"What about..." I started to say more, but paused. Honestly, this was a stretch, and I didn't know if Lucent would agree to it. He agreed sometimes, but what I wanted to suggest wasn't an occasional thing. "If I knew that we were being a little more serious sometimes, it'd be easier for me. It's hard to switch, you know? You aren't actually upset I was in your office, right? It was just a part of... of a game, sort of?"
He nodded and held out his hand to help me to my feet. "Yes. I'm not upset with you."
I refused his hand, though. I shook my head, then looked away, casting my gaze down to his shoes. "I do want to, Lucent, it's just difficult sometimes to go from one thing to another. You do it so easily and seamlessly. I don't know if I can do it like that. But maybe if..."
He placed his hand on the top of my head, teasing my hair between his fingers. "Yes?"
"You always call me Miss Tanner, so if you used my first name and you called me Elise I would know when you wanted me to be more submissive, you know? If you did that, I think it'd be easier for me. And... I do, I want to make you happy, too, Lucent. I swear it. I..."
He lowered himself to the ground in front of me, kneeling and joining me. Touching my cheek lightly with his thumb, he caressed my skin towards my lips, pressing softly in the center of my mouth. I kissed the tip of his thumb and smiled.
"I love you, Lucent," I said.
He smiled back. "I love you, too, Elise."
"Can we start over? I'll get back in the chair and pretend I was writing and you just came in on me, then we can do it all again. Is that alright?"
He winked at me, grinning a conspirator's grin, then nodded towards his office desk chair. I scrambled to my feet and jumped into the chair. To add authenticity to the scene, I flipped open my laptop and pretended to be typing.
...
"Miss Tanner, Miss Tanner, Miss Tanner. What am I going to do with you?"
I didn't speak this time. I looked towards Lucent, but not at him, keeping my eyes downcast.
"Up," he said. "Kneel."
He didn't need to point, nor did he have time to. I hurried from the desk and knelt in front of him.
"Good," he said. "Do you have anything to say before I punish you?"
I shook my head, no. I didn't say anything.
He smiled and grabbed my chin like he had before. My head lifted, neck craning upwards, and Lucent pressed his lips to mine, kissing me. I kissed him, too, kissed him back. I wanted this, I wanted more. If this was all there was to it, I thought I could do it forever. I still had a lot of questions; I always had a lot of questions. I wanted to ask Lucent about them, and sometimes I did, but now wasn't the time.
Before he left me, before he stopped kissing me, he licked at the front of my lips. I opened my mouth for him, desiring his kiss. He squeezed my jaw lightly, pinching just beneath my ears. His tongue caressed my bottom lip again, this time sneaking slightly into my mouth. The tip of his tongue touched against the back of my teeth and the front of my palate. It... Oh God. I trembled at his touch, the feeling on the roof of my mouth sending shivers through my body. His tongue finished its journey, ending on my upper lip, and then he lifted himself away.
I was unintentionally drooling somewhat. Lucent released my chin and wiped at the side of my mouth with his thumb.
"Will you be good?" he asked. "Will you do anything I say, Elise?"
I nodded fast. "Yes, Lucent."
"I don't want you to speak," he said. "I want you to use your mouth for something else. Do you understand?" In some ridiculously erotic and untoward (...or not entirely) show of what he meant, he squeezed at the crotch of his suit pants.
I nodded fast again; faster.
"You may begin," he said.
...
"Good," Lucent said, zipping up his pants. "I'm pleased with your performance, Miss Tanner."
Miss Tanner? Did that mean we were done, then? "Is that it?" I asked. "Was that my punishment?"
He nodded. "Yes."
"Lucent, that didn't seem like much of a punishment."
"If I weren't punishing you, you'd be enjoying an orgasm at this very moment."
"Oh." Now that he told me that, I felt like this was a terrible punishment. You never know what you're missing until someone points it out, or at least sometimes that's how it is.
Lucent smiled down at me and held out his hand. Unlike before, this time I took it. He helped me up.
"Did you like it, though?" I asked.
