by Loki Renard
She shot him a resentful, rebellious glare.
“This doesn’t have to be this hard,” he said gently. “And it doesn’t have to hurt this much either. All you have to do is settle down and stop trying to find ways to get around me.”
Maybe he was right, but Ellie wasn’t ready to surrender yet. Her butt might be bright red, but her spirit was still intact.
Daniel sighed softly and sat back on the couch, shaking his head down at her. He looked incredibly handsome in that moment, if not a little tired. His jacket was slightly askew from his exertions, the buttons on his shirt pulling open here and there to reveal the hard plane of his abdomen. He was lucky he was hot. It was enough of a distraction for Ellie to keep her behavior in check
“Have you eaten yet, pet?”
Ellie shook her head.
“Good,” he said. “I ordered Chinese on the way over. It should be here soon.”
Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rang.
“Wait there,” Daniel said. “Don’t move.”
Ellie feigned obedience by doing as she was told as Daniel went to the door, collected the food, and then made his way to the kitchen. She could hear the sounds of porcelain on porcelain as he found some plates. He was going to serve the food. Kind of sweet, in a way. If she were not kneeling on her rug with her ass throbbing, she might have found it endearing.
He came into the lounge with one plate in his hand and a silver bowl in the other. Ellie did not cotton on to what was happening even when he put the bowl down on the floor in front of her. She looked down at the chicken chow mein with a modicum of confusion, which was cleared up when Daniel sat on the couch, fork in hand, plate in lap, and proceeded to eat.
“What the fuck, Daniel?” she inquired bluntly.
“Misbehaved pets eat on the floor,” he said. “Out of a bowl. Oh, and Ellie… no hands.” He spoke seriously, without a hint of amusement or even a simple acknowledgment that what he was asking of her was humiliating.
“You expect me to bury my face in my food like a dog? Daniel… no…”
“If you’d behaved yourself, we’d be eating at the table,” he said. “But you didn’t. So this is how you eat.”
“No,” she refused flatly. “I’m not a dog, or a cat. I’m a person.”
“I know you’re a person,” he said calmly. “But you agreed to be my pet, and you knew that came with certain consequences. Now eat your dinner, and perhaps I’ll allow you up on the couch.”
She stared at him, her neck and face beginning to blaze almost as red hot as her ass. He spoke with such calm, firm conviction that it almost sounded as though what he was requesting from her was perfectly reasonable. She was his pet and she had been naughty, so she was to eat her dinner from a bowl. Ellie glanced down at the food and for a brief moment, considered doing as she was told. Even the idea of it made a bolt of humiliation rush through her. She felt hot tears beading at her eyes at the notion.
“I can’t, Daniel,” she said in watery tones. “I’m sorry, I know I agreed, but this is too much… I can’t.”
He caught her panic and put his plate aside, leaning forward to pick up the bowl. “Come here, pet,” he said, motioning to the spot between his feet.
Ellie shuffled into place, her entire body suffused with the heat of embarrassment.
“This is all a bit much for you, isn’t it, pet?” He ran his fingers through her hair with surprising tenderness.
“Yes,” she said. “It is.”
“Let me help you.”
Ellie had no idea how he could possibly help her, but she watched as he reached into the bowl, picked up a piece of chicken, and held it toward her mouth. “Open, pet.”
Eating from his fingers was bad, but it was not nearly as bad as having to put her face in a bowl and raise her hot spanked ass to the sky as she had dinner. Realizing that he was truly being merciful—as much as Daniel Treville was ever merciful—Ellie let her lips part enough to allow him to slide the chicken into her mouth, her tongue taking the morsel and lapping along the length of his fingers at the same time. The intensity of the moment, the primal nature of being fed by her master, the look in Daniel’s eyes all combined to make her clit tingle with excitement.
“Not so bad, is it?” He gave her a kind smile and picked up another piece of chicken. This she took from his fingers without hesitation, suckling along the length of his digits as the heat that had begun with humiliation turned to something much more pleasurable.
