Submitting to the Boss (2 page)

He allowed long seconds to pass before he
answered. First he unbuttoned his suit jacket. Ruby’s gaze fell
below his waist. Her eyes widened. He’d been making plans, and
planning had made him hard.

“Nothing will be the way it was,” he said.
“Everything has changed. Close the blinds. Now.”

Ruby swallowed. She had the long, beautiful
neck of a swan. He imagined touching his tongue to the hollow of
her throat, tasting her. Those were the kind of thoughts that made
him harder still.

Ruby took a step back, toward the bank of
windows behind the sofa, as if she were afraid to turn her back on
him. Finally she pivoted, skirted the coffee table, and leaned with
one knee on the sofa to reach the pull. The blinds snapped closed.
It wouldn’t be dark for another three hours, but the shades bathed
the room in shadow.

He shoved the chair she’d been sitting in
back beneath the conference table, then stood in the center of his
office. “Come here,” he demanded.

Ruby had never taken orders from anyone, not
even him. His management style was in the form of polite requests
that, nevertheless, didn’t take no for an answer. For the most
part, his subordinates followed those requests. The few times
someone hadn’t—suffice it to say, there was only one chance per
customer. The next time he made a request, they jumped. Ruby had
never been a problem, but his requests had never been out of
line.

Tonight, however, they were going way over
the line. And he wasn’t allowing her to say no.

Ruby knew it, too. She stood in front of him,
a foot and a half between them. He could smell her perfume,
something light and a little sweet, definitely exotic. And he could
scent
her
. Musky, warm, all woman.

“You will do everything I say without
question.”

Ruby blinked, and her lips parted.

He sensed an argument and ruthlessly shut it
down. “There will be severe consequences for every infraction.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you going to fire
me?”

“I will never fire you. There are other
things worse than that. Undo your jacket.”

A pulse beat at her throat, but her bravado
hadn’t completely deserted her. “I don’t have anything on under it
except my bra.”

He gave her a steady look. “I know. I’ve
always known exactly what you have under there.” He let that sink
in.

Her eyes flitted across his face, assessing,
analyzing, wondering. Then she slowly raised her fingers to the
buttons of her jacket. It was short-waisted, cream-colored, fitted,
and hugged her large breasts. Her fingertips were the same ruby red
as her lipstick. There was nothing like red nails wrapped around a
man’s flesh.

She did what he’d ordered and no more. The
lapels hung open slightly, giving him only a glimpse of the
lavender lingerie beneath.

“Take it off,” he said, recognizing the
huskiness in his own voice. It was his turn to swallow, his throat
suddenly dry with anticipation.

Ruby slid her nails up the jacket’s lapels,
then slipped under, pushing it off her shoulders and shrugging it
down her arms until it fell to the carpet. Her nipples were tight
beads beneath the lavender lace. Underwire plumped her breasts,
held them high, a hint of dusky aureole peaking above the cup.

His mouth watered.

It wasn’t polite to entertain serious sexual
fantasies about your friend’s lover. Unless you were invited. Clay
had never invited him, and Holt was a stickler for propriety.

But Ruby had cheated, and Clay had left her.
They’d been together for three years, and though their relationship
had ended, Holt still didn’t poach on another man’s territory. So
he’d briefly outlined his plans and requested Clay’s permission to
carry out Ruby’s punishment. That was all they’d talked about, no
gory or explicit details, very little explanation, and no rehashing
of the relationship.

Permission granted. Ruby was now his.

Bra and skirt, he wondered. Or bra and
panties? “Take off your skirt, but leave the heels.”

Ruby didn’t protest this time, reaching
behind, unzipping. The skirt dropped to the carpet, pooling around
her shoes. She stepped out of it.

And stole his breath.

Miniscule thong panties cut high on the hip,
a barely there thatch of trimmed hair showing through the lavender
lace, which matched her bra. Her stomach was flat, her hips
rounded, her thighs beckoning a man to slip between them.

He reached out, tracing a finger along her
collarbone until the tip touched the strap of her brassiere. He
slid it off her shoulder. She looked elegantly debauched.

“Perfect,” he murmured. Though he was
supposed to be the one in charge, he found himself mesmerized. Ruby
was extraordinary. He almost lost focus.