"Miss Tanner," Lucent said. "Please pardon my vulgarity, but your oral skills are fucking unbelievable."
I stared at him, gaping. "Did you really just say that? Fucking unbelievable?"
He grinned and waggled his eyebrows at me. "Indeed."
"Really?"
"Yes." He kissed me. "I can smell myself on your breath, Miss Tanner."
I blushed and fidgeted, wringing my hands together. Did he really just say that, too?
He put his hands on my hips and pulled me close to him, growling into my ear. "You're mine," he said. "All of you. Every part of you, your entire body. From the curves of your hips up to your breasts, and the hollow of your throat." He lifted my chin with a touch from his fingers and leaned down to kiss the front of my throat. "Down to your pert little ass." He squeezed me there. "To your delightful thighs, the backs of your knees, your calves and your feet." Smiling, he kissed me. "Your pretty little lips, Miss Tanner, and your beautiful face. Your cheeks and your nose, and your deep, curious eyes. And now your breath. All of you is mine."
I stared into his eyes, breathing softly, adoring him. I didn't know what to say. He said my breath was his, and with everything else he said he took my breath away. I pressed inwards slowly, unsure and tentative, but when he didn't move to do anything I gained more confidence. I kissed him and put my arms around him holding him tight. He wrapped his arms around me, too, protective and strong, and kissed me back.
"Your thoughts and your feelings are yours, though," Lucent said. We weren't kissing now, but our lips were still touching, mouths open, sharing each other's breath. "Those will always be yours, Miss Tanner, but I hope that I can be an important part of them."
"You are," I said. I brushed my lips past his, bringing us cheek to cheek, and nuzzled against him.
"Were you writing a story for Mrs. Landseer before?" he asked, glancing towards my laptop.
"Um..." I hesitated in answering him. He'd seen what I was writing, but I didn't want him to know. For whatever reason, it embarrassed me. A lot of things still embarrassed me.
When I wrote my first story, I didn't know what I was thinking. I'd wanted to write something sexy and fun. Erotic! And I thought I'd succeeded, but in hindsight I felt a little strangely about it. People would read it! People had read it. As a promotional effort, Landseer Publishing offered the story exclusively through one of the biggest online bookstores for free for a limited time. People downloaded it then, and they bought it later, and...
I didn't know who. I should have realized this, and in hindsight I did, but it still made me feel awkward. What if someone recognized me? If they knew me? I should have used a pseudonym. What was a good pseudonym? I didn't know. The whole thing confused me. But, for example, what if I was doing my grocery shopping and the man ringing out my groceries recognized me and he'd read my story and he smirked and snickered to himself, imagining... things.
Things between Lucent and I. Oh yes, those sorts of things. I mean, I'd written about them, so it wasn't like the beginnings of an idea weren't out there for everyone to imagine.
Oddly, I felt more embarrassed about writing this new story, the story I wanted to write. It was our story, Lucent's and mine, and it was very special to me. Sometimes I dreamed about it still, but I didn't know how to tell him. I really enjoyed our time in the library together. Currently, we had all the time in the world together, and I spent more time with Lucent than possibly was healthy. He liked it, though. I think he did, anyways. And I enjoyed it, so maybe there was nothing wrong with
it.
I just... sometimes I just wanted to be trapped with him in the library again. I realized it wouldn't be the same, though. First off, how often does a record-breaking blizzard trap someone in a library for the weekend? Not often. And second, it wouldn't be the same no matter what. I felt so much more comfortable with Lucent now, even if I felt uncomfortable with him in other ways. I felt...
"We should play cards," I said. I'd been silent and Lucent was just standing with me, smiling, holding onto me.
"Oh?" he asked.
"Do you remember?" I asked him. "When we were in the library and we played cards?"
"I believe you referred to me as a card shark at the time," Lucent said, smirking. "I did warn you, though. That's a fairly popular opinion, even if it's untrue."
"I think I can beat you," I said. "You still might be a card shark, though."
"You beat me once," he said. "It's certainly possible you could do it again."
"Would it be the same? Would you answer any question I asked if I did?" The idea, the memory, made me tremble, uncertain.
