by Ashlee Price
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I discovered that it was easy to talk to him. Before I had been scared of being around him, but now I was at least able to breathe. There was no surprise to that. Jerold made me feel things that were hard to handle, and after the upset with Jamie the night before, I was ready to get out of there quickly. My luck with men lately had not been the best.
“Well, I don’t mind working my way up from the bottom.”
He frowned at me, not liking my answer. “You should never settle, Nicola. My company was just about to transition into having an in-house chef for meetings and some breakfasts. Would you be interested in applying for that kind of a position?”
Had I just heard him right? I didn’t think I had. I actually knew that I hadn’t heard him right, but at the same time, I wasn’t brave enough to ask him to repeat himself.
“Who would I send my resume to?” I felt a little bad about doing a negotiation while I was working for another company. It felt strangely like I was betraying the people at Jesse’s, but I couldn’t not jump at the chance to get right into cooking. I mean, how hard could it be?
“There’s no need for a resume, Nicola. I’ve already seen all of that information, and I can tell that you’re exactly what I need around here.”
I caught the way he said it, but I didn’t think much of it. I liked the idea of him needing me, though I knew it was more than likely just a slip of the tongue. My eyes centered on his full lips for a moment, and I only looked away when I realized that I was staring. I wasn’t supposed to be looking at him in such a way. He had asked me about a job, and I was thinking naughty thoughts before I even said yes.
“I would love to fill the position. When would you like me to start?”
He seemed to contemplate it for a moment, but the answer was not far away. “Why don’t you come in around nine and you will be off around two or three, unless there is a late meeting that will need to be catered.”
I nodded my head. I loved the way it sounded, but I had to wonder what was going to become of me. And where was all this cooking going to take place?
“So would I be cooking off-site and bringing it in as needed?” I felt like I was starting to babble up into the grey eyes that wouldn’t let go of me.
“No, I have had one of our office kitchens changed up a little bit for you. I think it will be perfect.”
I was urged to follow him. He was going to show me right then. I was nervous and just followed behind blindly. We went back to the elevator and went down a level. The place was very similar on this floor, but I could tell quickly that the atmosphere was different. A few people stopped to talk to Jerold, something that he took in stride; it seemed to be a normal occurrence.
Soon he was introducing me to the many other people who worked there, and I was trying my best to remember the whirlwind of people that I was meeting. Then he walked me down one of the hallways. I was getting anxious as we reached the door.
“I have a good feeling that you are going to like this, Nicola.”
I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or not, but I knew that the idea of a new job was lending an unaccustomed lightness to my step. I didn’t want to have to deliver anymore, and if Jerold was going to give me an out, it would be crazy to turn him down.
The kitchen was not something I would have expected in an office building. It was stocked full and the equipment looked brand new.
“How long has this been here?” I was confused why they were ordering food from Jesse’s if there’d been a whole kitchen here all the time.
“I just finished it yesterday. Do you like it?”
I looked over at him and hoped that my mouth wasn’t agape. I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded my head that I did love it. It was perfect.
Chapter 5 - Jerold
I smiled when I thought of Nicola’s face as she saw the kitchen. It was worth the cost to stock it and it was well worth the questioning looks that I was getting from some of my staff. It was clear that no one else could see why I was doing it. I wasn’t sure either, but Nicola had agreed to come and work for me and that was enough.
She couldn’t start right away, which left me having to wait the weekend out. I’d planned to go to Vegas and play. At the beginning of the week I had been feeling restless to go, to fulfill my needs, but now I knew that if I didn’t have Nicola, there would be no satisfaction. She was the one, and I was more than willing to roll with that.
Connie was questioning my idea that we could save money for the company if we just paid a chef and didn’t order out anymore. She brought me the figures from accounting and then smirked at me when they showed clearly that the salary I had agreed to pay Nicola was going eat up every penny of the savings. I tried to sell her on the convenience, but she still looked skeptical. Then I remembered that I was the boss, and told her that. She just kind of chuckled at me.
So she wasn’t happy, but the idea of having Nicola under my roof was enough for me to not care. Connie had been with me for years and she had learned to give her opinion but not push it too much. So my assistant let the subject go, even though the look on her face told me plainly that she still didn’t agree.
When Sunday rolled around, I was becoming apprehensive about what was going to come next. I wasn’t worried about what would happen, just how Nicola would respond to me. I liked to think about it while I lay in bed at night, but there really was no telling. She might not be into the things that I was into, but that didn’t matter. Nicola had an endearing innocence to her, and a slight underlying submissive trait that I hoped I could help flourish. She was made for me and she didn’t even know it yet. Nicola didn’t even know what she was made for.
“Good morning.”
I looked up and was surprised to see Nicola at the door. I had spent so much time thinking about her that I’d failed to notice her arrival. Standing up, I told her good morning, my eyes taking in the curves that were visible under her clothes. She was dressed up more for an office than a kitchen, and I had to admit I loved the change. The pencil skirt was tight on her derriere and I wanted nothing more than to touch her. But I knew I couldn’t yet. I had to get myself together before I did something that I would regret later.
