I tried not to look at his crotch again, but it was pointing right at me.

Whatever was happening here, I liked it. When he’d described Shibari rope binding, the idea of it had drenched my panties, especially coming from his sensual mouth. I knew this was wrong. He was my boss. Things would get awkward and invariably end with me out of a job again. But I’d never been so turned on in my life. My heart throbbed for him as it always had, and the rest of my body echoed it back from right between my legs.

“Addie...” he started, his voice raspy, and he shook his head.

I knew exactly what he was going to say, but I didn’t want to hear it. Not right then.

His cell phone chimed from inside his pocket. He slipped it out, glanced at the screen, and then did a double-take. When he lifted his gaze again, his eyes became dark, hungry flames as they licked down my body and up again. I quivered, hardly able to breathe. A change seemed to have come over him, like he’d suddenly reconsidered, and was now thinking about a sensual promise.

For me.

I set the water bottle down and crossed toward him, toward exactly what I needed. As I drew nearer, his lips parted. He swept toward me, dropping his water bottle, and when our bodies came together, he covered my mouth with his. Our tongues stroked and explored as I rubbed up against his hard length. He fisted one hand at the back of my head and grazed the other down my back, then traced across my rib cage to my chest, igniting everything along the way. I moaned as I pressed into his palm, my nipples aching for his touch.

“Tie me up,” I begged between his searing kisses.

He pulled away, his chest heaving, and raked his hand through his dark hair. “We... It’s your first day.”

I knew what he meant, but it struck me as funny anyway. If it were my second day, it would be okay?

“I don’t want to hurt you again, Addie,” he said, his face etched in pain.

“You won’t. You never did. If you want, we could call it a night and come back tomorrow,” I said, even though that was the last thing I wanted to do.

He paced away a few steps and rubbed his jaw, shadowed by whiskers that hadn’t been there earlier today, his gaze stuck on me. “We could...”

The other option hung between us like a dare. A clock on the wall ticked. I licked my lips in anticipation.

“Or thirty minutes of work, and then a reward of you stripping off all of your clothes.” His voice came out like a growl.

I sucked in a breath, his words curling in deep. My pussy ached. “And then?”

“And then thirty more minutes of work with one of us naked.” His eyes twinkled playfully. “What else?”

I laughed, or tried to, but air had slowed its funnel into my lungs. “Thirty minutes. Are you going to set a timer or should I?”

Chuckling, he strode behind his desk and hit a few keys on his laptop. “Starting now.”

Releasing a slow, calming breath, I sat across from him and got to work since the only thing that would pass the time was staying busy. Words swam around my laptop’s screen in a nonsensical pattern, so I stared blankly at them, waiting until my boss-fueled haze wore off. I forced myself to focus on nothing but the potential matches on the screen, never straying my gaze upward, not even through my eyelashes.

Finally, thirty minutes and four match profiles later, his laptop chimed. My body reacted like one of Pavlov’s dogs, my skin heating, my pussy drenching itself once again. But he kept working, not even glancing up. The sadist fucker.

While eyeing him, I fingered the buttons of my shirt, hoping to coax him to his feet to help me undress. When that didn’t work, I popped the buttons free all the way down to reveal my bra and stomach.

Still nothing from him. Not even a raised eyebrow. Had he forgotten I was here, or had I turned invisible?

I unclasped my bra and slid it from my arms, the cool air instantly tightening my nipples. Next, I stood and unzipped my skirt, wriggling it from my hips. After I ridded myself of my shoes and panties, I was completely bared to him.

“On the desk, Ms. Blevins,” he said, still not looking up.

Finally a reaction, but one I hadn’t expected. My heart thudding with excitement, I climbed up on the desk, reminding myself of a panther stalking its prey as I prowled across the wood toward him.

Clearing his throat, he set his laptop aside and then fished around inside a drawer. He pulled out several lengths of coiled rope and brushed my knee with them when he laid them next to me.  Just that simple touch of the course fibers over my sensitive skin made me shudder. He trailed the fingertips of both hands up my arms to my shoulders and neck, then cupped my jaw with his rough hands and leaned in. His lips brushed mine as he searched my eyes, as if looking for any traces of doubt. He wouldn’t find any. Satisfied, he kissed me deeper, more urgently, his tongue and mouth almost as rough as the rope. Still on all fours, my hips jerked forward and pulled back involuntarily, riding the empty space. They thrust with the same tempo as my tongue into his mouth until finally he pulled away.

“Sit back on your knees,” he growled.

I obeyed, a thrill chasing up my back as he took up the rope.

“What happens next doesn’t leave this room, Ms. Blevins.” He drew the first few feet of rope taut between his fists with a snap.

My pussy clenched. Wetness leaked between my thighs.

“I won’t tell anyone,” I said.

He dragged the tip of the rope across my right nipple, tightening it into an aching bud, then coiled the rope behind my back. When he’d wrapped it around me once, he drew my hard nipple into his mouth and sucked and licked until I threw my head back and moaned. While he lavished attention on it, his hands worked the rope around me a second time, this band underneath my breasts. He pulled away, his lips swollen and wet, his eyes hungry, and continued to bind me. Slow and methodical, he paused several times to kiss me and to stroke my body with both his hands and the rope. Soon, intricate designs decorated my body, held in place with knots as well as my curves. He handled the rope like a real artist.

“It’s like cross-stitching,” I said.

He stopped and looked at me, his lips twitching. “It’s not like cross-stitching. Arms behind your back.”

I complied, my breasts sticking out even farther between the ropes in this position. The ropes fit snugly, not enough to stop my circulation or breathing but tight enough so I couldn’t move easily.

Once he’d bound my wrists, he said, “Raise up higher on your knees.”

The ropes creaked as I tried, and I didn’t get very far. He snaked the end of the last length of rope up my thighs, slowly, his other arm wrapped around my waist to help support my weight. He stroked the rope along my pussy lips, and I cried out. The bumpy but smooth feel of the rope rubbed me just right. My hips bucked and I moaned for more. His hand parted my thighs a little more, enough to maneuver the end of the rope up inside me. I tried to push down my hips, but he held my waist tight so he could control the movement. I whimpered. I’d never been so desperate to fuck the end of a rope in my life.

He withdrew it and then replaced it with two fingers, pumping them deep inside of me, while he watched me with his lips parted, his dark eyes fiery hot.

I dropped my head forward against his neck, my whole body jarred forward by the force of his hand. “Please,” I begged.

“You’re so ready for me, Addie. Fuck, you’re so ready.” He pulled his fingers free and sank them into his mouth with a groan. His hips rocked forward as he pulled his fingers back out again, his hard cock rubbing my knee through his pants. “Not yet. Go all the way down on your knees.”

My muscles shaking with the effort, I sank down into a kneeling position with my ass against my heels. The rope he’d tied between my legs rubbed its bumps along my clit. The fibers stung the sensitive flesh, but at the same time, they swelled my clit until it throbbed. It was agonizingly perfect. I whimpered and squirmed, only able to move a fraction, and it was enough to draw out the pleasure but not to find a release.

He sat in his chair and pulled his laptop closer. “Thirty more minutes of work.”

“You can’t be serious,” I said, breathless.

“This is our reward system.”

“But I can’t work like this.”

He grinned. “I think you’re working just fine.”