by Juniper Bell
I went back to the office, knowing Standish would join me as soon as he could. When I was safe at my desk, I listened to the backup recording I’d made on the smartphone Ethan and Simon had issued me. Margo’s voice came across with perfect clarity.
When Standish got back, first thing he did was change back into his regular clothes. I stashed Simon’s clothes away, hoping he wouldn’t miss them before I could get them cleaned. They smelled of fear. But Standish himself looked bright-eyed, almost feverish.
“Not the sharpest tool in the toolbox?” His indignation amused me. “Who does she think she is? Her financials would be a mess without me.” He set the video camera on the desk and rewound it. There was Margo, or at least the left side of her. Then the camera tilted up to show her face, or at least the underside of her jaw. Not her most flattering angle. Her jawbone looked enormous. Standish turned the volume up. Through the background of Great Wok sounds—cook calling, “Order up,” cash register ringing, customers chatting, the door dinging as people walked in and out, I heard her clear, nasty voice.
“You did it, Standish. You rock. We have to show this to Ethan and Simon.”
He blanched. “I don’t know about that.”
“Don’t worry. I told you to trust me.” I fixed him with a stern look. Stern, but kind. He needed a firm hand, not abuse or threats.
As soon as Ethan and Simon returned from their meeting, I tapped on Standish’s door. He still looked frightened, but he didn’t protest when I gestured for him to follow me. Together we faced my bosses. They looked tired; it must have been a long meeting. Ethan leaned one hip on his desk. Simon had his briefcase open on the desk. He leaned over it, sorting through papers.
“Standish and I have something for you,” I announced. “But before I show it to you, I want you to promise to consider him for the position of accountant. Now that Barnes has gone missing, we need someone new.”
“Him?” Ethan straightened up to his full, intimidating height. With his arms folded across his chest and a mighty scowl, he looked so terrifying I was surprised Standish didn’t run for the door. I felt him quiver next to me. “Why him?”
“Because he’s innocent in all this and he’s trying to help us out.”
Ethan didn’t look convinced. His eyes burned with such blue fire I swear I felt the singe.
“Just check this out.”
I motioned to Standish who, screwing up all his courage, hoisted the video camera into the air. He pressed play and suddenly the quiet office was filled with the conversation between Margo and me. I winced at the sound of my voice, so meek and pitiful. So fake. I wasn’t in the habit of faking things, Ethan and Simon knew that. Would they understand?
I couldn’t look at them until the tape was done. Then I searched their faces. Neither of them showed anything. Had I made a mistake?
“See…” I cleared my throat. “She just broke the confidentiality agreement. She told me Simon embezzled. On tape.”
“Hm,” said Ethan.
“Standish didn’t know he was impersonating an IRS auditor. Which means he wasn’t, technically. She was trying to trick us so we’d give him access to our files. But she never even told him what she was looking for. She couldn’t because of the agreement. But when he didn’t get her what she wanted, she got frustrated. She didn’t think I was any kind of a threat, so she just went for it.”
“Hm,” Ethan said again.
“Not only that, Standish feels terrible about what she wanted him to do. He wants to help us instead. He knows all about her company and the shady things she’s done.”
“Hm.” Ethan switched his “hmm-ing” to Standish.
“All he wants is to work for someone good, someone who treats him well and gives him what he needs.”
I looked desperately from Ethan to Simon. Simon hung back, waiting for Ethan to speak first.
“Standish,” Ethan addressed him suddenly. “Whose idea was this?”
“Well…er…that is…”
“Just answer the question.” His voice softened. “There’s no wrong answer.”
“I suppose…it was Ms. Arthur’s. But I agreed right away. I was horrified to find that Ms. Lang had set me up like that. And I don’t approve of her methods, really I don’t. I-I was afraid to stand up to her alone. But with Ms. Arthur…Dana…it was different.”
I twisted my hands behind my back. “I have it on my phone too. Plan B.”
