by Juniper Bell
Little gray dots appeared first, then rust-red droplets that slowly formed themselves into fabric, which then built itself into a couch. Right, I remembered. The suite with the fabulous furniture and the wonderfully kind Woodfield Group. Simon and I had followed them up here, and I’d dozed off while reading a magazine. I smiled at the pure joy of being in the same room with those handsome men from that glamorous bar. Happiness shimmered through me.
Things in the room were not quite how I remembered, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that I was alive and here with these beautiful people. They’d gathered around the living room. One sat with his ankle over his knee, a notepad on his thigh. Another rested his stocking feet on the coffee table. The other two hunched over, elbows on knees, staring at me.
“I think she’s awake,” said one.
The man in charge looked up. “Ms. Arthur? Are you with us?”
“Mmmm.” The sound vibrated across my lips and created a pleasant hum that traveled like honey through my body. I was highly aroused. With one part of my mind, I knew they must have given me something. The rest of me didn’t care what had caused this high. “Simon?”
“He’s taking a snooze. I think we wore him out today.” I followed his glance. Simon sprawled face down on the bed. A flutter of concern made me frown. “Don’t worry about him. He’s fine.”
Immediately my smile reappeared. Maybe I was in a dream. Everything looked hazy. Light pulsed around the men. I’d thought they were cute before, but now they looked positively angelic. I hadn’t bothered to distinguish one from another, but now I did. One man looked Asian, another had gorgeous soulful chocolaty eyes, and a third had hair that was just starting to turn gray around the edges.
“We’ve heard rumors about Cowell and Dirk,” said the leader, a devastatingly handsome man with piercing black eyes and lots of dark stubble. You know how sometimes you see photos of suspected terrorists and think, if he weren’t a brutal killer, if he shaved a bit more and lost the red checkered bandanna, he’d be kind of hot… Okay, maybe it’s just me, but this guy was that kind of sexy. Bad boy, time bomb, powder keg, potential terrorist sexy. “We decided to find out for ourselves.”
“Rumors?” The word rolled off my tongue like notes in a song.
“We hear they have some unconventional uses for their support staff.”
A couple of the men snickered. “Support staff,” echoed one.
I agreed that it was utterly hilarious, and lost myself in a laughing fit. The leader of the pack waited me out, then finally said, “That’s enough,” in a way that made me swallow my last giggle without question.
“Just what do you do for Simon and Ethan?” One of the younger men spoke.
“A receptionist answers phones and greets clients. She represents the company to visitors. She takes on other duties as required by her employers.” I sounded like a training manual.
“It’s those other duties I’m curious about,” asked the leader. “Are you usually clothed when you perform them?”
I wanted to tell him it was none of his business, but that’s not what came out of my mouth. “I wear whatever they want me to wear.”
Electricity seared around the room. I found myself the sole focus of their undivided attention. “What might they want you to wear?”
What was this, an interrogation? My happiness began to fray at the edges. I spotted my margarita on the coffee table and leaned forward to pick it up. I took a long sip then sat back with a sigh. Much better. I gathered my high around me like a baby’s blankie. But I couldn’t remember the question. “What?” I frowned at my questioner, except it came out more as a beaming grin.
“What do they want you to wear?”
“Oh, lingerie they pick out. Corsets, vinyl teddies, beaded underwear, lots of lacy stuff that doesn’t hide anything. You know.”
“Yes, we do.” All the men nodded. “We like those things too.”
I smiled at the common ground we’d found.
“Are you wearing anything like that now?”
“Oh no. I’m not wearing any underwear right now.”
Another charge ramped up the excitement in the room. One man ran his finger under his collar to loosen his tie. Another leaned even further forward and adjusted his glasses.
“Would you like to show us? Take down your dress, open your legs?”
I pondered. Did I want to? I kind of did. The men were watching me with such eagerness and the hum inside me made me itch. Besides, the room was hot. Fewer clothes would be much more comfortable. Then I remembered something.
