Kat drew in a shaky breath. “I found out today he only hired me because he wanted to sleep with me. I think he’s pinning stuff on me so I have no other choice if I want to keep my job. He came on to me at the office today and when I turned him down, he said he’d fire me if we didn’t meet targets.”
My hands clenched so hard that I had to fight to relax. “He sounds like absolute scum.”
That makes me gladder than ever that we picked ARCANE for this job.
Our reasoning had been solid before, but this was more fuel on the fire.
“He is. He might be the worst person I’ve ever had to deal with.” Kat’s shoulders sank. “I just don’t know what to do about this.”
My recommendation would have been simple if I had no stake in the game. Quitting was the only thing that Kat should do for herself and her own dignity. But if she left ARCANE, my plan fell to pieces.
“You should shut him up by doing what he doesn’t think you can,” I said. “You’re a smart girl, and I bet you have many connections in this town—you can leverage everything you have. What about your charity contacts? They must need better data protection, right? Why don’t you reach out to them?”
Kat perked up. “That’s true. I will not let that asshole ruin my biggest opportunity. I’ll succeed just to spite him.”
I edged even closer to her. The next part would be trickier thanks to this development, but I still intended on taking the night further. It would have been a slam dunk to ask her back to my place after dancing, but now it would take more finesse.
With a half turn and a lean to face Kat, I dropped a hand to the top of her thigh. The material of her dress was light and thin, and it would feel like I touched her bare skin.
“I’m impressed by how resilient you are. A lot of women would have either caved and given him what he wanted, or gone hysterical.”
She smiled. It was an uncertain one, fighting through the roiling emotions that filled her. “Thank you, James. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t know how you’d react. And, frankly, I don’t know you that well.”
I squeezed her thigh, just enough pressure to remind her of the hand’s presence there. “I feel like I’m getting to know you pretty well, but I’d love to know you better.”
“I think I’d like that,” she said it as if it was a revelation to her.
I dropped my voice and gazed into her eyes, willing her to feel my words and the intention I placed behind them. “If you want to talk some more, my place is right around the corner. We could go and relax, learn a bit more about each other. You deserve the opportunity to take your mind off things.”
Women loved to be told they deserved everything they wanted.
She wavered, so I dragged my hand slightly higher. Not enough to be indecent, but to give her more of a thrill.
“Let’s do it,” she said. “Before I change my mind.”
Not willing to take the time to receive the bill or pay by card, I caught the waitress’s eyes as we stood and placed two hundreds on the table.
“I’ll pay next time,” she said. “Fair’s fair.”
“So there will be a next time?” I winked.
“If you play your cards right.”
Kat followed the sentence with a flirty turn that swished the hem of her dress up. She walked out, leaving me to watch and follow.
While the valet fetched the car, I pulled Kat against me and bent my head to kiss her. Her lips were as soft as I remembered, a pleasure to tease. I took her bottom lip softly between my teeth as I sank my hands to her lower back and pulled her hard against me. Her light moan urged me on, but the car pulled up before I could do more.
“You’re too good at that,” she said. “It makes me melt every time.”
I used my arm around her waist to escort her to the car and opened the door for her.
The drive was as short as I’d said—only a few blocks away. It took two minutes to get to the building’s parking garage. In that time, I teased Kat with a hand on her inner thigh, sliding up the smooth skin and tugging the hem of her dress upward.
She bit her lip. “That’s not fair.”
“Fair is arbitrary,” I told her. “And in my car, I make the rules.”
She groaned as I made my way closer and closer to her core. Each time I ventured into new territory, I pulled back, keeping her on edge.
We pulled into the garage as I got within an inch of her panties—perfectly timed to drive her wild with sexual frustration.
When we entered the elevator, Kat took the initiative. Once I pressed the button for the penthouse, she pushed me back against the mirrored wall and used a hand on the back of my head to pull my lips to hers. Her other hand felt my chest and rubbed up to my shoulder, grabbing on as we deepened the kiss.
I played my hands up her sides, dancing over her ribs until they brushed the outsides of her breasts. She wore her dress without a bra, the fabric wrapping tight enough to offer support on its own. I lifted her left breast and used my other hand to palm her taut ass and pull her against me.
Kat moaned, and her hand left my neck to reach between us. My eyes rolled back into my head as she found my erect manhood through the thin material of the slacks. She gasped and pulled back from the kiss, eyes wide as she looked up at me.
“You’re so hard—and so big!”
I let a cocky smile take over my mouth. “Just wait until you feel it inside of you.”
She bit her lip. “I can’t wait.”
The elevator punctuated her words with a ding as the door rolled open.
“Shall we?” I guided her out of the elevator and down the hall, my hand around her back and never leaving her ass. I didn’t want to give her a single moment to regain her composure.
The condo was in the corner of the building, at the end of the hall. It was new enough that it used a magnetic card as the front door key, so all I had to do was touch my wallet to the handle to unlock it.
“That’s fancy,” Kat said. “Oh, my God!”
