by Myra Scott
And right now, I hoped that a smooth getaway would be possible.
“Are you okay?” I asked Eric, glancing over at him. He was gazing out the window, his hands fidgeting in his lap. He turned to meet my eyes and nodded slightly. He looked distracted.
“Yeah. Yes. I’m fine,” he answered tersely.
“No, you’re not. I can tell,” I prodded him gently. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
He sighed, clearly hesitant to share his thoughts. I wondered with alarm if he might be angry with me for putting his job in jeopardy. I had acted rashly, letting my emotions overwhelm me. I thought I had learned to keep my feelings in check, but there was something about Eric that just shattered the floodgates and let it all come spilling out. I couldn’t be stoic around him. I couldn’t hold myself together. My composure just melted away whenever I was near him.
“I’m just worried,” he answered in a soft voice. “I’ve been working at Myrina’s dungeon for years. It’s kind of all I know. And now…”
“Look, you weren’t the one who threw that punch. It was me. If Phillip or Myrina or whoever wants to pick a fight, they should pick a fight with me. Not you,” I told him firmly.
Eric shook his head. “No, see, that’s the problem. Madame Myrina would never want to cause trouble with a paying customer. She will definitely blame me for this. She already made it clear that if anything were to go wrong with Phillip, it would be my job hanging in the balance.”
“I’m sorry,” I said grimly. “I lost control. I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this.”
Eric reached over to lay a hand on my arm. I looked at him. He gave me a twinge of a smile and said, “Don’t apologize. You just risked life and limb to punch a guy who hurt me. Maybe it was a little reckless, but it was definitely hot.”
I chuckled, then got serious again. “I just couldn’t watch him hurt you like that. Eric; he abused you. I don’t care what your job is, that’s not okay.”
“I know,” he agreed quietly. “You’re right. He deserved that.”
“He deserved a lot worse than he got,” I corrected him, feeling that old anger well up again. But I forced myself to stay calm this time. “If Madame Myrina isn’t protecting you… then she’s a terrible fucking boss,” I added.
“She is. I agree. There was a time when I kind of worshiped the ground she walked on. After all, she got me this job in the first place. She recruited me. She built me up and made me who I am today. But in the end, she just looks at me and sees a paycheck. And if I can’t deliver on the money… well, I don’t matter much to her,” Eric said sadly.
“You matter to me,” I replied, without even thinking. “You matter to me more than anything else in this world.”
Eric went silent for a moment and I felt crushed, thinking I had said too much. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way I did. Perhaps I had misread the entire situation, and now I was just the lovelorn guy who punched his client, cost him his job, and—
“I feel the same way,” he said gently.
I glanced over at him, surprised. My heart pounded in my chest. “You do?”
“Yeah, dummy. Of course, I do. I thought it was obvious,” he laughed.
“I thought maybe I was just imagining it. Like I had built up this elaborate, stupid fantasy in my head,” I admitted.
“No. You weren’t dreaming. This is real, Mick. And you know what? Screw this job. I’m tired of being alone. Sure, I made good money, but what’s the point in that if I have to go home to my lonely apartment every day? Yeah, I know what I want now. I’m going to quit this job,” he said with an air of finality. I raised my eyebrows, impressed by his decision.
“Really? You’re okay with that?” I asked warily.
“Hell, yeah. That job used to be my whole life. But my priorities have changed. I don’t want to live that way anymore. I don’t love my career like I used to. There’s no room in my heart for that now,” he explained, his cheeks going pink as he excitedly thought out loud. “I don’t want to have to pretend to care about random strangers anymore. It’s too hard to go into that room and make believe that my heart doesn’t belong to someone else already. I don’t want to be intimate with anyone else. Not now that I know what real caring and affection feels like. This job is over. I can’t do it anymore. Because I’m in love with you, Mick. You’re the only one I want.”
I felt as though my heart might just jump out of my chest. I pulled over to the side of the road and looked over at him, expecting at any moment for him to say he was kidding or something. It was too good to be true. Wasn’t it? But he just looked at me expectantly, a brilliant smile on his face. I grabbed his face and kissed him hard, passionately. Right there on the side of the strip. When I broke the kiss, I gazed into those green eyes, my heart full to bursting.
“I love you, too, Eric,” I confessed.
“Took you long enough,” he laughed, and kissed me again.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - MICK
My work today was at an all-time low, because no matter how many times I started focusing on my emails, the sight of Eric’s ass in those tight jeans in the office with me got me distracted.
That had been why I’d asked him to pick us up a couple of coffees a few minutes ago, so I could finally focus myself and stay on track. It had backfired on me, though, because it meant I’d gotten to see his backside as he left, and that was all I could think about.
And just when I thought I’d shaken the thought, he pushed the door open and came walking back in with a smile on his face and two aromatic cups of coffee in his hands.
“That was fast,” I said with a smile, pushing my keyboard aside and resting my chin on my hands as he approached.
“No line, it’s a slow time of day,” he said as he came up to the desk and sat on it, setting our drinks down. “Peppermint mocha with an extra shot for you, and salted caramel latte for me.”
