Hard & Hungry Boss Box Set Page 7
When she comes back with the coffee, I’m on the phone with our operations team lead, discussing a question I made up on the fly. Truthfully, I picked a name at random from the directory and started asking questions. The poor guy is stammering through some kind of reply, but I’m free to wave Lucy off without further interaction. She’s stone-faced as she sets everything down, but she heads for the door and closes it softly behind her.
After reassuring Jerry Portman that, no, he doesn’t have to worry about why the President of the whole damn company called him out of the blue to ask about one of his projects, I set the phone down.
Now that I’ve bought myself a few hours quiet, I throw myself into work for the next few hours. The diversion works beautifully for about three hours, but then one of the reports catches me as wrong. Without thinking, I call Lucy on speaker.
She’s at the door in less than a second, doe-eyed.
“This isn’t what I asked for.”
Lucy hurries forward to stand next to my chair, craning her neck to look at my screen.
After a moment, she murmurs, “Yes it is. I’m sure it is.”
I scan the document again and I’m annoyed to realize she’s right. It’s just not tabbed correctly.
I push the screen away. “You need to tab it or I can’t immediately tell what I’m looking at.”
She furrows her brow and steps close to me to check her work.
“Oh, you’re right. Here, give me one sec.” She leans in and when I catch the scent of her perfume, my hands twitch in reaction. Lucy flips her hair to the other side of her face and bends close, leaning over me as she types one-handed. I feel the fingers of her other hand rest on the back of my neck and dip under my collar.
I push out of my chair and away from her, frustrated by both the distraction and the fresh bulge at the front of my pants.
“No. Don’t do that. I need reports complete and formatted correctly before you send them to me. Go back to your desk and do it there.”
And just like that the air temp in the room feels like it dropped about thirty degrees.
That steely-eyes control she’s deployed so successfully since she started finds its way back into her body. All the softness and curves go coiled and tight. Seeing it happen isn’t fun anymore. Like a shot, I flash back to the weekend and all the happy, teasing, smiling moments between us. The hot, sweet Lucy who spent the night in my bed, pliant and open, panting under me. That part of her is closed away right in front of me, like a door slammed shut.
“You’re right,” she says, drawing up and heading for the door. “I’ll have it for you in just a moment.”
She doesn’t walk around me though. She walks straight up to me and nails me with a look worthy of an ice queen.
“Excuse me, sir,” she bites the words out, staring me down, daring me to move out of her way.
It’s a look that could send a lesser man to his knees. Who does she think I am?
I do move out of her way…but only to turn and slam the door. When I turn back, rather than alarmed, Lucy’s eyes glow like a live wire. The challenge is still all over her face. I advance on her.
“Let’s get a few things straight, Miss Warner.”
She tries to hold her ground, but when our chests touch she backs down a step, then another, until her ass bumps the edge of my desk and she can’t move any further.
“In this office–in this building–you do what I say. And you like it.”
Without touching her, I lightly kick her legs apart as wide as her narrow skirt will allow. Lucy’s breath is short and fast now, her tits straining at the buttons of her crisp white shirt. She left the top buttons open, and this close to her, all I have to do is look down to see the swell of her cleavage, almost to her nipples. Her arms drop back to catch her balance on the desk, her skirt rises high on her thighs over the top of her stockings. I see the smooth, creamy skin of her thighs over the top. She doesn’t push her skirt down, and she doesn’t push me away. Leaning back against the desk like that, her legs spread, her eyes bright with challenge, she’s daring me to take her. And I have no intention of doing any such thing.
I lean in close and whisper, “I spent the whole weekend between your thighs, Miss Warner. I know exactly what’s happening to your pussy right now. I know what you want.”
Her head drops back, exposing her neck. Still not touching her, I inhale, close enough she can feel the heat between us and nothing else.
“But I don’t reward insubordinate employees.”
