Chapter 9

Becka

“Dammit!” I sat back away from my laptop and sighed, dropping the lid down to turn it off. In the last month or so that I’d been working for Oliver, I’d been continuing my research into his company, Neuotova, but my computer had been getting slower and slower and had finally succumbed to whatever virus was trying to attack my system.

Every time I tried to open a new screen, some random popup would prevent me from doing anything. I knew it was a simple fix; I could take it into Neuotova’s tech department… but I didn’t want anyone to see what I’d been searching for.

First, it would raise a tremendous amount of suspicion about my relationship with Oliver. Anyone looking at my search history would know I was completely obsessed with him.

What they wouldn’t understand from my computer, though, was that the obsession was mutual. Of course, explaining to Oliver why I was researching anything on the internet that tied his name in with animal testing, animal mistreatment, animal experimentation, or animal captivity… that would be a whole new level of difficulty.

I thought about when I had first seen the list of CEOs who had basically admitted that they tested their food additives on animals and experimented with animals and food, sometimes in fatal ways and seen Oliver’s name on that list.

It still made my stomach do flips whenever I thought about it, how wrong it seemed that his name had appeared on the list, and how I couldn’t imagine that he, who had publicly taken a very severe view on anyone who experimented with animals, could have ever been involved in any way with the other CEOs on the list.

Yet, the more I researched Neuotova’s practices, the more holes appeared. Holes that couldn’t be explained away by simple research error.

I had wanted to talk to Oliver immediately. I’d texted him to meet the next night and he had agreed, of course, because he thought I just wanted to see him. I’d canceled the next morning, citing a headache, and we had been following our rules about not seeing each other outside of work ever since then. I missed him terribly; my body ached for him and every time I closed my eyes, his face would appear in the darkness against my eyelids.

I watched for him at work constantly. He tended to visit my lab space at least once a day, and then it was a delicate dance of trying to memorize his face, his body, look for changes, anything new or different—all while trying to look like I wasn’t the least bit interested. I had the feeling I wasn’t fooling him. He certainly wasn’t fooling me; I caught him looking at me far more often than he wasn’t.

I had tried to fill my time with my research, not just into Neuotova, but into my own dissertation and development of Protame, an additive that would replace aspartame in sodas and other foods. Protame was developed from natural compounds and we had the formula almost completely right.

It was taking an extremely long time because we weren’t experimenting on animal or human subjects. Each prototype was run through a complex computer program that tested it for all of the possible interactions it could have with mammalian chemistry. Each time we ran into a conflict, we needed to isolate the interaction and take pains to change the compound without changing any of the aspects that were already compliant with our goals.

In short, it was a very delicate balancing act. For many companies it took years to perfect a formula. And, for a university and a single grad student, well, Protame might never actually see the market. But, my hope was that working at Neuotova would allow me the possibility of pushing Protame into the big time.

So, I hadn’t met with Oliver to call him out on his position on animal experimentation. Not yet. Instead, I was gathering a case. I had a grocery bag in my closet that was filling with documents I’d been collecting both at work and at home that set up an interesting picture of the public Oliver versus the private Oliver. The real versus the fake.

The trouble was… I didn’t care what I ultimately discovered. For the good of mankind and for the animals, I wanted to rat him out. If it had been anyone else, I would already have taken everything I’d gathered and brought it to PETA, to TMZ, to the press, anyone who would listen.

But, it was Oliver. Even thinking about him now I noticed a warmth spreading through my entire body. A warmth that suggested if I were to call Oliver right now, I would either invite him over to my apartment or ask to visit his mansion and we would spend the night in every position imaginable. I felt myself flush with arousal and embarrassment at my hot thoughts.

I stood up and stretched, then went into the kitchen. I had to be at Neuotova in an hour, but there was no sense in not going in a little early. I could grab an early dinner in the company cafeteria, then get started on whatever projects were the focus for this week.

I looked in the fridge and confirmed my dinner would be from the cafeteria; Lisa and I hadn’t been grocery shopping in forever, and basically everything in the fridge looked old and discolored.

“Gross,” I said out loud, to no one. Lisa was gone again for a few days on a work assignment. I turned off the lights, grabbed my bag and keys, and headed to work.

As I drove, I thought more about Oliver and if there was a way for us to continue seeing each other. It seemed like there were so many obstacles, so much in our way.

Besides the obvious, that I was a broke graduate student working an internship and he was a billionaire CEO of one of the biggest food science corporations in the entire world… not that that wasn’t enough of an obstacle right there. But, we had overcome that. I knew that he liked me just as much as I liked him, though I had no idea what he saw in me.