“Simon’s supposed to be present. That’s the rule.”
“That’s the rule, is it?” The time bomb guy smiled tightly. “Well, Simon is present.”
I glanced over at his unconscious body. I couldn’t deny the man’s logic. Simon was indeed present, although less than fully functional. I had a vague feeling that this could be trouble, but the thought wasn’t strong enough to stick around.
My sundress had two shoulder straps that buttoned at the edge of the bodice. I unbuttoned one strap, then the other, then drew the bodice away from my breasts. A breath of release swept across the room. They must have been waiting to see if I’d obey. I felt the weight of four pairs of lust-filled eyes on my nipples. They puckered.
“Ahh,” said the feral-eyed leader. “I like how quickly you become aroused. I can see why they chose you. Would you like to pinch your nipples?”
Why did he have to phrase it that way? I couldn’t seem to tell a lie. And my nipples tingled and begged for a touch. I gave a little nod.
“Go ahead. Don’t forget, Simon’s right here.”
I brought a thumb and forefinger to each nipple and pinched. Hard little kernels of heat answered back. My eyes drifted shut as I lost myself in the delicious feeling. I rotated my nipples, finding the exact amount of pressure to send a wake-up call to my pussy. I squirmed against the nubby fabric of the couch.
“Are you uncomfortable? Would you like to take that off?” His genuine concern touched me.
“I’m fine,” I said, dropping my hands to my sides. My nipples throbbed against the hot air of the room.
“May we cool you off? Luke, take her an ice cube. Rub it all over her nipples.”
One of the younger guys, the one with the soulful eyes, jumped to his feet. He grabbed an ice bucket and sat next to me. I smiled at him as he reached in for a handful of ice. He was super-cute, really, with a sandy cowlick and dimples. Then I forgot to care about his face as an icy jolt made my body arch. He swirled the ice over my hot nipples until I moaned for him to stop.
As soon as I did, he stopped.
“You see, that’s how this works,” said the leader. “You tell us to do something, we do it. You tell us to stop, we stop. We wouldn’t want to get on Cowell’s bad side, for God’s sake.”
“Ethan’s not the boss of me,” I mumbled through clenched teeth. “I already quit.”
“Would you like to come work for us? Whatever you were making there, we’ll double it.”
“Wow, really?”
“Well, there are four of us, after all. You should be compensated accordingly.”
It made perfect sense. But… “I love Simon and Ethan.”
“You love them?”
“Well, I love Simon. And Ethan, well, I kind of love him too. Yeah.” I couldn’t lie, damn it. “I love them both.”
“Interesting. But you said you’d quit. Would you like to show us your pussy? Even if you won’t come work for us, we’d love to see it.”
I shrugged. I didn’t mind, I found, as long as they knew where things stood with me, Simon and Ethan. I widened my legs.
After a jerk of the head from the leader, Luke bent next to me and drew the sundress up to expose my lower half.
“Would you like to touch yourself?”
Would I? My sex ached for contact. I reached my hand down among my folds and fingered my clit. The prickling scent of my arousal filled the air. I stro
ked myself and my hand became drenched. Someone groaned, and a zipper lowered. The more I rubbed, the higher my fever grew, until I was rotating my hips against my hand in greedy circles.
But of course, after being spoiled by the attentions of Simon and Ethan, my own hand couldn’t possibly compare. No matter how much I rubbed and pressed, I hungered for something more. The stimulation of all those male eyes helped, no doubt. But not enough.
I remembered what the man had said. If you tell us to do something, we’ll do it. Four able-bodied men surrounded me. Able, willing and eager to perform. But could I really ask such a thing? Did I really want that? The whole room seemed to be willing me to invite the men into my body. I hesitated.
The leader helped me out. “Would you like to get rid of that lovely but irritating dress?”
“Yes, please.”
Gratefully, I raised my arms so Luke could help me out of it. As soon as it was gone, I felt a little embarrassed. None of them were naked, although one of the men had undone his zipper and was fondling himself.
