Bared by the Billionaire (10 page)

She’d been up half the night, tossing and turning, feeling a shiver of arousal every time her stinging bottom made contact with the cool sheets. Harmon the businessman was easy to handle. In a totally different way, Harmon the dom was easy too. She’d watched enough movies, read enough erotic novels, to know what role she was expected to play. And he was a skilled lover, drawing out her pleasure and taking her to heights she’d never experienced before.

But the other Harmon, the tender one who had held her close as she came crashing down from the peak he’d driven her to—that Harmon scared her and left her feeling confused. That Harmon was dangerous. She had a job to do here and she couldn’t allow herself to feel anything for him. According to Patterson, he had masterminded the theft and may even have been the one who came up with the idea to set her up.

Now, in the clear light of morning, she decided to shove the tender Harmon into a box and slam the lid on it. She’d learn to deal with the intense pain of the spankings, the shameful thrill she was discovering she felt at being submissive to him. She’d revel in the sex and let herself enjoy every minute of it. But next time she’d coolly pull herself together afterwards, instead of curling up in his arms and dissolving into a puddle of emotion.

When Sam knocked at the door, she was ready. To her surprise, he led her back down into the lobby and then into another elevator, one that had buttons for all the other floors in the building. “This is the easiest way to get to our public offices,” he explained as they rode up. “The only floor served by that other elevator is the penthouse.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a CEO with such tight security around him,” she remarked.

“Keep in mind; this is his home, too. Lots of men in his position have gated compounds they live in, with all sorts of protection against whackos. For Mr. Harmon, we’re his only line of defense.”

She watched the whole process carefully, tucking it away in case she ever needed to make a quick escape. Sam had a plastic key tag around his neck too, that he slid into the slot in the private elevator to activate it, just like Riley had done the first day she came here. She made a mental note to ask Harmon about getting one for herself. He could hardly refuse. After all, he’d said she was free to come and go during the day when she wasn’t working.

This elevator opened onto a spacious reception area one floor below the penthouse. Like everything else Harmon surrounded himself with, the décor was ultra-modern, devoid of frills. An attractive young receptionist greeted Sam with a smile.

“This is Miss Thornton,” he said. “She’ll be working here part time over the next few months, consulting with Mr. Harmon on several projects. Kyra, this is Jessica. She’ll show you around DreamQuest Designs, get you settled into your office.”

He turned away, but not before Kyra noticed a sharp look pass between the two of them. Kyra filed it away to ponder later. She held out her hand. “Hi, Jessica, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Kyra.”

Jessica was friendly but businesslike. Kyra soon realized there’d be no cozy gossip fests between them. She led the way down a hall to a bright, spacious office overlooking the city. Kyra could see the Miami River in the distance, with unexpected patches of green springing up here and there on the occasional vacant lot between the high-rise buildings. If the city was ever evacuated, it wouldn’t be long before all the luxury condos were swallowed up by tropical vines, just like the ancient Mayan temples.

“Mr. Harmon would like you to begin by reviewing the prospectus on opening up a new market in the Middle East for his latest medical device through a possible merger with a Saudi group. He has a meeting with them next week and he’d like you to be up to speed on the details before you sit in on the session.”

Kyra nodded, looking around the office. The desktop was bare, save for a state-of-the-art control panel built into the center. Jessica pushed a button and a see-through three-dimensional computer screen appeared, hovering over the desk like a hologram. “I’d be happy to show you how to operate it,” she said, seeing Kyra’s look of surprise. “It’s really quite simple once you get the hang of it. Once you’ve been here for a few days, we’ll have time to create and install your personal program for voice command. This acts as your phone, too. You can talk to anyone, anywhere, including Air Force One and the crew of every orbital Skylab—if you have the proper clearance.”

She reached into the screen to demonstrate, flicking open various programs, then sweeping them away. She pulled up one file, leaving it there for Kyra to go through. “Here’s all the information you’ll need. A multimedia presentation on the device, including financial projections and terms of the proposed agreement.”