“It’s a pretty spoiled pet who has to be fed piece by piece by her master,” Daniel purred. “But you are spoiled, aren’t you, Ellie?”
“Yessir,” she agreed quickly. The ache of her spanking was retreating to a sense of tender warmth, her clit was zipping with energy every time Daniel’s fingers slid into her mouth, and her mind was somehow fuzzy, almost as if she were intoxicated on submission. All her rebellion, all her misbehavior was being subverted into a sense of well-being as she finally allowed Daniel to take charge as he desired, but there was still a part of her that stood petulantly apart from the experience, shaking its head and silently upbraiding her for being such a pushover. She mentally quelled that part, telling that it would be satisfied soon enough.
“Good girl,” he said, giving her warm praise that put a little smile on her face even as a secretly deviant light danced in her eyes. The chow mein was good and though Daniel had won the battle, the victor of the war was still very much yet to be decided. She had something up her sleeve that would certainly disabuse him of the idea that he controlled anything at the company, much less her, and all the hand-fed pieces of Chinese food in the world would not change that.
Chapter Six
Ellie was nervous. It had been a very long time since she’d felt nervous at work. Success on success meant that nerves had died a long time ago, but standing in her office, preparing for her next meeting with the board, Ellie could feel butterflies dancing around in her stomach.
Daniel was not going to be happy with what she was about to say and do. He would probably punish her afterward. That thought made her simultaneously nervous and excited—neither of which was an ideal emotional state for what she was about to do.
It wasn’t real. None of it was real, she told herself. It was all a game Daniel Treville was playing with her, a power play. She couldn’t let it cloud her judgment, or interfere with the way she worked.
She sat in her chair, gazing out over the city, her mind full of thoughts that had nothing whatsoever to do with the running of the company. She could almost feel the leather on her skin, the taste of it in her mouth, pulling taut as he exerted his will on the reins. Soft blushes passed through her body, waves of memory making her tingle all over.
“Don’t get distracted, Ellie,” she reminded herself in a soft murmur. “This is a game, and all games can be won. Let him have his fun. You concentrate on keeping control of the company.”
Daniel’s changes were coming into effect companywide, which Ellie was starting to realize was less of a problem than she’d initially imagined it would be. He was so focused on his pet projects that he didn’t seem to notice that they were on the verge of acquiring several new companies, none of them that might be considered squishy and friendly, all very profitable.
Standing from her desk, she gathered her materials, smiling to herself. Daniel would not be happy with the outcome of her day’s work, but that was his fault for having his head in the clouds. She was about to call Stacy and ask her to bring coffee for the meeting when the door to her office swung open and Daniel came striding in, the muscles in his face taut with a grim expression.
“I’ve just gotten briefed on your presentation,” he said crisply. “Ellie, I forbid you to put these options before the board. They are not in keeping with the direction this company is going in.”
“You forbid me?” She laughed in his face. “Daniel, you can do a lot of things, but you cannot forbid me to do my job. I’ve been working on these deals since long before you ca
me into the picture. We’re talking several percentage points of growth here…”
“No,” he said flatly. “We’re not. We’re talking about a disobedient little minx who smiles in my face and then goes ahead and does whatever she wants to do.”
His eyes were hard with annoyance. Ellie was somewhat pleased to see that she’d gotten under his skin. It made her feel as if she had some of her power back.
“What did I tell you about the new focus for the company?” He continued the lecture in sharp tones.
“You go make your little papier-mâché lampshades,” Ellie said. “I’ve got to present these options to the board.”
“They’re not options,” Daniel said flatly.
She sighed, frustrated. “You may not have noticed with all the décor you’ve been doing around the place, but this is a multinational company and we have more to worry about than what paper stock we use. While you’ve been weaving baskets, I’ve been making sure the company stays profitable.”
