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I missed her. Somehow, Madeline was spending almost every night at my house, but I still craved her throughout the day. There was absolutely no excuse for it, except for the fact that she wasn’t just outside my office door. Or inside my office door. Or pressed against my office door.

Her black panties were now stowed in my desk drawer, much to her shock and horror.

“What do you mean, you didn’t bring them home?”

We were eating spaghetti at the granite island in my house, without any sensory deprivation. Although, the way she sucked the occasional strand into her mouth made me shift uncomfortably on my stool.

“Exactly what I just said.”

“Gage!”

“Possession is nine-tenths of the law.” I gave her a smug smile as I twirled my pasta. My pants grew tighter at the memory of those panties.

She stabbed her fork at me. “I want them back. I don’t just leave my underwear anywhere, you know.”

“Come to the office and get them. They’re at the very back of my bottom desk drawer, so you might have to bend waaay ov—mmph!” She fed me her forkful to shut me up.

“Perv.”

I swallowed, swiping a piece of paper towel across my mouth. I’d already taken off my dress shirt, but I still didn’t relish getting spaghetti sauce on the plain white tee I had on underneath.

“How’s the job hunt going?” I hated that she was looking for a job. She had a job—with me.

“Meh. I’m back with the temp agency, and they’ve got me going out on jobs, but they’re so…” She trailed off, slurping up more spaghetti.

“What?”

“Boring! It’s all just answer phone, stuff envelopes, data entry.”

There was a pleading relief in her eyes at being able to tell me just how disappointed she was that not every boss out there was like me. At least, that’s how I was interpreting it. She put her fork down.

“Sounds pretty simple,” I said.

“That’s the problem. Anybody could do these jobs.”

I reached across the island and touched her jaw. “But you’re not just anybody.”

Her cheeks brightened. “Maybe that’s the problem,” she said quietly. “You made me feel like somebody.”

“Because you are. Look, I might be a bit overbearing at times—” I chose to ignore her polite snort. “—but I generally know what a person is capable of if they put their minds to it. You have a talent, Madeline. Even Aaron sees it. He said you gave him a lot of really great suggestions for the New Year rollout coming up.”

“I’m not sure that counts. His brain stem has been severed by Bobbie’s baby news.”

Yeah, well, I didn’t want to go there right then. “Don’t sell yourself short, that’s all I’m saying. Keep looking for the right job. Then when you’re ready, it will still be here waiting for you.”

She narrowed her eyes at me as I blinked innocently. Okay, not that innocently.

“That sounded awfully specific,” she said.

My plate made a godawful scraping sound on the granite as I pushed it away from me. “So sue me. I want you back.”

“I haven’t left you!”

“You quit!”

“You said you understood!” Her sigh was heavy. Our dinner now forgotten, we sat there on our stools, glaring at each other over the island.

“I’m going to kill her,” I confessed.

Maddie’s eyebrows drew together. “What? Who?”

“Susan.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to fire her? It is your company.”

I dragged my hand through my hair. “I can’t replace her just like that.”

“Why not? You replaced me with her!” Bitterness bled through her voice.

I knew she wouldn’t understand. This was so embarrassing. “If my Human Resources person is harassing me, who do I report them to?”

She leaned forward, her hands splayed out on the island. “What do you mean?” Her expression was deadly. It was, well, hot.

“What do you think?”

Madeline’s mouth fell open, her lips plump and rosy.

“You see my problem,” I complained.

I hated to admit it, but she’d been right about Susan. My claim to the lacy lingerie hadn’t thrown her off the scent, and with Madeline not there to guard my office door, she’d developed an unwelcome habit of dropping in. I’d considered locking my door, but too many people in the company were welcome and even expected throughout the day. I didn’t have the time to get up and answer every knock. It was ridiculous and demeaning to even have to consider barricading myself in.

“Doesn’t she know that you’re—that we—?”

I thought about the panties. “I’m sure she suspects. But you’re not there…”

“I’m here now,” she said. I blinked at her, not quite understanding. She hopped off her stool and rounded the island to me. “Really, Gage, for a brilliant, wealthy man, you really are dense sometimes.” Grabbing my hand, she pulled me off my stool and led me to the staircase. “Looks like I’ve got some property to mark.”

