Touch Series (Contemporary Romance) Page 7

  Lolita flipped her blonde hair over one shoulder, patted her short black bandage dress into place and stalked across the room. Michael saw her coming and swiftly turned Kelly away, toward a cross set up on one wall. Lolita paused, well aware of the rules, interrupting while someone was in a scene, engaging in an act of BDSM, was clearly a violation of those rules.

  Michael knew she was watching, he wanted her to watch, to see what he had with Kelly so she would know once and for all that they were done, that what he had was so special she couldn’t touch it. He wanted everyone to see. Kelly didn’t resist as she was a little taken aback by the sudden transition from the side of the table where the food was laid out to being up on a cross with him snapping wrist and ankle cuffs into place. Her lack of resistance was perfect though for what he had in mind.

  Everyone watched as he used a slim knife to cut the dress from her body. Kelly stood stock still, her mind screaming in terror even as her nipples hardened and her pussy grew wet. When her dress fell to the floor to reveal her nakedness below there was a murmur of appreciation from the crowd.

  Michael took the slim riding crop with its evil little flat tip and began running it up and down her body. Shivers broke out and gooseflesh rose across her flesh at the sensation. The leather was hard and unforgiving; her legs shook as she waited for the inevitable blows to land.

  Michael drew closer, his free hand tangled into her hair, knocking it loose from the carefully placed pins and sending it tumbling over her shoulders in a dark auburn spill. Her mouth formed a small ‘O’ and her eyes went to half-mast as a thrill shot up her spine. He dragged her head back, her neck ached from the nearly impossible angle but he stepped up onto the cross with her, his hard thigh sliding up between her leg to push against the sensitive flesh of her mound and he pressed his mouth to hers, sealing off her thoughts with a kiss so intense she forgot to breathe for a long second.

  The crowd stood mesmerized, something special was happening and they sensed it. Lolita glanced around at the others gathered there and rage filled her so completely she felt she would choke on it. Unable to help herself she looked back at the couple on the cross.

  Michael stepped off the cross and took the riding crop more firmly into hand. The first blow landed with a stinging ache that made her yelp and twist, the second, on her other ass cheek, caused the same reaction.

  Soon pain melded into pleasure. Kelly was lost in a daze created by the fact that she was tied and helpless and that everyone could see what she was allowing to be done to her. Michael pushed a finger into her depths, running the soaked digit in circles around the hardened bud of her clit. She gasped and her lust intensified tenfold. She was already about to come and they had barely begun.

  Michael backed off, his own passion high. He picked up the tiny wooden paddle, tested it against the palm of his hand and smiled at the satisfying sting it left behind.

  Kelly gave a muffled scream as the paddle fell onto her ass cheeks in a solid line of pain. She twitched and sobbed, her fingers curling against the wood of the cross. The paddle came down again and again.

  Michael stopped and stepped back to admire his handiwork. Kelly’s ass was a rosy red and when he rubbed his fingers across it to soothe her it was hot to the touch. She went limp below his touch and he whispered reassuring words as he turned her around to face him.

  The chains that the cuffs were attached to gave off a musical jingle and the crowd murmured again at the sight of the long glistening streaks of come coating her inner thighs. Kelly tried to speak but she couldn’t, all she could do was moan out an articulate cry for his mercy.

  Michael stepped back up onto the cross, his thigh moving up against her mound again. Her hips bucked wildly against the smooth muscles there, his slacks abrading her clit and delicate inner lips. His teeth found her nipples and tugged at them.

  An orgasm exploded from within her. Her body hung there, shuddering and arching, helpless against the sensations he was loosing inside her. She cried out again and again and Michael finally stopped, holding her close in the shelter of his arms.

  Her face was buried in the crook of his neck and her tears soaked his skin. Coming back from those heights made her abruptly and terribly aware that the entire group had just watched her writhing in blind lust. Shame bloomed but was wiped away by his gentle ministrations as he took her down and led her to the middle of the floor, still naked, where he had her kneel.

  The floor was cold beneath her knees and she was painfully conscious of everyone’s eyes on them. Michael reached out a gentle hand and caressed her cheek.

  “You are mine,” he said softly. “I’m your master and you’re my submissive. I take you as my submissive. This collar is the symbol of your agreement to cede to me, to surrender to me.”

  Lolita ground her teeth together in anger as he produced a gorgeous solid gold collar from his pocket and clasped it around Kelly’s neck. Around the room an approving murmur arose.

  Kelly stared up at him, naked adoration in her eyes as he dangled the key to the collar in front of her, “If you want this collar, relinquish the key. If you agree, hand it back to me.” The key pressed into her palm and she closed her hand over it, feeling its shape burning into her skin.

  She wasn’t giving up her independence, wasn’t giving up her own will, she was giving herself. She practically tossed the key back at him and the entire crowd laughed softly as Michael caught it one handed and let out a huge bellow of laughter.

