage, leaving behind shadowy reminders on the walls and letterheads. Now they were all replaced with Adrienne’s last name, although some signs were taken back down to be tweaked and letterheads were still phasing between Ethan’s name and the dual leadership. It didn’t help that whomever was in charge of making the new sign hanging in front of the elevator had accidentally made the Thomas one size too big, so it looked like it was eating the Cole for breakfast. This probably says a lot.
Nadia was also in transition.
“Good afternoon, Cole Ent… I mean, Thomas-Cole executive offices. This is the office of Ethan Cole. How may I help you?”
Jasmine waited until the receptionist was off the phone before approaching her desk. Amber was also at her desk a few yards away, organizing folders from that morning’s executive meeting. Jasmine did not miss that monotonous work.
“Hey,” Nadia said, slamming a pencil upside down on her desk. “He doesn’t have anyone in there. You can probably go in. If not, tell him you barged in without my say so I don’t get in trouble.”
Jasmine perched on the edge of Nadia’s desk and made sure nobody else was paying attention as she pulled out Eva’s note and slipped it into her friend’s hand.
“What’s this?”
“Don’t shoot the messenger. I owed someone,” Jasmine lied.
Nadia unfolded the note and perused the first few words written in Eva’s flamboyant handwriting. Jasmine caught them as well. “It’s been nearly four months since we…” The note immediately folded again, Nadia’s face turning as red as her hair.
“Remember what I said! Don’t shoot the messenger.” Jasmine pretended that Nadia wasn’t glaring at her. She slipped off the desk and shuffled toward Ethan’s office door. “By the way,” she hissed in Nadia’s direction, “you should really go on another date with her. She’s got it baaaaddd for the lipstick style.”
“What are you trying to say?” Nadia hissed back.
Jasmine put her hand on the door handle behind her. “That she’s still clit-drunk on you. Or whatever the phrase is for you all.” The door gave way, and she disappeared into Ethan’s office before Nadia could come after her.”
Ethan was by himself, sitting at his desk, turned toward the brightly lit window overlooking the commercial district and the river in the far distance. They were close enough to the ports that Jasmine could see a freight ship making its way against the river current. That didn’t keep her attention for long. Her face lit up like the window the moment Ethan noticed her and put his phone back on his desk.
“Aren’t you a sight for these sore eyes?” He held out his hand for her to take when she came over. Her skin slipped against the fine fabric of his suit, her hips and ass thumping against his lap as she landed without a care for his legs – that’s how badly she wanted to be held. “I got hurt at the gym and now I need attention.” “I’ve been thinking about you ever since I left the house this morning.”
“I’m sure. It was either that or think about my naked mother at the breakfast table.”
Ethan’s visage almost turned sour. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have blocked that completely from my broken memory. I’m pretty sure that was you naked. Yes, it must have been you. Naked woman sitting next to me at breakfast? That was my fiancée, not her mother. Yup.”
Jasmine embraced him as well as she could in that position. Ethan had taken the whole nudist thing the exact way Jasmine expected: when he found out, he stood, utterly perplexed, then disinterested in the world around him. His subsequent disappearance into his office to “answer some emails” was really an unelaborate excuse to drink some more. When Luna first walked by him naked, he balked, turning so red that Luna giggled and told him he was too much of a gentleman – but to go ahead and look, of course! When Saul bounded down the main staircase with an extra skip in his step? Ethan went and sat in the garden as the sun went down. It took Jasmine going out there to drag him back in, promising that he was not the only one subjected to her father’s dick flopping around. Belinda was still flabbergasted and muttering about crazy hippies. Harold was the only one completely unbothered. According to Ethan when Jasmine brought this up, the butler had “seen all there was to see in this world already.”
Naturally, there was a discussion about how Mr. and Mrs. Bliss should be fully clothed when guests were over. They understood, but didn’t like it. Otherwise, one could expect to either see Saul or Luna airing it all out on Ethan’s estate. That meant more time in the penthouse for Ethan and Jasmine.
“Are you busy this afternoon?” Jasmine asked, happy to change t
he subject. “I’ve got some stuff for us to look through. As usual.”
“Here I thought you came by to see me.”
“That too.”
“Keep this wedding stuff up and I might think you only want me for my opinions on flowers and silk… stuff…”
Jasmine couldn’t contain the laugh following that. What a man. “I did come by to see you, and to get your opinion on flower and silk stuff.”
