Falling into Black

by Carrie Kelly

  “Do you want your punishment?” he breathed.

  “Yes, Mr. Black.” The words came out as little more than a moan.

  I felt him smile on my flesh, and the palms of his hands ran up my legs and gripped my hips. “Bend over.”

  I couldn’t help but comply. Leaning over the desk, I pushed aside the boxes of food and took a deep, shuddering breath.

  It was almost like the first time I’d met him. The first fateful interview, which changed my life completely. For better or worse? I wasn’t sure yet.

  He opened one of his drawers and my body trembled in anticipation. Would he paddle me? Fuck me? Anything would do. Dorian always assaulted my body with the perfect mixture of pleasure and pain.

  His powerful hands glided over my skin. Each caress soaked my pussy, and I moved my ass back and forth. How long would he wait?

  Then the swoosh of the paddle collided with my bottom. The pleasing sting seeped into my flesh and blood, and I gasped in delight. To my surprise, a slick digit slid into my waiting cunt a moment later – then two.

  “You’re already gripping me,” Dorian said, his voice husky, as he spanked me again.

  His fingers thrust in and out of my eager sex and he swung again. Each slap ringing through the quiet office like the strike of a clock. I pressed my cheek into his desk and groaned, moving my hips in time with his talented digits. Swoosh. Thrust. Swoosh. Thrust.

  No way in hell I could hold out against the passionate barrage for long.

  Then Dorian’s fingers popped free and his tongue took their place. Lapping at my twitching lips and clit. The rough side of his cheek tickled my thighs, and I squirmed and moaned at each marvelous lick. Hot need tickled my legs and ran up my spine.

  As I reached the peak of my desire, I buckled my hips into Dorian’s delicious mouth. Waves of pleasure washed over my body, my chest heaving and my bones trembling in the aftermath – rich with satisfaction.

  How did he do this to me?

  Kisses peppered my thighs as he carefully slid my panties back into place.

  “Now we can eat some lunch,” he said and stood up, pulling the boxes of food closer.

  I started to pull on my clothes, but Dorian stopped me. “You don’t have to dress before you eat.”

  “Why do you always want me naked?” I asked and flipped the lid on one of the boxes. I’d been on my feet all morning, and my stomach grumbled with hunger at the delicate scent of fruit and sandwiches.

  He answered me with a smile. “Don’t you like it when I’m naked?”

  A blush crept up my cheeks unbidden. I couldn’t say no, but Dorian Black’s body looked like it was sculpted from stone. His delectably defined abs and powerful arms – not to mention his taut ass and muscular thighs. All of it would make any straight girl drool.

  I, however, was chubbier than I was fit. Although, Dorian claimed he liked women with curves.

  “Yes, but you look--” I started.

  Dorian put a finger to my lip. His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “You look perfect. I wouldn’t have you any other way, Alicia. Now eat up. It’s your favorite.”

  “Turkey on rye?” I asked and flipped the lid. To my surprise my favorite sandwich sat in the box with a nice half a dill pickle next to it. It looked like the food from the best deli in town. “Wait, you went to Al’s?”

  He smiled and opened the other three boxes. One had a sandwich for him and the other two had a Greek salad and a pile of fresh strawberries with cream.

  “Someone went to Al’s, yes.”

  I stared as he pulled his own roast beef from the box and took a bite. Not covering up while I ate was hard, but hunger overwhelmed my pride.

  “How did you know it was my favorite?” I didn’t remember telling him. I’m not even sure why it would come up.

  “You go there for lunch every Friday.”

  Slowly, I chewed my food. He noticed something so small? “What about the strawberries?”

  Reaching forward, he dipped one in cream and brought it to my lips. “At the fundraiser you went back to the strawberries five times. I took a guess.”

  The sweet mixture of berry and cream danced across my taste buds, and I nodded. He really did pay attention to me like no one else ever had. It’s something boyfriends did, but all my former ones paid more attention to themselves than they ever did me.

  This was a welcome change.

  “Are we really going to Tuscany?” I asked as we finished lunch, and he opened the envelope Mrs. Anderson brought him.

