Falling into Black (8 page)

Was she going to see him
too? Great! Just what I needed.

She raised an eyebrow
when I entered Dorian’s office without knocking, which gave me a small twinge
of satisfaction. It didn’t last long.

Dorian frowned when we
walked in, a few closed boxes of food on his desk.

“Sorry I’m late, Mr.
Black--” I started, but he silenced me with a look.

“Mrs. Anderson. What do
you want?” he asked.

“The papers you asked
for,” she said and slid an envelope across the desk.

He glowered at her
dangerously. “This is a mail clerk’s job. Why are you delivering them
personally?”

“I wouldn’t want them to
get lost considering how important they are,” she said with a sweet smile,
which didn’t suit her at all.

Mr. Black nodded once.
“An unnecessary gesture, I’m sure. You can get back to your real work now.”

The look on Mrs.
Anderson’s face froze in place, like she was some kind of mannequin. “Very
well, Mr. Black.”

I couldn’t help but feel
I’d only seen the surface of their conversation. Something else lurked
underneath, but what?

He ignored her as she
headed back to the door and motioned for me to come to his side. My heart
slammed in my chest as I hurried around his desk. As soon as I stood close
enough, he pulled me onto his lap and kissed my lips with hungry passion.

I squeaked in surprise,
my pussy wetting at his every touch. I felt Mrs. Anderson’s eyes on us as the
door clicked shut, but Dorian didn’t pull back from the kiss. His mouth held
mine, our tongues twisting together. Then he nipped at my bottom lip, suckling
it.

“You’re late,” he
growled and ran a strong palm up my thigh.

“I got carried away,” I
admitted and grabbed his hand. “Won’t lunch get cold?”

He flashed me a grin,
his white teeth gleaming. “Who says I’m going to eat anything but you?”

I gapped at him. No one
ever talked to me like that. It took getting used to.

Lips brushed my neck as
his wandering fingers popped the buttons on my suit jacket and blouse. I needed
to ask him if we really were going to Tuscany, but the words died in my throat
as his fingers burned trails of desire across my flesh.

“I need to punish you
for disobeying, don’t I?” he groaned and ground his turgid member against my
round bottom.

“Yes,” I moaned as he
yanked down my bra and tweaked my nipples with playful gentleness.

“Mm, I thought so.”

Powerful hands gripped
my waist and lifted me onto his desk. Then he leaned forward and nipped at my
full breasts with his eager mouth. Biting and licking until I writhed on the
cool wood. Each electric touch sent shivers of lust roaring through my veins.
At the moment, I didn’t care how many other lovers Dorian had –
at
least I got to be his for now
.

Slowly, he eased my
zipper down and pulled the skirt over my hips. His scorching fingers dug into
my fleshy sides, rubbing the delicate panties over my smooth skin. Once the
gray wool fell to the floor, he spread my legs and smiled.

“So wet, Alicia. I love
it,” he groaned and buried his face in my weeping sex.

His tongue flitted over
the silky material; shivers of excitement shooting across my skin at each
barely realized touch. I gripped onto the desk and whimpered as he kissed my
concealed clit with his perfect lips.

“Do you want your
punishment?” he breathed.

“Yes, Mr. Black.” The
words came out as little more than a moan.

I felt him smile on my
flesh, and the palms of his hands ran up my legs and gripped my hips. “Bend
over.”

I couldn’t help but
comply. Leaning over the desk, I pushed aside the boxes of food and took a
deep, shuddering breath.

It was almost like the
first time I’d met him. The first fateful interview, which changed my life
completely. For better or worse? I wasn’t sure yet.

He opened one of his
drawers and my body trembled in anticipation. Would he paddle me? Fuck me?
Anything would do. Dorian always assaulted my body with the perfect mixture of
pleasure and pain.

His powerful hands
glided over my skin. Each caress soaked my pussy, and I moved my ass back and
forth. How long would he wait?

