15. Emily
Got to get him out of my mind.
I had been saying the same thing the entire week, yet nothing changed. Thoughts of Travis assaulted me at every turn, and no matter how hard I tried, I ended up seeing him in everything I did.
It was the biggest inconvenience to feel horny all the time, but that was what Travis had done to me. Sex with him was so good that everything I saw reminded me of his full length buried inside me. The blinding sensation, the hot pain followed by sweet release, the total submission to his strength and skill. He’d completely messed with my mind, and I had no defense against him.
I unlocked the door to my apartment and pushed into the narrow corridor. I kicked the door shut behind me and slumped onto the couch, exhausted after a day spent interviewing all three Ross brothers. I’d tried to act like I had no personal relationship with Travis, but could only imagine how idiotic I looked to Brendan and Jackson as I bumbled through the questions.
As if I didn’t have enough work on my hands trying to get through the interview, my eyes were drawn towards Travis’s crotch, where I saw the full length of his erect shaft bulging against his pants. I had glanced at his face with horror and saw that he was just as uncomfortable with the situation.
The sight had thrown me so out of sync, I had ended up coughing violently to cover up my stutter. Brendan and Jackson leaned toward me, asking if I was alright, while Travis took the opportunity to bolt out of the room. Remembering that scene again led me to some wild thoughts I had spent all week running from.
Sadly, I couldn’t run any further. I took off my clothes as I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The water felt nice as it splashed down my head and flowed over the rest of my body. I never spent much time in the shower anymore, for fear of what I would do if I thought about Travis.
Now I was past caring. I relaxed and allowed the thoughts to carry me along, taking me to a place I had spent too long running from. The images were sweet, the memories beautiful. Everything he did, he did for me. Everything he gave me, he gave me because I needed it. He understood what I wanted without my asking.
That was not something to run away from. No, that was something to embrace. I squeezed my breasts, twirling the nipples just how he liked to do. He always paid so much attention to both of them, and they loved him for it. They loved the callused feel of his strong hands. Powerful, yet tender.
His touch was like magic. I rubbed my hand against my throat. My soft, small hand felt like a joke compared to his massive one. The way his hands wrapped around my throat made me afraid for my life, and yet, I craved the fear.
I felt warmth pour down my thighs, something different from the cold water pattering my scalp. I reached a hand down to my thighs and ran it upwards slowly. He enjoyed working his way slowly to my wetness. He loved how he killed me with the anticipation of a good time. He enjoyed his ability to command me and own me. I loved submitting to him.
I placed a shaky palm on my sensitive nub, slipping fingers through my parted nether lips to swim in watery delight. Shivers ran down my leg as I stroked slowly up and down, applying pressure on my clit. Low moans escaped my lips as I imagined Travis’ mouth on my sweetness. The way his face was a ruinous mess of fluids when he went down on me made me lose control.
I braced against the wall, my soft cries mixing with the sound of running water beautifully. “Oh Travis,” I whispered without meaning to, and I felt him riding me. Taking me whichever way suited him and made him happy. I gave myself fully to him and he took me to places I never knew existed.
I exploded in a mirage of lights and beautiful colors, tiny stars lighting up my blank vision. After what seemed like an eternity, my senses returned, and I was alone in the shower once again.
Wow.
For a while, my mind was quiet. I couldn’t process anything more.
I scrubbed and washed as quickly as I could, then ran out of the bathroom before I developed more ideas. I needed to find a way to break Travis out of my mind. I had turned into a slave of my lust for him, and I had no idea how to regain my freedom.
There was only one way. I needed to finish my task at the company before I fell into a hole too deep to climb out of.
I could tell I was close, and I had to work fast.
Just a week into the assignment, I had built friendships with the nerds that worked on the servers. The room was forbidden to all but a few people and was accessible only with a key card and fingerprint. Fortunately, Travis was not very good with key cards, so he could access the room with just his fingerprint.
Which I had.
I dressed quickly and packed a small bag for the mission. I kissed the hard drive that contained the program Michael needed to access their systems, then threw it into my bag as well.
I dashed out of my house and got into a cab, the better for my frayed nerves. Up to this point, I had only entered the server room with one of the tech boys with me. Now it was way past office hours, and I hoped no one would be around when I went in.
If I was caught in that room alone, there was nothing I could possibly say to explain myself.
The cab ride was a smooth one. In just under an hour, we pulled up outside the Ross building. I could hear my heart slapping loudly against my chest as I paid and stepped out of the cab. I walked up the stairs toward the front door and found Taylor standing guard.
He looked at me with a baffled expression, and I waved. “Silly me, forgot my phone in my office,” I said, trying my hardest to look embarrassed. “Quite a stupid mistake, don’t you think?”
Taylor smiled. “Not at all, Ms. Skye. Happens to the best of us. Would you like some assistance?” he asked nicely, and I had to resist the urge to bolt out of the building.
“No, thank you,” I replied, clearing my throat. “I think I know where I left it. I’ll be out shortly.”
He nodded and returned to his post. I let out a sigh of relief and rode the elevator to the second-highest floor in the building. The server room was a floor below the executive suite, and it was shared by some administrative offices. Fortunately, every office I passed in the hall was dark.
