Restraining the Receptionist: ...the Receptionist, Book 2 Page 2

  My cries went from howls to sobs as the all-consuming waves destroyed every other thought. Blackness took over. My body became one big spasm, one desperate clench before the ultimate release. Then I soared free and wild. Cries and shouts accompanied me through the blissful dark. Vaguely I felt more thrusting and movements at the lower half of my body, but none of it mattered now. All that mattered was how I lost myself in ecstasy, and found myself again on the other side, pinned under my two bosses.

  Chapter Two

  The dial tone brought me back to reality. If you’d like to make a call…

  Ethan, being closest, reached down and hung up the phone. Then he stood and tucked his gleaming, still-hard cock into his pants. In two minutes flat, all traces of the sexual master were gone. He was all icy-eyed, on-the-go businessman. That was the thing about Ethan. No matter how crazy he got in bed, as soon as it was over, he went back to being a stranger.

  “We’ve all got work to do, so I suggest you get busy,” he told us.

  I snorted, but was the only one who thought that choice of words amusing. Simon stood and zipped his pants. Then he worked on undoing my candy cane wrapping. I tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn’t let me. Usually after sex with Simon, including Ethan or alone, I felt so close to him we could have been the same person. But now something had shifted between us. Why wouldn’t he meet my eyes?

  “What’s wrong?” I whispered as soon as Ethan left the room.

  He turned away from me to unwind my legs from the table. I sat up and assessed my body for aches and twinges. A slight cramp in my right calf muscle, a crick in my neck. Small price to pay for an orgasm like that.

  “Simon. Is it me? Are you mad?”

  He stood next to me and rubbed my calf. He frowned down at my leg with a troubled look. I hated to see him so upset.

  I tried again. “Are you mad at my leg?” That got a ghost of a smile from him. My heart lightened. If he could smile, that was a start. “Are you, um, sore?”

  And there went the smile. “You heard the boss,” he said, all business. “Back to work.”

  I probably answered thirty calls the rest of the day, not one of which I remembered. I was too worried about my Simon. Maybe he was embarrassed that I’d witnessed him getting fucked up the ass. Maybe he was afraid I’d look at him differently. Think less of him.

  I searched my heart. Did I think of him differently now that I’d seen him submit to Ethan so thoroughly?

  Then again, why should I? Ethan was a force of nature. Mesmerizing. When he wanted something, there was no point trying to deny him. Why should it be different for Simon?

  Around five o’clock, Simon emerged from the inner offices, briefcase in hand. “See you tomorrow, Dana,” he said, as if we hadn’t spent the afternoon burning up the conference table.

  “Wait.” I jumped up from my desk and ran to his side. “I was thinking I’d come over later.”

  He shrugged. “If you’d like.” The indifference in his voice nearly made me cry.

  “What is wrong with you?”

  His scar twitched. His green-eyed gaze drifted across me. “Have a good night,” he said and strolled out the door.

  I sat and stewed at my post for a while longer. Ethan hadn’t gone home yet, and I liked to lock up behind my bosses. Would Ethan know what was up Simon’s butt? So to speak. I debated going into his office to ask, but such a bold act seemed nearly unthinkable. I’d never been in Ethan’s private office. All our activities took place in Simon’s office, the conference room, the kitchenette, my receptionist desk…you get the picture. Ethan’s office was strictly off limits.

  Finally came the firm footsteps that meant Ethan was calling it a day. He hurried through my domain with one arm pulling on his jacket, the other clasping shut his briefcase. One lock of his grizzled blond hair had a wave that went the opposite direction from the others. Not surprising that his hair would refuse to follow the rules, just like the rest of him.

  “You’ll lock up, luv?”

  “Of course.”

  I watched him stride to the door. In a minute he’d be gone. If I wanted to ask my question, it should be now. But I admit, he intimidated the hell out of me. I jumped to my feet just as he reached the door. “Mr. Cowell…”

  “Ethan,” he said impatiently. “Yes?”

  “Is, um, Simon, um, okay?” God, the question sounded dumb out in the open air. Not at all how it had sounded in my head.

