Chapter 15 Hugh
Hugh
It was after lunch when I sent Atlas a quick text.
Me: Please see me in my office.
Atlas: But I’m finishing up your
schedule for the week.
Me: Now
Atlas: Yessir.
Atlas walked in without knocking, although he knew better. I was certain he’d done it on purpose.
“What can I help you with, Mr. Cross?”
I sat back in my office chair and crossed a leg. “You told me that my meeting with Dr. Crowder was at ten.”
His brows furrowed as he pulled out his phone to check the calendar app. “Ah… it says ten here.”
“It was at eleven. I had to wait for an hour before it began. It was too far to drive back.” I straightened my legs, leaned forward, and placed my arms across my desk. “There’s a lesson to be learned here.”
The little brat kicked his hip out and rested his hand on it. He nibbled his bottom lip before looking at me with coy eyes. I could already tell he was going to be trouble.
“Hmm, I mean, it’s not like you missed the meeting, right?”
“I had to wait.”
“Did you think about me as you did?”
“Of course.”
He rested his arms on my desk, mirroring me, but with his ass sticking out. Of course, he wiggled it. “The question is, what do you plan to do about it, Mr. Cross?”
That little brat.
A cute, adorable, pain-in-the-ass brat. I hated waiting for anything.
“You can go back to your desk now, Atlas. Linden and I… have things to discuss regarding you.”
“Hmm, I hope you have a very productive discussion,” he replied before sashaying right out of my office.
I grinned and shook my head. Fuck, he was fun.
“I’m not done with you. Back over here.”
He stopped before he closed the door, turned to face me, and walked back.
“Nope, lock the door.”
Atlas did as he was told and came to stand in front of me. “What can I do for you now, Mr. Cross?”
“I’ve decided to start your punishment now, little brat.”
A knock on my office door sounded as I was reviewing the hospital blueprints.
“Come in.”
Linden stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He looked around with a furrowed brow. “Where’s Atlas? I’ve been looking for him.”
I pointed at my desk. He walked over to me and looked under my desk, then he cackled when he saw Atlas on his knees with my cock in his mouth. He looked up at Linden with pleading dark eyes.
“Was he bad earlier?”
“Yep, informed me that my meeting with Dr. Crowder regarding the hospital in Reston was ten this morning, when in reality it was at eleven. Needless to say, I had to kill an hour. Then, instead of being contrite, he was being a brat about it.”
Linden snorted a laugh. “At least he didn’t tell you it was at noon. Then you would’ve missed the meeting.”
“Well, it’s why he’s cock warming right now instead of having his ass pummeled.”
Atlas tried to talk with his mouth full, the vibration going straight to my nuts. It was already difficult enough not to thrust. It wasn’t about my getting off but about punishing him.
“How long has our princess been warming your dick?”
“We’re going on about thirty minutes now.”
Linden cupped and adjusted himself. “Hot. I want some warming.”
“Of course.” I looked down at Atlas. “You can stop, but you’ll continue your punishment with Linden.”
Atlas popped off me and crawled out from beneath my desk, but before he could stand, I pressed my hand to his back. “Crawl to him.”
“Yes, Mr. Cross.”
Linden sat on my sofa, unbuckled and unzipped his pants, and pulled out his hard cock, languidly stroking himself with a devilish smirk.
Atlas sat on his knees between Linden’s legs, rested his hands on his thighs, and swallowed him down. “Nice,” he said before looking at me. “How do you keep from pumping into his mouth? Because it’s to die for.”
“With great difficulty.” I tucked my cock back into my underwear and zipped up my slacks. “So, what did you need to see Atlas for?”
“I’ve got a meeting with Sanderson Helman next week.”
I raised my brow. “The Sanderson Helman? The CEO of MedPlus Pharmacy?”
“The very one. He’s looking to expand in DC, Virginia, and Maryland.
Currently, the Pharmacy is only located in Pennsylvania, but it has been rapidly growing due to its affordable costs, which have created fierce competition.
I’ve managed to snag his time to sell our company to assist with his expansion. ”
“Fuck yeah. Dad will be shitting gold coins if you manage to get it.”
Linden ran a hand through his neatly cropped, light brown hair, his blue eyes twinkling. Along with his perpetual smirk, he always gave off an air of confidence. “I just have to lay on the charm really thick.”
