by Eve Langlais
“Managing human resources functions,” Hunter guided.
Tiffany nodded her head and a smile split her lips. “Yes, exactly!”
“We’ve flown pretty loose and fast here, I admit,” Hunter said. “Time off as needed and judged case by case. Vacations are a little more formalized, but not tracked worth a damn. Are you willing to take all that on?”
Her eyes widened. She turned to look out the window and then back at Hunter. There was a fire in her eyes as she said, “Yes!”
“You’re ambitious, aren’t you?” Hunter asked.
She opened and closed her mouth once before nodding. “I am. Like you said the other day, I have goals that I want to achieve and I’m focused on doing that.”
“I see. That’s a good thing,” Hunter said. “Do you think you can handle these new responsibilities from the front desk?”
She tilted her head. “I don’t see why not. I’ll do whatever I need to in order to handle the work. There’s no one waiting at home for me. I can stay late to do whatever you’d like me to.”
Hunter fought the instinct to raise an eyebrow or chuckle. He had a hunch she knew exactly what she was saying and how it could be taken many ways.”That’s good,” he responded. “But I’m seeing more than just developing you. What about others?”
“Others?” Tiffany’s brow furrowed. “Oh! You mean like employee development? Performance reviews and such?”
He nodded. “We’re terrible at that around here. I’m sure it’s a source of water cooler gossip, right?”
She smiled and nodded. She reached up to itch her neck and then fanned her face. “It really is warm in here.”
“Must be the morning sun,” he said. He didn’t notice the heat but he did notice the warm and musky aroma that was filling his office from where she sat.
“Do you mind if I take my jacket off?”
Hunter shrugged. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“Thank you,” she mumbled before unbuttoning the bottom buttons and standing up. She slipped it off her shoulders as she walked over to the coat rack in his office and hung it from a peg. She adjusted her shirt and turned around, smiling as she returned to her seat. “Much better.”
Hunter watched her approach and saw that her blouse might as well have been made out of rice paper. She was braless but young enough that her ample breasts sat high and proud on her chest. He could see the faint darker circles of her areolas through the shirt and her nipples puckering the already tight shirt. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think she was cold instead of hot. He allowed himself no more than a fleeting glance below her neck before he said, “We need policies and someone to administer them. It’s a large task I’m seeing here, but I’m very pleased you picked up on it.”
“I can do it, Mr. Wynn. I will do it.”
“I don’t think your desk is the right place for you,” Hunter suggested. For a brief moment, the thought of telling her she’d do better beneath his desk passed through his mind, but he let it go.
Tiffany licked her lips, restoring some shine to her glossy lipstick. “Where would I sit?”
“We can have one of the conference rooms converted into an office for you. It’s rather abrupt, but does HR manager sound like a good title?”
Her eyes widened to the point Hunter feared they might fall into her lap. Tiffany’s lips parted in her biggest grin yet and she shifted in her seat, uncrossing her legs and parting them while leaning forward. She didn’t bother to check that her skirt was pushed back down but with her cleavage on display and the remaining buttons on her blouse straining to contain her breasts, it probably didn’t matter. “Yes!” she squealed.
Hunter chuckled at her outburst and saw her sit back while her cheeks turned red.
“I’m sorry, this is just so exciting!” she admitted. “I work hard for you–for the firm, I mean–but I was beginning to worry nobody cared.”
“I care,” Hunter assured her. It wasn’t a lie, technically. He cared about his business and she was a part of that business. She clearly wanted a lot more than business, but that was where he drew the line.
“I believe you,” she said and then glanced down at her lap again where her fingers were toying with the hem of her skirt. “Thank you so much for this opportunity, Mr. Wynn. I’ll make you proud of me.”
“I’m sure you will, Tiffany,” he said. “Now go and pick an office and we’ll have some of the interns start working on it. Order yourself a nice desk and whatever you need. Then you can get started. Oh, you’ll need to find a replacement for the front desk too.”
Her eyes lit up. “I know just the person!”
“Excellent,” Hunter said.
Tiffany stood up and smiled before leaning forward and forcing her blouse to fight for its life again. Hunter rose with her and took her hand, shaking it and smiling. “Congratulations,” he offered.
She let out a giggle before she caught herself and turned to walk over and grab her jacket. She slid her arms into it and turned partially back towards him. “Mr. Wynn?”
Hunter jerked his eyes up from where he swore one, if not two, buttons on her blouse had slipped free and the swell of her breast was visible all the way to the rosy pin fringe of her areola from the side. “Yes, Miss Ackers?”
“What do you think about a dress code?”
Hunter stared at her and blinked twice while trying to process what she’d said. A dress code? She wasn’t wearing a bra and had practically ripped her top off in front of him! “What, um, did you have in mind?”
“Most of us dress fine, don’t you think?”
“Impeccably,” Hunter said before he thought to tone his response down.
