by Jamie Knight
He stands. Our bodies are very close together, almost touching.
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh, you’d enjoy it. Trust me.” He really is so full of himself. Just assuming he could satisfy me… He probably could, but that’s beside the point. “And why not get paid for something you’d enjoy. It’s a win, win.”
I don’t know what else to say. I feel frozen to this spot. There are so many reasons why this isn’t a good idea, but Daniel’s right. It would feel good. I want him to make me feel that good. I want him to take my virginity.
“So, what you’re saying,” he starts. While talking, he looks down into my eyes. I never realized how much taller he is than me. It’s more than a foot. He’s literally a mountain of a man. I look up into his golden-brown eyes. Everything else falls away, and I’m lost in him. “You’re telling me you wouldn’t like it if I were to do this?”
His fingers go underneath my chin, tilting my face towards his. His touch is so soft and gentle. I want to do something, anything. I should stop him, but I don’t want that. And I’m way too scared to touch him. I’m frightened I might push this thing past the point of no return.
Daniel’s face leans down to mine. I hold my breath, thinking if I breathe, it’ll break the spell, and I’ll wake up.
His lips reach mine. He doesn’t immediately press them into a kiss. Instead, he lightly rubs his lips on mine. His nose is also skimming my skin. It’s so… unexpected. I’ve spent all this time thinking Daniel Davies is a brute, but he’s surprised me an abundance of times during this meeting.
I can’t take this slow and steady shit he’s pulling. My body is aching to be closer to him. I grab Dan’s shirt, pulling him to me. Pushing my body up onto my tiptoes, I press my lips into his. I want every hard plane of his body flat against mine.
His tongue pries my lips open, forcing its way into my mouth. One of his hands grabs my ass cheek while the one on my chin travels further down, finding its way to my cleavage. Dan brings the hand on my ass to my thigh, pulling up the hem of my loose slacks. It inches it up further and further, getting closer to my dripping pussy. The throbs get stronger and more substantial, my entire body on the edge of ecstasy.
If I just let him have his way with me, gave him what he wants, I could taste bliss. I want to feel Dan on top of me, inside of me, consuming every last bit of my essence.
But it’s not possible. It would be the worst thing I could do — give into him. I’ve already spent so much time establishing myself as a woman on her own. I’m not going to let Daniel Davies waltz in and change who I am at my core.
I push him away, bringing my hand to my mouth, wiping away our kiss.
“I told you to leave,” I sputter. I can’t even bring myself to look at him.
“You want me to leave?”
“It’s what I said.” I don’t hear retreating footsteps, so I look up, and he’s still there. “Leave. Now.”
I need to stand firm. If I let this man push me around now, it’ll just set a bad precedent. I don’t need Daniel or his proposal. I don’t need anything from him.
“If it’s what you really want.”
“It is.” My voice is clear, but I’m lying. One hundred percent totally lying, but it’s for the best.
I watch as Dan goes, shutting the door behind his massively muscular frame. Once he’s gone, I let out an enormous sigh. My heart is pounding so hard, I think it’s going to jump out of my chest. I catch myself on my desk, running my hand through my hair.
What the fuck was that?
“What are you doing, Samuels?” I can’t believe I let him kiss me and touch me like that. I look at my disheveled clothes. They’re a mess. I bet my face does not look any better.
My body wants that man. It doesn’t matter what my head is saying, every fiber of my being is on fire, ignited by that bozo.
I’ll just go cold turkey. No contact, no masturbating while thinking about him. In fact, no thinking about him. Daniel Davies is out of sight and out of mind.
It’s for the best.
Chapter Thirteen - Gemma
I have thought about Daniel and his proposition every single second since he shut the door to my office. I told myself he was wiped from my mind, but that was a fucking lie. I literally can’t get him out of my imagination. I’m still reeling from the whole thing.
Dan kissed me! Right on the lips. And it felt better than anything I have ever experienced. His hands were all over me, touching my body. Oh, I could live off of that memory for the rest of my life, but I also clearly want more.
