Taken (Dark Desires 1)

“I want you to be comfortable, but I do require that you call me Mr. Rivers. I find in the workplace that it’s better to be professional.” He had moved a little closer and he was only a few inches away from invading my personal space. His pectorals were not the only things that he was flexing. The laugh that ensued was his way of telling me that I was going to have to get used to it.

“Oh, my….is it hot in here, or is it just me?” I made a flirting gesture by fanning myself with my hand.

“Trust me…it’s just you.” He moved behind me and his hands barely touched my bare shoulders. “I’m going to have to go out for a little while. You have the office to yourself. If there is anything that you need then all you need to do is, ask. I won’t be here, but my secretary Miss Timmons will be happy to help you.” He grabbed his trench coat from the back of the door.

“The one thing that you’ll find with me is that I’m low maintenance. The only thing that I need is a caffeine fix with a pot of coffee right in front of me. If it’s possible, I would connect it right to my vein, but drinking it will have to suffice.” I was going to get up, but my legs were shaky and I was afraid that I was going to collapse right in front of him.

“Amanda, you’re certainly a woman after my own heart. I think that we will get along famously. You just need to remember that it’s my way or the highway. I like things done a certain way. You can even sit in my chair and feel what it is like to be in control. To be honest, I’m not much for pleasantries and I would rather just get to work.” He slipped out and left a lasting impression on me that had me feeling like my clothes were a little bit tighter than usual.

I hadn’t even taken off my jacket. He had moved it out of the way so that he could touch me inappropriately without making it look like any big deal. I could’ve said something and maybe I should have.

I surveyed the photos in his office. It showed a man that was into himself and liked to put on a show for the benefit of others. He was quite athletic and into various sports like tennis and soccer just to name two. I’d done my due diligence and I knew that his family life was non-existent. His father was not talking to him. Even though he was a success, his father just couldn’t get over the fact that he didn’t want to get into the family business of running a restaurant. Up close and personal, he really did look better in person than in any photo that I had seen of him thus far.

“I know that he can be a bit much to take, but he really is just a big teddy bear.” Big wasn’t the right adjective and when he walked into a room he owned it from the moment that he stepped through the threshold. “He asked me to look in on you. I brought you a pot of coffee.” Miss Timmons placed it in front of me and she was bent at an angle to give me a bird’s eye view of her heaving bosom.

I’d never been into girls, but she might’ve been the exception to that rule. I got the feeling that maybe her open sexuality was a selling point when she came to work for him. I wondered if things had moved forward into something more physical.

“He really didn’t give me that much time to talk. I do admire the man, but he really does have a big head.” I was talking about the one on his shoulders, but it was not lost on me that the helmet between his legs was in healthy proportion to the rest of the mountain of a man.

“He has never worked with anyone. This has always been a one-man show, except for those that he puts on retainer as contract players. Most find him difficult to work with. He doesn’t make it easy and his opinion is the only one that he listens to. If he gives you any praise, then I would take it in the spirit that it was given. I have to get back to my station.” Those that were on contract were brought in for a specific task and then given their walking papers after they were done.

It was an interesting way for him to do business without having to commit. It had to be his way of w

eeding out the undesirables. He did not have to worry about paying for a salary or benefits. These contracts would take a lump sum and a specified amount of time to get the job done. They would walk away to contend with another client.

It made me feel pretty damn good that he had singled me out. I did sit in his chair and I could smell him surrounding me like this sexual aphrodisiac that I couldn’t seem to get enough of. I had allowed things to give him the idea that I was open to something more than a collaboration of ideas. I was going to have to put a stop to that. It would only be asking for trouble to mix business with pleasure.

I went on the Internet and found out that the client’s name was Lionel Evans. He was a tycoon with billions to spend. August was also a billionaire. He had made his fortune playing the stock market. He could never get away from his true passion for designing something that was going to stand up to the test of time.

This was the kind of guy that could be on a tropical beach. There was no reason for him to work, but it was testament to his character that he still wanted to make his mark in the world.

