Bound to be Taken (Emergence) (27 page)

She took another bite. Her hunger was increasing. How
did
that sound?

It sounded as if Aiden was pretending to make a conversation seem almost normal when in reality they were just manipulating her into believing she was in control, that’s how it sounded. Now that she wasn’t quite so separated from her own body as she’d been last night, she had a few reservations about following every single command these guys made. It seemed unnatural. She didn’t know anyone who would let themselves be led down this path.

Sure, honey, you can nap, but you have to do it where I say, and I’ll be checking in to make sure you’re doing what you claimed and you’re where you’re supposed to be, right where I tell you to be.
Isn’t that what he’d said in a nutshell? She wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to argue semantics right now. She’d take it. “Okay.”

At least the nap was hers and she didn’t have to deal with the stress of their scrutiny at the restaurant. The late night hours were going to be hard enough; she didn’t need to add to it.

After she ate, Aiden pointed to the bathroom, swallowing the bite of toast in his mouth. “I set a new toothbrush on the counter for you.”

“Thanks.” So intimate.

“Oh, and Steph,” Aiden added, “under no circumstances are you allowed to come when you aren’t with us. Not sure if we made that clear. Control yourself at work. You may practice with the balls to hold them in and push them higher, but do not orgasm.”

Jesus.
It was going to be a long day.

Chapter Sixteen

Stephanie got to the office before eight, still earlier than anyone else, but not early enough to keep from feeling rushed. At least she didn’t have to walk by too many people, dressed as she was. She knew the outfit wasn’t even remotely peculiar by normal standards—at least the part people could see—but it wasn’t even close to normal for her. There would be talk.

“Morning, Steph,” Lisa said as she passed by Stephanie at nine.

Stephanie looked up from her work to face Lisa with a smile. She felt good. Things were going well. It wasn’t as hard as she’d expected. The warming cream was wearing off, thank God, and if she sat really still on her vinyl chair she could almost forget the ben wa balls and the fact that her bare ass was directly in contact with the seat.

She was never more glad her desk was solid on the front. No one popping in or walking by could see her bare legs, her sexy high heels and the flowing skirt that was shorter than anything she’d ever worn. Besides the sexy factor, Stephanie as a rule didn’t wear very many colors. Black pumps were her standard, black or dark skirts and blouses. Not much else existed in her wardrobe. She always looked professional. No one could accuse her otherwise, but inapproachable was her goal. Not someone to be fucked with. Hell, not someone to be fucked.

For years she’d met this goal without a problem. Even though she wasn’t bad on the eye and she knew that, men didn’t give her a second look most of the time. It was amazing how standoffish a person could appear simply by hiding behind their hair and wearing clothes that revealed nothing.

Lisa entered and took a seat across from Stephanie, and a slow smile tipped up her lips. “You look nice. You must have really pulled out the stops for your date. Is it more than a date for tomorrow?”

Shit.
“Umm, sort of. We’ve gone out a few times this week.”
Among other things.
Stephanie was just glad Lisa wasn’t making a bigger deal out of things.

“Well, I like it. That color suits you. And your haircut is fantastic. That doctor’s appointment did you wonders.” Lisa winked.

Huh? Oh fuck.
The reason she’d left early yesterday. Right. She flushed, but didn’t say anything to encourage the conversation to continue.

“Thanks, Lisa.” They were office friends, but Stephanie couldn’t even begin to describe to Lisa what her week had entailed.

The morning was uneventful. People came and went. Some said she looked nice, but most just did a double take and moved on. Even her boss, Mr. Reeves, stepped in once. He only lifted an eyebrow and stared at her while he asked for the file he needed. Well, he might have actually been staring at her chest, but at least he didn’t comment.

At lunch, Stephanie ordered a sandwich from the deli downstairs and had it delivered. The less often Stephanie had to move around, the better. It attracted less attention to her from others and kept her squirming to a minimum.

She also purposefully didn’t drink much. The idea of peeing during the day made her wince. She couldn’t avoid it by one o’clock though and headed for the restroom with as much poise as she could muster. After sitting that long, her legs were stiff.

But she had to bite the inside of her lip when the ben wa balls shuffled around inside her. And damn it, her clit did exactly as Aiden had said. When she stood, the hood lifted and the little nub rubbed against the tight leather thong. She gritted her teeth on the way down the hall, hoping not many coworkers would see her go by in her shorter-than-usual skirt and higher-than-usual pink heels.

She exhaled when she entered the stall, relieved no one else was in the bathroom at the same time. Lifting her skirt, she reached between her legs, held the tight leather aside the tiny bit it would allow and relieved herself. Somehow the act was erotic. She was just peeing for heaven’s sake. How could peeing be arousing?

Because of the balls. Because of the leather. Because even this simple necessary act was being controlled by the sexy gods who were in charge of her body even when she wasn’t with them.

Stephanie winced again as she wiped and settled the leather back into place. She hadn’t touched the ben wa balls all day. Contrary to their suggestion, there was no way she could sit at her desk, pushing them into her pussy with her fingers.

Now she faltered. No one could know what she did in the restroom stall. Before she stood up she held the triangle aside again and used her other hand to press inside her. She moaned and the noise brought her more alert.
What the hell are you doing, Steph? Anyone could come in at any time.

But the door was squeaky and she hadn’t heard it open so…

She spread her legs farther and toyed with the metal balls, fondling her pussy as she did. She closed her eyes and thought about Aiden and Dane, their faces, their glorious hair, one blond, one dark. God, she could so easily get off. She’d never done anything remotely like this in her life. Never had she gotten herself to come in public. Hell, she tended to use her vibrator under the covers even when she was alone.