“Very prepared.” His neutral tone freaked me out. Was he unhappy with what I’d done? What we’d done? I wasn’t so much afraid for myself—I knew Ethan would never hurt me. But would he rip Standish into little accountant-niblets?
“None of this is Standish’s fault.” My voice came out high and reedy. I cleared my throat. “He’s blameless in all of this. And he’s a really good accountant. Once he knew what to look for, he found all kinds of proof of what Margo did. She hid all that money as a payment to a dog-grooming service that doesn’t exist. Does she even have a dog?”
“I’m sure she would if she needed one,” said Simon. He was watching me with the oddest expression.
“Yes, that’s exactly how she is. First she used Simon, then Standish, then she tried to use me—why not a dog too? Poor thing.” I found myself growing outraged at the thought of a poor little fluffy puppy in the hands of Cruella de Margo. That indignation made me forget that Ethan still hadn’t said anything much. “So can we hire Standish? He’s proved himself. And I promised we’d give him a shot.”
“Promised?” Danger lurked in Ethan’s ice-blue eyes.
“Well…” Yes, I had promised. I’d overstepped my role. I’d forgotten I was only the receptionist. Mortification flooded me. My face felt hot while my body went cold. I stared down at the beige carpet, willing the stupid tears not to fall.
“In that case,” said Ethan briskly. “Consider yourself hired, Mr. Standish. I trust Dana. If she promised something, it’s a done deal.”
The relief made me sway on my feet. The carpet blurred before my suddenly teary eyes. Ethan trusted me. I felt as if millions of bright bubbles were floating through my system.
“If you don’t mind, we’ll start with a probationary period so all parties can decide if we suit each other. We’re not a typical firm, as you may or may not know.”
“I, um, think I have an idea.”
I looked under my eyelashes at Standish, whose cheeks had turned a mottled pink color. How much did he know? The guy was plenty smart, though a little clueless in some areas. Margo didn’t know him the way I did.
Like most of us, all he needed was a little love.
“Then it’s decided. We’ll have to find you a proper office, Mr. Standish, but for now, why don’t you return to the file room and get yourself sorted out. We’ll meet with Margo tomorrow, the three of us. You’re welcome to join us if you please.”
“No, I, uh, I’d rather not have to see her again.”
“Completely understandable. We’d rather hoped the same thing after the Caper deal, eh, Simon?”
“Something told me she’d be back. She’s got nine lives, that woman.” Simon clicked shut his briefcase. “Each one slimier than the one before. Don’t feel bad, Standish. I know how charming she can be when she chooses. You’re not the only one she’s manipulated. Not by a long shot.”
Standish ducked his head and dug his toe into the carpet. I knew that meant a lot to him. Trust Simon to say the right thing to make him feel better.
“And now we’d like a word alone with Ms. Arthur,” Ethan told Standish.
My pet accountant hesitated. “You’re not…She was only…”
“She’ll be fine. Now go.”
Standish left.
Ethan prowled toward me. Electric tension filled the room. Excitement clutched at my throat.
“You put me in a bind, Dana. I’m not sure why I bother to make rules when you break them so freely. So lightly.”
“Not lightly,” I protested.
“No physical contact
, I said.”
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t tell Standish that we’re on to him, I said. Continue as normal. Don’t interfere with his mission. Stay away from Margo. As far as I can tell, you followed none of these directives.”
“Well, no, but…”
“Instead you took things into your own hands.”
“Well, yes, but…”
“You didn’t trust us to handle the situation.”
“That’s not it! I wanted…”
He was behind me now, not touching me, but I felt the powerful energy of his presence, the waves of intensity pouring off him. “You wanted what?”
“I wanted to prove myself to you. Prove I’m just as much a part of this firm as anyone else.”
I met Simon’s sympathetic green eyes. His hands were folded across his chest as he watched the scene between Ethan and me.
“Why ever would you think you weren’t already?”
The answer to that seemed totally obvious. “I’m just…just the receptionist.”
Ethan wheeled around in front of me, spearing me with blue steel. “Never. Ever. Say that again.”
