If You Dare - A BDSM Billionaire Erotic Romance Novel (5 page)

Zoe made a conscious effort to ignore
the voice in her head, instead focusing on her surroundings passing
by outside of the cab’s window. After paying the driver she let
herself into her house, dropping her keys on the small table in the
equally small hallway. Then Zoe walked the short distance to her
living room and flounced down onto the couch with yet another sigh.
It felt like she’d done a lot of sighing on her way home, she
thought, tiredly.

Zoe supposed she should go to bed, but
her mind was in overdrive even if her body was exhausted; she knew
that she wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon. Zoe felt a
mixture of emotions; excitement, trepidation, and shame being just
three of them. She was excited because she was going to be able to
travel and see the world; having adventures along the way just like
she’d dreamed of for so long. But, she was also nervous about it as
well. She’d never been anywhere alone before; not counting visiting
distant family members who lived in the adjoining state, and the
thought of actually doing it filled her with nerves.

Shame was the emotion that was
paramount in her mind right now though. She was ashamed of the way
she’d secured her severance package, especially when she stopped to
think that she had more or less blackmailed Dawson into giving it
to her.

Zoe groaned and got to her feet. She
could mull over what had happened all night long but nothing was
going to change and all she was going to do was drive herself crazy
and into a completely sleepless night. She needed to go to bed and
try to rest at least for a few hours, because tomorrow was going to
be a busy day planning her very first trip abroad.

Her last lucid thought
before she fell asleep was Dawson. She couldn’t help wondering if
giving up her job to travel the world was going to be worth it. Of
course, she now had first-hand knowledge of exactly what he was
like sexually. Or maybe she should look at it more from a different
angle; she now knew what he could make
her
feel like sexually.

Chapter Three

~

Zoe
fell into a fitful sleep to meet dreams
that were filled with images of paperclips, bulldog clips, wooden
rulers and Dawson’s eyes staring at her intently. When she awoke a
few hours later it didn’t feel as though she’d slept at all, and
rather than spend the day deciding on where her first trip should
be, she spent it daydreaming about the events of the day before and
wishing that she could have experienced it all under different
circumstances.

The next few days were spent in much
the same way. Zoe would wake up with every intention of booking her
first trip but then she’d spend the day daydreaming about Dawson.
She was starting to get on her own nerves, but for the life of her
she couldn’t seem to focus on anything else. At least the annoying
voice in her head had given up lecturing her and calling her
names.

Zoe knew that she’d completely
deserved the way Dawson had treated her. He’d done no less than she
should have expected if she’d stopped to think about it beforehand.
Hell, if she’d stayed sober beforehand she would never have put
herself in that situation in the first place. He had very
effectively put her in her place; that of nothing better than a
blackmailing bitch. And the fact that she’d actually enjoyed what
he’d done to her showed them both that she was not only deserving
of his treatment; but she also craved it.

Every time Zoe thought about it her
pussy would get wet and her face would go red. She knew that he had
forbidden her to be in the same room as him, but could she really
go away without at least trying to make things right between them.
In all good conscience she couldn’t apologize for what she’d done,
because she wasn’t sorry in the slightest. Dawson had opened her
eyes up to a whole new world with regards to sex, and he had also
opened up her options as to what she could now do with her life
because he had capitulated to her demands.

But she needed him to know that she
wasn’t really like that. She wasn’t a lowlife blackmailer or a
money-grabbing bitch. And she sure as hell wasn’t some depraved
nymphomaniac who would let men do what the fuck they wanted to her.
Well, not usually anyway. She did need to apologize for threatening
him with the press though, and she needed to reassure him that it
wasn’t something that she actually intended to do.

With her mind made up, she spent the
day cleaning up the house and trying to dispel some of the nervous
energy she was feeling. She didn’t want to go and see Dawson during
office hours because there would be too many people around for her
to apologize to him properly and undisturbed. If he was going to
get mad at her she would prefer not to have an audience.

At around eight o’clock Zoe had a
shower and got dressed, putting on a business-like black skirt suit
with a white blouse. She left her long wavy hair down and added
just enough makeup to look presentable without going over the top;
she didn’t want to look as though she was going clubbing, but she
didn’t want to feel like a plain Jane either. Of course, if she
could have seen herself through the eyes of others, she would have
known that she had a natural beauty that shone through regardless
of what she wore or whether she had makeup on or not. Her
almond-shaped vivid green eyes were framed by thick luscious lashes
that were the perfect foil for her almost black hair, and with her
high cheekbones and full mouth she was often the fantasy for many a
co-workers nighttime pleasure.

Zoe timed the journey to arrive at the
office just after nine thirty and after parking her car she walked
into the building on legs that weren’t quite as steady as she would
have liked them to be. Having not handed in her key-card when she
left the building for supposedly the last time when she last saw
Dawson, she used it to gain access to the main door and made her
way up to the office where she hoped he would still be working.
There were no windows that opened out into the main office area
from his office, but Zoe could see a light shining under his door,
and she took a deep breath to calm her nerves before
knocking.

Not waiting for an answer,
she opened the door and stepped across the threshold, her eyes
going straight to the large desk and the man sat behind it. Dawson
looked up, and Zoe was struck by the fact that he didn’t look
surprised in the slightest to see who it was that had disturbed him
at such a late hour.
In fact, he almost
looks as though he’s been expecting me
, she
thought to herself. She was also struck by how handsome he looked
in the flickering lights of the multitude of candles that were
dotted around his office. She had often wondered why he would use
them in a business environment, but now for the first time she
realized that they added a relaxing ambience to the
workplace.