I knew him to be a sensitive, mysterious, thoughtful man. Is he also cruel? my brain interjected, with thoughts of animals packed into cages, being pulled out violently and experimented upon before either being shoved back into the cage for further study or disposed of.

“Everyone has secrets,” I said out loud to myself as I pulled into a parking spot in the company lot. Even me. Oliver could never know that I was investigating him to the degree that I was.

I dropped my bag off and went to the lab; I wanted to check to see if anyone was interested in grabbing dinner. It was nearly five o’clock, and most of the lab techs would have been there for hours.

I was surprised to find the lab basically empty, until I looked at the calendar. I’d forgotten, because apparently my brain could only pay attention to two things: breathing and Oliver, that five o’clock is when the team meets to discuss the aspects of the day’s research and create a plan to move forward for the rest of the day.

I walked to the cafeteria and moved through the line. We were lucky to have such a great space in the middle of the company. Granted, it wasn’t the playground Google had in their offices, but at least we didn’t have to go out to regular restaurants and spend a ton of money while we were working.

The cafeteria sold food basically at cost, and it was considered part of our benefits package. I grabbed a salad, a hamburger, and a plate of French fries. I thought about the red dress I had worn during one of my last dates with Oliver and thought the fries were maybe a bit much. Then again, it wasn’t like he was going to be seeing me in that dress anytime soon. So, the fries stayed.

I took a seat next to the glass panes that separated the cafeteria from the hallway, and I read the paper as I munched on my salad and fries. The burger stayed basically untouched until I looked up and remembered it was there. I took a break and sat back, looking at the hallway.

People in white lab coats, suits, and jeans all walked by at various points. Then, my heart quickened in my chest. Oliver was walking down the hall with two other men and one woman, all dressed in expensive business suits. Oliver was pointing in first one direction and then the other, and it looked like he was giving a tour of the place.

He walked into the cafeteria, and I felt heat move through every cell in my body. I shifted in my seat to try to calm the arousal already brimming inside me. I watched him and waited for him to scan the room and see me. I could hear his voice; he was definitely giving a tour. It sounded like prospective investors.

Both of the men were nodding vigorously at nearly everything Oliver said, and the woman was asking questions as she took notes on her iPad. I wondered if they were all in business together or if he was working on three separate investments.

And then he saw me, and every thought I’d ever had flew out of my mind. His eyes met mine and, though he managed to continue talking, I could tell his heart and thoughts had skipped a beat when his gaze settled on me.

A small smile played at the corners of his lips, probably at the huge bite of hamburger creating chipmunk cheeks on my face. I blushed ferociously and put my hamburger down. I picked up my napkin and covered my mouth with it as I chewed furiously, trying to swallow the bite so I could smile and look presentable.

Oliver never took his eyes off of me. He licked his lips, and I felt sound rushing in my ears. Was it possible to pass out when you were already sitting down? I thought my body was willing to give it a go, given that all the blood in my body was suddenly surging to the space between my legs. I uncrossed my legs and then recrossed them, feeling the pulse of arousal as my clit let me know it didn’t care if we were in the cafeteria at work or not; when Oliver was around, my clit was on duty.

He turned and, without a greeting or an acknowledgement, walked out. The group continued walking in the same direction they’d been heading, which meant that he walked right by me. He set his hand on the railing and gently tapped the glass with his fingertips. I shivered and sighed, feeling both incredibly horny and incredibly lonely at the same time.

My appetite was basically demolished, but I ate my hamburger anyway. After I finished my meal, I cleaned off my tray and walked back to the conference room where the lab assistants had their office. I turned on my laptop and opened my email. I had one blinking message… from Oliver.

Come to my office, it said.

I stared at it for a moment, trying to read a tone or some sort of meaning into it. He had sent it just moments ago, so it was possible his meeting with the investors had concluded. It was also possible that he needed something and just hadn’t wanted to come to the lab to get it.

Normally he would have sent his assistant, but she had been calling in sick a lot lately, something I’d seen from the log sheet that recorded everyone’s attendance each day.

I stood up and walked to his office, stopping in the bathroom on my way. I looked halfway presentable, at least, but I still took a few moments to run my fingers through my hair and smooth out the eyeliner that had flaked off onto the spaces under my eyes. After a few minutes, I continued.

As usual, his assistant wasn’t at her desk. I checked his appointment calendar and saw that he had a few hours without any appointments. Then, I knocked on the door.

