As He Bids (6 page)

I brace myself and ride the elevator down. I walk to the door of the auction room and listen from the hallway to the sound of Bruce's voice calling out the bids.
   

"Five thousand dollars anyone, five thousand?"

I stay behind the door waiting for him to finish with the lot he's offering. While I wait, I set my cell phone on silent. The bidding is short. The art pieces at the beginning of the sale are the lesser ones. The prices will crescendo until the masterpiece, actually in the present case the masterpieces. A magnificent collection of lacquer screens by Jean Dunand.

A few seconds after knocking down the gavel, Bruce gives a short presentation of the next piece and that's when I slide discreetly into the room. I remain in the back, next to the other interns.
 

Bruce looks stressed and it's unlike him. His reputation as an auctioneer is excellent. I've been told he's charming and can coax the audience into going further than they had planned to. James Evans is standing by his side and watches him with a frown.
   

The bidding starts again and Bruce's gaze roams over the crowd. Kenneth, who's standing next to me, spots a bidder that Bruce missed and he jerks his arm up. The sudden movement catches Bruce's attention and he looks over on our side. He sees me and for an instant I read so much relief in his eyes that I want to curse myself for ever doubting him.

Suddenly Bruce's not so tense. He finds his rhythm. I'm not the only one who notices. James Evans does to. I can tell because he visibly starts to relax and seems to begin to enjoy the sale.

An hour passes and the atmosphere is heating up. Laura silently enters the room holding a phone to her ear. She raises her hand and bids for a client. On the way out, she winks at me. She's positively glowing. I wonder if I'll ever look so happy and content and then I watch Bruce and remember what he promised me last night.

He said he would take care of me and make me happy... the only thing that I need to do is follow his lead.
 

There are only a dozen lots left when Steven Goldsmith takes over. While the first twelve-panel screen is being set up, Bruce makes his way to the back of the room. He stops on the way for some very hushed conversation with some of the dealers, but, while he speaks to them, his eyes remain riveted on me as if he fears that I will disappear if he looks away.

When he finally gets to me, he takes my hand and pulls me out of the room. The door closes behind me as I hear Steven start what I hope will be a long litany of incredibly high numbers.

There's a little passageway between the auction room and the reception area that is used to store the folding chairs during the exhibitions.

Bruce drags me in there and closes the door behind us. We're in absolute darkness and my heart stops.
 

I thought I was scared before but it's nothing compared to the way I am feeling now. But while earlier I feared the consequences of my saying yes, I am now petrified that he's going to yank that possibility away and cast me out.
 

I raise my free hand and press it flat on his chest under his vest. I can feel the strong beat of his heart through the palm of my hand. His heart is racing. Is it the high of the sale or am I doing this to him? My fingers curl on his shirt in a feeble attempt to show that I want to hold on to him.
 

"I'm sorry, it's just that--" I begin to explain.

"Don't!" he orders brushing my hand away. "Don't even try to give me an explanation. You're not allowed to say another word unless I ask you a direct question."

He lets go of the hand he was still holding and I hear him fumble in the dark and then open one of the remaining folding chairs. His hands come to rest on my waist and I'm guessing he's now sitting in front of me.

"Spanking can be very erotic," he tells me, caressing my ass through the thin material of my skirt. "I thought I was going to ease you into the practice but you've changed my mind. I'm not going to make it hurt like hell. I should but I won't. I will just make it strong enough to be sure you remember what it feels like when you disappoint me."

He pauses and even though I can't see his face, I know that he's daring me to speak up and argue with him. I won't. I can't. I want to be his. I want it enough to ... submit to his whim without any protest.

I bite my tongue and refrain from pointing out how unfair he is. After all, I had until the end of the sale to run. He shouldn't be upset just because I was absent at the beginning of the sale, he should rejoice I decided to stay.
 

Yet, the fact that he wants me so badly, that my absence unsettled him thrills me to no end. I have stolen a bit of his thunder and he needs to take it back.

So I await his next order.
 

A wave of lust washes over me as it comes.

"Remove whatever you're wearing under that skirt and give it to me."

With trembling hands I remove my thong and present it to him. My eyes are getting used to the darkness. Thin rays of light are seeping through the frame of the door allowing me to see his silhouette but not the expressions on his face. The accelerated rhythm of his breathing is enough to undo me. I don't care if it hurts, I don't care that he's using my thong to tie my hands together. As long as he's taking care of me, I will take all that he's willing to give me.
 

He pulls me over on his knees and lifts my skirt over my head, "I will start with a set of ten."
 

One hand caresses the cheeks of my ass and Bruce says, "You will take my discipline silently. You will not utter a sound. The fact that there's a crowd in the adjacent room should help..."
 

That's when I realize that I can still hear Steven's voice as he's auctioning away the final lots of the sale. I try to ascertain how many persons are on the other side of the thin wall but then I stop thinking as Bruce's hand leaves my bottom. I tense in anticipation of the first blow.
 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I tense and I try not to ask myself why I'm so excited. I wait and when the first blow comes I can't hold back a squeal. I bite my lower lip to make sure that I don't do it again.
 

There's pain but then the caress he administers on the spot he just hit somehow diminishes the bite while enhancing the sensation.
 

A second slap on the other cheek and, there again, there is this flash of pain followed by a wave of heat. A third and then a fourth, his hand works more quickly, never hitting the same spot twice and the fire becomes a glow.
 

