“You liked BodyVibe,” he began.
Alisa’s blue eyes flashed, darkened. He continued before he could determine if her reaction was due to remembered pleasure or his temerity at bringing it up. He kept his voice just below a library whisper, not quite loud enough for her to easily hear. She edged closer, and he caught a whiff of flowery shampoo and the scent of sunshine and clean grass rising from her skin. He inhaled another deep breath of her sweet scent before he continued.
“I also know you tested it here, in the library. In fact, your report opened up a whole new approach to the marketing department. They think it belongs in the…new product line. Since you’re already comfortable with BodyVibe, why don’t you try it out over dinner with your partner? Give up the remote control, let someone else take charge this time.”
Sologirl’s eyebrows lifted. Her mouth opened the slightest bit and the tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her full, pink lips. Mark pressed his advantage. “Do you know how erotic it is to give someone else complete control over your pleasure?” he asked quietly.
He began to spin the fantasy for her. “Imagine what it would feel like to be sitting at a table in a nice restaurant. You’re wearing BodyVibe and your partner has the remote in his jacket pocket. You are completely under his control. You won’t know when your nipples will begin to buzz, or when he will allow you to feel a short burst of pleasure in your pussy. You might be surprised by a tiny, tingling vibration on your clit or a throbbing rhythm in your ass. You will wonder when he will begin to pleasure you and how many times you will come before the end of the meal. I bet you’ll be aroused before he even touches the remote.” She was standing so close now that he had to look straight down to meet her eyes, so close that he could feel the heat of her summer-warmed skin.
Sologirl’s pupils were wide. Her breath was quick and soft. He bent, and his lips grazed a wisp of hair near her ear. “I bet you’re wet already, just thinking about it,” he whispered.
He could sympathize—his cock was so hard that he was having flash fantasies of ripping her skirt up to her waist and taking her against the bookshelf. Maybe she wasn’t wearing underwear. The thought paralyzed him.
She cleared her throat with a sharp cough that breezed his chin before she stepped away from him. “You’re joking, right? You want me to help you, so you rushed to my workplace to talk dirty to me? Does this approach usually work for you?” Her blue eyes flashed as she slowly shook her head from side to side.
“Actually, yes.”
“I find that hard to believe,” she said, but the way she was looking at him gave lie to her words. Her eyes played over his body as if she were trying to make a decision. He didn’t care what criteria she used, but she had to say yes.
“Please, I’m begging you. DoublePlay needs you. You are the best product evaluator I’ve got, and without your help, I’m seriously screwed. In fact, I doubt the line will even make it into production without you. I’m running out of time and capital. Tell me what you want. I’ll do anything to get you to say yes.”
She cocked her head to the side doubtfully. Her small, white teeth dented her lower lip and her eyes narrowed.
He held his breath, waiting for her decision.
After what felt like an eternity, she nodded, and he slowly let air back into his lungs.
Her low laugh sounded nervous. “We’ll have to lay some ground rules. I do have a few conditions.”
“Anything.” Mark was elated, lightheaded with relief and oxygen deprivation. She was going to do it. His mind spun with all the next steps he needed to take. He couldn’t wait to receive Sologirl’s report of her dinner date. Damn, he was almost jealous of her boyfriend. He was so caught up in his plans that he didn’t hear her words the first time.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” he asked.
“I said I hope you have an understanding wife.”
“I don’t have a wife,” he said, confused.
“Good. Then she won’t object to you taking me out to dinner.” Sologirl’s blue eyes were wide and innocent, but her pink lips curved in an impish grin. “It was your idea, buddy.”
She’d tricked him.
His willing body jumped to attention.
He couldn’t be Sologirl’s play partner, but he had to admit the temptation was brutal. Oh, the things he could do to her. He had read her surveys for every product she had tested for SoloPlay. Her responses had been run through complicated data compilation programs, cross-referenced with percentages, ranked in order of preference. He knew what she liked.
