Chapter 3
The phone on Ashley’s desk rang, the display reading Ben’s extension.
“Hi,” she said, breathless.
“Miss Bell, I need to see you in my office right away,” he said.
A shiver of excitement zipped through her. “Yes, Mr. Stone,” she said and hung up. She loved it when he played stern boss with her.
She walked past his secretary, giving her a nod, and entered his office.
“Shut the door,” he said, “and lock it.” As usual, his face gave away nothing.
She turned the lock, excitement warring with concern. Was he going to spank her in here? And risk Karen or others hearing?
As if to answer her unspoken question, he stood and pointed at his desk. “Bend over,” he said.
She hesitated long enough to earn an arched brow, which launched her into action. Even if they were playing a game, she had no desire to earn his disapproval. Not after everything that had happened.
She stepped up to his desk and bent over, placing her hands on the walnut surface.
He came around to stand behind her and his fingertips brushed her thighs, sending a jolt of electricity through her. He found the hem of her skirt and pulled it up slowly until it bunched around her waist.
He had spanked her in his office before, but he’d left her panties up to keep from making any sound. This time, though, he peeled them down to mid-thigh.
Her tummy fluttered.
“Have you ever heard of a loopy johnny, Ashley?”
“No—” She cleared her throat. “No, sir.”
He slid an implement in front of her on the desk. It had a wooden handle, wrapped in leather, and three loops of thin black cord extending from the handle.
She shivered.
“It’s supposed to be one of the quietest implements for spanking. Of course, you may not be quiet when it stripes your bare skin, so that will be the difficulty.”
She forced herself to breathe.
“Kiss it and thank me for your spanking.”
She lowered her lips to the handle, smelling the scent of new leather as she kissed it. “Thank you for spanking me, sir,” she said.
He took the wicked-looking loopy johnny away from her and pressed a hand down on her low back.
She waited, her bottom crawling in anticipation of the first stroke.
It came so much worse than she’d expected. The loops bit into her skin, stinging like a thousand wasps.
She pressed her hips forward against the desk as if to get away and clamped her mouth shut on her cry, closing her throat. It was a full three seconds before she could breathe, the pain sending pinpricks of heat everywhere in her body.
He brought it down again and once more she lurched forward, wanting to crawl over the top of the desk and off to the other side. He struck her two more times and she reached back to cover her poor bottom, certain she couldn’t take any more.
“Miss Bell, you will remove your hands at once.”
“Please,” she whispered. “Please, sir.”
“The spanking is not over until I decide. I will add three strokes for every second it takes you to?—”
She yanked her hands away.
“Thank you.” He delivered another searing stroke.
She clamped her lips together, whimpering.
Another terrible stripe. Then another.
“Oh, please,” she pleaded with any sense of dignity at all. Hot tears clung to her eyelashes.
Ben pulled up her panties, which chafed horribly, despite the fact that they were made of the softest satin. Lowering her skirt, he turned her around.
His face still held the stern mask, but he drew her into his arms, kissing her hair and rubbing her back.
“Ow,” she whimpered as the understatement of the year.
Ben cupped her nape in that possessive way of his, his hard muscled body powerful, even when disguised in a suit. She breathed in his masculine scent, trying to calm the trembling in her body. She felt thoroughly punished by him—a delicious feeling, really, now that she knew he’d forgiven her.
Her legs wobbled beneath her, but Ben held her up with one strong arm around her waist. He nuzzled her ear, then her neck.
“I hate the loopy johnny,” she complained into his jacket.
He pulled her head back to look down at her, amusement crinkling his eyes. “I found it quite effective. It will stay here in my office for times when you require my immediate correction.”
Moisture leaked onto her panties.
“It might get misplaced. You know, by the cleaners or something.”
He caught her chin with his index finger and raised a stern eyebrow. “It had better not disappear or you will not sit for a week, understand?”
Her pussy clenched.
“You’re mean,” she whispered, lifting her lips up to be kissed by him, her alpha wolf who had taken her so deftly in hand.
Ben watched from the bed as Ashley padded naked from the shower into their bedroom.
A growl rose in his throat just watching the bounce of her bare breasts as she walked.
When she bent over to search through her underwear drawer, giving him full view of her juicy ass, her sex peeking from between her legs, his skin pricked with heat.
“Come here,” he said, pushing himself to sit, his voice deeper than normal.
