by M. S. Parker
Well, damn, if that didn't just make me even more wet.
“Now, are you going to be honest with me?”
I nodded and that smile flashed again.
The desk phone rang again as I stood there, skirt up over my ass, my panties in my hands while Dominic’s tie served as a gag. It didn't feel real.
Dominic watched me intently as he reached out, but he didn’t answer the phone. He pushed the intercom button and when Amber answered, he said, “We’re in the middle of something complicated here and we’re going to be tied up for a little while. Take messages for all calls.” He paused, grinned at me and then added, “Actually, just turn off the phone for the day.”
There was a faint pause and both of us heard the surprise and then pleasure in her response. “Yes, sir, Mr. Snow.”
When he let go, he focused all the intensity of those blue eyes on me.
“Now…” he murmured, bending down to whisper in my ear. “Where were we?”
I took a deep breath in through my nose to brace myself. Or at least that was my intent.
He spun me around and bent me over, my hands automatically going out to brace myself. It took only seconds and before my head stopped wheeling around, he was already balls-deep inside me.
I screamed into the gag.
He pulled out and drove in again with near-bruising force. I arched up, my body straining to take him, whimpering low in my throat.
He fucked me hard and rough and fast and I screamed and moaned and mentally cursed the gag that kept me from begging him for more.
***
The next day, I worked at home alone.
Dominic had a day full of international business meetings and he’d been up well before dawn, out the door by six.
My body was still singing with the aches from our…ah…desk play yesterday, but I felt more than a little wistful as I stood staring into the empty kitchen.
No notes.
No messages on the machine.
He was focused on business and I wasn't on his mind at all.
After a breakfast of toast and tea, I sat down to get to work and ended up not stopping until I heard a perfunctory knock on the door and realized it was time for Francisco to make one of his regular appearances.
I caught sight of him, juggling bags and two gallons of milk.
Rushing over to help, I smiled at him. “Heya, ‘Cisco.”
“Aleena.” He beamed at me. Unlike most of the staff Dominic hired, he was just a few years older than me and didn’t insist on tagging Miss onto my name.
“You got anything yummy planned for us this week?”
“Don’t I always?”
Ready for a distraction, I helped him unpack the food he’d brought and answered the door when one of the doormen from downstairs hauled in the rest of his purchases. Francisco didn’t just prepare the meals for Dominic. He also did the weekly shopping, insisting that he’d prepare better meals if we had quality ingredients on hand.
I had to admit, I tended to cook more if there was fresh produce and meats lying around. I hated to see anything go to waste.
“How’s the saxophone player you’re seeing?” I asked him as I pulled out bags of tomatoes and red bell peppers, celery and carrots.
He wagged his eyebrows at me. “She is…amazing, Aleena. Amazing. I think she’s an angel who fell from the skies.”
“Please tell me you didn’t use that line on her.”
“Of course not.” He puffed out his thin chest. “I wanted her to say Yes, Cisco. I’ll go out to dinner with you, Cisco. And eventually, I’ll marry you, Cisco. Cheesy lines like that won’t get me anywhere, bella.”
I grinned at him.
“You’re going to let me teach you how to cook today?”
I eyed my work. I'd already done a lot and I probably wouldn’t be able to work when he was here anyway. He liked to sing to himself when he cooked, and staying on key was not one of his talents. “Sure. Let’s cook.”
***
“So…”
I lay in the tub, staring up at the ceiling and listening to Molly on the Bluetooth. “So…everything seems fine.”
“Anything else happen with the monster mom?”
I reached for my wine and made a face she couldn't see. “No.”
I didn't want to talk about me. I wanted a distraction. I couldn't see outside, but I could read a clock. Dominic should've been home hours ago.
“But you two are okay?”
“I…I think so. The guy doesn’t understand relationships, Moll. I’ve never in been one, but I think he just doesn’t…get them. And there’s some messed up shit between him and his mom. I told him how I felt about everything and it was like I’d hit him across the head.” I frowned, thinking about some of the reactions he’d had and then shaking my head. “I’ll tell you one thing—if he had anybody decent around him when he was growing up, it was probably a miracle.”
“He gets it, though, right? That he hurt you?”
“Yeah. He—” I went quiet at the sound of my name. “Hold on, Moll.”
I muted the conversation and called out. “I’m…um…I’m upstairs. Hold on…”
I unmuted. “I think I need to go. I’m in the tub and he’s calling for me. Probably some work that came up.”
She snorted. “Yeah, I bet it’s work that came up.” She disconnected while I half-choked on a protest I didn't really believe.
I went to stand up and the door opened.
Immediately, I sank back down in the water, my face flushed.
Dominic stood there, a small smile on his lips.
“Um…I…”
He held a plate of pasta in his hands and, eyes on me, leaned his shoulder against the door, making it clear he wasn't going anywhere. “I’m interrupting. Please continue.”
“Ah…”
He swirled some linguine around a fork and I watched as he slid it between his lips. No one should be able to make eating pasta look that sexy. “Don’t let me stop you.”