Even better than she did.
But that was too fucking bad. He had already broken his own code of ethics and quite possibly a few laws by coming to find her. The last thing he needed was a sexual harassment suit the size of the state of New York. As the owner of the company, he could not bang his employees and pay them for it. His lawyers had been very explicit about that point.
“Alisa—” Her name felt strange on his lips. “It would be unprofessional.” And unethical, immoral and a number of other bad and litigious words.
“Unprofessional? You want to go there with me?” Her delicate jaw dropped. “You tossed professionalism out the window when you came to find me, buddy. I don’t want to know how many people at SoloPlay know my identity, but if any more of you come looking for me, I’m going to sue SoloPlay for every penny it’s ever made.”
Mark’s blood chilled. “Whoa—hold on. Relax. No one is coming after you, but I can’t test DoublePlay products with you. I own the company.”
She shrugged. “Then the boss won’t get upset.”
“Unless you sue him for sexual harassment.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to sue you. I just propositioned you.”
“Don’t you have a boyfriend who can—”
The slow smile that spread across Alisa’s face made him feel a little desperate. “Nope. No boyfriend. No girlfriend at the moment either, and I have to say that I don’t know whether to be amused or hurt that Crystal sent you to find me.”
The silence swelled between them.
“Just take me out to dinner.” Her blue eyes challenged him to deny her again. “I’ll only help you with DoublePlay if you are willing to work for it.” Her eyes dropped to his crotch. “I’d say you’re up for the job.”
Mark blinked at her. Once. Twice. Shit. “Seven o’clock. E-mail your address.”
He jerked his head in a terse goodbye then escaped the stacks, hoping like hell no one else noticed the bulge in his pants. Taking her out to dinner would give him a second chance to persuade her to test DoublePlay toys with another partner. He wouldn’t actually use the remote on her in the restaurant, he told himself, not believing it for a minute.
When Mark Winters left the library, Alisa locked herself in the ladies room and thrust her hand under her skirt. She opened her mouth wide to muffle the sound of her quick breaths as she rubbed her clit with two hard, merciless fingers. She watched her eyes glaze over in the wide mirror over the sink as she came, one hand braced on the counter, the other buried between her thighs.
Not a cold fish, not even close. Tall, hard, solidly muscled, Mark Winters resembled the new James Bond, but bigger. His pale blue eyes burned with icy heat. His gaze was hot, but remote, as if he was so sure of his effect on women that he didn’t even have to try to look inviting anymore, as if he had the skill to bring a girl to blithering orgasm while, say, checking the stock quotes or sorting through his mail.
She had intended to send him packing with an ass full of verbal buckshot, but all of the blood in her body had descended to her clit when he began whispering in her ear. Oh man, that dinner scenario was hot. Could it actually happen that way? He made it sound simple, so easy. She almost believed he could make it happen for her, and she wasn’t going to get a better opportunity to find out. He was perfect.
As the last wave of her orgasm receded, doubt quickly set in. She swallowed, forcing sal
iva down her dry throat, and washed her hands.
Oh God. Could she really do it? It had seemed like a brilliant idea ten minutes ago, when her body had been begging for release. Now that she was in a more sane state, she was having second thoughts.
Mark Winters did not look harmless. He was big. The body under that dark suit looked hard and strong. Clearly, he was a little twisted. What if she had just made a dinner date with a psycho killer?
She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She tugged her skirt straight. Crystal had sent Mark Winters to her at the exact moment she had been looking for a date, and she didn’t believe in coincidence. Not so long ago, Crystal had promised to find her a Prince Charming. At the time, Alisa had thought she was just trying to let her down easy. Now, here he came, waltzing in the door of the library, talking dirty and making it sound like poetry. If he came with Crystal’s seal of approval, then he wasn’t a psycho killer. Crystal would know. Plus, she had known Mark for months, albeit only through e-mail.
