His Sword

by Holly Hart

  “Look away,” I beg.

  “No way, Skye,” Harlan laughs down the phone I’m still holding pressed against my ear. “You think I’m going to miss the best of it? The climax?”

  He teases that word out – torturing me. The one thing I’ve never had, the one thing I thought I could never have. He dangles it in front of me, like bait to a fish.

  I hear a ping echo down the crystal-clear phone line.

  “What was that?” I whisper, desperately trying to distract Harlan away from his goal of getting me to strip completely naked on camera.

  I picture Harlan’s gorgeous, chiseled features as he glances at his computer screen.

  I hear a low chuckle. “You had better hurry, Skye. Your assistant just got in the elevator…”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Skye

  My heart is racing. The blood pounding in my ears sounds like the rushing of the sea.

  “What!” I squeak – an exclamation of fear, rather than a question.

  “Hurry, Skye,” Harlan repeats, unfazed. I can only guess at the amused smile teasing his lips. “You wouldn’t want Tyler to see you like this now, would you?”

  “I’m done!” I cry. “I’m done playing your games.” I crouch down, reaching for my discarded skirt and shirt.

  “Skye,” Harlan says, using a voice that's a throaty mix of menace and desire, “Stop.”

  I freeze, muscles locked as if they’ve been set in concrete.

  “You don’t…” I say, my voice dying in my throat.

  “Don’t what, Skye,” Harlan replies. “Control you?”

  I squeeze my eyes shut and nod slowly. Sensible Skye is telling me that I should be embarrassed right now, or else terrified – but the truth is, I’m not. For one of very few times in my entire life, I’m completely turned on.

  Harlan has me in the palm of his hand, and he knows it.

  “Yes.” I whisper.

  “Stand up,” he says.

  I do.

  “Open your eyes,” Harlan orders.

  I do.

  “Look up, into the camera.”

  I follow Harlan’s cool, confident order to the letter.

  “Good girl,” Harlan says again. A tingle runs down my spine as he says it. “I want you looking at me when you do this…”

  My eyes meet the camera. The red, blinking light entrances me, but I’m uncomfortably aware of the metronomic ticking sound of my office clock that’s sounding out my demise. Tyler’s on his way up, and that means that time’s running out.

  “Now hook your thumbs into the waistband of your panties,” Harlan says, lowering his voice to a whisper.

  The adrenaline running through my body spikes yet again and my knees go wobbly. I sway on the spot, but do as I’m ordered. My hands move quickly – aware that I could be discovered at any moment, my movements are jerky and awkward.

  “Slow down,” Harlan commands, taking delicious satisfaction in my discomfort. “I want to savor you, Skye.”

  There’s something unbearably sexy about what’s happening to me. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I want a man to bend me over and have his way with me, right now.

  And not just any man – Harlan Wolfe. He’s the kind of man I thought I could never have, the kind of man I never knew I wanted.

  But right now, he’s the man I need.

  And I do as he orders.

  My mind flashes back to the night before, in that high-end Manhattan strip club. Suddenly I realize that I’m that girl. Right now, I’m the stripper, and just like last night, when every pair of male eyes were turned in the direction of the stripper’s pale, alluring flesh, right now, Harlan only has eyes for me.

  What a fucking turn-on.

  “Do you think I’m sexy?” I ask.

  My voice is halting – not yet confident in my newfound profession.

  “I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, Skye,” Harlan replies down the phone, his voice hoarse with desire. It’s as good a lie detector as I’ll ever need.

  “That’s not what I asked,” I reply, digging courage from somewhere. It surges through me, giving me a new lease on life, and a strength I didn’t know I possessed.

  “Sexy, then” Harlan inquires, dragging out the question in more delicious torture.

  Then, in an aside, “The elevator’s moving, now, Skye. He won’t be long.”

  I feel the danger of discovery in yet more adrenaline streaming into my body. And yet for some reason, this time I refuse to be dissuaded. Harlan will answer me, no matter the consequences.

