I took a sip of cold coffee and got back to work. It was fascinating reading through the potential matches the field psychologists had already made, checking if people’s kinks were compatible. In the case of submissives and dominants or masochists and sadists, it was fairly clear-cut and depended mostly on personality balances. But not everyone fit into one category or the other. I noted a few matches on my notepad that could use an extra pair of eyes to be sure the matches really were compatible. Their kink checklists coincided, but some people seemed hesitant to go into detail about one thing or another in their interviews.
Sometime later, Cyrus cleared his throat. “What are your plans for lunch today?”
I hadn’t really thought about it. Probably maxing out my credit card to buy something since I’d rushed home yesterday and ordered speedy delivery on several pairs of heels and four more skirt suits since I only owned two. Luckily today was Friday, and the shoes and suits should be delivered tomorrow.
“I don’t have any plans,” I admitted.
“You’re welcome to have a working lunch with me out in the courtyard,” he said. “I usually get a sandwich from the deli downstairs, and they haven’t killed me yet.”
I smiled. Lunch with the boss didn’t seem like a thing employees usually did, but he did need my help. He said the company was almost three weeks behind schedule, and no way would I turn him down for a lunch date on my first day. Not a lunch date. Lunch.
“I’d love to.”
The courtyard, nestled on the outer edge of the ground floor, turned out to be something from a fairy tale, with a wide open space shaded by junipers and weeping willows. A fountain gurgled on top of a hill, and a waterfall poured out of it and into a little pond. Tables and chairs dotted the lush grass, some of which were already occupied by strutting birds.
We took our sandwiches and drinks to a table near the pond.
“It’s like an oasis out here,” I said, taking a seat.
He watched me closely as he sat. “This is where I come when I need air.”
“It’s a good thing there’s a lot of it out here.”
“I suppose so.” He smiled, brief but genuine, and the effect on his face hitched my breath. It softened his eyes and lit them up at the same time, relaxed the worry lines in his forehead. He was handsome no matter what he did, devastatingly so, but especially when he relaxed enough to be in the moment.
We got to work on our laptops while chowing down on our sandwiches, and it felt comfortable, more than in his stuffy office, anyway. I didn’t notice the silence between us until after I’d scarfed my food.
“Ready to go back?” he asked, gathering up the trash.
Birds twittered over the sound of the waterfall and rustling leaves, pretty much answering the question for me.
“If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll stay a little longer,” I said.
“I don’t have a problem with that at all.” Without making any further move to leave, his gaze flitted up to catch mine over his laptop.
I held it for a long moment, not sure why I did, but now I was unable to tear myself away. My blood thrummed faster with each passing second. A throb began to pulse low in my stomach.
“Ms. Blevins,” he said softly, breaking the spell.
My cheeks flushed, but I pretended I hadn’t just eye-fucked my boss. “Yes, Cy—I mean Mr. Robinson?”
“It’s probably none of my business,” he started, “but should I be concerned about your fluid intake?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. No man had ever been concerned with my fluid intake before, and it was…unexpectedly sweet.
I waved toward my almost full bottle of Diet Coke. “It’s this quirky thing I’ve always done. I always have a drink nearby while I’m working on something, and then when I reach a certain point, I take a drink. Or a lot of drinks, depending on the scenario.” That had probably sounded like I was a drunk, but that wasn’t what I meant at all.
“Delayed gratification.” His voice sounded like a growl, sinking the pulse in my stomach lower.
Heat spread over my thighs. “Or a reward system, but…yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Yes. It keeps me motivated to keep working on whatever it is I’m doing.”
He fell silent, his gaze on his laptop, while he rubbed his thumb and forefinger up his chin to his lower lip and back down again. Stroking that shaved-clean strip of flesh. I imagined following that same path with my tongue and sucking his lip into my mouth, freeing his hands to stroke me instead.
I blinked back at my screen, not sure I’d ever be able to focus on anything other than that fantasy for the rest of my life. It was reading about people’s detailed kinks that was turning me into a hornball, not my boss. That had to be what was happening here.
A slight smile played across his lips as he watched me. I sure hoped he wasn’t a mind-reader.
“I realize it’s only your first day, but any chance you’d be willing to stay late today to help catch us up on our backlog?” he asked. “I would pay you overtime and a half if you’re able to, even just for an hour or two.”
My eyes widened. Overtime and a half pay? On top of what I was already making?
“Not a problem,” I said in a rush. “I can stay late.”
“You don’t have any plans?”
Did crying over my money situation count? “Not tonight.”
It hit me then that I would be all alone with him, after hours, sorting through people’s sexual kinks while I fantasized about all the things I would let him do to me. The thought grinded my thighs together. His gaze dropped to my lips briefly, and I had to wonder if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Is it time for a reward yet?” he asked with a sly gleam in his eyes.
Lord, I hoped so.
4
Cyrus
Stop thinking about her naked. Stop thinking about her naked. Stop thinking about her naked.
I thought about Addie’s lips instead, how they would feel as I licked, sucked, and tasted them, all while peeling off her clothes so I could see her naked. My dick, already saluting for attention after our flirty exchange in the courtyard, pressed painfully against my pants.