“Come in,” he said. His voice was muffled and distant, as if he was standing on the other side of the room. Of course, that was deceptive; the door was thick and sound-proof; he could have been standing directly on the other side of it. I turned the knob and walked in. Oliver sat at his desk, looking up at me.

“Hello, Ms. Jasper,” Oliver said.

“Dr. Weeks,” I acknowledged. “How did your tour go?”

His eyes glistened and he smiled, his lips spreading apart to reveal his flawlessly white teeth. “It was successful,” he said. “The investors were extremely impressed.”

“That’s wonderful to hear, Sir,” I said formally. I continued to stand in the doorway of his office, since he hadn’t invited me to sit. “Can I help you with something? I… I got your email.”

My voice began to falter as he stood up and I saw the full length of his amazing body as it moved toward me.

“As a matter of fact,” he whispered, drawing me into his arms. There’s one very specific thing you can help me with.”

He leaned down and kissed me. I felt hot, passionate desire flow through me and any objection I’d had about his proximity or behavior was forgotten as I gave myself over to his kiss. I put my arms around his shoulders and brought my hands to his head. His hair was dark, thick, and I loved to hold it in my hands.

He lifted me up and brought me to the desk. I thanked my brain for having the foresight to wear a short yet loose skirt. He set me on the desk and stood between my legs, spreading them. My body responded as though I’d just come through a desert and he was a pitcher of water. We were magnetized for each other, and I felt calmer than I had in weeks. I realized how hard I had been struggling to stay away from him.

“We’re breaking a rule,” I murmured through his kiss.

“I didn’t become a billionaire by following the rules,” he said back. He pressed a button on his desk and I heard the deadbolt of his office door click into place, then he laid me back on his desk, which was, of course, pristine. He looked down at me and I could see him practically salivating as he undid his belt and pants, letting them drop to the floor.

He kept his eyes on me as he bent down to pick them up; of course, he couldn’t let them wrinkle. I smiled as he folded them over the back of his desk chair.

“All in the details, right?” I asked.

“I have a business meeting in two hours,” he said. “That should give us just about enough time for me to remind you what a bad deal you made before, when you told me we couldn’t do what I’m about to do to you.”

His cock was rigid and standing straight out from his body. If it was possible, it was even bigger than I remembered from the last time we’d been together. I licked my lips hungrily for him.

He walked back toward me. I bent my knees and slid down toward the end of the desk. He slid his fingers into me easily; I was soaking wet with desire for him. He smiled and closed his eyes.

“You’re so wet,” he said.

“I’ve missed you,” I said. My voice sounded like not my own. It was lower and slower, as if the desire running through my body was overtaking even my vocal cords.

When he entered me, I felt my body both surge with energy and relax at the same time. If my body could have exclaimed ‘finally!’, it would have. My hips began to thrust against Oliver’s cock even before he drove into me. He stopped and cocked his head at me.

“We’re eager, aren’t we, kiddo?” he asked. He put his hands on my thighs and leaned down, kissing my inner thighs and brushing his lips across my wanting pussy. I groaned with pleasure and tension as he continued to tease me. My hips felt as though they had a life of their own.

“Please,” I gasped. He stopped and looked up at me.

“Please what?” he asked, a smile playing at his lips.

I looked at him, not knowing if he wanted me to be more specific in my request or if he wanted me to address him as Sir. I’d address him as King Oliver if he would just put his cock in me, so I did both.

“Please fuck me, Sir, fuck me as hard as you can, please.”

“Well,” he said, “since you asked nicely.” And he took both my hands and held them down at my sides, then he shoved his cock back into me, all the way to the base of his shaft. I cried out with the pleasure of him filling me, and the weight of his body as he held down my hands.

He began to move against me, in and out, slowly and sensually at first, but then building his speed and intensity until it felt as though he was pressing his cock all the way up to my ribs. Each time he thrust, my body gasped, so full of the pleasure of it all I could barely remember to breathe.

The angle of his body as he held my hands allowed him to rub against my clit with each movement, and it was so painfully fast that I felt my orgasm arriving. Once again, my brain and body went in two different directions, my body wanting the pleasure now, my brain wanting to hold off and enjoy the sensation of him inside me as long as possible. The idea of multiple orgasms crossed my mind; if there was ever a time for it to happen, it was now.

My orgasm flowed over me and I opened my eyes to watch Oliver. He was looking at me with determination and his own arousal, and, within a few moments, I felt his body stiffen and he cried out as he came, his fluids pumping into me.

The additional wetness only served to heat my clit more and my orgasm continued on and on and on, until, what felt like minutes later, we both began to come down, sweating and out of breath.