  “I’m not moving another inch,” I threaten, toying with the waistband of the panties, biting my lip and staring directly into the camera, “until you answer me, Harlan.”

  My billionaire boss groans down the line. “Jesus, Skye, we need to go to Vegas. We’d make a killing together. With your poker face and my –”

  “The clock’s ticking,” I say firmly, cutting him off.

  “You already know the answer,” Harlan says, his voice quickening with desire. It sounds hoarse and gruff, laced with adrenaline just like mine. It’s how I imagine he would have spoken years ago, in combat, barking orders into his radio.

  “But I can tell you if you want,” he continues. “I want to fuck you, Skye. Give me the word and I’ll have Tyler hold your diary all day. I’ll fuck you right there in your office, against the glass. I’ll fuck you with the whole world watching, marking my territory if that’s what you want.

  “Is it?”

  The question echoes in my head.

  Is it?

  I reply simply. “Thank you.”

  And then – satisfied – I give Harlan what he wants. Biting my lip and staring up at the camera, I shoot him the sultriest gaze I can muster. It’s a look that encapsulates a decade of frustration and desire and every obstacle that’s stood in my way.

  I drag my panties down until I can’t tug at them an inch more.

  They fall around my ankles, and then I stand there – in front of him – wishing even for a small fuzz of fiery hair as a barrier between my nakedness and Harlan’s greedy gaze. But that’s gone already. There’s nothing left to hide me.

  “Jesus, Skye,” Harlan groans for the tenth time. He momentarily seems to lose control of his tongue, but not for long.

  “Step out of them,” he says. “And take off your bra. I want to see you wearing my gift.”

  The rush of blood to my head from exultation – of my nakedness, my boldness – almost threatens to overcome me. But I don’t let it. I remember that the clock’s ticking. And there’s no way that I’m going to let a decade’s hard work to get to where I am fly out the window in one morning.

  I reach around my back, and unclip my bra strap in one quick, practiced movement. It loosens, letting my breasts sinks forward an inch, and I jerk my right shoulder forward, then my left, to free up the bra straps. They topple off and hang loose around my arms.

  “I wish you’d let me record this,” Harlan whispers. “But there’s no need. I’ll be replaying this in my mind all day.”

  That comment – a pure, untainted honesty – sends a shiver running through me. I know it’s true. The way Harlan spoke those words – there’s no way he could be telling a lie.

  For the first time in my life, I feel attractive, I feel wanted.

  And I feel horny.

  I’m half-tempted to take Harlan up on his offer. Maybe I don’t care about the world finding out that I can be a secret slut. Maybe sexual satisfaction is worth paying that price?

  “Put it on,” Harlan says, the tempo of his voice picking up.

  I crouch down, and pluck the black lace panties from inside the gift box. They are gossamer thin – more string and lace than anything else. I step into them, and slowly – deliberately – pull them up my thighs.

  Next I put on the bra. It’s a man’s idea of what a bra should be – all lace and no support. But I can tell from Harlan’s labored breathing that i
t’s having the effect he desired.

  And I’m becoming the woman he desires.

  I fasten the clasp, juggling the cell phone in the crook of my neck.

  “There,” I whisper coyly into the phone. “Is that what you wanted to see?”

  There’s a long pause during which – I imagine, in full, luxurious detail – Harlan’s forced to readjust his pants.

  “No,” he replies, dealing me a blow that he quickly salves. “It’s so much more. But…”

  “But what?” I reply, a touch of anxiety infecting my voice. I wince, hating the way I sound.

  “But you better get dressed, Skye,” Harlan laughs, “Because Tyler’s coming down the corridor.”

  Shit, Tyler…

  I hear a click as Harlan hangs up the phone. For a second I just stand there, stunned that he’s abandoned me after putting me in this situation. But I don’t have time to reflect, or to feel irritation.

  Bastard.

