To Love and Submit (3 page)

“Yes, Mr Stone. I’m Rachel Porter.” She wiped her clammy palms on her skirt as she watched him cross his office and sit down in the large leather chair behind his desk. A vague memory suddenly sprang to mind about him having been a semi-pro football player when he was younger. She could easily imagine that because under his crisply ironed white shirt she could see tight muscles stretch across his broad chest and shoulders. She was aware of her pulse quickening slightly as she wondered what he would look like without that shirt…

“Still enjoying the view, Miss Porter?” Mr Stone’s deep voice snapped Rachel out of her erotic reverie and she quickly recovered her air of professional detachment before he could notice the blush threatening to burn her cheeks again.

“I was just going to ask if I could get you a coffee,” she said, coolly. She was damned if she was going to let him see her get all flustered, so she held his gaze and waited expectantly for his answer.

Adam Stone sat back in his chair and a smile played subtly on his lips. “Yes, thank you.”

“Okay, coming right up,” she said, efficiently, and turned to leave, but then she stopped again and turned back to Mr Stone. “Er, sorry. How do you take it?”

Adam Stone’s eyebrows rose in amusement and his sharp blue eyes held hers as he said, “How do I take what, Miss Porter?”

“Er…your coffee.” Rachel could feel her face flush again and prayed that he didn’t notice.

Luckily he was now studying his iPhone as he mumbled, “Black, no sugar.” She was clearly dismissed so she scurried out to the small kitchen as quickly as she could, relieved to get away.

She closed the kitchen door behind her and leant back against it, closing her eyes as she relived her first encounter with Adam Stone. Wow, the guy was intense. Intense, powerful and gorgeous—a lethal combination as far as she was concerned. Well, she wasn’t going to let the fact that he was so hot affect the way she would do her job. No way!

A few minutes later, she marched back into Mr Stone’s office with a renewed air of confidence and placed his coffee down in front of him.

“Not there!” he snapped. “Use the coaster, this desk is solid mahogany.” He glared angrily at her and nodded his head to a discreet stack of coasters on the shelf beside the desk. Rachel tried her best to keep her hand steady as she picked up a coaster and placed the hot porcelain mug carefully onto it, but it wouldn’t stop shaking and she came perilously close to spilling coffee all over the expensive desk.

“Sit down,” he commanded without looking up from his phone. She did as she’d been told and waited for him to finish reading. She crossed her legs and stole a quick look at him across the desk. Although he had the ruggedness of a football player, along with a slightly crooked nose, he really was extremely good-looking. His dark hair was streaked with shades of silver giving him an elegant, distinguished look and his strong jaw reminded her a bit of a 1950s film star.

Suddenly he looked up from the phone and smiled. Rachel flushed as she realised he had two dimples in his cheeks that instantly upgraded him from merely good-looking to drop dead gorgeous. “Sorry about that, Miss Porter. Now, have you been fully briefed on what’s required of you?”

“Er… Yes, thank you, Mr Stone,” she stammered.
If you can call Hilary’s curt introduction a briefing,
she thought, grudgingly, but didn’t voice it.

“Good. If you have any questions, Hilary is just down the corridor.” He studied her for a moment, his sharp blue eyes running slowly over her upper body. To her dismay, Rachel felt her nipples harden under his gaze. She couldn’t tell if he noticed or not, but he looked calmly back at her flushed face and said, “I expect you to be immaculately turned out at all times, business suits, hair tied up, not too much makeup.”

“Er, okay.” She realised she probably wasn’t looking her best today after her rather frustrating morning. She’d just grabbed the first blouse she could find, which badly needed ironing, and her long blonde hair hung loosely around her shoulders—she certainly didn’t look like someone who was smart enough to be Adam Stone’s PA. Damn, of all the days she hadn’t made an effort, she had to pick today.

“Yes,
Sir.
” Mr Stone’s voice cut through her thoughts.

“Pardon?”

“You will address me as Sir.”

Shit, is he for real?
Rachel felt her face redden even more as she struggled to control her temper. Who did he think he was? Suddenly his handsome face didn’t look quite so appealing as he coldly asserted his authority over her. But, instead of showing her annoyance, she just looked meekly back at him and nodded.

