His to Possess #3: Perfect Storm (3 page)

This was the first time he’d taken her to lunch and, in fact, the first time they’d been together in a social setting since the dinner event she’d accompanied him to. It felt a little awkward as she watched him over her water glass while he checked his phone messages. Should she review his e-mails while they waited for lunch?

She opened her purse, which sat on the chair beside her, and pulled out her tablet.

“You aren’t thinking of working, are you?” he asked as he slipped his phone into his jacket pocket.

“Well, I wasn’t sure.”

“Relax. It’s lunchtime.”

The waitress arrived with a basket of freshly baked bread and took their order. Dane recommended she try the soup as an appetizer. The waitress returned a few moments later with two steaming bowls.

Jessica tasted it and glanced at Dane. “This is the best clam chowder I’ve ever had.”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”

She tipped her head and smiled. It was true. Everything he’d advised her to do had worked out amazingly well. Her finger brushed against the stone in her jacket pocket.

“You know, I really appreciate the advice you gave me when we first met. It really helped build my confidence when I was at the career fair.”

She drew the light blue stone from her pocket and laid it on the table. “I still carry the stone you gave me.”

He casually picked it up and gazed at it.

“And I’ve never really thanked you for hiring me,” she continued.

“You’re doing an excellent job.” He stroked the stone with his thumb. “You know, I originally got this for my brother, Rafe. Our mother taught us about crystals and Tarot cards and other crazy stuff like that when we were kids. Our dad thought it was all hogwash, and it didn’t much interest me, but Rafe was fascinated by all her quirky ideas. Once Dad died and the problems got worse between Rafe and me, I bought this for Rafe, to show him I respected his beliefs, even if they were different from mine.”

“That’s really nice.”

He placed the stone back on the table in front of her. “But he left before I had a chance to give it to him.”

She would have thought he’d want to keep it as a reminder of his brother, but maybe it had become too painful.

Trying to lighten the mood, she smiled. “So you’re telling me you never believed in any of the things you told me about the stone?”

“On the contrary. It is soothing when you rub it. And that calms your nerves. Right?”

“True.”

“That doesn’t mean I believe the stone has any healing powers.”

She slipped the stone back into her pocket as the waitress took away their soup bowls and placed a plate of pasta in front of her and a steak in front of Dane.

“You said after your dad died, the problems got worse between you and your brother.” She knew she was treading on sensitive ground, but she really wanted to know more about this man. “What kind of problems were you having?”

“Typical things between brothers.”

She poked her fork into the long strands of fettuccine on her plate. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

He gazed at her solemnly for a long moment, then sighed. “You know what? It felt good to talk about it the other day, so why not now? Let me tell you the significant incident that changed our relationship.”

He leaned back in his chair. “About two weeks before his senior prom, Rafe skipped class to spend some time with a girl he wanted to ask to the prom. He was caught and our father, who valued hard work and a sense of responsibility above all else, berated my brother and then grounded him for a month.”

“Including the prom?” she asked.

He nodded. “I was home from college at the time. I tried to change Dad’s mind, but he wouldn’t budge. There was already a huge rift between Rafe and Dad and if Rafe missed such a memorable event in a person’s life, he would resent Dad forever. So, I decided to help. I knew if I suggested to Rafe that he slip away to the prom, he’d reject the plan. I tended to fall in line with what Dad wanted, so Rafe didn’t trust my opinions. He accused me of trying to control things and would often do the opposite of what I’d suggest.”

“So what did you do?”

“I had Rafe’s best friend tell him to sneak out the back on prom night and meet him down the street. I had one of the servants ready to cover for Rafe if our dad went looking for him, and I arranged to pick up Rafe’s date and deliver her to the prom.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just have Rafe and his friend pick her up?”

“Easier, and smarter as it turns out. But there was a part of me that wanted him to know that he could depend on me.”

She smiled. “I can understand that.” She could just imagine Dane beaming with pride as he presented the young woman to Rafe. But the purpose of this story was how the rift between the brother’s had started. “So what went wrong?”