Her eyes snap open. Before she can move, I grip her arm and yank her forward and off the desk. Dropping back into one of the deep wingback guest chairs in front of my desk, I haul her face down over my lap. She’s off balance in her heels, and the skirt rides up even higher, high enough I can see the bare skin of her thighs and the cheeks of her ass are exposed.
“Dominic, what are you—oh!”
Her cry is cut off with a sharp swat of my palm on her ass. Her body jolts and she moans. I swat again, loving the red bloom imprint on her left cheek, then her right. She’s draped right over my erection, and every time I spank her she jerks, creating friction over my cock.
I spank her three, four more times. Each stroke is firm, full contact palm to cheek. Her cries are distressed, but she grips my leg, her nails digging in the same, greedy way she digs into my back when I fuck her. The fifth time, she throws her hair back, and looks at me over her shoulder. Her beautiful mouth is a perfect “o,” and her cheeks are flushed.
I lift my hand for another swat, and she bites her lip. I fucking love it when she does that. Distracted, my aim veers off target. Instead of a direct swat, my fingers sink between her legs and I can feel her pussy, pulsing and dripping wet.
Our eyes meet and instinct takes over. I push my fingers inside her. Not gentle, but she’s so wet, my fingers slide right into her. Lucy’s back arches up, and she grinds back and into my hand.
“No,” I say, withdrawing my fingers halfway. “Be still.” And to make sure she listens, I work my thumb against her asshole, invading her just enough that she stills.
She stops and I push my fingers into her again, working the sensitive, sweet spot I found when she was in my bed. Lucy obeys and doesn’t move, not willingly, anyway. She takes every stroke of my fingers, moaning louder, until I feel the tell-tale tremors begin in her and her body starts to quake.
I bring the pad of my thumb back to her ass as she gets right to the edge, my fingers twisting deep.
“Come, Lucy. Come right now.”
Right on command, she comes on my hand just as my fingers sink all the way into her, the slick wetness almost gushing as she shakes in my lap. I feast my eyes on all of her, from the bright red cheeks of her ass, all the way up to the way she closes her eyes as her orgasm explodes. My cock twitches as though I’m coming too, just watching.
I guide her up and turn her, pulling her up to sit in my lap. Her ass is nestled almost painfully against my hard on, and she winces a little, too. I know she must be sore from the spanking I just gave her. She turns into my arms, seeking, and it’s become almost second nature when I kiss her. The last pulses are still firing inside her, and I push my tongue into her mouth, hungry for the taste I denied myself because… fuck, I don’t even know why.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, Lucy in my arms, until she sits up. I feel like I’m coming up for air, and it dawns on me where we still are. Anyone in the office might have heard.
Lucy recovers before I do. Probably because I still have a raging hard on and all I want is to take her. But she pulls herself up and out of my lap before I can think. She takes a few steps away, wobbling only a little in her heels, her back to me. I watch as she corrects her skirt, and then leans her hip against the desk, head bent.
I stand up from the chair, one eye still on Lucy. She’s still turned away, silent.
“Lucy?”
She turns her face to the side, and I see her profile, but she still won’t look at me.<
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Another long, silent moment, and then she speaks, her voice steadier than I feel.
“On second thought, I’ll get that report to you right after lunch, if you don’t mind.” Her tone is crisp, professional. So cold, in fact, I feel a twist in my gut.
She doesn’t wait for an answer. I say nothing as she heads for the door and closes it softly behind her without another word.
9
Lucy
I don’t go back right after lunch, of course. I can’t. My brain and body are scrambled.
Dominic Breson makes no freaking sense. How he can be such a demanding, arrogant nightmare one minute, and the next be the most thrilling, charming, thorough lover I’ve ever had, I don’t know. I’ve tied myself in knots for this guy, my boss, for months. He’s the last man in the world I imagined I’d fall for.
Oh stop it, Lucy, I tell myself. Just because you screwed each other’s brains out one weekend doesn’t mean you’re falling for him. It’s the sex, stupid.