He brought his gaze back to hers and met the
knowing look in her eyes. Ruby knew her own power. She needed to
learn that his was greater.

He stepped aside, pointed. “Bend over, elbows
on my desk,” he instructed.

Her brows knit with a question, but she was
smarter than to ask it.

“Now,” he emphasized.

She stepped forward, leaned over, and assumed
the position, ass in the air.

Jesus. Ruby’s ass in her short skirts was
delectable, but framed by the thong, the creamy globes were
mouthwatering.

Moving in on her, Holt cupped his hand and
slapped her sweet tush hard, fingers in a downward slant that
connected with the warmth of her pussy.

Ruby squealed.

Chapter Two

Ruby couldn’t believe she’d squealed. But
then she couldn’t believe Holt had spanked her. She’d thought he
would…well, the position was obvious. And it was one of her
favorites.

But this was Holt Montgomery. Her boss, for
God’s sake. It was crazy. Punishment? Men didn’t punish her; she
punished them.

“Clay has given you over to me for
discipline.”

“What?” She wanted to snap at him.

He swatted her again. Hard. It should have
hurt. Yet somehow he managed to connect with the sensitive folds of
her pussy. Her flesh seemed to burn with pleasure. God. It actually
felt good. And it was Holt! The sudden switch from professional to
sexual was the biggest turn-on she’d ever known.

He leaned over her, close, so close, his
aftershave tantalizing, his body musky with the scent of
testosterone and arousal. He was hard against her thigh.

“You need to learn to follow rules, Ruby,” he
said softly.

Her heart thumped in her chest, beating
against the unforgiving wood of his desk. Until the moment she bent
down for him, she hadn’t noticed he’d cleared a space for her. He’d
been planning this.

She was appalled. He was her boss. This was
sexual harassment, or something. And Clay had told him to do it?
Mostly Ruby didn’t like being in the one-down position, but in this
moment, oh, God, she wanted him to spank her again.

She didn’t feel him move, but suddenly there
was a rush of air, followed by a sharp smack on her ass and his
fingers hard against her pussy. Ruby moaned. She simply couldn’t
help herself.

“Say it, Ruby.” His breath bathed her ear.
“You need to follow the rules without question.”

She opened her mouth but couldn’t speak. He’d
actually robbed her of speech.

His hand descended again, and this time she
pushed back against his palm, squirming for more. Moisture soaked
the crotch of her thong.

“Say it, Ruby,” he ordered.

If she didn’t say it, would he spank her
again? Ruby kept her silence.

The next swat was harder, somehow penetrating
more deeply. It was so good, yet not enough. She was on the edge,
but she needed more. “No,” she whispered.

“What did you say?” he asked harshly.

“No,” she said with more force.

He slapped her ass three times in quick
succession, the last time landing straight on her pussy, his
fingers curling against her. Ruby closed her eyes and clenched her
fists, the pleasure so intense she was on the edge of orgasm.

“More, Ruby?” His words were low, his breath
warm on her skin, his cock hard along her thigh.

He didn’t rub or massage; his hand was just
there
, hot on her. Her pussy pulsed with need.

Her voice was almost a whimper. “More.” But
she didn’t beg.

Holt gave her exactly what she asked for.
Hard, delicious slaps against her ass and pussy unti
l her body began to quiver. S
he moaned and writhed
beneath the onslaught. Turning her face into his shirt, she
breathed in his scent, reveled in the maleness of it and the heat
of his hand against her ass over and over again. Until she imploded
with the sheer immensity of the pleasure he gave her, her body
shuddering with release. She wasn’t sure if he was still spanking
her, yet that orgasm went on, seemingly forever.

Finally, there was silence. The wood edge of
the desk cut into the tops of her thighs, and her pubic bone began
to ache, but the orgasmic aftershocks were staggering.

Then Ruby remembered that she was dressed in
only bra, panties, and high heels. And the man hugged close to her
side was her boss.

She thrust away from desk in a surprise move
he hadn’t expected.

A moment later, she stood in the middle of
his office—still in nothing more than bra, panties, and heels,
because Ruby was neither modest nor ashamed of her figure—and
glared at him. “How dare you?”

