“Good morning, Mr. Stone—” she began, then stopped as he cut her off with a raised finger.
“In my office. Now.”
He turned abruptly and stalked inside, and she followed on his heels, her heart thundering painfully. His office was spacious—the skyscraper the building was housed it was cylindrical rather than having corners, and so the room was shaped like a quarter of a circle rather than a square, with the curved wall completely lined with glass. The two inner walls were a glossy black, with several paintings and ornate shelving cabinets as well. The center of the room was dominated by an l-shaped desk of mahogany, and two low-backed, comfortable chairs for visitors.
Greyson shut and locked the door behind him, then rounded on her. She backed up at the full force of his displeasure focused on her, and felt her legs graze one of those chairs. Try as she might, she couldn’t form the words to ask him what was wrong, what she had done to earn his wrath.
“Did you really think you were going to get away with this?” he asked, his voice deceptively soft.
“G-get away with what?” Tears pricked at her eyes as she began to tremble.
He snatched papers off his desk and waved them in front of her nose. Her vision was too watery to make out what was written on them, but an awful feeling sank into her chest as it hit her—it was her resume.
“I decided to give your credentials a closer look. Only one of your references matches up. The rest, including your college degree, are false.” His eyebrows arched as real fear flashed in her eyes. “What do you have to say about that?”
“There must be some mistake?” Eva tried, desperately grasping at straws. She reached for the resume papers in his hands. “Perhaps I put down the wrong numbers, or misspelled a name.”
“Nice try, Ms. Moore. But I don’t believe it.” He leaned in close to her, his six foot five, muscular frame towering over her, and gripped her shaking shoulders. “A little liar like you needs to be disciplined.”
Eva’s mouth went dry at the look in his eyes—they had gone molten, like quicksilver. She darted her tongue out to wet her lips, and his eyes followed the movement like a cat followed a piece of string it was about to pounce on.
“A-are you going to fire me?”
“I could do that,” he said softly. “But despite your lies, I like you. Over the past week you have made an excellent assistant so far—I knew what I saw when I interviewed you and that you had guts and determination.”
Fear had frozen her vocal chords; she dared not say anything lest she change his mind. His face was so close to her that his breath fanned her face—warm, laced with some kind of minty freshness and a hint of coffee. His lips curved into a cruel smile as he lifted her chin and forced her to look directly into his eyes. She blinked back tears so as to straighten her watery vision. She would show him that determination he had praised, even if he did fire her. What she had done was not out of malice, but necessity. If he threw her out on her ass, she would go with her head held high.
“It takes a lot of both to lie straight to my face in order to secure a position in my company. I’d love to see that bold, raw spunk unleashed in the bedroom.”
“Bedroom?” she asked, her brows drawing together in bewilderment.
“Oh yes.” He stroked his other hand down the side of her neck, halfway ignoring her confusion. “You have such beautiful skin, Eva. I can’t wait to see single inch of it.”
Eva sprang back. “What? I’m sorry but…”
His grey eyes gleamed with a challenge. “But, what? I’m not asking you to do anything that you didn’t agree to, Eva.”
“You’re not?”
He lifted a brow. “Didn’t you agree during the interview to assist me in any way required?”
“Sleeping with you wasn’t exactly what I had in mind nor was it what I was offering, and you know it.” Her voice lost some of its fire despite the protest, and he smiled. She was obviously giving this some consideration.
“Perhaps not, but you did agree nonetheless. All I’m asking is that you follow my orders as my assistant. You’ll do what’s required of you from me, whether it’s in the boardroom… or the bedroom. Not that it will always be the bedroom, mind you.” He grinned wickedly, and her heart pumped faster despite her head still railing against it.
“I… so you’re telling me I will get to keep my job as long as I give you sexual pleasure?”
“Oh, Eva, you misunderstand.” He pushed her up against the wall, his hard abdominal muscles pressing against her br**sts. Even through the layers of clothing he felt her n**ples pearl. “I intend to give you pleasure as well. You will follow my every command, certainly, but I promise the experience will be just as sexually satisfying for you as it is for me.”
Eva’s breath came shorter now, a light flush coating her cheeks. “And how long will I have to do this for?”
“For as long as I require of you, or for as long as you are in my employ. Whichever comes first.” His lips hovered a mere inch from her own. “If you please me well, though, I might even consider promoting you. You could become a partner if you wanted—if you can follow my orders and do whatever I ask of you. No matter how uncomfortable it might be.”