  “For a bit,” he said and handed me my passport.

  I flipped it open and stared at the picture of myself – the one I’d taken for the company ID. “Why didn’t you ask me to get one?”

  He shrugged his powerful shoulders. “I wanted it to be a surprise, Ms. Jones. You always look so beautiful when something surprises you.”

  I didn’t want to ruin our moment, but not all surprises were welcome. “Will Sylvia be there? At the retreat?”

  His jaw tensed and he frowned. “Unfortunately. But don’t let her get to you. I’m the CEO and this is my company. She can’t do anything to harm us.”

  “What about Mrs. Anderson?” I ventured. It seemed like all his employees were against our relationship. Was it because I was his assistant or because they wanted Mr. Black for themselves?

  He actually laughed. “She’s not a shareholder. Don’t worry, Alicia. We’ll have a wonderful time. I promise.”

  I wanted to believe him, but something nagged at the back of my mind. A woman scorned could do terrible things, and Dorian Black had scorned two women for me.

  I hoped he was right, and I was wrong.

  * * *

  We arrived in Tuscany via Dorian’s private jet. I never traveled anything but coach when I flew, so the plane ride over was a revelation in luxury. The seats were huge and cushy – they even turned into comfortable beds. He had Wi-Fi access up there so he could get some business done well I fiddled through the massive media collection.

  My boyfriend owns a private jet, and we’re flying to Europe in it.

  In that moment, it was hard to think of anything else. Even my worry about Sylvia faded.

  When we arrived, a car waited for us at the airport. To my surprise Lance drove.

  “Didn’t we leave him in America?” I asked.

  Infuriatingly, Dorian only smiled.

  The hills of Tuscany burned with changing leaves, rolling yellow hills and hints of the gray blue Mediterranean. Even jet lagged, I stared out the window at the gorgeous landscape and gaped.

  Little Alicia Jones in Italy! Talk about a crazy turn of events!

  I thought my surprise reached its peak with Lance, but the huge Tuscan villa we pulled up to – with its own private vineyard – took my breath away. It shone like a three-story jewel of yellow baked brick complete with lavish gardens and a view of the ocean over the hills.

  “Welcome to my home away from home,” Dorian whispered in my ear and gripped my thigh.

  “This is yours?” I asked dumbly. Of course it’s his! He’s a billionaire!

  “Yes. A recent purchase, actually. I hope you like it.”

  “I love it,” I muttered and took a deep breath of the clean air.

  “You haven’t even been inside yet,” he said and wrapped his powerful arm around my shoulders. The bulge of his bicep pressed against my neck reassuringly.

  “Then give me a tour and I’ll let you know if I change my mind, Mr. Black.”

  With a smile and a nod, he obliged me.

  Of course I loved everything about it. The villa itself, although hundreds of years old, was perfectly modern on the inside. Each room was huge with stucco walls and slick terra cotta tile on the floor. Unlike his penthouse, the furniture here was wooden and rustic. The property even had its own private beach, although it was too cold to swim at the moment.

  I felt like I was in a dream. Like I was living another life as another woman.

  Then a sleek bla
ck car pulled up and brought reality crashing back with it.

  Sylvia climbed out. Her simple black suit clung to her slender frame and her perfect blonde hair hung in loose waves over her shoulders. Dorian wasn’t interested in her, I told myself, but it didn’t help me feel any less inferior to her impressive beauty.

  Thankfully, Lance stood in front of her as she approached us. “Mr. Black is not having any visitors until this evening. You’ll have to leave,” he said.

  So Lance was Dorian’s bodyguard!

  The woman scowled, a little line wrinkling her smooth forehead. “This is ridiculous, Dorian. I can see you. We need to talk about dinner tonight.”

  Without even looking at her, Dorian pulled me toward the house. “We should get cleaned up for this evening. You must be hungry.”

  I glanced back at Sylvia and frowned. She fumed, and I was surprised smoke didn’t spew out of her flared nostrils.

  Definitely a woman scorned.