“Ellie, I am telling you that this is a very, very bad idea.”
“I don’t have bad ideas, Daniel,” she spat, irritated at his lack of belief in her.
“Oh, you’re so arrogant you think everything you do is right by merit of the fact you’ve done it?” Both brows were raised now. “Ellie, sometimes your ego is…”
“…what, half the size of yours?” she snapped at him. “I don’t have time to squabble with you, Daniel. I have a presentation to give.”
“You’ll give that presentation with a sore little butt,” he added, wrapping his hand around her arm. “I can’t believe you, Ellie, trying to sneak not one, not two, but three high-pollution enterprises under the umbrella.”
“They’re not high pollution, they’re high profit,” Ellie bit out, pulling her arm out of his grasp. “And you’re not going to spank me, Daniel. This is my job. If you don’t like it, you can make your case in the boardroom. Or are you too scared to face me on equal ground?”
The insinuation that he was somehow frightened of her made him stop. He put his hands in his pockets, smirked down at her, and nodded. “Very well, Ms. Jones. We’ll do this your way. Though I caution you, the spanking would be less painful. I must strongly advise you to scrap this presentation. It’s not going to go the way you think it is.”
He was trying to bluff her, but it wasn’t going to work. The boardroom was her home turf, and however rich he was, he was still little more than a shareholder. He didn’t have sway over absolutely everyone in the world.
“You don’t scare me,” she informed him.
“You scare me, Ellie,” he replied grimly. “Your inability to listen is seriously concerning.”
Ellie was done arguing. Daniel didn’t know a damn thing about the way she did business, and he certainly wasn’t respecting her professional position. She stormed past him, the battle cry of her heels clicking on the marble floor following her all the way to the elevator.
All fifteen members of the board were already assembled when she got into the room—plus one, of course. Daniel had ensconced himself at the rear of the room next to Tim Lear, the head of the board. She noticed the moment she walked in that all the board members seemed more distracted than usual, their greeting slightly less effusive.
Used to being hailed as the conquering hero, Ellie found their lukewarm reception slightly galling, but she made up for it with her own enthusiasm.
“We’re here to discuss the acquisition of three companies, two of which run oil rigs in various marine locations, and one of which is an independent refinery in the Sudan,” she said. “All are trading below independent valuation thanks to certain market forces.”
“By market forces, you mean the recent oil spills that toxified miles of ocean,” Daniel interrupted smoothly.
“We see this as an opportunity to cut out the middleman and have the raw materials for a vast range of products, from plastics to skincare, under our control,” Ellie continued, ignoring his interjection.
“…and the civil war in that region of the world, that’s having a negative effect on prices too. I wonder how stable a refinery in a war zone is,” Daniel mused aloud.
“There is such a thing as security,” Ellie replied calmly. “We have an agreement with the Sudanese government to…”
“You mean with a dictator,” Daniel said grimly. “My apologies, do carry on, Ms. Jones. Have you managed to literally cut a deal with the actual devil in any of these negotiations? Or is that next on your agenda?”
A small ripple of amusement went around the table. The board didn’t know what was going on between Daniel and Ellie, but they were enjoying it nonetheless.
“This is how business is done, Daniel,” she snapped, losing her cool. “We will achieve capital for these ventures by raising revenues in the pharmaceutical sectors…”
“In other words, gouging grannies for their arthritis medications,” Daniel sighed. “Ms. Jones, this is all highly unethical. Frankly, I’m disappointed.”
She looked at the board members and saw to her horror that Daniel’s little asides were actually having some kind of effect. Usually their eyes would be lit with the prospect of profits, but in the presence of the charismatic Mr. Treville, their opinions were being swayed. The final straw came when he actually had the audacity to take the meeting over entirely.
“Allow me to propose a different course of action going forward,” Daniel said, taking the laser pointer from her hand. “I have a few ideas of my own, if you’d all be so kind as to indulge me.”