She erected herself and turned, looking over her shoulder at him. Her hands instantly went to cover her ass, and he chuckled.
“The marks are gone from yesterday; looks like you’ve left me a blank canvas again,” he said.
She looked wary. “You didn’t bring that horrible thing home, did you?”
He grinned. “No. But I did purchase a few other implements when I bought the loopy johnny.”
She shivered, but her feet moved, bringing her to the bed. “You and I both know you don’t need anything but your hand,” she said, affecting a pout. “Shifter strength and all.”
“Yes, but that would get boring. Five spankings, all with my hand? No. I have to mix it up a little.”
He patted his lap and she dutifully folded over it, the scent of her arousal bringing the animal in him to the surface.
Despite his threats, he didn’t use anything but his palm, making it sting, but keeping the intensity to a medium level.
He watched as her skin turned from peaches and cream to pink and then to red.
When the color began to hold, he stopped and rubbed.
She wriggled over his legs in an open invitation. He reached for the bedside table, where he’d stored his new toys, and pulled out the bottle of lubricant. Parting her cheeks, he dribbled some on her anus, chuckling when she clenched her cheeks and tried to roll away.
“I think it’s time we prepare your ass to take my cock,” he said, using an observational tone as he grasped her hips and repositioned her, lifting her bottom and angling it perfectly. He gave her another dozen spanks for good measure.
“No-o,” she moaned. “Your cock is way too big. It won’t fit.”
“First of all, little girl, you will take my cock anywhere I choose to put it. Second, you are being punished, so your pleasure is hardly a concern to me, and third, I have something here to help prepare the way.” He pressed the bulbous tip of a butt plug against her puckering hole. “Open for me, Ashley,” he commanded.
She continued to squeeze against the intrusion.
He changed hands and delivered several swift spanks to the backs of her thighs.
“Ow,” she squealed. “Ow, okay! I’m sorry.”
He waited as first her cheeks relaxed, and finally, the tight ring of muscles eased to accept the stainless steel plug. He pressed it forward, going slowly to give her time to get used to the stretch.
“Ohhh, oh,” she moaned. “Oh—oooh.” Her voice raised in pitch at the end.
“This plug stays in until I take it out, understand?”
She looked over her shoulder. “Do you mean, I have to wear it to work?” she asked with disbelief.
“Yes.” He gave her ass a light swat. “Now get dressed.”
She blushed as she climbed off his lap with the plug embedded in her ass, the jeweled handle making a delectable sight between her cheeks. Her walk looked stiff as she returned to her underwear drawer and rooted through, occasionally reaching back to touch the plug.
Satisfied, he crawled out of bed and headed for the shower.
They drove to work in a comfortable silence, although he noticed Ashley’s face occasionally turned pink, as if she’d suddenly remembered the plug in her ass.
He’d been in his office only an hour before she tapped on his door and came in.
“I know this is punishment, but…” Her forehead crinkled with anxiety.
He crooked his finger at her. “Come here.”
She turned to lock the door.
He patted his lap.
She looked around, even though his blinds were closed and the door was locked. Licking her lips, she leaned over and draped herself across his lap.
He stroked her bottom through her skirt, dragging out her time in the humiliating position.
Eventually, he slid her skirt up and her panties down.
Grasping the plug, he pushed it in and out of her a few times, eliciting a low moan.
“This is what I’m going to do to you tonight with my cock,” he promised. “After your last spanking.”
She moaned again.
He eased the plug from her ass and wrapped it in a tissue. Pulling up her panties, he helped her to her feet. “Get out,” he said, returning to the brusque way of communicating that had earned him the nickname ‘Stone man’ at the corporation.
It disconcerted her, as he’d hoped, and she straightened her skirt, appearing off-balance as she headed for the door.
He looked at his watch. “We’ll be leaving early today. Four o’clock. Be ready.”
She ducked to hide her smile. “Yes, sir.”
At four o’clock on the dot, Ashley headed for Ben’s office door, tapping on it.
He looked up from his desk. “Ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
He closed his laptop and picked it up, sliding it into the same briefcase where she had planted a laptop bomb that might have killed him. She still shuddered to think what might have happened if he hadn’t sniffed out the plot against him.
They took the elevator to the parking garage and Ben walked her to her side of the car, but instead of opening the door for her, he pushed her against the side of his Mustang, his considerable erection pressing against her low back.