Lights turned on automatically as we entered, illuminating the spacious and well-appointed interior. Modern furnishings in exquisite materials gave the condo a warm feeling. Huge floor to ceiling windows along two walls provided excellent views of the city lit up below.
I gave a quick look around to make sure Addison had hidden all traces of her habitation. Everything was spotless.
Good girl.
“This is insane!” Kat wandered into the living room, putting a hand on the leather couch and looking out the window.
I followed her. “You like it?”
Kat swiveled. “Like it? How couldn’t I? What the hell do you do at the bank for them to spend so much on a place like this? It must be worth millions!”
I avoided the question the easiest way I knew how—I put my arms around her and kissed her.
She pulled me back, heat burning between us until we got back to the peak we’d reached in the elevator. No longer constrained by being in public, I reached under Kat’s dress and let her breasts spill out of the black, clingy fabric.
“These are magnificent,” I told her as I lowered my mouth to the upper part of her breast. She sat on the back of the sofa and wrapped her arms around my back as I licked and kissed the sensitive skin, worked my way to the nipple before skipping it and kissing the underside of the perky mound.
“Mmm, that feels so good.”
My hands weren’t idle—teasing her other breast, running up her back, venturing deep into her hair and pulling gently so she would feel a slight tug on her scalp. I ran my mouth all the way around her areola and back up to her neck before I switched sides to repeat the treatment.
Her nipples had stiffened to attention, and she couldn’t wait any longer.
Kat put her hands on my head and pulled me to the pink peaks. “Please, James. Stop teasing me! You’re driving me wild.”
“That’s the idea,” I replied, but I succumbed to her wishes and licked her nipple before sucking it into my mo
uth.
She moaned at the wet heat of my mouth, and then again when I swirled my tongue around the hardened skin. “Just like that. Yes.”
My hands found her thighs and stroked up the inside of her leg as I worked on her breasts, reaching higher until the hem of her dress rode up to her hips.
Instead of touching her, I stood.
Kat looked at me, eyes full of lust. “What are you doing?”
I didn’t answer, but put my hands around her and picked her up. Her legs automatically wrapped around me and her hands clung to my shoulders. Her lips found mine again as I walked with her around the couch and set her down on the soft leather.
“Sit back,” I said, breaking the kiss and running my mouth down her body. The dress still covered far too much of her skin, but it would be a pain to remove. Once I got to her breast, I skipped to her inner thigh by her knee. I placed my hands under her knees and pulled, dragging her ass to the edge of the seat.
“Oh!” The move caught her by surprise. Kat spread her legs more for me to settle in between easier. Her dress had ridden up enough to see the small pair of black panties covering her womanhood.
Her tanned skin was hot and smooth, a pleasure to guide my lips along as I hunted toward my true goal.
For the third time that night, just as I was about to get to her panties I stopped and switched to the other knee.
Kat groaned. “James, you’re killing me.”
She ran her hands through my hair, coaxing me further up her thigh until my breath burned hot over her panties. I extended my tongue to press against the fabric, barely touching it. Despite the feather touch, Kat gasped and pressed her hips forward, seeking more pressure.
I didn’t let her have it, keeping it light to tease her even further. She grabbed fistfuls of hair to pull me against her, but I held firm against her efforts.
“Goddamn it, James. I need it.”
I pulled back. “You need what?”
She stared daggers at me through her spread legs. “Lick my pussy, you asshole!”
I smirked. “You didn’t say please.”
Kat growled. She may have intended it to be threatening, but it was a sexy, sultry sound.
I hooked my fingers in the waistband of her panties. “These will have to go.”
You will finally see Kat’s pussy. An adolescent fantasy come true. I’d fantasized about this moment countless times as a teenager.
The soft fabric tugged away from the skin it protected and hid, revealing her treasure.
“Well?”
Not until Kat spoke did I realize I was staring at her crotch. I looked up at her and smiled to assuage the concern narrowing her eyes. “It’s perfect. Gorgeous.”
When she smiled in return, it brightened her face. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I hope you don’t mind if I get better acquainted,” I said as I leaned forward and kissed her inner hip crease.
Kat’s eyes fluttered, and she leaned back further into the couch’s embrace. “You can do whatever you like down there if it all feels like that.”
With a wide mouth, I left large, wet kisses on her inner thighs and nibbled the soft skin to contrast the sensations. Edging closer, I ran my tongue up in a long lick alongside her labia. Kat squirmed, trying to get my mouth on her.
Finally, I acquiesced. I spread my tongue wide and pressed it against her flat, holding it for a second before drawing it up to her clit.
“Fuck. Finally. That feels so good.”
Her taste flowered on my tongue as I repeated the motion. Then I got to work, exploring her and testing her, watching her face to see which movements garnered the biggest reactions. I squeezed her thighs as I dove into my work, playing to her preferences like a musician holding an audience in thrall.
I built Kat higher and higher, reading her expressions and the quickening of her breath, deciphering the moans to lead her along the path of her arousal to its inevitable conclusion. When she got close, I gently sucked her clit into my mouth and swirled my tongue around the sensitive bud.
“James…” Kat grabbed fistfuls of my hair. “Right there. Don’t stop doing that.”