She pushed the balls and then pulled the string back, dragging them to the entrance and then repeating. Learning them and how they worked together to drive her to distraction. In minutes she was so close. It heightened her arousal to think of how scandalous it was to be masturbating in the public restroom of her workplace.

Just before she came, she froze.
Fuck. And damn.
She held still, willing her fingers to stop moving. Deep heaving breaths. She needed to come. What was stopping her? No one would ever know. It wasn’t as though Aiden and Dane had installed surveillance cameras in the bathroom of her office.

She glanced up at the corners of the room to prove herself correct as irrational as that was.

Her fingers still lingered inside her. She held the leather triangle just an inch out of the way, the farthest amount it would allow.

Aiden’s words from this morning rang in her head.
Under no circumstances are you allowed to come when you aren’t with us.

Deep breath in. A low moan. With a sigh, she removed her hand and settled the leather back over her pussy. She leaned her elbows on her thighs and tried not to concentrate on her throbbing clit. Her knees shook with need.

Control. She needed to get control. She was going to look as if she got fucked in the bathroom if she didn’t pull herself together. The flush she felt on her cheeks wouldn’t go away quickly.

Truthfully, she was a bit angry too. Damn Aiden for putting her in this position. Damn herself for allowing it. Where was her willpower? She was her own person. A grown woman alone in a bathroom stall with an achy clit. All she’d needed was two more seconds and she could have been enjoying a nice hard orgasm.

Breathe.

The willpower was in not letting her sticky fingers finish her off. The willpower was in doing as she was told without question. And she knew the reason now why he’d demanded it of her. She was hornier than she’d ever been in her life. That was the reward? She wasn’t altogether convinced of the benefits, but she’d give Aiden one thing—when she did finally come under his instructions, it was going to be explosive.

As she left the bathroom, she ran smack dab into Mr. Cane. He grabbed her arm to steady her and keep her from falling. Thank God. She was still flushed from the near-orgasm and wobbly on her feet from not finishing the deed. She clenched her pussy around the metal balls instinctively, an irrational fear that they would fall out from around the leather thong onto the floor and embarrass her to death.

“You okay, Stephanie?” Jack asked, lowering his gaze from her face to her chest.

“Fine. Did you need something?” She swallowed. Had her voice cracked?

He didn’t take his gaze off her breasts…or his hand off her arm. Was his grip growing firmer around her biceps?

Several seconds passed before he spoke again. “Nope. Just walking down the hall when you ran into me.” He still didn’t lift his gaze.

Now she was growing angry.

When he finally let go of her arm, his fingers grazed along her breast and flicked off her nipple.

What the fuck?

Had he done it intentionally? Did he even know he’d just fondled her?

He didn’t mention it or apologize. Instead, he smiled at her and nodded. “Well, have a nice afternoon.”

Have a nice afternoon? She was fuming. She couldn’t even come up with a single word. Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out. She stared at Jack Cane’s retreating frame as he sauntered down the hallway as though nothing untoward had just occurred.

Were her senses so heightened by her experiences with Aiden and Dane that she was imagining things?

On unsteady feet, she made her way back to her office, shaking the last five minutes from her mind. She needed to get back to work. And then get the hell out of this office.

“Thanks for meeting with us again.” Dane leaned on the table, wrapping his hands around his steaming cup of coffee. He gripped the mug hard to keep from shaking.

“Anytime. You know that.” Lori smiled earnestly.

“I hope we aren’t in over our heads,” Aiden commented. “We’re pushing Stephanie pretty hard.”

“And how is she taking it?” Lori asked. She glanced at both men.

Dane cleared his throat. “Amazingly. She’s unbelievable. We wouldn’t be in this position if we had any doubts along the way. She clearly didn’t see this coming, but now that she’s had a taste, she is practically begging us to dominate her.” He smiled with pride. His heart beat rapidly thinking of her last night in their bed, legs spread wide, moaning with need.

“Did she actually beg?” Lori’s concern furrowed her brow.

“No,” Aiden began, “well, yes, she did beg. But not like you’re thinking. Her ability to assume the role is beyond what we could ever have anticipated. When she slips into sub role, her emotions leak out of every pore. We can practically see her desire to be fucked.” Aiden smiled. He had to feel the same pride as Dane.

“Are you positive she isn’t too submissive?”

Dane shook his head. “I really think she’s just a natural. She’s vying for a promotion at work and she shows every indication of being extremely driven in her regular life. In fact, she doesn’t even date much. Up until now, she hasn’t had many good experiences with men.” Dane chuckled. He took a sip of coffee, burning his lips and wincing.

“Why?”

“Her childhood wasn’t pretty. Her mom went through a number of men, and what she witnessed made us all look bad,” Aiden said.

“We have told her we want her to stay after Saturday. We haven’t figured out all the particulars yet, but we’d like you to meet her next week if she agrees.” Dane continued to lean forward, gazing at Lori. He knew she would do it. She had more experience in the D/s world than anyone either man knew. And she was the nicest, most helpful person they’d met in the lifestyle.

She’d been both a sub and a Dom in the last ten years. With experience on both ends of the spectrum, she was a fountain of information.

“I’d be glad to meet with her. You know you don’t have to ask. I’m happy to help. If she agrees to stay, how about setting up something early next week?”

Dane stood and began to pace. “This just happened so fast, we’re still wrapping our heads around our good fortune and worrying about how to handle this full-time. It hadn’t been in the plans.”

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Lori asked. “I mean, I can see you both adore her, but ask yourselves the hard questions. I can’t stress that enough. It’s one thing to role play on occasion. It’s another thing entirely to train a full-time submissive. The commitment is huge. And the responsibility. You two would be in charge of her training in a world she knows very little about. She would need to start from the very basics and work her way forward. It would be on your shoulders to ensure her safety, emotionally and physically.”