Not Just Another Romance Novel (16 page)

“Fuck!” I yelled. I licked my finger and rubbed at the brand new scratch in my driver’s side door. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Scott moved in quickly, picking up my fallen crutch. He opened the door to my backseat and tossed it in. Then he pulled the crutch from my other arm and tossed it in on top. I just stared at him, confused as to what he was doing and dumbfounded at my current situation.

He shut the door to my backseat and wrapped his arm around my waist. He helped me over to my front passenger seat, and then he took the keys out of my hands without a word and got behind the wheel to drive me back to my apartment.

It was less than a ten minute walk, less than a three minute drive, but the air filled with a tense silence for all one-hundred-eighty seconds of that drive.

Maybe it wasn’t tense for him, but it was tense for me.

“Oh shit,” I muttered when he pulled into a space in front of my apartment. Dax’s car still sat out front, and I’d just remembered Master’s email that had likely come through three minutes earlier.

I checked it.

“Why are you glued to your phone today? It’s not like you.”

“Part of my research,” I mumbled.

“Who keeps messaging you?”

I looked over at Scott and flushed. Again. With all of the blood rushing to my cheeks, I was going to faint at this rate. “The dominant.”

He chuckled and then he got out of my driver’s seat, grabbed my crutches out of the back, and walked around to my passenger seat. In the meantime, I read the email.

Piper,

I enjoy hard climaxes as well. I want you to give yourself one for being such a good girl. You have one hour. Do not reply to this email until you are finished, and I need photographic evidence of your choosing.

-Master

Photographic evidence? This guy wanted me to masturbate and then send photographic evidence? What the hell?

I sighed in frustration just as Scott opened my door.

“Things not going well with the dom?” His eyes were still amused. He held out his hand to help me out of the car, and I gladly took it, a little tingle shooting up my arm at the contact. I sighed.

“You’d never believe what he just asked me to do.”

“Try me.”

“It’s too humiliating.”

“Well now I have to know. I’m sure I’ll read it in your report anyway.”

He was right, although I wasn’t sure I’d put this in the report. I handed him my phone as I grabbed my crutches.

He read the screen, and then his eyes widened. “Photographic evidence?” he asked with a smirk. He shifted on his feet.

I shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Send it my way, too. You know, for research purposes.”

I smacked him on the arm and made my way toward my door. Scott was smiling with me for the first time in a long time. He unlocked it and opened it, and then I went in. Dax sat on my couch wearing just a pair of jeans and a smile on his face.

And then the two men who were fighting for a place in my heart were in my apartment, both with smiles that faded quickly when they took in the presence of the other man.

Of course, based on the way my morning was going, this had to happen.

With Dax there, I was going to have a hard time completing Master Sebastian’s mission.

“Oh,” Scott said. “You’ve got company. I’ll go.”

“No, Scott, it’s okay. This is Dax.”

“We met briefly at Emerson’s,” Dax said, standing and sauntering over to us. He didn’t seem self-conscious about that fact that his broad chest was naked. In fact, he seemed to puff up just a little. He was suddenly the tough guy because there was another man in the vicinity.

If he only knew.

“How you doing, man?” Dax said, sticking out his hand for a bro-handshake. Scott shook his hand as his eyes flicked over to me.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Scott backed out. “Feel better, Piper.”

He shut the door behind him on his way out, and a little hollow sound echoed in my heart.

“How long have you been up?” I asked Dax after Scott left.

He gave me a sheepish look. “About ten minutes.”

I giggled.

“Your note said you’d be home around eleven, so I figured I’d wait for you.”

I set my crutches by the door and hobbled over to the couch with Dax’s help.

“You really need to put on a shirt.”

He gave me a wounded look.

“I mean because I can’t stop staring.”

He chuckled. “Stare away, sweets. I actually need to get going. I’ve got a meeting in an hour and I need to stop home first.”

As much as I wanted him to stay, it was probably a good thing he needed to go. I had some work to do before my meeting with Conrad Greene…namely, pushing myself to a hard climax and figuring out what the hell I could send for photographic evidence. Oh, and possibly writing some interview questions.

I nodded, and he pulled his shirt back on. I gave him a sad face, and he laughed. “I’ve got practice all afternoon and then we’re playing Emerson’s tonight, so I won’t be able to hang out until tomorrow. You got any free time?”

“Tomorrow?”

He nodded.

“I have a test at one, and another class after that.”

“We play Emerson’s every night through Sunday, so if you’re free, come hang out there.”

“I will definitely come hang out.”

“I feel bad I can’t be here to take care of you.”

“Don’t feel bad.”

“I could come over after Emerson’s.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dax. I’ll be okay.” His offer was sweet, and I definitely wanted to spend more time with him, but this was all so new. I wanted to take things slowly with him, and I was afraid spending every night together spelled commitment. I wasn’t ready for that quite yet.

Besides, I still had more research to do. Getting into something potentially serious with one of my test subjects would spell the end of my research as I knew it.

He nodded, and then he leaned down to kiss me, one of those hot, intense, slow, desire-inducing ones that made me want to rip off my panties.

He pulled away, and I sighed in total pleasure.

Suddenly the idea of finding a way to make myself climax didn’t seem so hard after that kiss. He gave me plenty of material to think about.

He headed out with a smile, and after I heard the door click shut behind him, I waited all of thirty seconds before dipping my fingers into my panties to take care of business.

