Starting Over

by Erin Cristofoli

  It was another few moments before Kate was able to get the zipper down. I was impressed.

  “All right, Kate. Sit up for a moment and take a sip of your drink.” I helped her up, and when she was done, I pulled her across my lap. “Punishment time. You have disobeyed me, and it’s time you learned who is really in charge here. Who is in charge, Kate?”

  “You are, Sir,” she said shakily.

  I pulled her thong down below her ass. “Open your legs a little. You have no further need of this.”

  The thong quickly joined the rest of her clothes. Now, she was completely exposed, and the best part was that two people had come over to watch our interaction.

  I smacked her hard the first time; she yelped and I held her still. “You will receive eight smacks for your disobedience. Look, Kate, people are watching me spank you. How does that make you feel?”

  She looked up to the curtain then quickly looked back down to the floor.

  “Answer me.”

  “Uh, I don’t know. I feel uncomfortable. I’ve never been naked like this before.”

  I smacked her again and again. In between smacks five and six, I ran my finger up her thigh to her pussy lips, finding her sopping. “You like this, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she quickly answered.

  When I was done, I helped Kate back to the table. “Take my cock out and suck it for a while. I need to have your mouth on me.”

  She didn’t need any coaxing for that, but what she didn’t seem aware of was that she was completely exposing herself for the larger group that had formed. As she slid my cock in her mouth, I groaned loudly. “God, you have a sweet mouth.”

  She wrapped her fingers around me and began to stroke. I was in heaven. Being out in the open as we were, I decided I wanted to further our show a little more still.

  “Enough, Kate. I want you to kneel with your back to me, your hands behind you.” I pulled two small lengths of rope from my pocket. Tying one wrist to one ankle, I decided I liked her like this. As I ran my hands up her arms to her shoulders and rubbed them, I leaned forward and reached around her to caress her hardened nipples, causing her to groan loudly. I leaned closer to her still, my exposed member pushing up against her hands and feet.

  “Do you see how many people are watching you? I know you like it.” I nibbled a path along her shoulder and up to her earlobe, grazing it with my teeth. She moaned and threw her head back. “Open your legs. Show them how wet you are. I want to feel it.”

  I ran my finger slowly up her thigh to her sweet spot, and she was literally dripping. I had to have her, but no, not yet. She opened her legs further, as much as she could while being tied up. Pressing my thumb against her clit, I began rubbing in slow, small circles. She twitched and moaned again. I slid two fingers into her waiting pussy, and she was just so hot I almost lost it and plunged into her right there.

  While I worked her up into a frenzy, the crowd was incredibly receptive. One couple stood there as the man plunged his fingers into his woman, who was standing in front of him. Another man, a few feet over, was standing while his male partner sucked his cock.

  I worked Kate harder, faster. Her moans of ecstasy grew louder, and I could feel her tightening around my fingers. With my other hand, I tugged on one of her nipples while I bit not so gently into her shoulder. Kate came hard around my fingers, crying out and slumping against me.

  I quickly cut the ropes and pulled her up against my chest, wrapping my arms around her. Now, I had the unbelievable urge to get her into a private room and fuck her senseless. I stood and placed Kate’s clothes in her lap before scooping her up into my arms, making a beeline for the elevators.

  When it arrived, I placed Kate back on her feet. We had the elevator to ourselves, but even if we didn’t, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have mattered to me. I pushed her up against the elevator wall and dove toward her mouth. Kate made short work of my shirt, my pants hanging barely onto my waist. My tongue flicked against hers, and she moaned into my mouth while I lifted one of her legs up and around my waist. I plunged my cock up and into her. There’s no sweeter a feeling I had ever felt. The elevator dinged its arrival to our floor, but I really didn’t want to be out of her for even a moment.