I hadn’t intended to. Pushing her higher, I kept my lips locked where they were. Subtly, I brought a finger to her pussy and wetted it in her juices before sliding it inside of her and curling the tip forward.
“Oh, fuck!”
As if I had pressed a button, Kat’s thighs clamped around my ears as she writhed on the couch. Her inner muscles contracted around my finger, and her moans disappeared—caught in the throes of her climax, she lost her ability to make sounds.
I rode out her orgasm, providing steady and consistent pressure both inside and outside of her to help build her pleasure, staying with her even as she bucked her hips.
When her hands switched from pulling me closer to pushing away, I eased off and slid up to kiss her.
“Oh, my God.” Kat panted, trying to catch her breath. “That was incredible.”
I mirrored her comment from earlier. “I’m glad you liked it.”
She grabbed my shoulders to kiss me, tongue venturing deep and sliding around my own.
I broke off the kiss, needing to take things to the next step. “Let’s go to the bedroom. I can’t wait to feel you wrapped around my cock.”
Kat bit her lip and put her hand on my chest as she looked up at me. “James… that felt amazing. So good. But I don’t know if I want to take things any further tonight. I know that’s not fair to you, but I’ve been in a haze all night, and that orgasm finally cleared my mind and let me come to my senses. I don’t think this is a good idea right now.”
I squeezed her thigh and her eyes closed, accompanied by a slight moan.
“It’s a great idea.”
She pushed on my chest harder. “James, stop. I don’t want to be drunk the first time with you. Let’s wait.”
Damnit.
If I went back to kissing her, I could change her mind. I knew it. She’d be overcome by the same lust and emotion that had led to me between her legs, bare pussy exposed and her juices on my cheeks.
That’s not how I wanted it to happen. I didn’t want to convince her, like she was doing me a favor.
“Is that okay?” Kat asked.
I growled, but pushed away. “Yes.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course I mind. I want you right now. But I also want you to want me. You’ll be begging for it when I finally fuck you.”
9
~ Kat ~
You’ll be begging for it when I finally fuck you.
James’ words seared into my consciousness. For the next few days, no matter where I was or what I did, his promise hung in the front of my mind.
I knew it was a promise. A guarantee.
Somehow I still had to get work done even though every time I closed my eyes I could see the intensity of his stare and feel his breath hot on my skin.
Should I have slept with him?
My body knew what it wanted, but if I always let it have what it wanted then I would down a pint of ice cream every night. I felt bad for letting James go down on me and not returning the favor—but if I had, then I wouldn’t have been able to stop going further.
I shook my head. Thinking about James wouldn’t help me come up with a way to keep my job and rub Nick’s face in my success. Somehow the next three months had to be the best in company history, and the quarter had not started in the most auspicious manner.
The marketing strategy in place when I’d arrived had been basic—strategic ads placed in information technology forums and communities where those responsible for corporate IT strategies would see them and hopefully investigate further. It hadn’t been a poor start, but was the kind of marketing spend that was overly broad and optimistic, as well as expensive.
There were several areas to which I’d directed the team to investigate. Targeted campaigns in relevant social media and a booth in data security conferences were the first waves, b
ut I needed something bigger, grander.
James’ comment about charities stuck with me. Large corporations—ARCANE’s preferred clientele—were already invested in large-scale enterprise security solutions. Charities may not be as advanced in that area, but many of them oversaw vast funds. They might be the perfect clients for ARCANE.
There was one way to find out.
“Kat? How are you? I haven’t heard from you in months!”
I smiled. Beth’s voice was always bubbly and optimistic. Turning down the offer that would have let us work together was one of the toughest decisions I’d ever made.
“Hi, Beth, it’s great to hear from you! I’m doing well, just taking things day by day, you know? What about you? Last we spoke, you were thinking about trying to get pregnant with Steve.”
“That mission was a huge success. Based on what the doctor said about the age of the baby, we must have gotten it the first time we tried.” Beth’s voice was wistful. “I wouldn’t have minded if it took longer. The sex those first couple of weeks was insane! I swear every time we were alone in the room together it was like we were teenagers who just discovered how our bodies fit together and were determined to practice at every opportunity.”
The visual made me laugh. “That sounds fun, Beth. I’m a little jealous. Great sex all the time would be a dream come true.”
“Still single?” Beth and I hadn’t spoken in a couple months, but we were old friends who knew each other very well.
I hadn’t stopped to think about what was going on between James and me and whether it was enough to justify a label. “Um. Yes? I think so. I’ve seen this guy a couple times, and things are definitely heating up, but I don’t know if I should let it.”
“Why not? You need sugar in your life, Kat. A workaholic like you should hold on to any man crazy enough to tangle with that.”
She kind of has a point.
“I don’t know, Beth. You know my history with dating. I’ve always picked the guys who end up being just the worst for me.”
“You never could resist a bad boy,” she agreed. “But even if he’s not a good fit long-term, there’s nothing saying you can’t mess around with him and see where it goes, right? Maybe he’ll turn out to be a good guy, and until you’re sure, just don’t put yourself into it one hundred percent.”
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