I listened quietly for voices, then put on the glove that Michael had designed for me. It fit perfectly. There was a small silicon pad on top of the index finger, and Travis’ fingerprint was etched into it using some kind of 3D printing technology magic.
I took a deep breath, then walked as confidently as I could toward the server room. I placed my finger on the biometric scanner. My heart stuttered as the light flashed green. The door could only be opened from inside with a key card, so I had to be careful not to shut it after me.
I rushed toward the server rig at the far wall. This was the main network of computers that received data from the entire building and all of Ross Industries before feeding the information into the servers. Michael had drilled me extensively about what to do, using pictures I had secretly taken of the computers.
I pulled off the silicon glove, then took out the hard drive. I plugged it into the right hub and powered on one of the computers by tapping a keyboard. I glanced up at the door, fearing that I’d heard a noise, holding my breath as I watched. My heart thundered in my chest and my whole body was rigged with fear, ready to explode.
When I was certain I was alone, I fed in the codes Michael had written down for me, giving him remote access to the systems. If I fed the correct codes, he could access the files in the server. But if I made the tiniest mistake, the server would shut off all processes and send breach alerts throughout the network.
Sweat beaded my forehead as I typed the details as carefully as I could. My hands shook violently and by the time I finished keying in all the characters, I felt too afraid to click ‘enter’. There was no time to second guess, and I surely didn’t have time to retype all the codes again.
I pressed ‘enter’ and closed my eyes. I waited a few seconds, then heard three beeps. The signal that remote access was granted. Michael was in.
I slumped into the chair and watched as his cursor danced around the screen, selecting folder after folder of files we would never have had access to from the outside.
While the PR project shared some files with the journalists, I didn’t trust the versions of the documents they’d shown us. It would be the easiest thing in the world to cook up a fake version of Ross Industries’ books and show those to the “unbiased” PR team, while keeping the truth secret. That was why I’d had to sneak in here and get on the real employee servers.
The display on the screen showed that Michael had started downloading files onto the external hard drive I had plugged into the CPU. It would take fifteen minutes to fully download, and those fifteen minutes felt like several lifetimes pressed together. The download moved as smoothly as I could have hoped, and when there were less than two minutes to go I allowed myself to believe I could escape safely.
I hoped too early. With under a minute to go, I heard a voice in the hallway. I prayed that I had heard wrong, but I hadn’t. The sound of footsteps approaching was unmistakable. I looked down at the screen with wide eyes.
Forty-five seconds. Forty-four.
I glanced at the crack I’d left in the door, propping it open with a doorstop. Whoever was passing by was bound to see the blue light from the screen inside. Michael said I couldn’t turn off the computer before the download finished, or the entire file was useless. The footsteps grew closer. I didn’t have anything close to a legitimate reason for being in the server room alone at night.
If it was Taylor, I was bound to get into a lot of trouble. There was a world of difference between my cubicle downstairs and the company’s secure access server room. I glanced at the screen again. Forty seconds. I felt like time was moving backwards to spite me. I needed a plan.
The footsteps stopped outside the server room, and the voice quieted. Whoever was out there had been on the phone and found it weird that the server room was unlocked. In a stroke of genius, I tossed my purse to the floor, then ran my hand along every keyboard I could reach to light up all the monitors.
I waited to hear a security man’s voice and decided to sell my lie. “Ugh, where the hell are you?” I said, feigning frustration, as I pushed chairs around.
“Who’s there?”
I froze in surprise, realizing the voice was Travis’s. I poked my head out from the side of the desk and acted startled. “Oh, Travis,” I said casually. “I thought you were a security guard.” I glanced carefully at the screen. Twenty seconds.
“Oh,” he replied, somewhat awkwardly. “It’s just me. What are you doing here?” His question was obvious.
How the hell did you get in here? I’m sure we didn’t give you the credentials for it.
“I was in here earlier with one of the IT people and I left my purse behind.” Fortunately, I didn’t have to fake an embarrassed blush as his intense eyes studied me.
“You forgot your purse?” Travis frowned and stepped forward.
“Well, I have some friends here,” I started. “I brought them some lunch just before I left for the day, and I forgot my purse… somewhere… here…” I made a show of looking around the floor and glanced at the screen. Files copied successfully.
Michael’s cursor was moving fast to close tabs on the screen as he retraced his steps out of the system. I resisted the urge to shout for joy, maintaining my shaky composure.
“Oh, there it is!” I said, bending down to pick up the purse. In one motion, I unplugged the drive and thrust it into my purse.
I stood up and waved the purse triumphantly at Travis. His eyes narrowed and his forehead wrinkled. I could tell he was having a hard time buying whatever I was selling.
“Do you always work so late?” I asked as I walked past Travis, trying and failing to sound natural.
“Not so late,” he replied, following me. “Sometimes.” His voice sounded reserved.
“Goodnight,” I said as we reached the door, and walked slowly to the elevator. I absolutely couldn’t look like I was fleeing the scene of a crime.
He stood in front of the server room, watching me go.