He made a dismissive gesture. “Yeah. What of it?”
“You read it?”
Pence crossed his arms, looking more like a petulant child than a grown man. “Sure.”
“Good. Then you’ll know sexism, racism, anything that demeans any human being because of their race, sex, class, sexual preference…none of that is tolerated here, and is grounds for immediate termination, regardless of any deals or contracts.” I gave him a moment for that to sink in. “Since you and Aleena started off on the wrong foot, it will be best to smooth things out so your transfer here goes smoothly.” I paused and then smiled at him. “You
do
want it to go smoothly, I assume. Unless you want to return and work under Miriam Beckham?”
A vein pulsed in his temple. “I want to be where the action is, Mr. Snow.”
“Then let’s get to work.”
I gave him a week.
***
He didn’t make it two hours.
Aleena had one hand on my arm, as if to hold me back, although it wasn’t necessary. I was done.
Mitchell Pence was on the floor, gagging, curled up in the fetal position and cradling his balls.
You must suck cock really well. You’ve got Snow twisted—
I’d heard that much come out of his mouth before Aleena had shoved him back and told him to get away from her. If she’d looked at me the way she’d been looking at him, I’d have been running for the door.
Not him. He’d grabbed her arm and I’d seen red.
My brain had somehow managed to function even when some primal part of me had been processing along the basest level, because while I was imagining ripping his dick off and choking him with it, I’d heard myself calmly telling him to gather his things. Security would escort him out.
He’d pushed me. Not physically, but with a few remarks I’d assumed he’d thought were sly and clever.
I’d just smiled at him and pushed back, mentioned a few things I’d heard here and there regarding his sexual prowess...or lack thereof.
He’d hit me and I’d laughed, saying that must’ve meant the rumors were true.
He’d hit me again and that was when I’d let myself drive my fist into his mouth. Blood spurted and I was pretty sure I felt a few teeth crack. Even as he reeled back, I’d caught his tie and stopped him, jerked him close and did my best to shove my knee into his chest cavity via his groin. I didn’t usually hit below the belt. Most men wouldn’t. After what Aleena had told me about her conversation with Miriam Beckman’s husband regarding Mitchell, I figured Pence deserved it.
He was still twitching and shuddering, making odd little noises.
“Come on,” I said. “Get up.”
His eyes wheeled toward me and he scrabbled at the floor. I wanted to kick him until he begged me to stop. Make him apologize to Aleena and every other woman he’d ever put his slimy little hands on. I wanted to beat the shit out of him for ever thinking he could force his attentions on someone who didn’t want them...
“Dominic, love,” Aleena said softly. “It’s enough.”
Her voice pulled me back and when I looked down at her, I realized my hands were shaking. She squeezed my arm as the doors to the elevators slid open and security stepped out. I watched Amber and Aleena share a look as Aleena dropped her hand. She didn’t move away from me though. Amber stepped towards the security guards as Aleena spoke.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, Mr. Snow.”
Her words didn’t make any sense until I felt her guiding me back towards my office. I went with her, trying to tie down the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. Once inside, she shut the door and went to my private bathroom. A few moments later, she came out with a wet paper towel and reached for my hand. She began to wipe the blood from my bruised knuckles, the touch of her skin burning my already overheated flesh.
I needed.
I reached for her and she made no move to stop me as I picked her up. Her legs went around my waist as I leaned her back against the door. I pushed up her skirt as she fumbled with the front of my pants. I was so hard it hurt.
I needed.
I pushed aside the crotch of her panties and had just enough presence of mind to meet her eyes. She nodded and I drove into her.
She made a low noise, her body shaking with the effort to stay quiet.
Staring into her eyes, I covered her mouth with my hand and watched, waited for her response. All she did was twist against me, her eyes closing with a slow flutter of her lashes.
I needed.
I slammed into her again.
I hadn’t had a chance to pull even a third of the way out before she was rising to meet me, her mouth moving against my palm, tongue teasing, teeth scraping.
Mine
.
I couldn’t speak. Through the door, I could hear the voices of my security team talking with Amber. If I spoke, they’d hear. So I thrust into her harder and faster, telling her with every stroke what I couldn’t say out loud.
I needed.
Mine
.