Then the swoosh of the
paddle collided with my bottom. The pleasing sting seeped into my flesh and
blood, and I gasped in delight. To my surprise, a slick digit slid into my
waiting cunt a moment later – then two.

“You’re already gripping
me,” Dorian said, his voice husky, as he spanked me again.

His fingers thrust in
and out of my eager sex and he swung again. Each slap ringing through the quiet
office like the strike of a clock. I pressed my cheek into his desk and
groaned, moving my hips in time with his talented digits. Swoosh. Thrust.
Swoosh. Thrust.

No way in hell I could
hold out against the passionate barrage for long.

Then Dorian’s fingers
popped free and his tongue took their place. Lapping at my twitching lips and
clit. The rough side of his cheek tickled my thighs, and I squirmed and moaned
at each marvelous lick. Hot need tickled my legs and ran up my spine.

As I reached the peak of
my desire, I buckled my hips into Dorian’s delicious mouth. Waves of pleasure
washed over my body, my chest heaving and my bones trembling in the aftermath
– rich with satisfaction.

How did he do this to
me?

Kisses peppered my
thighs as he carefully slid my panties back into place.

“Now we can eat some
lunch,” he said and stood up, pulling the boxes of food closer.

I started to pull on my
clothes, but Dorian stopped me. “You don’t have to dress before you eat.”

“Why do you always want
me naked?” I asked and flipped the lid on one of the boxes. I’d been on my feet
all morning, and my stomach grumbled with hunger at the delicate scent of fruit
and sandwiches.

He answered me with a
smile. “Don’t you like it when I’m naked?”

A blush crept up my
cheeks unbidden. I couldn’t say no, but Dorian Black’s body looked like it was
sculpted from stone. His delectably defined abs and powerful arms – not
to mention his taut ass and muscular thighs. All of it would make any straight girl
drool.

I, however, was chubbier
than I was fit. Although, Dorian claimed he liked women with curves.

“Yes, but you look--” I
started.

Dorian put a finger to
my lip. His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “You look perfect. I wouldn’t
have you any other way, Alicia. Now eat up. It’s your favorite.”

“Turkey on rye?” I asked
and flipped the lid. To my surprise my favorite sandwich sat in the box with a
nice half a dill pickle next to it. It looked like the food from the best deli
in town. “Wait, you went to Al’s?”

He smiled and opened the
other three boxes. One had a sandwich for him and the other two had a Greek
salad and a pile of fresh strawberries with cream.

“Someone went to Al’s,
yes.”

I stared as he pulled
his own roast beef from the box and took a bite. Not covering up while I ate
was hard, but hunger overwhelmed my pride.

“How did you know it was
my favorite?” I didn’t remember telling him. I’m not even sure why it would
come up.

“You go there for lunch
every Friday.”

Slowly, I chewed my
food. He noticed something so small? “What about the strawberries?”

Reaching forward, he
dipped one in cream and brought it to my lips. “At the fundraiser you went back
to the strawberries five times. I took a guess.”

The sweet mixture of
berry and cream danced across my taste buds, and I nodded. He really did pay
attention to me like no one else ever had. It’s something boyfriends did, but
all my former ones paid more attention to themselves than they ever did me.

This was a welcome
change.

“Are we really going to
Tuscany?” I asked as we finished lunch, and he opened the envelope Mrs. Anderson
brought him.

“For a bit,” he said and
handed me my passport.

I flipped it open and
stared at the picture of myself – the one I’d taken for the company ID.
“Why didn’t you ask me to get one?”

He shrugged his powerful
shoulders. “I wanted it to be a surprise, Ms. Jones. You always look so
beautiful when something surprises you.”

I didn’t want to ruin
our moment, but not all surprises were welcome. “Will Sylvia be there? At the
retreat?”

His jaw tensed and he
frowned. “Unfortunately. But don’t let her get to you. I’m the CEO and this is
my company. She can’t do anything to harm us.”