He glanced down at Atlas and lifted his head, forcing him to pop off. “What do you think, Princess? Think you can arrange some catering for the office? There will be about ten of us. Make sure it’s extra fancy.”
Atlas wiped the saliva off his lips with the back of his hand. “Yes, I can come up with something, Mr. Pierce.”
Fuck, he was always eager to please, in and out of the bedroom. But I also knew Atlas wasn’t a pushover, like setting boundaries for us. That made him even more attractive, especially when he was sassy.
Linden fingered Atlas’s chin and leaned forward to kiss him. “You have a week,” he said and stood, zipping himself up. “Great, now I’m going to have a hard-on all day.”
“You’ll live.”
I stood and helped Atlas up by gently tugging on his arm. I brushed off his knees before cupping his cock. “We’ll all be suffering. Apparently, punishing our princess means punishing ourselves.”
Atlas grinned and shrugged. “It’s only fair.”
I gripped his throat, forcing him to look up at me. “Saturday night is The Backdoor. Are you ready for that? This is where Linden and I get serious.”
He swallowed and nodded, his Adam’s apple brushing my palm. “Yes, Mr. Cross. I can’t wait.”
“Good. We’ll pick you up at your place. Be sure to wear the stockings and garters.”
“Yessir.”
“Oh, and I have something being shipped to your place. I expect you to practice with it each day until Saturday.”
“Practice?”
“It’s an extra-large plug. Work yourself open to get used to it. I expect you to be ready for double penetration.”
Atlas’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped before his mouth curled into a smile. “I can have both of you?”
I patted his ass when he turned to leave. “Indeed. Now, go back to work and make sure our schedules are up to date.”
“Anything else, Your Royal Highnesses?” he said, winking back at me and smirking.
“Trouble. You really want to be punished again, don’t you?”
“You know it’s not punishment if you enjoy it, Atlas,” Linden said, chuckling.
He pressed a hand to his chest and feigned shock. “I’m terrified. Trust me.”
“Psh… Well, back to work.” With that, Linden left my office, Atlas not far behind.
I sat down at my desk, smiling. I couldn’t remember when I’d had so much fun.
As I followed the hostess to my table, I smiled when I saw the familiar dark brown hair, trailing down her back in thick waves.
Seeing my sister always made me warm inside. We’d been really close growing up. When Linden came to live with us, the three of us were inseparable. Chloe was the only one who knew about my sexual preferences and what I did with Linden.
“Thank you,” I said to the hostess as she left. I rested my hand on my sister’s shoulder, and she looked up with a smile stretched across her face. Her coffee-brown eyes glittered in the dim lighting of the restaurant.
“Hugh,” she said, standing so we could hug each other.
“You look good, Chlo.”
“So do you. How’s Linden?”
“He’s good.”
Before we could dig deeper into each other’s lives, our server stood at our table to take our drink orders. Chloe ordered a mojito, and I ordered an Old Fashioned.
“And how’s Dad?” she asked, frowning.
Dad and Chloe had barely spoken since she’d given up everything to be a pediatric nurse.
It was what she wanted to do, so she pursued it fearlessly.
Whereas I obeyed every fucking command. I was so fucking proud of her.
It was an amazing job, but Dad wanted her to work at Cross Corp.
He had plans for all of us, but Chloe refused to play along.
Even worse, she’d promised to stay single.
She’d never had any interest in getting married and having kids.
She only came to the house for Mom, and it was only for very special occasions like Christmas or Mom’s birthday.
I shrugged. “He’s Dad, and he’s not happy with me.”
“Oh boy, what’d you do now? What’s that grumpy old horse complaining about this time?”
“Well, we’re being sued because of me.”
Her eyes bugged out of her head. Before she could ask any questions, our server dropped off our drinks and took our order. We started with hummus and homemade bread. I asked for the Shawarma-spiced prime skirt steak frites, and Chloe ordered the pork belly with harissa honey.
When our server left, she leaned forward over the table. “What the hell?”
“Yep. Do you remember that project manager I was seeing for a short time?” Chloe nodded, so I dove into the story about what happened. “Now she wants to sue us… me, specifically, for sexual harassment.”
“That bitch! The audacity. God, Dad must be pissed.”
