Necessity Is the Mother of Obsession

The Gambit – Sportsmanship Matters

Author's note:

This story arc is my first attempt in the Erotic Couplings genre. My other attempts all seem to have devolved into Romance. I suppose this could be, too. This is Part 2 of a 5-part story arc. There is a lot of non-sexual moving the story forward at the beginning, then the more erotic stuff, including some bi/lesbian. Please vote/comment. Consider it like applause. It's how I know whether I'm pleasing my audience. Enjoy...

* * * * *

Tuesday Early Morning

To Karen, 5am Tuesday came way too early. She was still a little giddy from the previous evening's fucking, and a lot sore. She hadn't been stretched like that for six months. Actually, for a lot longer than that, since Greg wasn't all that big. John was, though, and she felt it.

She also felt him curled up behind her when the phone rang. He still believed in wake-up calls for some reason.

"Would you be a darlin' and get that?" he mumbled into the back of her neck.

"Owww..." was her moaned reply as she leaned forward to pick it up. "Hello?"

It was the automated Chatty Cathy informing her that it was her wake-up call and wishing her a great day in beautiful, exciting Las Vegas. She slammed the handset back on its cradle.

"Wake up and make me happy," she said to thin air, hoping it would reach his ears.

"My, my, my..." she could hear his smile. "Take off Number 27 and look who gets her Dom on..."

She reached behind her, groping for the steel bar she felt pressing into her butt.

"Alright, alright, alright!" he hastily amended. "Coffee and a great breakfast coming up!" He scrambled out of the bed and headed for his bathroom, bobbing erection leading the way.

His bathroom

, she thought as she lay there, a very happy woman.

That's right. This is his room. I slept with him in his bed last night.

She stretched like a cat unwinding.

Awesome! Wonder where I'm working next week?

She also considered the relative distances between his bathroom and hers, and how badly she needed to pee, and decided his shower would do. She eased out of bed and waddled to the bathroom where he was still sitting on the toilet. Not stopping, she opened the shower, turned the water on full hot and stepped in, adjusting the temperature down as she relieved herself. She had it tolerable, on the hot side, and was letting the stream pound away at her neck and shoulders when he stepped in.

"Do you shampoo in the morning?" he asked as he grabbed a sponge and body wash and began with her neck and shoulders, working his way down.

"Not usually," she told him. "My hair takes too long to dry, usually. Shampooing is the night before. But after last night and given the time we have this morning, I probably will."

"No, you won't," he told her as he moved to her back and butt. To her surprised expression, he added, "I will." He reached out to the vanity and grabbed the hotel's bottles of shampoo and conditioner. He then proceeded to give her a lesson in Heaven.

I haven't been pampered like this since my 21

st

birthday,

she thought,

when Daddy treated me to a day at the spa...

and out of nowhere, the rush of sadness surprised her. She fought to get it under control quickly, before John could notice. He was busy working the shampoo and conditioner through her hair, and washing and rinsing her... making her feel loved, maybe even adored. Her fantasies might have run wild with that one if it weren't for the memory of losing her Dad.

That's just the way it is,

she thought.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,

she sang in her head,

and most times you choose between the two... I didn't choose that one, though. Daddy should've lived a lot longer. He was a good man...

"Earth to Karen, Earth to Karen..." She heard his voice breaking into her thoughts.

"Yes?" she answered, turning to look at him over her shoulder.

"You're all clean as a whistle, with the usual exception," he told her. "If you want to finish yourself up and start drying off, I'll get finished and get breakfast started. Then we can hit the notes."

"What usual exception?" She really, actually, didn't know what he meant.

"Your pussy," he explained. "I thought you might be either a bit sore or a bit hinky about me rubbing you there, so I skipped it. There's a razor out on the vanity, if you want it."

"Don't you think if you are going to pamper your lover," she asked, wondering again where she was getting the bravado, "you should wash and shave her as well?" She smiled at his surprised expression.

"

Where have you been all my life?

" he muttered as he stepped out to grab the razor. He figured the body wash would have to do for shaving gel.

"The last six months," she called after him, "I've been right outside your door!"