Tiffany blushed but turned to face him fully before continuing. “The interns and clerks, mostly. I think that if they want to be a part of a business like this, they should dress more like it. Clients stop by often and they shouldn’t see someone taking their jobs so casual. It sends the wrong message, I think. And even if they aren’t seen, it can be demoralizing for others who are taking their jobs seriously.”
“You have some good points there,” Hunter said as she absentmindedly buttoned her jacket from the bottom up. Her blouse had definitely been opened more; with her facing him, he could see the inner swells of her breasts nearly to where they rounded at the bottom. Fastening the jacket did nothing to hide the gaping blouse but it did cover her nipples.
She grinned and turned back to the door. With her hand on it, she glanced back a final time. “I think what we wear says a lot about us,” she continued. “And how we wear it.”
Hunter nodded. “Indeed it does. All tools of the trade. Psychology–very useful in our line of work.”
“Absolutely!” she agreed and glanced down as she lifted her foot behind her. “It’s so nice to find someone who understands these things. Even the small details are important. Like how I go out of my way to try to match my underwear to my socks.”
Hunter blinked at the unusual comment and then let his eyes drop to her raised foot. She twitched her calf a few times, defining the muscle without the silky shine of stockings and bouncing her foot a few times. As she lowered her heel to the floor, she smiled again and opened his office.
Hunter waited until the door closed before he blew out the pent–up air in his chest. She wasn’t wearing any socks.
Chapter Nine
Hunter pushed the start button on his dishwasher and turned away from the counter. He scooped up his phone on the way to his living room and collapsed in his oversized chair. He needed to head downstairs to his basement gym, but not before he took care of something first. He opened up his pictures on his phone and began sliding through the candid–and adult rated–images of Emily again. He couldn’t get enough of her.
She’d gone out of her way to please him, which surprised him as much as it delighted him. She’d gotten her fair share of pleasure and then some, but she fought back and did her best to give as much as she received. She hadn’t done anything to him h
e’d never experienced before, but her energy and dedication took things to a new level. He’d been so swept away that their first night turned into the next day and following night as well.
His phone rang in his hand, startling him as the display changed from the picture of Emily cupping her breasts as if she was offering them to him to that of a fuzzy teddy bear. “Holy shit,” he muttered, shocked not only at the jarring disconnect between the images, but also that Emily would call him while he was busy admiring her.
He answered the line by saying, “Isn’t the rule three days after a date before you call? It’s only been two.”
“I was hoping that went out the window after you wouldn’t let me leave until Sunday,” Emily replied. “Have you eaten yet?”
Hunter chuckled. “I’m getting ready to work out.”
“Work out? What kind? Did you eat?”
“Whoa, that’s a lot of questions,” he said.
“Does that upset you?”
“Not yet,” he admitted. “Kudos to you.”
Emily laughed. “I’m not sure how to take that. Um, if I bring food can I come over?”
“You want to bring me food?”
“No, it’s just a clever ploy to see you again.”
Hunter laughed. “Not so clever now.”
“It made you laugh. Either you’re very polite or you saw something in me you liked.”
Hunter smirked and risked a quick glance at the teddy bear picture on his phone. It was a stark contrast to the wildcat in bed she was. “I’m still very interested.”
“Good, then let me in.”
“Let you in?” Hunter sat up in his chair and looked around. “You’re here?”
“Waiting to pull up to the gate,” she said. “Let me in, please. I want to see you.”
“That’s almost creepy.”
“I’ve been thinking of some new tricks I can do that you might like to try out,” she teased.
Hunter swore under his breath. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“I wanted to surprise you,” she said.
“I’m not good with surprises.”
“I’m learning that about you,” Emily said. “Now hurry up and let me in. It’s cold out here.”
“Cold–you don’t have a car! What are you doing?”
“I got off at the bus stop down the road and walked,” she said.
Hunter shook his head. “Hurry up,” he said and hung up the phone. He flipped through his phone and made a quick call to the guard shack authorizing her to be admitted and then walked to his front door. He waited almost five minutes until his doorbell rang.
Hunter opened the door and saw Emily standing with her arms tight to her side and her hands shoved in her pockets. Her breath frosted in the cold December air but she smiled when she saw him. Her chin trembled a little from the cold, prompting him to step aside and gesture for her to come in.
“Thanks,” she chattered as she swept past him and dropped her purse off on the small table near the door.
Hunter watched her move, his eyes taking in the knee–length coat she wore and her bare legs that disappeared into knockoff designer boots. He shut the door as she spun around. “Take my coat?” she asked.
Hunter smirked and shook his head in disbelief. “Quite a gamble you made there. You’ve got Olympic level confidence, you know that?”
“It’s your fault,” she said. “You showed me go all the way or go home.”
Hunter smirked. “I suppose I did. Okay, let’s have that coat. Wait–you mentioned food?”
She spun around so her back was to him and opened her coat. Hunter took it and slid it off her arms, his eyes rounding as he did so. She wasn’t wearing anything beneath it. He had a brief flashback to Tiffany the day before.
“You’re one of those girls who matches her socks with her underwear, aren’t you?”
She blinked and glanced down and then removed her feet from her boots. “I guess I am. Do you know a lot of girls like that?”