  “Fuck that,” I mumbled to myself. “Arms around my neck, Kate.” She quickly complied, and I lifted her other leg up around my waist. I turned and made my way down the hall to a free room. Leaning her up against the door, I quickly changed the sign to red, slammed the door behind us, and launched us both on the bed. We were all hands and mouths, our clothes quickly strewn across the floor, unrestrained passion between us raging. I raised her ankles up to my shoulders and pounded into her. She was panting loudly, and I could feel her insides tensing, the feeling being matched in myself. Harder. Faster. I was going to explode. She cried out suddenly, her body pulsing around me. Far too quickly, that sent me over the edge along with her. I collapsed on top of her, groaning. Fuck, that was amazing.

  I watched Kate as she slept for ages and realized I liked it. I was pretty sure Kate was more of a long-term relationship kind of girl; the only problem was that I had decided a long time ago that I was never going to go there again. Having my heart ripped out was something I couldn’t forget, and I didn’t know how to move on from that. Who was I kidding? I was scared shitless. I needed to talk to someone. Like now. I unwrapped myself from Kate and made my way over to my clothes to find my phone, sending a quick text to Liam to see if he was around.

  Glancing back at Kate, I knew I would have to wake her soon, but she looked too peaceful. I went to the small adjoining washroom and closed the door. As I removed my mask and threw some water on my face, I silently begged for Liam to get back to me.

  My phone dinged as if he had heard me. Of course, he replied that he was busy, but lunch tomorrow would work. Well, it would have to do. Until then, an uneasy feeling had settled over me. What the hell was I going to do?

  I sat waiting for Liam. I detested tardiness, and Liam was notoriously late, but because I needed a voice of reason to shake this feeling I had deep in my stomach, I kept my mouth shut when Liam finally slid into the seat across from me.

  “All right, what the hell is up with you that has you burning up my phone?” Liam asked, not wasting any time. I appreciated that.

  “I don’t know what the hell is going on with me. I feel like I’m going nuts.” I rubbed my hands over my face.

  He chuckled. “Wow, whatever this is, it’s going to be good. I’ve never seen you like this before. Spill it.”

  “Fuck, I don’t know.” I took a deep breath. “You remember when you forced me to go to that club? Yeah, well, I met someone there. Don’t give me that look. It was purely physical. However, we were rudely interrupted, so I invited her to the club. And before you say it, I know-- very unlike me. But you should see this woman. I had to finish what we started. Wait,” I told him, holding up my hand when he opened his mouth to interrupt. “Before you start in on me, man, there’s more. You know how I was getting a new assistant at work? Yeah, well, in walks the girl from the club. I recognized her from a tattoo on the back of her neck. And can I just tell you she is fucking sexy as hell?”

  Liam laughed at my pained expression. “Dude, you have it bad for this one! She has to be something special to make you change your tune about relationships.”

  My eyes bugged out; I could feel them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t say anything about a relationship.” Liam rolled his eyes at me, but I continued. “Okay, I admit, I have thought about it, but I was enjoying the single life, man. No pressure. No emotion. Just awesome sex, the way I want it, and that’s it.”

  “Was? You were enjoying it? Okay, let me ask you this-- did you take her to the club?”

  I nodded, unsure where he was going with this.

  “Did you fuck her and then drop her, like every other woman you have been with over the last two years?”

  I sighed. There was no need for me to even answer him; he alr
eady knew. “No. Being with her was amazing, seriously mind blowing. I wanted to see her again so I asked her back.”

  Liam nodded, all knowing. God, Liam was getting annoying. “What about at work? Does she know that you are the guy behind the mask?”

  “No, and frankly, I’m afraid to tell her. I like her, Liam. I do. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s smart and I enjoy spending time with her. I don’t want to ruin our working relationship. Besides, we’re kind of becoming friends.”

  Liam laughed out loud. “Friends? You, Mr. I-Hate-All-Women?”

  “Yeah, yeah… Shut up will you? There’s more.”

  “Ooh, I can’t wait to hear this.”

