Chapter 10
Iwas shaking by the time I exited the elevator, anxious and terrified of facing Gage again after what had happened between us over the weekend.
The office bustled with the normal Monday morning activity I’d become accustomed to during my employment at Channing Enterprises.
Katherine gave me her patented sugary smile as I stumbled toward Gage’s office in my new heels.
I cursed the squished nature of my toes, and then cursed again when some of his coffee splashed onto my hand.
Already on the verge of being late, I licked up the bitter liquid and hoped no one noticed.
The caffeine went straight to the butterflies in my stomach; they fluttered with the energy of a crack addict.
I knocked on his door and pushed it open upon his order to enter.
He sat behind his desk, a phone wedged between his ear and shoulder as he entered data into his laptop. He didn’t acknowledge me as I set down the coffee cup with a trembling hand. I pulled my iPad from my briefcase and shuffled my feet as he finished the call.
“Good morning, Kayla.” He grabbed the cardboard cup and took a sip before going about his normal morning routine, which involved dictating what he needed me to do for him.
My fingers flew over the screen, adding meetings, notes, and anything else he specified.
He said nothing remotely related to our weekend together—not even a hint.
He resumed typing, and I kept my mouth shut, though I had to admit to being completely flustered.
He acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
I couldn’t help but stand there like an idiot, waiting for some sort of response—something to indicate how I should behave around him.
Was I supposed to call him Master while in his office when no one else was around?
Did he want me on my knees as long as the door was closed?
I cleared my throat. “Mr. Channing?” Uttering that name left an odd taste in my mouth after the weekend I’d endured.
Not only had he effectively programmed me to call him “Master,” but addressing him so formally after he’d had his cock buried in me seemed ridiculous.
I licked my lips, thinking of the one place he had yet to penetrate.
I’d be naive to assume it wasn’t going to happen eventually.
He glanced up. “Yes?”
“Is there anything else?”
“No, that’s all. I’ll need that report by lunch.” He returned to his work, and I didn’t know what confused me more—his casual dismissal, or the fact that it stung.
I put Gage’s behavior out of my mind and got to work. Shortly before lunchtime, as I was gathering a printout, Tom from the marketing department approached me.
“How was your weekend?” he asked.
I blinked. “It was…nothing unusual. How was yours?”
“Could’ve been better. Cindy and I broke up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a long time coming. Actually, I wanted to ask you out for coffee. You busy this week?” He took a step closer and brushed a stray hair out of my eyes. “Or we could do something more private. Whatever you’re up for.”
I gave him an uneasy smile. “I’m sorry, I can’t. My daughter’s in the hospital.” I stumbled back until a couple of feet separated us.
Apparently he didn’t pick up on my subtle hint. “How’s she doing?” he asked, closing the distance.
“Her doctor’s hopeful. We’re waiting on some test results.” I looked toward Gage’s office and found his thunderous expression aimed in our direction. He crossed the space with a purposeful stride.
Oh, shit.
“You’re fired,” he snapped at Tom. “Security will escort you from the premises.” Gage gave a slight nod toward a man who materialized from the periphery. He grabbed Tom by the arm.
“What the hell?” Tom’s eyes widened as he took in our employer’s furious expression. “Why? What’d I do?”
“I won’t tolerate sexual advances between my employees. You obviously made Ms. Sutton very uncomfortable.”
“Let’s go,” the security guard ordered.
Tom protested, his voice ringing through the fifth floor as the guard escorted him to the elevator. “I’ll have you sued for this!” As soon as they disappeared behind the sliding doors and all the prying eyes pretended to go back to work, I set my hands on my hips and glared at Gage.
“Was that really necessary? He has a kid to take care of!” I wasn’t sure who was more surprised by my outburst—him or me.
“In my office now.”
I closed my eyes on an exhale. Once again I’d let my mouth run rampant. Every gaze in the room weighed on me as I trailed behind Gage. He shut and locked the door, and I swallowed hard, preparing to grovel.
