The whimper I release into his hand is both pathetic and electrifying.

My body gives me away. Every part of me is charged, ready. The amount of wetness that manages to seep between my skin and his trickles down my thigh. My nipples are so sensitive that all it takes is one pinch and I’m near orgasm.

He didn’t tell me not to come.

Sounds I barely recognize fill the air, muffled by this man’s large, strong hand clamped upon my mouth. I know we’re both close when I feel him tense within me, the sounds of sex so strong and enticing that they’re all I can hear. I want him. I want him inside me, like this, getting ready to release himself until I scream for more.

I’m not surprised when I start to climax. The entirety of my body shudders. My brain explodes in my head. My eyes are closed, but light comes through in the form of nirvana claiming me.

This isn’t a normal orgasm, however. This is something else.

Something is happening, and not only to my body.

Somewhere in the depths of my mind I realize that it wasn’t “Katie” the sub enjoying this. No, at no point in my dreamy haze did I think I had to change my attitude to enjoy this. I just did.

I didn’t need an excuse.

There’s something even scarier happening as I lie here, being fucked halfway out of sleep by a man I’ve let collar me and do whatever the fuck he wants to me – shit like this.

What’s happening is that I not only want my own pleasure, but his own. For his sake.

I want him to use me to feel good.

I want him to keep me quiet, docile, and accepting of what happens.

Good God do I want him to!

When I hear him grunt in orgasm, I’m elated. When I feel him pulse within me, I’m relieved. Yes, I physically feel good. Great, even. It’s a good orgasm, and I’m going to lie here and ride it out as a wonderful way to start my day. What feels fantastic, however, is hearing his pleasure tear through him, his body emptying into me his stress, his fears, and his insecurities.

Fuck my life. Nova was right.

His soothing warmth brings me down from my submissive high. Ian stays within me a few more seconds, hand slacking against my mouth until his arm falls over the edge of the bed. When he pulls out, I realize how wet I was – how wet he has made me. My head rolls onto the pillow and I close my eyes, ready to go back to sleep.

“Wake up, darling. It’s nearly time to go to work.”

Ah, fuck him.

Chapter 8

IAN

“Reports forecast a projected revenue of $15,000,000 the first quarter,” my company’s accountant says halfway through our meeting. “This is of course assuming that all reservations are followed through and the pattern of interest continues. If I could direct your attention to Section 3 and the chart at the bottom of the first page…”

Papers flip over in unison. I have to lick my thumb twice to get mine to turn. Usually Valerie prepares my papers for me, but today she was so busy that it’s a miracle I got this delivery at all. And now I can’t turn a fucking page.

Seeing me struggle, Kathryn leans over and turns the page for me. Nobody pays us any attention.

It’s the first day of the final phase of her training. After waking up with a raging hard-on, thanks to denying myself relief yesterday, I decided to push some boundaries and see how Kathryn would react to me fondling her in her sleep when her collar was on – I would never if it were off.

Unless, of course, she told me I could.

She not only got into it – she flourished.

I thought it only right to mark my sub before we went off to work. I let her have free reign of her work clothes this week, and I’m pleased to see her in a stylish white turtleneck and black pencil skirt, hair up high on her head in a twist and jewelry so minimal that she’s only wearing her collar. I’m pleased to see this because the collar blends in flawlessly with her look. Nobody would ever expect what that necklace really symbolized.

I want to lean over and kiss her cheek, rub her shoulder, and take her hand in mine. I don’t. Not in a situation like this.

She’s my full-time sub these next few days, but our situation is still a secret. I can’t risk too much affection out in the open.

There are other ways she can serve me, however. Flipping my paper over when I had such a hard time was a nice touch.

“Finally,” the accountant continues, “there’s the matter of funds we’re still waiting on from Xavier Crow.”

I perk up. Kathryn looks somewhat interested. My father, on the other hand, shrinks in his seat with one hand over his face.

Great.

“Go get us some coffee,” I whisper to Valerie. “Get yourself some too. We might be here a while.”

Valerie is five folders deep into taking notes, and she gives me a look of, “You better be shooing me away because you don’t want me to hear this, and not because you’re a lazy ass.” A bit of both, really.

“I’ll get it.” Kathryn stands up, smoothes out her skirt, and smiles at me. “I know how everyone here likes their coffee.”

Anita, her assistant, glances at her as if she’s lost her mind. I’m halfway to giving her that look too.

Before I can say anything, Kathryn has left the room.

“Don’t get me started on Crow,” my father says, interrupting my thoughts. “We were supposed to have the money in our account last week, but nobody can get a hold of the guy. I have no idea what’s going on. It’s giving me a headache.”

“If you don’t find the money soon…”

“I know what that means!’” My father slams his hand on the table, startling Anita and making Valerie roll her eyes. “We’ve got a ball to throw for the opening of the hotel. We’ve got supplies to stock. We’ve got brand new employees to hand out uniforms to and pay. At this rate, we’ll be making them pay for their own uniforms. That will go over well…”

Protestors echo in the back of my mind. Yeah, they would love that bit of news.

The accountant flips his folder shut and regards my father with near-disdain. “These discrepancies need to be covered soon. Either find a replacement investor or light a spark beneath Mr. Crow’s ass.”

“As soon as I grow an arm long enough to reach the west coast, I’ll let you know.”

Kathryn returns with a tray of coffee cups. She gives one to Anita first, then my father, then Valerie, then the accountant who declines because he’s heading out, and then…

Coffee lands in front of me. Delicately. Placed there with such care that we get more than a few looks. The accountant sighs again.

I’m not even sure Kathryn got herself coffee.

I thank her and say my goodbyes to the corporate accountant. He brushes me off. Yeah, the guy’s an ass, but there’s a reason we pay him hundreds of thousands a year to keep our finances in check. I think we’ve given him a couple of strokes over the years, and this latest debacle with missing investor funds is only the latest case.

“I don’t want to hear it.” Apparently my father is a mind reader. “Now I have to go crawling to your mother and ask her for some of the funds for a bigger investment.”

“Good luck with that. She hates your guts.”

“Fuck it! I’m going out to get a drink with the boys at the club.” My father leaps up from the table and ambles toward the conference room door. “Maybe one of them will have a few million to spare… thanks for the coffee, Kathryn.”

The four of us are left with an uncomfortable silence. “That’s a lot of missing money,” Kathryn mutters.

“Valerie,” I say, turning to my assistant. “Go make copies of these folders, would you please? You might want to take Anita with you.”

Silently, both assistants leave, giving Kathryn and I some privacy in the closed-off conference room.