The sappiness of the moment crested, and then they laughed it off. Darcy shook her head and took out a three-ring binder. “Let’s get to work. Mom and Dad’s thirty-fifth anniversary is in three months. I rented that place in downtown Ann Arbor where Dad proposed. It’s still there, and the food is so good.”
__________
After lunch, Darcy trudged the three blocks to the building that housed Victor’s headquarters. Six weeks ago, she’d thought she was finished with that place. While she adored Victor and she appreciated how he had been there for her when she really needed someone, just going into the building made her tense and edgy. It always had.
It didn’t help that Amy had been right. She wanted Theo to read her mind. More than that, she wanted him to live up to his end of the bargain. He had promised to push her boundaries. While he had done that a little, he hadn’t done it to the extent she’d thought he would. Perhaps it wasn’t fair to expect more from him at this point in their relationship, especially since she wasn’t quite in a place where he could push her without feeling like an ass.
Whether she liked it or not, her needs were changing, evolving into something more compatible with Theo and less like the woman she had been with Scott. A pang of guilt rocked through her, and she struggled to squelch it before she got to the Snyder Corp building.
At least Scott had known about the case of nerves she got every time she had to meet with Victor. Somehow just having him know made it easier to face. She hadn’t burdened Theo with this aspect of her neurosis. This was something she wanted to conquer on her own. Plus she didn’t have to meet with Victor today.
She shook off the disquiet agitating her stomach and pulled the front door open. The heavy glass moved easily, due more to springs or hydraulics than the presence of significant arm muscles. Theo was in this building, no doubt buried in the basement making slow progress on the system that would process the grant structure Darcy had built.
The thought of him so near soothed her, even as she wished to hell he would hurry up and finish building the site. Victor was paying him for the job, not by the hour. He wasn’t going to make any more money by taking longer.
But then again, she didn’t know much about programming. Theo was no slouch when it came to computers. He’d completely debugged her entire system. It had taken him a few days, but now her computer ran faster and more efficiently. He’d even written protocols to make the programs she needed automatically open when she booted up each morning.
She berated herself for impatience and schooled her features to be as placid as possible. Dealing with Victor required she draw upon her reserves to maintain poise. Though she didn’t have an appointment with him, he knew she would be in the building today. Knowing Vic, he would find a way to meet with her. A glance at her watch showed she had an hour before she had to be on her way to her pitch session with the new client.
Signing in at the desk, she glanced up at the security guard and gave a warm smile that froze when she saw that creepy man who had been at the conference. Victor had said this man, Halter, worked on his personal security detail.
Halter grinned a greeting. The fact that he had all his teeth surprised Darcy. If she took a step back and took into account only his physical appearance, she could admit he was handsome. He was, physically, better looking than Theo. However his personality seeped through, and he might as well have slime oozing from his pores.
“Good afternoon, Darcy. Mr. Snyder isn’t expecting you today.”
“I’m not here to see Victor.”
He bared his teeth in an imitation of a smile, and she thought she heard a low growl. “Of course. You’re here to see Stevenson. Not a bad choice, that one. If he should suddenly fall out of the picture, you do have other options.”
Prickles crawled up her spine, a million centipedes on the march. “Why would he suddenly fall out of the picture?”
Halter shrugged. “Men leave, darlin’. But not me. I’d never leave a sweet thing like you, not for a second. I’d put you on a leash and take you everywhere with me.”
Darcy recoiled, not sure if he’d threatened Theo or if he sought to elicit certain reactions from her. Either way, she seriously didn’t like Mickey Halter. She decided to face this pig head-on. “That’s never going to happen, any of it.”
Hiking the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder, she strode across the lobby and caught the next elevator. As it dropped, it caught up with her stomach.
The basement office Theo occupied didn’t look like it was housed belowground. The bright, cheerful lighting and decor echoed anything found in the floors above. Darcy barely noticed the absence of windows, though if she had to work in that environment every day, she would begin to see beneath the camouflage and feel closed in.