“I’m sorry. I was way out of line.”
He grabbed my arm and yanked me over to his desk. There wasn’t much on it—a few papers, a stapler, and the coffee cup from this morning. He swept everything to the floor, and black coffee splashed the wall.
“How dare you disrespect me in front of my employees. It’s bad enough I had to watch that idiot manhandle you.”
“You’re right. I was wrong to question you in front of everyone.”
“Has one night of freedom erased your training already? You will address me as Master, and so we’re clear, you were wrong to question me at all.” He unbuckled his belt and gestured to the desk. “Bend over.”
I didn’t dare hesitate. If I did as told, maybe he would go easy on me.
“Lift up your skirt. If you drop it, I’ll make your hands bleed.”
With shaking fingers, I lifted the back of my skirt and exposed my bare bottom.
“You’ve brought this on yourself, Kayla.” The slide of his belt shattered the quiet as he removed it. “If you ever let another man touch you again, I’ll do far worse.” The strap of leather came down hard enough to steal my breath.
I blinked back tears, knowing that leaving his office with blotchy eyes and streaking mascara was more humiliation than I could stand. I pressed into the desk to brace myself and gripped my skirt tighter in preparation for the next blow.
“How many strikes do you think you deserve?”
Was he fucking serious? How could I answer without getting ensnared in his trap?
“As many as you see fit, Master.”
“Very diplomatic answer. That’s one thing I like about you—you’re a smart woman.”
Crack! I jumped at the stinging bite. Holy hell it hurt.
“Do you think I enjoy this, Kayla?”
“Yes, Master,” I choked out.
“You’d be wrong.” He struck me again, and I couldn’t hold back a sob.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but it did little to shut out the pain.
“I won’t deny that the sound of your cries, the display of your submission and vulnerability, gets me hard, but I’d much rather get past the need to punish you at all.
” The belt whooshed through the air again, and I bit into my lip as it connected with my tender skin.
He stopped at ten. “Come here.”
I turned around in time to see him drop the belt.
Upon my hesitation, he flexed his hands.
Slowly, I crossed the three feet that separated us, my skirt swishing against my burning ass as I moved.
He reached out and gripped my shoulders, pushing down until I was kneeling before him.
The hard ridge behind his zipper stared me in the face.
Gage unbuttoned his slacks, and the slight tremble in his hands didn’t go unnoticed; he was worked up, though from anger or desire, I couldn’t be sure. “Unzip me.”
I raised my head, though I knew my silent pleading wouldn’t do any good.
“Don’t look at me like that. You’re only going to piss me off more.”
“Please, Master—”
“I want my cock in your mouth now.”
Holding back another sob, I pulled down his zipper, and his shaft popped out, hard and ready for my lips and tongue.
He fisted my hair with both hands and held me in place.
“Don’t make me do this, Master. Please, not here.”
His cock twitched. “Beg some more. It turns me on.”
I clenched my jaw. I wondered what he’d do if I refused? Did I want to find out?
No, I didn’t.
Several seconds went by, during which neither of us moved.
He was waiting for me to take the initiative, and I was waiting for him to force me.
It would be easier if he did. Every inch I gave him felt like a betrayal to myself.
He tickled my mouth with the tip, bathing my lips with his desire.
He’d win this standoff; I’d lost the game before I even knew how to play.
I darted my tongue out to taste him. More moisture collected at the head, and his salty taste lingered on my tongue.
It’d been years since I’d given a blow job, but I was pretty sure I still remembered how.
I reached out and fisted the base, and then teased him with my lips, swirling a wet path around the soft tip a few times before fastening my mouth around him.
Gage expelled a deep moan, and his grip on my hair tightened to an unbearable pull.
The fact that his response tingled between my legs shouldn’t have shocked me by now, but it did.
And it shamed me. A part of me got off on the power I had in this moment.
