taboo3 takingthejob

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Taking the Job

ISBN 9781419909870

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Taking the Job Copyright © 2007 Cheyenne McCray

Edited by Sue-Ellen Gower.

Cover art by Syneca.

Electronic book Publication: June 2007

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Content Advisory:

S – ENSUOUS

E – ROTIC

X

–

TREME

Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (Erotic), and X (X-treme).

The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been rated E–rotic.

S-
ensuous
love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E-
rotic
love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. E-rated titles might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words, almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry in terms of both sexual language and descriptiveness in these works of literature.

X-
treme
titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Stories designated with the letter X tend to contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

TABOO: TAKING THE JOB

Cheyenne McCray

Author’s Note

Taking the Job
incorporates only elements of Domination/submission and BDSM. It is not intended to accurately portray a true BDSM or Dom/sub relationship.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Jaguar: Jaguar Cars Limited

Taking the Job

Rain pounded down on Elsie Meyers as she hurried into the towering office building where Bennett Consulting offices were located in downtown Tucson. She loved rain and its clean scent, but right now she’d give anything for it to have been a nice, dry desert day.

“Damn, damn, damn!” she muttered as she reached the glass doors and yanked one of them open. In the space of time it had taken her to get from her car to the building, she became totally drenched. Her cream silk shirt was plastered to her skin, and her mauve linen skirt kept hiking up her thighs, damn near exposing her garters, her guilty little secret—wearing such sexy underwear beneath her clothing.

Thank goodness she’d swept her hair up and fastened it with a clip so at least she wouldn’t look like a drowned poodle. The natural curl in her red hair went nuts when it got wet. It was bad enough she was going to be attending her job interview looking like she’d taken a shower in her clothing.

Both the security guard on duty and the information desk clerk looked at her with interest, but she ignored them and took quick strides to the elevator bank. She inhaled a deep breath as she waited for the car and her nerves jumped when it dinged. On the way up she hitched the strap of her black, faux alligator briefcase up on her shoulder and tugged down on her skirt, hoping she looked halfway presentable. She’d really wanted to impress the owner and CEO of the company with a professional appearance—so much for that.

Once she got off at the floor for Bennett Consulting, she’d find a bathroom and touch up her makeup. God, why didn’t she think of that when she was on the bottom level?

Because you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry, that’s why!

5

Cheyenne McCray

John Bennett had agreed to an early evening interview because her current work schedule wouldn’t allow her the time it would take to sit down and discuss her qualifications with him. She was a software design consultant and her contract was going to expire soon.

When Elsie stepped off the elevator, she came up short.
Damn!
It opened right to the reception area, not a hallway where she could run to the restroom and check out her makeup.

She touched her upswept hair and found that an errant curl or two had escaped and she gave a frustrated sigh.

A gray-haired woman about the same age and build as Elsie’s grandmother rose from her chair behind the receptionist’s desk, her eyebrows cocked, making Elsie wonder if her skirt was on backward or if her makeup had melted all over her face.

“Just leave a wet T-shirt contest?” the woman said with amusement in her tone.

“Wha—” Elsie looked down at her silk cream blouse and felt heat rush to her cheeks and to the roots of her hair. The silk was practically invisible against her skin, her satin bra standing out as clearly as if she was wearing nothing over it. And, “Oh, my God,” she said as she saw her nipples hard and pointed through the material.

She looked at the receptionist in horror. “I-I—”

“Ms. Meyers?” came a deep male voice from her left.

Her skin prickled with more heat. If it was John Bennett, she was going to die of embarrassment. The floor might as well swallow her up right now.

Don’t let it be Bennett! Don’t let it be—

“John Bennett.” He held out his hand as she slowly swiveled toward him and her eyes met his. “Right on time.”

“Uhhh,” was the only sound she managed to get out as heat flooded her body.

A zinging sensation zipped straight to her belly when he shook her hand.

Something flashed in his blue eyes but quickly vanished as he released her. God, the 6

Taking the Job

man was gorgeous. Neatly cut blond hair, broad shoulders beneath an expensive business suit and a blue tie that matched the blue of his eyes.

And he looked somewhat familiar…

He politely kept his gaze on her face and not on her wet blouse as he released her hand.

“Are you leaving for the day, Theresa?” he asked the older woman who still wore an expression of amusement.

“If you won’t be needing me, Mr. Bennett,” the woman he’d called Theresa said,

“I’ll head out into that lovely storm. The rest of the staff has already left for the day.”

Bennett nodded and smiled. “Enjoy your grandkids while your daughter’s in town.”

