Declaration to Submit (12 page)

Tears welled in her sweet brown eyes. “I’m so stupid.”

No three words could have shocked him more. He stared at her, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Nell, look at me,” he said, and she finally met his stare. “I don’t ever want to hear you talk like that about yourself again. Tell me what’s wrong.”

One tear fell, and she impatiently wiped it away. “You don’t even know me. I don’t know you. And I feel…I want…” Her nostrils flared, and she tried to escape his hold. “Let me go. Please.”

“Nell, it’s okay,” he said, trying to be soothing and not show the arrogant pleasure he felt from her words. “What we’re doing? It speeds things up, makes it all more intimate. It drops walls quicker and can confuse you.” Hell, he’d only seen it happen, not experienced it. Most of his submissives had been guarded with him, and he had never wanted to possess a sub this much. Even though he sounded confident, he was in unfamiliar territory too.

“I don’t know what to do, Sir.” Her lips trembled, and Mark was completely flummoxed. He’d known the perfect secretary hid a passionate, kinky woman. He hadn’t realized how loving and lonely she had been. Or how direct she would be. He let her duck her head to hide in the crook of his neck as he tried to get a handle on his own emotions.

She was an inexperienced submissive, but in the midst of his passion, he’d forgotten some of the basics. It was easy to forget since Nell was a natural, instinctively satisfying his every need.

He sighed. “It’s my job to take care of you, Nell. I’ve done a piss-poor job.”

Her head snapped up, and she blinked. “What?”

What a fool he’d been. Yes, he’d been right about Nell’s submissive nature, her passionate side, but he’d completely missed the one thing that might hurt her the most. The perfect secretary always had to be perfect. He’d removed her confidence, her belief in herself. He wasn’t the kind of Dom to reward with anything except sexual pleasure. There was no measuring stick for this kind of thing, and Nell was the type of submissive who would need some reassurance of her value. She enjoyed being stripped of her control, but he hadn’t done enough to remind her that she held the power.

“You are still you, Nell,” he told her. “This is a part of you, the part that gives to me. You are still Nell Armstrong, confidential secretary with the razor-sharp wit and the fearsome reputation. All of that is still there.”

“But look at me,” she wailed. “I do not cry. I do not beg men to fuck me in the ass. And I do not hide in bathrooms,” she shouted.

He tried to contain it, but he couldn’t. He started to laugh and tried to muffle the sound. But she caught his smile and glared at him. And then, her lips twitched, and finally, she started to giggle.

She relaxed when he wrapped his arms around her and held her, the mirth passing into something sweeter and quieter. After a few blissful minutes, he said, “Nell, I wasn’t paying careful enough attention. I’m a Dominant, and usually that means I recognize emotional overload in my submissive. But I’m also a guy. And that means I forget the emotional part and focus on the physical part.” He stroked her hair. “I can’t help it that you’re fucking sexy and beautiful.”

The stillness in her body made his heart cry out for her. Hadn’t anyone told her that? It made him desire to seek out and beat the living shit out of the men who had been with her before. They were idiots who had never given this stunning woman the attention she deserved.

Finally, she leaned back and looked at him. “Really?”

He shifted in the seat so her ass rubbed against his aching cock. “What do you think?”

She pressed her lips together, but her eyes twinkled. “I think you’d better focus on the emotional part.”

He let out a burst of laughter and held her tighter. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. They sat like that for much of the plane ride, occasionally talking about little, inconsequential things that couples talk about.

It was the most peaceful he’d been in his life. And she’d made him feel that way. As freaked out as she was about ass fucking, crying, and hiding in bathrooms, Mark was scared to death about how vital this woman had become.

Chapter Eight

Somehow, the question of whether or not Nell would be Mark’s secretary/ submissive never came up. The following week in Los Angeles was frenetic and demanding for both of them.

His job as the CEO of ConFed meant research and profiling company portfolios for investors and crunching numbers for the board meetings. Mark had been neck-deep in Sunsoon’s books since it was his job to determine what divisions had been leaking money.

When they’d started the process of taking over Sunsoon, Mark had already known there was a problem in the company. Hell, it had been the catalyst for his success. Now, he wanted to find the hole and plug it up. If that meant firing some people, then so be it.