I was a masochist for seating her so close to me, both of us on opposites sides of my desk back in the office, but the way the setting sun colored her hair a golden brown became my reward system, as she’d put it.
After finishing the Kansas City branch’s growth chart for the investors on Monday, I allowed myself to look up at her for a few seconds, taking in the speed her eyes tracked across the screen on the laptop, the frown puckering those full lips, how effortlessly gorgeous she was. A few seconds was all the reward I needed, or at least that was what I tried telling myself.
Most everyone had gone home about an hour ago, leaving us all alone. It was wrong that this should excite me. She was my employee, just hired, for fuck’s sake, and the last thing I wanted to do was scare her off. Yet the lower the sun sank behind me, the harder my dick became.
She sat back and tipped the last drops in her water bottle into her mouth. Her throat moved gracefully as she swallowed, tucked behind the collar of her shirt and jacket. She was wearing entirely too many clothes.
“You’ve just run out of your reward,” I said, forcing myself to snap out of it. “If that’s your sign to leave, it’s no problem.”
She swiped her tongue across her lower lip, the simple movement like a summons to my cock. I needed to get control of myself. I half wanted her to say she was leaving, and half of me didn’t.
“I’m moving along at a good clip, I think,” she said. “After a few more hours, we should be all caught up.”
“Don’t feel you have to do it all tonight. The last thing I want to do is wear you out on your first day.” That was a lie. I did want to wear her out by fucking her senseless. No, not until she knew the truth about my role in her running away when she was seventeen. No, Jesus, no. Not even then. She was my employee. There would be no fucking.
“I’ll stay as long as you do,” she said.
Damn it. My dick jumped up for a high-five, but I ignored it. “Well, then. We’ll need more rewards. How about some food?”
She smiled. “For starters, sure.”
For starters? What did she have in mind afterward? Probably not the exact same thing I did, no matter how hard I tried not to. I glanced at the bottom drawer of my desk, my fingers curling over the armrests of the chair. If the evening progressed to what was inside, that would be the greatest reward, indeed.
Except the evening would progress with work. That was it. Work relationships of any kind could lead to drama and lawyers, and even if they started out mutually, they could end with one or both people out of a job. I didn’t want that for Addie. The only time kink.club allowed dating in the workplace was if the couple was matched by them.
Addie wasn’t my match. I didn’t have one.
I ordered Thai food from a place down the street, and we ate at the coffee table, without our laptops, since Thai was hard enough to eat with two hands.
“Do employees usually sign up for kink.club?” she asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
“Employees can, but it doesn’t mean they get special perks like being officially picked or being moved to the front of the waiting list or a discount or anything like that. I guess you could say we’re pretty stingy about that particular benefit.”
She grinned. “But you do have a nice courtyard which makes up for it.”
“That we do.” I frowned down at my shrimp and noodles. “Addie, I—Ms. Blevins…”
“Ah,” she said, pointing with her chopsticks. Her whole face lit up. “I’m not the only one who slipped.”
I chuckled.
“You can call me Addie or Addison. Really, it’s okay.”
Was it, though? That formality put up a wall between us, but now was the time to tear another one down. I supposed the easiest way to do it was to just decimate it.
“Addie, I was the one who ratted out your dad to my dad about being late for the closing. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
She blinked. “What?”
“I was the one who got your dad fired from the law firm.”
She tilted her head, studying me, her face unreadable. “I don’t think so, Cyrus. He had a hangover. He was sleeping it off. That’s why he was late for that closing argument. But if that hadn’t gotten him fired, it would’ve been being late for the opening statement of the next trial.” She shook her head. “By that point, he was already on a downward spiral.”
It was a weight off my shoulders, but learning that didn’t make me feel any less horrible about the situation. “I didn’t realize he had already started drinking at that point. He kept it hidden.”
“Well…” She set her chicken fried rice on the coffee table. “Not from me, he didn’t.”
Word had it that he’d started using Addie as a punching bag, and that was why she’d left. The thought of him hurting her, someone so innocent, made me see red, when all I wanted to see was her safe and protected. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to escape him, but I’d always blamed myself for her running away. I thought I had caused her dad’s “downward spiral,” as she’d put it, when I got him fired.
I cleared my throat and reached for my shrimp and noodles again. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s good to talk about all the things on our minds.” She smiled, a soft, thoughtful one that I couldn’t look away from. “Which reminds me, if I did sign up for kink.club.com, I’m not sure what my kinks would be. Do you have any favorites?”
I choked into my fist but quickly collected myself. Well, I had told her to not be afraid to ask questions. I just hadn’t expected that one, especially with my mouth full.
“Uh, well…ever heard of Shibari?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m sure I read that one in the match reports, but I don’t know what it is.”
“For some, it’s rope bondage. For others, it’s art.”
“What is it for you?” She sat back in her chair, casually unbuttoning the buttons on her jacket. It wasn’t a sexual movement, but it sure hit me as one.