  “I don’t know. Did you ask him?”

  “Yes. He didn’t answer.”

  “I suppose he’s fine then.” He didn’t sound too worried about it. He turned away as if the wellbeing of his close friend and business partner, not to mention fuck-puppy, meant nothing to him.

  “Don’t you think you should check? Considering you—”

  “Considering I what?” He turned back. A narrow-eyed dose of Blue Fury was not what I needed right now. I staggered under its assault.

  “You know.”

  “Buggered him?”

  Suddenly breathless, I nodded. I had a flash of memory of Simon bent over, taking it up the butt from Ethan, and the image made me dizzy.

  “I’ve had my prick up your ass a few times. None of us had problems with that, eh?” Ethan cocked his head at me. “We all had a good time.”

  My sex twitched at the reminder. Maybe it was Ethan’s gravelly voice that did it to me. I brought my legs closer together. Wrong move. I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “That’s irrelevant right now,” I told him in a haughty voice. “We’re discussing Simon.”

  The beige-decorated office tilted around me as my words sank in. Was I sassing Ethan? Talking that way to Simon was one thing, but Ethan? I held my breath as Mr. Senior Partner, boss of my boss, scorched my being with one endlessly long look.

  When he spoke, his voice was lower by an octave, from gravel to washboard. “How I’d like to bend you over my knee right now. My hand ought to be on your ass this very second. Or maybe my hand isn’t enough to teach you proper behavior.”

  I swayed and grabbed onto the desk. Where was Simon? My sweet, sexy Simon? This man, Ethan the wild animal in a business suit, unnerved me. But what unnerved me even more was how his words made the wetness pool in my panties. He knew it too, the bastard. I could tell from the glitter in his eyes.

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Maybe that’s why you’re speaking to me like this. You want me to punish you. Just you and me, no Simon involved.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “That’s not the deal.” Our deal was clear to all of us, and we’d never broken it. Simon had to be around for Ethan to touch me.

  “I know very well that’s not the deal. I remember all my deals. But, Dana, know this…”

  With that, he stepped closer to me, so close the air shivered between us. Every cell in my body turned toward him, like metal filings to a magnet. My breath clogged my throat. Meeting his eyes felt like staring into the sun. How did this man have such an effect on me when I was in love with someone else?

  His low growl interrupted my drifting thoughts. “Listen to me. Voice of experience talking. Are you listening?”

  I nodded like a bobble-head doll.

  He leaned even closer, the scent of his Armani aftershave tickling my nose. “Every deal has a loophole.”

  When he was gone, and all the air had been sucked from the room, and I’d slumped against my desk, I thought of a thousand things to say. You know where you can put your loophole. Loophole this, mother-effer. I’m not saying they were brilliant comebacks, but marginally better than the puff of air I’d managed to squeeze from my lips.

  Use of the company Town Car budget was one of the best perks of my job (aside from the constant orgasms, of course). I figured this was as good a time as any to indulge myself. I called for one, locked the office, and made my way outside to wait at the curb. As soon as I hit the outdoors, grimy sweat collected on my skin. My silk blouse (what had I been thinking?) stuck to my skin in lots of awkwa
rd places.

  If you ever want a sneak preview of hell, come visit Low-Life, Long Island in July. Well, any month will do, really, but in July we’ve got a real live demo of the other side’s climate. They ought to do some kind of Chamber of Commerce ad campaign. “Come for the crack, stay for the eternal fires of damnation.”

  Hey, I’m no marketing expert, just a receptionist.

  Even my friendly neighborhood junkies seemed more zoned out than usual. They slumped all over the next-door stoop like slugs on a head of lettuce. They didn’t even bother with their usual offers of a hit. I went inside, where the expectation that it would be cooler made the onslaught of suffocating heat even worse. Three stories felt like thirty, and by the time I reached my tiny apartment, I was little more than a puddle of goo.

  I went to my mini-fridge for some ice cubes, which I swiped across the back of my neck. The heat of my skin melted them instantly. I turned on the rickety old fan I’d found at a thrift shop. It did its best little-engine-that-could act before puttering to a pathetic stop. It seemed to cringe and whimper an apology.