But I can’t have it. I can barely admit this whole thing is happening. I haven’t even told Poppy yet. Normally, she would have been the first call I made the second I got home. I was worried she was going to tell me to do it. Of course, she would. She’s been on the whole Daniel Davies train from the very beginning. I can’t believe she was right the whole time. I mean, she didn’t guess the whole ‘pet’ thing. Who could have?
What worries me more is Poppy being disgusted with the whole notion of a pet because, deep down, I am intrigued, and kind of want to take this crazy leap. If Poppy is against it, then there’s no way. I mean, there’s already no way.
Instead, when I got home, I showered and then fell onto my bed, trying to rationalize my way through it all. I didn’t manage that, so I’m still lost the next day.
I get to work and sit at my desk. I don’t know where to start. I sit there, staring at my screen until Angela arrives an hour later.
“Hey, Gemma.”
“Angela. Hi.”
She’s about to walk by me and head for the back office but stops short. “Are you okay? You seem different.” The girl looks me up and down like she is accessing my outfit.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You seem a little shell shocked. Did something happen?”
I must not be hiding it well. Angela rarely makes observations about me. That must mean I look like I’m going through hell. I can’t have anyone else knowing about this before I’m ready to deal with it myself. I shake my head, snapping myself out of my own fog.
“I’m fine. It’s just been a long week.”
“O-kay.” I feel like she doesn’t believe me, but Angela isn’t much of a pusher. “I’ll be in the back if you need me.” With that, she goes to her post to do what she usually does.
I need to get some actual work done. Fretting over Daniel is a waste of time, and I hate wasting time. Since I finished organizing and digitizing our filing system, I have to move on to another project.
I haven’t given our finances a thorough look lately. I did a cursory assessment when I took over. There was some money in the bank, and we had good cash flow at the beginning. I was able to do payroll, but then the business started to dwindle. I still didn’t do any of the bookkeeping. I guess I was preoccupied with seeing if I could get clients to stay. The financial books are something I should have gotten to a lot earlier, but now is as good a time as any.
I bury myself in work, distracting myself with numbers and calculations. Maybe I’ll find some money I missed, something to get us through these next few months. I can save this law firm on my own without Dan. I don’t need him or his weird contract or any of his money.
The minute I open the books, I see they are chaotic. My mom’s way of keeping track of things wasn’t that good. It’s just like when I was looking at the filing system. I guess those kinds of things weren’t her strong suit, but she persevered, so I’m going to do the same.
It looks like I’m going to have to balance these books myself.
I get started, drowning out all other inputs. There’s a lot to get through, but I don’t stop until I’ve reached the end. When I look up, the whole day has gone by. I don’t even think Angela is here anymore.
“Angela!”
I wait a few seconds to see if she’ll reply. She usually does if I call. I must have looked so weird to her, just sitting here, not responding to anything. I’m sure she sai
d goodbye, and I was on a whole other planet. But there was a good reason.
Finances are actually worse than I initially thought. Double S literally has no money. I mean, there’s some cash there, but in terms of running a business? An entire firm? It’s basically like we have nothing.
I’ve been telling myself that I can do this on my own. That I don’t need anyone to help me. That I definitely don’t need Dan to help me. But after doing these books, I know I’m fucked.
I don’t want to think about this anymore. All I’m going to do is get more and more depressed. Since the day’s over, I may as well clock out.
I grab my phone and call Poppy. “We’re going out. I need a drink.”
“Yeah, totally. Whatever you need. The usual spot?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you there.”
Hanging up, I turn off my computer. I’ve never felt so dejected after a day of work. It’s the first time since Mom passed that I’ve genuinely felt zero hope. There’s no way I can get Samuels & Samuels out of this hole. If we’re not closed by the end of the week, we’ll definitely have to close by the end of the month.