I shifted in my seat, hardly able to hear anything over the rush of blood between my ears. “Who I bind to me is a blank canvas, and I hold the rope almost like a paintbrush. It’s a beautiful thing.”
“And the person who…” She tugged at her collar, revealing flushed, perfect skin underneath. “The canvas. What is it like for them?”
“From what I’m told, they often get what’s called rope drunk. The rough fibers on the rope rubbing against skin creates a sort of high from the sensations. So I’m told.” I shrugged. “I’ve never been tied up myself.”
“Interesting.” She grinned, and there was something so devilish about it that it put an urgent strain in my pants.
“It is interesting.” I held her gaze as the perfect rope technique for her body formed inside my head. Rope bra down over her nipples then weaved into a crotch rope, and a frog tie to make her kneel. A technique that would never happen. “Ready to get back to work?”
“I am. It got kind of warm in here, didn’t it?” She took off her jacket, and the air conditioner chose that moment to come back on again. As soon as the cool air hit her chest, her nipples tightened and pressed through the fabric of both her bra and her white shirt.
I bit down on a groan, unable to look away from her round tits that begged to be fondled. If I kissed her flushed neck, I bet her skin would be scorching hot, ready to be made hotter by just a little rope burn.
Calm down. What was she doing to me? She seemed hot and bothered by all the talk of Shibari, so if her removing her jacket was an act of seduction, I was totally fooled. Or totally a fool.
“Some water will cool you down.” I rose from the chair and crossed to the mini-refrigerator so she wouldn’t see me adjust my rigid cock. Just a stroke to ease some of the pressure. Fuck, I might have to go to the bathroom just to jerk myself off.
I came back with two waters in hand, strategically placed so she couldn’t see the tent in my pants. She took one, a grateful smile on her lips, and pressed it to the side of her neck, pushing the collar of her shirt aside. Moisture dripped down her front, clinging her white shirt to her chest.
A sound like a growl came from inside me. My water bottle swung to my side, forgotten, until I remembered what it had been hiding.
Her gaze skimmed downward and her blush deepened. “I think you just leveled up our reward system.”
5
Addison
I tried not to look at his crotch again, but it was pointing right at me.
Whatever was happening here, I liked it. When he’d described Shibari rope binding, the idea of it had drenched my panties, especially coming from his sensual mouth. I knew this was wrong. He was my boss. Things would get awkward and invariably end with me out of a job again. But I’d never been so turned on in my life. My heart throbbed for him as it always had, and the rest of my body echoed it back from right between my legs.
“Addie…” he started, his voice raspy, and he shook his head.
I knew exactly what he was going to say, but I didn’t want to hear it. Not right then.
His cell phone chimed from inside his pocket. He slipped it out, glanced at the screen, and then did a double-take. When he lifted his gaze again, his eyes became dark, hungry flames as they licked down my body and up again. I quivered, hardly able to breathe. A change seemed to have come over him, like he’d suddenly reconsidered, and was now thinking about a sensual promise.
For me.
I set the water bottle down and crossed toward him, toward exactly what I needed. As I drew nearer, his lips parted. He swept toward me, dropping his water bottle, and when our bodies came together, he covered my mouth with his. Our tongues stroked and explored as I rubbed up against his hard length. He fisted one hand at the back of my head and grazed the other down my back, then traced across my rib cage to my che
st, igniting everything along the way. I moaned as I pressed into his palm, my nipples aching for his touch.
“Tie me up,” I begged between his searing kisses.
He pulled away, his chest heaving, and raked his hand through his dark hair. “We… It’s your first day.”
I knew what he meant, but it struck me as funny anyway. If it were my second day, it would be okay?
“I don’t want to hurt you again, Addie,” he said, his face etched in pain.
“You won’t. You never did. If you want, we could call it a night and come back tomorrow,” I said, even though that was the last thing I wanted to do.
He paced away a few steps and rubbed his jaw, shadowed by whiskers that hadn’t been there earlier today, his gaze stuck on me. “We could…”
The other option hung between us like a dare. A clock on the wall ticked. I licked my lips in anticipation.
“Or thirty minutes of work, and then a reward of you stripping off all of your clothes.” His voice came out like a growl.
I sucked in a breath, his words curling in deep. My pussy ached. “And then?”
“And then thirty more minutes of work with one of us naked.” His eyes twinkled playfully. “What else?”
I laughed, or tried to, but air had slowed its funnel into my lungs. “Thirty minutes. Are you going to set a timer or should I?”
Chuckling, he strode behind his desk and hit a few keys on his laptop. “Starting now.”
Releasing a slow, calming breath, I sat across from him and got to work since the only thing that would pass the time was staying busy. Words swam around my laptop’s screen in a nonsensical pattern, so I stared blankly at them, waiting until my boss-fueled haze wore off. I forced myself to focus on nothing but the potential matches on the screen, never straying my gaze upward, not even through my eyelashes.
Finally, thirty minutes and four match profiles later, his laptop chimed. My body reacted like one of Pavlov’s dogs, my skin heating, my pussy drenching itself once again. But he kept working, not even glancing up. The sadist fucker.
Seduction in a Suit: An Office Romance Collection Page 53