“I’m just taking a bath,” I said lamely. Water lapped at my breasts. A moment ago, my nipples had been soft from the water, but now they were tight and the motion of the water felt like a caress.
“Then take it. I was going to ask you to go over a few things while I ate, but…” His gaze slid lower.
When his eyes returned to my face, we were both breathing harder. “Do you want me to leave?” he asked softly.
I opened my mouth, about ready to tell him yes. What came out shocked the hell out of me.
“The first time I took a bath in here, I lay in this tub, touching myself and thinking about you.”
His eyes flashed. Hot and bright. Harsh flags of color rode his cheeks, but his voice was calm as he said, “Is that a fact, Ms. Davison?”
“Yes, sir.”
He casually took another bite of his pasta and came into the bathroom, looking as comfortable and at ease as he would in the boardroom of the Winter Corporation.
“Tell me,” he said, leaning back against the deep green marble that made up the sink. “Just how did you go about this?”
I bit my lip and then slid my hand down my belly.
“I asked for you to tell me, not give me a demonstration.”
I had to pause and take a deep breath before I could say anything. “I touched myself…sir.”
“So you’ve said. But how did you do it?”
“With my fingers. Inside my…” I licked my lips. I'd never said anything like this before. “Inside my pussy. And I touched my clitoris.”
He nodded. “Very good. Do you like to touch yourself?”
“Sometimes.” I shrugged and the water lapped against me. It stroked me between the legs and the sensation was intensely erotic.
“Would you like to touch yourself now?”
Actually, I’d rather have him touch me, but that wasn’t the answer he was looking for.
“Yes, sir.”
He scooped up another bite and gestured with his fork. “Do it. Make yourse
lf come.”
I blushed. And then I started to stroke myself between my thighs.
But…I couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t bring myself to orgasm with him standing there, watching me as he ate, like this was some sort of amusing dinnertime entertainment.
Nerves made me clumsy and what had started out feeling so incredibly sexy and naughty suddenly felt awkward.
I fumbled with my fingers and although the water was wet and slick against me, it was awkward, sliding my fingers inside myself. I grimaced. The water wasn't enough to make it easy.
As though he’d sensed what was happening, Dominic put the plate down and came to me. He knelt beside the tub and studied me. “Shall I make you come, Aleena? Would you like that?”
Speechless, I nodded, gazing up at him.
“How do you ask me then?”
“Please make me come, sir.”
He pretended to consider it. “I might. But if I do, you’ll have to do something else for me. Because you teased me and made me think you’d touch yourself and play with yourself until you orgasmed. I wanted to watch you and my cock is still hard from thinking about it. You have to make it up to me. Will you make it up to me, Aleena?”
“Yes, sir.” I hesitated and then asked, “What would you like me to do, sir?”
“You won’t wear panties to work tomorrow.”
“But…”
He shrugged. “Okay. I’m going to get to work.” He stood up, his erection clearly pressing against the front of his dress pants.
“Wait!”
He glanced down at me, face hard. “You said you wanted to be my submissive, Aleena. You don’t get to tell me to wait.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Looking down into the water, I held my breath. The need was still there, throbbing deep, but I knew if he left, I wouldn't be able to get myself off.
His hand tangled in my hair and he tugged. “What would you like to ask me?”
“Please make me come…sir. And I won’t wear panties tomorrow.”
He smiled down at me and returned to where he'd been kneeling.
As he slid his hand down into the water, it dawned on me…I’m in so much trouble…
Chapter 8
Dominic
I’d developed a new favorite past time and that was anything I could do to steal Aleena’s panties.
So far, I’d confiscated four pair.
She was out shopping for more even now.
Being away from her was both good and bad. It let me focus on work and all the projects that routinely crammed my brain. At the same time, it let my mind stray back to her and the things I wanted to do to her—and the things I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to do.
I was becoming obsessed.
The ticking of the clock was driving me crazy and I ended up locking myself in my office where I heard nothing but the sound of my own breathing and the flipping of pages and the occasional chime of my email as I dealt with one project, then moved to another, before getting distracted by something else entirely. It was chaos and it was insanity and I thrived on it.
The sound of the front door opening, followed by a familiar voice was a welcome respite.
“Hello!”
“Back here, Fawna!”
There was a low, bleat of a cry and something that was both panic and curiosity bled through me. “You brought the little guy, didn’t you?”
She came through my door just as I rose from my desk.
Fawna paused there, grinning at me. “Well, it’s not like I was going to leave him with a babysitter. He’s too young.”
Cautious, I edged closer.
“He’s not going to bite, Dominic,” she said, her voice full of laughter.
I cocked a brow. “I’ve seen babies. They do bite. It’s that teething thing.”
“He won’t be teething for a long time.” She put the car seat down and whipped off a soft, fuzzy blue blanket, revealing a wide-eyed, red-cheeked little baby who looked almost nothing like the fragile little guy I’d last seen hooked up to a tube and machines that did all his breathing for him.
“Wow,” I murmured. “He’s gotten bigger.”