  I unfreeze myself, drop the phone, and dive for my discarded clothing. I step into my skirt, wriggling and squirming as I pull it up my body and fasten it at my waist. Then it’s the shirt’s turn. I throw it onto my shoulders messily, do the buttons up in a hurry – just hoping they are in the right order – and desperately tuck it in.

  I hear Tyler’s footsteps outside, now. I know he’s going to do what he does every morning – poke his head around my door and ask me if I need anything. In a panic, I kick at the discarded underwear and the gift wrapped box, hiding them underneath the nearby treatment couch.

  And not a moment too soon. I hear a click at the door and turn away, pretending to focus on something on my desk as I glance down my front to see if I look presentable.

  Barely.

  “Hey, boss?” Tyler’s soft voice asks. “You need a coffee?”

  “I’m fine, Tyler,” I snap, more irritably than I intend … my heart still racing from the events of the last few minutes. I soften it. “Come back in a few minutes, okay?”

  “Sure thing, Skye,” Tyler replies, sounding chastened.

  “Oh, and Tyler?”

  “Yes, boss?”

  “Don’t open my mail for a while, okay?”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Harlan

  I prowl the hallways like a caged animal, like the wolf I am.

  The last eight hours have been torture. Ever since I saw – made – Skye undress in her office this morning, my cock has been ready to explode. I don’t know what it is about her – perhaps her fiery red hair, or those stunning, sultry blue eyes that freeze my soul every time she looks at me.

  Whatever it is, it’s driving me insane. I need her.

  More importantly, I need to fuck her.

  I storm through the hallways of my hedge fund’s office building. Employees dance out of my way when they look up and see the expression on my face. I’m a man on a mission, and no prick’s going to get in my way.

  Then I see Skye. My heart does a fucking backflip.

  I turn the last corner before her office, see her assistant’s empty desk; see the goddess herself glancing down at the screen of her smart phone. She looks like a damn oil painting, or a modernist sculpture, alive with life and color.

  And perhaps, even, a confidence I didn’t see in her a few days ago.

  I walk towards her with purpose. At the last second before I reach her, Skye looks up, and she flinches at the sight of me.

  “Where are you going?” I ask, taking a step forward so that I invade Skye’s personal space. I don’t need to do it, but I want to. I want Skye to understand that with her, it’s not a choice – it’s a need. I’m a man who gets what I want, and I’ve already waited too long to claim this woman.

  Skye flicks her hair back, and seems to take a deep breath before she replies.

  “I’ve got a spin class,” she says, in a voice that’s almost daring me to argue. So I do.

  “Cancel it,” I growl. “I’ve got a better idea.”

  Skye doesn’t agree straight away, but then again – she doesn’t argue either. The look on her face is pensive, almost as though she’s considering it, but caught between two minds.

  “I can’t,” she finally says.

  But I barely hear her. I can’t help but drink in her perfect, sculpted features. The way her burning red hair glimmers and shines as she tosses her head, or those eyes, those eyes I can’t ignore.

  “Why are you staring?”

  I bite my lip, take another step forward and place my lips no more than half an inch from Skye’s ear. I’m so close to her skin that my breath sways strands of her hair like a storm swaying the canopy in the jungle. Skye shivers.

  “I’m wondering what you look like underneath that skirt, Skye,” I say.

  I trace a finger down the side of her torso, and make a fist with satisfaction as I see the breath catches in her lungs. Skye ducks her head away from my closeness, but it’s a half-hearted reaction. She lingers before pulling away, then gestures at a security camera just above her office door.

  “Don’t you already know?” She says, her voice laced with pluck.

  Why does she keep resisting? Why won’t she give in to what we both know she wants? She’s making this more than a game for me – it’s a competition, and I’m playing to win.

  “Why are you here?” Skye asks.

  “You know that,” I say flatly, “to have you.”

  I step forward with purpose, grabbing Skye’s hips. Her eyes widen as she realizes what I’m about to do. I pull her towards me, pressing my body against hers, pressing her close enough that she can’t help but feel the hardness she’s inflicted on me all fucking day.