“Yes, Sir,” she said, through gritted teeth.

“Good. Now, there are a couple of things I need to go through with you before I head off to my next meeting.” But as he opened his desk drawer and took out some papers, his mobile phone rang. He quickly checked the caller display.

“Excuse me,” he said, before answering the call.

“George! How are you?” He swung his chair around to face the window and, once he had his back to her, she took a deep breath.
Oh God, I’m not going to be able to do this
. She glared at the back of Mr Stone’s head, suddenly hating him for making her feel so inadequate. She was on the verge of standing up and walking out when pride made her remain firmly seated. If she ran away from this job, she’d never be able to face her colleagues, or herself, for that matter, again. She needed this job and she would bloody well show
Sir
fucking Adam Stone that she could do it. Straightening herself in the chair, she lifted her head and resolved not to give in.

But just as she did so, Mr Stone swung back around in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her. “Did she, now?” he asked, coldly.

Oh no, what I have done?
Rachel had no doubt that he was talking about her, but it was only half past nine in the morning so surely she couldn’t have screwed up already, could she? Mr Stone ended the call and gave her an angry glare, confirming her fears.

“Did you get a phone call from George Granville’s PA this morning?” His voice was controlled and steady, but it sounded deadly nonetheless.

Oh fuck!
A cold chill crept through Rachel as she remembered Miss Snooty PA’s words earlier. She was meant to call her straight back, but she’d gone exploring around the office instead and Mr Stone had returned.
Oh, no
.

“I…er…”

“Answer me!” Mr Stone raised his voice and Rachel felt tears well up in her eyes as he crossed his arms and waited for her explanation.

“Yes, Sir, I did. I had only just arrived in the office and hadn’t yet managed to access the online diary and then… I forgot.” Her voice trailed off as she realised how pathetic she sounded.

“For God’s sake, have you any idea how bad this looks to Lord Granville?” he snapped.

“I’m really sorry, it won’t happen again.” The tears were threatening to spill and Rachel tried desperately to hold onto her composure as any remaining pride was replaced with shame.

“Too right, it won’t,” he growled. “Get back to your desk before I fire you on the spot.”

“Yes, Sir. I’m sorry.” Rachel scrambled out of the chair and headed quickly for the door of Mr Stone’s office, but just as she approached it, she heard him mutter, “Under different circumstances, I’d put you over my fucking knee.”

Rachel ran out of his office, back to the relative safety of her desk before she fully acknowledged his words. Shit, did he just say he’d put her over his knee? Disbelief, mingled with something that felt shockingly like arousal, washed over her and it took a few minutes before she was able to compose herself enough to log on to Lucy’s computer and focus her mind back on work.

Chapter Three

“I hate Adam Fucking Stone!”
Rachel slammed the door to the flat shut and threw her bag onto the floor, frustration and anger coming together and surging through her body in another wave of despair.

Almost immediately, Mandy’s head popped around her bedroom door. “What’s up with you?” she asked, frowning.

“You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had.” Rachel, who was normally so calm and even-tempered, kicked her bag roughly out of the way and marched into the kitchen. “Have we got any wine?”

“Yes, there’s a bottle of red in the top cupboard. Give me two minutes and I’ll join you,” Mandy called back from her room.

Rachel found the wine, but groaned in annoyance when she saw it was topped with a cork. “Who the hell buys wine that doesn’t have a screw top?” she grumbled, as she rummaged through a drawer looking for the corkscrew.

Her day really had gone from bad to worse. Adam Stone was a demanding bastard, constantly snapping or shouting at her. She had barely had time to log on to her computer when he’d told her to bring her notepad into his office, which she’d done with a strained smile on her face, only to find that he wanted her to take some dictation.

He hadn’t been too impressed when she’d told him she didn’t know shorthand. To make matters worse, when Lord Granville had turned up for the three o’clock meeting, Mr Stone had reprimanded her in front of him and had forced her to apologise profusely, making her feel like a naughty schoolgirl. She had come
that
close to telling him where to stick his bloody job. It had only been pride that she wouldn’t show him any weakness that had stopped her, but what about tomorrow, and the day after that, when there was no pride left?

“So what’s wrong, then?” Mandy walked into the kitchen and took the wine from Rachel’s trembling hands. “Here, let me do that before you break the cork.”

