Her client at one time, Jude Fordham asked her out after a business meeting two years before. After she recovered from the shock of the offer made in a lovely British voice, she turned him down. It would be unethical for her to accept.
With a small incline of his head, he left and Megan rubbed her stomach to chase away the regret and the butterflies.
The next morning, Jude was no longer one of her clients.
She was given a similar account to manage while Jude’s company was switched to a co-worker. Sitting at her desk, she glanced up in the early afternoon to see him standing in the doorway of her office.
Six-one with salt-and-pepper hair, a thin goatee, and staring at her with intense eyes so dark she couldn’t tell if they were brown or black. He was probably ten years older and it wasn’t hard to see the life experience he wore as well as his Saville Row worsted wool suit.
“I’ve come to take you to lunch.”
It wasn’t a question and Megan’s immediate reaction wasn’t annoyance. Unusual for her when men used high-handed tactics. He glanced at his Breitling before he shot his cuffs.
“Your assistant said you skipped lunch and your schedule is clear until four. We should go.”
One blink, two, and Megan rose from her desk to collect her bag. It was as if a switch was thrown in the deepest, most intimate portion of her psyche. A part she’d hidden from everyone in her life…including herself.
Jude guided her to the limo parked in front of the building, his hand on her lower back the entire way. Two hours later, he escorted her back to her office in the same manner.
She was a different woman returning from the Megan who followed him out.
He fucked her, fed her, and then fucked her again. After the first satisfying sex of her entire life, Jude explained what they were going to be to one another. At the door of her office, he gave her a chaste kiss, told her he’d call her later, and left.
She sat stunned until her next client arrived. She faked her way through the meeting, rushed through her final appointment, met with her staff about projects for the following week, and headed home.
He showed up with a small overnight bag two hours later and her training began. They were married six weeks later.
* * *
When Jude’s late, she waits up. She hates falling asleep without him in the house, not seeing him before she closes her eyes. She feels better being able to touch him, to kiss him goodnight.
The people in her daytime world would call her weak and needy if they saw her waiting here this way.
In reality, she was submissive. It’s a term she learned from her husband during their first lunch together.
Afterward, she did enough research to understand he wasn’t trying to brainwash her.
Signs of her true sexuality were there all along.
Jude told her earlier that his merger meeting would run long. He instructed her not to wait up and said he’d kiss her when he got in.
She hadn’t listened.
Maybe it was her self-doubt that made her nervous sometimes. Always afraid Jude was going to realize he’d made a mistake bringing dull little Megan into his world, into his life.
Perhaps she simply needed a spanking so she slept better.
Whatever her reasons, she disobeyed a direct command. One obeyed Sir.
“Kitten.” The sound of Jude’s voice woke her slowly, then quickly as Megan realized she’d drifted to sleep on the staircase. “I told you to go to bed. Why are you half naked on the stairs? You must be freezing.”
“I missed you, Sir.”
“Come.” He bent and scooped her into a standing position, moving up the stairs and taking most of her groggy weight. “It isn’t good for you to sleep like that, Kitten. It’s cold and drafty this time of year. You’ll make yourself ill. I give you instructions to keep you safe.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“When you disobey me, Kitten, you put my wife, my favorite person, my favorite possession in the entire world at risk. That makes me unhappy.” They reached the master suite. “Undress fully. Kneel in the chair and wait for me.”
She moved quickly, stripping everything away. She climbed into the padded club chair on her knees and placed her hands on the seat back while he moved around the room.
“You haven’t been spanked in a week, Megan. Did you provoke me deliberately?”
She never lied to him. Not for any reason. “I don’t know, Sir. I know you’ve been busy with your merger. I’m sorry.”
He stroked his hand over her hair and squeezed her shoulder. Leaning, he whispered at her ear, “Never apologize for what you need. I’ve neglected you, Megan.”
Jude’s hand stroked down her back to cup her ass as he added, “Now you’ll have to be punished...and rewarded. You likely won’t be able to sit tomorrow.”
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled gently. “I don’t mind. I had nothing planned. I’m sorry I disobeyed, Sir.”
His fingers traced her cheek before cupping her jaw possessively. “My sweet, naughty Kitten.” A barely there brush of his firm lips over hers. “Are you wet?”
Megan nodded with a whispered affirmative.
“You’ll be more so once I’ve spanked your ass red. Face the back of the chair.”
She obeyed. Waiting, tense with a fraction of fear and too much excitement. He’d give her so many spanks that her cheeks would be tender for a full day. Then he’d take her there, driving her over the peak of pleasure until she was limp with exhaustion. Jude would care for her, clean her up, and wrap his body behind hers as they slept.
He valued her. He loved her.
Not one person in the rest of her life would understand.
One palm slid around to hold her abdomen, the other came down with a sharp crack on her ass cheek.
Instantly, tingles of sensation spread throughout her lower body. It stung but it wasn’t simply pain.
By the third spank, Megan panted softly.