  Kelly was dragged to her feet. Michael spun her around in a giddy circle and then shouted out to the crowd, “Meet my submissive!”

  There were cheers and laughter. Other submissives came up to admire the collar and other Masters clapped Michael on the back and complimented him on a job well done. Only Lolita didn’t join in with the well -wishers, she slipped out the back door, her mind in turmoil and her rage so great she could not even fake a smile.

  **

  The days slipped past. Kelly had yet to move in with Michael, she had a few weeks left on her lease and they had agreed that it was best to finish that out. Besides it took a little for her to get used to the fact of Oliver just as Michael, who had somehow managed to tame Princess almost the moment they met, had to do some rearranging of drawers and furniture.

  There was also the matter of their having to figure out what to do about work. While they had been dating they had also been exceedingly discreet but it was clear to both of them they had to figure out what to do. There was an opening in another department that suited Kelly well and she put in for it.

  She expected to hear a decision that morning so she wasn’t surprised by the coterie of suits walking down the hallway to Michael’s office but two hours later they were still in there. She figured it was a business meeting and went back to her own work but was interrupted by a knock at her door.

  She called out a hello, expecting to see Michael or another employee there but instead she was faced with the VP of the corporation, a man whose face she only knew from the pictures in the hallways.

  “Mr. Clifton,” she scrambled to her feet and tried to shove a stack of papers off of a chair as inconspicuously as possible, “Would you like to sit down?”

  “No, Miss Miller. I would like a word with you about several files.”

  She wasn’t prepared for that answer. She blinked at him momentarily and then said, “Which files, sir?”

  He named them and she nodded. They were the exact same files Michael had asked her about when he had taken over the department. She went to her computer, recalled the printouts and went to the cabinet where she stored hard copies of her files. Putting them all on the desk she began the same process she had with Michael, showing the discrepancies and the places where those things had been corrected.

  Clifton was a stocky man with a ruddy face and a slight paunch straining at the front of his Italian hand-tailored suit. He listened so intently she felt uncomfortable and when she finished he asked more questions, questions that had her pointin
g out other issues with the files: odd dates and blank spaces where replies between departments should have been.

  “Who had access to these?”

  “Almost everyone.” Kelly replied promptly. “They went through several hands before they came into mine and it wasn’t just the people in this department, these were accessible to everyone on the top four floors as well.”

  “I see.” There was a guarded neutrality in the man’s voice that made her look up, a prickling sensation shooting along the back of her neck. “Did you notice this before or after Michael Adams came onto this department?”

  Her nostrils flared, “What are you asking me sir?”

  Clifton leaned across her desk. She had remained standing and his nose nearly touched hers. His breath, rank with heavy garlic and cigarette smoke, puffed across her cheek as he said, carefully and deliberately, “Is Michael Adams embezzling from the company?”

  “What? No, the files were screwed up before he came. I showed them to the previous head of this department but they blew me off, then they transferred out.”

  “Are you his lover?”

  Her face went white with terror. Her heart slammed into her chest walls and she could see the entire future crumbling around her. “I’m sorry?”

  “We’ve been informed that the two of you are lovers and that Michael has a rather unsavory past. Given that we have no proof that this embezzling was occurring before he took over the department and due to the fact that it is still ongoing we are well within our rights to ask the question.”

  “Is your next question am I his partner in crime?” Her voice was cold with anger. “I did inform the previous head of the files having discrepancies, here is the email,” she tapped more keys on her computer and it came up. She hit print and when the paper shot out of the mouth form the printer, she slammed it down on her desk hard enough to break a nail.

  Mr. Clifton looked it over carefully, his prissy little mouth pursed. “That doesn’t answer the much bigger question.”

  “It’s none of your business at this point.” Michael’s voice was hard and cold. He stood in the doorway and she had to fight back an urge to run to him and throw herself into his arms. “Neither of us are embezzling money and if you need any further answers on that you may feel free to ask them, and only them. Furthermore I want the name of my accuser as I have that right.”

  Clifton sat the paper down. He had the good grace to look slightly abashed. “I have never seen this report,” he said, tapping it with one finger, “Why is that?”

  “I would like to know the same thing.”

  The man speaking was the owner, Angus McManus. He was a small dapper man with a carefully cut mane of white hair and a filigreed cane that was made of pure rosewood.

  “It’s your companies bad policies.” Kelly said, no longer in the mood to be polite. “The rules say that if we have an issue it goes to the superior in our own department so if the issue goes further than our department it gets stuck in a backlog of don’t-tell-me, or it’s-not-my-problem type bullshit. If the people responsible are the heads of the department everything gets buried.

  “Now the person who headed this department before is up on the floors where you sit. So they got a promotion and funds are still leaving this department. Only the department head, Michael in this case, can make a case about that but he can’t do that until the monthly meetings in which his department is allowed input, which is every three months. In other words he hasn’t been in this department long enough to even be able to tell you he thinks someone is stealing from you.”

