They say the only thing worse than not getting what you want is getting what you want.
Well, I had wanted Stone-Black destroyed. I'd studied the owners and seen pictures of Mr. Stone and swore that I would do my best to take him and his company down.
Then I'd met him.
Then I'd fallen for him.
And I'd found that he wasn't the culprit.
But still, Stone-Black was going to be destroyed.
And there I was, wrapped in a towel still dripping water on to an expensive carpet, a length of rope in my hands that had very recently been used to bind me, and my boss, Mr. Jackson Stone, in front of me, his eyes mirrors, doubt creeping like a poison through his body.
"I would never..." I begun.
Normally, Mr. Stone was in control of his emotions. He had his standard Mr. Stone face - flat and unreadable - and this was the one he showed the world. It was his mask and he had worn it so long it had become him. But now, there was no mask. He was furious. He let go of the phone and took two steps across the room to stand in front of me. Was this it? I was about to be fired and thrown out while wearing a towel? By a gorgeous man wearing a towel?
Mr. Stone slipped the coiled rope from my hands and placed it on the carpet beside him. Then he stroked his fingers up my arm until they came to rest on my collar.
"Even after all we've been through ... you still don't trust me," he stated.
"I do trust you. It's just ... how this looks. The files gone and I asked you to come here."
"You don't trust my feelings about you. That I'm fickle or that I'll suspect you're lying to me and it's all over, even without any proof."
His voice had softened and somehow that was infinitely worse than flat emotionless. I heard the pain and it shredded me. He was right ... I was assuming what was happening in his mind. I trusted him to bind me, to suspend me from a ceiling with no way to escape, to have me wear a buzzing sex toy to a party ... but I didn't trust that his affection for me wasn't going to evaporate in an instant.
Even as I thought the word affection I felt another word shadowing it.
Love.
Did I? And did he?
Mr. Stone stepped closer to me and stroked his fingers across the back of my neck. My hair was still wet and dripping from our shower together. The nearness of his body simultaneously comforted me and sent a thrill of nerves fluttering up from my stomach.
"If you're to be mine, you must trust me," he said.
We stepped into each other, his lips finding mine in a kiss that left me breathless. His strong arms clenched around my body and I felt I was enclosed in a warm prison to which I held all the keys.
"I do and I will, sir," I said.
He looked down at wet footprints across the floor and then expanding damp circle from my wet hair.
"Tsk tsk, getting the floor wet. I will have to do something about that." He tugged on my collar softly. "Next time," he added.
I followed him back into the bathroom and we both silently finished drying off. I hadn't thought my clothing choices through so I only had the blue dress to put back on. Sexy: yes. Any protection from the elements: no. Thankfully, the elevator was enclosed and Mi-oh was waiting outside with the Bentley running.
We pulled into traffic before Mr. Stone spoke again. "Whomever took those files has the upper hand now. Without the paper trail, I can't stop them. I can't even find them."
He seemed despondent, as though the weight of it all was slowing crushing him.
"What about the computer files? There are copies. Electronic trails?"
"They've already been changed. The fakes are in place and there is no computer trail. Whomever this is - a business or a person - they've covered their tracks. They've beaten me."
"We'll find a way," I said. I had nothing else.
Mr. Stone lapsed back into silence but kept checking his phone as though he expected to see something on it that would solve this problem. He had been tense today while we were trying to find evidence of Mr. Black's crimes hidden in the paperwork but this was a whole new person.
I didn't know what to say. It'll all be fine? I felt sick to my stomach to think that a team of men had broken into the mansion. If we'd been there what would have happened? Blackmail had been bad enough and now the idea of actual violence and real danger was terrifying.
We returned to the mansion to find a locksmith repairing the front door under Nadine's supervision. He was just finishing up as we pulled up. Mr. Stone thanked him and then sent Nadine home, telling her she was on full-paid leave until further notice.
In the east wing room we'd been working from, every scrap of paper was gone along with Mr. Stone computer. I found myself following him around like a lost puppy, wanting to comfort him but afraid to do more than clasp his hand. I wanted to much to make this better but I didn't know what to do. First my apartment and now his mansion. Would there be anywhere safe?
We had dinner, roast chicken and vegetables that Nadine had left behind and talked about anything and everything from my past. Any time the conversation turned around to him or what was going on now, he just smiled and redirected. I talked about high-school crushes and ridiculous teenage love affairs and the time my mother brewed home-made ginger beer but put too much sugar in it so the bottles started exploding. We ate dessert (an amazing chocolate self-saucing pudding) and even though I knew what Mr. Stone was doing, somehow it worked and every now and again we'd be laughing.
Finally, we went to bed after showering together and in the dark, Mr. Stone softly kissed me as he held me close. I had come to bed in a very flimsy nightgown and nothing else and after our soft kisses became hard kisses, I slid it upwards and Mr. Stone stroked his fingers across my pussy. I reached for his cock but every time I did, he moved out of my grasp and held my arms, driving me wild. I couldn't take it any longer. I twisted my hands free and pulled his boxers down in one smooth move. As he grinned in the dark, I pounced on top of him and then slid down on to his cock. I moaned as it slipped inside me before pulling my nightgown off. I was completely naked on top of him, overheating with lust. He gripped my hips and as I moved back and forth began to pull and pull in my rhythm. I had my hands on his chest, pushing down as I moved my hips back but soon I arched my back and used my hands to push my flying hair out of my face. Mr. Stone was breathing heavily beneath me and I fucked him, riding his thick cock like a cowboy.
"Oh fuck," I heard him say beneath me and I felt his movements start to quicken. Although I was close myself I deliberately slowed down. I grabbed his hands from my hips and pinned them next to his head. He was stronger than me, my dom, my master and could flip me over any time he wanted but he held still as I fucked him. I sped up, jolting my hips back and forth and began moaning as I got closer. Soon I was groaning and wailing like a mad woman. His cock felt enormous but somehow I was slipping up and down on it with every movement. I came, shuddering on top of him and I felt him come inside me. I let go of his arms and he wrapped them around me as I collapsed on top of him.