  “She isn’t interested in me when I am me. She straight up told me so, but I don’t know why. She admitted her attraction to me, but was adamant. Maybe that’s why I have been continuing our meetings at the club. It’s the only time I can have her freely, and I like that.”

  “I know why you have been continuing this relationship with her. YOU LIKE HER. I don’t know what to say to get it through your thick skull. I will say one thing, though. Ben, you can’t go through life alone just because Roxanne was a disgusting waste of space. You got a shit deal with her, but do you want to really pass up someone like your assistant? Be honest with yourself. You like her, and you want to have her all to yourself. You want to be her boyfriend.”

  A deep growl escaped my lips. “I don’t want a girlfriend, and we are NOT in a relationship.”

  “Oh yeah?” he challenged me.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, then answer me this, Batman. How many other women have you fucked at the club since you met and brought your girl there?”

  “None.”

  Silence spread between us. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. Liam was right; I really hated to admit that, but it was true. I didn’t want to want her, but I couldn’t seem to stay away from her. I would take Kate any way I could have her. In the office, and as my friend, she was smart, funny, and amazing to be around. At the club, she actually kept up with me and submitted to me almost completely. In any circumstance, she was the sexiest woman I had ever met.

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea.” I let out a deep sigh. What the hell was I going to do now? Tell her? Continue the secret? My head started to spin. I did know that I very badly wanted to get back to work so I could see her.

  “Whipped.”

  I blinked out of my thoughts to look at my friend, who was studying me from across the table. “What?” I asked.

  “You heard me. You’re whipped. You were thinking about ditching lunch with me to get back to the office to see her, weren’t you?”

  I nodded, exasperated.

  “You’re also a douche bag. Don’t even think about leaving. You owe me lunch in return for all my infinite wisdom.” Liam grinned ear to ear at me.

  “Shut the fuck up, asshole, and order so I can get back to work.”

  “Work? Is that what the kiddies call it now?”

  It had been two weeks since the most mind-blowing experience at the club. I’d only had one text since them from ‘Sir’, simply stating that he would be away for a short time and would text when he returned. My thoughts shifted, pondering what he did for a living. It was better to not even go there, which led me to also wonder why he didn’t want to get personal.

  Even with all that, it’s not like my life was lacking. Oh, no, Ben and I spent practically every day together in one form or another. He had proven that he was a great boss, and he was truly becoming a great friend.

  I had spent the day at work, alone for a change. After receiving an email from Ben upon my arrival, saying that he had been up all night dealing with an international client and had decided to stay home to work, I plowed through the mountain of work piled on my desk, skipping lunch in the process. Most workday lunches were spent with Ben, so without him around, the clock showed six pm by time I came up for air.

  Thirty minutes later, I decided to pack it in for the evening. I was considering hitting the gym when my desk phone rang. Who would be calling after work hours?

  “Good evening, Mr. Hyde’s office.”

  “Hmm, I like how that sounds. It’s pretty hot.”

  Huh? “Uh, thank you?” There was loud laughter on the other end of the line, and it clicked with me then that it was Ben. “Oh, hello, Sir, how are you this evening?”

  “I’m doing pretty well. Been working my ass off. How was your day?”

  I smiled. “You know how it is. When the cat’s away, the mouse will play.”

  He chuckled. “Oh really? How so?”

  I rolled my eyes at him and answered, “I lounged in your overly spacious office with my feet up on your desk, reading romance novels and charging tons of takeout to your account.”

  “Hmm, it sounds like you had a great day then, and I like my overly spacious office.”

  “I bet you do. I was actually just finishing up with one more file before calling it quits for the evening. Do you need something before I go?”

  Ben cleared his throat. “Um, actually, I have a huge favor to ask you. Did you have plans for the rest of the evening?”

  “I was considering going to the gym that was so generously forced upon me by my boss, but I can totally skip that if you like. What do you need?