“What about Mrs.
Anderson?” I ventured. It seemed like all his employees were against our
relationship. Was it because I was his assistant or because they wanted Mr.
Black for themselves?

He actually laughed.
“She’s not a shareholder. Don’t worry, Alicia. We’ll have a wonderful time. I
promise.”

I wanted to believe him,
but something nagged at the back of my mind. A woman scorned could do terrible
things, and Dorian Black had scorned two women for me.

I hoped he was right, and
I was wrong.

*
* *

We arrived in Tuscany
via Dorian’s private jet. I never traveled anything but coach when I flew, so
the plane ride over was a revelation in luxury. The seats were huge and cushy
– they even turned into comfortable beds. He had Wi-Fi access up there so
he could get some business done well I fiddled through the massive media
collection.

My boyfriend owns a
private jet, and we’re flying to Europe in it.

In that moment, it was hard
to think of anything else. Even my worry about Sylvia faded.

When we arrived, a car waited
for us at the airport. To my surprise Lance drove.

“Didn’t we leave him in America?”
I asked.

Infuriatingly, Dorian
only smiled.

The hills of Tuscany burned
with changing leaves, rolling yellow hills and hints of the gray blue
Mediterranean. Even jet lagged, I stared out the window at the gorgeous
landscape and gaped.

Little Alicia Jones in
Italy! Talk about a crazy turn of events!

I thought my surprise
reached its peak with Lance, but the huge Tuscan villa we pulled up to –
with its own private vineyard – took my breath away. It shone like a
three-story jewel of yellow baked brick complete with lavish gardens and a view
of the ocean over the hills.

“Welcome to my home away
from home,” Dorian whispered in my ear and gripped my thigh.

“This is yours?” I asked
dumbly.
Of course it’s his! He’s a billionaire!

“Yes. A recent purchase,
actually. I hope you like it.”

“I love it,” I muttered
and took a deep breath of the clean air.

“You haven’t even been
inside yet,” he said and wrapped his powerful arm around my shoulders. The
bulge of his bicep pressed against my neck reassuringly.

“Then give me a tour and
I’ll let you know if I change my mind, Mr. Black.”

With a smile and a nod,
he obliged me.

Of course I loved
everything about it. The villa itself, although hundreds of years old, was
perfectly modern on the inside. Each room was huge with stucco walls and slick
terra cotta tile on the floor. Unlike his penthouse, the furniture here was wooden
and rustic. The property even had its own private beach, although it was too
cold to swim at the moment.

I felt like I was in a
dream. Like I was living another life as another woman.

Then a sleek black car
pulled up and brought reality crashing back with it.

Sylvia climbed out. Her
simple black suit clung to her slender frame and her perfect blonde hair hung
in loose waves over her shoulders.
Dorian wasn’t interested in her
, I
told myself, but it didn’t help me feel any less inferior to her impressive
beauty.

Thankfully, Lance stood
in front of her as she approached us. “Mr. Black is not having any visitors
until this evening. You’ll have to leave,” he said.

So Lance
was
Dorian’s bodyguard!

The woman scowled, a
little line wrinkling her smooth forehead. “This is ridiculous, Dorian. I can
see you. We need to talk about dinner tonight.”

Without even looking at
her, Dorian pulled me toward the house. “We should get cleaned up for this
evening. You must be hungry.”

I glanced back at Sylvia
and frowned. She fumed, and I was surprised smoke didn’t spew out of her flared
nostrils.

Definitely a woman
scorned.

“What if she had
something important to tell you?” I asked, although it sounded stupid.

“Then I’ll find out
tonight,” he said and kissed my temple.

A couple hours later, we
gathered in the villa’s large dining room. All the board members sat at the
table, and I was placed between Dorian to my right and a man with white hair,
Mr. Bradley, on my left. The last time I’d seen the members of the board was
very different than this.