"How much do you love that landing strip?" he asked as he stepped back in.

"Why?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Well, it's nice," he admitted, "but I'd prefer you bare. If I'm going to shave you, I can either do it my way or leave it the way you have it."

"If you prefer bare, make it bare," she decided. "I'm your lover this week."

She grabbed the handicapped bar and steadied herself as she spread her legs and he smeared body wash all over her pussy as he knelt down to get a better look at what he was doing. Apparently he was an expert with a razor because it wasn't long before he'd removed all vestiges from her groin, including the little swirly spot where her lips came together that she always had a problem getting completely smooth. Plus, her landing strip was gone, replace by beautifully bare skin.

"After you're dried off," he told her, standing up, "and before you get dressed, see me. I've got an aftershave that will take out any irritation I might have caused." She leaned forward and kissed him in reply. "Okay, I'm out of here, off to make breakfast. See you in a bit," he told her as he finished putting things away.

By the time she was dry, except for her hair which she put in a towel, she could smell breakfast cooking.

This man is spoiling me

, she thought.

I'd better come through today...

She walked out sans clothes to find breakfast almost ready. When he saw her emerge, he ducked into his room and came back with a small bottle of

The Cool Fix

from Shaveworks. She'd never seen it before.

"Allow me," he told her. "Spread 'em." She laughed a little as she complied.

"I found out about this from my ex-wife," he explained. "She was told about it by one of her black boyfriends. He swore it was great for razor bumps and I'd have to agree."

Karen sat on her initial response, which would have been to ask "black

boyfriend?

While you were

married?

" Instead, she chose to keep her mouth shut, discretion being the better part of valor, or whatever the saying was. She did appreciate the cool, soothing feel of the gel as he applied it, almost as much as she appreciated the feel of his finger probing around down there. But this was a work day.

"Okay," he finally told her, "throw on a robe or something. We have about two hours to eat and review our ammunition before we have to dress and drive over there. I'll set out a plate for you on the dining table. We can spread out there." Without waiting for her to answer, he went back to the kitchen and started putting together a plate for her.

She did as asked and threw on a robe, going to the table. He laid out breakfast for them and two stacks of papers. He dug in and apparently expected her to, as well, since he started flipping through the documents as he ate. She took her time eating, but watched him, closely. She knew what was in the files. She had put them together. She was just waiting for a clue as to what he wanted from her.

"Okay, so Morton Industries is privately held by a tight group of investors holding shares. Pearson, Mills and Morton own 68% of company. Pearson holds 20% and wants to retire and cash out his part but is staying for now because he objects to Mills' desire to downsize and divest their real estate holdings and some of their light manufacturing. Mills is currently holding 22%. Morton holds 26% and wants to keep the status quo, sort of, and leave a legacy to his grandkids. He's amenable to merging with Tikken, which owns 18% of Morton and in which we hold a controlling interest of 72%."

"Tikken wants to leverage some of the unused real estate to expand manufacturing, rather than downsize, although some repurposing may be in order. Pearson's the wild card. If he throws his stock at Mills, they end up with 42% and control of the company. If he throws in with us, we end up with 38%, and control. If he throws in with Morton, he ends up with 46% and control."

"We don't want to control the company, but we do want it to expand. So if we convince Pearson to split his shares and sell half to us and half to Morton, then Morton ends up with 34% and control, we're next with 28% and Mills comes in third with 22%. The other 14% is scattered across a small group of retirees, holding their shares as investors. Now, when Mills figures out what's going on, he going to try to acquire Pearson's shares by whatever means, which will include going after the 14%, which means the price will go up. Way up. So we need leverage to convince him not to do that. Rather, if Mills thinks he can work with us and our combined 50%, he may be tractable..."

Karen listened to John rattling off the situation and possible strategy and kept a running log of mental notes. She had already organized the background material by the interests of the three primary stockholders and she had a lot more on her laptop. She was going to end up being a "facts and figures" girl... the one John turned to for quick statistics.

"Today will probably be boring," John was telling her as they finished up. "Morton will have his people presenting their status all morning long. We'll cover positioning and proposed solutions in the afternoon. There may be some quibbling about numbers, but I don't expect any major arguments until Wednesday. Today will be mostly sparring."