  “I was really hoping that you would be willing to grab some files for me from my desk, and bring them and yourself in that wonderful car that waits for you downstairs to my place. I secured the deal with the client from last night, or this morning depending on how you look at it. A fresh set of eyes and your amazing organizational skills would be really helpful. But I don’t want to monopolize your entire life, so if you would rather not, I could come in myself.”

  “No, no, I was talking myself out of going to the gym, actually, before you rang. What shall I bring you?”

  Ben listed the items he required and I eventually located them; his desk was horrendous! How did such a brilliant businessman function with a desk like that? I couldn’t just leave it like that, so I tidied up just a little. Okay, who was I trying to kid? I tidied up a lot. When the desk looked again like one could work at it, I bundled up and headed down to the waiting car.

  As I rode along, I don’t know what came over me, but I began to feel nervous. How silly a reaction to have, when it would be just another work session with my boss. Except, I knew deep down that it wasn’t. I had been curious for a while about what his apartment looked like. I was interested in seeing where he called home, what his personal tastes were like.

  The trip to Ben’s was extremely short. I knew he lived close, but as it turned out, he lived on the same street as me, about half way between my place and the office. I made my way into the lobby, which made my building look like a rundown shoebox. Marble and rich wood covered the space, and a large wall fountain awed me. The concierge sitting at the front desk signed me in and kindly called the elevator for me.

  As I approached Ben’s door, it opened before me, which was a good thing with all the files I was carrying. I looked up, and there stood Ben, wearing a tight dark blue tank top stretched over his amazing muscles, and plaid lounge pants. Oh my God. In an instant, I was no longer sure that coming here was a good idea.

  There Kate stood in my doorway, looking unbelievable, even after a long day at work. Delicious. I had to force those ideas out of my head, or I knew she would probably leave, removing any chance I had to spend time with her.

  I invited her in and immediately relieved her of the files, tossing them on the large coffee table in the living room. Kate followed behind me after taking off her heels, leaving her barefoot. I definitely liked that.

  “Have a seat, Kate. Make yourself at home.”

  She stood in the doorway that opened up into the large open-concept room. From where she stood, she could see the sunken living room, the dining room, and a good portion of the kitchen. Off to her left were the b
edrooms, my office, and a bathroom.

  “Wow, Ben, this place is amazing. Really amazing.”

  I smiled widely at her. “Thank you. Come sit and relax. Would you like a drink?”

  Kate nodded at me. “Sure, whatever you’re having.”

  I moved to the kitchen to pour some wine, and she followed me to one of the bar stools at the counter. She looked down, noticed the beginnings of dinner, and moved to stand.

  “Oh, I didn’t realize you were busy. Looks like you’re cooking a feast. I don’t want to interrupt when your company arrives. I’ll just get going.”

  “Hold it, Kate. Sit back down. You have the wrong idea. I was in the middle of making dinner, but I’m not expecting anyone else. I thought maybe I could bribe you with some great food in exchange for your help with my work this evening. A bit of food bribery never hurt anyone, right?” I smiled brightly at her, hoping that she would agree.

  We gazed at each other for a few moments before she said, “Great food, huh? I was unaware that you could cook. Um, you don’t have to do that just to get me to help with work, though. I would do that anyway.”

  “Yes, but I’m hungry, and I am sure you must be hungry, so why not?”

  She nodded in agreement. “Can I help?”

  “Yup, you can sit back down on that stool, take this glass of wine, and watch me work. Keep me company for a while.”

  I savored the thirty minutes it took me to prepare our meal. We chatted about our favorite movies, hers being old classics and mine being war flicks. I enjoyed watching her explain why each film was better than the last; she came alive and was animated, and I couldn’t help but be drawn into each word she spoke.

  When dinner was ready, I took the two large plates and led her to my dining table, pulling out her chair so she could sit. I set the plate down in front of her. “Madam, I give you balsamic glazed chicken and a mushroom risotto.”