Unleashing the Receptionist: ...the Receptionist, Book 3 (11 page)

“No, I, uh, I’d rather not have to see her again.”

“Completely understandable. We’d rather hoped the same thing after the Caper deal, eh, Simon?”

“Something told me she’d be back. She’s got nine lives, that woman.” Simon clicked shut his briefcase. “Each one slimier than the one before. Don’t feel bad, Standish. I know how charming she can be when she chooses. You’re not the only one she’s manipulated. Not by a long shot.”

Standish ducked his head and dug his toe into the carpet. I knew that meant a lot to him. Trust Simon to say the right thing to make him feel better.

“And now we’d like a word alone with Ms. Arthur,” Ethan told Standish.

My pet accountant hesitated. “You’re not…She was only…”

“She’ll be fine. Now go.”

Standish left.

Ethan prowled toward me. Electric tension filled the room. Excitement clutched at my throat.

“You put me in a bind, Dana. I’m not sure why I bother to make rules when you break them so freely. So lightly.”

“Not lightly,” I protested.

“No physical contact, I said.”

“I didn’t.”

“Don’t tell Standish that we’re on to him, I said. Continue as normal. Don’t interfere with his mission. Stay away from Margo. As far as I can tell, you followed none of these directives.”

“Well, no, but…”

“Instead you took things into your own hands.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“You didn’t trust us to handle the situation.”

“That’s not it! I wanted…”

He was behind me now, not touching me, but I felt the powerful energy of his presence, the waves of intensity pouring off him. “You wanted what?”

“I wanted to prove myself to you. Prove I’m just as much a part of this firm as anyone else.”

I met Simon’s sympathetic green eyes. His hands were folded across his chest as he watched the scene between Ethan and me.

“Why ever would you think you weren’t already?”

The answer to that seemed totally obvious. “I’m just…just the receptionist.”

Ethan wheeled around in front of me, spearing me with blue steel. “Never. Ever. Say that again.”

I bit my lip and hung my head.

“Your value to us has no name, no limits, no title. You are our very own Dana and this firm would be nothing without you. We—” he glanced at Simon, who nodded, “—would be nothing without you. Do you understand?”

I couldn’t speak from the emotion welling inside me.

“Now. Infractions have occurred, and punishment is due.”

Dark shivers of anticipation made my belly clench. I nodded. His quiet voice dropped like pebbles into the still room.

“On your knees.”

I sank to my knees on the soft carpet.

He walked behind me and twined his hands in my hair. “Unbutton your blouse.”

I quickly did so, the buttons willingly sliding from their holes.

“Hands behind your neck.” I clasped my hands as he commanded. My hair cascaded over them, tickling my back.

When my blouse was open he reached inside and caressed my breasts with tender, lingering strokes. It felt different, the way he was touching me, more gentle than usual. I shifted on my knees as little tendrils of sensation made their way to my sex. He raised my skirt in the back and ran his hands across the curves of my rear, pausing at my thong underwear.

“I want you naked under your clothes for the rest of the day,” he murmured in my ear. “So I can call you in and fondle you whenever I have the fancy. Simon, hand me the scissors.”

A few snips, and my panties were curling bits of fabric on the floor. He did the same to my bra. Ethan knelt behind me. His strong fingers slipped into my pussy and stroked the swelling folds, pausing at the piercing, wiggling it back and forth. A tickle quickly grew to a burn. I panted, my hands restless behind my head. Simon crouched before me, lifted both my breasts in his two hands and took one nipple into his mouth. He swirled his warm, wet tongue across it.

I groaned. Between my legs, Ethan’s hand continued its adventures into my pussy. His hands were huge. I knew he’d killed people with those hands in his former life. They were masterful. They knew things, mysterious things like how I would react to feeling my clit pinched between two long fingers. I lurched forward into Simon’s chest. He caught me, laughing, my breasts still cupped in his hands. He brushed his fingers across my swelling nipples.