"Oh, and you're going to meet Lucretia Jenkins, my lead attorney on this merger, so play nice."

"What does 'play nice' mean?" Karen wanted to know. It could make a huge difference to John.

"I don't want to prejudice you," he told her, "and... Lu's a shark, used to swimming in a very big pool of sharks. She's bi, leaning towards lesbian and definitely oversexed. I think she takes some of her frustrations out through her lawyering. Definitely a Dom. Also a bit snarky about any woman I am, or have been, having a relationship with... none of them, to her mind, are good enough for me. I don't know where she gets off having that opinion. Maybe it comes with my charm. Or maybe it comes from having been balling buddies at one time."

"In any case, although I doubt there's any truth to the rumor that she was named after Lucrezia Borgia, it may look like she's taking an instant dislike to you. Don't take it personally. And don't torpedo her. She's going to need a 'facts and figures girl' just as much as I do. We're all on the same team here. Is that enough info to keep you from sabotaging her?"

"More than enough, sir," Karen told him, dropping into her Personal Assistant persona. John noticed, and smiled.

"We aren't there, yet, Karen," he told her. "You can still be you around here. Do you have everything you need for today?"

"Only one question," she smiled. "Do I pack enough lunch for three of us?" John actually looked thoughtful at that one.

"Make it four," he told her. "Orin Jacobs, who is our account rep with Tikken, will be there and we may as well all four of us go out together."

"Aye-aye, sir!" she smiled and started clearing the breakfast dishes. "You go get spiffed up. I'll get the dishwasher running and be right behind you."

"Aye-aye, ma'am!" he smiled in return, and to her surprised look, he added "hey! I know which side my toast is buttered on..." Then headed off to get dressed.

This is going to be a very strange day

, Karen decided as she cleaned up.

I've never done anything like this before. Hell of a way to get on-the-job training.

* * * * *

Tuesday Day

The day went pretty much as John had said it would. There were more than a dozen people at the meeting, lawyers included, but the only ones that made any difference were John, and the triple threat of Pearson, Mills and Morton. James Morton did, in fact, have his people give a fairly detailed view into the status of their company, with side comments about different ways they could take it including Mills' downsizing option. Nothing was said about Tikken's interests and Orin sat quietly next to Lucretia and just listened.

Lucretia, or just Lu, on one side of John with Karen on the other, was a story unto herself. Dressed in a tailored Armani creation that hid what Karen could tell were her sizable assets, she presented as being all business, all the time. Tall, at about 5'10", medium build, dark brown hair pulled up into a bun, she was attractive in the way a statue is attractive. She wasn't at all friendly when John introduced Karen and in fact was a bit abrupt. Karen was a little prepared for it, and handed her a flash drive in lieu of a handshake.

"That's all of our background material, Ms. Jenkins," Karen told her, "organized by party and interests. There's also some dirt, in case you need it. I can answer any questions you might have."

Lu Jenkins had taken another look at this relatively new Personal Assistant of John's.

Probably John's type, if he ever gets her out of her clothes,

she thought.

Breathing and with a pulse. But... apparently organized. That's a plus. And John isn't constantly pissed at her. Probably good. We'll have to see how it goes.

"Thank you, Ms. O'Reilly," Lu had nodded as she took the drive. "I'll take a look as we sit through the boring financials this morning."

"It's Karen, Ms. Jenkins," Karen had told her. "Ms. O'Reilly just seems too stuffy for me. I'm not one of the power players that should get the formality."

"Actually, you are," John had stepped in. "You just don't know it, yet. And Lu? You and Orin are going to join Karen and me for a working lunch. There's a little bistro near here where we can talk without being overheard."

I am?

Karen had thought.

What kind of power player does he think I am?

She didn't get much time to turn that one over in her mind as John was escorting her and Lu to the anteroom of the boardroom, to meet Orin.

He had turned out to be the corporate "nice guy" with all the charm and good looks a customer account representative should have. Although he rep'd for Tikken, everybody in Morton's group knew him and he was the one that made introductions, primarily of John and incidentally of Lu and Karen, to Morton's people.

