by Lucia Jordan
“Wait a minute,” he said gruffly, a thought just occurring to him. Beneath Ginny’s curious eyes, he snatched up the manuscript and looked at the name printed on the cover page. Real name – Hailey Farah. Could it be…?
No. Too much of a crazy coincidence. He didn’t know what her last name was, didn’t know what she did – didn’t know jack. So there was no way to be sure if this could, in a million twists of fate, be her.
“I think I will take a look at this,” he murmured, looking up at Ginny and remembering to give her a swift, small smile. “Thanks, Ginny, for bringing this to my attention. And for all your hard work. I’ll get back to you on it as soon as I can.”
Ginny nodded and smiled, before exiting the office. When she was gone, Ethan let out a ragged sigh and then drew the sheaf of papers closer to him. He tried not to think of the hell he’d been through in the past weeks after Hailey disappeared. Which she had. He’d awoken and found her gone.
For days he’d hunted just to catch a glimpse of her like he used to, but to no avail.
Then he’d searched for her, going as far as getting the records of the tenants in the building just to find out which place was hers. But there was no one remotely sounding like her in the list. But damnit, he knew she’d been living there. Unless she’d been squatting or subletting – which were both not allowed. Was that why she’d always been so secretive, never letting him know which flat she lived? He was frustrated, angry, on the edge of violence. His next move, he decided, would be to get to talk to each person who stayed in the flat and till he could try to get whoever it was to admit they knew who and where she was.
But for now, he’d take a look at this book and who knew; fate might be kind and it could actually be by that one person in the world he’d ever met who could turn his life upside down…
Chapter Three
Hailey still couldn’t believe she was here, waiting in the stylishly decorated reception foyer of WHIP Inc. Ever since the email…and then the call, she hadn’t actually been herself. Now, a week after that first contact from her soon-to-publishers, she was finally seated and waiting to be attended to.
She couldn’t help fidgeting in her tailored skirt. She wasn’t much of a fan for corporate fashion, but today she made an effort to at least look responsible. There was nothing she could do about the buzzed portion of her hairdo though. However, she had managed to part and comb some thick long locks over the side. Not that she felt anyone would care about her appearance, but she did want to make a good first impression. Looking around at her surroundings, she knew she wasn’t in some penny-pinching establishment. These folks had bucks and if they were really interested in her work, she figured she was already made.
Though it wasn’t all about the money, of course. She’d like the exposure and finally the recognition that she’d always believed she deserved but never dreamed she would earn.
“Miss Farah?”
She looked up sharply, to find the beautiful and young secretary smiling at her. “It’s okay for you to go in now. Mr. Wolf is ready to see you.”
“Thank you,” Hailey smiled, rising to her feet and rubbing her palms down her knee-length skirt. Why did that name sound strangely familiar?
She was shown down a wide, steel-sided corridor before stopping in front of a closed door. “Go on in,” the pretty secretary said, giving her one last encouraging smile as she unlocked the door and opened it for Hailey to go through.
“Thank you,” Hailey said quietly, before drawing in and imperceptible breath. Finally, she walked through the door.
She was barely a few paces in when she looked up, saw the man behind the desk, and went stock still.
Behind her, the door closed with a click. Instinctively, her legs felt like turning right round and speeding her from the room. It couldn’t be….
“Hailey,” Ethan said, rising smoothly from his desk. His face was expressionless, though calm. He indicated the one chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”
Run or stay? Different parts of her brain seemed to be telling her what to do – and none of them seemed to come to an agreement. At last, she made herself move forward on wooden legs to sink into the said chair.
He retook his seat, saying lightly, “Small world, isn’t it?”
“I’m only now beginning to fathom just how true that saying is,” she croaked, wondering what the hell was happening. “I don’t understand. Who – “
“I’m Ethan Wolf,” he rapped out coolly. “I own Wolf Holdings & Independent Publishers – WHIP Inc. This firm is just one of my many corporate pursuits.”