  Then I kiss her.

  I kiss her like she’s the only girl I’ve ever seen, like she’s the last girl left on earth. As far as I’m concerned, she’s the only girl on this planet for me. If I had to repopulate the world with her, I’d do it with pride.

  My tongue grazes Skye’s bottom lip, prying its way in. I bite her bottom lip and growl with satisfaction as Skye presses her body against mine. A little cry of delight escapes her lips.

  “Someone could be watching,” she whispers, pulling away from my touch and glancing nervously up at the security camera above us. I know she wants this, I know she wants me, her body is vibrating like a taut guitar string after a long solo.

  Yet, still she resists me.

  “Let them watch,” I growl, driven on by my desire to have this girl, to possess her. “They can watch all they want, but they know I’m the boss. If word got out, I’d ruin them. I’d do anything to protect you, Skye. You had better believe that.”

  I push her against her office door, and then push it closed in my desire to have her.

  This time, as if swayed by the force of my personality knocking her defenses over like a tidal wave, Skye doesn’t resist.

  All I hear is the hurried, ragged panting of her breath. She kisses me back when my lips touch hers, but it’s almost as though she’s overcome as my hands roam her body freely, as if she doesn’t know what to do.

  And then, like being pummeled by a champion boxer, it hits me.

  Skye doesn’t know what to do. Of course she doesn’t. She’s not an expert in this particular field of human emotion– even if she is in every other.

  “Let me lead,” I whisper.

  Skye looks up at me mutely. The sight of those glittering blue eyes chills me. In that one, tiny motion, this, gorgeous woman has placed all of her trust in me. It’s a heavy, terrifying – but exhilarating – responsibility.

  She might not be a virgin, but she’s the next best thing. I’m going to give her the orgasm she’s never had before. And I’m going to make it everything she’s been missing all these years.

  “Okay,” Skye says, wetting her lower lip. “I think… I think I’m ready.”

  I have Permission.

  Skye’s statement kicks me into overdrive. I’ve been building up to this all day. I’m so goddamn horny I feel like I might explode at any
second.

  I take the lead, moving Skye’s body like we’re ballroom dancing. I press her forward, loop one leg around hers as she steps back, and kick it out, then cradle her weight until I lower her – unresisting – against her very own treatment couch.

  She stares up at me with a look I can scarcely describe. It’s a strange, intoxicating mixture of hope, trepidation and overpowering desire.

  “I want to see you again,” I say. “All of you.”

  Skye nods. This time, she starts to undress without me needing to command it. She looks almost in a trance as she unbuttons her shirt, and the tiny, lacy bra I watched her put on this morning comes into view.

  My cock jumps at the sight of it. I’m forced to close my eyes for a second to recover. God, her pale skin is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. I want to kiss those freckles, scrape my fingernails down them until the tender red marks on her skin join up like a spider’s web.

  “Now the skirt,” I say. But it’s not an order, not a question so much as my hopes becoming sound.

  As Skye moves, her shirt falls from her shoulders and lies around her body, exposing her naked skin and the barely-there bra that decorates her breasts more than covers them.

  Just the way I wanted it.

  “You’re goddamn beautiful, Skye,” I say, not bothering to lower my voice. My desire – the desire tenting my pants – gives it away anyway. “The sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.”

  “Don’t lie to me,” Skye says, a pang of anxiety tightening her voice. Her fingers pause as they undo her skirt.

  “I’m not lying,” I say, layering my voice with rough honesty. I glance down at the balls between my legs. “There’s the proof.”

  Skye’s eyes widen, and I choose that moment to take over. I kneel down in front of her, never looking away from those gorgeous blue eyes, as I undo her skirt, and pull the offending material down her perfect pale thighs.

  It’s difficult to restrain myself as a pale sea of her flesh reveals itself. I could take her right here, right now. I could undo my belt, flip Skye over, and have my way with her. And I know that by the end, she would be begging me not to stop.