  “What if she had something important to tell you?” I asked, although it sounded stupid.

  “Then I’ll find out tonight,” he said and kissed my temple.

  A couple hours later, we gathered in the villa’s large dining room. All the board members sat at the table, and I was placed between Dorian to my right and a man with white hair, Mr. Bradley, on my left. The last time I’d seen the members of the board was very different than this.

  Thankfully, Dorian wasn’t punishing me this time. The air bristled with enough tension as it was.

  I wore a lovely cocktail dress with designer everything. The deep purple complimented my skin and brought out the green in my eyes. The skirt came in at the waist and flared, showing off my full breasts in a way I never would have dared on my own. For once, I wore my curly brown hair down.

  Surrounded by men in suits and women in clingy black garments, I felt like a little girl playing dress up instead of a fully grown woman eating dinner with her rich boyfriend’s business associates.

  As the wait staff cleared out final course and brought out dessert, Mr. Bradley cleared his throat. Throughout most of dinner talk had been light. Everyone chatted about their flight or the wine or some new business venture – nothing serious was broached at all.

  Tapping his glass, the man stood and glanced around the room. “If I may, Mr. Black?”

  Dorian clenched his jaw and nodded. “Of course. We should get down to business.”

  “Very well. The board is concerned about your current state of affairs.”

  The board members murmured agreement amongst themselves, and Dorian sat so still he looked like a statue. Glancing at Sylvia, I noticed a cruel smile on her blood red lips.

  What was that bitch up to now?

  “What state of affairs might that be?” Dorian finally asked, his voice dangerously low.

  “You’re almost thirty, Mr. Black and you’re not married,” Mr. Bradley said.

  My eyes widened and my stomach dropped. Married? Why should the board care if Dorian was married or not?

  “As you know, Black Inc. recently acquired several smaller publishing subsidies – profitable ones – but they are all targeted at families and children. Like it or not, this company is heading in that direction and we’re worried our CEO isn’t. It looks bad overall, Mr. Black. You must realize this.”

  Black Inc. also published a wide range of other books too! I wanted to shout at them. Not only family books, but gay and lesbian books, fantasy and horror. Should Dorian marry a man and a woman? Maybe he should become a vampire and fight a dragon for good measure! The whole idea was preposterous, and I couldn’t help but think it was somehow Sylvia’s fault.

  I kept my mouth shut and turned to Mr. Black.

  “What do you propose to do about it?” he asked and sipped his wine. His expression was icy and detached, but he gripped his glass so tightly I feared it might shatter in his grasp.

  “We’ve come to an agreement. You should be married before the year is out and start a family within a year of marriage. If this isn’t reasonable then we’d like you to resign as CEO.”

  Of course! I’d read all about Black Inc. before I applied for the position. Dorian only owned forty-nine shares of the company while the shareholders and board members owned the other fifty-one shares. It split power between the board members and the CEO – if they didn’t like something Dorian did, they could force him to change it.

  My heart slammed in my chest. This was it. Dorian would either lose his job or be forced into marriage. No!

  I jumped to my feet before I realized what I was doing. “That’s less than three months away! It’s not fair!” I shouted.

  Silence draped the room like a shroud.

  Oh no. What have you done, Alicia?

  A strong arm wrapped around my waist, and Dorian laughed. “Look! You’ve riled up my lovely fiancé.”

  “Fiancé?” Mr. Bradley asked and raised a white eyebrow.

  Dorian nodded and lowered his lips to my cheek. “Yes. Just yesterday, in fact. We were looking forward to planning a fantasy wedding, right darling?”

  His fingers gripped my flesh.

  I nodded automatically, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Right.”

  What the hell was Dorian doing? We weren’t engaged! We only started dating!

  Sylvia glared daggers at me across the table.

  “We had no idea you were even in a serious relationship,” Mr. Bradley said, his cheeks flushing. “Congratulations.”

  “Let’s celebrate with dessert,” Dorian said and pulled me down onto his lap.