“Rafe’s date—I don’t even remember her name—is what went wrong. Years earlier, in high school, I had dated her sister and it turns out she’d had a crush on me. Wishful thinking convinced her that I returned her feelings and this had all been a ploy for me to hook up with her.”

“So she kissed you, and that’s when your brother turned up.”

“It wasn’t just a kiss, it was a full body assault. When Rafe arrived, her arms were around me and her tongue was halfway down my throat.”

Jessica couldn’t help but laugh at his description.

“Of course, Rafe didn’t believe it was innocent on my part, and his date insisted I had made the first move.”

“Leaving your brother believing you were stealing his girlfriend. That is so unfair.”

“True, but clearly our problems were deeper than that one incident; otherwise Rafe would have believed me.”

He sipped his water as he glanced at her almost empty plate. “I’ve been sharing a lot of my past with you. Now it’s your turn.”

“Okay.” She finished her last bite of food and pushed her plate aside. Dane had been doing most of the talking, so his plate was still almost full. “Since you shared a painful memory with me, I’ll share one with you. I already told you about my ex-boyfriend Storm.”

“The musician.”

She nodded. “We had been living together for almost five months.” Memories of his big, naked tattooed body stretched out beside her in bed sent goose bumps along her flesh. It had been exciting to be with someone like him. And it was devastating when he’d left.

“Then one day I came home from work and he was sitting on the couch waiting for me. Said he was going on tour in California with the band. When I asked him when he’d be back, he shrugged and said he wasn’t sure he’d be back, that he was a drifter and had been in one place too long. Of course, I was devastated. All he said then was, ‘Hey, you knew this was just a casual thing. But maybe if I do come back and you’re still free, we can hook up again.’”

The awful pain stirred in her gut again. “Then he picked up his pack and walked out.”

Dane shook his head. “The guy sounds like a total jerk to me.”

She stared out the window at the street outside. “Yeah, I guess.” She gazed at him. “But the thing is, Storm had never seemed like a jerk before. He had always been caring and attentive. And I was so sure he loved me just as much as I loved him. That’s why the whole thing blindsided me.”

Dane reached out and covered her hand with his, and even with thoughts of Storm filling her head, awareness of Dane crept through her body.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. You deserve better.”

She pushed aside the painful memories and smiled. “Well, I have better now. I have a great job.” Her smile turned to a grin. “And this interesting relationship with you.”

“Since you’ve brought up our interesting relationship … Remember when I told you I would occasionally give you new rules or assign you special tasks?”

At his words, she became intensely aware of the satin lining of her skirt against her naked backside, and one of the garters holding up her stockings pressing into her lower thigh. “Yes, I remember.”

“Well, I have a task in mind.”

*   *   *

Jessica couldn’t believe she was doing this. She’d waited until Melanie was away from her desk to sneak into Dane’s office and now she stood beside his desk, waiting.

He had an appointment in a few minutes with Mr. Lane from Human Resources about a new benefits plan for the employees. The door to the office was open and she heard the elevator bell ring, then the doors open. Melanie greeted Mr. Lane and told him Dane would be along shortly.

At lunch yesterday, Dane had challenged her with the task of doing something to surprise and excite him. She glanced at her watch. He should be returning from his two o’clock any second now. She heard the elevator again and Melanie greeted Dane.

That was her cue. She ducked under Dane’s desk. She heard Dane talking to Mr. Lane and his voice grew louder as they approached. Her heart thundered as they came into his office.

She didn’t want to startle Dane when he pulled out his chair, because then her presence would be given away to Mr. Lane, so she sent him the text she had ready to go on her phone. He received texts only from Melanie and herself, and they sent only time-sensitive messages, so she knew he’d check it right away. She heard his phone beep, signaling that it had received her text.

“Take a seat, Jerry.”

A second later, he stepped behind the desk and pulled out his chair. He dropped a piece of paper and leaned down to pick it up, then peered at her, his eyebrows arched questioningly. She grinned at him.