What followed was half an hour of a complex, incredibly detailed business plan to change the direction of the company altogether. It wasn’t about wicker in trays or recycled paper. It was about investing in several key new areas, all of which were sold as the way of the future. Solar power, wind farms, investments green tech, many of which were already showing solid returns.
Through her horror, Ellie was impressed. His numbers added up. His pitch made sense. And the board knew it. They were smiling broadly at one another, a tangible air of excitement passing through the room. Daniel had managed to not just sell his idea, but inspire the staid members that his path, though groundbreaking and therefore risky, was the right way to go.
Apart from it all, Ellie maintained a stiff smile, barely holding her rage in check. She had not seen a single piece of the plan Daniel had just unveiled. He’d blindsided her. Now their conversation before the meeting made sense. He’d planned this all along—deliberately made her look like not just a fool, but an archaic, untrustworthy fool at that.
“May I speak with you, Mr. Treville?” She gave him an icy look and a strained smile. Her temper was at a peak; she was just barely managing not to explode at him for his treachery. Fortunately, he agreed to speak somewhere more private with a gracious, “Certainly, Ms. Jones.”
They adjourned to a small office nearby, where Ellie proceeded to tear into him furiously.
“You blindsided me in there!” She hissed the words at him. “You fucked me, Daniel.”
“You fucked yourself,” he replied without any kind of sympathy. “I’ve been warning you about these changes since I got here. You deliberately kept yourself out of the loop. And it’s come back to bite you on the ass.”
“No, you bit me on the ass,” she said, furious. “You could have told me about this.”
“I have been doing nothing but trying to tell you,” he replied. “You’ve been too busy with your own little plots and schemes to pay attention. The entire presentation I just gave has been sitting on your desk for two weeks.”
“…Oh.”
Daniel’s moment of double triumph was interrupted by Stacy.
“Ms. Jones? The board members are asking to see you again. Privately.”
“Good,” she said, looking at Daniel. “Maybe now I can fix what you just fucked up.”
Ellie left Daniel in the office and made her way back to the boardroom. The moment she stepped through the doors, she knew that all was not we
ll. The board members wore strained expressions, most of them avoiding eye contact as she stood at the end of the table and waited to hear what they had to say.
“We like Mr. Treville’s vision for the future,” the chairman opened. “It’s original, it’s forward thinking, and it involves diversity that will be good for the company long-term.”
“Mr. Treville’s plan may look good on PowerPoint, but in the real world, it’s very risky,” Ellie tried to explain. “There’s such a thing as being ahead of one’s time—and it’s not a good or profitable thing.”
“We don’t think he’s ahead of his time. We think you might be behind the times.”
Ellie stared at him. She was young, hot, driven. It was impossible for her to be described as anyway behind the times.
“Mr. Treville is almost two decades older than I am,” she pointed out. “I don’t think I’m behind the times.”
“Age isn’t everything, Ellie,” the chairman said. She detected a certain note of paternal condescension in his tone, which drove her wild. Before Daniel had walked in the doors, none of them would have dared speak to her that way. The balance of power had shifted, and Ellie did not like it one bit.
“Well, Todd, neither is sucking a billionaire’s dick just because he has a vision for bunnies and grass skirts.”
“Ms. Jones!” A sharp voice went up from the other side of the table, and a round of gasps greeted her crude comment.
“Well, you’re pathetic, the lot of you,” she continued. “I bet there’s not a single one of you who even remembers what he said. You’re so keen to get in bed with him you’d sell your grandmothers to him for organic fertilizer.”
She knew she should not be saying what she was saying. She knew the words she was directing at the suits in chairs were really meant for Daniel, but the floodgates had opened, the red mist had descended, and for the first time in her career, Ellie told each and every one of them what she truly thought. Every little tension, every buried slight, every nasty little comment she’d ever restrained came pouring out in one curse-laden tantrum, which did not end until she ran out of words and breath at the same time.