“It is good to see you, Nicola.”
“I don’t know what I am supposed to be doing.”
“You could make me some breakfast if you want.”
She nodded and then moved away from the door. Her quick smile made me give her one back. I wanted her to stay, but I knew that I was going to have to let her go. We both had work to do. When she came back some time later, there were several plates in her hands. She set them down on a side table next to my desk. “I should have asked first, so I just brought you a sampling. Is there anything else that I can do for you, sir?”
“Just call me Jerold. We’re not so formal around here.”
She repeated my name and I watched her leave again. I was going to have to figure out a way to keep her around, as well as get what I wanted. I had a feeling that she would be receptive to my advances, but I wanted to make sure before I did anything. Because if not, there was a chance that she would get upset and leave. I couldn’t let that happen: She was meant to be mine.
***
The week went by quickly and I was finding it hard to make my move. It was not something that I was used to, indecision. It was why I was the way I was. I had the confidence, but this time, there was the small shred of doubt in the back of my mind that told me that I was wrong. If I was wrong, I was going to be really wrong.
I heard the knock. It was always the same, soft and three short raps. I looked up and smiled at her. Since she started working here, I had instituted an open-door policy in my office. Some other people took advantage of it, but it was those special moments with Nicola that I looked forward to most. She was always quick to leave, and she was skittish sometimes, like I was a wolf and her a lamb, but there was always something new to be learned, and so far I had liked everything. It was par
t of the reason that I was so slow to move. I had built it up in my head so much that it was hard to live up to, and I knew I would be crushed like I was fourteen if she didn’t respond well.
“How are you doing, Jerold?”
“Good now. I’ve been eating so well since you started working here that I may have to add an extra gym day to my schedule.”
She smiled at the compliment and told me that it was unnecessary. I caught her eyes looking me over several times, and in that moment I knew that I was going to have to move forward. As far as I was concerned, she was begging for it. It was enough for me to make a decision. I was going to have her now. I would just have to move slowly.
Nicola was setting down what I had ordered and she was moving to leave me. I stopped her with a hand on her forearm from my spot in the chair. “Why don’t you stay and we’ll get to know each other? I have it on good authority that your boss won’t mind.”
I could tell she was not sure. I saw her eyes move to the hand on her arm. She didn’t move away and I didn’t loosen my grip. “I insist, Nicola.”
She finally agreed. The submission in her eyes that I was looking for was finally visible. She thought she was giving in to a little lunch with me, but Nicola was agreeing to so much more. She just didn’t know it yet.
“Will you shut the door for me, please?”
Another second of hesitation and her lips pursed for a moment like she was going to say something else. She didn’t, though, shutting her pretty lips and moving towards the door. The room was so quiet that the click echoed in my ears.
When she came back she was looking around for somewhere to sit. The couch was available, but instead I sat back and patted my lap. “Why don’t you come and sit over here, Nicola?”
Her brown eyes were shocked, and I was worried for a second. I had told myself to go slow, and that was obviously not what I had done. Had I just gone too far?
I couldn’t tell by her face which way it was going to go. Her teeth nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment, and I was suddenly jealous that I couldn’t do the same. I could feel myself starting to tighten. All of my dark desires hinged on her accepting her new role.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Jerold.”
My name was breathy on her lips, and the sound was my undoing. “I insist.”
To be continued…
Billionaire’s Domination Book 2: Demand
By: Ashlee Price
Prologue
Nicola’s job as the in-house chef for Jerold Carrington’s investment firm was perfect. She was grateful for the opportunity, and while she knew he wanted more from her, it was only his dark eyes that betrayed his true feelings.
That all changes one day when her boss slips her a note requesting her to do something that she knows isn’t right. It’s not a professional way for a boss to behave, and she’s afraid that doing what Jerod wants of her will be crossing a line.
She crosses the line – and then finds that there’s another one immediately after. Jerold has decided that she is to be his new plaything. Nicola should be outraged. She should be mad at his presumption, but somehow she wants to do everything that he asks, everything that he demands of her.
Nicola finds it impossible to tell Jerold no – and finds herself wanting to less and less.
Chapter 1 Nicola
I felt the same way I had when I was offered the job a couple of days before. But this time, I was not going to assume that I had misheard him. In fact, I knew for certain that I had heard him correctly, and that was making me nervous. The dark look in his grey eyes was hard to ignore. I knew then what he wanted. It was what he had always wanted since I had met him. Could I really do such a thing?
His hand patted his thick thigh and I groaned inwardly. I knew that I should walk away. The man was obviously crazy, and if I didn’t get out of there right now, there was no telling where it was all going to lead. I was nervous, but the part of me that felt drawn to him was not doing much more than screaming out for him. I wanted to sit on his lap. More than that, I wanted Jerold’s hands on me. I wanted him to fulfill the promise that his eyes were making me.