“So…”
“So,” he continued, hands spreading, “This just happened to happen. I almost didn’t want to believe it was you, when the manuscript was shown to me. But after I read through it…”
“You read my book?” Hailey squeaked, wishing she could force her heart to breathe properly. How could a human forget how to breathe? Inhale, Hailey. Then exhale. Then do it all over again.
“Yes, Hailey. I read every word,” he said deliberately, his eyes holding hers for a few compelling moments. Hailey’s cheeks flushed as pink as her blouse.
“I was torn between surprise and disbelief about how much of you I could read between the lines. The heroine has your same unconventional persona…that mixture of misfit and fairy princess. But most of all, I was struck by how passionate and powerful she was, not just as a person, but as a lover.”
Hailey had a feeling her face would never go back to its normal shade again. Just thinking of Ethan reading those things she wrote – every steamy, flame-licking detail…She shivered.
“I…I don’t know what to say,” she finally let out, looking away as she tried to gather her wits. He rose from his chair, and her eyes flew up again.
Panic, joy, attraction, lust, want, need…these emotions warred deep inside her as she looked at him move from his desk and pace away to the far window. Here, in his element, even with all the trappings of formality and cool efficiency, he still seemed like some fearsome beast in the wild, just waiting to spring.
“It’s obvious you never planned on seeing me again,” he said at last, twisting suddenly to face her once more. “But I guess like a few elements in life, some things cannot just be wished away. They usually come right back to haunt us.”
“Look, Ethan…I don’t really know why I’m here, so…”
“You’re here because we liked your book, and we want to publish you,” he said plainly. “I was never really sure it was you, until the moment you walked through that door. And now I have just one thing to ask…how would you like your punishment?”
His voice was calm, even conversational. And laced with a steely promise of dark, well-deserved discipline to come.
“My p..punishment?” Hailey echoed, unable to keep those inner muscles within her core from twitching. His words, his presence…they drew from her enough juices to get her panties soaked straight through. Her hands clenched the edge of the armrests on her chair, and as she met his now black, slanted gaze, she felt her breasts swell and throb with desire.
“Yes, Hailey. Ever since you disappeared from my bed – and my life – I swore that I would find you. And if I did…that I’ll teach you to never run from me again.”
Hailey could never explain that power he had to turn her into a whole mass of butterflies. Already, she knew she couldn’t stop whatever was going to happen from taking place. She’d known, in her heart, that this was how it would be. That if she stayed with him, she’d fall unstoppably into his supremacy. He had the power to consume her – and even now, after weeks and weeks apart from him, she saw the futility of denying what was meant to be.
“I’m sorry, Ethan. I didn’t mean…”
“Oh, but it doesn’t really matter what you meant,” he drawled, before he unbuttoned and then took off his jacket with swift, fluid movements. When Hailey saw him hang it up and then face her with hands settled contemplatively on his hips, she gulped while her pussy throbbed
and dripped more alarmingly.
“Get up, lock the door, and come stand in front of the desk.”
His brusque commands had her rising like an automaton to do as he’d said. She turned the lock, knowing she was further sealing her fate. She was in a phase of total surrender, her mind and body ready to yield to what she so deeply and totally craved. As for her heart, she would worry about the state of that much, much later…
“Did you really think you could escape me? Did you really think it would be that easy?” he asked in that same deceptively mild tone, as she finally went and stood in front of his desk. He was coming forward, and already she started to tremble.
“I was wrong; I know that now. I shouldn’t have acted so silly when I…,” she began, only for her words to fade as he now stood close enough for her to inhale that familiar gorgeous scent that was all Ethan. Her head swum and she ached to reach out and fling her arms around him, but daren’t.
“No doubt, you were wrong, and silly,” he agreed. “That’s why I need to make sure you wouldn’t be doing it again. You know what I’m going to do to you, don’t you, Hailey?”
Every inch of her knew. And in the same vein, every inch of her longed and panted for it. Yielding totally to the forces of lust and obeisance, she nodded slowly.