“I’ve heard they exist,” Hunter mumbled.
“Oh, the food–”She hesitated and offered an apologetic shrug that looked too cute to be real. “Well, I do have something I was hoping you would eat.”
A dozen different responses flashed through Hunter’s mind. He tossed them all aside. Now was not the time for talk. He dropped the coat and caught her up in his arms. Emily gasped and then cooed before she was silenced by his lips covering hers.
They stumbled from the entryway into a dining room that Hunter had turned into a sitting room. Tired of tripping over each other, Hunter swept Emily off her feet and earned a squeal of delight. She wrapped her arms around his neck to hang on while he took her into his living room where he’d been sitting only a few minutes earlier.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she breathed. “This is like a fairy tale!”
Hunter chuckled and said, “I’m going to eat you up, Little Red Riding Hood.”
Emily grinned and pulled herself up to attack his neck with her mouth. She licked, bit, and sucked at his flesh until he growled and threw her down on his couch. Emily cried out, but her yelp turned into a muffled grunt when he rolled her over so her face went into the cushions. He pulled her back, draping her hips over the arm of the couch and then dropped to his knees behind her.
Emily lifted her head and started to twist around when Hunter sank his fingers into the pliant flesh at the back of her thighs and spread her for him. He sniffed, pulling in her musky scent and inflaming his senses. Her flesh glistened as it parted and allowed his eager tongue entry.
Emily gasped and punched the cushions. She writhed as he assaulted her, devouring her and making noises that made him sound like an animal devouring a fresh kill. She gathered her elbows beneath her and arched her back, lifting her hips and spreading herself so she was as exposed as she could possibly be for him.
The complete vulnerability and Hunter’s primal nature, combined with the tension of being nearly nude the entire trip, pushed Emily over the edge within seconds. She shuddered and cried out on the couch, thrashing under Hunter’s hands. Hunter held her tighter and worked his tongue into crevices and folds that made her jerk and cry out even when her voice failed her.
When she collapsed at last on the couch, Hunter rose up behind her and stripped out of his clothes. He stared down at her, his need for her aching in his hand. Emily stirred and started to lift her head again when he brushed his hardness against her swollen flesh. She moaned and dropped her head back onto the couch.
He hesitated, fighting back the desire that made his heart pound in his chest and filled him with a heat he could barely stand. Emily’s bottom shifted, arching up again and moving back enough to brush against him. It was all the sign he needed to guide himself to her.
A series of moans slipped from her mouth as he buried himself inside her. After her earlier release, she clung to him and urged him to fill her over and over again. Hunter’s hands moved to her hips and his fingers dug into her skin. He clung to her and rutted like an animal, plunging time and again until she milked him to the point where he grunted and growled and jerked against her.
He stood behind her when nothing but a few shudders remained. His legs trembled and his arms and chest ached. Emily whimpered and gathered her arms again so she could push back against him. “Don’t pull out,” she whispered. “Stay in me.”
Hunter grabbed her hips again, careful to avoid the red marks that he suspected would be bruises later, and helped seal his hips against her thighs. “Sounds like a good idea to me,” he said.
She moaned and rested her head on the cushion again. “You’ve ruined me for all other men,” she murmured.
Hunter opened his mouth to respond but didn’t. He blinked and shook his head. He’d been about to admit that she was amazing him like no other woman had. He couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that. Not yet, at least. His love was his job and his life. He wasn’t the kind of man who would settle for anything that wasn’t on h
is terms.
So was this–was Emily–here on his terms?
Chapter Ten
“You have been thinking of some new tricks,” Hunter said after Emily collapsed in the crook of his arm two hours later.
She moaned and pressed her lips to his side. Between breaths she said, “I’ve got more, believe it or not, but I’m saving them. I don’t want to show all my cards at once.”
He chuckled. “What happened to go big or go home?”
“It’s a hybrid strategy, I admit. I figure I’m showing you the go big part, but I want to keep you wondering just how much more I’ve got left to reveal.”
“I see. That’s a dangerous game. Overplay your hand and you risk leaving me annoyed. Underplay it and your fear of me being bored might come true.”
“I know,” she said. “But I want there to be some special things I can do for you to keep you always wanting more from me. At least until I get you to fall for me.”
Hunter laughed hard enough to jostle her on the bed. “You’re so sure of yourself! And then what happens after you’ve wrapped me around your finger?”
She looked up at him and grinned. “Then I make things even better. You won’t be able to live without me, so you’ll want me to move in with you. I’ll be able to greet you with dinner and a smile every night.”
“That’s all?”
“Well, I might put on some high heels and thigh highs if you like?”
Hunter smiled at the image her words conjured.
“And,” she went on, “I’d prove that I’m the kind of woman who only gets better once she’s been assured that she’s in a committed relationship with the man of her dreams. A man in your position needs a smiling beauty on his arm? Well, if the sex I’ll be giving you doesn’t keep me in shape, I’ll make sure to take care of it. Or just increase the sex we have.”