By the seventh, she fought her moans of arousal.
By the tenth, she shook with the need for release.
Still Jude spanked her. From her ass to her bare mound. Time lost meaning. There was only the feel, the sound, of his hands on her.
Then he stilled, his hand resting on the bright red lips of her pussy above her clit.
Leaning in, he whispered in her ear, “Let go, Kitten. Right now.”
His hand flexed, grazing the tiny bundle of nerves and the hypersensitive skin that sent a ripple effect through her, shoving Megan forcefully into orgasm as he gathered her in his arms and walked to the bed.
He placed her upper body on the bed, her legs bent, and the cool sheets so nice on her overheated face. He crouched over her, fully dressed. His cock was large and she knew the head would be almost purple through the opening in his slacks. He wore a condom that glistened with lubricant.
The material of his clothing added another layer of sensation and she shuddered.
Jude notched himself against her ass and drove past the ring of muscle with the first thrust. She screamed into the linen beneath her face.
His hand moved under her, stroking her up again, mixing pleasure with the pain, and giving her time to adjust.
Two fingers inside her, pushing deep. Feeling how wet, how ready she was for him. “I’ve missed you. How desperate I’ve been to bury myself in every hot, delicious hole you offer me so lavishly, my beautiful wife.”
“Yes…” she murmured. “More.”
As her muscles relaxed around him, Jude began to move. “Good girl. So very good, Kitten.”
Good for him. Only for him
For the first man to make her body respond, to give her the freedom she never knew she needed, to accept her and take from her while giving more than she ever dared to dream.
Always for Sir.
Finding Jordan
Upstate New York - February 2014
There was a time when she was very young that she imagined being a concert pianist.
/> Life, and so many expectations, got in the way of that dream. She set it aside as a childish whim.
Then she met Albert and there was no time for childish things.
A business associate of her older brother’s, Albert was up and coming in the finance world and required quite specific things from the woman in his life.
All things she knew and understood.
After all, her mother sent her to a special comportment school to learn them. To be a pretty female on the arm of a powerful man.
To take away all the cares and worries of a wealthy man’s home life so he could focus on making more money, better connections, and collecting power.
When she’d taken the courses, she’d quietly snickered at the elitist snobbery that saturated the place.
“Who do these people think they are?” she’d ask herself. “Are table settings and calligraphy the only things they care about?”
Yes. All for the ulterior motive of living a luxurious life provided by a man as long as services were provided.
It was indeed all they cared about and now, fifteen years later, it appeared she was one of them.
The services expected in her marriage did not include sex. She was redundant in that department.
When she attempted to discuss Albert’s rampant infidelities with her brother, Robert laughed at her.
“You have all of this,” he’d gestured to the foyer of their mansion in Upstate New York, “and you complain about a little entertainment on the side?”
“He hasn’t been to this house in six months, Robbie. I live here alone unless I’m summoned to Manhattan to host a party or am given instructions to hold one here.”
“You’re greedy and ridiculous, Jordan. Grow up and do what’s expected of you.”
“I see. Thank you for coming, Robert. Have a safe drive back to the city.”
“I thought we were having lunch…”
“Get out, Robert. If you can’t see me as a human being and treat me as such, you can take a flying fucking leap. Outside my front door, if you please.”
“Jordan…”
“You do not understand. You will never understand. I pity you and Albert the inability to experience true emotional connections to people rather than your money and positions. Get out. We clearly have nothing left to talk about.”
He refused to leave and she closed herself in her office until he tired of banging on the door.
Hours later, she wandered the estate, walking the rooms she oversaw stocking for guests. She was on the third floor, in a wing of Albert’s family home she’d never bothered exploring, when she found the piano.
Suddenly, fifteen years of wasted breath lifted from her conscience. As she sat, she ran her fingers lightly over the keys. The music was there. Just as it had always been.
It was long past time to go.
* * *
Six months later…
Bartholomew flipped through the newspaper, increasingly frustrated. Then he happened upon a small ad on the second to the last page.
Piano player. Flexible hours accepted. Proficient in most forms from classical to rock. Non-smoker, non-drinker, drug, and drama free. Dependable. Looking to find where I fit.
There was something about the last line that grabbed him. He took out his cell phone and dialed the number.
An Overdue Meeting
Boxton, Oklahoma - April 2014
Aubrey was deep in budget planning for the company picnic when her assistant tapped on the door.
“Mrs. McAllister? Your ten o’clock is here.”
“Thank you, Gini. Please send her in.”
She stood as a woman she’d met rarely in public entered the room. Perfectly turned out, Victoria Donaldson gave her a withering glare that made her smile to herself.
Walking around her, she closed her door with a soft click and gestured to the seating area politely. The much older woman sat stiffly with her purse on her lap.
“Thank you so much for meeting with me. I’ve so looked forward to our little chat.”
Narrowing blue-green eyes that still looked sharp and youthful, she smoothed her silver hair and said snidely, “I’m very busy. What is this about?”