By the time he's reached ten, I'm floating in a delicious haze. I'm feeling incredibly relaxed and almost sorry he's done.
 

The sound of the sale has faded out. It's like the buzz of annoying insects--easy to ignore. The only thing I hear is Bruce's respiration and then his voice, breathless, asking "How are you feeling, Hannah?"
 

I can't describe the state I'm in. I just moan softly. The words wouldn't do justice to the feeling.
 

"Hannah, love, please, I need to know," he whispers and I hear so much tenderness in his voice that something breaks and I start crying.
 

Happy tears flow away from my eyes and I don't even try to stop them. I've read about this state, it's sub-space and I never thought it would be so sweet. It's so wonderful here, I want to stay forever.
 

"Fine," I tell him. "Better than fine."

Somehow he manages to flip me around and I'm sitting on his lap, cradled in his arms and, as if on cue, when he starts kissing me, a thunder of applause breaks the silence.
 

Steven must have auctioned of the last item of the sale with a new record high. Somewhere in the back of my brain, I hear chairs rattling against the marble floor. There's a louder hum. It's the sound of the multiple conversations of the people next door as they get ready to leave, congratulate a happy bidder or comment on the event.
 

I start to tense and come back down to reality. We're going to be discovered any minute. Very soon the crew will want to put the chairs away and they will walk in on us.

"Hush, baby," Bruce says. "I've locked the door behind us and there's only two keys to this room. One is in my pocket and the other in Jimmy's safe in his office."

He's much calmer. Is he in his top space feeling high from the power I've given him? I'm sure he is. My heart swells with pride as I realize that I can do this. I can give him what he wants, I could be the woman he needs to be happy.

Bruce slides his hand between my legs and this time he doesn't have to tell me what he wants. My thighs spread out of their own accord. He chuckles as he realizes the state I'm in. The slightest touch could send me flying.

"Now is the time," he says. "I've waited long enough."

He lifts me up from his knees and pushes me against the wall, my arms stretched out over my head, hands still tied by my thong.

I feel him more than I hear him wrestle with his belt and the top of his pants. On the other side of the door, I hear bits of conversations as people walk by. Some praise about the quality of the auctioneer, some small talk, dinner plans made...
 

But all those little slices of other people's lives fade out when Bruce thrusts into me without a single warning.
 

I moan. Maybe I'm a little too loud. I don't care. I've never been so stretched. I've never been so filled. I've never been ... I simply didn't exist before today.

He withdraws and plunges forward again. Quick and hard was what he promised yesterday and it's just what I need.
 

A few more hard strokes and I fly away, fisting a hand in my mouth not to scream while I hear him softly roar in my ear.

Bruce turns me around and frees my hands. He tucks my thong away in his pocket and then massages my wrists to make sure my circulation flows nicely.

Someone tries to open the door and startles me. The members of the crew wonder why it's locked and where the hell Bruce has gone with the key. I start to laugh and Bruce silences me with a kiss. I can feel that his lips are curved into a smile as he does.

"I think we have a few more minutes," he says, "and I just know the way to make them count."

His hand is under my skirt again and I instinctively spread my legs without his asking. He smiles as I do so and his fingers explore the crease. The gentle touch of his finger is a surprising counterpoint to the violence of his earlier thrust. My body starts humming again and in an instant I catch fire again. My knees buckle. If I wasn't wedged between the wall and Bruce, I would fall. I close my eyes to savor the moment but when I do he commands me to look at him.

"Your pleasure is mine," he says. "I want every whimper, every shudder, every tear and I want to watch it bloom in your eyes."

So I let him and share with him the ecstasy I feel, eyes wide open on his magnificent face.

When I cease to shudder, Bruce smoothes my skirt back down and adjusts his pants and belt.
 

He unlocks the door and we move out, merging with what is left of the flow.
   

We cross through the reception area, passing in front of Tab's desk. She looks up from her computer screen and watches us reach the elevator.

The elevator doors open and James Evans steps out of it holding a key in his hand. He looks at Bruce and then at me and smiles. He knows.
 

Bruce is his impeccable self and I wonder if I look as disheveled as I feel. Cocking an eyebrow directly at me, James asks, "And now, what are you going to do?"

I look at Bruce because I'm not sure where he's taking me. But Bruce doesn't answer for me. He looks at me as if daring me to find the right answer to this question.

I have it. I know I do.

I look at James Evans and I say, "I will do as he bids."

Hannah and Bruce's story continues in
 

As She Begs
 

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Books by Olivia

As They Please

1 - As He Bids
- Applying for a summer internship at an upscale auction house just because she has a mad crush on one of the bosses, may be Career Fail 101 for Hannah Cohen.
Certainly, she is heading that way when she spends her first week focusing more on the way Bruce Nelson's mouth shapes his words than their actual meaning.

2 - As She Begs
- After Hannah's second week under the close supervision of Bruce Nelson takes an unexpected twist, her first reaction is to run.
And when Bruce vanishes instead of demanding an explanation, Hannah learns the hard way that in his world she will only get as good As She Begs.

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Brian Hatcher, her brother's best friend, dropped out of the police academy.
Instead of working with Lisa's brother to bring down organized crime, he became a full-patched member of the Iron Tornadoes, an outlaw motorcycle club, the very one that may have caused her brother's fall.
Searching for answers to how her David died, Lisa can't ignore the attraction she still feels for Brian.
The chemistry is undeniable but is there anything left of the boy she once loved or has he turned into a stone cold biker?