I get myself over to Sadie’s. Poppy is already there, margaritas ready. She waves excitedly. “I took the liberty of getting you a drink. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I sit down next to my friend and bring the drink she bought for me closer. I don’t want to start crying. I’d feel like a total fool crying in a bar. It happens a lot, bars seem to attract those kinds of feelings. I just don’t want to have it all out on display for everyone to see.
“Everything’s gone wrong, Poppy. The firm has no money. I’ll have to close it if I don’t want to bankrupt myself.”
She sighs, putting an arm around my shoulder. “I know you’ve been trying to avoid that, but maybe it’s for the best. I don’t want you killing yourself just to keep this firm open. Once you graduate, you’ll be able to get a job and maybe open another firm in the future. You could even name it the same thing.”
I’ve had this thought before. I could close up shop for now and reopen when my funds are better, but it still stings.
“There’s more, though.”
She gasps, clutching a hand to her chest. “Oh, no. Is it bad?”
“I don’t know,” I sigh. “It’s definitely weird…”
“What is it?” Poppy is suddenly very interested. I’m being vague, so of course, she’s getting curious. I just need to come out and say it.
“Last night, I called Daniel Davies over to talk about his proposition. I had an entire contract written up and was really excited. I was sure his partnership with double S would be able to get us through this.”
“So, he didn’t accept what you wanted?”
“It’s more complicated than that. What Daniel had in mind was totally outside the scope of my original thoughts. He wanted something sexual.”
She blinks at me. “Sexual?”
“Yeah. Apparently, it’s how he does all his relationships. He finds a woman who he thinks will be suitable for his… desires, and then they enter into a contract. Everything is laid out, but basically, he’s in charge. Completely. Whatever he wants, he gets. Whenever he wants it, he gets it. The upside for me would be he’d pay to keep the firm afloat.”
“He would —”
“Yep. Pay for whatever I need. We didn’t get into too many specifics. I was kind of stunned. It was just so unexpected. I couldn’t believe he wanted to do something like that with me.”
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think I’m some atrocious human being who no one will ever love, but the Dan Davies of the world usually pay me no mind. And now he wants to pay me to be in a relationship with him? It’s boggling my mind.
Her eyes still wide, Poppy nods slightly. “Did you say yes?”
“No! I was confused, and after he kissed me —”
“HE KISSED YOU?”
I almost jump out of my seat. I knew Poppy would be excited about specific developments, but her level of enthusiasm is unexpected.
“Poppy!” I whisper yell at her. I’m fine with her being happy or whatever, but I don’t need the whole bar knowing what’s going on in my personal life.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She’s quieted down and looks genuinely regretful. I’m not really mad at her. I just need someone to be the reasonable one. Daniel has got my head spinning. I just want it to stop. “So, he kissed you?”
“Yeah, he came over and did his whole suave, macho guy thing. I told him no, but I don’t know…” I trail off, biting my lip.
“Don’t stop. I need ALL the details, girl!”
“Well, I didn’t totally mean no. I wasn’t sure. It was so much information at once, and I was so surprised. I didn’t think Daniel Davies was going to offer like that to someone like me.”
He could have anyone he wanted. FOR FREE! And he wants to pay to keep my firm afloat, so I’ll sleep with him. I can’t wrap my head around it.
“Come on, Gemma. You’re gorgeous, smart, and funny. Any guy would be lucky to get a second glance from you. Of course, Dan would want to tap that. It would be his honor to tap that.”
I giggle because Poppy is being her usual Poppy self. Ridiculous. Everything she is saying is positively lovely, but I’m still not sure.
“I think I’ll just say no. It would be nice to save the firm, but I don’t think it’s for me.”
I’ve never done anything like being someone’s pet. I know I was daydreaming about Daniel taking my virginity a couple weeks ago, but having all of this in reality is freaking me out.
“Okay, look. If you really don’t want to do it, then that is that. But Gemma, this could be it! Dan is an older, experienced man. I’m sure sex with him would be the bomb. Like multiple orgasms. And it might be good to have someone else take charge for once. You’re so damn high strung. This could be a chance to relax, and girl, you need to relax.”
