Bedroom Bully by Harper West

9

Rebecca

The restof the night passed in a blur. After my fourth mango margarita, the show was nothing but blips and flashes. At one point in time, we had ditched the show in favor of going to a sex shop, and I distinctly remember Brit trying to get me to purchase something called a “BDSM kit.” I didn’t remember much after that, though.

And as I wore my sunglasses into my office, I tried my best to nurse my hangover while still trying to get work done.

“You look about as rough as I feel.”

I looked up from my email and found Brit leaning heavily against my doorway. She, like myself, had sunglasses on, and her clothes were a bit on the wrinkly side. I giggled as I ushered her to come inside, and she sighed with relief before slamming the door behind her.

Then, she dropped into the chair in front of my desk. “God, just a few minutes here. That okay?”

I snickered as I slid my sunglasses off. “Take all the time you need. I’m apparently due in Mr. Ryker’s office anyway.”

She furrowed her brow. “What for? He got a stick up his ass this morning, too?”

I giggled as I stood. “He says it’s urgent, so I’ll turn the light off.”

“Come back with coffee,” she groaned.

I hummed at the idea. “If I fetch coffee, you’re fetching lunch.”

She gave me a thumb’s up. “Deal.”

I was glad that my relationship with Brit was on the mend because it made me feel less alone at work. But my guard was still up. I was very careful with some of the things I said around her, and I sure as hell would never address JoJo by his name in front of her. I voted to take the elevator, even though it was only one floor up. And as I stood in front of his office door, his growling voice hit my ear.

“Get in here and close it, Miss Loren.”

I eased my way inside and did as he asked. “Everything okay, Mr. Ryker?”

He stood from his desk. “Why are you wearing sunglasses?”

I sighed heavily. “Just have a headache. Are you sure everything is--?”

“Why the hell have you been slacking off lately?”

I paused. “Sorry, slacking off?”

“Do I need to define it for you?”

I clicked my tongue. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked ever since I started here. So, I’m unsure as to how I’m slacking off.”

He walked out from around his desk. “For the past three days you’ve completely blown off your assignments. I only get half of the work by the end of the day, and if I’m lucky I’ll see the other half in the morning. You know that isn’t how we operate.”

I slid my sunglasses off my face. “Well, I figured I’d be a little more proactive with my personal schedule.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you hung over?”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as my mind raced. His all-black suit reminded me of the leather-strapped outfits the men wore last night. My head spun with all sorts of nasty thoughts that I had no right to, like him tying me up before bending me over his desk again. I chewed on my lower lip as I thought about him blindfolding me. I imagined him chaining my wrists above my head before kicking my legs open and teasing my clit with a toy while I begged for his fingertips.

And it wasn’t until I felt his body heat radiating toward me that my mind focused.

“You better answer me right now,” he growled.

I gazed up into his eyes. “It’s your job to be proactive about my work schedule, but it’s my responsibility to draw lines with my personal one. I’ll take a certain amount of work home with me if it doesn’t require me to take home sensitive accounting documents, because the last time I did that I got my ass handed to me. Remember?”

His eyes searched mine. “Seems to me like you’re having some trouble focusing.”

“Why? Because I’m no longer inundating my life with things that remind me of you?”

He lifted his head. “No. Because I pay you a great deal of money to do the work you do, and I expect it to get done.”

I shrugged. “So, you don’t pay me overtime. That saves you money, if I’m not mistaken. Aren’t all businessmen trying to figure out how to cut corners with money nowadays?”

“Enough!” he bellowed.

His hand slammed against the closed door right beside my head, but for once I didn’t flinch. I held my ground with my back flush to the door, watching and waiting for him to make the first move. This was what I wanted. Him, hovering over me, making me feel small while he shrouded me away from the rest of the world. Our own little bubble of effervescent tension.

I never wanted it to end.

“Go. Sit,” he commanded through his teeth.

I smiled before I reached up and patted his cheek. I slipped beneath his arm and made my way to the chair in front of his desk. I perched myself on the edge of it, shivering as his eyes bored holes into the back of my head. I watched his reflection in the window behind his desk as he stalked toward me before wrapping around and making his way for those exact windows.

And after he pulled the blinds, a shiver rushed down my spine.

“Where were you last night?” he asked.

Oh, shit. The phone call. “Out.”