“Don’t knock over our Dana,” he teased. “We can’t do without her.”

“Indeed not,” Ethan growled in my ear. He placed one hand on my chest to steady me. When he increased the pressure, I bowed backward, which had the effect of presenting my breasts more blatantly to Simon. He took full advantage by suckling madly at my nipples, nibbling and stroking until every move of his tongue echoed deep in my pussy. A lightning storm built inside my body, the sparks arcing between my sex and my nipples.

Once when I was little I watched a storm tear apart the power lines outside our basement apartment. The line snaked into the air, tossing sparks like blinding confetti. That’s the image that flashed into my mind as I twisted there on the carpet, sandwiched between Ethan and Simon. Right now, Ethan owned my lower parts, Simon my top. Even though Simon’s erection crowded against his pants, and I felt Ethan’s bulge against my back, they didn’t seem bothered by that. I was their only focus and I ate up the attention like a flower soaking in the sunshine.

I arched my breasts toward Simon, thrust my rear at Ethan. With complete, utter lack of shame, I rubbed ferociously against the hand working my pussy. I welcomed his thumb into my ass, lost myself in the sensations he woke with his twin teasings. My eager clit and open ass became toys for his entertainment, my moans his reward.

“We know what you really want,” he taunted. “You’re such a voracious little thing, you can’t get enough, can you? Say it.”

“No,” I gasped. “I can’t get enough.”

“You want us, don’t you?”

Duh. “Yes.”

“All the toys, all the games, nothing compares to our flesh against yours, your greedy, delicious little cunt, your nipples that cry out for our fingers, our mouths.”

“Yes.”

“But that’s not all you want, is it?”

The oncoming orgasm swirled through my body like a hurricane, blowing away all thoughts. I lost track of his words.

“Is it?” He insisted, pressing my clit with two strong fingers, moving his thumb in my ass. I let out a strangled cry.

“Yes, no…” I wasn’t sure what the question was, let alone the answer.

He chuckled. “That’s okay. I know what you want. And you’re going to get it.”

They didn’t even have to consult each other. With one mind, with hands and mouths and tongues and deep, deep love, Simon and Ethan sent me over the top. I spiraled there between them, spinning and whirling in the wind, floating out of my body, then back because that body was where I wanted to be, held tight between the two men I adored so.

They held me until I slumped across Simon’s chest. He settled me on his lap, then scooted backward to prop himself against the desk. He fastened my blouse, brushing against my nipples as he did so. They stiffened obediently, so their dark points pushed against the thin fabric of my blouse. God, they were insatiable. But I ignored the pleasant tingling. I was completely, luxuriously satisfied and couldn’t imagine asking anything else from life.

Ethan knelt before me. “Now for what you really want.”

Chapter Ten

I blinked at him. How could there possibly be more?

“You want to know how Simon and I met.”

My eyes went wide. “Yes! Of course I do.” I struggled to sit up, but Simon kept me snuggled in his arms. He nuzzled his nose in my hair. The clean scent of him acted like wine to my senses, making me drowsy and happy.

“If we tell you, you’ll be the only person on earth who knows, besides me and Ethan.”

“Correction,” said Ethan grimly. “There were people who knew, but most of them are now dead.”

A chill shot through me. This was serious. I stilled in Simon’s arms. We all grew quiet. Ethan flicked an ice-blue glance at Simon, giving him the nod to begin the story. I felt the gentle rumble in his chest as he began to talk.

“You already know that Ethan was in prison in Afghanistan.”

“Yes. As a British intelligence officer.”

“Well…I was there too.”

I yanked myself from his hold and jerked around to stare at him. “You were in prison?” My own sweet Simon a captive—the thought was horrifying. Ethan was one thing. He was tough. But Simon. Tears gathered behind my eyelids.

“I was hiking through the mountains. Just adventuring, really. I had a camera and a laptop, I’d already trekked across Hungary and Turkey. I wasn’t thinking about the political realities. I got caught one night by some Taliban types who didn’t believe I was just a tourist. They threw me in prison along with the other white guy. That was Ethan.”