"Miss Tanner, I would answer anything you want right now, whether you've bested me at cards or not."
I smiled and kissed him quick, then slipped from his arms and darted back towards my laptop. Lifting it off his desk, I set it into my laptop bag, then turned to face him. He eyed me as if I was some mythical pixie and he was afraid I might escape within a crowd of flowers, never to be seen again. Never to be seen again, no, but to be admired with awe and wonder while I remained. I didn't know exactly how I felt about that, but I thought I liked it.
"I was writing a very good story," I said. "I don't know if I should tell you about it. It's top secret. Extremely classified, Mr. Storme."
"Is it?" he asked, chuckling. "A hint, perhaps? Or should I win at cards in order to get you to tell me?"
"No amount of knavery or card sharkery will get me to spill the beans, Lucent. You're just going to have to wait."
"No hints?" he asked.
"It's..." I didn't want to tell him about the real story, but maybe I could make something else up. "Um... it's about hands..." Hands? What the heck, Elise. I wasn't very good at this. "Manual stimulation! It's about manual stimulation, uh..." I'd seen a video on the internet recently and maybe proper ladies shouldn't watch such things, but I wasn't sure if I counted as proper (and, also, the words just came out). "And squirting."
Lucent opened his mouth and lifted one brow, looking both extremely curious and somewhat stricken all at once. "Manual stimulation and squirting?" he asked.
I blushed, fumbling with the strap to my laptop bag. "Yes, well, excessive manual stimulation, I suppose. And..."
"Squirting." Lucent finished my bumbling sentence for me.
"I'm sure it's popular. People are going to like it. It will be a good story."
"I look forward to reading it. The characters are...?"
Well, I'd already come this far, so why not further? "You and I. Again." Sure, good job, Elise, I told myself. Lucent is going to think you're crazy.
"You've done research on this? Studied excessive manual stimulation and squirting?" he asked. "If not, do you need assistance? Someone to offer you a helping hand?"
"Was that a pun?" I countered. "Are you flirting with me, Lucent? We're in your office, you know? I work in the same building. That's sexual harassment."
"Of course. You're welcome to report me for bad behavior, Miss Tanner. My phone is on the desk and I believe you know the number to contact the human resources department."
"Perhaps," I said, growing somewhat bolder. "Or, perhaps I'll spank you. What do you say to that? You're being very naughty."
"Am I?"
"Yes." I nodded once, fierce.
"If you'd like to dole out punishment for my transgressions against you, I'm sure something can be arranged. I fear you aren't the sort to make good on any such promises, though. A pity, truth be told. While it's hardly my preference, I doubt I'd mind being on the receiving side of your domination."
"I'm not even remotely domineering," I said before I realized what I was saying. "I mean... I don't... I don't know how. I don't know if I'd want to. I'm probably not very good at it."
"Perhaps." Lucent shrugged. "I enjoy your presence, though, and I will gladly be patient for you. If you find yourself interested in exploring an alternative lifestyle choice such as that, I'd be amenable towards helping you accomplish your goals."
"My goals of spanking you?" I asked. "Which, for the record, I don't know if I have yet. I did spank you once, but it wasn't especially domineering or interesting. I like your butt, though."
"Straight to the point, I see. I'm a fan of yours, also."
"I've got to go to work now!" I shouted at him, laughing. "You're distracting me, Lucent."
"Go on," he said. "Shoo, shoo."
"Can I come back for lunch, though?"
"Yes," he said, smiling. "Of course you can."
"If I get lonely before lunch, can I come back, too?"
"If you wish."
"After lunch, maybe?"
He laughed. "If you want to stay so much, why are you leaving?"
"I have work to do and you're going to distract me. I have to write a story. I can't just fool around all day like some people, you know?" Not that Lucent ever really fooled around. He worked almost constantly, unless I was distracting him; though he'd never state it as such.
He snickered and helped me gather the rest of my things; my purse, my laptop bag. "Pardon me, Miss Tanner. I wouldn't want to disturb you when you're attempting to work. I do look forward to reading your story later, though. Please let me know once you finish?"