Over the barrier of my hand, her eyes opened, pleading in their pale green depths. I twisted my hips and angled my body until I slid directly across her clitoris. She shuddered around me.
Mine
.
I needed. She needed.
That…just…like…
She came around me, wet and sweet and shaking, and I followed, emptying myself inside her, my anger draining away as I rested my forehead against hers for the few sweet seconds of oblivion our pleasure granted us.
It had only lasted a few minutes, the drama outside still playing through. A discreet knock at the door reminded me that I still had something I needed to deal with.
“Yes?” I grimaced as I pulled out. Fortunately, the paper towel Aleena had brought out for my hand was enough to clean me. She headed for the bathroom to take care of herself.
It was Amber and I had no doubt she knew we hadn’t merely been taking care of my hand. Still, she kept her voice professional. “Um. Mr. Murphy would like to know how you want him to deal with Mr. Pence?”
I considered asking if killing him and dumping the body in an alley somewhere would be an option.
Sighing, I glanced at Aleena as she came out of the bathroom. Her face was flushed, but she looked otherwise collected.
She nodded at me that she was ready and I opened the door. She followed me out, keeping a professional distance between us.
Coolly, I stared at the man who now stood cuffed between two uniformed guards, then turned my gaze to my head of security. “What are my options?”
Chapter 4
Aleena
“So it was that easy.” I stared at the wall. I rubbed my temples and murmured, “It almost feels like cheating.” I’d had a headache since Mitchell had been led out of the office, and it hadn’t let up even after we’d gotten home. I’d thought eating would help, but it hadn’t.
“It’s not cheating.” Dominic sat behind me his arms wrapped around my waist. We’d settled on the couch after a simple dinner of last night’s leftovers, my body automatically leaning into his. He made a low noise in his throat as he skimmed his lips up my neck. Then in a wry voice, he added, “And I wouldn’t call it easy.”
The bruise blooming on his cheek was still faint, but it would be live and in full color come morning. I’d given him ice at the office, but he’d taken the first blow on his cheekbone, the second on his jaw and the entire side of his face had been swollen. “I still can’t believe he hit you,” I said, shaking my head.
“Twice,” he reminded. “I let him hit me twice.”
“He still hit you and you still
let him. Twice.” I sighed, confused. “Why?”
“It made sense.”
Slowly, I rubbed the base of my neck. This so wasn’t helping my headache. “Okay. Just how do you figure it made sense to let him hit
you?”
He took my hand and dropped it on my lap. A moment later, his fingers were massaging my neck, then working up, under my hair, to my skull. That did help my headache.
“Because I know guys like him.” He sounded smug, but kept up the massage. “I couldn’t just outright fire him, not the way things were. He might’ve tried to sue, claiming I’d never intended to really hire him, that I just did it to seal the deal and intended to fire him for some made-up reason. He thought he had me over a barrel. But once he’d been made aware of the company policy and signed the contract agreeing to it, I had a legitimate reason once he fucked up. I knew he wouldn’t go quietly though, so I had to apply a bit more pressure. He attacked me. He got two punches in and then I defended myself. I have him on assault. That’s going to look really bad on his record. He can either let this go and I’ll be quiet about it.” He shrugged. “Or I can get ugly about it. Which one do you think is going to work out better for him in the long run?”
Good grief. I shook my head. “You know, this corporate America world? It’s a lot more cutthroat than I would have thought. And I never thought it was all cuddly bunnies.”
“I can give you cuddling if that’s what you want.” He ran a hand down my shoulders and across my stomach, then up to palm my breast. His fingers sought out my nipple and began working it to a stiff, throbbing peak.
“That…” My voice hitched. “That’s not cuddling, Dominic.”
“No.” He tugged again, sending jolts of pleasure straight through me. “But it can lead to it.”
He continued to toy with me, teasing my nipple through the thin cotton of my shirt and bra. Staring hard at the flickering television screen, I tried to focus on whatever it was we’d started watching. I couldn’t even remember. He liked to play these games, stroke me and work me to a fever pitch while we talked about work or some mundane things.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “Do you think this is going to affect things with
Devoted
?”
The images flickering on the screen made no sense and my breathing was beginning to sound terribly loud as he flicked the tip of his tongue against my ear.
