Eve stilled at the firm tone of his voice. Her heart beat frantically, but she worked to settle herself down. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
“You’re loose now, but I need you to remain calm. Let me take care of you.” Murphy lifted her from the chair and carried her to the couch. He sank into the leather and settled her on top of him with her back facing his front. He gently began massaging her right arm, working the muscles loose from the long period of immobility.
For nearly all the time Chase took pictures, she’d barely noticed anything more than mild discomfort. Nothing she couldn’t handle. But now with her mind racing, and Murphy’s hands working her flesh, her skin felt prickly and painful. On top of that, the shame of sitting on his soft leather pants with no barrier from her pussy drove her a little crazy. When he finally moved her off him, he would see her shame in all its wetness ruining his expensive pants.
“You’re worrying too much.”
“No—No I’m fine,” she lied.
“Uh-huh. Don’t think for a second just because I’m not looking at your face that I can’t feel every emotional response in your body language. Not to mention the increasing tension in these muscles.”
Murphy had moved on to her left arm, and while his strong fingers felt incredibly good on her skin, it wasn’t her arms that needed his attention.
“Lean back,” he whispered at her ear, the warm air caressing her skin.
Eve hesitated. She wanted to go home. She needed to curl up in her own bed, with her own thoughts, and figure out what had gone wrong. Why Chase had turned away from her.
The hands wrapped around her biceps tightened and pulled her back. Eve didn’t want to fight. Still, when she leaned against his chest she didn’t relax. She held part of her weight away from him with the use of her stomach muscles.
Thwap! Murphy slapped her thigh, catching her completely off guard. She gasped at the stinging heat spreading through her leg.
“Stop trying to hold yourself back from me, Eve.” That stern in-command voice had returned and Eve swore some of her resistance melted inside. She sighed into Murphy, giving in to the need to be close to him. In a few minutes she would compose herself and go home, but for now she would take advantage of what he offered and asked for. Besides, he’d begun working his magical fingers on her hips, thighs, and belly. Maybe there was hope for that orgasm after all. Certainly the need for release was what twisted her guts in a knot.
Before long, he’d created a state of euphoria in her that led her to a point halfway between the need pulsing in her pussy and the desire to sleep. Then his hands touched her breasts and the simmering flame leaped to a small fire.
“I know, Eve, I know. There isn’t a doubt in my mind about what you need. But you have walls. Thick ones that you need to let down. So, until you’re ready to tell us what you want, really tell us, you can’t have it.”
His thumb and forefinger pressed on her sensitive nipples at the end of his statement, and Eve cried out. Not from pain. No, she loved the way he gently tormented her. Her cries had to do with her inability to voice the need they’d created in her. She jumped from Murphy’s lap, her embarrassment briefly lost in the face of her desire to escape.
“I have to go.” She grabbed her clothes from the floor and rushed to the dressing room without a glance back at Murphy. Once there, she closed and locked the door and hurriedly dressed. The quicker she got out, the quicker she could make sense of what had happened today.
Five minutes later Eve unlocked and opened the door a fraction, looking to see if Murphy had followed her. When she saw no one, she breathed a sigh of relief. He’d obviously decided to let her go. She opened the door, rushed to her desk, and grabbed her purse.
Now all she had to do was make it out the door without either one of them catching her and she’d be home free.
“Where are you going?”
Shit.
She didn’t want to turn around and face Chase. Not yet. Until she had her emotions under control, she was entirely too vulnerable. After an hour with her battery-operated boyfriend and about eight hours of sleep, then she might be up to it. But now? No way.
“I’m going home for the night.” She did her best to hide the quaver in her voice and prayed he’d leave it at that.
Chase grabbed her arm and led her down the corridor toward the exit without another word. At the door, he backed her into the wall and bracketed her face with his hands. He seared her clear down to her soul with the hunger in his gaze before lowering his lips to hers. With the tense lines in his face and the angry demeanor she thought she’d picked up on, she expected a rough taking of her mouth.
Instead his lips slid across hers softly, sending shivers of sensation straight to her stomach and other warm places in her body. He took the time to taste and learn before his tongue dipped inside, coaxing her mouth open. The deeper he went, the weaker Eve felt, until her knees wobbled and she thought her legs would give out.
The warm, soothing kiss acted like a balm to her frazzled nerves. She’d begun to tumble into a well of helplessness after leaving Murphy as she recalled everything she’d endured. Although endured hardly suited how she’d felt. Everything they’d done made her want more until no matter what they did it wasn’t enough.
Now this kiss…
Chase delved deeper, increasingly forceful, until he’d begun to devour her where she stood. Tongue and teeth worked in tandem to rob her senses while he staked a claim. What else could you call something so intense, so fraught with need, her pussy flooded with moisture?
The inferno blazing inside her raged out of control. Thoughts of begging pushed at her brain. She grabbed at his waist. The need to be close—to have more of him—melted through her fear. When she thought she couldn’t take another second more before she combusted, he jerked back and out of her reach.
“Jesus, Eve.” He clenched his fingers in his hair and looked away.