I was more prepared down there than I’d realized, and it only took about two minutes of dipping in and out and rubbing around the bundle of nerves before I found myself crying out in pleasure.

As I waited for my quaking thighs to calm down, I thought about how I really should’ve recorded my sound effects for my evidence. But he’d asked for
photographic
evidence.

God, this was mortifying. I wasn’t sending a crotch shot to a complete stranger.

The only evidence I had was currently on my fingers. Before I could think about it and talk myself out of it, I took a picture of my wet fingers and sent it off to Master Sebastian. I hoped it was good enough and he didn’t just think I’d just run my fingers under some sink water.

I stayed on the couch in blissful peace for a few minutes, and then I had to get ready for my interview date with my CEO. Except he didn’t know it was a date.

I brushed my hair and pulled on a dress. I had a pair of ankle boots I thought might fit over the canvas brace. The more I could wrap around the ankle to keep it still while I walked, the better. I might even be able to walk without limping if I went really, really slowly.

I looked decent and I felt relaxed after Master Sebastian’s last order. I hop-hobbled over to my kitchen counter to pick up my keys and my purse, jotted down a handful of questions in a notebook, made sure I had a pen, and I was on my way to the millionaire CEO.

I heard my phone buzz as I sat at a stoplight. I sighed, wondering what the good master had in store for me next.

Piper,

Your fingers look delicious like that. I bet you taste sweet. Do you? Did you taste a sample?

Your next task is to send me a picture of your breasts. Be creative. You have until 11:30.

-Master

Great. So I had to find time between now and my meeting with Conrad Greene to snap a picture of my breasts?

I supposed as long as I didn’t get my face in it, I would be okay with it. I’d never sent dirty pictures to anyone before, and I had to admit a little thrill of excitement flashed through my torso.

I pulled into an expansive six-story parking deck and found a decent spot in close proximity to the elevator on the fifth floor after circling around the deck.

I shuffled my way slowly to the elevator. I took it down to the first floor, walked what seemed to be at least a block, and entered the Greene Apps building. A monstrous ten-story building housed Conrad Greene’s various divisions. I stepped through a metal detector, and then a security guard rifled through my bag. Apparently Mr. Greene took no chances with security breaches.

The security guard pointed me to a check-in desk. I stood in a short line and waited my turn patiently, worried the entire time I wasn’t going to get my chance to complete Master Sebastian’s task. Today really wasn’t the day for all of this nonsense, but I was stuck.

It was just too damn many dates in one day. First waking up next to Dax, then running into Scott, then the master, then the CEO…and the next day I had my date with the athlete.

My head was spinning and my ankle was throbbing.

“Next,” a bored voice said, indicating my turn. The woman behind the counter looked at me pointedly without speaking.

I waited for her to address me.

“Who are you here to see?”

“Mr. Greene,” I announced proudly.

“Name?” She said it like she didn’t believe me, like my name wasn’t going to be on the list.

“Piper Andrews.”

She clicked her mouse a few times, and I wondered if she was actually looking up my appointment or if she was liking things on Facebook or playing a game of solitaire.

“Eleven-thirty?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Take the furthest bank of elevators to the tenth floor. Justine will direct you to Mr. Greene’s office. Have a nice day.”

I heard her call “Next” in the same bored voice as I turned toward the elevators. I tried to appear as if I was strutting when in actuality I was shuffling to keep as much weight off of my ankle as possible. The lobby area was filled with people. Some looked to be employees, some were customers or clients. And I was moving slowly through the crowd, holding up some while nearly tripping on others who cut me off.

I didn’t have much of a choice.

I took the elevator up and emerged onto the tenth floor. The doors opened and immediately in front of me was a huge reception area behind glass doors. The room looked ultramodern with black furniture and gray walls with white molding. Various splashes of green were woven into the modern design. A picture here, a pillow on a chair in the waiting area there. I thought about Mr. Greene’s last name and had to admit it was a nice touch.

The Greene Apps logo was emblazoned on one of the gray walls.

“Good morning and welcome to Greene Apps. How can I help you?”

A beautiful brunette in her early twenties smiled at me from behind the black reception desk. I had to wonder if Mr. Greene had tapped that.

“I have an eleven-thirty with Mr. Greene.” I forced my voice not to sound like a question. I faked confidence.

It was just hard when I was trying not to limp and when I was thinking about taking a picture of my breasts.

Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that my mouth dried out the second I stepped off of the elevator. I really had no idea what I was about to ask Mr. Greene. The questions in my notebook suddenly seemed elementary and stupid. I felt completely out of my element in this fancy office.

“Welcome, Ms. Andrews,” she said without skipping a beat. “I’m Justine. Please have a seat and Alice will be out to get you in a few minutes. Can I get you anything?”

I sat, thankful to get off of my ankle. “Some water would be fantastic.”

“Of course.” She excused herself and returned with a bottle of Greene Apps water a moment later. I gulped down half the bottle gratefully.

“Where is your restroom?” I asked. I knew I sounded like an idiot, but I only had a few minutes to get this done.

“Down the hall and to your left.”

“Thank you.” I stood and stuck the bottle of water in my purse, and then I started the long shuffle down the hallway to the restroom.

My heart raced in my chest. I absolutely could not believe I was about to do this.

I got lucky. It was one of those single stall bathrooms instead of a big public one.