“Oh, Mandy, I’ve had the shittiest day ever. I’m never going back there, that arsehole will have to find someone else to pick on.” A sob broke from her and she quickly grabbed the glass Mandy was holding out to her and took a big gulp.

Mandy took her arm and led her through to the living room. “Come on, babe, tell me what happened.”

Rachel told Mandy everything, from Joe’s unwelcome news when she had arrived that morning, to her big fuck-up with Lord Granville. “The thing is, Mandy, I’m only a secretary, not a PA. That’s why I work for Joe on half the salary that Lucy’s on, but Mr Stone didn’t seem to take that into consideration. He treated me like I was some sort of idiot. I
hate
him.”

“Oh, sweetie, you’ve got to stick with it. After all, it’s not permanent, is it? How long before Lucy’s replacement was due to start?” When Rachel looked at her blankly, she added, “Lucy would have gone on maternity leave just before the baby was due so Mr Stone would have had to have a replacement by then, wouldn’t he? You were never meant to cover her actual maternity leave so he must have someone else lined up.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” The reminder that this probably wouldn’t be a permanent situation made Rachel feel a little bit better. If she could only grit her teeth and keep her head down until the maternity cover started, she could go back to working for Joe and everything would return to normal.

Mandy gently prodded Rachel’s arm. “Here’s something to cheer you up. My normally useless big brother came by today and has fixed the computer—we’re connected with the outside world again so let’s go find some dating sites.”

Rachel frowned. After the day she’d had, that was the last thing she felt like doing. “Can we do it tomorrow? I’m really not in the mood,” she groaned, taking another large swig of wine.

“Oh, come on, grumpy, it’ll help you forget about work. Get your arse over here and help me do a search.”

With a sigh of resignation, Rachel dragged herself off the sofa and joined Mandy at the computer desk, an old wooden gardening table they had salvaged in a junk shop and painted bright pink. Pulling up a chair, she watched Mandy log on and wished she felt a bit more enthusiastic.

“Right, let’s save a bit of time here.” Mandy grinned as the search page awaited their instructions. “You’re especially interested in meeting someone who’s into BDSM, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Rachel downed the rest of the wine in her glass and automatically reached over to pour herself another.

“Steady on, girl, you’ve got to work tomorrow, remember?”

“How could I forget?” Rachel scowled, taking another large swig.

“Okay, here goes. Let’s start by Googling BDSM Internet social sites and see what comes up.” As Mandy hit the return key, page after page of results showed up and she let out a little squeal of delight. “Ooh look, Rach, there are loads of them.”

Despite her bad mood, Rachel couldn’t help feeling a frisson of excitement as she watched Mandy scroll through all the pages of BDSM-related sites.

“Look, here’s a site listing the top ten UK BDSM dating sites. Perfect.” Mandy clicked the mouse and Rachel leaned over to take a closer look as the homepage popped up in front of them. It looked okay—professional and well researched, and it listed all the pros and cons of the featured sites.

“What about that one?” asked Rachel, pointing to the site at number three, which was reviewed as being the most user-friendly. Mandy clicked the link to the website and the homepage that flashed up onto the screen looked sexy without being too intimidating.
So far, so good
.

“Okay, you’ve got to register before you can go any further so think of a username,” ordered Mandy, giving Rachel a quick glance. Rachel, who was beginning to feel the warm, fuzzy effects of the wine, grinned and tried to think of something sexy and naughty.

“How about SpankMeNow?” she giggled. “Or FuckThisSub.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Mandy gave her a hard stare and turned back to the computer screen. “This could be the beginning of something special and if you should meet a gorgeous Dom, you don’t want him thinking you’re some silly little girl who isn’t taking this seriously. Now, think again and this time, be sensible.”

“Yes, Miss!” Rachel raised her hand in a mock salute and tried to refocus her brain on a slightly more appropriate username. “How about RachelSub? That won’t leave any doubt about my name or preference.”

“Okay, that’ll do.” Mandy busied herself creating the account for Rachel and when she finally clicked on the return confirmation email, the account was ready. “Right, all you have to do is post a photo of yourself and write a couple of short sentences about what you’re looking for. You can fill in your profile bio another time.”