A partner? She couldn’t fathom that. Her mind began to quiet as it struggled to grasp that possibility of the future, and allowed her heart to take over. She couldn’t deny that she was powerfully attracted to this man—not just because he was handsome, but of the authority and dominant nature he exuded. Would it really be so bad? Her mind didn’t exactly agree, but her body wanted him. It wasn’t like the experience would be unpleasant—she had no doubt that a man like him was as good as his word when he promised a woman pleasure.
Sucking in a breath and wondering if she’d gone completely mad, she nodded. “I’ll do it.”
“Good girl.” He glanced at his watch just as the phone rang outside. “We don’t have time right now, but I will make sure to deliver your first lesson today.”
“Lesson?”
He smiled. “Of course. I did say you were going to need training.” He pulled away. “For now, get out there and do your job. I will call on you when I have need of you.”
“Yes sir.”
Fleeing from the room as though her heels had grown wings, she answered the phone and wondered just what it was she had gotten herself into.
****
Monday was generally the busiest day of the week, and today was no exception for Eva. She was kept incredibly busy by the constantly ringing phones, the juggling of Greyson’s schedule, and myriad other tasks she had to complete by the end of the day. She was grateful for the work—it helped to keep her mind off the agreement she’d made just that morning—the agreement in which she’d surrendered her body to him.
Greyson had been just as busy, so he hadn’t called on her except for brief times when he required her to do something for him. She saw him very infrequently despite the single wall separating them, but every time she did it was like a punch to the gut. Her core would quiver in anticipation and her breath would come short.
At the end of the day he walked past her without saying so much as a word, or even offering her a backward glance or a wave. She’d watched his retreating form, a mixture of relief and dread coursing through her, released from the burden of wondering when he would call for her today, but worried as to why he was still treating her with such indifference despite their agreement.
The next day was much the same—Greyson had six back-to-back meetings, and so Eva was spending a great deal of her time in the boardroom assisting with power point presentations, taking minutes, and such. Despite Greyson being but an arm’s length away from her, he all but ignored her as he focused his mind on business. In contrast, Eva was painfully aware of every movement he made—every quirk of an eyebrow, curve of his lips, gesture with his hands. Never had he seemed more attractive, more virile, more sexually charged to her as he did now. And yet she felt as though she were as significant as a fly on a wall.
By the time Wednesday came around, she could no longer stand it—the anticipation was killing her. When noon came around and the office closed for lunch, she made up her mind and marched into his office rather than out the door to enjoy the food she’d packed.
She knocked briefly, then pushed open the door to find him on the phone. He gestured briefly to her and she came all the way in, then sank into a chair as she watched him. One of his ankles was crossed over his knee as he waved his hand in the air impatiently, and she couldn’t help but notice how the position showed off powerful thigh muscles. Her eyes moved to his crotch despite herself, and she stared for a long moment as if she could develop x-ray vision and see through the cloth to what lay beneath.
She felt a tingle along her forehead, and her eyes snapped up to see his grey ones watching her with amusement. Her cheeks flushed, and she snapped her head to the side, resolutely fixing her gaze toward the curved wall of windows, and the city beyond.
A minute later, he finished the call and hung up the phone. She swung back to find him pinning her with a look of such intense lust it knocked the breath from her lungs. It took her a moment to remember to breathe.
“Did you need something of me, Eva?” he asked politely.
Eva swallowed. “I… I was wondering… if you were ever going to call for me.”
One of Greyson’s eyebrows rose. “Call for you?”
She fidgeted in her chair, but refused to back down from his gaze.
“Yes. Since you’ve now declared me to be your pleasure slave.” The words came out hard, and she realized she was angry at him for dangling her on a string this way. “You said you would call on me, but you haven’t even though it’s been two days. I was wondering if perhaps you’d decided to back down.”
The other eyebrow rose as well this time. “Well, well, well. It looks like your claws are coming out after all.” He rose from his chair and circled round the desk. Eva tried to rise as well, but he rested his arms on either side of her chair, preventing her from moving. “I apologize if you think I’ve been neglecting you, Eva.” He stroked a finger along the underside of her jaw. “I assure you it was not my intention at all.”
Greyson smiled at the fire in her eyes that belied her trembling body. He knew very well why he had made her wait—not because they had been so busy but because he had wanted to torture them both with anticipation. During his nights at home, endless scenarios had marched through his head—the things he wanted to do to her, with her, haunting him so that it was all he could do not to go to her apartment and drag her out of bed by the hair. Or, perhaps, simply join her in the bed. He wondered what kind of bed she had. Would it be large enough to fit them both?
“That wasn’t what I meant,” Eva protested. “I don’t care if you change your mind. I just wanted to make sure.” She licked her lips.
Greyson smirked. “You know that’s not the truth. You came back here because you couldn’t stand waiting for me any longer. I promised you pleasure, and you want to collect.”