by Ashlee Price
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.
“Have you already gone for the day?”
“Yes, sir.”
I didn’t like her calling me ‘sir’ after I had told her over and over again to call me by my name.
“It’s Jerold.”
“Well, Jerold, I already left for the day. Was there something else that you needed done?” I could hear the hope that there wasn’t in her voice. I just kind of shook my head. I knew that I needed more than just one thing. I needed her, but I couldn’t say that kind of thing out loud.
“Would you like to go out for the night? We could celebrate your first week on the job.”
“Um, I have to go to my parents’ for dinner. It’s like a family tradition. You wouldn’t want to come, would you? I mean, my family is a little crazy, after all.”
The invitation was not what it seemed. I knew very well that she was trying to get rid of me, but there was going to be none of that. “Yes, I would love to come with you. Where and what time?”
She hesitated, and I tried to keep the grin off my face. I was acting like she was right there, and true to form, when she said yes, I actually did a little dance that made me feel like an idiot when I was done.
“Um, I can just give you the address and you can stop by whenever you are ready. I will be there in about half an hour, sir.”
“Please call me Jerold.”
“Sorry. I will work on that.”
I hung up the phone. I was smiling from ear to ear. Just the idea of going out with her had me thinking that I could do anything. I knew that with her, there would be nothing that could stand in my way. Nicola was the type of woman who made a man feel like he could do anything. I knew that I was worried about lots of things, but in the end, I was fairly certain I had picked the right girl. If she wasn’t the right one, why in the world did I feel this way?
***
I had to really think about whether I was going to go to her parents’ house. I knew the address that she gave me, and it made me pause. I was almost their age, and I had no illusions about how little I was going to be welcomed. I thought long and hard, but there was still this desire to go. I wanted to see her, and if I had to go around Angela and Martin, I was okay with that.
So I got ready quickly and I was waiting outside her parents’ house a few minutes earlier than she’d said. I wasn’t the only one who seemed to be taking a moment before going up to knock on the door. For whatever reason, several more cars pulled up while I was sitting outside, but nobody got out. I was waiting for Nicola to get there, and when I saw her small red car I got out and started to walk towards her.
There was a man in a blue car who’d been waiting almost as long as I had. It was only when he got out and started to walk towards her car that I started to wonder who he was. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her. The blond man seemed nervous, and I wondered then if I looked the same. He looked the way I felt at the moment.
Nicola saw him first. I know that I would have been very angry if she had welcomed him and looked at him the same way he was looking at her. But it wasn’t a happy expression on her face, and I went from hatred to curiosity. Why was she looking at him in such a way? It wasn’t really fear, but Nicola was definitely not happy to see him, whoever he was.
I waited for her to see me. When she did I was rewarded with her slight smile, as I had hoped. There was no denying the innocence in her eyes – and the need that I hadn’t thought to see before. It was just a flash and then it was gone, but it was there.
“Jamie, sorry about this. I am glad you came. Mom and dad will be happy to see you.”
The blond man gave me a dirty look, which made me smile, and then took off towards the house in a little bit of a huff.
“One of the family?”
Nicola looked at his back and shook her head. “No, he’s just a person that used to hang around a lot and knows everyone.”
“He seemed to know you very well.”
I heard her sharp intake of breath and I had to take her arm before she would budge. “I can’t believe you would say that, sir.”
“Isn’t it true?”
Nicola nodded and told me that it was his ex-fiancé. It was not at all what I wanted to hear, but I told myself it didn’t matter. She was there with me, on my arm, and I wasn’t going to let anyone change that. Jamie was just going to have to be mad. He had lost his chance, and I was not going to be as stupid as to lose her.
I felt possessiveness overtake me when I noticed Jamie staring at Nicola as we came through the door. I wanted to pull her into me, claim her right then and there, but I was her boss, after all, and I knew it wouldn’t go down well. Not that I cared how her family reacted; it was the small chance that Nicola would pull away from me that I couldn’t take.
So Nicola introduced me to everyone as her boss. I wasn’t sure that I liked the title. We were more. I was more to her than just that. Even though I knew that I was her boss, I didn’t want them to see me in that way. When it came out that we were together, everyone would know how things started out.
The thought made me pause. I could feel myself getting quieter. Why was I thinking so far in the future? It wasn’t like me, and there was part of me that felt strange to feel that way. I wasn’t used to being so out of my element, but everything with her had seemed to put me on a different path than I would have expected.
I was invited into the dining room, where I met more of Nicola’s family. There was a mess of them, and I knew that I was never going to remember all of their names. When I looked around after a few minutes, I couldn’t see Nicola anywhere. She had left me in the midst of them.
Chapter 3 - Nicola
“I didn’t know you were bringing a guest, Nicola.”
I knew when I had been pulled into the kitchen it was going to have nothing to do with cooking. I was there because Karen and my mom wanted answers. Naturally they wanted to know who the handsome man that I had brought along was and more importantly, why was he there.
“I didn’t know that you were going to invite Jamie. After the train wreck scene that happened a few days ago, why would you ask him to come here?”
I felt a more than a little betrayed. It was somehow worse than when she had tried to get him to propose. This was our family dinner, and he was no longer part of our family. I didn’t want him there, and I knew I would never have invited Jerold if I’d known he would be. The awkwardness was clear when Jerold had asked about Jamie. I’d almost lied to him, but something made me just tell the truth. Now I wondered again if the truth was what was needed at this moment.
“I thought that you and Jamie needed another chance. I know that it probably wasn’t the best idea to spring it on you like that, but I also know that the two of you are supposed to be
together, Nicola.”
There were many things about him that I hadn’t told my family. They had liked him more than me on occasion, and the two women looking at me now were the worst. So many times, his sins had been on the tip of my tongue, but I hadn’t ever been able to say anything out loud. To say out loud what he’d done to me when we were together.
“I do not want to get back with Jamie. There was a lot more going on than you two know. I wouldn’t be behind him if I were you, mom. He is not what he seems, and I will never get back with him. I would rather be single forever.”
I knew that mom didn’t like what I was saying. I think a part of her worried that I might actually mean what I said. I could see her worry going up a notch at the very idea of me being an old maid one day. I didn’t see it that way. I refused to.
“Now, honey, every couple has fights. I have been talking to Jamie off and on since you broke up. He misses you, and every time I talk to him, he always asks how you are doing first.”
“That’s just his guilt talking. It has nothing to do with him feeling one way or another. He makes you think that he is such a good man, but he’s not.”
She didn’t want to hear it, but the words were on my lips again, and this time I couldn’t stop them from coming out. Maybe I was just sick of hearing about how great of a boyfriend Jamie was.
“I think you’re being a bit dramatic. Your sister Karen had to go through her own trials with her husband. It is just the way of things sometimes.”
I looked to Karen and smiled. She didn’t like to be brought into the middle of it, but since she was already there, I figured I would elicit her help.
“So if Alfred had sex with your best friend, how long do you think it would be before you forgave him, sis? Would you just say that it was okay and take him back with open arms?”