It hadn’t surprised him that the marketing department, headed by Reena Barrett, was in shipshape. It also hadn’t surprised him that the human resource department headed by Anelda’s boss, Ernest Dover, had been in order.

The company had created some of the most unique security software in the business, and their own security had posed a problem for him. But he’d been able to discover the soft, white underbelly of the company: its financial spending.

Studying the books, Mark discovered the spending had been in hardware. Personnel, handled by Nell’s office, was often the issue with struggling companies, but this time, it seemed that someone was spending a lot of money, going over budget again and again. He found confidential memos that stated the concerns. Yet the money kept going out.

Why?

“Nell, would you come in here please?” He flicked off the intercom and frowned at the file in front of him.

Twelve names were on the purchase orders, but there was no paper or electronic trail to follow where the hardware was used. Was it being sold? Wasted?

“Yes, sir.” Ah, Nell was back to the perfect secretary. It was after five on Friday night, and she looked as fresh as she had at eight o’clock that morning when she’d brought him coffee.

“What can you tell me about these twelve people?” He handed her the handwritten list he’d compiled.

It was fascinating to study her as she focused inward, accessing her memory. “Four of them quit shortly before rumors of the takeover began,” she answered. “Two of them requested transfers to a different office. The other six are still here.” She cocked her head to the side. “Why? Is this the chop list?”

“In a way.” He tightened his lips. Nell had proven herself invaluable, but he wasn’t sure where her loyalties were. That she was submissive to him, even cared about him was clear, but if it came down to the people she’d worked with for years and the boss who had raided the company, would she choose them?

She bit her lip. “We’ve talked a lot about the different departments of this branch,” she said slowly. “I’ve told you everything I know. I will tell you that Yarina Tourine, the head of the software development department, is the daughter of Victor Tourine.” She gave him a solemn glance. “You know who he is.”

Victor Tourine. He was the power behind Sunsoon, the man who had wanted to scuttle the company rather than let ConFed take it. Even as Nell had been doing interviews to try and save the company, rumors leaked out of software glitches, faulty coding, and the money problems. The stock tumbled, and Tourine had tried to buy more stock to stop ConFed’s takeover.

But Mark had been quicker. He and Tony had snapped up the stock and waited until Tourine overreached himself. When the older man gave up, Mark and Tony split the stocks and doled out small percentages as rewards. But the bulk still belonged to the two of them.

“Yeah. He doesn’t like us very much,” Mark said.

“Mr. Tourine and Yarina had a huge argument when she wouldn’t leave.” Nell frowned, and Mark interpreted her expression as disapproving. Of course, Nell probably thought Tourine’s daughter should have remained loyal to her father. “But I had the impression that Yarina had her own reasons for staying. It seemed like she knew something the rest of us didn’t.”

“And the general consensus is?” Mark asked. Nell seemed to have a good idea of the mood and opinion around the proverbial water cooler.

“Everyone seems to think she’s your source.” Nell stared at her hands in her lap.

Well, that was interesting. “And why is that?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Someone showed you the financials. And I know no one in the public relations office did. Gina has worked there for years, and she’s tight-lipped with me.” She cleared her throat. “No offense meant, sir.”

He gave her a quick grin. “None taken. The truth is, I did have information from an employee of Sunsoon. It was incomplete, but it gave me enough to go on.”

Nell nodded. “The only reason I mention Yarina is because I believe she authorized every purchase order. If your boss tells you to buy something, you buy it.”

“Her name isn’t on the paperwork.”

The perfect secretary snorted. “It wouldn’t be. Yarina is very clever. There won’t be a direct connection between her and failure.”

Mark decided to trust Nell and handed her the purchase orders. “I thought I knew a lot about software, but these items aren’t familiar to me. Do you know what they’re for?”

Nell sighed when she finished looking at the papers. “I was afraid of this. There were several concerns expressed in memos about these purchases. These items are used for computer hardware.” She raised an eyebrow. “Things like bugs and microphones. We usually don’t produce anything like that. It’s possible, judging by the amount spent, that the software development department was moonlighting.”