Walking towards him slowly, I almost stopped at the look of satisfaction on his face. It was clear to me that he was pleased with my obedience. The thought made my heart pound in my chest, and I wondered if this was what my mother meant when she had talked about being submissive to a man. But Jerold wasn’t just a man, he was my boss. I knew that he had started something that was going to change everything.
As soon as I was within his reach, Jerold pulled me the rest of the way down to his lap. I could feel a hardness underneath me. I was off center and felt like I was going to lose it right there. As I tried to situate myself, Jerold’s hands stopped me. I looked back at him and swallowed hard at the stern look in his eyes. My movement seemed to have caused him some distress, but there was nothing I wanted to do more than keep wriggling. Something told me not to, though, something in the way that he held me with such a tight grip, and something in the need that I could feel throbbing underneath me.
I settled down and he asked me to try some of the food on the plate. I didn’t want to – my mind was on anything else but food right then – but he finally got a couple of forkfuls into my mouth. It was erotic in some way, even if I hadn’t been sitting on his lap. I was feeling more comfortable like that, which was strange to even think about. How could I feel at home on my boss’s lap? I shouldn’t, of course, but I did anyways.
Leaning forward to retrieve the fork, I did the same for him, my eyes meeting his. I wished then that they hadn’t. Shivering at the look on his face, I could feel my face burning and I wondered if it was as red and hot as it felt.
“Do I make you uncomfortable, Nicola?”
I shook my head before I could think, and he gave a surprised chuckle I could feel vibrating off of me. The timbre in his voice made me tremble and moved the hardness underneath me. I closed my eyes at the feel of it. I hated that he was affecting me in such a way, yet Jerold didn’t seem to be bothered at all. He was far too comfortable with an employee on his lap for my taste.
“I would have preferred a real chair, sir, but I’m learning to make do.”
His face changed. The smile was gone almost as quickly and easily as it had come.
“Then why are you on my lap, Nicola?”
“Because you insisted, Jerold.”
The hands that had held me around my waist moved off of me quickly. I felt an immediate loss; I would have given anything to get them back. Jerold picked me up a little and set me down next to his chair. I turned around to see if he was mad, but he seemed to be more confused than angry.
“Is there anything else, sir?”
His jaw clenched, and now there was a flash of anger in his eyes. “Run away, Nicola, but you will be back. And then we can finish what we started.”
I nodded my head and got out of there as quickly as I could manage. There was no question what he meant by the last part of his comment. He was not talking about the lunch that was still on his plate. He was talking about something else altogether.
Before I was tempted to stay, I left the room, forgetting to clear the rest of the dishes out of the way. There was no way that I was going back to him, though; they would just have to sit there until I regained control of myself.
Returning to the floor below and entering the kitchen, I was starting to think that I understood it all. The kitchen had been finished just a few days before and it still smelled new in there. It seemed like too much of a coincidence. I thought back to the first time he had called me by my name. He had known what it was, and I hadn’t had my name tag on. I had looked down and realized that I didn’t have it on. I couldn’t seem to remember it, and the rest of my uniform had been just as incomplete.
I cleaned up and tried to keep my mind on other things. A few people came down and had me make them something, but all in all, the afternoon was rather slow. My contract stated that I was supposed to
be there until five, but by four o’clock I was getting bored. I figured it was time that I went back upstairs to clean up after Jerold’s lunch. I had put it off long enough and I knew I had to go back and face him before I lost my nerve and left him up there with the dirty dishes.
Boarding the elevator, my hands were shaky as I pushed the button to go up. Part of me wanted to keep going from where we had left off, but another part of me hoped that I wouldn’t have to see him again. It was hard to be around him, and I was pretty sure that I would just make an idiot of myself.
When I got up there, I was more than a little happy that I didn’t see Jerold anywhere. The dishes had been stacked back on the table and there was a note that had my name on it. I was too afraid to read it right then, so I folded it into my hand and grabbed the dishes. I needed to get out of there before he got back and I was stuck with him in the office. It was a huge room, but with Jerold looking at me, it had felt like the walls were closing in on me.
I was almost surprised when I got out of there without seeing him. I felt like I had escaped without being stopped, and that was as good as it was going to get. Scurrying back downstairs, I wasn’t really breathing right until I was back in the kitchen and I could see it was the end of the day. The weekend was calling to me and I was looking forward to some time off. But more than anything, I was ready to face another family dinner, now that I had a real job that they could be proud of.
Chapter 2 - Jerold
“Hello?”
“Sorry to bother you, Nicola, this is Jerold.”
“Yes, sir, what can I do for you?”
I looked at the clock and grimaced to myself. I don’t know what I had been thinking, but it was starting to look like I had missed her for the week. I should have just accepted it, but there was a part of me that just couldn’t. How could I accept that I wouldn’t get to see her for another couple of days? To me, the thought was unacceptable.