But I know he’s not like this with anyone else. I see him interact with other employees. I’ve heard the stories of how generous he is with his money. Everyone at work loves him. So many people have taken pity on me when they’ve seen him cold as ice to me. They all chalked it up to my having to fill Mrs. Talbot’s shoes, the paragon of secretarial virtue, by all accounts, and a saint as far as Breson Company is concerned. Just stick it out and let him get used to me, they said, and supposedly I would finally meet the other side of him, the great man they’re all so fiercely loyal to.
Well, I did meet him. And he’s great. And funny, sweet. He literally swept me off my feet and into bed with him. And even pissed as I am right this moment, part of me is aching to climb right back in.
But not only that. Despite the way he treats me, despite everything, I… damn it, I like him. I’ve seen the better half of him, and it’s that side that I can’t stop thinking about.
I leave the office. Instead of lunch, I drive my car back to my apartment and draw a long, hot bath. I badly need to relax. Sometimes I think best there.
As I strip off my clothes, my skin is still tingling from the mind-blowing orgasm Dominic just gave me. I try to put him out of my mind for just a little while, but even when I pull up my hair in a messy topknot, I remember how much he liked it like this. And then I’m angry at myself for being such a sentimental idiot. When I sink into the bubbles, the hot water is a mild scald on my ass, super sensitive where he spanked me. Spanked me! But the pain feels justified.
Maybe I deserve it. I can hear the voice of reason in my head—she sounds remarkably like my Aunt Cece.
Anyone could have told you getting tangled up with your boss is a huge mistake, missy.
I knew when I did it I was playing with fire. I just couldn’t help it. And now everything’s a mess. A hot, sexy, agony-and-ecstasy kind of mess.
But maybe it doesn’t have to be. I stay in the bath until all the hot water is gone and my mind has finally settled. Once I’m calm, I can see I’m making this more complicated than it needs to be. He’s my boss, I’m his assistant. Sleeping with him causes problems. It just does.
So, time to end it.
Hours later, when I turn my cell back on and check messages, there’s only one from Dominic, asking me to return when I’m ready. I text him to see if he is still at the office. The reply text is immediate but brief: yes.
Before I leave, I’m careful to take my hair down and pull on different clothes, nothing that he’s told me he likes. I want to be neutral and professional when I do this. Time to pay the piper.
The floors are down to a skeleton crew after hours, the office quiet and dark. Dominic is in his office with the door open, standing at the window looking out at the city, something he does a lot when he’s brooding, usually about work.
“Hi,” I say from the door. He kind of twists in my direction to acknowledge me, but he doesn’t say anything.
I walk to stand next to him, and look out at the view. Lots of twinkling lights, but I’m really studying his reflection in the glass. Cold and handsome when he’s not smiling. It already hurts a little to look at him. But I’ve made my decision.
“I can’t do this, Dominic. I can’t work for you and see you.”
He’s silent, but he nods as though he knows. My heart cracks, just a little. Is that all?
“Can you please just tell me one thing? Why are you so different with me than anyone else? I know you’re not this cold with everyone.”
Dominic turns to me then, but he doesn’t seem surprised by the question at all. When we look into each other’s eyes, I see the man I spent the weekend with. Before that, the man who kissed me so softly in the bar.
After a moment he takes my hand and pulls me to sit with him on the couch, facing the skyline. He doesn’t touch me, or pull me close, just sits next to me and holds my hand between both of his.
“Do you remember at dinner, you were teasing me about Monaco?”
“Yes.”
“I was very much the spoiled rich kid when I was younger. Racing cars, partying. Not in a mean way, just… I didn’t have a lot to worry about. My family had money. My friends were exactly the same. Even my best friend, Jake. Buddies in college, drank a lot, travelled. Whatever we wanted. I met my girlfriend, Nicole, around then, too, and she was the same. That whole crowd, drinking, partying up. I thought I loved her. It was a good time.