  Mr. McManus’s lips twitched. “Thank you Ms….”

  “Miller,” she replied tightly. “In case you need to know how to spell it on my termination form, it is on my nameplate there on the desk.”

  “We have no need to fire you,” Clifton said in a hurried voice. “We just need to get to the bottom of this situation. Surely you can understand that.”

  “You’ve said enough to her.” Michael said sharply. “You still haven’t told me who accused me of this.”

  Clifton looked uncomfortable, “We got an anonymous tip.”

  “Let me guess,” Kelly said caustically. “It was a woman.”

  He looked a little astonished by that. “Yes, it was.”

  “Are we finished here?”

  The other men looked at Michael and at each other. Clifton finally said, “I think this office is a bit too small for all of us.” There was a general sound of agreement and a mass exodus. For a few minutes there was only silence then Michael shut the door and turned to face her.

  “Lolita,” they both said at the same time.

  “I’m so sorry.” Michael said.

  “Don’t be. My ex is an asshole too. He cheated on me constantly with every woman I brought around as a friend and some I have probably never even heard of. He might pop up and do some incredibly stupid thing at some time or another though to be honest he’s such a dumbass he’s probably forgotten how to get to my house.”

  Michael’s eyes were warm but neither of them moved closer to each other, they were being watched and they knew it. “I have to get back to work. I want everything, every single file that was ever a little sketchy in my office by five o’clock.”

  “Aye, aye sir,” she sketched him a quick salute and he grinned despite the seriousness of the situation.

  **

  At eight the following morning the two of them sat inside Clifton’s office. The four upper floors were decidedly different from the ones below. Even though Michael made a stiff salary the people who worked on the top four floors made enough to make it look paltry in comparison. They both knew that the lowest salary paid to someone on those floors was a cool million-five a year with benefits, like use of private apartments and time shares, expense accounts with staggering limits and a few other perks.

  Michael looked right at home in that office. Seated on the dark leather sofa, the heavy masculine furniture providing the perfect background for his good looks, with a priceless bit of modern art on the wall behind him. Power radiated out of him.

  Kelly knew most people would have looked rumpled and small sitting there, she was fairly certain that she did anyway, but he didn’t. He was made for those floors and she smiled at him, more sure of him than ever.

  “This is disconcerting.”

  Kelly said nothing. There was really nothing to say. The proof was there. One of the top executives at the company was stealing and had been for years. He was sitting in an office three doors down from the one they were seated in and he was one of Clifton’s friends and, in fact, had been in on the meeting in Michael and Kelly’s offices the day before.

  “I have to call McManus.” His fat finger stabbed at his cell phone. Kelly noticed he didn’t use the company phone and could guess why. This would be handled from the inside and as quietly as possible. The company couldn’t afford a scandal. After all, they had a reputation to keep up. If they weren’t capable of protecting their own money how could they protect their client’s money?

  McManus showed up two minutes later.

  “I don’t suppose I need to tell you two that we would appreciate the utmost discretion on this matter.”

  “I don’t think we need to tell you that we have worked hard to deal with this discreetly, which is more than I can say for you given that the way you came barreling into our offices yesterday certainly set tongues to wagging.” Michael’s voice was calm but his eyes were not.

  McManus sighed, “Yes and I apologize.”

  Something unspoken seemed to cross the air between him and Michael. The two men gave each other long stares and then Michael stood. “Have a good day gentlemen,” was all he said.

  They didn’t touch as they left the office or as they stood in the elevator. At her office he paused for a moment and gave her a long slow smile that said he wasn’t worried and that helped to reassure her too. She went into her office and picked up the project on which she had been working the day before.
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br />   **

  Kelly stared at Michael. His face was creased into a grin as he reached out and lifted her chin up, snapping her mouth shut again.

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “They need someone to fill in for the thief.”

  Joy burst through her. “I’m so happy for you!”

  He hugged her, “You haven’t heard the best part.”

  She backed up,” What is that?”

  “They need someone to head up this department and nobody, nobody, knows it better than…you do.”

  She gaped at him all over again. Of all the things she had thought he might say that was sure as hell not one of them. “Me?”

  “You,” he confirmed. “You deserve it, never think you don’t.’

  Tears spiked her lashes. Just a few weeks before she had been sure she was about to lose everything, instead she had gained everything.

  There was nothing left to be afraid of. The man standing in front of her had claimed her: heart, body, soul and mind. She belonged to him and she was safe with him.

  A feeling of undeniable happiness swept through her. She whispered, “You deserve it. How did I ever get through my life without you in it?”

  “The same way I did,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose. “But we have each other now.”

  “Now…and forever.” Kelly said.

  “Yes,” Michael replied, embracing her tightly. “Now and forever.”

  His hands played along the collar, that endless circle of gold, that promise and their future.

  The End

  ###

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