He might have forced me to my knees, but I could bring him to his with the heat of my mouth, the kiss of my tongue.
I took him in as far as I could stand and worked him for all I was worth.
His choppy breathing infused the air, and he began to thrust, forcing my head back with each forward motion. Pumping in and out, deeper, faster, keeping time to the friction of my mouth and hands. His gaze intensified, and unsettled with how he watched me, I closed my eyes.
“Look at me,” he ordered on a groan. I met his glazed-over eyes as he jerked to the back of my throat.
His taste flooded my mouth, and when I tried to pull away, he immobilized me in his grasp.
I couldn’t keep from gagging as his cum shot down my throat.
The way he tightened his fingers, pulling against my tender scalp, told me he enjoyed making me gag as much as he enjoyed spilling into my mouth.
He withdrew, zipped up with casual patience, and then indicated the spilt coffee on the floor—the evidence of his rage and jealousy.
“Clean this up before you go to lunch. I have a meeting I’m late for.
” He picked up his belt and looped it through his pants, and just like that the bastard left me kneeling in the middle of his office, wet between my thighs as his cum dribbled down my chin.
I got up on jittery legs and stumbled to his private bathroom.
A few splashes of cold water to my face, followed by the mindless task of cleaning up after his fit, helped me find composure.
When I left his office, grabbing a file folder on the way to make it look like I’d had legitimate business in there, I did my best to appear unfrazzled.
I cringed to think of the office grapevine catching wind of what Gage had forced me to do.
My lunch hour passed much too quickly, and upon my return I managed to avoid my coworkers and Gage for the duration of the day by hiding away with a laptop in a vacant windowless office.
Privacy was a must, since I couldn’t sit without grimacing.
I was unprepared for the whispers and incredulous looks as I gathered my briefcase and purse at the end of the day.
One glance into Gage’s office revealed it was empty.
He was either away at a late meeting, or he’d already left.
I stiffened when someone whispered the word “slut” as I made the long journey toward the elevator.
From the corner of my eye I recognized Katherine.
She laughed, her blond head bent close to someone else’s.
They both snickered, and I felt their eyes bore holes into my back.
I was content to ignore them until I heard the term “blow job” drift through the office.
Rage and mortification collided in my chest, and I hardly breathed as I sought refuge behind the elevator doors.
I blinked, silently repeating I will not cry over and over again as the elevator descended.
If everyone knew what had happened today in Gage’s office, then he must have told someone.
Barreling out into the pounding rain, I was thankful for Oregon’s weather as the raindrops disguised my tears.
I slid into the privacy of my car and pulled out my cell.
Gage answered on the third ring. “This better be important.”
“You’re damn right it’s important!” I dashed the tears from my face and lowered my voice.
“Everyone knows.” God, how was I going to keep this job now?
It was difficult enough to envision working for the devil himself after entering into a contract with him, but to withstand the ridicule of his employees…
and not be able to defend myself with the truth…
I couldn’t do it. Yet I had no choice. The pay was too good, and even with Gage covering Eve’s medical bills, I was still entrenched in debt. I couldn’t afford to change jobs.
I heard him speak to someone else, and then the distinctive sound of a door closing filtered to my ear. “What are you talking about, Kayla?”
“They called me a slut, and someone mentioned ‘blow job.’ How could you tell anyone? Haven’t you tortured me enough?”
“First off, watch your tone. Don’t forget who you’re speaking to. Secondly, I don’t flaunt my business, so I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Someone found out. They know what happened today in your office.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “I need to finish up here. Are you on the way to the hospital?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you alone right now?”
“I’m in my car.”
“Then why aren’t you addressing me as Master? This changes nothing. You’ll be punished for your lack of protocol tonight. Come to my house at nine.”
A violent shudder tore through me. Freedom didn’t exist within Gage’s contract—I wouldn’t be free for another five and half weeks. Like a trained dog, I replied, “Yes, Master.”
A small part of me wondered if I’d ever be free of him.