“Well, I have a pretty important business call sometime within the next half hour. I suppose we could chat until then. I don’t know how long it will last, though.”
“Then let’s get started!” Jasmine plucked her binder out of her bag and flipped it open to the first page. “How many vegetarian options should we have?”
As the minutes went by, Jasmine quickly caught on that this was a one-sided affair. Usually Ethan offered up more opinions, especially when he was in a more chipper mood like he was right now, but he spent more time being distracted by the fall of her hair, the swish of her skirt, and the movements of her lips than anything else. More than once Jasmine called him out on this, and he admitted to having certain needs that weren’t served on the fly around the office since she left his service.
“Oh, right. This is around the time you would haul my ass in here to fuck you, isn’t it?”
Ethan lazily looked at his watch, then at the clock on the wall to compare notes. “Most definitely. If not fuck you, at least make sure you were earning your keep in other ways.”
The blowjob king. I would have him. Jasmine spent more time on her knees than any other position when she worked as his assistant. Now Amber did all the grunt work without any of the sex benefits. The poor thing… Jasmine almost thought that.
“What are you trying to say?” Jasmine leaned against his chest, the sturdy back of his office chair groaning beneath their combined weight. “That I’m not earning my keep as your fiancée and future wife?”
“I’m not saying that at all.” Nevertheless, Ethan grinned. “But if you’ve got any ideas…”
Jasmine grinned back at him. “I’ve always got ideas.” She kissed him, immediately feeling his tongue push into her mouth. Oh, ho ho! I really need to come by more often! She sort of missed the thrill of fooling around in his office with nobody else any the wiser.
The blasted phone rang.
“Mr. Cole,” Nadia’s voice said over the intercom while the phone beeped and buzzed, “it’s Mr. Hamilton.”
“Of course it fucking is.” Ethan kicked the chair forward, holding Jasmine with one arm while he picked up the phone with the other. “Sorry, my flower. No quickie for us right now. I’ve gotta take this.” He held the wireless phone up to his head. “David,” he greeted.
Jasmine slipped off his lap and cleaned up the few wedding items that had traveled across his desk. She watched her fiancé sit up straight in the middle of his desk, pulling out a pad and paper to doodle on while he discussed company stocks. Jasmine rubbed his shoulders for a little bit before walking away, her eyes happening to catch a glimpse of what was going on in his pants. Well, look at that. Mr. Cole was hard for her at his usual time of day. No doubt if the call hadn’t come through yet, Jasmine would already be bent over the desk like she used to be in those months she worked for him. Occasionally since then, too, if she walked in at the right time. Like today could’ve been.
“Don’t be absurd,” Ethan said, using his no-nonsense business voice. For the longest time, that was the only voice I ever heard him use. Back when he was so shut off from his emotions that he could barely say he liked her with anything but his cock. “The price isn’t going to drop anytime this week. We announced the new product in our tech line. Yes, I’m sure. Next week, though, it will probably drop a little. Nothing to be concerned about. I’m serious.”
Jasmine was going to leave for a while. Give him enough time to have his serious business discussion while she flitted about like she had the God given right to do whatever she wanted in her fiancé’s office. I do. Then she looked at him again, catching the mixture of playfulness toward her and seriousness toward the phone. With his stubble already emerging on his cheek for the day, Jasmine couldn’t help but swoon like the hopelessly in love girl she was.
She put the binder back down on his desk and leaned forward against it. Shirking her light sweater and letting it drop to the floor, she smiled at him, and waited for him to look back at her and notice.
When he did, halfway through mentioning the stock prices of his competitors, Jasmine unbuttoned the top of her blouse and flashed him her cleavage – and the crest of her bra. Ethan’s eyebrows went up, but he didn’t say anything.
See how much you can deny me. Jasmine liked fucking with him. Well, yes, fucking him too, but fucking with him at work had its own rewards. She made sure he appreciated her figure as she continued to unbutton her blouse and pull it open so he had the grandest view of her. Ethan relaxed back in his seat and smugly smiled as he listened to whatever David Hamilton had to say on the phone. It probably wasn’t as interesting as what his fiancée was doing.
Jasmine sauntered over to the office door and made sure it was locked. She then returned, completely removing her blouse and letting it drop on top of her sweater.
Deny me now, sir.