“He is… told me to stay out of it and to keep it in my pants.”
“Why is he like this? He’s such a control freak.”
“It’s how he’s become so successful.”
She waved a dismissive hand and took a sip of her cocktail. “Whatever. That doesn’t make him a good boss.”
“Good bosses are hard to come by, Chlo.”
“Don’t defend him.”
I raised my hands. “I’m not… Just saying.”
“You know, I understand Dad being frustrated over getting sued, but you have no control over what she did. She manipulated and used you.”
“I guess, but Dad’s point is I didn’t have to date her.”
Our food soon arrived, and I took a bite of my sliced steak, which was spicy and rich. “How’s life with you?”
“They’re moving me to the NICU to help take care of those precious preemies. I’ll be getting paid more, too.”
I raised my drink, and we clinked glasses. “Well, then, congratulations. I’m so proud of you.” I took a sip and set my glass down. “You know, for someone who never wanted children, you sure are good at what you do.”
“I love kids, but I just don’t want any of my own.
You know this already. My life is exactly how I want it, and I’m free to do what I want, when I want, whenever I’m not working.
And who wants to raise children in this world?
It’s chaos. I’ll always worry that I’ve brought a child into the world, only to learn they are struggling to live. ”
No kids for me either. Our parents were disappointed in my sister and me for not having any yet. I also enjoyed my independence.
“How’s life with you? Anything new?”
“Linden and I have a new PA.”
“Finally. Who are they?”
“Atlas Stavros. We, ah… met him at one of our playtimes. It’s purely a coincidence.”
Chloe brought her napkin to her mouth and sniggered. “Oh, god. You fucked him and hired him afterward? Oh, shit… Dad’s so gonna be pissed if he finds out.”
“Well…”
She raised a plucked brow. “No! Are you and Linden still—”
“Yep,” I said quickly. “Linden and I really like him. He’s the first man we’ve gotten involved with beyond one night.”
She leaned back in the booth, jaw dropped. “Are you trying to get fired from this job?”
“What? No.”
She dug into her pork belly and hovered the fork over her mouth.
“It sounds like you’re attempting to sabotage things.
Why would you bring Atlas on and play with him, all the while being sued for sexual harassment?
Shit, I don’t think Dad will let this go if he finds out. And what about your poor PA?”
Was I trying to sabotage my job? I definitely wanted Atlas, but was there more to it? Was I subconsciously trying to get into trouble? It was something to think about.
Before I could respond, she said, “Look, I’m not going to lecture you. It’s your life.”
“That’s why I love you and trust you. I can tell you things without you being all… judgy.”
She winked and took another sip of her drink. “Oh, I’m totally judging. Seriously, neither Linden nor you ever wanted to work for Cross Corp. Why don’t you two just leave and start your own business? Take Atlas with you.”
It was something I’d thought about, but I struggled to abandon my father after telling him I’d be a part of the business. “Maybe.”
“What about Linden?”
“What about him?”
Chloe tilted her head and looked at me as if I were completely dense. “He follows you everywhere. He does whatever you tell him.”
“He has free will. We’re close.”
“Hugh, he hates his job. He’s only there for you.”
I set my fork down without taking a bite. “I know he’d rather be doing something else, but he’s never told me he hates it. What’s he told you?”
“Nothing. I just see. I know. Remember? I’m on the outside now, and I also know you and Linden better than anyone.”
“What are you getting at, Chloe? Just spit it out.”
She sighed and stared at me again as if she carried some heavy weight. “Nothing. I just mean… when you make big decisions, don’t forget to take him into account.”
“I have. I do. We’re in this thing with Atlas together. We talk all the time about everything.”
“Not everything,” she mumbled.
“What does that mean?”
“All I’m saying is that we all have secrets. Don’t assume that Linden tells you everything.”
What was she driving at? “Okay, I’ll say something to him.”
“That’s all I ask. He adores you for some reason, only God knows,” she chuckled and took another bite of her dinner.
“Well, I’m special like that.”
She rolled her eyes, smiling. “Sure, keep telling yourself that.”
Despite the light banter after talking about Linden, I couldn’t shake her questioning. What did she mean? I felt like she was holding back something. Maybe we should have a conversation about it. Did he take on Atlas just for me? I thought he’d liked him, too. Yeah, we needed a chat.