An Office Slave

I walked back up the hallway, past my own office, and knocked on Richard's door.

'Come in.'

I stepped into Richard's office and my breath caught. I've had a crush on this man for years. He was a handsome creature, a tall man with a lean grace that reminded me of a panther. He was lazily slouched behind his computer, one hand still on the phone and the other, massaging his neck. He waved me to a chair.

My heart pounding, I walked to his oversized corporate desk and placed the envelope beside his computer monitor then sat down and waited. He said into the phone, 'I'll see you tomorrow then, Tom, say hello to Jilly for me,' clicked off, then turned those amazing eyes to me.

'Well, Nina, how are you enjoying your being back at Hunter?' He leaned back on his great office chair. He looked relaxed but I had the feeling he was focusing on me intently. The look in his eyes reminded me again of a great cat gazing down at a prey before he crushed it. I licked my lips. Definitely the wrong thing to do, Nina, I thought, as his eyes followed the movement of my tongue. I straightened in my seat and forced a smile.

'Everyone's been very kind to me, Richard. Sam especially has personally introduced me around to everyone I needed to know immediately. He's been very helpful.'

Mr Hunt's nose flared, as if he smelled something unpleasant. He watched me without saying anything, as if considering what to say. I started flushing under his gaze. Was he annoyed about something? Then he seemed to make up his mind about something.

'Nina, I received your first draft of the introduction to next week's conference.'

The unexpected change of subject caught me by surpise. But I was familiar with his no-nonsense style. The man had no time for niceties. But I continued to smile at him said, 'Did you have time to have a read of it? Perhaps we can discuss how I can improve on what I've started.'

He picked a remote from the desk in front of him, pointed it to something behind me. Something whirred and I realised he had closed the blinds behind me with the remote control.

'Yes I have, Nina, and I hate to say this, but I was extremely disappointed in your work. The draft clearly shows you failed to understand the full extent of how green energy would benefit the company. And your arguments didn't quite reflect what the statistics show.'

I gasped in dismay. I had tried my very best for three whole days to understand those darned figures, and I was so certain it was the best written work I had ever produced on short notice. Did he even have the time to read the first part? Dismay turned to resentment.

'Richard, surely you don't think that a few hours would result in perfect work! I was given to understand it would be a first draft, and since I had no knowledge of the subject matter –'

'Precisely, Nina. I'm sure you tried your best but I do need someone with previous knowledge of the economics of energy. I'm afraid I won't be able to offer you a permanent place on my team, or in the company for that matter after your week's temporary work as my assistant.'

My blood turned to ice. 'But, Richard, Sylvie told me herself she would like me to hire me. She said that since I used to work here, I wouldn't have any difficulty understanding the operations and picking up where I left off.'

In my consternation, I found that I had stood up and approached him. He watched my approach with a raised eyebrow.

'Nina, you understand that I do the hiring around here and not Sylvie –'

'Richard, you don't understand. Sylvie told me she was retiring in six months. She told me she would train me to replace her, as I used to work your fathers' reports as well. She told me there was no other person in your staff who had my qualifications.'

'And they are...?' He looked sardonically up at me.

I took a deep breath. I had not expected I would have to fight for this job. Sylvie had told me I was as good as hired. Apparently, Richard would have to approve my position. Richard, who was known to be a hard task master compared to his father. But I would not cower. My family needed me to support them.

'Since I left HUNTER, I finished my degree in International Business majoring in Asian trade,' and paused to swallow. Richard's eyes had left my face to explore downwards. I could feel my face flushing. My husband had always admired my breasts and vowed they were the best part of my anatomy. Unfortunately, it seemed Richard was a breast man as well. 'Three years ago, I worked with Argus Continental as Comptroller's assistant.' Another swallow. 'I only stopped because I had my daughter.'

Richard had finished perusing my breasts and his eyes continued downwards to my exposed knees, my stockingless legs and my three-inch Prada. My mouth had gone dry and I was bothered by a quivering that had begun in my thighs.

'Yes?' He said, eyes returning to mine. 'How long were you at Argus?'

'Err, six months.' I licked my lips and took a deep breath to steady myself. He rested an elbow on the arm of his chair and stroked his lower lip with his finger. Unexpectedly I imagined his fingers stroking my own lip, and the hairs at the back of my neck stirred.