“No.” He curved his free arm around my waist and pulled me more firmly against him. I felt his cock against the small of my back. My pussy throbbed and I started to press my thighs together to relieve some of the tension.
“Don’t.” Dominic’s voice was firm.
Groaning, I dropped my head back onto his shoulder.
He pinched my nipple hard and I gasped.
He went back to discussing business. “They shouldn’t have messed with Eddie. They knew he and I were talking. Had they left him alone, then I would have left them alone. They made their bed. Now they can lie in it. Besides, I doubt they’d want to risk looking bad for an asshole like Mitchell. I might not press charges, but enough people know what kind of man he is. Word will get around.”
He began to unbutton the plain cotton shirt I’d put on when we’d gotten home. Underneath, I was still wearing the black silk bra I’d worn to work. I was no longer wearing matching panties since those had been soaked. For some reason, I’d decided not to bother with them at all when I’d traded my skirt for a pair of comfortable leggings.
I stared at his hands as he freed each button. The sight of his hands baring my skin was painfully erotic and once more, I went to cross my thighs, hoping to ease the ache building there.
“I told you, don’t.”
“Dammit, Dominic!” I put my hands on his thighs, my nails biting into his skin through his dress pants. He hadn’t changed his clothes other than removing his tie.
“I want to see your pretty tits, Aleena.” He made the comment in the same tone of voice he would have used if he’d been telling some guy behind a counter that he wanted to look at a watch. The same tone I’d heard him use at a restaurant when deciding on the red wine instead of the white.
It shouldn’t have been so fucking hot.
He skimmed his hands from my breasts down to my waist and said softly, “There’s a brunch on Sunday. For
Trouver L’Amour.
”
“I know.” I rolled my hips back against him. I wanted him inside me. I didn’t care that I’d had him only a few hours ago. I wanted him. Now.
“I’d like you to come.”
He could have thrown a bucket of cold water in my face and it would have had less effect. I tensed, and his hands stilled. Slowly, I started to pull away. He let me go and I rose, crossing to stand in front of the window. I needed some distance.
Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself and stared outside. Twilight was falling over Central Park, but I couldn’t appreciate the beauty of it. An ache tried to choke me, drowning out the pleasure I’d just been experiencing.
I should’ve been happy about this, but I couldn’t be. I was still dealing with the humiliation from the last party. Hell, screw that. I was still dealing with the humiliation from dealing with his mother and Penelope on a regular basis. Dealing with Mitchell Pence.
I was still struggling to deal with
all
of it.
And I hadn’t even told Dominic that there was more.
Lately, people at
Trouver L’Amour
and some at Winter Business Holdings were beginning to look at me oddly. I’d been hired as his personal assistant, hired to run his personal life. While that coincided with his business life, I was more involved in those things than I used to be. No one told me, but I knew Fawna hadn’t spent so much time at work with him, and certainly hadn’t attended business functions together.
People were beginning to realize we were involved.
And earlier today, he’d had me up against the door of his office in
Trouver L’Amour
.
I’d been too aroused, too caught up in him to think at first, but later, I wished I had told him to stop. If Amber didn’t know for certain before, she’d certainly figured it out today, and I doubted if the security guards had bought my lame excuse of tending to Dominic’s hand. It didn’t matter that I’d only meant to give him the time he needed to cool off. What mattered was what had happened and what people were thinking of it. Of me.
Forcing myself to speak, I asked him softly, “Why are you asking me?”
For the longest time, he didn’t answer, and I began to wonder if I wanted him to.
Finally, he sighed. His voice was just as quiet as mine. “Because I want you there.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.” Shivering again, I rubbed my arms. The touch of skin against skin startled me and I looked down, realizing for the first time that I was standing there with my shirt and bra open. I didn’t even remember him opening my bra. I quickly fixed it, closed the front clasp and hurriedly did up the buttons on my shirt. “I don’t have to go. It’s a business function and you’ll have a million people there asking questions and passing you cards. Basically, you need your assistant, but Amber’s your assistant for the business, so she should go. But if you’re asking me…” I shook my head, not wanting to put words in his mouth. I needed to hear them from him. “Dominic,
why
do you want me there?”