Stately Pleasures
Page 23
‘W-we’d better shut the door,’ she said, her voice muffled beneath her fingers. ‘S-someone might come up the corridor, and we won’t hear them. They’ll be able to hear everything.’
‘What, like you did, you mean? All those months ago?’ Jeremy said.
‘Yes,’ she almost whispered, feeling a lurch in her chest at the thought of him with another woman. It was ridiculous, she knew, because he was with her now, but it still wasn’t a pleasant thought. She found her voice. ‘But I didn’t do it on purpose, you know. I got so far and I could hear you and her in here, and I just froze. Part of me wanted to run away, but then you’d think I was late for our meeting, and I was desperate to make a good impression. The other part of me couldn’t interrupt – it would have been horribly embarrassing for everyone. Then Ethan caught me, and well, you know the rest.’
‘I do know the rest, Alice,’ Jeremy replied. ‘But actually, you don’t know the whole story. In fact, I have a little confession to make.’
Alice raised her eyebrows. What the hell could he possibly have to confess? ‘Go on.’
‘Well. How can I put this?’ He paused for a couple of seconds. ‘I guess simply is the best way I can put this. So just hear me out, Alice, OK?’
She nodded, by now desperate to hear what he had to say.
‘Ever since I met you in that first interview, I was attracted to you. I thought you were sexy, sweet, and very intelligent, if not a little shy. All of that aside, I knew you were perfect for the job. So I continued with the interviews I had scheduled, while knowing all along that you were the one. In the meantime, I’d spoken to Ethan about you – about your wit, your personality, and your delectable figure. He was very eager to meet you.’
He continued. ‘Over the few days following your interview, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and the more I thought about you, the more I thought you’d be perfect.’
‘Perfect for what?’ she interrupted.
‘Isn’t it obvious, Alice? Perfect to help Ethan and I complete all the tasks on my list. Ethan hadn’t met you by that point, of course, but we have very similar taste in women – as you already know – and so he trusted my judgment. Don’t ask how, but I suspected you had a latent desire to experiment sexually, but that you would need a good shove to act on it. And so, when you started working here, I tried to figure out a way of finding out if I was right. Preferably without being sued for sexual harassment.’
He and Ethan grinned at one another, then Jeremy spoke again. ‘It was Ethan who came up with the idea. We decided to set you up. I’d call you to my office, and there’d be some dubious sounds coming from inside. It was a test. If you turned tail and ran, then I’d definitely get sued for sexual harassment – and probably more – if I presented you with the list. But if you stayed, listened to what was happening inside my office, then there was a good chance you’d be up for it. The blackmail thing was just another prod in the right direction. I’d never have ruined your career if you’d said no – but the way you acted when you thought you had no choice, it was electric, Alice. God, watching your face as you went from disbelief, to acceptance, to determination was just incredible. All along, that undercurrent of desire was apparent, which reassured Ethan and I that we were doing the right thing. That although we were coercing you, we weren’t truly forcing you.’
Alice gulped to dry and dampen her dry mouth. ‘So, who was she, then?’
‘Who was who?’ He looked genuinely confused.
‘The woman in your office, of course.’
‘Oh!’ Jeremy laughed. ‘I see. Alice, there wasn’t a woman in my office. I was in there by myself, and I was playing a clip from a porno film on my laptop, with the sound turned up.’
A whoosh of breath escaped from Alice’s mouth. Well, she certainly hadn’t been expecting that. Any of it. Jeremy being attracted to her from the very start, thinking she’d be perfect for the tasks, blackmailing her … and to think if she’d walked away from that office door, things could have been very different.
She nodded slowly as all the pieces slid into place. ‘Well, it was a very bloody elaborate scheme, but I’m very happy that the two of you cooked it up. Because look at us now.’
‘Yes,’ Ethan said, ‘look at us now. Now all that’s out in the open, shall we continue where we left off before Jeremy’s confession?’
Alice licked her lips and grinned wickedly. ‘I can’t think of anything I’d like more.’ Then her face fell. ‘Though we might have to wait till later. What about the staff and volunteers? What if they need one of us?’
‘Fuck ’em,’ Ethan said, moving across the room to lock the office door. ‘Fuck the lot of ’em. They can cope without us for a little while. We’ve got some celebrating to do.’
When he returned to his previous position, Jeremy clapped him on the shoulder. ‘I couldn’t have put it better myself, old chap. Let’s celebrate Alice and her new permanent job. Or should I say jobs? Property manager, sex goddess, and one third of a seriously sexy three-way.’
Alice’s laughter filled the room. That was until Jeremy and Ethan did a superb job of silencing her – for a while, at least.
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If one call could set you on a trail to the heart of your darkest fantasy, would you make it? Charlotte does, and her bold decision propels her into a world where no desire is too outrageous, decadent or extravagant to be satisfied, for a price. Her own fantasy life merges with reality when she is hired to work for the shadowy organisation she first encountered as a client. She organises an array of wild set pieces involving banquets, film productions, mansions full of pleasure slaves, as well as thoroughly researching those requests that chime with her own kinky tastes. Two men, one woman, and every sexual fantasy imaginable, these are the ingredients that make up the business of pleasure
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Published by Xcite Books Ltd – 2013
ISBN 9781783755318
Copyright © Lucy Felthouse 2013
The right of Lucy Felthouse to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The story contained within this book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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