  The rest of the meal tumbled by like something out of a nightmare. I ate the chocolate torte Dorian fed me without really tasting it as the other board members offered their blessing to our happy union. While everyone seemed shocked, about half looked less than happy about Dorian’s announcement. No one offered to extend the marriage deadline beyond the new year.

  Damn! It was already the middle of October. How was he going to marry before December thirty first? Not to mention whom!

  Dorian patted my back as he bid his guests goodnight, and I retired to the bedroom as fast as I could. Just when something started going right, life had to come and mess things up. Or rather, Sylvia did.

  Biting back the tears, I washed my face and slipped on the silk nightgown that fell to my thighs. When I bought it, I thought Dorian might like the pale lavender against my skin. Now I wanted to crawl back to my apartment and cry. Whatever show he put on tonight, I knew the truth.

  The game we played wasn’t for keeps; Dorian Black wouldn’t marry me.

  By the time he made it upstairs, I was already in bed with the covers pulled up. While I didn’t want to talk to him about his promise to the board, it was impossible to avoid it.

  “Asleep already?” he asked as he stripped off his suit jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. The hint of his chest, chiseled and hard, peeked out.

  “Long flight,” I said and waited for him to explain the ruse to me.

  Instead, he threw his shirt onto a chair and kicked off his pants. Even as a billionaire he still didn’t know what to do with his clothes when he wasn’t wearing them.

  After washing up, he climbed into the bed next to me, his green eyes boring holes into my skull. Long fingers brushed the hair from my face, and I frowned.

  “Why did you lie? We aren’t engaged.”

  He squeezed his eyes shut, the long black lashes brushing his cheek. “Wait until tomorrow. We can discuss it then.”

  Fire pumped through my veins and blood rushed to my ears. “Tomorrow? After that you want me to wait until tomorrow? No. I – I deserve an explanation!”

  Dorian sighed. “You really want to do this now?”

  Biting my bottom lip, I nodded. “No time like the present.”

  “Fine,” he said and threw the covers back. He only wore boxers and his muscular back shifted as he walked across the room and opened his suitcase. A moment later he stalked back to the bed and grabbed my hand.


  The heat from his fingers burned my flesh. His eyes narrowed. “Alicia Jones, you’re going to marry me. I’m not asking, I’m telling. Got it?”

  I tried to pull my hand away, but Dorian was too strong. “What? Who says I’ll marry you?”

  His lips split into a dangerous smile. “I do. You already agreed to be mine, did you not? Now you’ll agree to be my wife. You want to keep your job, don’t you?”

  It was my turn to glare. “Wait, you’ll fire me if I don’t marry you? Will you dump me too?”

  His fingers clamped on my wrist and squeezed it tightly. “I love you and you love me. Marriage is the next logical step. Do you deny it?”

  “No! But--”

  “But what, Ms. Jones? We’ve only been dating for a short time? Does it really matter?”

  My mind swam, and I fought to catch a proper breath. The huge pink diamond sparkled as he slipped it on my finger – the band fit perfectly.

  Where did he get a ring on such short notice?

  “Marry me,” he growled and pulled my body into his.

  “I thought you weren’t giving me a choice in the matter,” I said and tried to push him away. How could he think I’d be okay waltzing into a marriage of convenience so he could keep his job?

  “I’m not. You’ll marry me, but I want you to like it,” he groaned and kissed me deeply.

  I clamped my lips shut, but his tongue forced them open. His powerful body persuading mine with each gentle brush and grasp.

  “Marry me, Alicia. Take my name,” he whispered in my ear and suckled my delicate lobe. “I want you to be Alicia Black.”

  I gasped and put my hands on his chest, pushing with all my might, but I met a solid wall of muscle. “Please, Dorian,” I begged, although I’m not sure what I was asking.

  His lips trailed down my neck, nipping and lapping at my tender skin, as his palms ran over my shoulders. The straps of my nightgown slid down with them, revealing my eager breasts. Below, my sex flooded with need.

  How could I say no to this? To him?

  “No one else makes you feel like I can,” he said and rubbed my nipples between his full lips. “No one else will worship you like I do – love you like I do.”