“They do that.” With the same competence she always displayed, Fawna undid the straps that held him in place and hefted her grandson out, cradling him in her arms before turning to me, displaying him. “Don’t worry. I won’t ask you to hold him. I can already see the panic in your eyes.”
“I’m not panicking,” I lied.
“Sure.” She gave me a knowing smile. She sat down and I took the chair across from her.
“You look…” I paused and then sighed. “You look happy, Fawna.”
“I am.” She smiled at me. “Thank you, Dominic. For everything.”
Unable to figure out how to respond to that, I just nodded.
“You look rather happy yourself.”
Rising, I moved over to the window. I slid my hands into my pockets and rocked back. I didn’t know what to say or how to handle that. I couldn’t lie to her. I could lie to a lot of people, but never Fawna. So I didn’t bother. “I’m sleeping with Aleena.”
The silence was so abrupt and brittle, I almost cringed.
Finally, Fawna cleared her throat and then softly said, “Dammit.”
I turned to look at her, but she wasn’t looking at me. She fiddled around in the bag next to her and I watched as she pulled out a bottle, popped it open somehow and then shook it. She slid out of the room and I heard a faint beep a moment later. A couple of minutes passed and she returned, the bottle popped in the baby’s mouth.
She sat down and then before I even had a chance to brace myself, she pinned me with a hard, direct stare.
“Why?”
Not exactly what I’d been expecting.
I could have said a hundred things and I would have said any of them if it had been anybody but Fawna. This was the woman who had basically become my mother, in all the ways that counted. Seriously, was there a guy out there who'd be comfortable telling his mother something like…looking at her makes my dick hard and my brain go blank?
Because that was the first thing that came to mind.
I couldn’t comfortably say that. And I wouldn’t have said that to anybody—not about Aleena.
“Isn’t that my business?”
Fawna’s eyes narrowed. “Dominic, I like that girl.”
“I like her too.” That was another one of the things I could have said. Should I have started off with that one? I shoved a hand through my hair and stood up to pace.
I hadn’t even taken three steps before Fawna’s voice stopped me. “Then why are you doing this? Complicating things?”
“How is it complicating things?” I snapped and glared at her. “Hell, you’re the one who told me she could be good for me.”
“Yes! Professionally. This isn’t professional.” The baby in her arms squawked and Fawna sighed, bringing him to her shoulder. She hummed to him in that way women seemed to always know how to do. As he calmed, Fawna rose and started to move. Not exactly pacing, but swaying. “Dominic, this isn’t smart. Surely you have to know that. You’ve never done this before. Why start now?”
“Because nobody ever got to me like she does,” I answered bluntly.
That made Fawna turn back to me and the look in her eyes was faintly surprised.
She slowly returned to the couch, still rocking the baby.
I glanced at him, then away. Then back. “He’s asleep.”
“They do that too,” she said, her voice wry. She settled him down in his car seat and then moved it to the floor. A couple of moments passed and I said nothing. She was thinking, but I recognized this mood. She was…considering.
Finally, she sighed and looked back at me.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to get involved with an employee, you know that.” She laughed and shook her head, brushing her hair back from her face. It donned on me then that she’d left it down. I don’t know if I’d ever seen her looking so
casual. I studied her more closely and realized the subtle differences were numerous. Her hair was down, her make-up a little lighter, but brighter. She wore blue jeans and a bright blue sweater. And tennis shoes. I’d never seen her in tennis shoes.
But everything that made her Fawna? None of that had changed.
She still cut right to the chase.
“I think you probably know it’s not a good idea too,” she added, her eyes watchful.
“It’s not like I planned it.” I felt defensive now. “Hell, you're the one who brought her to that so-called second interview.”
“I know. And I’m sitting here now, talking to you and I realize you seem…happy. Dominic, I don’t know when I’ve ever seen you look happy.” She held out a hand to me. “Not for real.”
I’d never been able to refuse such a simple gesture from her, so I took it and when she tugged me down to sit, I accepted. The scrutiny she subjected me to was thorough and intense. Whatever she saw made her face relax.
“Maybe she is good for you.” Fawna nodded. Then she pointed a finger at me. “But you better be careful, Dominic. Don’t you hurt that girl. I mean it.”
***
Later, after she’d left, I wandered the empty silence of the penthouse.
Aleena had sent me a text and told me that Molly had wanted to meet for lunch. Did I need her for anything?
My instinctive response had been Yes.
So I’d told her she was welcome to take all the time she needed.
Better that she not know that I was starting to need her for all sorts of things. I already had a list of questions I needed her to answer and another list of things I had no idea what I needed, but I knew she’d have the answers tucked inside that beautiful head.
Then there were all things unrelated to work that I needed from her.
Need…
It was something I wasn’t comfortable with.
I didn’t like needing anything. I didn’t like depending on anybody.
It took me back to ugly places and ugly times when I’d had to rely on somebody for every last fucking thing—from the very air I breathed to the food in my belly to even being allowed to take a piss.
I can’t breathe…memory shrieked through my brain and I drilled the heel of my hand into my eye socket, trying to expunge the voices. Mine. His.