Kyra sank into her chair, dazzled. She’d never seen technology like this, didn’t know it actually existed outside the boundaries of futuristic TV shows. She accepted Jessica’s offer of coffee and barely noticed when the woman left, already immersing herself in the details of the transaction.

She was hardly surprised when a pot of her favorite blend appeared on a tray a few minutes later, along with a bowl of fresh fruit and a selection of bite-sized pastries. “We have a break room stocked with food and drink 24/7,” Jessica explained when she brought it in. “So many of our employees have a tendency to get lost in their work. They forget all about time, sometimes working straight through the night without noticing.” She laughed. “Then they look around, suddenly realizing they’re cranky, tired, and starving, and make a beeline for the food. I’ll show you where it is before you leave today so you can help yourself any time you want.”

Kyra worked steadily. She reviewed the agreement and then went exploring to see what other financial records he’d granted her access to. There were hundreds of documents, pages of bank statements, ledgers filled with columns of numbers. She sighed. She’d definitely have her work cut out for her, trying to find the paper trail to link Harmon to the theft from ITC. When a knock at the door startled her, she glanced at her watch. It was Sam, there to collect her for lunch already. She rose, rolling her shoulders to stretch out the kinks. Virtual screen or not, sitting unmoving in front of a computer for hours at a stretch was still hard on the body.

She took Jessica up on her offer to show her the break room. Afterwards she headed back down to the lobby with Sam and back up in the private elevator to the penthouse. She found another tray of food waiting for her on the glass-topped table in her sitting room, along with a note.

Our session will go on until very late tonight. Have a siesta. Present yourself at the lab at 8 p.m. Naked.

She shivered again. Just when she’d been able to put the D/s complications of this job out of her mind for a few hours, he’d brought it all back with a few curt words. A jolt of pure lust hit her. Shocking. Thrilling. Would she be getting her pussy waxed as he’d announced yesterday? She’d never had it done but her college roommate told her it was very uncomfortable. He said the session would go on for hours. What else did he have planned? And could he be serious about wanting her to come to the lab stark naked? What if someone opened one of those endless doors and saw her strolling down the hall with her bare tits and ass swaying?

Kyra barely touched the lunch tray. Sleep was out of the question, but she did try to lie down and rest. She tossed and turned for over an hour and finally gave up. With nothing to do, she dug in her purse for her cell phone. No calls. No new messages from Patterson. She resisted the urge to check in with him again. He’d warned her not to get in touch with him any more than was absolutely necessary. She’d agreed to text him once a week, always on a different day and time, to lessen the chance of anyone picking up their transmissions and getting suspicious.

Kyra wished she’d brought a book, some thriller to occupy her mind. She sank down on the sofa and turned on the television, flipping through a dizzying array of channels. Watching TV during the day was a pastime she never indulged in. Finally she chose a lighthearted romance, one with a ditzy heroine who had absolutely nothing in common with her present situation. When it ended, she felt more confused than ever. She’d always been sensible, responsible, careful. Not like the scatterbrained female she’d just watched, who fell head over heels in love with a man she just met.

How could she, Kyra Thornton, possibly be so wildly aroused by something as dark, as depraved, as being stripped naked, spanked hard, then commanded to kneel before a man she barely knew and take his cock into her mouth? She’d practically begged him to fuck her afterwards. If she were honest with herself, she had to admit it was the best fucking she ever had. This stranger had uncovered a side of her she never knew existed. And she found herself hungry for another taste of submission.

Kyra wandered into the bathroom and decided to take her time getting ready. She drew a bath, and sniffed every one of the scented bath salts lined up along the tub before deciding on one with the sensuous note of night-blooming jasmine. She stood in front of the mirror, undressing slowly, sliding her hands along her hips as she pulled down her silk panties. Then, feeling like a wanton slut, she turned her back to the mirror once again to see if the marks of his last hard spanking had faded.