“Good. Because I’m just itching to show how angry, worried and hurt I’ve been since I woke up that morning and you were gone.” He didn’t touch her, didn’t move from the few inches distance he stood. And yet she felt his tense, hard passion almost like it was already pounding deep and strong within her.
He said the next words quietly yet clearly – compellingly. “Hitch your skirt high up on your waist. Then I want you to bend over and place your elbows on the desk.”
Heartbeat accelerating till it was like she would faint, Hailey complied meekly. Her fingers trembled slightly as she hooked them into the hem of her skirt which she lifted till it lay in folds above her waist. She saw his eyes gleam at the sight of her black satin and lace thong. She caught one last glimpse of his desire-driven face before she meekly bent forward at the waist and leaned forward on her elbows so that her exposed bottom stuck out.
She could swear his breath quickened, and sensed even more the waves of passion washing through the four walls of the expansive office. It seemed almost incredible to believe this was actually going to happen here, now. If anyone had told her this morning as she’d prepared for this appointment that she’d be bent atop Ethan Wolf’s desk, she’d have called them crazy.
“You know you deserve a spanking, don’t you?” Ethan asked, ever mild, while he unfastened his belt. Hailey heard the sound of it being yanked through its hoops and just that low, ominous sound was enough to make her shiver. On and on she seeped and she abstractly worried it would be running down her legs and into her black thigh-highs.
“Yes, Ethan. I know.”
“No, not Ethan. You’ll address me as “Sir”, Hailey. You understand?”
“Yes…Sir.” God, she was shaking with hot, searing lust, her insides roiling together till she felt almost faint. From the corner of her eye, she saw him holding his belt coiled in one hand. She almost couldn’t breathe by now.
“That’s a good girl,” he said softly. “I’m going to start with five strokes, Hailey. And I want you to take count.”
Chapter Four
Ethan seemed to pause, as if savoring the moment, as well as the sight of her bent there submissively over his desk. And then, with a sudden, swift deftness, he brought the belt down across her ass. There was a sharp crack and Hailey gasped, her elbow digging into the unyielding surface of the desk. The sting from the blow was indescribably hot, sharp. Her whole body stiffed, but she otherwise stayed in place.
“Count, Hailey. Don’t make me tell you again.”
The calm evenness of his voice brought her back into focus. Blinking back the tears stinging the corner of her eyes, she said in a trembling voice, “One.”
“Good girl,” he said quietly, right before the belt landed again with an even sharper “crack”.
Oh fuck, fuck, fuck! Her whole head was spinning along with the agony spreading from her bottom to the rest of her body. “Two,” she barely just managed to let out, her legs trembling in the high heels she wore.
“You know this has to be done, don’t you?” Ethan asked softly. “I have to see this through. You need this lesson, Hailey. And so do I.” CRACK!
A helpless shudder passed through her as her flesh registered the bite echoing from the snap of the leather. And then she moaned hoarsely, “Three.”
Her whole frame was trembling from the top of her now mussed hair to the tips of her heeled pumps. She wanted to scream, to dash away from this torture chamber. But then she also wanted to stay, and take her well-deserved discipline which was already sending liquid fire through her pussy.
She started when he suddenly reached forward and roughly tugged down her thong, virtually ripping it off. It half-hung around her knees, not much more than tatters. She felt more achingly exposed and desperately aroused than ever. Deep inside her walls, she twitched and spasmed, hungry for more. Hungry for the totality of Ethan’s dominance, frantic for him to stake his claim, in every way.
The sound of the next blow registered almost as soon as the intense sensation of the thick leather landing on the soft white flesh of her ass. Hailey gasped out the word, “Four!” while fighting for air as her hand unconsciously reached for her clit.
But suddenly, Ethan’s fingers were clutching her hair and yanking her head back so she could look into his handsome, darkly disapproving face. “You don’t have permission to touch yourself, Hailey. Only I can give you that. And for now all I’m going to do is give you two more strokes instead of one – just for being too ahead of yourself.”
“Sir…please,” Hailey moaned, arousal dripping like a tap from her quivering pussy lips.