Luke picked up my margarita and offered me another sip. I sucked it down. Relaxed once again, I rose to my feet and began to dance around the small area surrounded by couches and armchairs. I felt miraculously free and happy. I spread my arms apart and laughed up at the ceiling. Hands reached out to touch me, but I kept skipping away. I heard a grunt of frustration, but laughed it off. Undulating my nude body, I tantalized them.
The atmosphere in the room tightened into something darker. When the leader spoke next his voice had a new edge to it.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you stretched out on that table over there so we could really enjoy your body? We could lick you all over, all four of us, from your cunt to your fingertips and everywhere in between.”
I twirled away from a grasping hand. “I don’t feel like lying down.”
“Maybe you’d like to kneel down on all fours, in that case? Wouldn’t you like to scamper around like a kitty cat? I might be able to locate a leash.”
“You’re so sweet. I don’t think so.” All I wanted to do was dance. I loved the hot look in the men’s eyes, the way they hungered for me and couldn’t look away. I ran my hands over my breasts and caught my nipples between my fingers. The thrill made me gasp.
“That’s it.” A harsh voice made me stumble. I could barely believe it was the same man who’d spoken so soothingly before. “You clearly don’t know what’s best for you.” The leader stood up and whipped off his belt. He snapped it through the air so it made a whistling sound. “Enough games. Stand still.”
I froze. I stared at the belt dangling from his hand. In my heightened state of awareness, I could practically feel its sting on my skin. Ethan and Simon never used leather belts or things like that. Occasionally they might spank or use a paddle, but nothing that might cause too much pain.
“Turn around and bend over.” Panic flooded me. I looked at the other men. No help there. Their faces looked thick with lust. Another air-lash of the belt made me jump. Trembling, I turned my back to the man. “Put your hands on the floor and spread your legs wide.”
I couldn’t do it. It was too humiliating. Ethan and Simon had never asked anything like this from me, to expose myself in such a shameful way. My knees threatened to collapse.
The belt swished right next to me. “Do it.”
I didn’t budge, even though I shook with terror.
“Do you want me to tie you up and whip you? We’ve got four belts here. One for your hands, one for each leg, one to whip you with. We could put you in that doorway over there.”
I shook my head violently.
“Then bend over and I’ll give you a choice. You can choose which man will have you first, and where. Pussy? Ass? Mouth? Your choice.”
I shuddered, but nothing could make me do what he said.
“All right, then.” The belt whistled through the air and I cringed, bracing for vicious pain. But the sound turned out to be something entirely different. A startled shout followed it. I peered over my shoulder just in time to see a man’s belt catch the leader on his ass.
“What the fuck?” the man shouted.
An ice cold voice whipped back at him. “Get the hell away from her.”
Ethan.
Chapter Eight
I collapsed onto the carpet. No matter how mad I was at Ethan, no matter what a twisted bastard he was, the man had good timing.
Not that I could really see him. I only caught glimpses as he went after the Woodfield Group like a tornado out for revenge. A punch here, a whirling kick there, a few lashes with the belt, and suddenly he was lifting me up in his arms. No longer icy, his blue eyes burned like the heart of a flame. “Are you okay?”
I clung to him. I wanted nothing more than to disappear into his arms. “I should have known not to drink that margarita. I’m a vodka tonic girl.”
His chest rumbled with a chuckle. I peered around his arm at the wreckage of the room. The four men lay sprawled every which way, groaning and moaning. The leader’s pants had been ripped at the seat by the force of Ethan’s lashing. But the man shot Ethan a feral frown.
“It’s safe to say our firm will be going in a different direction.”
“Yep. You’re going straight to hell. How dare you give her drugs?”
“It’s probably nothing new for her.”
Ethan held me tight with one arm and reached back to slug the slimy snake with the other. The man went crashing to the floor. Now that my high had worn off, the men were nowhere near as hot as I’d thought. Typical cocky dudes in business suits. I loved watching Ethan whale on them like that.