The morning wrapped up with no surprises. All the financials lined up with what they already knew. Their performance was strong and holding steady, not growing and not shrinking. At lunch, John dropped the bomb.

"Lu, Orin, I think you should know that Karen is my mistress." The look of surprise on Orin's face was evident. Lu's expression, however, was inscrutable. Karen's was frozen.

Okay, already got the clothes off,

Lu thought as she kept her face expressionless.

Need to keep a closer eye on this one.

"So along those lines," John went on, "she and I are going to be wining and dining Pearson, Mills and Morton. What kind of maneuvering we do will depend partly on the assignments I'm about to give you. Pearson, I've got. He wants to retire. Mills is a problem. Orin, you know Tikken's interest in expanding. I need to know why Mills would object. What's his problem with it? And Lu, I want you to find out how uncomfortable we could make him if he tried to downsize the company. Any legal maneuvering that would cost him more than it's worth would be good."

"Morton wants a legacy to pass on. Orin, going back to Tikken's desire to acquire and expand, I need realistic expectations of how that would strengthen Morton's position, not expose it to risk. They're talking to us and not Tikken's Board because they think we're going to be pulling the strings. Lu, I want to know about Pam Morton's sex life. I know the rumors. Use your contacts. I want to know where she swings and when, and what kind of people. Pictures if you can. But do it quietly."

"Do you intend to seduce her, John?" Lu asked as if it were just another business question.

"Not me," he told her. "Her." He indicated Karen.

Why am I not surprised?

Karen thought somewhat sarcastically as she kept her face as neutral as possible.

That's what he was hinting at before.

"Okay, I'll get what I can," Lu nodded dispassionately. Karen saw her give her another "once over" and wondered what could be going through the shark's mind.

I wonder what kind of experience she's got with older women?

is what Lu was thinking.

I'll need to get some girl-time with her and find out.

"Orin, get ahold of Pearson and tell him I want to take him and Gloria to dinner tonight. Find out if they have a favorite restaurant. Tell Karen and give her Pearson's mobile. Karen, go for eight o'clock reservations or whatever is close to that, then call Pearson and tell him."

"This afternoon they're going to be arguing about futures, expanding, downsizing, status quo. Their lawyers are going to have a lot to say. Lu, keep track. We can hook up later for a debriefing. They won't get into too many details because they won't have access to Tikken's financials. It should be generally boring but with luck, the sharks will give us an idea of the kinds of problems we'll be up against. Everybody good with that?"

"Yes, sir," Orin agreed immediately.

"No problems, John," Lu told him.

John turned to look at Karen when she didn't answer immediately. "Karen?" he asked.

"Well... I have a few questions..." she told him with a straight face, then couldn't hold it. With a smile, she told him, "sorry, couldn't resist. I do have a couple of questions but they don't have to do with this afternoon or evening, so I'm okay on my end."

Oh, Lord, she's

teasing

him!

Lu thought.

Guess it's gotten pretty serious. Definitely need to check her out.

"Then thanks, folks. If you liked lunch, thank Karen. If you like your paycheck, thank me. I've got the tab and the tip. When you're ready, let's head back."

The afternoon meeting went as John had predicted, Pearson had accepted and Karen had gotten eight o'clock reservations at Izakaya Go. The suits had fallen all over themselves trying to explain why one path was better than the others. Karen allowed herself to daydream a little about having John bend her over and take her in the middle of the meeting. She also noticed Lu surreptitiously watching her, like maybe she was trying to read her mind or something.

In the end, John expressed his appreciation for the effort put into the presentations, Morton thanked his people for the same thing and everybody left amicably. Orin and Lu took their leave and headed in different directions while John and Karen headed for their car.

"Next stop, dinner!" John smiled at Karen.

"Nope," she disagreed. "Next stop, hotel where you fuck the hell out of me and we get cleaned up, then dinner!"

"Oh, how silly of me," John grinned. "Of course!"

* * * * *

Tuesday evening

"

Kanbanwa. Izakaya e yokoso!

Welcome to Izakaya Go. How may I help you, please?"