“Gee, thanks,” I say, but I know Poppy means well, and she kind of has a point. There is so much stress in my life. Doing this thing with Daniel could be a distraction. And it would alleviate my money woes. “I’ll think about it, okay.”
That’s not a total lie. I’m going to think about what to say to Daniel when I call him up and accept. I don’t think I want to tell Poppy just yet. The main reason being I would prefer the patrons of this bar not to think of me as some kind of sexual deviant when my friend yells her excitement. I’m sure she’ll have something wildly inappropriate to say. Plus, I just need to internalize that I’m actually about to do this.
But it won’t just be on Daniel’s terms. I’ve got some stipulations of my own. I’m only going to run around with him for a month. Once I have enough money to save the law firm and maybe have a little bit tucked away (to start paying off those student loans, the only reason why my last semester of law school is financed), I’m going to quit. He should understand. It’s business.
Chapter Fourteen - Dan
Back at work, all I’ve done is think about how my meeting went with Gemma yesterday. She hasn’t called since then, but it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, so I’m trying to stay positive. That was a lot to suddenly lay at her feet. She probably needs a little bit of time to process it all. Maybe I came on too strong. I wasn’t planning on just putting it all out there like that. Gemma is just rather pushy. I couldn’t think of another way out without just blurting out that I want her as a pet. I’ve never been so nervous around a woman.
Strangely enough, I’m excited about it. I want to see the other ways Gemma can manage to push my buttons. But… that will only happen if she agrees to my proposition. I know I have this tendency to come off as cocky. It’s a defense mechanism, blah, blah, blah. I was just so sure Gemma would agree to be mine. Maybe I should have been more concerned with my delivery.
“Dan?” Jake knocks on my open door, catching my attention.
“Yeah?” I look up from whatever piece of paper I’m not really reading to see what he needs. It’s time to focus on work. Gemma
can wait.
“I just wanted to see what has you cooped up in your office all day. I don’t think I’ve seen you since you walked in this morning.”
“Oh, sorry. I’ve been… busy.”
“Busy with what?” Jake is looking at my desk, which holds evidence of how little work I’ve gotten done today.
I sigh and sit back. “Come inside.” I motion with my hand for him to step further into my office and close the door.
I always confide in Jake. He’s my voice of reason. He’ll be able to help me see where I went wrong.
After closing the door, Jake takes the seat in front of my desk. “What can I do to help?”
“So, do you remember that girl I told you about? The one at Samuel & Samuels?”
“I remember you being a little stingy with the details but excited. I kind of pieced things together myself.” I’m sure he did. “Why?”
“I went to her office last night.”
Little brother raises an eyebrow. “Is that a good thing?”
“I don’t know. Gemma — her name is Gemma — she thought I was coming there to bring her into Davies & Sons, but it quickly became apparent that we were on different pages. I thought about not going through with my proposition, but Gemma was a little pushy, so I ended up kind of blurting it out. It was the usual on what I would get out of it, but I offered to float her firm and pay other expenses since I’d probably be taking up a lot of her time. I’m just worried I did something wrong. The reveal wasn’t as clean as I would have liked. And I know I can be cocky. I’m trying to work on that, I guess…”
I hadn’t been, but if it’s the reason why Gemma rejected me, I could change my ways.
Jake sighs. “Look, I did some asking around, and it looks like Samuels and Samuels is in trouble because Mrs. Samuels had a heart attack a few months ago.”
Shocked, I sit up straighter.
My brother sighs sadly and continues, “She was the only lawyer there. The younger Ms. Samuels hasn’t finished law school yet. There is no way that firm can survive long enough for her to pass the bar.” He scratches his chin thoughtfully. “So, it sounds like a good deal to me. You did what you could. If you float them for six months, then you will be really saving her ass. But maybe she can’t accept help. Some people just don’t do that kind of thing, no matter what. It’s Gemma’s loss, but sometimes things are just out of our control.” He shrugs.