“Until my father died.
“Thing is, no one expected that I would want to step in when he was gone. I could have just lived off my trust fund and kept partying. But I didn’t want that. All of that seemed silly and unimportant. What I wanted was to prove myself, jump in. I couldn’t stand the idea that Breson Company, this incredible thing my family built, would just be gone.”
As Dominic is talking he strokes my hand and palm. But then he tightens his hold, as though remembering all this is difficult.
“My ‘friends’ didn’t understand why I would do that. Why I didn’t want to travel for months and party every day anymore. Nicole stayed with me. She tried for years. I even think she loved me, but this wasn’t the life she wanted. We started fighting more, and I was at work constantly. And my best friend, Jake, was angry at me too, for bailing over the years. I think that’s how they ended up in bed together. They were running around behind my back for months before I found out.”
My breath catches, and Dominic finally looks up. “I haven’t been with anyone since. Sure I’ve fucked women, but never had a relationship. It’s just too difficult, and there’s no middle ground with a woman when it comes to Breson Company. I either meet beautiful airheads who want this lavish party lifestyle, or power-hungry socialites who want to show me off like a prize. It’s not worth the battle. It’s not worth…” Dominic trails off.
“…it’s not worth getting hurt again.” I finish the thought for him.
He squeezes my hand a little harder. “Something like that.”
“But I’m not a woman you’re dating. I work for you.”
Dominic laughs at that and lets go of my hand. “Which is worse! I was attracted to you the second I first saw you. The fact that you work for me just makes it impossible.” He puts both his arms out along the back of the sofa and shakes his head. “And if you started here because you believed all this playboy tycoon B.S. about me, I really don’t know what to tell you. I’m not that guy. You’ve got to know that by now.”
I can tell he’s starting to put up a shield between us again. My heart is hurting for him. What he told me. How afraid he is to put himself out there. But so much is starting to make sense.
“So you don’t hate me just because I can’t follow in the footsteps of the ‘legendary Mrs. Talbot’?” I air quote the title.
Dominic smiles, ruefully.
“Truth?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “For once? Yes, please.”
“She made great coffee. But Mrs. Talbot has nothing on your legs in a pair of stockings and heels.”
I walk up to Dominic’s favorite spot by the window and look out. I say to the glass, “I’m not either of those things, Dominic. I’m not an airhead. I’m the farthest thing from a socialite.”
In the glass, I can see him stand. He walks out of the reflection and reappears right behind me, and I feel his arms come around me. And we just look out at the city together for a while. No talking, no worries. Just us.
But it can’t last. “We can’t keep doing this.”
“You’re right. You’re fired.”
He tightens his arms around me before I can send an elbow back into his ribs. I want to laugh but suddenly I’m sad. A month ago I wanted to quit. Now the thought of not seeing Dominic every day make my chest hurt.
“I’ve had other offers. Some head hunters.” I turn in his arms and our foreheads touch. “I’ll start looking Monday.” Standing this close to him, feeling his body against me, I can feel it start again, this heat between us.
He nudges my chin up. Talks against my mouth while we start to kiss.
“Let’s put this away for a few weeks and see.”
“Put what away?” I say, kissing him back, fumbling for the front of his belt. I can feel his hard-on against my leg. I cuddle in, hooking my ankle behind his leg, grinding closer while I pull him into me.
He breaks the kiss, which is just getting hotter, wetter. “Try for another job. And I’ll try not to be such a dick while you’re still working for me.”
I slip my hand down the front of his pants and take hold of his cock. I love the hot drip of pre-cum I feel at the tip. I know he’s going to let me have my way when leans both hands on the glass on either side of my head. He lets me work the long length in my hand while we kiss, and then I slide down the glass to my knees.
“Really?” I ask, right before I take him into my mouth. “Why start now?”