“Making something else and selling it on the side.” Using sensitive company equipment to create something and hiding the income from it was pretty ballsy. Of course, Yarina Tourine would be untouchable, daddy’s little girl with the clever avoidance of signing anything.

“Memos were sent, but Mr. Tourine wouldn’t act. No one could produce proof. Anyone who rocked the boat would suddenly quit.” Nell shook her head. “Mr. Dover wouldn’t let me step in due to company politics. We gave several employees a hefty severance package rather than dealing with the problem.”

Some of this wasn’t news to Mark. That Nell was being so honest was surprising. He wasn’t used to it.

“I’ll deal with the issue on Monday.” He shut the file.

Nell rose and turned to leave. He stopped her with a stern order. “Sit down, Anelda.”

She sat down immediately and kept her gaze on the floor. All week they had been rushed off their feet, unable to connect. There had been no sex, no spankings, no submission for his secretary.

He had a surprise for her.

When he walked around the desk, he noted that she shot a glance at him, trying to gauge his mood probably. “You and I need to discuss your behavior in this office,” he snapped.

She swallowed. “My behavior…Sir?”

“What’s your safe word, Anelda? I plan on punishing you.” He strode toward the large cupboard to his left.

“Salmon, Sir. And punish me for what?”

He smiled, but toward the wall so she wouldn’t see it. She sounded tired and irritable. He was going to take care of that. “Five days and you’ve forgotten the rules already?” He unlocked the cupboard and took out a flogger, some lube, and three dildos. “Speaking before being given permission, forgetting my title, looking me directly in the eye. These are all infractions you’ve committed.”

When he turned around, it amused him to see her glaring at him. “You said when we returned to L.A. we’d decide what I would call you. You said that we’d decide what I’d be.” She crossed her arms and looked a little put out. “All I’ve been for five days is a damn secretary.”

Ah, she was hurt and felt rejected. He could see why. Yes, his little plan for the evening was needed by both of them. “Well, tonight you won’t be a secretary at all. You will be a submissive. My submissive.”

Her breath quickened, and he loved the way color swept over her cheeks. But her hair was up in a severe bun, and she was contained in her drab, conservative clothes. It was time to take care of that.

“Bend over my desk.”

She rose to her feet and stepped toward the desk. Before she bent over, she glanced back at him. He raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes.

As she bent to obey him, he noted how her sweet ass trembled. “Arms out, Anelda. I want your cheek flat on the desk.”

She obeyed him, and he lifted her skirt. He’d never seen her daily underwear, only familiar with the thongs she’d purchased for her trip to Las Vegas. Something about her tiny scraps of lace was sexier than the thong he’d confiscated that first night.

When he stepped back, he took a moment to enjoy the view. Her gray skirt was bunched up around her waist, and her blouse was untucked on one side. She was wearing garters and hose with black lace. It was as if she’d read his fantasies, delved deep into his soul. “Count them out.”

He smacked her ass, and she jerked forward. “One,” she said firmly, her voice strained.

God, he loved spanking her. He whacked her again and enjoyed the way her flesh vibrated under his hand. “Two,” she said loudly.

His next three were quick and hard, his breath coming fast as he watched her body take his punishment. Before the sixth strike, he yanked her underwear away. He wanted to feel the heat from her skin. He bent down and pressed his lips to her rosy butt cheek, reveling in the way she shook. Close to her feminine core, he smelled her arousal and stifled a groan of need.

His next four strikes were steady, full-powered connections of his hand to her luscious, bare ass, and she made his ears ring with her shouts. He wanted to fuck her on the desk, knock everything off the surface of the drab office furniture, and restrain her to its smooth top. But he had an elaborate surprise planned; fucking her on the desk would have to wait for another time.

“Please, Sir,” she sobbed. “I need—I need— Oh, fuck, I need to come.”

“No.”

She squirmed on the desk, struggling to rub her clit against the desk’s hard contours. He gripped her soft flesh and held her still. When he bent down to her ear, he knew she could feel the insistence of his cock against her tender butt. “You hold still, or I’ll keep you on edge for hours.”