  At least I got my twenty-five cents worth out of it.

  I flung myself onto my futon, hoping the whoosh of air would give me some momentary relief. I lay there for a while, reliving my workday. Would anyone believe me if I told them what my job involved? I’d almost told my best friend Brandi once, but at the last moment I’d changed my mind. She probably suspected something—she kept saying how different I seemed since I’d started there. Luckily, she was too lazy to investigate.

  Again the look in Simon’s eyes came back to me. And suddenly, more than anything, I needed to let him know nothing had changed for me. I still loved him, no matter what happened with Ethan.

  I leaped off the futon, nearly slipping in the puddle of sweat that had collected at my feet. I needed to see Simon, now, this instant.

  Besides, he had totally reliable air conditioning at his condo.

  Fifteen minutes later, Simon opened his door to me, and then his arms. I dove into them and burrowed my head into his chest. “I love you I love you I love you,” I murmured like a magic incantation.

  “I love you too,” he answered, his chin propped on top of my head. His arms wrapped me in a snug cocoon. All my worry melted away. Being with Simon had a chemical effect on me. Everything seemed right and perfect when I was with him.

  He led me through his apartment, which always made me think of a black-and-white movie. White carpet, black leather couches. Simon was such a class act in every aspect of his life. It still blew me away that he would give me a second look. We snuggled under his clean white sheets. The cool, slightly chemical air was sheer bliss. We held each other for long moments, then I rolled away with a sigh.

  “I love you madly, but I’m all about chilling down right now. Can we put a hold on the body heat for now?”

  “Of course, my love.” The similarity to Ethan’s “luv” gave me another kind of chill. “But if you’d move to a new place…”

  Simon hated my low-rent circumstances. He kept begging me to move into a decent apartment, but I couldn’t afford one. Besides, who else would call 911 when the junkies passed out?

  I changed the subject. “Simon, why won’t you talk to me about what happened today?”

  “What happened?” He turned his face toward the wall.

  And that answer gave me another kind of chill. The kind where you worry whether you inhabit the same reality as your beloved. That was the worst kind of chill. I jumped to my knees and straddled his chest.

  “Simon, Ethan fucked you in the ass while I watched.”

  He flinched.

  “How does that make you feel?”

  “How does it make you feel?” He shot back at me.

  “Nothing. Fine. It was fine.”

  “Fine?”

  “Okay, that’s not all.” Then I surprised both of us. “I liked it.”

  “You liked it. Why?”

  “Because, because…” A restless itch made me squirm against his chest. “I don’t know why. It was hot.”

  “What was so hot?”

  “The way your muscles got all clenchy and tight. The way your ass kind of quivered under him. You looked so…”

  “What?”

  “Fragile. But strong too. God, I loved watching your eyes go all blotto and your body, the way you took him in, all the way in…”

  “Okay, stop.”

  I stopped, biting my lip. I’d never seen such an uncertain look on Simon’s face. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just—hard for me to talk about.”

  Various unidentifiable emotions chased across his face. At a guess, maybe shame, arousal, regret, desire.

  “Did you like it?” I whispered, not sure if this was forbidden territory or not.

  His answer came in a pained whisper. “I always do. Ethan wouldn’t…he wouldn’t…if I didn’t.”

  I traced my fingers through the dark patch of fur on his chest. Black hair, white skin. A lot like me, actually, except I’m an ink junkie decorated with dragonflies and yin-yang symbols. A whole world had just opened in front of me, a world in which Ethan had Simon under his thumb, the same way Simon had me under his thumb. I belonged to Simon, body and soul…did that mean Simon belonged to Ethan, not me?

  It didn’t really bother me. I was awed and amazed that any part of Simon belonged to me. But it did make me wonder, even more than I already did, about Mr. Ethan Cowell, Senior Partner of the firm of Cowell & Dirk.

  “How long have you and Ethan been…?”

  “Lovers?”