This was not where I had planned to go with this, but I wasn’t about to complain. Not when Madeline was peeling off her T-shirt and the clasp of her bra was beckoning me.

By the time we entered my bedroom she was miraculously down to her bra and panties, which did not match in any way but captivated me nonetheless, and I was still fully dressed. I was also hard as a fucking rock from watching her casually shed her clothes in front of me.

Her gaze moved to the bed, and I followed it—straight to the eye hooks screwed into the pallet headboard.

“I promised to tie you up,” she said thoughtfully.

I swallowed. “Yes, yes you did. Is that something you want to try?”

With a start, she ripped her gaze from the bed and stepped close to me. Wordlessly, she undid my pants before I helped her tug off my t-shirt. Her breath was hot and hesitant on me, her eyes focused on my chest. I nudged her chin up so I could look in her eyes.

“Madeline?” I couldn’t read her expression; it was shuttered to me. The warmth was there, but not the openness I usually saw.

“Do you have some ties?”

I raised an eyebrow. Did I have some ties? I was a wealthy businessman. She was kidding, right?

With my erection throbbing against my open fly, I stalked over to the closet. Without even looking at them, I grabbed a handful of neckties from a rack inside the door and threw them on the bed between us like a dare.

“Will these do?”

Her lips curved and her cheeks reddened. “I think so.” She picked one up, running it across her palm with a silken swish. “I’m not very good at knots, so you’ll have to tell me if I’m doing anything wrong.”

I would beg to differ. The knots she’d created in my stomach were pretty damn tight already. But I nodded slowly.

“Take off your clothes,” she ordered, absently winding a tie around her wrist like a cuff bracelet.

With relief and trepidation, I stepped out of my pants and briefs, my fist closing around my cock. From tousled head to painted toes, I drank her in. Every curve, every freckle, every little hair—they all fit against me perfectly, even from two feet away. I bit back a groan as I saw a shiny sweep of moisture on her inner thighs.

I was admittedly a little shocked at how easily she’d become necessary to my existence. And if it shocked me, then I was sure it was driving her crazy. Then again, when I wanted something I pursued it, and I damn well wanted her. She knew that, but I was about to prove how much.

Naked, I stepped toward the bed. “Do anything.” The words almost choked me, but my desire for her was more urgent than my need for control.

She twisted a tie between her two hands, threading it back and forth between her fingers, looking pensive. “Are you sure?”

I nodded, closing my eyes.

“Get on the bed.”

Well, that was a pretty basic start. I could do that. I knelt in the middle of the bed. “Now what?”

“Now I blindfold you.” She knelt on the bed beside me. The silk tie was cool against my eyelids as she tied it surprisingly tight at the back of my head. “I don’t want this sucker moving,” she muttered. I startled as she kissed me, then felt the air around me shift as she moved off the bed again.

I remained still, unseeing, and I waited. The little hairs on my arms stood up, my erection flagging a little. What the hell was she doing? Examining me? I heard her breathing, so I knew she hadn’t left the room.

“You’d better not be taking pictures right now,” I joked.

“Now there’s an idea.”

“Madeline…”

“Lie down.”

I did.

“Raise your arms.”

I did, slowly.

Her hand closed over my cock, teasing it until it lay hard and heavy against my belly. She leaned over the bed, the tangy scent of her arousal falling over me like a blanket. Something tickled my thighs, and I shuddered as I realized it was her hair.

“Fuck,” I wheezed out.

She hummed in response. “We’ll get to that.” The bed bounced as she jumped on and straddled me. The heat at her core settled over me, making me groan.

“Hmmm, what to do, what to do.”

She bent close to me, the spicy smell of her hair filling my nostrils. The muscles in my abdomen clenched as she licked a line of fire across my chest. It took everything I had in me to stay relatively still. I felt her gaze on me like a branding iron.

My mouth curved but my voice was tight. “I’m starting to feel a little objectified here, Madeline.”

“That’s Mistress to you,” she joked.

I shook my head, automatically lowering my arms. The force with which she pushed my hands back up toward the headboard was a little surprising, but the efficiency with which she tied my wrists to the eyehooks completely overwhelmed me. It was fucking hot.

“Have you been practicing your knots, naughty girl?”