He turned and faced me with his hands clasped behind his back. “Out… where?”

I tilted my head. “I’m not sure that’s information you need to be privy to.”

“It is when you call my office at damn near nine o’clock before hanging up.”

My gaze locked with his stare. “I went out with some girls to a place called Highest Rise.”

His eye twitched. “And did you enjoy yourself?”

I grinned. “Maybe I’ll let your mind wander on that one.”

“Looks like your mind’s the one wandering. Not my own.”

I leaned back. “Guilty as charged, I suppose.”

He sat on the edge of his desk. “Is that why your work progress is falling behind? Because you can’t focus?”

I blinked. “Are we still on that topic?”

“Did you think I pulled you into my office for another reason?”

Disappointment filled my gut. “No.”

“Then, tell me: can you focus like a big girl? Or do you need help? Because I’ve got my ways if I need to force your focus so you can be productive, like I expect you to be.”

“Just like a good little worker bee, right?”

He leaned forward a bit. “I will fire you, Rebecca. Right here, right now. I don’t know what kind of game you think I’m playing--.”

I snickered as I shook my head. “You put up a good front, Joseph, I’ll give you that. But we both know you’re not going to fire me.”

His face grew hardened. “Is that what you believe?”

I nodded. “If you wanted me fired, you wouldn’t have saved me from H.R. And if you wanted me out of your life for good, you wouldn’t have saved me from Tommy. At every turn, your threats become nonexistent the second I’m actually in danger. So, the two of us know you won’t fire me. Your actions prove that well enough.”

His nostrils flared as he slid to his feet. “Don’t you dare underestimate the hell I can bring to your life.”

I stood to my own feet. “Trust me, I know exactly how miserable you can make me. You do it just about every day.”

His face softened just a tad. “What?”

“But,” I said as I reached out for his skinny black tie, allowing my fingers to slide down its silken length, “we both know exactly how you make me feel when I’m on my knees, too.”

His pupils burst to life. “Focus, Rebecca.”

I giggled. “I am, Joseph. For the first time in my life, I feel more focused than ever before. I know exactly what I want and why I want it, and I’m going to chase after it, even if it kills me. Even if it swallows me whole. The question is…”

I let him simmer in the anticipation for a bit before I moved away from him.

“… are you ready for it?”

The second I turned my back to him I felt his hand bury itself into my tendrils. He pulled me back against him, his chest flush to my back as his free hand wrapped around my throat. I gasped as he tilted my head back. He glared at me as his knee pushed between my thighs from behind. And as my ass perched itself right against his growing thickness, his voice lowered into a tone I can only describe as “wanton lust.”

“You have no idea what I’m truly ready for,” he growled.

His lips feathered over my own, teasing me as his tongue darted out just long enough to brush along my lower lip. My knees grew weak, sinking me further into his knee as it began rubbing my clothed clit. My hands rushed to any part of him I could grab. He pressed soft kisses along my cheek and my forehead before his mouth found my ear.

And after nibbling on my earlobe a bit, his whispered voice filled the caverns of my mind.

“You’re so easy it’s almost sickening, Miss Loren.”

That caused me to rip away from him. “What the fuck?”

He chuckled as he held his arms out. “Looks like you’re not actually ready for it.”

My face burned with anger. My fists balled up at my sides. I wanted to slap that cheeky little grin right off his face, and for the longest time I actually debated it. I debated on whether or not to quit right then and there before punching him directly in his eye socket. I hated him for how he made me feel before reducing me to nothing.

“I should’ve stayed on my date last night,” I hissed.

And that dropped the cheekiness right to the floor. “What the hell did you just say?”

I stormed toward his office door. “Unless you actually have an issue with my performance, Mr. Ryker, don’t you dare call me up to your office because of it. And if you do it again, I’ll be the one reporting you to H.R. Not one of my friends.”

“Get back here right now and talk to me about--.”

I ripped his door open. “Have a nice day, Mr. Ryker.”

I stormed toward the elevator without a second thought. What an absolute fucktard. How the hell I could have ever thought that my sexual awakening might change things between us showed me the true power of mango and tequila. I jammed my hand into the elevator button. I didn’t even bother peering over my shoulder as I stepped into the metallic confines.

And as the doors slid closed, I slumped against the wall in defeat.

Because as much as I hated him, my body still yearned for his touch.