“Zoe.” Just one word, but it had the
power to send shivers running up and down her spine. “You do
remember the terms of your severance package, I presume?” His voice
wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t welcoming either. He actually sounded
indifferent to her presence, and Zoe didn’t know whether to be
annoyed, relieved or disappointed.

“I do.” She nodded slowly. “But I
couldn’t leave things the way they were, Dawson.”

“And how exactly was that?” Dawson
quirked an eyebrow at her inquisitively, but Zoe was under no false
illusions; he knew exactly what she meant.

“With you thinking I was
some kind of blackmailer.” She could feel her face flushing under
his scrutiny.
Well what did you
expect?
Ah crap, the inner voice was back
again. Maybe it was the sound of her conscience, she
thought.

“But, isn’t that exactly what you are,
Zoe?”

“No! I mean, well yes, but not
exactly.” She was stammering and she knew it, but there was nothing
she could do to stop herself from feeling so flustered. “That’s why
I’m here, Dawson; to try and make things right.”

“How, and why? To attempt to make
amends? Maybe you’d like your job back; although I have a feeling
your position has already been filled. Of course, now that you’ve
broken our agreement you’re going to need a job, aren’t you?” He
made a steeple out of his fingertips and rested his chin on them
while he watched her expression closely.

Zoe felt her heart sink at
his words. She hadn’t even thought that he might take back what
he’d agreed to with regards to her severance package. “You’re
perfectly within your rights to refuse to give me what I asked for,
Dawson. But I just wanted to come by and see if there was any way I
could make amends for the way I behaved. I’d had a little too much
to drink that night.” She paused. “Actually I’d had a
lot
too much to drink,
and it gave me a false sense of invincible bravery.” Zoe felt her
face get hot again. “I don’t usually do that type of thing. I hope
you believe that.”

“What I do or do not believe is
immaterial at this point. All I know is that you behaved
atrociously, and as such you were treated the same way in return.”
He quirked a sexy eyebrow at her again and she felt her insides
start to tremble. “You enjoyed the way I made you feel though,
didn’t you, Zoe?”

She couldn’t answer him. There was no
way on God’s green earth that she would admit to him that he had
turned her on like no man had ever done before. “I don’t want my
job back, Dawson, even if you do decide not to give me my severance
package. All I wanted to do was see if there was any way I could
make things right and apologize for the way I treated you; nothing
more, nothing less.” Maybe she was lying to herself just a little,
but she pushed that to the back of her mind.

“There is a way that you can make
amends, but it would be amends for breaching our contract; not for
letting me pleasure you.” Zoe gasped in a lungful of air. “I don’t
know if you’ll have the guts for it though, so perhaps not.” He was
still staring at her intently, and Zoe’s heart started to
race.

“What is it?” She had to ask;
curiosity might have killed the cat, but she wasn’t a feline and
she simply had to know. “And you should know by now that I very
rarely turn down a challenge or a dare.” She raised her chin
defiantly and looked him square in the eyes.

Dawson smiled; he’d known exactly what
he was doing when he’d taunted her. “You need to be punished for
not sticking to our agreement. I told you that you were never to be
in the same room as me ever again, and yet here you are.” He got up
and walked around the desk towards her whilst Zoe kept her ground
with her back straight and her head high. “Do you dare to take the
punishment though? Did you really mean it when you said that you
wanted to make amends, and have you actually got the balls to
follow it through?”

“Try me.” Just two words,
but Zoe felt as though she’d issued a challenge to the devil and
her insides started to quiver with nervous excitement again. “I
fully expected to have to pay consequences when I came here
tonight, so I’m not about to run away now.” She was under no false
illusions. She knew that he was going to ‘punish’ her in the same
way that he’d treated her last time she was here and she finally
admitted to herself that she was more than ready for some more of
the same treatment.
Like I said, you’re a
kinky freak.

With a decisive nod of his head,
Dawson walked to the door and turned the lock, taking the few steps
needed to bring him back to standing in front of her once he’d
secured their privacy. Zoe braced herself, prepared for him to rip
her clothes off her like he had last time. She wasn’t sure whether
to be relived or disappointed when he didn’t though, and instead
walked behind her and slipped her suit jacket from her shoulders.
He threw the garment on the chair behind them and then placed his
hands on her shoulders, trailing a finger along the collar of her
blouse and skimming over the nape of her neck.

Zoe felt goosebumps spring to life
over the skin on her arms and she tilted her head sideways to allow
him better access before she even thought about it. She felt
Dawson’s warm breath on her neck as he chuckled softly at her
movements. “Ah, you are so responsive, little slut. You like being
treated gently as well as with pain, huh?”

Zoe didn’t answer him. She couldn’t
even if she wanted to. She was too busy trying to remember how to
breathe. He walked around to the front of her and carefully
unbuttoned her blouse; sliding it off her shoulders and bending his
head down to gently bite at the flesh of her throat. Zoe moaned as
shudders of awareness ran through her and desire pooled in the pit
of her stomach. Dawson completely removed her blouse and it quickly
joined her jacket on the chair.

Her skirt quickly followed, leaving
Zoe stood before him wearing nothing but her matching white lace
bra and panties. She had a brief feeling of déjà vu and wondered if
he was going to chain her to the radiator again like last time.
Dawson took a step back and looked her up and down, his pupils
dilating as he licked his lips to moisten them. “Do you have any
idea just how beautiful you are, you tantalizing little bitch.” His
hands came up to cup her breasts and Zoe leaned into his embrace
wantonly. She had been craving his touch since the last time she
was here, but only now would she admit that fact to
herself.