'That's not a lot of experience. Is it, Nina?' he asked quietly.

I rushed on. 'When my daughter turned two, last year, I worked at Belnave Industries as Marketing Assistant –'

'And how long were you there?' he asked almost gently. Drat the man. He already knew the answer to this.

'Four months.' I said it just as quietly. My husband Hardy had demanded that I resign when the owner's son, Victor Belnave began to show marked interest in some of my body parts. To be precise, in the same breasts Richard was himself ogling just a few seconds ago.

I raised my shoulders helplessly. 'Richard,' I began and to my dismay, I heard my voice begin to shake. I was tired and hungry. I cleared my throat. 'Please, Richard. I'd like to prove myself to you. I'll read all the background information I can get my hands on between now and the conference. Give me one more week and I'll show you what I can do for Hunter. This is only my third day after all. Please give me a chance!' I heard the pleading tone in my voice but I didn't much care by now, I was dizzy from exhaustion.

Richard had stood himself, and I found myself looking up at him all of a sudden, even in my heels. His face had taken on a harshness and a look that quickened my heart beat, and frightened me a little. I saw his eyes consider a thought with interest.

'The conference next week is not for the faint of heart, Nina. If you were to be here for that, you would need to work harder than you've worked before. I already have three others – Sam, Eve, Meredith – finalizing reports from their departments. But as my Assistant, you would be expected to put all their reports together.'

'I can do it, Richard.' I said with conviction.

'You would need to be at the hotel for three days. I couldn't let you stay for just a day. Your family –'

'Three days is fine.' I said, hearing him about to capitulate.

'Can you indeed?' His voice was quiet, but I was sure, deceptively hiding some meaning, some bleak direction that I could only guess at.

'One chance,' I pleaded.

His eyes narrowed, watching me.

'And what would you do for another chance, I wonder?' A secret look came over his eyes.

My heart froze. Indeed, I understood very well where this was going. I thought of Amelia, my daughter, Hardy, my husband, and Mariella, all waiting for me to come home with the good news that I had finally found a permanent job. Hunter Innovations was my best chance. If I didn't get a long-term position at Hunter, there would be more hours pounding the pavements of the city to yet another interview, and I knew I could not do it again. Not just yet.

Turning my face away from his piercing gaze, I whispered, as I focused on the map of the world on the wall behind his desk. 'Anything you want, Richard.'

There was silence for few seconds. With a small shock, I felt his fingers on my chin, pulling my gaze back to his face.

'Is that a deal?' He said. I wanted to flinch from the challenge on his face. I fought the urge however, and kept my eyes on his face.

'Yes.' I said, expelling a deep breath. Satisfaction flared in his eyes, a kind of triumph. I knew what I was getting myself into. Then again, I didn't. But I'm a big girl now, I am. Surely I can handle a simple office romance. Sure you can, Nina, a sarcastic voice whispered in my head.

His thumb stroked my lower lip. It was such a real fulfilment of my little fantasy of a few seconds ago that I had to quell a shiver. I was going to move away from him, but his fingers firmly cupped my chin.

'I am a harsh employer, Nina. You must have heard that, haven't you?' He murmured.

I nodded, unhappily.

'I drive myself hard, and I drive everyone around me as hard. But I am also loyal to my staff.'

I nodded at that too. I knew the staff at Hunter Innovations were the highest paid in the city. They were also treated like minor royalties. The three other managers for example, were working overtime, but a gourmet supper was to be brought up at 9.00 tonight, there were ready beds for a nap, towels for them in the bathroom, and a gym all on this same floor. And a hefty bonus awaited each of them after the conference.

Yes, if I had to lower my morals some to bring food to my family, I would give him whatever he wanted.

His fingers around my chin tightened, and his other hand came up to behind my head to twine itself around my ponytail. I thought he would gently caress my hair, but he jerked at my pony, rendering my head and my face at an upward angle. I made a little sound, and my hands flew up of their own accord to hold the hand on my chin. I found his wrist, slightly matted with hair. He stared at my lips again, then flickered to my eyes.

'I'm also a cruel man, Nina. When you tell me you'd do anything to keep a job here, you say the words that give me a lot of power over you. You make me feel things you should be afraid of. '

'Should I be afraid?,' I said in alarm. 'Richard?'