“No begging, Hailey. It’s only going to work me up more and then I’ll probably go crazy and not stop till I leave your beautiful little ass in red, angry welts. Now unless you want me to spend the next hour spanking you, keep your hands away from your cunt!” And then he cracked down on her ass once more.
Hailey’s teeth were gritted together so tight the word “four” barely came out coherently. She heard his low hum of approval.
“Just one more, Hailey. Spread your legs wider and stick your ass further out.”
It was torture to move, but Hailey quickly obeyed, fingernails raking into the desk’s surface as she braced herself for what would be the final blow. I can do this; she thought, drawing in energizing breaths. Just one more and maybe, maybe he’ll fuck my drenched pussy as hard as I need him to right now…
He’d unleashed an arousal so powerful it made her want to explode. If he entered her now, he’d finish her, she was sure of it. She waited with a thudding heart, even as she saw him take careful aim. Next thing she knew, the belt came down square across her ass and exposed pussy mound. She screamed involuntarily with ecstasy.
“Six!” she virtually shouted, the scalding agony pulsing through her so intensely it was a separate living entity.
Her knees were almost buckling and she leaned further unto the desk for support. Her lower body was on fire, throbbing and hot like hell itself. She heard the belt drop to the floor, and then he was drawing her into a hard, strong embrace, his eyes filled with just as much of the torment he’d just put her through.
“Don’t ever leave me again,” Ethan whispered, the harsh, ragged sound of his breathing melting through her soul. “Or I swear I’ll tear the world apart to find you and then it would be more than making you take my belt. You understand me?”
“Yes, Sir.” Yes, my love, her heart sang. I’ll never run away from you, ever again. She felt the tear trickling to her lip and gasped as he tugged her head forward, seizing her mouth and smearing the saltiness of her tears into their hot, hungry kiss. She moaned and clung to him, but he was pulling her away, done with tenderness.
“I need you on your knees, now.”
Without blinking, she knelt in front of him, her eyes lifting expectantly. Her achy trembling had started all over again, making her feel she was on some potent narcotic. Ethan was all that and more: intoxicating, addictive. How could she have been crazy to think she could do without him?
“Unzip me,” he commanded, and she was keen to reach up to the button of his dress pants. In her eagerness her fingers shook and fumbled. Hailey almost sobbed with frustration for the few moments wasted before got through the button and his zipper to finally release the thick, solid, impressively huge cock waiting within. A whimper of aroused delight passed her throat as she stared at the raised, pulsing veins running along his beautiful shaft. To have him in her mouth right then would be just as pleasurable as if he’d been inside her, she knew. Her pussy must have agreed because it thrummed and soaked itself in more and more dewy heat.
“Is this what you want, Hailey?” he asked softly. “You want to suck my cock? There, on your knees? Tell me,” he gruffed, holding her hair tight in his fist, jerking her head up to look at him. “Tell me how much you want this – need it.” As he spoke, his free hand fisted his raging erection, slapping it across her cheek and lips. She gasped, her breasts tingling at the tips just as hard as her clit throbbed where it rubbed into her panties.
“Say it, Hailey.”
Breath coming fast, she gazed up at him. “I want to suck your cock, Sir. I want your big fat cock in my mouth, choking me. Filling me up.”
“Good girl,” he said, his voice getting more unrecognizable by the second. With a jab of his hips, he pushed his cock into her parted lips. She instantly widened her mouth further to take his surging length, gagging as he went as far back as he could get it in. Her hands lifted to wrap around him, but he smacked them away. “Hands behind your back, Hailey. And don’t move them till I tell you,” came his gruff direction.
Hailey folded her arms behind her back, feeling helpless as he thrust into her mouth again, going as deep as before, making her take him down her throat. She fought back the reflex to gag, though her body coiled unstoppably from the force of his plunges. Again and again, she felt him slide in and out, holding her head in place as he face-fucked her hard and fast. She felt her eyes begin to water as she enthusiastically worked her lips and tongue over, around and under his rampaging cock.