The door to Theo’s office was open, but she paused in the frame and knocked on the open door. Hidden behind a bank of computers, the top of his dark hair was the only thing that betrayed his presence. Half rising, he peered over the top. He motioned her closer as he said something to the person on the other end of his earpiece.
Darcy wandered to his side of the room, pulling a chair from near the door with her. Theo didn’t keep more than one chair behind the monitors. He rolled his chair from one to the other as he worked on various aspects of whatever the hell he worked on.
Settling into the chair she brought, she waited impatiently for him to finish his call. When the chatter turned to baseball and other small talk, she sent him a pointed look that ended his conversation sooner rather than later.
With the push of his feet, he rolled closer and kissed her cheek. “So what brings you and your impatient toe-tapping to my basement hideaway?”
I wanted to see you. I wanted you to calm me down. I’m hoping you’ve suddenly made progress on that website so I can stop coming to this place. She pushed air out of her lungs to avoid saying most of what she thought. “I came to check over the stuff I gave you to put on the website to make sure it’s right.”
His eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch, and she wondered if she’d come off as bitchy despite her best effort. She chalked her temper up to stress and hormones. There had been whole days when Scott locked himself away from her PMS. She should probably warn Theo.
“It’ll get there exactly as you gave it to me.”
“I need to check it over and make sure it works the way it should.”
He sat back and smoothed his thumb over his lip as he thought. The gesture emphasized the hawkishness of his nose, and she wished he’d touch her lip instead. “Is there something specific that makes you think it’s going to be messed up, or are you here for a different reason?”
Rather than fidget under his discerning gaze, she sprang to her feet. “I’m trying to wrap up this job so I can concentrate on other clients. It would be nice if you’d finish the site. I don’t understand what’s taking so long.”
His lips set hard, and the thumb stopped moving. He gestured to the door. “Close and lock it.”
The look in his eyes should have made her tremble in fear. He never countenanced her attitude for long. To be fair, she almost never came across this badly. She just couldn’t seem to stop the borderline nasty way she spoke to him.
“Theo.” She voiced a protest, but she knew it wouldn’t get her anywhere.
“Now. Unless you’d like anyone walking by to witness what’s about to happen.”
Walking across the room to close and lock a door didn’t take long, but it gave her enough time to put things into perspective. She didn’t have time for a punishment, but she did owe him an apology.
“Theo, I’m sorry for the sharp tone I used, but I have a meeting in forty-five minutes, so I don’t have time for whatever you have in mind.”
He rose to his feet. “You have the time, but not a choice. Bend over the desk.”
She stopped next to him, simultaneously absorbing the strength of his nearness and trying to placate his simmering temper. Then her emotions swung in the other direction,
and she couldn’t resist baiting him. Perhaps he would lose his temper and some of his iron control would slip and he’d push her faster and farther than he’d done so far. She pressed her lips together and issued a warning with her tone. “Theo.”
His hand rose suddenly, and she didn’t attempt to mitigate the way she flinched. He’d never hit her in anger and he’d never laid a hand on her face, so she didn’t think he had slapping her in mind. He was going to fulfill her desire to have his thumb brushing over her bottom lip, establishing his control of the situation.
Fingertips braced against her temple, he drew his thumb over her brow and across her lip. With that simple gesture, tension eased from her shoulders, but it did nothing to placate her desire for more. She tried to remind herself that it wasn’t fair to change her expectations, especially without telling him. “I’m sorry, Sir.”
“It’s all right, sweetheart. You need me and I’m here. I knew you had a big presentation today. I should have known you’d need a spanking. Don’t make me tell you to bend over the desk again.”
She shoved a monitor over a few inches and bent over, resting her torso on the files and other office supplies he had scattered there. He moved an empty, coffee-stained mug.
“Hands above you.”