I bit my lip and hung my head.
“Your value to us has no name, no limits, no title. You are our very own Dana and this firm would be nothing without you. We—” he glanced at Simon, who nodded, “—would be nothing without you. Do you understand?”
I couldn’t speak from the emotion welling inside me.
“Now. Infractions have occurred, and punishment is due.”
Dark shivers of anticipation made my belly clench. I nodded. His quiet voice dropped like pebbles into the still room.
“On your knees.”
I sank to my knees on the soft carpet.
He walked behind me and twined his hands in my hair. “Unbutton your blouse.”
I quickly did so, the buttons willingly sliding from their holes.
“Hands behind your neck.” I clasped my hands as he commanded. My hair cascaded over them, tickling my back.
When my blouse was open he reached inside and caressed my breasts with tender, lingering strokes. It felt different, the way he was touching me, more gentle than usual. I shifted on my knees as little tendrils of sensation made their way to my sex. He raised my skirt in the back and ran his hands across the curves of my rear, pausing at my thong underwear.
“I want you naked under your clothes for the rest of the day,” he murmured in my ear. “So I can call you in and fondle you whenever I have the fancy. Simon, hand me the scissors.”
A few snips, and my panties were curling bits of fabric on the floor. He did the same to my bra. Ethan knelt behind me. His strong fingers slipped into my pussy and stroked the swelling folds, pausing at the piercing, wiggling it back and forth. A tickle quickly grew to a burn. I panted, my hands restless behind my head. Simon crouched before me, lifted both my breasts in his two hands and took one nipple into his mouth. He swirled his warm, wet tongue across it.
I groaned. Between my legs, Ethan’s hand continued its adventures into my pussy. His hands were huge. I knew he’d killed people with those hands in his former life. They were masterful. They knew things, mysterious things like how I would react to feeling my clit pinched between two long fingers. I lurched forward into Simon’s chest. He caught me, laughing, my breasts still cupped in his hands. He brushed his fingers across my swelling nipples.
“Don’t knock over our Dana,” he teased. “We can’t do without her.”
“Indeed not,” Ethan growled in my ear. He placed one hand on my chest to steady me. When he increased the pressure, I bowed backward, which had the effect of presenting my breasts more blatantly to Simon. He took full advantage by suckling madly at my nipples, nibbling and stroking until every move of his tongue echoed deep in my pussy. A lightning storm built inside my body, the sparks arcing between my sex and my nipples.
Once when I was little I watched a storm tear apart the power lines outside our basement apartment. The line snaked into the air, tossing sparks like blinding confetti. That’s the image that flashed into my mind as I twisted there on the carpet, sandwiched between Ethan and Simon. Right now, Ethan owned my lower parts, Simon my top. Even though Simon’s erection crowded against his pants, and I felt Ethan’s bulge against my back, they didn’t seem bothered by that. I was their only focus and I ate up the attention like a flower soaking in the sunshine.
I arched my breasts toward Simon, thrust my rear at Ethan. With complete, utter lack of shame, I rubbed ferociously against the hand working my pussy. I welcomed his thumb into my ass, lost myself in the sensations he woke with his twin teasings. My eager clit and open ass became toys for his entertainment, my moans his reward.
“We know what you really want,” he taunted. “You’re such a voracious little thing, you can’t get enough, can you? Say it.”
“No,” I gasped. “I can’t get enough.”
“You want us, don’t you?”
Duh. “Yes.”
“All the toys, all the games, nothing compares to our flesh against yours, your greedy, delicious little cunt, your nipples that cry out for our fingers, our mouths.”
“Yes.”
“But that’s not all you want, is it?”
The oncoming orgasm swirled through my body like a hurricane, blowing away all thoughts. I lost track of his words.
“Is it?” He insisted, pressing my clit with two strong fingers, moving his thumb in my ass. I let out a strangled cry.
“Yes, no…” I wasn’t sure what the question was, let alone the answer.
He chuckled. “That’s okay. I know what you want. And you’re going to get it.”