She got down on her knees, careful to not hit her head on the desk. Hilariously enough, in all the months she gave this man head, she never once did it from beneath his desk. It was a little claustrophobic down there, since Ethan’s desk had enough drawers for storage to keep half her clothing in, but she would make it work.
Hello. Her hand rubbed his thigh, happy to encounter the bastard greeting her in return. Jasmine slowly unzipped his pants, occasionally listening to such a dreadfully boring conversation, but for the most part listening to the undertones of Ethan’s voice and the sounds of his body moving against the chair. Jasmine pulled her skirt out of the way as she knelt and kissed her fiancé’s cock through his trousers.
My, what a wonderful man I have here. All sexy in his suit. Taking no prisoners on the phone as he told David they could fuck the men on Wall Street if they thought they were closing with a lower price. Perched at his expensive desk, playing with expensive tech toys, and gazing at one of the best office views in the city. It gave her shudders. If she thought Ethan was sexy in his everyday life, then she had no idea what she was up against when she caught him in the middle of work.
He never once told her to stop or otherwise insinuated that she wasn’t welcomed to take out his cock and give it a tentative lick along the shaft.
The man was already mostly hard by the time Jasmine got to him. If she had left him like she was originally going to, he would have had to take a five minute break in his bathroom. I wonder how many times he has to do that anyway. Once a day? At least every other day? Is he thinking of me and what we used to do in here? Things like this? Jasmine’s scalp grazed the underside of the desk as she moved her mouth along his cock, savoring the scent of his musk and the heat of his skin. She was not disappointed to soon taste what came from the tip.
Ethan had reached his position at such a young age partly because he had the meanest poker face. He never wavered in front of others. He never showed weakness. That meant right now David Hamilton had no idea that the man he spoke to was currently getting a blowjob from his pretty fiancée. I’m the best. Ethan had said so multiple times. Even so, he barely flinched as Jasmine moved her hand around his shaft and took the first inch of his cock into her mouth. She knew he enjoyed it. How could he not? She could barely resist him at this point – she wanted to do this, to bring him pleasure at work, to give him what he deserved for doing what he did best. He put up with so much shit. From her. From work. From his business partner. Now it was time for him to reap some benefits. If it could relax him for the rest of the work day, Jasmine would be content to help.
Yet the more she got into it, the less she counted on his reactions. The man was hard enough to fuck her. Ethan remained still in hi
s chair, however, his free hand occasionally brushing against her head, but for the most part focused on his conversation. Numbers and other figures rattled from his mouth. Jasmine took more of him into her mouth, taking as much as she dared in that haphazard position.
More of his taste hit her tongue. He was tensing up. Pretty soon he would lose all control. That was the best part.
“Hold that thought. I’ll call you back. Something came up.” Yeah, it’s your cock in my mouth. Ethan slammed the phone down and then slammed himself into the back of Jasmine’s throat.
Five seconds later he was climaxing, hard, his anxious grunts hitting Jasmine’s ears the same moment his seed hit her mouth. She swallowed all of him, making sure she didn’t miss a single thing as he remained hard in her mouth. Jasmine didn’t back off him right away. Not even when his grunts came to an end and he shuddered in his seat. Instead, she flicked her tongue against him, opening her eyes and meeting his languid gaze from beneath the desk.
“I’m so glad I’m marrying you,” Ethan said, his sarcasm as strong as ever even when he was enjoying the afterglow of an afternoon fling. “You’re the damned best.”
Jasmine rubbed him lovingly for a few more seconds before backing out from beneath the desk and grabbing her blouse on the way by. “I know I am,” she agreed, standing up and pulling her blouse back on. When Ethan frowned at her, still hanging out of his trousers, she said, “I don’t expect anything in return right now. You’re a busy man, after all.” She rounded the desk and put her hand on him. “Later. In the penthouse. I’ll call my parents and tell them I’m not coming home tonight. You better give it to me good.” She winked at him.
“Least I could do for you taking the time to come by and polish me off.”
“Well.” Jasmine finished buttoning up her blouse and took her leave. “Wouldn’t want you finding your jollies elsewhere, now would I?” It was a joke, but they nonetheless exchanged one last serious look. “See you later, handsome.” Later? Later wasn’t just great. It was fanfuckingtastic, and in the penthouse she could scream as loudly as she wanted.