I’d barely heard what he said—I was too busy staring at him, perched on my desk like an angel come to whisk me away to my own private heaven for a few more minutes.
“So, you’re a caramel guy, huh?” I teased him as I took my drink and gazed up at him lovingly.
“I like warm flavors,” he said. “Caramel, cinnamon, sugar cookie… just warning you, you might have to get used to the smell of cinnamon roll scented candles.”
“I think I can live with that,” I said with a grin. “As long as you don’t mind the car smelling like mint every time we make a coffee shop run.”
“I don’t mind the taste every time I kiss you, so I think I’ll adjust, somehow,” he teased with a soft laugh and leaned in to kiss me. I had to hold him up to keep him from falling over. We were laughed like high schoolers when the kiss broke, and I was having to push him back up.
The past few days, Eric had been acting sort of like my personal assistant around the office. I had to admit, he cleaned up nice. I didn’t have a problem with him showing up in jeans since he was officially not an employee, and he didn’t mind bustling around the office while I watched him with dirty thoughts running through my mind.
And, damn, as much as I loved him in his Dom outfit, he cleaned up beautifully. In that snug-fitting shirt and jeans, I’d think he was a model.
“So, is this all your assistant does?” he asked, picking up his coffee and sliding off the desk so he could stride over to the window and peer out. “Get you coffees all day and gossip about the other employees?”
“Not exactly,” I said, “he normally also interrupts everything I’m doing to tell me about important emails, sets up my meetings, fights off people I don’t want to talk to, and then gossips about the other employees with me.”
“Sounds like a pretty good gig to me,” Eric said, flashing me a grin.
“Well, Luke is on vacation right now, and he definitely needs it,” I said, standing up and slowly making my way over to Eric. “
But if I’m totally honest, it’s about time for him to get a promotion to something a little more permanent than just my assistant.”
“What are you saying?” Eric teased as I came up behind him and slid my hands into his pockets and pressed my crotch into his butt.
“That you’ll be needing a new job soon, and there just might be an opening here at the Sentry in shockingly close proximity to me,” I said in a low murmur in his ear that made him shiver with delight.
I could smell the caramel on him, and I kissed his neck.
“Working for a casino…” he mused thoughtfully, shaking his head. “Never thought I’d see myself going from the darkest dungeons to the tallest towers, but life is full of surprises, isn’t it?” He turned his head to look at me. “I think I just might keep that offer on the table, if you’re serious.”
“We’ll see,” I said, stepping away from him and going back to my coffee. “It’ll involve actually finding an opening for Luke somewhere in operations, but he’s a bright kid, I have a feeling it won’t be too hard.
Eric opened his mouth to make a quip, but there was a knock at the door as I sipped my coffee. “Come on in,” I called.
Zane stuck his head through the door, glancing between the two of us and immediately giving me a broad and knowing smile.
“I sure hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he teased as Eric quirked an eyebrow at me. I rolled my eyes at Zane and gestured for him to come in.
“Eric,” I said, “this is Zane Anderson, CEO of the Sentry. Zane, this is Eric… my boyfriend.”
“Well, well, well,” Zane said, looking Eric up and down with a smile on his face as Eric hastily stepped forward to shake his hand. “So, you’re the one who’s made a hot mess out of my operations manager the past couple weeks.”
“Am I?” Eric grinned at me. “In my defense, he only recently told me what he does for a living. If I knew he was working for the Sentry, I’d have been much more of a gentleman.”
We all laughed, and Zane closed the door behind him, peering at me as his face grew a little more serious.
“Anyway, I wanted to drop by because I’ve got news about the court proceedings.”
The smile on my face faded instantly, and Eric exchanged an anxious look with me. I’d told him the basics of what was happening. There had been a meeting with the lawyers at the court earlier today that was essentially a preliminary hearing before the actual court date that would involve me coming to the courthouse in person. It was something I’d been dreading all day, but Eric’s presence did everything in the world to distract me.
“Alright,” I said with a sigh, “let’s have it.”
Zane stared at me long and hard with a stony face. A second later, it broke into a smile.
“The judge dropped the case,” he said, and a lump came to my throat immediately as Eric’s face lit up. “The video the police confiscated was useless—he threw the case out on lack of evidence.”
“Oh, my god!” Eric shouted as he darted for me, and I was already on my feet to receive him in a massive hug that lifted him off his feet while he peppered my face in kisses. I swung him around once and set him back down to bring Zane into a tight hug that surprised him, and he laughed, patting me on the back. We traded brief kisses on the cheek before I stood back, feeling like a free man.
“Oh, my god,” I gushed, echoing Eric’s words. “I am never hitting the casino floor again as long as I can help it.”
Zane gave a hearty laugh, and Eric came up behind me to wrap his arms around me in a hug.
“You may want to rethink that at least for tonight,” Zane said, grinning, “because you have to cross the casino to get to the restaurant from here, and I’ve got some Kobe beef steaks with our names on them tonight. And that includes you,” he added with a pointed look to Eric.