They didn’t even have to consult each other. With one mind, with hands and mouths and tongues and deep, deep love, Simon and Ethan sent me over the top. I spiraled there between them, spinning and whirling in the wind, floating out of my body, then back because that body was where I wanted to be, held tight between the two men I adored so.
They held me until I slumped across Simon’s chest. He settled me on his lap, then scooted backward to prop himself against the desk. He fastened my blouse, brushing against my nipples as he did so. They stiffened obediently, so their dark points pushed against the thin fabric of my blouse. God, they were insatiable. But I ignored the pleasant tingling. I was completely, luxuriously satisfied and couldn’t imagine asking anything else from life.
Ethan knelt before me. “Now for what you really want.”
Chapter Ten
I blinked at him. How could there possibly be more?
“You want to know how Simon and I met.”
My eyes went wide. “Yes! Of course I do.” I struggled to sit up, but Simon kept me snuggled in his arms. He nuzzled his nose in my hair. The clean scent of him acted like wine to my senses, making me drowsy and happy.
“If we tell you, you’ll be the only person on earth who knows, besides me and Ethan.”
“Correction,” said Ethan grimly. “There were people who knew, but most of them are now dead.”
A chill shot through me. This was serious. I stilled in Simon’s arms. We all grew quiet. Ethan flicked an ice-blue glance at Simon, giving him the nod to begin the story. I felt the gentle rumble in his chest as he began to talk.
“You already know that Ethan was in prison in Afghanistan.”
“Yes. As a British intelligence officer.”
“Well…I was there too.”
I yanked myself from his hold and jerked around to stare at him. “You were in prison?” My own sweet Simon a captive—the thought was horrifying. Ethan was one thing. He was tough. But Simon. Tears gathered behind my eyelids.
“I was hiking through the mountains. Just adventuring, really. I had a camera and a laptop, I’d already trekked across Hungary and Turkey. I wasn’t thinking about the political realities. I got caught one night by some Taliban types who didn’t believe I was just a tourist. They threw me in prison along with the other white guy. That was Ethan.”
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Simon’s jaw went tight, his scar twitched. Obviously retelling the story brought back terrible memories for him.
“You don’t have to do this.” I cupped my hand around his cheek. “It’s too hard for you.”
“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it now,” came Ethan’s gravelly voice. I put my arms around Simon and braced myself for more. “Poor blighter was a mess when they threw him into my cave. That’s how I thought of my cell—as a cave. No windows, dirt floor, animals guarding the opening. But I’d found my own means of survival. Occasionally I saw other prisoners, or a guard would show up who wasn’t a sadistic prick. From them I’d acquired stubs of candles, cigarettes, drugs, chocolate, utensils, other items. I shared everything with Simon.”
“He did more than share,” said Simon. “He gave me first pick. He nursed my wounds. He wouldn’t let me give in to despair, and believe me, I would have. He was like a father bear, cuffing me into line. And one night, or maybe it was day, I often lost track, when the guards had tormented me and I’d reached the absolute bottom of the pit, he crawled over to me and put his mouth on my cock.”
My startled glance flew to Ethan. Ethan rarely sucked Simon’s cock, or allowed a prick in his own ass. I suppose it happened, in the heat of the moment when we were all touching each other. But most often it was the reverse. Simon taking Ethan’s giant cock in his mouth.
“He needed a release. He needed to remember there’s pleasure in this world. Fierce, dirty, glorious pleasure.”
Their glances held. I felt privileged to be hearing this story. I didn’t make a sound, not wanting to interrupt the flow.
“At first I didn’t know what to think. I’d never done anything like that with a man. But his touch was so soft and warm when everything else was harsh. It felt like…love. A taste of love gifted to me from a universe that didn’t want me to give in. And even though I wouldn’t have imagined feeling aroused when I was in such misery, my cock went stiff as a rifle butt. It took about half a minute for Ethan to suck me off, and I came harder than I ever had in my life. After that I slept for the first time since I’d gotten there.