Fresh tears pooled in her eyes, but they held no comparison to the painful need throbbing between her thighs. “Touch me, Chase…” Her legs shook out of control. “I need more…”
Eve slipped her hand beneath her skirt. Trembling fingers slid along the soaking-wet flesh. “I swear it won’t take much. One touch…”
Chase grabbed her wrist and yanked it away from her pussy. The dark look in his eyes was like molten lava to her insides.
“No.” He placed her arm above her head and locked it in place with a tight grip. “If this is going to keep going, you need to learn right now that your pleasure will only come from Murphy or me. Never your own hand unless we’ve directed it.”
Eve cried out and squirmed against his hold. She was ready to crawl up his body like a cat in heat if that’s what it took. What the hell was pride at this point anyway?
Chase kissed his way from the edge of her shoulder to the shell of her ear while he caressed the inside of her thigh with his free hand mere inches from where she desperately needed him to be. But it was the rock-hard ridge pushing into her hip that commanded her attention. He was as turned on as she.
“Don’t touch your pussy tonight,” he whispered, the sound an unmistakable command. “You started this and I plan to finish it.” Chase chose that moment to drag one finger through her slit. Eve cried out from the overload of sensation. Her knees buckled. Thanks to the strong grip he maintained on her arm, she stayed right where he wanted her.
“Please…” She couldn’t have held back the plea if she’d wanted to. She’d known Chase and Murphy would play her body like a finely tuned instrument, but she’d underestimated her own response. Now she needed an orgasm as much as her next breath, and he’d just denied her.
“I intend to give you everything you need and then some.” He removed his finger and released her arm, and Eve barely caught herself from falling. “But not tonight.”
Eve had no idea what to do with that. The ache bordered on painful, and he’d just ordered her no satisfaction. Was he fucking crazy? As qu
ickly as a flash fire in a pan of grease on the stove, her aching desire turned to anger.
“You’re being such an asshole. Is it really all that much to ask for some relief? Fuck, Chase. Have some pity.”
The smug smile that crossed his face fanned the flames. She suddenly wanted to knock that look from his face.
“Consider this a test. Or a last chance to say no if you need that. I could send the client the pictures we have already and I think he’d be pleased, although there were a few more shots I wanted to get tomorrow.” He took a step forward, putting her within arm’s reach again. “I’m not doing this to punish you. You were incredible today. But right now I need you to trust me. If you touch that pretty little cunt of yours tonight, don’t come in. You can take the day off with pay and return to your former position on Monday. No harm, no foul.”
With that he turned and walked in the direction of his office. No rebuttal permitted, no allowing her a response. Nothing. She slid to the floor, finally allowing the tears she’d held back to drip down her cheeks. With Chase gone, her emotions crashed down on her. Panic at the thought of Murphy or Chase finding her like that gripped her insides and pushed her to her feet. Home. She had to get there.
She was now certain she’d bitten off more than she expected and that any sane woman would leave and never return. By the same token she knew without a doubt she’d return in the morning.
Chapter Six
‡
Chase stared at the images on his computer screen. He’d worked endlessly on these shots since he’d walked away from Eve. And walking away from her had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes—the desperate need. The second he’d closed his office door he’d licked his finger clean. Not the smartest thing he’d ever done. Since then her taste and smell was all he’d thought of for the past nine hours.
He’d known going down this road would not be smart, and the minute he’d focused on her through his lens, the war was over. At least for him. There would be no more denial of what he wanted from Eve. The rock-hard erection in his pants proved that.
No, little Miss Eve would be his. Plain and simple. He’d offered her more than a fair share of outs, even though he’d known she wouldn’t take them. If he’d had a doubt of her intentions before, these pictures cleared up everything. Her words could lie, desire could tempt her where she didn’t really need to go, but the camera, it never lied.
There in the photos lay the perfect submissive. His submissive. Funny how life threw things at you when you least expected it. She’d stumbled into his life on a whim without a lick of secretarial experience, and Murphy had taken her in.
“Fuck, Chase. Have you been here all night again?”
Before he could respond, a white foam box landed on his desk, disturbing the organized chaos he had going on.
“Do you really expect me to answer that?” Chase popped open the box and sighed at the gourmet omelet from his favorite all-night café. He hadn’t thought of anything other than Eve for so many hours that he’d forgotten to eat, and now his stomach growled furiously for nourishment.
“See, there is a God. And he called up you, Murphy Young, to deliver me the finest food I’ve seen in too long.” Chase grabbed the plastic silverware and ripped into the bag it came in. He freed the fork and dug into the food. The fluffy egg and cheese crossed his taste buds in a ridiculously delightful experience. “Oh yeah, now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“You should try leaving the office every once in a while. You might be surprised by what you find out there.” Murphy settled into the leather couch across from his desk and placed his feet on the coffee table.
“Yeah, fuck you too.”
Rich laughter erupted from his best friend and provider of decent food. “So, I take it you like the shots from yesterday.”
“You tell me.” He grabbed up one of the 8 x 10s he’d already printed in high resolution and handed it over.
Chase knew the instant Murphy’s facial expression turned serious, he’d been right. He’d captured some of his best work with Eve. Once she’d given in to the bindings, everything about her had begun to change. A low whistle from the couch shook Chase from his thoughts and brought his attention back to Murphy.