He snagged my sundress off the couch and handed it to me. I pulled it over my head. The silky folds enveloped me along with a feeling of sadness. Before, the dress had made me feel precious and treasured. Now I was damaged goods.
I told myself they hadn’t actually done anything. Ethan had rescued me before any of them touched me. I shivered as I buttoned my straps. It didn’t matter if it hadn’t gone that far. I still felt dirty and violated.
“Dana, anything you’d like to add?”
“Nope. Well, this.” I walked over to the leader, who sat on the floor rubbing his jaw, and spat on him.
“Be extra careful in certain neighborhoods,” I told him. “I know people.”
“I’ll extend that threat to cover the whole Eastern seaboard.” Ethan’s eyes glittered dangerously. “And the people I know tend to leave a lot of dead bodies behind.”
No one in the room doubted him. He ran his eyes over the pathetic heaps of so-called manhood that littered the room. “Just for the record, I’m very proud of my receptionist and firmly believe that not one of you is fit to lick her boots.”
Someone muttered something nasty, out of which I only caught the word pussy, and that was enough for Ethan to inflict a vicious kick to the man’s thigh. I started to feel guilty about how much I was enjoying the revenge part of the evening, so I tugged on his sleeve. “Let’s just go.”
“One moment.”
The leader went into full fetal position as Ethan strode to his side and stood over him like an avenging angel. I turned my eyes away as he delivered a punishing blow to the man’s back. Kidney? Spleen? Some internal organ would be feeling the hurt. “That’s for knocking out my partner Simon. No doubt he’ll be wanting his own revenge, but I thought I’d give you a sneak preview.”
Dusting his hands with a satisfied smile, he beckoned to me. The two of us went to Simon, who still hadn’t shown any signs of life. Ethan draped one of Simon’s arms over his shoulder, and gestured to me to do the same. I tried, but the leftover wooziness from the drugs made me too weak. So Ethan hefted him onto his shoulder and maneuvered him out of the room, banging against the door on the way out. I followed close behind, afraid to be more than a few inches from Ethan.
When we were safely in the carpeted hallway, Ethan put Simon down and gave him a sharp slap on the face. The impact jarred Simon awake. He mumbled
and his eyes opened a sliver. Another slap brought him wide awake. He hauled his arm back to punch Ethan, but I grabbed it.
“We don’t have time for this, Simon. We have to get out of here.”
“Where are we?”
“We’re in a James Bond movie running from the bad guys.” I poked him in the ribs. “And you slept through the whole thing.”
“What?”
“We’ll explain later,” said Ethan. “Now can you walk?”
“Of course I can walk.” He walked like a drunk, but I had to give him credit. He made it to the elevator without falling. Inside, he leaned against the corner and held onto the handrails. I huddled as close to Ethan as I could.
“Is my head in one piece, or has it exploded into shards of glass, the way it feels?”
“Everything’s in one piece. Including our Dana’s honor, no thanks to you.” I didn’t like Ethan’s jaunty tone, and I told him so with a look of death.
“Those assholes…” Simon groaned. “I didn’t even touch their fucking drinks. All I had was water. They must have drugged that.”
“Slimy bastards.”
“Dana, are you okay?” He reached out to me, then let his hand fall before it touched me.
“I’m fine. A little embarrassed.”
“Not as much as me,” he muttered.
“It wasn’t your fault.” I left the shelter of Ethan’s arm and snuggled against Simon’s chest. “They drugged us.”
The elevator dipped to the ground. Ethan put his arm around Simon’s shoulders to help him out, but Simon shrugged him off. “I don’t need your help.” In the lobby, he turned on Ethan.
“Maybe this is all your fault, come to think of it. Why’d you send me on that trip?”
“We couldn’t both go.”
“Why’d you let Dana come after me?”
“She’s a grown woman, Simon. I didn’t know where she’d gone until after I’d checked all the logical places. Then I realized I must have pissed her enough to send her running after you.”