Author's note: A big 'Thank You!' to my editor, who requested anonymity.
Blackmailed at the Conference
Jessica signed for her conference ID card as the lady at the table handed her a lanyard and a plastic sleeve. She could hear the murmur of many people beyond the open double doors just past the table, from the sea of booths and presentation halls.
Then the lady at the table verified Alexander's personal identification before handing him his card and lanyard. He could see the woman ahead of him slowly moving forward as she sorted herself out, admiring her shapely ass in her snug yet tasteful business attire.
"I never sleep well the night before a trip like this," Alex ventured as he stepped up beside her, yawning into the back of his hand.
She was exhausted as well. Her flight had just gotten in and she wanted to get the lay of the land and determine what room her presentation was going to be in at eight AM tomorrow morning before getting a quick bite to eat and turning in. She had only taken a few minutes to freshen up and drop off her stuff in her room before coming down.
Jess nodded in agreement with the stranger as he walked up beside her and she caught his yawn, repeating it. She turned and paused as she looked him up and down. He stood a full head taller than her, with a crisp dress shirt fitted across his broad shoulders and chest. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and she watched the individual muscles ripple and dance across his thick forearms as he worked to gently wiggle his conference ID into its holder.
Damn his ass looked fine in those trousers, she thought to herself as she glanced up and met his blue eyes and he returned a dazzling smile. For a split second she worried that he knew what she was thinking, and she blushed, giving herself away.
"Oh, excuse me," she apologized, as she stifled her yawn and returned his smile, "I just have to get some sleep tonight and I'll bounce back."
"I've heard it's safer to use the buddy system when travelling," he spoke up, changing the subject as he returned her appraising stare now that she had looked away. Her soft curves were gorgeous in her silk blouse and snug pencil skirt. "You know: render medical aid if required, watch for snipers and such," he winked.
"Uh, are you sure we're going to the same conference?" She raised her eyebrows as she grinned back.
"I'm Alex," he offered his name as he turned and stepped backwards through the big double doors. "Cover me, I'm going in!"
He held out his hand confidently as he slowly continued backwards into the vast conference hall.
"Jessica," she responded as she tentatively reached out and took his hand, feeling her heart flutter as their fingers touched.
He gripped and pulled her towards him. She stiffened to keep her balance, but his muscled frame had to weigh almost twice as much as hers and she found herself taking light, dancing steps as he hauled her to him playfully, deftly catching her in his other arm, then quickly releasing her before things got awkward.
They walked around together, and Alex asked, "So do you have a booth, or are you giving a talk?"
Jess pulled out her phone and dug up the email with her itinerary. "I'm looking for... Hall B, I'm giving a presentation at 8 AM tomorrow morning, then another one at the end of the week."
"Well I know where I'm going to be tomorrow morning then," he smiled. "Oh, it's over there." He pointed over the booths, where he could see but she was too short.
"Well thank you," she chimed, "this 'buddy system' of yours has already been helpful."
"I can also lift heavy things," he quipped, grinning at her.
They wandered over to Hall B and there was a lull in their conversation, "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Would you care to join me for a bite to eat?" Alex asked.
Her legs were feeling rubbery with hunger and that sounded like a perfect idea, so she agreed.
Alex pulled out his phone and looked up restaurants in the area. They were downtown, so a pile of search results were returned. He suggested an expensive little place two blocks away that he'd heard of and Jessica was game so he called ahead as they walked over, reserving a table.
The city was humming with people on the warm Monday evening as they strolled the two blocks near the waterfront, laughing and chatting.
Their waitress guided them in and they seated themselves at a small spot for two in the cozy little establishment, soaking in the dark colors and rich flourishes in the decor. It almost felt like they were lit only by the two candles on their table.
Their waitress came back with a drink menu and Alex asked, "Do you have much experience with wine? I'm not well versed personally."
Jessica offered a few suggestions and he ordered them a bottle to go with their delicious meal. By the end of dinner, they couldn't stop smiling at each other.
After they had eaten, while they sipped their wine and enjoyed the ambiance, Alex spoke up, "Ok, question time: what was the most exhilarating experience you had in college?"
She blushed as she remembered, "Uh..."
"Spill it!" Alex demanded playfully. He watched her as she considered denying him, then furtively obeyed, glancing up into his eyes.
"Oh Jeeze... Ok." she took a deep breath, looking away, "So, at the end of my very first week at Uni there was this big house party that my friends and I were invited to." She fidgeted with her napkin as she spoke, "And my dormmate got me into a bet - she was really good at getting me into 'situations'- In which the losers of this bet would have to streak down the street... and we lost." Her cheeks were bright pink, and the flush was creeping down over her collar bones as she looked down at the table.
"Oh, you can't leave me hanging with a story like that, what was the bet?" Alex asked, his cock stirring in his boxers as he envisioned a younger Jessica, naked at a party.