“This is pretty unbelievable. And why do I have a sudden hunch we’re not getting paid enough for these photos?” Murphy handed the photo back to Chase, who stared into the eyes of the woman he craved more than ever. The combination of fear, lust, and crazy want in her gaze tore into his gut every time he looked.
“What happened when she left? Please tell me you talked to her.”
“Yeah I talked to her all right, but she was pretty damn pissed at me the last time I saw her.”
“Chaaase.” The exasperated sound of Murphy’s voice when he spoke his name amused him. If his friend didn’t know him by now, he never would. “You were mean to her, weren’t you?”
He couldn’t tear his gaze from her photo. Her skin practically glowed against the ropes. Full breasts topped with the perfect berry red nipples drew his attention here, almost as much as they did in person. Oh what he could do with tits like those.
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Yeah, I hear you just fine.”
“Then what the hell? I know you’ve had a bug up your ass since she started working here, but looking at those photos and after her performance yesterday, I thought you’d be thrilled.”
Chase slammed down the picture and turned a hard look to his friend. “That’s exactly the problem, isn’t it? It’s not a performance. Our little receptionist has a submissive streak a mile wide.”
“Even better.” Murphy sat up straight and placed his feet on the floor. “You’ve been out of the play scene for a while, and it’s high time you got on with finding someone new.”
“Don’t try to force this on me. I won’t put up with bullshit like that.”
Murphy barked in laughter. “Force you. Are you fucking kidding me? Your tongue was practically hanging out when I walked in here, and don’t think I missed your reactions yesterday. You want her. So what exactly is the problem?”
“You know, you can go now. I do still have some more work to do this morning, just in case our new protégée decides to show up.”
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t she? Did you purposely try to scare her off last night?”
Chase rolled his eyes and stood. Movement. He needed movement. Murphy grilling him about Eve was getting under his skin. “I was truthful, goddammit, so quit giving me shit about it. If Eve comes in today, it won’t just be for pictures.”
“Did you even bother to explain why we held her back from the orgasm she begged for?”
He kept silent. He didn’t have to answer to Murphy if he didn’t want to. They were business partners first, play partners second. Although the fact they’d been best friends since childhood probably superseded it all.
“You are one hard man, Chase. Even I couldn’t have resisted her soft pleas for a second more. If I’d held her for two minutes longer, that hot cunt of hers would have been in my mouth. It’s all I thought about last night after I went home. I mean, hell, don’t even ask how many times I jacked off.”
“You know if she obeyed, and kept her hands away from herself, the pictures I’ll get today will be off the fucking charts. I really might have to ask the client for more.” Chase paced across the room and willed his hands to stay at his sides. The zipper pressing against his engorged dick was going to leave marks. But if he expected her to exercise control, then he’d sure do the same. It was the least he could do.
“You’re waiting for her, aren’t you?” Murphy looked at him with a narrowed gaze. “Yep, I can see it. The Chase Miller legendary control is hard at work and clawing up your back, isn’t it?”
“I need her to come back.”
Murphy sighed deeply. “She’ll be back, and we both know it. Hell, I hope so. I’ve never experienced anyone quite like her.
I know she’s not completely innocent, but she has a quality about her. Someone just needs to work through her control issues. It’s no wonder she’s so curious about bondage. Nothing like a little forced helplessness to bring out the inner slut.”
An idea crawled into Chase’s head, and he hurried back to his desk. He sank into the deep leather chair and swiveled to the computer. The photo he’d been manipulating for the last few hours haunted him. With a computerized paintbrush, he painted on four simple letters and sat back to look at the results.
“What do you think?”
Murphy launched himself from the sofa and crossed the room. He peered over Chase’s shoulder and absorbed the last photo he’d taken. Now emblazoned with the word slut.
“Perfect. It suits her to a tee.” The approval in Murphy’s voice was unmistakable. No wonder they did everything so well together. They’d discovered long ago that they were two sides of the same coin. And in this day and age it was all about balance.
“Did you already set up the studio?”
“You know I did.”
“Now she just needs to show up.” The both glanced at the clock, and Chase frowned. She was already twenty minutes late.
Chapter Seven
‡
On Chase’s last words, Eve slipped around the corner and leaned heavily on the wall. Her heart raced and heat suffused her cheeks, not to mention all the other areas of her body. After a night of very little sleep, worrying over every little thing she’d done wrong, she’d planned to march right into his office and tell him no more.
Instead she’d overheard Murphy and him having a conversation. Curious, she’d hovered near the door and listened to every word. Every emotion she could think of had slammed through her during the course of the two men talking. She’d been so wrong.
They both wanted her as fiercely as she wanted them. Although from the sound of it, they had pretty high expectations of her. Expectations she wasn’t confident she could fulfill. For two years every minute of her life had been about someone else, and she’d somehow lost the ability to let it go. To relax and go with the flow. Instead, all she thought about were responsibilities. The work that never ended and the to-do list never more than a few feet from her side.
Make Me: Twelve Tales of Dark Desire Page 73