'No, Nina. There's nothing to be afraid of. But you should have run away while you could. It's too late now. We have a deal.' With a deft movement, he had both my wrists held together in an iron grip, while he pulled at my ponytail so I had no choice but to look up at him. His eyes had darkened into a stormy blue, and that was the last thing I saw before his lips clamped down on mine.

I had expected the kiss. It was the fire I didn't expect, the flames licking through me. He called himself cruel, and yes, it was a cruel kiss. It was not Hardy's staid peck-on-lips. This was a declaration of control. He gripped my ponytail expertly while he assaulted my lips. My wrists were released, his other hand encircled my neck like a collar. It was most frightening, erotic deed performed to me in my life life.

I should have slapped at him with my freed hands, bit his tongue and ran, fled the office, from the building, screaming, and be rid of this dangerous farce I had inadvertently created. But I found he had zapped my will. The instant he bit my lip, my body involuntarily arched toward him, and an indecent image reared up in my mind: the image of his hard body above me blocking any light, thrusting his long, hard cock deep into me. Wet desire pooled between my thighs. I gasped against his lips, in shock. I had never felt this way with any man, Hardy included.

Richard wrenched his mouth from mine, and we stared at each other. The pupils of his eyes had turned so dark blue they were nearly black. He was breathing slow but hard, the breathing of a man who was exerting extreme control. Part of me feared him; I was not sure I would emerge from this unscathed. The other part of me gloried I was desired by a man like him.

'I'll give you a week,' he said roughly. I closed my eyes in a mixture of relief and apprehension, my body sagging against his. 'And If you please me, Nina, you can stay on a monthly contract, subject to review at the end of each month.' His voice softened. 'If you please me. . . in what I want.'

My uncertainty must have showed in my face. His face lost its harshness somewhat.

'Don't be afraid. I will never hurt you, Nina. You have always been special to me.' He smiled grimly.

'But I must remind you. You did say, whatever I wanted, Nina.' It was a statement and a question. I was dumb in my quiet agitation. He shook me a little.

'Nina, yes or no. Whatever I want?'

'Yes,' I whispered, after a moment.

'Is that a promise, Nina?' The fingers around my throat tightened a fraction.

'Yes.' I whispered again, swallowing a ball of fear.

He relaxed then, sighing a little. He released me, and moved away and looked out his window into the darkening sky.

I weakly fell back on the chair.

'It starts tonight." He turned to me, his hands aggressive on his hips.

I jumped up. 'No! Amelia. My daughter –'

'Call home. Tell them you're working overtime with the rest of the team.' He waved his hand indicating the three other staff just a few hundred feet away from his covered window. 'You will perform your extra duties, whenever I want, however I want, and wherever I want. And I want it now. Oh yes, you will work in the Penthouse. Starting tonight. Use my private elevator and meet me there in fifteen minutes.' He started walking away to a side door. I looked at him stupidly.

He paused at the door to give me a code to for the Penthouse lift's security system.

I shook myself out of my stupor.

'Penthouse? A mere personal assistant with offices in the Penthouse? How can I explain that to everyone else?' I flung at him in a spurt of anger. Only the Company Directors had offices in the Penthouse.

He stopped at the door and looked at me, surprised at my belated show of spirit.

'I'm not a moron, Nina. Of course, you will have a new position. One that will justify your working in the Penthouse with me. You are now a Consultant on contract. I appoint you. Now. I will increase your salary to match your new position.'

My breath caught in my throat. A Consultant's Contract for one month, and possibly, every month thereafter. It was a small fortune. But only if I pleased him.

'Happy now?' He asked in all arrogance, pinning me with a hard look before he turned to go again, his hand on the knob.

I had one more thing to say. I had to make him understand I also had my own conditions. 'Richard, I will not be embarrassed in front of your employees. You will not ask me to do any... any act that will humiliate me.'

He stopped again, impatience in every line of his hard body. When I turned, I shivered under the coldness of his gaze. His eyes narrowed as he studied the mutinous apprehension on my face.

'Don't fight me, Nina. Make up your mind. Are you staying or going? If you're going, you don't come back in the morning. So one last time: yes or no?'

He had walked back to me, like a panther, irritation pinching his face. I trembled before him, and I clasped my hands to stop their shaking.