Sitting in the chair opposite, Aubrey inhaled and counted to ten. It was important to choose her words carefully. There could be no doubt about where things stood when this woman left her office.
“I wanted to talk to you about your obsessive attacks on the McAllister family for the last four decades.” Victoria started to interrupt. “Before you deny them, give me the consideration of not being an idiot.”
“You’re nothing but white trash wearing silk. I don’t have to listen to anything you have to say.”
“That’s true. You certainly don’t have to engage in an adult conversation.” With her elbow on her knee, she leaned forward slightly. “However, I promise that I will make it my personal mission to air every scrap of your dirty laundry if you don’t.” She let a slow smile appear on her face. “I know more than you would ever like known.”
“How dare you…”
“How dare you, Victoria? I’ve never seen such hypocritical behavior in my life. It seems your inability to feel shame was passed on to your daughter.”
Eyes wide, the older woman stilled. “What are you talking about?”
To the public, Victoria was known to have two useless, ignorant male children who took after their overbearing father. Aubrey had friends all over the world and a single call to one led to another that changed everything where this woman was concerned.
A man who didn’t even have a real name couriered a thick file on Victoria to her office the month before and she’d taken her time sorting through the information to find the best way to communicate.
“When you were fourteen, your mother sent you for a visit over the summer to New York City. Your aunt hadn’t seen you in years and was happy to have you.” Sitting back, Aubrey folded her hands in her lap. “Until your time there resulted in a scandal of epic proportions with a young man who lived next door.”
Victoria gripped her purse with white-knuckled hands but didn’t speak.
“The daughter who came from that scandal was left with the father’s family and you returned here. As far as I can tell, no one was the wiser for your little…misstep.” She let the silence draw out. “You named her after you. From what I’ve learned, she’s the apple from your tree in many ways.”
“What do you want?”
“More than forty years has passed since you lost Phillip McAllister to Octavia. He had no idea about your past. He simply fell in love with another woman who suited his life and his future. You married, had children, cheat on your husband constantly, and still cannot let go of the wound to your female pride.” Folding her hands calmly in her lap, she said firmly, “It’s time for you to let it go.”
They stared at one another over the short distance for more than a minute.
“Who else have you told?” The words were deadly quiet.
Aubrey knew people and there was no doubt in her mind that this person was mentally unbalanced. Given the right set of circumstances, she could be violent. She’d taken precautions.
“Naturally, the man who sent me the information knows about my inquiry and your…situation.” She held the other woman’s gaze. “The physical result of his research is in Octavia’s safe. The digital copies I made are on my computer as well as the corporate system. They are locked with my personal password but clearly labeled with your name.”
“You little…”
“Victoria.” Standing, Aubrey put her hands on her hips. “You have spent your adult life trying to get back at Phillip and Octavia, as well as their sons, for something you took as a direct attack. Meanwhile, your own actions were and continue to be far more horrible.” She walked to her door and held it open. “It’s time to stop or I will personally see that your life here changes dramatically.”
With a warm smile, she added a bit louder, “Thanks so much for
stopping by. It was lovely to see you.”
Victoria stood and walked to the door. She paused and stared at Aubrey for a long moment. “I didn’t think you had it in you. I’ve clearly underestimated you.” With a nod, she murmured, “It won’t happen again. Good day.”
Watching the woman cross the floor to the elevators, she saw Elliot walk out of his office in shock. When the elevator doors closed behind her, he practically stormed to her side.
“What happened? Why was she here?” He held her shoulders and looked her up and down. She wondered if he worried that she’d physically scrapped with the bitter old woman. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
After a curt nod, he kissed her stupid. “Why was she here?”
“We needed to come to an understanding.”
“Did you?”
“Perhaps. However, we might need to up security for a little while.” His eyes went wide and she rushed on. “The good news is that her focus is probably firmly off your parents.”
“Now it’s on you, isn’t it?” His hands tightened on her. “You changed her focus to you.”
Sighing, she kissed his chin and went to grab her phone and her purse. “Take me to an early lunch. I’ll tell you all about it.”
Blinking, he called back to Gini, “Mrs. McAllister is leaving for the day. Let my assistant know, would you?” The young woman nodded with a blush. “The two of you can cut out whenever you lock things down. Get a jump on the weekend.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Elliot wrapped his arm around Aubrey’s waist and practically carried her to the elevator. When they were in complete privacy, he growled, “I will strangle that shrew myself before I let her put you in danger.” She gave him a gentle smile. “I’m going to feed you and then I’m taking you home to fuck some sense into you.”
It made her laugh. “That never happens. I always end up barely coherent.”
“Excellent. Your brain needs a break anyway.”
By the time they were settled in his car, she could see the tension riding him hard. “Elliot?” He turned to look at her. “We have leftovers in the fridge. I’d rather you fuck me first.”
The Barter System Companion: Volume One Page 24