What did she have to lose? A paycheck? Her dignity? This was the perfect chance to try it on with a man again. If he wanted her to work for DoublePlay bad enough to beg for her help, then he would have a vested interest in her pleasure. She could practice telling him how to please her, and she wouldn’t have to worry about how he felt about it or whether the information would come back to haunt her. His interest was professional, not personal. After they both got what they wanted, they’d go their separate ways and she’d know how to tell a man what she needed in bed. Everyone would win.
Alisa returned to her desk, typed in her address and hit send before she could change her mind. A few minutes later Beth dropped into her swivel chair and triumphantly tossed a book onto the desk.
“You found it. Nice work,” Alisa said.
“Nice work, yourself. Did you drag that massively hot guy into the stacks and jump on him or what?”
“Of course not.” Alisa blushed. “I’m going to make him buy me dinner first.”
Beth whooped and then clapped a hand over her mouth. “Seriously?” she whispered. “Tonight?”
Alisa nodded. “I’ll give you all the details tomorrow morning.”
“You better.” Beth grinned, then turned back to her screen.
After work and a long, hot shower, the moment of truth arrived. She pulled BodyVibe out of her underwear drawer. Just the sight of it made her pussy twitch. Could she actually put it on? Hand over the remote? Sit in a restaurant and do things that should get her arrested? With a man who was all but a stranger to her? A familiar heat began to build in the pit of her belly.
Oh, yes.
Definitely.
Chapter Eight
Mark looked at Alisa sitting primly across the table in her classy black dress. Underneath the smooth fabric, he knew she was wearing BodyVibe because she had given him the remote when he picked her up, along with a small smile that all but dared him to use it. He hadn’t felt this nervous on a date since prom night when he had employed every bit of the manual dexterity he possessed to avoid sticking that stupid pin with the pearl on it into his finger, or worse, his date’s smooth, freckled shoulder. The BodyVibe remote in his pocket felt like a loaded gun.
Just once, he promised himself. Just BodyVibe. And only to see if it could be cross-promoted in the new line. He had spent the afternoon trying to convince himself he was doing this for his company. The success of DoublePlay depended on Sologirl. His employees and his customers depended on him. He was being selfless, a martyr, even.
Yeah, right. More like his cock was depending on him.
He’d been hard from the minute he’d seen her nameplate on the Formica desk in the library, hard the whole time they had been speaking, hard while he downloaded the directions for the BodyVibe remote and refreshed his memory. He was hard now, because her upswept, blond hair, barely there lipstick and modest dress made her look hotter than any fuck-me lingerie he’d ever seen on any woman. Sologirl totally tripped his switch and he wanted her.
Her help, he corrected himself.
He needed her help with the DoublePlay line, and maybe after a few BodyVibe-assisted orgasms, she’d be so hooked on the concept that she would be willing to continue testing products with another partner. He could just barely rationalize doing this with her tonight because they had BodyVibe and a table length between them. However, he had two dozen prototypes for the DoublePlay line, and none of the rest of them operated by remote control. Nope, they were all very hands-on, one hundred percent up close and personal, and he couldn’t test the rest of the line with her without jeopardizing his company and risking the wrath of his lawyers.
She had to find another partner. That was all there was to it. The thought made his stomach clench, so he took a sip of wine and focused on her. “You look beautiful tonight.” He admired the lush curve of her breasts under the high neckline of her dress. Her nipples were visible through the fabric, even through the electrodes he knew she was wearing.
She smiled but said nothing.
“Do you like the wine?” he asked. “They keep a case of this Chardonnay in their wine cellar for me. It’s my favorite.” God, he hated small talk. This was why he didn’t date. Mark kept drinking.
Alisa wasn’t sure whether to roll her eyes or be impressed. The guy was such a player that he kept a case of wine on ice at the most popular restaurant in Norton? Puh-lease. She thought about excusing herself to go to the bathroom and then calling a taxi, but she knew it was just nerves. And arousal. The BodyVibe stimulators were tucked firmly into place and she’d given him the remote in the car.