I found inspiration from August’s designs over the years and I blended that with what I had learned about Mr. Evans. August was looking for something contemporary and Mr. Evans wanted that classical feel without the pomp and circumstance to go with it. It was quite the balancing act. I found myself literally flying by the seat of my pants.

I didn’t even realize how much time had elapsed until I looked up and found that the hallway outside the office was darkened. It made me feel like I was about to jump out of my skin. I thought for sure that he was going to come back, but it was well after 8:00 PM and time to clock out.

I got up, straightened up the mess that I had made and filed my drafts on top of his inbox. It was a productive first day and I was looking forward to tackling it once again tomorrow.

I had my hand on the doorknob and he came in and pushed me back out of the way. It was kind of rude and I could smell the liquor on his breath. He spun me around, making me dizzy and having the effect of making my dress swirl around me to reveal my Victoria secret panties.

“Forgive me, but I got caught up in wooing the client at a local strip club. Those girls can really put on a show. I bet you would look great flaunting your stuff and giving the guys something to think about. Show me a few moves and pretend that there is music playing.” He was obnoxious, macho and a bit sexist. I didn’t feel like playing his game and there was no way that I was going to dance for him.

“You’re drunk and you need to sleep it off before you do something that you’re going to regret.” He ruffled my dress and his fingers grazed my inner thighs which had always been my Achilles’ heel. “You need to stop this. I’m not some kind of plaything for your amusement. Other girls might enjoy this kind of sparring, but I’m not one of them. Keep it in your pants and we’ll get along just fine.” I knew that the words did not match the way that I was feeling deep down. I wanted him to take me, but to give him that satisfaction would only open that Pandora’s Box.

“You…can’t fool me. You like the way that I touch you and you want what you have been looking at from that moment that you sat down.” He palmed his privates, giving them a healthy tug with my eyes gravitating towards the outline of it.

“I don’t have to take this fresh stuff. If you can’t take this seriously, then maybe this isn’t going to work between us.” I tried to sidestep him, but he had his hands on my hips and was keeping me from leaving in a huff. “This is no way to treat a colleague.” I vainly slapped at his chest, feeling the granite surface and knowing that seeing him naked wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

“I think that you might be protesting a little bit too much and it’s getting on my last nerve. Let your hair down and enjoy yourself. We only have this one life to live and we can’t just be all about the business.” His words were slurred and the liquor of choice was something that I was quite familiar with. My mother was happy all the time, but it was with a bit of help from several glasses of wine. It would appear that August and my mother would have made great drinking buddies.

“I don’t need liquor to have a good time. I hope that you remember this in the morning. Overindulging is only going to leave you with a headache to beat the band. I’m going to give you something, but it’s against my better judgment. This is my own remedy. After you drink it, you’ll feel like hell, but then that will pass quickly enough. Take my word or not and I really don’t care.” I wrote it down with him behind me breathing on my neck. I turned quickly to see that his hands were poised to cup my ample posterior.

I grabbed his hand and I placed the piece of paper in between his fingers. He could’ve easily had his way with me and those hands really did dwarf my tiny little digits. I had always been the bigger of my dates, but that was not the case with August. He had to weigh in at over 200 plus pounds of solid muscle. I didn’t think that there was an ounce of fat on his body. Whatever regiment that he had put himself through had the desired results.

“I want you and I’m going to have you. It would be better that you just give in now. If you leave here without doing something about this heat between us, then you’re going to end up having one very restless night. You’ll toss and turn and you’ll have only yourself to blame. Grab onto a little bit of happiness.” The happiness that he was referring to was the stick of dynamite that was quite pronounced and looking ready to burst through his pants.

I still had his hand in mine and then he lowered it and placed it against the lump of his arousal. I gasped thinking that this was unbecoming of a professional relationship, but not able to tear myself away from the thumping presence. It had a life of its own and a pulsing rhythm that had me squeezing it.

“I… I…can’t do this. It will ruin what we already have. I’ve seen too many people go down this road and the awkwardness after it all falls apart leads to one of them having to quit. I won’t risk… I won’t… I have to leave and you haven’t heard the last of this.” I used whatever resolve that I had left to push him back away from me. He looked a little stunned by my behavior and tried to pursue but got the slam of the door in his face.