Her text had told him she was under the desk and it was part of his surprise. If he chose to end it now, he might whisk Mr. Lane away briefly, then order her away. Possibly exile her to his private bathroom to wait out the meeting if she couldn’t sneak past Melanie.

*   *   *

Dane sat down in his chair, facing Jerry Lane, well aware of Jessica crouched on the floor in front of him, hidden by his desk. Jerry had no idea what was going on.

Her soft hand stroked over his crotch while Dane opened the file folder she had left on his desk in preparation for this meeting. His cock swelled as she stroked over the fabric of his pants. He glanced at the report in front of him which summarized Jerry’s recommendations. It was hard to concentrate with her soft little hand gliding over his hard flesh, her fingers wrapped around him as best she could while he was still contained in his clothing.

As Jerry began to discuss the first point in his report, Dane felt her fingers slide down the length of him, releasing his zipper. As Jerry talked about the benefits of extending the number of sick days allowed to employees, Dane stiffened at the feel of Jessica’s fingers slipping into his pants and wrapping around his erection.

He drew in a slow breath as she drew his shaft from its confines. He asked Jerry a question about how many sick days he recommended for each employee per year and if it should differ based on seniority, even though he vaguely remembered seeing the answer in the report.

It was hard to concentrate with the soft fingers gripping him firmly and stroking his length.

Jerry gave him an answer and he nodded, but had no idea what the man had said. Then he felt dampness on the end of his cock as her warm tongue licked his tip.

Oh, fuck, that felt good. Then her lips wrapped around him and she took him in her mouth.

“Is something wrong?” Jerry asked.

Dane’s gaze jerked to Jerry, who stared at him with concerned gray eyes. Damn, had he made a sound, or did he just look dazed?

“Sorry, just a little distracted.” Fuck, actually majorly distracted as Jessica swirled her tongue over his cockhead. He drummed his fingers on the desk, pretending to examine the report. Jessica drew back from his hard flesh, which gave him a moment to breathe.

“Please continue,” he said to Jerry, but Jessica seemed to take his words as a command and wrapped her lips around him again.

Jerry moved on to the next point and Dane steeled his will to stay calm as Jessica slid forward on his cock, taking him deep into her warmth. Then she drew back and glided deep again. He clenched his stomach as he resisted the urge to moan at the exquisite pleasure. Then she sucked, and a noise escaped his throat. He glanced up at Jerry.

What must the man think with Dane sitting here, his hands clenched into fists, his face probably flushed?

He coughed. “Sorry, I think something I ate at lunch must not agree with me.”

As her warm mouth moved up and down his cock, her tongue stroked his shaft. He shifted in his chair.

“Maybe I should take one of those sick days we’re talking about.”

“Would you like to reschedule?” Jerry asked.

Dane’s automatic reaction was to say no—he could control his response to her delightful touch—but her fingertips grazed his hairless balls as she sucked again and he found himself nodding.

“Good idea. Talk to Melanie on the way out to set up a time tomorrow.”

Jessica caressed his balls, then wrapped her hand around his shaft and stroked as she continued to suck his bulbous tip.

Jerry nodded. “Anything I can get you?”

“What?” Dane’s gaze jerked from his closed fist to see Jerry standing in front of his desk. “Oh, no. Thanks.”

He gritted his teeth as the man walked the length of the office and then, finally, opened the door and exited. As soon as the door was closed, he slumped back in his chair. His eyes closed as she pumped him with her hand. His groin ached with the need to release, but not yet.

He grabbed her wrists as he rolled his chair back, and pulled her forward and into his arms. His cock dropped from her mouth into the cool air. He captured her lips and plunged his tongue into her mouth.

“What the hell were you doing distracting me like that?” He grinned at her. “I should punish you right now.” He cupped her head and pulled her to him again so he could ravage her mouth.

As soon as he released her, she stood up and walked to the window behind his desk. She drew up her skirt and bent forward, then rested her hands on the window ledge, presenting her perfect, naked ass to him. His office was high enough that no one could see her from another building, but right now, he didn’t really care if they could.