Page 10 of Dark Holiday

At school, there weren’t really any repercussions to upsetting him. I hated how I felt afterward, but it was nothing a conversation between the two of us couldn’t fix. Though I knew even in high school that he held all the power, it was different, comforting. Now, with him holding my future in his hands, it’s a lot scarier.

John’s voice becomes strident, bordering on malicious hysteria.“You can’t talk to me like this. I’ll go -.”

“Tell Daddy? You know what, that’s a great idea. Let’s go have a chat with him together and explain just how your lack of focus cost him the biggest case of the year. Or would you rather talk about you and a certain special lady fucking in the coat closet while he was doing closing arguments? I believe you know the one?”

Blood drains from John’s face, leaving him pale and shaking. “I never touched her.”

“Oh?” He pulls out his phone, brows drawn as he scrolls for a moment. Loud moans and grunts fill the air, drawing looks from the other workers. I want to leave, to crawl under the desk until all of this is over, but I’m trapped between the two men and their pissing contest. “So that’s you not fucking her? I guess if my dick was that small too, I’d be confused as well.”

Smatterings of laughter ripple through the space, and John’s head whips around, face contorting into a mass of fury and mortification - a volatile combination. Daniel stands there, watching the video, head tilted as if critiquing the show. Every now and then, he makes a large show of zooming in and squinting before looking back up.

“Briefs. Now.” Sputtering, John whirls around, staring at the floor as he makes his way back to his desk. Dropping his voice, Daniel leans in, his hot breath washing against my ear. “I guess we need to add another rule then, don’t we, Viper. Don’t slut it up in my office. These people have important jobs to do and don’t need you to be a distraction. Keep your conversations professional and brief. You’re here to see to my needs, not get a date. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” I squeak out, wrapping my arms around my waist. Nodding, he walks back to his office, leaving me alone for the other workers to stare at. No doubt they think the worst kind of things are happening between us, but they couldn’t be further from the truth. As much as my body burns at just the thought of us together, my stomach can’t handle it.

Bile burns the back of my throat as I gather my keys and wallet, slipping his card in between the worn leather folds before heading out on my mission. He didn’t specify what he wanted me to do first, and the thought of choosing wrong sends shafts of fear through me. I can’t walk there and be back in time.

I manage to make my way to the elevator without any other incident, and given the start of this morning, I’m counting that as a win in my book. Questions swirl about my head, filling my mind until a dull ache starts to spread across my forehead and end at my temples. I probably should have clarified some things before I left, but truth be told, I needed out of that office.

Reaching my thumb up to my lips, I graze the nail with my teeth and freeze. Oh god. Daniel can probably see me right now. Just like with the sex tape, he probably has cameras everywhere. That’s how he maintains control, I bet. Blackmail. Pulling my hand to my side, I look around the lobby, lost. Just like fucking high school.

I pull out my phone, my fingers shaking as I punch in the number on the back of his card, and I save his contact information. Though a small sense of the panic bubbling inside me begins to subside, just having his number saved isn’t enough. I should probably text the number just in case. That way, if it doesn’t work, he can’t blame me. My thumbs pause as I think of what to say. I want to do something witty, maybe even flirtatious…

Me: Test from Cindy.

God. I am hopeless.

CHAPTER 4

Daniel

Fucking hell. Closing my eyes, I breathe deep, pulling the lingering scent of her perfume and arousal into my lungs. Even in high school, I knew there was a side of her, a dark, depraved part that would be the perfect match for my jagged edges, but I didn’t quite know how deep it ran. Seeing her there, bent over, the perfect picture of submission, I almost ripped those cheap clothes off of her and made her mine in every sense of the word.

Unfortunately, I do have standards, twisted as they are. Walking back to my chair, I glance over at John’s desk, smirking as he bangs away at the keyboard. I don’t give a fuck if he’s mad at me or not. Eric isn’t going to be happy if he knew John banged his toy of the week. I know the man much better than John does, and I know for a fact that his level of possessiveness is almost on par with my own.

John has always been the one to suck up, to drop Daddy’s name when the time was convenient, but when push came to shove, John wasn’t always that bright. What the hell was he thinking sleeping with Jasmine like that? It’s either sheer hubris or stupidity, and neither are qualities I like in my underlings. How could he fuck her and not know his dad would go ballistic?

Then again, John was never there when Eric and I shared women in his cottage. How would John know how his father would react? However, if reasoning serves, a smart person could extrapolate and not need everything spoon-fed to them.

Pulling up my computer, I open a hidden application that sends all the camera feeds to me. Cindy’s still standing there, looking like a lost lamb. I launch out of my seat and draw the blinds again before locking the door. If these idiots that work for me are smart, they’ll leave me alone while I watch my girl, lusting after her from afar.

With her perfect blonde hair and perky smile, she always felt unattainable, an angel, a goddess I could never have yet wanted with every fiber of my being. She’s mine. She will always be mine. Even though I can’t have her, I still watch her, monitor her, make sure no other jackass can take advantage of that soft, sweet heart of hers. I’m the only one allowed that privilege.

Little boys like John don’t know what it takes to break a girl down, only to bring them up stronger than before. He’d toy with her, maybe give her half-hearted orgasms, before taking his limp dick to the next whore. When will my vixen learn that all these men will never give her what she wants, what she needs?

Shaking my head, I pull out my phone and text my driver. Seems like she’s more hopeless than I thought. With Jack at the wheel, she shouldn’t have any problem being done and back by four. With Cindy out of my hair, maybe I’ll be able to get some work done. Lord knows I won’t while she’s in the office. Her scent alone is enough to drive me insane.

Agitation fills my body as I walk around, ensuring every last set of blinds is down. At this rate, I’ll probably either need to invest in a set that goes up and down at the touch of a button or leave them down indefinitely. The problem is, the latter would cut me off from the rest of my team. As annoying as they can sometimes be, they’re still an integral part of how things work around here. As loathe as I am to admit it, I need my team.

I unzip my pants and palm my erection as I stare at the screen, her soft hair a disheveled mess from earlier. She doesn’t realize how hard I’m holding myself back, keeping myself from marking her so that every person in this building knows who she belongs to. Groaning, I slide my fingers up and down, grunting as I gather a pearl of precum and use it as lubricant.

I call her, delighting in the jump she gives as the ringtone shatters the air. The naïve, little thing thinks I needed her to give me her number, never even considering I might have had it already. If it ever came up in conversation, I could lie and say I got it from HR, but I’ve had this and every number she’s ever had.

Her voice is soft and breathless as she calls me Sir, nearly driving me mad. If I didn’t have such a strong sense of self-control, I probably would have moaned at the decadent sound dripping from her lips. Does she have any idea how goddamn alluring she is right now? I’ll bet my savings that she doesn’t have a clue.

I stare at the screen, watching as her eyes dart about as if she’s looking for an escape from the people walking by. There’s no way they could even possibly know about our little game. To them, she’s just an assistant speaking in a polite manner to her boss and not a little submissive desperate for her boss, no, her Dominant’s approval.

Poor thing thinks she can hide herself away from me, as if I haven’t hacked into her e-reader and know exactly what my filthy little girl likes to read. I see the passages she lingers on and the ones she skims over. I see what she rereads and what she doesn’t finish. Her tastes are perfectly in line with my needs and the lurid things I want to do to her, to subject her to. She wants a Daddy who can punish and soothe. Unfortunately, my heart is cold and hardened. She’ll not find anything soothing about me, not until I’ve exacted my vengeance on her body, willing or otherwise.