'I have to know, Richard,' I said. 'What is it you want from me? It doesn't sound simply like an office affair.. or a few nights of .. of.. s-s-sex.'

He simply stood there, looking down at me. Like a god deigning to speak to a weak mortal. But I stood my ground. I wanted to know what I was getting myself into, which definitely didn't sound like a safe office romance. It sounded like more than that: dark, hungry, angry. And I wanted to know now what it was.

His anger suddenly was no longer there. But in its place, was something I could not describe. I preferred his anger to this cold analytic contemplation. I suddenly felt I had to pee. He lifted a finger and caressed my cheek. I flinched. Even that involuntary reaction, he considered without expression.

'What I want?' He said, gently, almost friendly in a chilly way. The way a little boy would proceed to dismantle the wings of a butterfly. He took my hand, and began caressing it, playing with it as though deep in thought. He cocked his head, staring down at our entwined hands. When he looked up at me again, I nearly drowned in the blueness of his eyes. 'What I want is you in my life, Nina. I've always wanted you, didn't you know? What do I want?' His voice dropped to a rough murmur. 'I'll tell you what I dream of. I dream of you -- bound to me, chained to my bed, day and night. I dream of you wide open for me, just for me, all of your body, your soul, your mind, your beauty—'

He shook himself out his strange reverie and caressed my lips next with his thumb, while I stared at his mouth, not fully understanding the words that came out of it. Was he mad?

'I want all of you, Nina. Your anger, your fear, your pride, your submission –'

'Stop!' He sounded like he could go on and on, but I didn't want to hear anymore. I was seething at his words. I didn't fully understand what he wanted. He was talking in riddles. His words angered me nonetheless. And aroused me. I pulled my face away from his fingers, afraid he would read my body's arousal to his words as he touched my lips. 'It sounds like, ... it sounds like, you want a, a, a, s-slave, a s-s-slut!'

He looked amused at that, and chuckled. 'Why, Nina. That's exactly what I'm trying to say. You told me you would be anything I wanted. And that's what I want. Of course, I'd rather you were my slave 24/7, but as you need to return home at night to that wimpy husband of yours, and to your lovely Amelia, I'll settle for Nina: My Office Slave. My Office Slut. How's that for a beginning? Thank you for helping me find the exact words.'

His eyes were actually dancing now with mischief. I stared at him, mute, confused by his words as by the shifts of his moods.

Why was I not putting more of a resistance? I put it down to exhaustion, my hunger making me dizzy and submissive. An office s-- I could not even say the words again. Somehow, I had inadvertently landed myself in a bizarre situation. But how bad could it be? Many women have affairs with their boss. But a slave. Unbidden, an impossible yearning was slowly rising like a bubble from the bottom of deep dark lake. To be dominated . . . to be a slave. A quiet excitement built. How did he know that about me?

'I am still waiting for your final answer, Nina. My cards are all on the table. What will it be? Yes or no?'

Many people did strange things in life. Why would I be any different? He was not forcing me really. He had even given me a choice. Besides, the sex would not be forced either, from the damp evidence in my cotton panties.

'Yes.' I said it with my chin raised and my voice still quarrelsome. This time, I thought he might have hid a smile. Bastard.

He kissed my forehead, as if I was a little child, and disappeared into the corridor.

I did what he said. I called home to Mariella, and talked briefly to little Amelia. I left his office, my briefcase and coat with me. I said goodbye to the other three staff members as if I was going home for the day. Meredith teased me saying, that Richard was letting me go home early tonight and sleep because I'd be working the hardest for the next few days, doing non-stop editing and revision. Oh, if she only knew.

To my profound relief, none of them walked with me to the lifts. No one noticed I entered the private lift that would take me directly up to the Penthouse. I punched in the security code, took deep breaths as I was catapulted to the top of the building, then I was at the foyer of Richard Hunt's domain. He opened a door at the end of a hallway before I could decide what to do, making me suspect he had his eyes trained on a camera which showed my approach.

He ushered me without ceremony into his office suite. I knew that Hunter had bedroom suites behind the offices for guests and for when the executive directors and managers needed to work overnight. I had also heard that Richard kept business and family strictly separate. He never slept here. He went home to his wife faithfully every night.