  Was that the word? Somehow it didn’t seem enough. I shrugged.

  “I’ve tried to stop, you know.” He mimicked my tracing of his chest with gentle fingers up my forearm. “He’s a hard man to resist.”

  Didn’t I know it. Hard to resist, hard to ignore, hard to forget. I settled for, “He’s a hard man to like.”

  Simon sat up, bumping me backwards on his thighs. “Never say that. Ethan is…well, there’s a reason he’s the way he is. I love the man.”

  “Even though he’s a twisted bastard?”

  He put a finger under my bare nipple. “You don’t seem to object to the things that twisted bastard does to you.”

  My nipples hardened, whether it was in response to his touch or his words, I wasn’t sure. I shrugged it off, going for bravado. “I’ll take a good orgasm any day. Doesn’t mean I have to like the guy.”

  He searched my face. His scar stood out more than usual against his slight tan, which he must have acquired while ducking in and out of air conditioned buildings. “You like him.”

  “No, I don’t. Sometimes I hate him.”

  “I see.” The cryptic look that followed gave me no clues as to his meaning. “I’m going on a business trip, my sweet, starting tomorrow.” His finger left my nipple and went on an excursion from one breast to the other.

  “What? Where?”

  “Atlantic City. Headquarters of the Woodfield Group. I’m doing the final pitch.”

  “I’ll come with you.” Panic made my voice flutter. Since I’d first walked into Cowell & Dirk, I hadn’t been away from Simon for more than a weekend. It had never even occurred to me to take a vacation. A vacation from what? Being at work was all the R and R I needed.

  “No, Ethan needs you here. The office is still open. The phones will still ring. Someone’s got to answer them.”

  “You’re leaving me here with him?”

  A smile pulled his scar up his face. “What are you worried about, exactly? You know he won’t touch you when I’m not there.”

  “I know.” That didn’t worry me. Maybe it was the opposite. The fact that he wouldn’t touch me, that nobody would until Simon came back. And what about Ethan’s threat of a “loophole”?

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “As long as it takes.”

  “You’ll be checking in?”

  “Ev
ery day.” He lifted my chin. “I can’t go too long without hearing my girl’s voice.”

  Melt. I cuddled against his chest. His cock rose against my thigh. A couple quick adjustments and soon I was riding him, slow and sweet, my head nuzzled into his neck. Our bodies moved together like honey. We knew each other so well, knew just how to move, what spots to touch. A hum of contentment spread throughout my flesh, down to the callus on my little toe. No one could love anyone more completely than I loved Simon.

  And yet, my mind wandered. Wild images flashed through my head. The red ribbon pinning my arms to my side. Ethan’s flat palm brushing against my swollen nipples. Simon, head bent, lowering his pants. Ethan pumping his cock into Simon’s white, vulnerable ass.

  Oh God. Before I knew it I was coming. Helpless to stop it, I draped myself across Simon’s chest and let the spasms take me. Beneath me, I felt the same thing happening to Simon. Both of us shuddered in tandem, clinging to each other on our life raft of clean white sheets.

  “I have a feeling we’ve got Ethan to thank for that one,” Simon said afterward, clearing his throat.

  I lifted my head. Had he too been picturing scenes from our earlier session? Maybe feeling Ethan’s thrusts in his backside while he made love to me? I didn’t want to think so. I wanted to be the only thing on his mind. But I had to admit he was probably right.

  “Twisted bastard,” I muttered.

  A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “You be sure to tell him so sometime over the next few days.”

  “Even if I do, it’s not like he can do anything about it…” Suddenly it came to me. I punctuated my stroke of genius with a punch on his arm. “I can do anything I want, and he can’t punish me! A deal’s a deal.”

  “My sweet little rebel, be careful. Don’t mess with Ethan.”

  “Hey. I’m from Long Island. I’m all about the mess.” I winked at him.

  Chapter Three

  After my revelation about the deal, I found myself looking forward to the next day at work. I’d be a mouse turning the tables on a cat. I could tease and sass all I wanted, and Ethan wouldn’t be able to avenge himself. I couldn’t wait!