Simon’s jaw went tight, his scar twitched. Obviously retelling the story brought back terrible memories for him.

“You don’t have to do this.” I cupped my hand around his cheek. “It’s too hard for you.”

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it now,” came Ethan’s gravelly voice. I put my arms around Simon and braced myself for more. “Poor blighter was a mess when they threw him into my cave. That’s how I thought of my cell—as a cave. No windows, dirt floor, animals guarding the opening. But I’d found my own means of survival. Occasionally I saw other prisoners, or a guard would show up who wasn’t a sadistic prick. From them I’d acquired stubs of candles, cigarettes, drugs, chocolate, utensils, other items. I shared everything with Simon.”

“He did more than share,” said Simon. “He gave me first pick. He nursed my wounds. He wouldn’t let me give in to despair, and believe me, I would have. He was like a father bear, cuffing me into line. And one night, or maybe it was day, I often lost track, when the guards had tormented me and I’d reached the absolute bottom of the pit, he crawled over to me and put his mouth on my cock.”

My startled glance flew to Ethan. Ethan rarely sucked Simon’s cock, or allowed a prick in his own ass. I suppose it happened, in the heat of the moment when we were all touching each other. But most often it was the reverse. Simon taking Ethan’s giant cock in his mouth.

“He needed a release. He needed to remember there’s pleasure in this world. Fierce, dirty, glorious pleasure.”

Their glances held. I felt privileged to be hearing this story. I didn’t make a sound, not wanting to interrupt the flow.

“At first I didn’t know what to think. I’d never done anything like that with a man. But his touch was so soft and warm when everything else was harsh. It felt like…love. A taste of love gifted to me from a universe that didn’t want me to give in. And even though I wouldn’t have imagined feeling aroused when I was in such misery, my cock went stiff as a rifle butt. It took about half a minute for Ethan to suck me off, and I came harder than I ever had in my life. After that I slept for the first time since I’d gotten there.

“The next morning I didn’t know if I’d dreamed it. Ethan said nothing, just sat with his back to the wall, his eyes long, blue slits of light in the darkness. Those eyes were like a beacon to me. Literally. I watched his eyes for hours. I clung to Ethan’s strength. That’s what got me through it. When the guards messed with me, it didn’t bother me as much anymore. And every night Ethan would come to me and take my penis into his mouth and suck me dry.”

“You were stronger than you thought,” murmured Ethan.

“Maybe. Probably. But it’s all in your mind, after all. You taught me that. Once I could see that my mind was my own, the guards couldn’t touch me. Not in the same way.”

Ethan stared at the carpet, his jaw working. It felt strange that we were all on the floor, but also right. Almost as if we were re-enacting what had happened in the cave.

“After some time,” continued Simon, “the tables turned, and it became my privilege to suck Ethan off. I made it clear to him what was in my heart, that my body belonged to him. That my loyalty, my love, would always belong to him. After that we became lovers in every possible way. As I said, I’d never been with a man before. But it didn’t matter to me whether Ethan was a man or a woman. He was Ethan. He saved me. That bond can’t ever be broken, though it’s been tested a few times.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “Like when I fell for you.”

I shook my head. I was just a girl off the streets of Low-Life. What did these two incredible men see in me? “What happened?” I whispered.

“Eventually Ethan told me he had an escape plan already worked out. He’d been on the verge of implementing it when I showed up. But now everything had changed. He didn’t have enough resources for both of us to get out. Only one of us could go. I was under his protection, as he saw it. Therefore that person had to be me. We fought about it, but you know what a stubborn ass he can be.”

His voice held such deep love that tears came to my eyes.

“So I used the burka he’d stashed away, stole away when Ethan conked the guard on the head, met with the Russian soldier he’d paid, made contact with the British agent who had helped set it up. I made my escape, though I couldn’t stop thinking about what sort of treatment Ethan received after I’d gone.”