Stretching up, she curled her fingers over the top edge of the desk. She hadn’t realized how wide it was until the act lifted her hips onto the surface of the desk. Theo lifted her skirt and shoved it up until it bunched around her hips. He yanked her panties down until they fell to rest just above her knees.
She waited in the silence. Cream coated her pussy, not because she expected sex but because she knew he was checking out her ass. If this were an erotic spanking, it would involve lots of petting before, during, and after. Since this was merely utilitarian—to calm her nerves—she didn’t require anything extra.
Of course, Theo wasn’t Scott, not by any stretch of the imagination. Every aspect of their D/s relationship was erotic to him. Would he make her come or would he withhold the orgasm because she had been snippy? The weight of not knowing came out as a mewling moan.
He traced his fingertips over the curve of her ass. The first smack seemed louder than normal, and she realized he wasn’t using a spanking glove. His hand would feel every bit as much of the force as her ass did.
He settled into a rapid rhythm that didn’t allow for pauses between blows. Most of the impact concentrated on her right cheek. She jumped when he pushed his other hand between her legs and eased two fingers into her tightness. Her body pulsed, and her pussy seemed to pull him deeper.
“You’re dripping, my little Painslut. Should I make you come, or should I just take a little taste of this sweet cream?”
“Do what pleases you, Sir.” No matter how badly she wanted to come, she only needed a spanking. Her orgasms belonged to Theo, so making them happen or withholding them was entirely up to him. She whimpered and buried her face in the coolness of the papers on the desk. She tried to widen her stance and entice him with her submission, but the panties around her thighs acted as bindings. Immediately the wetness between her legs increased.
He took pity on her. “I want to hear you come, sweetheart. No biting your lip or stifling those sexy noises you make. I want to hear what I do to you.”
Theo pounded his fingers into her pussy, fucking her hard and fast, and smacked his palm harder against her ass. “Your cunt is so tight, sweetheart. If I had a condom, I’d ram my cock into you. As it stands, you’re going to pay me back. You’re going to come, and then you’re going to drop to your knees and I’m going to fuck that nasty mouth, teach it some respect.”
The heat blooming over the skin of her ass combined with the inferno he generated in her pussy, and the trash talk only ramped up her desire. “Please may I come, Sir?”
“Yes.” He smacked her harder, and he shoved his fingers so deep he lifted her feet from the ground.
She swallowed her scream and dug her fingers into the bottom of the laminate desktop. No doubt she left gouges in the particleboard. The orgasm crashed over her body, sweeping out the tide of nerves as she rode his fingers to completion. He gentled his strokes and used the hand that had been spanking her flesh to pet that tender area.
He drew out her orgasm with every slow slide against her sweet spot. She came down gradually, left with the tranquility of her climax and the sweet heat pulsing over her backside.
“Thank you, Sir.”
“Oh, we’re not finished. You’re going to thank me properly.” The hand that had just stroked a gentle caress over her ass twisted in her hair and pulled. He guided her back until she knelt on the floor at his feet. “Open my pants, sweetheart. I’m going to fuck that luscious mouth and come deep in the back of your throat.”
She fumbled with his belt and his zipper, wetting her lips with her tongue. While she often went down on him, he almost never required she deep throat him. His cock wasn’t too long, but it was thick. It would make her jaw sore rather than choke her as he rammed against her tonsils.
Every word she spoke and every step she took would remind her of his domination, and she would draw strength from that soreness for the rest of the day.
He twisted the hand in her hair harder, and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. Aftershocks of her climax pulsed harder, and her pussy felt the ache of emptiness. She lifted his cock out of his shorts and looked up at him for permission.
“Clasp your hands behind your back and relax your jaw.”
The notion to be naughty hadn’t occurred to Darcy, but now that he’d given the order, she wished he’d just bind her wrists behind her back. Her thighs were weak, and it would be easier to hold his hips for balance, but she followed orders without arguing, trusting Theo to hold her head in place.
