Beyond 10 Nights (Forbidden Desires Series) Read online

  Her face became even more heated as she nodded. “It was a personal choice for me to wait.” That sounded so lame, she thought. Why was she even having the conversation, she wondered. Unable to keep her thoughts to herself, despite her embarrassment, she found herself telling him all about her father’s treatment of her mother, leading to their divorce, and how that had led to her decision to remain celibate.

  Sitting back in the oversized chair, Alex took in her story, amazed by it. He couldn’t imagine stepping into a relationship like the one she and Rhett had shared as a novice. He knew very well about Rhett’s ten night plan, he had helped him to form it; both of them had come to the conclusion that if a submissive could make it through all ten fantasies/challenges without using her safe words, she would be the perfect submissive. The plan wasn’t one to be used with a complete novice though; he couldn’t imagine how Rhett had believed a beginner could cope with it.

  “Sorry, I guess I run my mouth too much sometimes.” Leah laughed nervously, feeling sure that she had made him uncomfortable with her revelations. He was so easy to talk to though, being around him left her with the strangest urge to tell him all about herself, every last detail.

  “No, not at all, and please, don’t apologize. I’m happy to listen to whatever you want to tell me.” He wasn’t sure happy was quite the right word, horrified was a little closer to the mark, though he kept that to himself. “Did he take you through the entire ten night plan?” He had to know, even if he didn’t have the right to, what she had told him up to then had left him morbidly curious about the situation.

  “You know about that?” She hadn’t really thought it was something Rhett did with every woman he met, and it didn’t make her happy to think about him being with other women, especially the way he had been with her.

  “It was something we came up with years ago to test a woman’s desire and ability to be a submissive.” It sounded so cold, to his ears, as he told her that, and it made him wonder a little about the sort of person he was, that he could help come up with what was essentially a test to determine a woman’s ability to endure the demands of a man.

  She should have been more embarrassed than she was, but Leah found it almost comforting to be talking to someone else about it, especially someone who knew so much. “I couldn’t do the rape scene; that crossed more lines that I ever want to think about again.” Just thinking about that night made her cringe and she felt a shiver run through her, as if someone had just doused her with a bucket of freezing cold water.

  “Damn!” he cursed, and immediately regretted doing so. “Forgive me; I have to say that even contemplating doing something so advanced with a novice turns my stomach.” He was both curious and concerned about her mental health after what Rhett had exposed her to; the potential for harm in what Rhett had done was massive, and he couldn’t believe that she had come out of it without suffering some harm.

  “I’ve heard worse.” Leah laughed softly, amused that he would be so concerned over the use of a simple curse word. “Thinking about that night makes me feel sick as well; it’s not something I’d ever want to go through again.” That was the understatement of the year, she thought to herself.

  “I shouldn’t think you would; normally that’s something that is planned out very carefully, and discussed extensively beforehand. It is definitely not something to be done with such limited sexual experience.” He wasn’t a huge fan of the rape scenario, though he had used it himself on a few occasions, primarily as a form of therapy with rape survivors who wanted a chance to change their level of control during the scene. Each time it had required months of planning and practice before a full run through, not to mention numerous sessions between himself and the submissive during which they discussed everything until they knew and trusted one another fully.

  “Well I guess I’d better get some sleep, I don’t want to yawn my way through my first day at work.” Leah found she didn’t really want to say goodnight, she was enjoying talking to him too much, but she was mentally and physically exhausted.

  “Of course, I’m sorry; we definitely have a big day tomorrow.” Getting to his feet he offered her his hand to help her up and smiled as she took it. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know you tonight, Leah.” He had enjoyed it more than he thought was really acceptable, considering their status, but he kept that comment to himself.

  His hand felt strong in hers and she felt a shiver of awareness move through her, a shiver which she quickly suppressed. Pulling her hand from his she gave an awkward smile. “I enjoyed talking to you tonight too, Alex.” Doing her best not to think too much she quickly crossed to her room and entered, shutting the door behind her. The last thing she needed was to be having inappropriate thoughts about her new boss, she told herself as she pulled off her clothes and slid into bed.

  Taking up her phone from the bedside table where she’d put it, she checked for messages; finding the phone empty she set it down and closed her eyes.

  Her last thought before falling asleep was that she was no longer the girl with no libido, and she needed to remember that just because a man was attractive, didn’t mean it had to go any further.

  6

  OFFICE RELATIONS

  By the time Leah woke the next morning Alex was already up, showered and dressed, and had ordered room service. He had an internal alarm clock that wouldn’t let him sleep past dawn. On that occasion he considered it a good thing, since it gave him some time to think about the conversation he and Leah had had the previous night.

  His thoughts wandered idly over their talk, and its potential repercussions, until he heard her get up and the sound of the shower in her en-suite bathroom reached his ears. Unexpectedly he found his thoughts turning away from their conversation to her in the shower, and his body reacted as he imagined what she might look like naked and soapy.