“Maybe,” she said slyly. She ground against me, her damp panties the only barrier against my aching erection. “Are you going to let me take the lead here?”

I wanted to, but it was hard to let go. I’d experienced some of that loss of control the first time I’d made love to her in front of the fireplace, but the memory still unsettled me. Okay, yes, it had also fueled more than one solo morning shower session that left me gasping for breath, but that was fantasy, not reality.

The reality was that I could smell her but not taste her, feel her but not see her. My senses were straining against each other, instinct against intellect, heart against head. I must have taken too long to think about it, because she began to slide off me.

“I’m sorry, Gage. Maybe this was a bad—”

“No! Wait!” My stomach tightened as I tried to sit up, my shoulders twisting behind me as I forgot about my bound hands.

“Hey, okay, okay. Don’t do that,” she scolded me, pushing me back down on the bed. “You’re going to hurt yourself.” She draped herself back over me, kissing my chest and neck. “What’s going on in that big brain of yours, huh?”

I sighed a little in relief at feeling her on top of me again. “It’s just weird for me, that’s all.”

“Weird for you? This is all new to me.” She began sucking my neck into her mouth in tiny bites. “If I’m home I need to touch myself to get to sleep, but I still dream about you. It’s infuriating.”

I was glad to have that effect on her, because she certainly had a similar one on me. “Join the club,” I chuckled.

“There. Susan should notice that now. It’s the best I can do without a self-inking stamp.”

“I’ll get a tattoo.” I was only half-joking. Her hair brushed against my lips as she continued to nip along my jawline.

She rose up to kiss me. Her sigh was heavier than her weight on my chest. “Do you know how wrong I feel at times? You sign my paychecks and I’m practically dripping on your balls right now.”

Her little contortions pushed me to the edge, then she until I was ready to bruise the shit out of my wrists in order to wrench my hands free and hold her hips until we both came screaming. Every part of my body was numb but for where her skin met mine. Pinpricks of sensation ran from her lips through my veins, engorging me with need.

“You’re my boss,” she whispered against my mouth. My lips felt dry, and I knew that if I licked them I’d taste her.

“I’m not your boss anymore, Maddie,” I said hoarsely.

“Oh Gage. You don’t get it.” Her voice cracked. “Whether I’m in the office or not, you own me.”

Suddenly I understood exactly why she’d quit, and exactly why it didn’t matter. She thought I owned her? It was more like the other way around. I belonged to her, and all I was getting was a month-by-month lease in return.

“Madeline, let me see you. Please, baby.”

She hesitated, her soft body quivering on top of mine. Then she moved back a little and before I knew it she had her hand around my weeping dick and pulled the crotch of her panties aside to plunge down on me.

“Ungh!”

I almost bit my tongue as I felt the elastic band of her underwear tighten around the base of my cock. I was completely encased in her, trapped beneath her, struggling to control my reactions.

“How does it feel?” She began undulating on me, her hands splayed over my chest. My neck ached as I thrashed my head from side to side. “How does it feel to know that someone else is holding your heart in their hand? That they could just squeeze—” Her walls clamped down on me, making me gasp.

“Madeline, take off this motherfucking blindfold. Now.”

Her knees squeezed my hips as she rose up. I felt the fumbling of her fingers at my temples, and I blinked black spots from my vision as she pushed the tie up and over my forehead. It took a few seconds for me to focus on her—the reddish curls hanging over one shoulder, almost touching one distended rosy nipple, her glowing cheeks and hooded eyes. She looked wanton and afraid all at the same time.

And goddammit I wished I could touch her. My hips jerked up, trying to bring her back to me, but she hovered above me, just out of reach. I felt like my heart was about to burst out of my chest.

“Maddie, please. I need you. All of you.”

With a fierce expression, she drove down on me. The tightness of her entrance combined with the intensity of my emotions was too much for me to bear, and I spluttered helplessly into her. As I rode out the shock of my orgasm, she slid over me to chase her own.

When her motions became choppy and she ground to a halt, her mouth opened and closed in silent words that I couldn’t make out. And I was too afraid of spooking her to say anything myself. My eyes closed as she stretched out over me, her hands clinging to my wrists as they dangled from the headboard.

Neither of us could speak, but I sure as fuck had something to say. This was why I really needed a Communications assistant.

But at least I’d said “please.”