What Money Can Buy 3 - to Have & to Hold (2 page)

I gasped as the sodden fabric snapped off my body and he took my ass in both hands after tossing them across the room.

I released his cock and crossed my hands around the back of his neck as he guided me onto his waiting shaft. Effortlessly, he thrusted his full length into me, causing me to
moan out
and throw my head back. Regardless of how wet I was, it never ceased to amaze me how his length and thickness would stretch and fill my sodden pussy. Each inch rose and fell with unbearably satisfying movements and he put his strong arms around the small of my back, pulling me to him, crushing my breasts against his muscular chest.

I close
d
my eyes and smiled with deep satisfaction as he peppered my neck with kisses before moving down to the valley of my cleavage, flicking open my remaining buttons and exposing an erect nipple from the cup of my bra. He circled it with his tongue, the tip causing tiny ripples of excitement on each swollen areola, before flicking and gently nibbling the hard peak. I couldn't take any more, my abdomen suddenly tightening like a vice and sending a flood of juices down on his steel
-
like cock. I tried, desperately, not to scream out with pleasure. He placed a palm over my mouth, muffling my cries so no
-
one would hear outside or on the floor below.

As my head swam, I felt his warm seed flow inside me. He slammed himself into me, hard and deep, ejaculating every last drop as far inside my body as he could physically manage. As my own orgasm began to subside, I welcomed the hot, thick cream that flowed inside me, threatening to impregnate my fertile womb. As we kissed and our breathing and heart rates returned to normal, he grabbed a box of tissues from his desk. Our juices were as one, flowing down his still erect shaft and out onto my inner thighs.

"I guess I won't be wearing panties to the meeting
later
," I smiled.

Jason ran a finger down my cheek and kissed me softly on the lips. "You're the sexiest woman I've ever met, Lauren. I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon thinking about what's under your skirt. You'd better run into the apartment when we get home tonight."

"Why's that?" I asked with a giggle.

"Because otherwise you won't get through the front door before I start ripping your clothes off."

I kissed his forehead. "How the hell are we going to focus on business this afternoon?"

"That's why I'm selling everything. I can't concentrate on anything but you anymore."

We looked at each other in silence for several seconds. Suddenly, I felt tears well up in my eyes – tears of unmitigated joy. "God, Jason, I love you so much it hurts."

"I love you too, Lauren. I don't care how much it hurts. I'll take the pain, for me and for you."

"So, to conclude, the vast majority of my holdings have now either been liquidated or transferred. If anyone has any further
queries
, please direct them at Lauren. She has all the details you will need. Are there any questions?"

Jason looked around the boardroom at the
twelve
men and women who would become King Enterprises after he had gone. No one to this point had voiced any opposition to Jason's plans to walk away from
the
company and his intentions had been common knowledge for some time.

"Excuse my language, everybody, but I think what you're doing is fucking ridiculous."

An audible collective gasp filled the room and all heads turned to Michael Bridges, the senior vice president of exports and one of the company's major shareholders. Jason glared at him.

"This had better be good, Michael. This is the boardroom, not the bedroom. Watch your language in front of these ladies."

I smiled
to myself
at
Jason
'
s slightly old-fashioned chivalry. This was a man who had
gagged
me with my own panties, whipped and slapped my ass into submission on numerous occasions and had sex with me in countless public places. Yet
here he
was chastising a colleague for using the F
-
bomb in a meeting.

"My apologies, everyone," Michael replied. "What I meant to say, without being quite so crude, is that this company simply isn't King Enterprises without Jason King. The two are hopelessly intertwined. This may be a situation that we are all aware of, but the second we announce this to the markets our share price is going to collapse."

There was no love lost between the two men. Michael had come into the company early on, when Jason had first started it, and had bought up a huge amount of shares at a time when he'd needed as much capital as possible to grow the business. Jason always resented the fact that Michael held so much influence on the board yet did virtually no work. His job title was little more than vanity; he could usually be found blind drunk at company and investor events and running his married hands over
any
young secretary he could find. In a nutshell, Jason couldn't stand him.

"So are you telling me, Michael,
that
this team is incapable of running the business without me?
That
the mere fact that I'm no longer here as a figurehead is tantamount to causing
a
collapse? I think you'd better explain yourself a bit further. There are some extremely able men and women in this room who should be taking offence right now. I'm not this company. Our employees are this company. None of that will change."

Michael
sighed
and leaned forward, placing both palms on the boardroom table. "Whether we like it or not, irrespective of our abilities, you are bigger than this company, Jason. It's like Bill Gates leaving Microsoft, the death of Steve
J
obs at Apple. The markets will react badly, no question about it."

Jason smiled. "Microsoft is doing just fine."

"Bullshit," Michael replied, shaking his head. "There are
a
company in freefall, resting on their laurels. They can't innovate for shit. The driving force is gone. Now they have a salesman in charge, devoid of passion and innovation. That's what will happen here."

"Okay, we'll agree to disagree. But we are
a
very different company to Microsoft – and your other example, Apple, for that matter. The last time I looked they were pretty much the biggest company in the world, even without their founder. They are living proof that the company is far more than one person."