She knew exactly why he’d dared. Because he’d
conspired with Clay to punish her. She wasn’t about to lay down for
that kind of manipulation, yet she was completely amazed. Holt.
That he was exceptionally handsome had never escaped her, but
despite the fact that Clay thought there were no lines Ruby
wouldn’t cross, she did have a few. The most important one was
never to screw her boss. In all the tales she’d heard, there’d
never been a happy resolution for a girl on that one. It was always
messy.

Yet she’d never experienced the like.
Incredible
was too mild a word to describe that orgasm. Her
body was still quaking. And she was wet. If he’d unzipped his pants
and taken her, she certainly wouldn’t have argued. In fact, she
wouldn’t argue if he did it now—at least not on anything more than
the principal of the thing.

Holt rose indolently from the desk,
straightened his jacket and tie.

“That was only the beginning,” he promised.
Then he smiled. Like a magnificent lion who planned to take several
bites out of her ass.

* * * * *

In her barely there lavender lingerie, Ruby
was gorgeous as she pointed one red-tipped finger at him. “No man
spanks me.” Her bosom heaved with righteous indignation.

“No woman has ever climaxed for me like that
when I’ve spanked her.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t deny
the orgasm. “That was sexual harassment.”

“I told you it’s not a condition of
employment.”

She could fight him all she wanted, but Holt
wasn’t going to fire her. Now that he’d let the genie out of the
bottle, he wasn’t going to deny himself the pleasure of making her
submit. Ruby, as with any employee, had always been out of bounds,
but her behavior of the last couple of weeks had given him an
opening. Once he’d obtained Clay’s permission, he was stepping
right through. He could think of no greater delight than bringing
Ruby Williams to heel. She would fight; he didn’t care. He actually
relished the battles to come. In the end, she would be his to
command.

He waited for Ruby to say she’d quit if he
didn’t stop, but that also wasn’t Ruby’s style.

“I will never let you spank me again,” she
said.

He stepped closer, until he could smell her
arousal. He breathed deeply, letting his nostrils flare. “You
shivered with ecstasy in my arms.”

It had been all he could do to maintain
control as he’d taken command of her ass. He’d wanted her, and how
easy it would have been to pull aside her delicate thong and slide
deep inside her. He wanted her now, too, his cock aching in his
suit pants, but he’d carefully planned each step to her ultimate
capitulation and taking her at this point wasn’t part of his
strategy.

“What you don’t realize,” he added softly,
“is that you’ll be begging for it.”

She snorted. “Not on your life.”

Holt smiled. “I give you permission to get
dressed now.”

“I don’t need your permission for anything.”
Her voice rose, and her lips thinned.

Slowly, with an elegant dipping of her knees,
she picked up her skirt. Stepping into it and pulling it up, she
arched slightly as she reached behind for the back zip. She held
his eyes as her breasts plumped with the action. He caught a
glimpse of delicious nipple above the brassiere cup, but though his
mouth watered, he gave no outward sign of his desire. Ruby already
knew full well her effect on men. She retrieved her jacket and
slipped it on, all with graceful, seductive movements. As the
lavender bra disappeared beneath the buttons, he fleetingly wished
he’d tasted those nipples when he’d had the chance. But that wasn’t
in the plan. Yet.

With her mouth set mutinously, she headed
toward the door.

“This is far from over, Ruby,” he said. “I’ll
have you in my office every day like this until you’ve learned your
lesson.”

“Well maybe I just won’t show up for any more
of your little punishments.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

Holt merely smiled. “Do you really think
you’ll win a battle of wills, my sweet?”

She turned on him. “I’m not your
sweet
, and I don’t know how my relationship with Clay
becomes your business, or where he gets off thinking he can give
you
permission to punish me. I’m not playing this game with
you.”

He was on her in a flash, pushing her flush
against the door, holding her there with his much bigger body.
“You’ll play,” he whispered, lips to her ear, “because you want to
make up for what you did.” He licked her earlobe, felt her
answering shiver pulsing straight through his own body. His cock
was rigid between them, the fit perfect with her height in those
heels. “And this is the only way.”