  With an effort he reminded himself that not only were they roommates, but he was good friends with her fiancé and he was her employer. The list of reasons for him not to be thinking of her naked, or of what he would like to do to her while she was, kept growing until his cock obeyed what his brain was trying to tell him and subsided.

  At least it started to; when she stepped into the room looking every bit the successful business woman he found his body responding again. He found himself sincerely hoping that his arousal wasn’t visible, and had to stop himself before he looked down and checked.

  “How did you sleep?” he asked, trying to divert his thoughts onto a safer track.

  “Good, thank you. Something smells delicious.” Her eyes were drawn to the table where the breakfast dishes were laid out, the aroma from them made her stomach grumble.

  “It should still be warm so help yourself, I need to grab some papers from my room” He quickly made his way into the master bedroom, thinking that he could do with a few moments to himself, so he could get under control. What the hell was wrong with him? Sure, she was a beautiful woman, but he worked with women like her all the time without reacting the way he was just then.

  Walking over to the table, Leah uncovered one of the platters, smiling when she revealed bacon, eggs, and pancakes. The combination was a sure fire way to make her happy in the morning, even if it left her in need of a lengthy session at the gym to make up for it. She took the plate over to the island bar and sat so she could eat.

  Briefcase in hand, Alex walked back out from the bedroom and joined her, much more in control than he had been. His reaction to her presence told him one thing very clearly, it was time for him to start looking for a new submissive. The way he felt toward Leah could only be the result of his having denied himself pleasure the past six months, while he completed the deal that had returned him to Chicago, he was sure of that.

  “I love to see a woman eat.” The words were out before he had a chance to think about how they might sound and he forced a smile to his lips to cover up the fact that inwardly he was cursing himself.

  “Is that one of your kinks?” Putting the
fork down Leah grinned at Alex, surprised to find that she wasn’t the least bit self-conscious about putting such a question to him. She’d been reading in her spare time about the different things that people enjoyed, not wanting to be surprised ever again by a person’s interests, and felt it was a valid question.

  Her question caught him off guard for a moment but he recovered quickly and chuckled. “I hadn’t really thought about it in that context before, but perhaps I should.” It was one of the strangest early morning conversations he’d ever had, he thought, at least without benefit of having enjoyed a submissive the night before. “Would you like to ride in with me this morning? I wouldn’t like to guarantee what the parking for interns is like, and I’d hate for your car to be damaged.”

  “Thank you.” Though she hadn’t wanted to say anything, she didn’t really like the idea of leaving the expensive car Rhett had gifted in the parking lot at his company. She couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to it.

  “In that case we should be leaving. It wouldn’t be appropriate for the boss to be late, especially so soon after taking over the company. I should set an example for the rest of the staff,” he said with a smile as she stood. A new submissive was definitely to be added to his list of priorities he thought as his eyes followed her, enjoying even that simplest of movements.

  Grabbing her purse, Leah followed Alex out of the suite and rode with him in the elevator to the parking level below ground. When they got to his car he held open the passenger door as she slid in and settled herself on the soft leather seat. Chivalry was not dead, she thought with a laugh.

  “I could use some humor this morning.” He grinned as he slid into the driver’s seat, wondering what she found amusing. Without thought he reached over and pulled her seatbelt on, he immediately regretted the move as she tensed when his hand grazed over her chest. “Forgive me; I have a thing about seatbelts.” Sitting back he pulled on his own seatbelt, trying to make light of the situation.

  She shouldn’t have been affected by such a simple move, but she had been. It was crazy, she told herself; there was no reason for her to be so affected by him. Forcing her thoughts away from the touch of his hand on her, she smiled. “I was just thinking that chivalry isn’t dead, the seatbelt thing kind of goes along with you opening the door for me.” She was rambling, and she knew it, but that had to be better than admitting to the strange attraction she felt for her new boss.

  “I enjoy treating a woman like a lady, Leah, but I also know that women have the ability to be stronger than most men give them credit for. This may sound outdated, but women have been genetically geared toward running a household, and ensuring that it all runs smoothly for millennia; in my opinion that same training makes them extremely capable when it comes to running a business.”

  “There’s a lot of feminists that would disagree with you.” Despite what she said she found she couldn’t entirely disagree with him, her upbringing in the South had pushed her very much in the direction of housekeeping rather than education and business.

  “I didn’t create the gender wars, Leah. Personally I believe that a woman can have a very fulfilling life without a male presence, but it is a fact that women have been groomed for the other role, they have been right up until the middle of the last century.”

  “Those days are behind us, Alex; a woman has the right to choose to be whatever she wishes these days.” Leah found it refreshing, and enjoyable, to be able to speak her mind without worrying about repercussions.

  “That is as it should be,” Alex remarked. “Everyone should be in control of their own fate, regardless of their sex, or the role in life they wish to take.” So engrossed in their conversation was he that they reached the office complex far quicker than he expected.