Her bottom looked as soft and white as ever. Kyra ran her hand over it, remembering the sharp sting of his palm. Her body responded instantly. She could feel her pussy getting wet. She stepped into the tub and lay back, imagining his hands touching her everywhere. Carefully, she shaved her legs and washed every inch of her body. It was all she could do to follow the rule and not bring herself to orgasm as she paid special attention to the soft folds between her legs. Kyra ran her hand through the tight curls there, and wondered how it would look and feel after she was waxed.

Afterwards, she did her makeup, spending more time than she ever had before. Carefully, she blended several shades of eye shadow and applied three layers of mascara. She lined her lips with one of the pencils she found in a drawer of the vanity, then finished with bright red lipstick, all the while picturing her crimson lips around his hard cock.

This time, 7:57 came far too soon. She opened the door to the hall and peeked out. Empty and silent. Kyra practically ran the full length of the hall, her bare feet soundless on the cool polished wood. She knocked at the door, two soft raps, and Harmon opened it immediately. Kyra was glad her eyes were downcast so he couldn’t read her discomfort at standing there completely undressed.

“On time. Good. I’d hate to begin by punishing you for tardiness. “

It was the first time she’d been with him since last night. His tone was cool, matter-of-fact. Kyra was relieved that he showed no hint of the gentle lover who had held her in his arms after giving her the most intense sexual experience of her life. After all, this was a job for him too. As far as she could tell, he didn’t just want a submissive to fill his sexual needs. He wanted a live body to hook up to his machines so he could study its reaction to his scientific experiments. She had a feeling that achieving his own orgasm was merely a side benefit.

He took her by the hand and led her to the padded metal table that looked like it belonged in the office of her gynecologist. Except this one had straps attached to the stirrups where her feet would go.

“Get on the table,” he ordered. The table was high, so she had to step up on a little footstool he’d placed along the side in order to sit down on it. “Lie down.”

She lay back on the table, her head raised by a small but firm pillow. Harmon put the same narrow band around her forehead that she’d worn last night, but this time the ends were attached to the edges of the table. He reached down and grabbed one wrist, strapping it into a thick Velcro cuff she hadn’t noticed on the side of the table. Walking around, he slipped a cuff around her other wrist, fastening it securely.

He walked away then, to stare at a bank of computer screens on a nearby stand. Apparently he saw something amiss, because he came back and adjusted the band around her forehead. Now she couldn’t move her head at all.

He moved to stretch her legs out fully and attached cuffs to her ankles as well. Kyra felt the first flutters of apprehension in her belly. She hated being out of control. And being strapped to a table in some weird science lab, stark naked, was the textbook definition of being out of control.

Harmon checked the monitors again. This time he seemed satisfied. He walked over to one of the doors in a side wall and opened it. “We’re ready,” he called.

Kyra’s eyes widened when a striking, dark-haired woman in her late thirties came in. She wore a white lab coat that reached just above her knees, paired with strappy high-heeled sandals. She walked over to the table and looked down. Kyra blushed at the sight she must present.

“This is Natalie. She’ll be doing your waxing. Natalie, this is Kyra.” Harmon performed the introduction as though there was nothing unusual about having a naked woman immobilized on a table in his lab. Maybe this happened all the time.

The woman studied her coolly. She moved one hand, reaching down to run her fingers through the mass of tight curls between Kyra’s legs, pulling them taut to measure the length. “I’ll have to trim this first. It will make the job much easier,” she remarked, turning to Harmon. Kyra shivered. This woman’s cold, clinical manner wasn’t an act. Natalie didn’t seem to see her as a person, only as a job to be done.

Natalie went over to one of the cabinets on the wall and began arranging supplies on a rolling metal cart. She came back to the table and reached under it. Kyra heard a click and before she realized what had happened, the table separated. Natalie pushed it apart further, spreading Kyra’s legs. The table opened wide. Her pussy was now completely exposed. Slipping on a pair of rubber gloves, the woman stepped between her legs, picked up a pair of scissors, and began snipping.

Harmon walked back and forth, alternating between watching Natalie and checking the monitors. Kyra closed her eyes, embarrassed, as though she could make it all disappear if she didn’t see it.