"Yes, Jason, I take your point. Apple are riding high right now. But how much of that is due to the fact that they are still benefiting from the legacy of Steve
J
obs? What happens when all the ideas and plans that he left behind for the company have run out?"

"This is speculation," Jason said firmly. "You're not comparing apples with apples, so to speak."

"I'm just saying
that
we have a responsibility, first and foremost, to our shareholders. They will go ballistic when they hear the news that you've decided to jack in everything you've built so you can move to the South of France with your pretty little girlfriend."

We both looked straight at him. If looks could kill, he would have been in a body bag.

"Watch your mouth, Mr Bridges," I said. "I have a name. If you have something to say about me, use it. Otherwise, learn some respect."

I turned my head to see the rest of the room smiling at me, Jason included. One thing I
had
learned in the last year was to respect others but also to expect respect back. Jason had taught me that no matter who you were, from the CEO of a large corporation to the guy who pushed the
coffee
trolley around each day, you were a human being and deserved to be treated with respect. Jason had no time for those who allowed themselves to be walked over. It was part of his test,
part
of the reason why so many people before me had come and gone. But once you stood you
r
ground, once you showed him you deserved respect, you would be his employee for life – or, in my case, much more than that.

"My apologies, Miss Wade. I'm having some trouble articulating my feelings here. But I simply won't sit back and allow this to happen. Jason, you need to rethink or I'll take this to the shareholders."

"And do what?"

Michael stood up. "Do you really want to test a vote of confidence? If you're going to leave anyway, maybe we should protect the assets of the company."

"So you're saying you're going to attempt to have me fired? And let me guess who you would put forward as the new CEO. Yourself?"

"If need be. If this company requires strong leadership
then
maybe I'm the man to provide it."

Jason rose from his seat and glared at his colleague. "Do your worst, Bridges. I'm quaking in my boots over here. Let's see if you can stay sober long enough to even attempt a coup. Just remember one thing. You want to be CEO? Fine.
Throw
your hat in the ring. But right now, I
am
CEO. And CEOs can fire anyone they want, any time they want.
Do
I make myself clear?"

The two men stood
staring
at each other
angrily
, an uncomfortable silence washing over the room, before Michael finally spoke. "Crystal."

"Good," Jason replied without emotion. "Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting is adjourned. If there are any further questions, get in touch with Lauren."

Jason sat back down as
everyone
shuffled out of the room. As the door finally closed, we both exhaled and looked at each other. "Well," I said, "that went well."

"Fucking prick. Son of a bitch.
M
otherfucking bastard."

"Now, now, Jason. Don't sit on the fence. Say what you really feel." My attempt to lighten the mood went unheeded.

"How dare he," Jason fumed, slamming his fist against the table. "Bridges is a two
-
bit, jumped up car salesman who got lucky. He couldn't find his way out of a paper bag, let alone run a company. Never mind my name not being attached anymore, if he takes over
he'll
bankrupt the place."

"What are you going to do? Isn't this half the point of leaving? So you don't have to deal with this nonsense anymore?"

"Absolutely. But I'm not going to let him destroy what I've built, either. Good God, Lauren, we have thousands of employees across
dozens of
countries who depend on us. We have suppliers all over the world whose livelihood
relies on what we do and how we operate
. Think about it. When I took you to Italy, I know I gave that guy a hard time in the meeting you attended. I was being tough with him, but I still give a shit about him. He's
owned
that company for
over twenty
years, his father owned it before him. He
'
s married, has three children. What do you think would happen if he lost our contract?"

I tilted my head. "His company would shut down?"

"Exactly. Then how does he feed his family? And the little town where he
'
s based, how does that recover? The company that he gets spark plugs from, how do they survive when he no longer places orders
with
them? Do you see the responsibility of building a company as large as this? Of running it? It goes far beyond here. Way, way beyond these walls. It's bigger than me, bigger than all of us. Yet the weight is on my shoulders. I can't let our employees down and I can't let all the people around the world who depend on us down either."

I placed a hand on his. "You're a good man, Jason. It's why I love you so much. We'll get through this, okay? We'll sort Bridges out together somehow."

Jason lifted my hand and looked for a moment at my engagement ring before gently kissing my fingers. "You manage
d
to get through the meeting without underwear. How was that for you?"

"Surprisingly comfortable," I laughed. "Now, I'd say it's time to go home. Do I still get a
ten
second head start when we pull up on the drive?"

"Five seconds. And keep your high heels on."

"Baby, I can run in heels like no girl you've ever seen. Even Wonder Woman couldn't sprint like me."

As Jason and I basked in the afterglow of our lovemaking, my mind began to wander. Would we really be allowed to be together, left alone in peace and relative anonymity? After all, Jason wasn't just the most familiar face at his company – he was well-known in the business world internationally, the charismatic former
p
layboy who graced the pages time and again of glossy magazines and gossip columns. His days of being photographed with multiple numbers of gorgeous women on his arms in expensive nightclubs had long gone, thankfully. But there was still the issue of him being a world-renowned billionaire, an uncompromising status symbol and recognisable business leader.