"Maybe," I said. "I don't know if you're my target demographic for this sort of thing."
He kissed me on the cheek and laughed. "No, perhaps not."
Lucent opened the door to his office for me. Reluctant, I left. I had a small office room in Landseer Tower for myself, and it was nice and comfortable and quiet. It was a good office room, but it was on an entirely separate floor from Lucent's office, which made it somewhat less desirable to me. I couldn't be some child about it, though. I couldn't just stay with Lucent forever, no matter what I wanted. We weren't trapped in the library anymore, it wasn't snowing. It wasn't even winter.
I was an adult. I was Elise Tanner, some barely-out-of-college girl who didn't really deserve the love of someone like Lucent, and I needed to make my own way in life. Or... there were other options, too. Somewhat dark and scandalous, and when I first met Lucent he'd alluded to them. Sort of. It sounded easy, almost. As if I could drop everything, be nothing except his, and never have to deal with any problems ever again. For him and him alone, absolutely submissive to his masterful commands.
I knew I was only thinking these things because I was leaving, which was silly because I wasn't going that far away. I'd see Lucent again in a couple of hours, and then I'd think myself dumb for thinking all of this in the first place.
Some small part of me always wondered if that was what he wanted, though? Did he love me because of who I was, or did he love me despite it? The end results seemed the same, but the process of getting there was entirely different. Hm...
I should write about that in my story! Yes! Not the manual stimulation squirting one, because I probably wouldn't even write about that at all, but the real one. Creative non-fiction?
Lucent Aiden Storme and I, together, trapped in a library.
It would never happen again, but I could still remember it. I could still write about it. It was a part of me, no matter what happened, and it always would be.
...
It took awhile, but once I started writing my story, I fell into a rhythm with it. Everything seemed to work, to fit into the proper place, and the words flowed more freely the longer I spent at crafting them. I had a few pages worth now, and I wanted to finish up this one particular part, but then I thought I should take a break. I didn't know if this was just me or not, but when I was writing, if
I didn't let myself go away from it sometimes, it became harder and harder to do over time.
Which sounded kind of odd when I thought about it. Stop writing when you're doing well, so that you can keep writing well later? What other sort of person did that, or what other sort of job allowed that? Probably no one and nowhere, but that's how it was for me.
And... I finished typing the part I wanted to finish, then leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling. They had those weird paneled ceilings in Landseer Tower, where you could push them up and aside and reach the wiring directly if you wanted. Or, I thought you probably could, but I'd never tried it. Sometimes I wondered if ceilings like that hid secret rooms somewhere up there. If I pushed the right paneling aside and climbed up, could I go somewhere? Maybe it was like Narnia, with the wardrobe, except I didn't actually want to go to some magical land, I just would have liked knowing about it.
I might be a little strange, but I liked myself and that was all that mattered.
Breathing in deep, I relaxed and then pushed myself up from my chair. I could browse the internet and play around for my break, or I could try to do something a little more useful. Seeing as I'd already spent part of my day playing around with Lucent, I thought I should attempt the latter for this current break period.
My computer beeped at me, alerting me to a new email. Email was useful, right? I sat back down and clicked through to check it. It was from Jessika, who was sort of my boss, but maybe not? I read her note, scrunching my brow and biting my bottom lip.
Hi Elise,
Asher is going to tell Lucent this and he'll tell you, I'm sure, but you're both invited to the party tonight. I know you don't like parties, but Asher's planned out a sort of wedding reception before it and during it, so there'll be nice things and family and friends, and also some cake. You like cake, don't you? I don't know what kind it is.
Please come, though. I mean it! Seriously. It's going to be kind of stuffy and with a lot of people, but I'll be there, and Asher will be there, and of course Lucent will, so it won't be too bad, right?
You don't have to dress up, but just wear something nice. Probably wear heels, too, but if you want to come in sneakers I won't say anything.
His Absolute Assignment - Elise's Love Story: The Billionaire's Continuum (#1) (A Contemporary Romance Novel) Page 2