“I think I’d like that,” he said to me, and I turned my head to kiss him on the lips and gaze into those beautiful eyes I’d be looking at for the rest of my life.
“I think I would, too.”
EPILOGUE - MICK
“Do you deserve to be punished?” purred Eric. He was standing in front of me with that charming, seductive smirk on his handsome face. There was a leather cord in his hands that he kept toying with, running the knots over his fingers, pulling taut with a delicious snap. He was dressed in my favorite outfit: button-up white shirt tucked into tight, black leather pants that showed off his tight, round ass and package, sexy black leather gloves, black boots. He looked like a cross between a high-society schmoozer and a gorgeous, filthy sex god.
He was blisteringly hot and incredibly in control. He was so good at this game. It was almost bizarre to watch how quickly he could transform from my gentle, funny, very attentive boyfriend into my domineering, intimidating, aloof Dom. He knew just how to push my buttons. He could very nearly read my damn mind, it seemed, since he tended to know exactly what I wanted before I even knew I wanted it. There were times when I still felt a little guilty that he no longer got to show off his talents for money. He had been one hell of a professional Dom back at the dungeon. But most of the time, I just felt lucky as hell. I had managed to lock down the hottest, most skilled Dom in the world.
He was now my personal Master, bossing me around in the bedroom and being the tender, adoring guy who loved me the second the session was over. The sex was incredible, even better now than it had been back at the dungeon. Now that we were together, there was no need to hold back. No fear of pushing it too far. We knew each other so well and we were perfectly in sync.
“Yes, Sir. I deserve punishment,” I told him earnestly.
He slowly sauntered up to me, whacking that leather cord over his palm. Every slap of it in his hands made my heart skip a beat. I felt my cock twitching with need, my body on fire at the mere presence of Eric. I was still fully clothed in jeans and a T-shirt, and Eric was wearing even more clothes than I was. But just being around him was hot enough to set all my senses ablaze. Sometimes, even at work, it took all of my power not to grab him and kiss him right in the middle of the day. And the feeling was mutual. Eric had confessed to me many times that he had to resist the urge to bend me over a desk and fuck me right there at the office in full view of everyone. It was certainly an exercise in self-control not to go at it like wild animals at work, but that just meant we got to bottle up and release all our pent-up tensions on each other as soon as we got home.
Tonight was one such night. All day today at the casino, I had been eyeing Eric’s perfect ass. During a work meeting, he sat across from me at the small table, gazing at me with those luminous green eyes while he gently nudged my cock through my trousers under the table. We had been surrounded by coworkers and investors at that meeting, one slight misstep from being caught and embarrassed, maybe even fired. But that only made it hotter. After the meeting, I had excused myself to the bathroom, only for Eric to follow me into the stall, lock the door, and suck my cock right there and then.
And it still wasn’t enough. We were insatiable. The second we had arrived back at my house, we burst into the foyer and immediately began kissing, feeling each other up over our clothes. Now, we were in the bedroom together. I was right where I belonged: standing obediently in front of my man, waiting eagerly for him to dole out my punishment.
Tonight, I had a surprise in store, one that not even Eric knew about.
But for now, I was content to let our scene play out.
“Turn around, Mick,” he ordered. “Face the wall.”
“Yes, Sir,” I said dutifully, turning around. I was nearly shivering with anticipation, excited for whatever he had in mind. He slowly slid up behind me, dragging the leather cord down my chest and stomach, sliding it over my straining cock. I gritted my teeth, wanting desperately for him to unzip my jeans and touch me. But it was all up to Eric to decide how fast and how far we went. All I could do—and all I wanted to do
—was hang on tight and enjoy the ride. He leaned in and kissed the side of my neck gently, letting his teeth just barely scrape the sensitive, ticklish skin there. I shuddered with pleasure and felt him smile.
“You’re on fire, baby,” he whispered, his hot breath on my neck. “I bet you want me to touch your cock, don’t you?”
“Yes, Sir. I do,” I admitted, my voice raspy with need.
Eric reached around to cup my crotch, letting his fingers lightly stroke my cock through my jeans. I moaned and leaned into the touch, my eyes closing as I lost myself to the teasing.
“Ooh, you’re so hard for me, Mick. I love to feel how stiff you are. How badly you need me to fuck you,” he growled in my ear, making me shudder and gasp. God, he was good.
“Please, Sir,” I begged, biting my lip. I knew he could hardly resist when I begged. And judging from his stiff cock pressing against my ass cheeks, it was working.
He stepped away and began to walk around me in a slow, contemplative circle, still toying with that leather cord. “Hmm, what to do with you. Shall I punish or reward you? Either way, you’ll be pleased. For an obedient boy like you, the punishment is the reward. How can I ever hope to discipline you?”
“I will do whatever I can to please you,” I told him truthfully. It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing I normally said during our sessions. Usually I was pretty quiet, letting Eric do all the talking. It was hotter that way. But this time, I was having trouble keeping my thoughts to myself, knowing what was to come.