She shook her head, her blush deepening as she dredged up the memory, "My dormmate had been flirting with the new captain of our football team - real footie that is... Um, soccer? not American football." Jessica clarified, "And there were two girls from a rival university talking trash about our team. So, my girlfriend tells them to, 'shut their mouths or she will do it for them,' - we had all been drinking a while at this point."
Jess bit her lip and squirmed in her seat as the familiar tickle of arousal teased between her thighs when she glanced up at Alex's hungry smile, "And this football captain pipes up that we should play beer pong to sort this out, two on two. You know, each side has a triangle of cups and you try to bounce ping pong balls into them?"
Alex nodded but didn't say anything, waiting for her to continue.
"So, I'm still trying to figure out how I got roped into this, and my friend is still mouthing off at these other girls, and it looks like they're going to fight. And this football captain speaks up again, (God he was such an arsehole) and says, 'why don't you play strip beer pong to settle this?'" The aroused flush had travelled all the way down over her exposed skin above her blouse and down the tops of Jessica's breasts, as the excitement of the memory and the embarrassment of recounting it got to her. "Well that suggestion gave them pause as we looked around the room and people cheered. Then the other girls suggested that the losers should streak down the block instead, and my dormmate agreed before I could say anything."
"And you just went along with it?" Alex asked, his shaft thickening in his trousers as he sat and watched her get worked up while she recounted her tale.
"Well I had to support my friend, and the captain looked us each in the eye and ordered us to swear we would do it so there wouldn't be a fight on the lawn..." Jess looked down submissively.
"So, you had to strip and run down that street right afterward?" he grinned.
"No, we had to go to the end of the block and then run past the house. And while we were walking to the starting line that arsehole yelled to the whole party to come out and watch." She wore an embarrassed smile, her pussy on fire with arousal as she squirmed, lost in the memory for moment. "That ended up being pretty exhilarating. You?"
Alex leaned back and studied her breasts until she furrowed her eyebrows, "Oh, sorry. I was trying to picture you naked, running down that road in the middle of the night," he said, winking.
Jessica found something deeply arousing about how brazenly he had just assessed her body. Oh, shit - did she just straighten her posture a little to present her chest better? she wondered, flustered and horny.
"Uh, most exhilarating for me would have to be the time my friend took me skydiving," he said.
She raised her eyebrows and shook her head as he continued.
"I have since come to the belief that jumping out of a perfectly functioning airplane is about the craziest thing a person can do. Also, I rolled my ankle on the landing and it took weeks to recover!" He chuckled, "but seriously, my heart was beating so fast until I pulled my 'chute'. Then the trip felt almost comically slow until the bottom, when I realized just how fast I was actually still coming down."
After they had finished their meal, then the bottle of wine, and finally shared a dessert together, he paid the bill. Maybe it was the wine, but she couldn't help but notice the soft touch of his fingertips on the small of her back as he held the door open and guided her out of the restaurant.
As they walked back to the hotel, he suggested they exchange phone numbers so they could find each other tomorrow. Standing together under a streetlight, they enjoyed the warm breeze as they both typed their new contact into their phones.
"Honestly, I don't want this evening to end," Alex piped up as they reentered the lobby, "Care to join me for one last drink before you turn in?" He gestured toward the hotel bar.
Jess thought about her presentation tomorrow and almost said no, but this whole evening had been going so well. "Sure. I still have to go over my talk again, so not too late," she finished sternly.
"Great! Do you mind if I take a minute to plug in my phone? It's running low," he asked.
"Be my guest, I'll go 'powder my nose,'" she responded, heading toward the bar while he headed to the elevators.
Alex got into his room and plugged his phone in before rummaging through his carry-on bag until he found his go-pro camera. He had started bringing it on his trips after the popularity of some of his mountain biking videos, though tonight he had other plans.
He quickly booted up his laptop and made sure the camera was configured properly to transmit its video to his computer over the hotel WiFi before stripping the mounting harness. He paused as he considered what he was about to do, it was a risky game he was going to play, but she had gotten so aroused as she recounted her exhibitionism way back when. His cock tingled in anticipation as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steel his nerves before sliding the little device into his pocket, then he headed back down to the bar to meet Jessica again.
They enjoyed one final drink together before agreeing that any more would make for a bad day tomorrow. Alex asked, "Can this gentleman escort a beautiful woman up to her room?"
Jess blushed and nodded, "I'd like that."
The elevator ride to the eighth floor was nervous as Jessica's tiredness began to seep back in the closer she got to her room. She swiped the door card and as soon as it beeped, Alex pushed it wide to let her in, then stepped through behind her.
She was a little irritated that he just walked in without asking but tried not to let it show too much. Jess moved over to her suitcase and closed the lid for privacy, and while she was turned Alex stepped up to the TV stand and placed the little camera in the shadow of the large flat screen, pointing it towards her bed.
He turned back, keeping his expression neutral as he slid his arm around her waist, only to find her palms pressing against his firm abs as she kept space between the two of them.
"Oh," he replied, "my apologies..."