His prediction this afternoon had been correct. Her pussy was already sweating, swelling, anticipating. Before he even began. It added to her excitement that he was looking at her as if he could read her X-rated thoughts. His ice-blue eyes made her feel deliciously exposed, and his lethal combination of square jaw, hard body and cool expression did things to her body. Her nipples were already hard and her mouth was dry. No man had ever made her feel this way.
He set his menu on the table. “Having second thoughts?”
Alisa shook her head slowly.
“Good.”
The waiter arrived. She had no idea what she ordered.
Mark pulled the remote out of the breast pocket of his jacket and set it on the table in front of him. It looked remarkably like a cell phone, perfectly appropriate on the elegant table.
Alisa’s heart began to pound. She wanted to snatch the remote off the table and use it to quell the ache between her thighs. Instead, she shifted on the banquette, recrossed her legs, wiggled a bit to rub the clit-cup against her mound. The right side of his mouth lifted briefly in a knowing half smile.
“Oh no you don’t, Sologirl. No cheating.”
She froze, amazed by the gush of juice in her pussy that his words caused. She wasn’t sure what turned her on more, sitting here in this quiet restaurant secretly wired for sex or the fact that he knew she wanted it. She loved to delay her pleasure, draw it out, wait until she knew that her orgasm would be spectacular. She liked to control when it happened, how hard, how much, how many. Apparently, she liked to let someone else control her pleasure too, because her body was clearly on board with this kinky scene.
Mark palmed the remote, drew it into his lap. “I’ll give it to you, don’t worry. You’ll get it. You want a little taste?”
He sent one strong vibration straight to her clit. Even though she was primed for it, she jumped. It was hard to keep from crying out. She rocked her hips, grinding into the vibration, ready for more.
His lips curved. “Should I spend the entire meal torturing you? I could start with your nipples, begin on the lowest setting, work up to the max while you enjoy your salad.”
The electrodes began to send small jolts of energy to her nipples—sharp, buzzy hits like small tongues licking one and then the other. Instead of bringing relief, it heightened her frustration.
“Of course, I could get you off immediately and then
spend the rest of the meal torturing you.” Mark smiled again. “Relax, Sologirl. The food is very good here. You don’t want to miss it.”
He picked up his fork and began to eat, one-handed. She groaned. The mesclun mix was tough as grass in her mouth and the vinaigrette was sour on her tongue. Alisa tried to remember what she had ordered for her entree. There was no way she was going to be able to concentrate on cutting a steak or a veal chop.
Her nipples felt as big as ripe cherries, straining against the fabric of her dress. This must be the maximum setting. “You know, we plan to sell this model with adjustable nipple clips,” he said. Just the thought made her ache even more. Her nipples were throbbing now, in time with her pulse, sending lightning bolts of pleasure to her pussy. Her vulva was swollen, making everything a tighter fit, the wires rubbing tantalizingly against her labia.
She regretted not pulling an extra layer of panties over BodyVibe because she was soaking wet. Should she make a run to the bathroom to towel off? As if he read her mind, or perhaps correctly interpreted her glance around the room, Mark said, “Don’t run away now. It’s just about to get interesting.” He leaned back in his chair to allow the waiter to remove his salad plate. Her own was barely touched.
Alisa stayed in her seat. She didn’t think she would have been able to stand, anyway. She felt languid, boneless. The urgency of the moment before had been replaced with a surety of satisfaction.
She wished she could touch herself, knew her labia would feel glossy and smooth, engorged, silken. Her lips would feel like petals and she would rub them, pluck them, slide her middle finger up and down, in and out, stroke the sensitized path deep into her vagina. This is when she would slow down. Stop to smell the roses, maybe even taste them.
SoloPlay: Come Again, Book 2 Page 6