“I will—the little monsters.” Theresa swept by Elsie with a smile. “See you Monday.”

As Theresa punched the button for the down elevator, John gestured toward a tall mahogany door at the corner of the expansive room filled with cubicles. “The heat’s on in my office, so you should warm up, Ms. Meyers.”

Not that her body wasn’t on fire already with embarrassment and from the intense look in the gorgeous man’s eyes—and the fact that she was practically naked from the waist up. Thoughts of him warming her up, personally, filled her mind and her cheeks were on fire.

Elsie took a deep breath as she clutched her briefcase strap with one hand and walked ahead of him as he’d indicated. She imagined the heat of his stare on her back as she preceded him to his office.

After she entered, she felt like an automaton as she walked through the door then seated herself on one of the thickly padded arm chairs in front of his desk. She perched on the edge of her seat, her back ramrod straight, her briefcase at her feet. Water 7

Cheyenne McCray

droplets trickled down her spine, ending at the waistband of her skirt. She was going to leave a damned wet spot on the chair when she stood up.

And if her libido didn’t calm down from being close to John Bennett, the wet spot wasn’t going to be just from the rain.

His office was all mahogany with rich navy carpeting and upholstery. Everything from the globe by the window to the shelves of books with various forms of artwork. It was everything she imagined an executive’s office would look like. Through the large windows the rain could be seen pouring down on the city and fat droplets splattered on the panes. The room smelled of polish, wood and new carpeting.

The sound of the door shutting met Elsie’s ears and her heart thumped in her throat at the soft footfalls coming up from behind her before he reached the chair beside her.

To her surprise he sat in it rather than behind his desk.

When Bennett was seated he still saved her from further embarrassment by not staring at her chest. He leaned casually in the chair and gave her a devastatingly handsome smile that had the effect of making her nipples tighter and her folds grow wetter.

Oh my God.

Even though her nipples had to be standing out like mountain peaks, she cleared her throat and sat up even straighter in her seat, if that was possible. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bennett,” she said, managing to get words out of her mouth for the first time.

“Yes, a pleasure,” he echoed, “but call me John. May I call you Elsie?” He eyed her as if making a monumental appraisal while not staring at her breasts. “I’ve seen you somewhere before, but I can’t quite grasp the occasion.”

“You look familiar to me too.” Good, words were coming from her head to her mouth. Maybe she could do this. “And Elsie is fine.”

8

Taking the Job

Goddamn, the woman was gorgeous. Without being obvious about it, John took in her upper body, her slim shoulders, the graceful curve of her throat and her delicate features. Her hazel eyes seemed to almost shift colors, and the curls that had escaped her upswept red hair looked so damn sexy. When he’d followed her in, he’d watched the way her small ass swayed and had studied her long, toned legs. He wondered exactly what she wore beneath that skirt. Thanks to the rain, he knew what she wore above it.

Now that he was face-to-face with her, there was no missing that her nipples were hard and obvious through her transparent shirt—
thank you, rain gods
—and the curves of her large breasts made his mouth water and his cock harden.

He shifted in his seat, trying to ease the pressure against his zipper, and hoped she didn’t look at his lap. Images flashed through his mind of his collar around her throat, her ass pink from his whip and driving his cock in and out of her pussy from behind as he bent her over a spanking bench.

Fuck.
He had to get his thoughts and erection under control.

On top of that, some serious sexual undercurrents snapped between the two of them like an electrical wire. By the look in her eyes and the tentative way her tongue darted out to touch her bottom lip, he was positive she was as attracted to him as he was to her.

Just by looking at her and her mannerisms, he had no doubt she would make an excellent submissive.

To gain some semblance of control, and to ease the tension, he commented about the weather and said he was sorry she’d had to come out in such bad weather—even though he wasn’t, sorry that was. She looked too damn delicious with her shirt plastered against her chest.

He asked her if she enjoyed her current position.

9

Cheyenne McCray

“It’s been challenging,” she said in her bedroom voice that made him think more and more about what she would be like naked, maybe even tied down to his bed. “But I’ve truly enjoyed it. I’m sorry the project is coming to an end.”

“Why are you interested in a position with my consulting firm, Elsie?” he asked, letting her name slide over his tongue and enjoying the taste of it.

She still sat rigidly in her seat, and he wondered how to get her to relax. “I’ve made the decision that I would rather work with a consulting firm than strictly on my own,”

she said.

“Why is that?” He was tempted to rub his cock with one of his hands, it ached so badly. Wild fantasies of marking her as his own continued to spin through his head.

Jesus Christ, he couldn’t remember being this affected by any woman.