  After parking in the CEO’s space, Alex took Leah up to the human resources offices, where he left her with the head of the department. Before leaving her he made it clear that if she had any problems that HR couldn’t solve she was to come straight to him and he would take care of it.

  He noted the look on the face of his HR manager as he told Leah that, and resolved to deal with it at a later time. He didn’t normally take such a direct interest in his employees, but since Leah was going to be acting as his unofficial personal assistant outside of regular working hours, it was in his interest to make sure there were no problems for her.

  The staff were incredible, Leah thought as she was taken around each department in a quick tour before being settled in the mail room. Initially she thought the HR manager had taken a dislike to her and was punishing her for some imagined slight, but she soon learned that all interns spent their first two weeks in the mail room. Delivering mail to, and collecting mail from, the various departments was considered the quickest and easiest way for an intern to learn their way around the building and get to know everywhere they might have to go.

  By the time lunch time arrived, and she was invited to eat with Alex in his office, an invitation which surprised her and made her more than a little nervous, she had come to the conclusion that she was going to love working there. With the exception of the HR manager, Ms. – with a heavy emphasis on that – Helena Lowell, everyone was welcoming, and understanding when she took a wrong turn or found herself in the wrong cubicle or office.

  Leah wasn’t sure it was a good idea for her to eat with Alex, and worried that it might distance her from the people she was supposed to be working with and learning from, but she pushed that from her mind as he questioned her about her first morning with the company. He was especially interested in what she had learned and how she had been treated by the people she had encountered.

  There were no negatives in her mind, and she told him so, but when he heard that she had been started off in the mail room he insisted on doing something about that. It wasn’t right, in his opinion, and though he could see some of the sense in the company’s decision to start interns in the mail room so they could learn their way around, it was a policy he resolved to change.

  After lunch Leah was put to work in the graphics department, where she remained until Alex found her so they could ride home.

  “I don’t expect to pay my newest employee overtime, especially on her first day, so are you ready to call it a day?” Alex was pleased to see that Leah was fitting in so well, he had wondered how the department would feel about her being placed with them so quickly, rather than following the established process for interns.

  “I might have to beg you to reconsider, Mr. Svenson; Leah has an incredible eye for detail and I can think of several projects coming up where her help would be invaluable.” Since it was clear the new owner of the company had an interest in her, Yvette had paid close attention to Leah during her time in the department that afternoon, and had quickly concluded that she would be an asset. Unlike many interns, she didn’t assume that possession of a degree meant she knew everything she needed to know.

  “Do I take that to mean you would like to have Leah in your department full time, Mrs. Parker?” Alex asked; he was pleased to see the interest but wasn’t sure the graphics department was where Leah would make the best use of her abilities.

  “Absolutely, her skills would prove to be very beneficial here; not only would she be an asset on the projects we have coming up but she would be a great help on our current project. The deadline is fast approaching and we could definitely use the help to make sure we meet it.”

  “I’m sure you would make great use of her skills, but at the moment I wish Leah to gain as much experience as possible in all departments before I decide where she can be put to the best use. You will have her services until the end of next week, and then she will be moved on to another department.” Alex smiled. “Perhaps, if you are lucky, you may have her back again after she has been around the other departments, if I decide that this is where she is meant to be.” He liked the head of his graphics department, during the short time he had been in charge of the company he had discovered that she was just as
detail orientated as he was.

  “Thank you so much, Mrs. Parker, I really enjoyed working here today.” It pleased Leah no end to think her work that afternoon, which she had considered fairly simplistic and well within her capabilities, had been good enough to make the department head want her as a permanent member of the team.

  “Please, call me Yvette, we are very informal here. I look forward to seeing what you manage tomorrow, and I very much hope you are placed in this department permanently.” She was sure Leah would end up working for her; the projects her department was working on were all very important to the company and had the potential to push them well ahead of their competition.

  “Have a good evening, Mrs. Parker.” Alex was sure the two women would continue talking if he didn’t break in, and he didn’t fancy standing there forgotten by chatting women. Taking Leah by the elbow he gently steered her from the department, wanting to ensure she left without being distracted or stopped.

  Leah kept her excitement in for as long as she could, but when they reached Alex’s car it came bursting out of her. “I really would like to work for Mrs. Parker,” she exclaimed eagerly, wanting to make it clear what she wanted. The thought that her work had been good enough to not only satisfy, but please, someone professional was amazing to her.

  She had only been working on the periphery of the project the graphics department was focused on just then, but it had felt wonderful to make use of something that had only ever been a hobby before then, her artistic ability. Never had she thought it would be useful to her in a business capacity.

  “Really?” Alex chuckled at the excitement in her words. It was clear that she had enjoyed herself, and that pleased him. “Are you sure you don’t want to wait until you’ve tried the other departments before you make a decision? You might find that one of them excites you even more.” He didn’t really want her to settle for the first department that interested her, it was a little selfish of him, but as much as he wanted her to be happy in her work he also wanted her to make the best use of her abilities and her qualifications.