He worked his way in slowly, wetting his cock with the saliva pooling in her mouth. She flicked her tongue over his sensitive spots when she could. Theo didn’t waste any time. Once his cock was wet enough, he pounded into her mouth. She would have swollen lips for the next several hours, a visible mark of his affection.
Theo grasped her hair in both of his hands and held her still as he took his pleasure. Darcy wanted desperately to touch him, to caress his balls or grab his ass. She understood now why he had ordered her hands behind her back. In her quest to give him more pleasure, she would have gone for his prostate. It never failed to make him come so hard his eyes rolled back in his head, yet the stubborn bastard fought her on this issue.
Thinking about it made her moan around his cock. He thrust twice more, buried his cock in her mouth, and muffled a shout. Hot streams of semen jetted to the back of her throat.
He sank down on his chair and pulled her closer so that her head rested on his thigh. As he absently stroked her hair, they both came down from their respective sexual highs.
“I have something for you.”
She lifted her head to look up at him. The serenity in his brown eyes made her heart throb with guilt when she realized he took pleasure from a submission she hadn’t truly given. While pleasing Theo gave her a great sense of satisfaction, the tenderness that would remain in her lips and jaw gave her more.
“Thank you, Sir.”
From his grin, she wondered if thanking him had been appropriate.
“Stand up, sweetheart, and take your panties off.”
Her skirt had fallen back down to her thighs while her mouth had been busy with his cock. Without rising from his seat, he took something from his desk drawer. She recognized a length of the nylon rope he liked to use. Its smoothness left grooves in her skin, but it didn’t abrade or chafe.
Wordlessly he lifted her pencil skirt, turning it almost inside out. Then he wound the rope around her waist and between her legs, creating an erotic, knotted thong. Sometimes when he tied a corselet around her body, he left knots to rub in erogenous zones. He did that now with the thong.
“Pay attention, Darcy. If you need to take it off, you only have to untie this knot. It’ll
slide down your legs like underwear. Put it back on the same way you take it off and retie the knot. You can use any kind of knot if you can’t remember how to tie this one. Your jacket should cover the bulkiness.”
He patted the knot he’d made and straightened her skirt. She looked down and realized the binding made it look like she’d gained a few pounds. He’d wound quite a bit of rope around her. With a sigh, she let it go. She’d been that weight before. At least this would come off with the rope, not copious amounts of diet and exercise.
She smoothed her hand over the rope on her waist, feeling it through the layers of her skirt and jacket. Wearing it made her feel more centered than the spanking had. “You knew I would come by today.”
With a tug on her hand, he drew her into his lap. The thong tightened and shifted as she bent, igniting an intimate awareness of Theo.
“I knew you had a big presentation today. I didn’t know if you would need something or if you would try to get through it on your own power.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
Secured in his strong arms, she felt small and safe. Strangely the rope thong echoed that effect. “Is the thong punishment or incentive?”
He laughed. “Maybe a little bit of both. I’ll bring takeout over for dinner tonight and remove the binding.”
The promise in his answer didn’t need to be articulated. Sex and perhaps a flogger or paddle would be in it for her.
“And you can stop worrying that I’m going so slow on this job that Snyder’s going to be pissed. I’ve actually done six other jobs for him. He asked me to put the charity portion on the back burner.”
Cold prickles stabbed the base of her spine, replacing the warmth of their encounter.
“Theo, I’m going to warn you about Victor. He’s been good to me, especially since this thing with Scott. But if you let him, he’ll suck you in and never let you go. He’ll try to take over all your time so that you work exclusively for him, so that you’re dependent on him for all your income.”
Amusement crinkled in the little lines around Theo’s eyes. “Honey, don’t worry about me. Victor isn’t my only client. I know you stuck your neck out to get me this job, and I appreciate your sacrifice. Truthfully you don’t have to do anything else on this project. I’ll let you know when it’s done so you can check it over, and I’ll make sure you can do that remotely.”
Re/Bound (Doms of the FBI Book 1) Page 22
