Punished Read online

  He drove through the coffee shop for drinks and breakfast sandwiches on the way to work. At the office, he pulled into the parking space beside her car then got out of the Lexus and headed into the building without looking at her. Surprised, she stared after him. What the hell?

  It wasn’t until she stood between their cars and had given his a good slam that she realized he was giving an impression that they’d arrived separately. Unless someone was really observant, at a glance, they wouldn’t realize she’d arrived in his car and not her own. Taking a moment, she gathered her wits about her then headed into the building, fighting the breeze intent on getting her into a full Marilyn Monroe pose—only Natalia was pretty sure Marilyn had been wearing panties.

  At her desk, she booted up her computer and opened her email. Ethan had already sent her a note.

  Plan on a lunch meeting with me. Conference room 10.

  She’d had lunch meetings with him before. Would this one actually be business? She pressed her thighs together and tried to alleviate the arousal overwhelming her. If she pulled up really close to her desk, she could touch herself without anyone seeing. A few flicks of her fingers or a momentary buzz from the tiny pocket rocket she kept in her purse and she’d feel better. Yes… She’d just run quickly into the restroom. Ethan would never know. She was so on edge, it wouldn’t take more time than an ordinary bathroom break.

  Feverishly, she dug through her purse for the small pouch in the bottom of the center compartment.

  “What are you doing?” she heard just as her fingers closed around her prize and she dropped her bag back to the floor.

  Startled, she looked up at Ethan. “Nothing.”

  “What’s in your hand?”

  She considered saying “nothing” again, but she wasn’t going to lie. Not to him.

  Reluctantly, she held out her hand, palm up, and sighed while she stared over his left shoulder. A zap forked through her as his fingers brushed her skin. She chanced a look at his face as he opened the pouch and dumped her inch-long micro vibe into his hand. His lips pressed into a thin line, and he flicked his gaze up to hers then back to the device.

  “Hmm,” he intoned and twisted the end to start the discreet buzzing that seemed unusually loud her in her office. “You want to explain this?”

  Mortification washed over her, and she prayed no one would chance into the area. “I think you pretty much get the gist of it,” she answered.

  “I’m not sure I do.” He shook his head, switched off the toy, and slipped the pouch, vibe and his hand into his pocket. She stared at his forearm above the fabric. He’d rolled up his sleeves, revealing fine hairs curled over lightly tanned skin and muscle. She pressed her thighs together as a cream flooded her cunt and her folds buzzed harder with her need than any vibrator could simulate.

  “Ethan, please,” she begged. Her head felt so muzzy, unable to focus on anything but her extreme arousal.

  “I need the Barker file,” he said.

  “Barker?” The what?

  He nodded.

  “I think it’s been filed.”

  “Can you get it?”

  Get it? It was in his freaking office. He knew the alphabetic system as well as she did.

  “Yeah, sure,” she replied. Shooting to her feet, she stormed into his office and over to the bank of five-drawer cabinets on the wall beside his desk. It wasn’t immediately visible from the doorway, and he took advantage of that, coming up behind her as she opened the drawer. His body blocking hers from view, he snaked his arm around her waist, bunched up the front of her skirt and pressed his fingers into her cunt. Capturing her clit, he gave it a gentle, but hard, squeeze that left her gasping. Fire once more licked through her. She’d never make it through the day! She wasn’t even sure if her legs would support her long enough to make it back to her desk.

  “Behave,” he murmured. “No going off to find release by yourself. From here on, it will be with me and with me only. Understand?” He gave another pinch, and she moaned.

  “Yes, sir. God, sir…how long?”

  “Until, I say.”

  She dropped her forehead to the edge of the drawer and sucked in an agitated breath. She was so on edge, it was as if she’d sucked down ten cups of coffee in short order. The cabinet, the walls, the floor, all seemed to have a pulse.

  “I can’t take it much longer,” she pleaded.

  “You can. Back to your desk. I have work to do. Be to lunch at twelve sharp.”

  “Yes, sir,” she murmured. Her legs did wobble as she walked, but she made it back to her desk without mishap.

  Chapter Four

  Noon seemed to take forever to arrive. With every call Natalia transferred into Ethan’s office, she grew more and more on edge until she was ready to scream out her frustration. She declined a coffee break with her girlfriends, claiming the need to keep at a project that was nearing its deadline. She dodged a call from her mother—her sainted straight-laced mother who’d never understand Natalia’s needs that were so far off the beaten path. Well, maybe beaten path was the wrong phrase. But her mom would hear the catch in her voice as she tried to act natural. She’d ask Natalia what was wrong until Natalia broke down. So not happening.

  At five minutes to twelve, she left her desk, taking a notebook and pen with her. Being closed in a conference room with Ethan was going to be hell, but being near him would help. A little.

  Impatiently, she waited for him. At ten after, he came in with a cardboard tray of drinks and a plain white bag she assumed held their lunch. Without a word, he set his offerings on the table, shut the door, locked it then rounded the table. He pulled her from the chair and tugged her hard against his body. His rigid cock pressed into her belly as he grasped her ass with one hand to push her closer to him and thrust his fingers into her hair. Hungrily, he devoured her mouth. His tongue thrust inside as she moaned.

  Her fingers curled into his suit jacket. She lifted onto her toes to get even closer to him. Her tongue dueled with his as tears pricked her eyes. Emotions and need roiled through her. Her nipples were so tight against the bodice of her dress and her pussy so wet as it begged to be filled with him. Strand after strand of arousal pushed through her, spiking out to her pleasure centers like tiny bursts of release.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” he murmured against her lips.

  “It’s okay.”

  He shook his head and kissed her again, both hands bracketing her face. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I think so.”

  “I know…this…can be intense.”

  “I feel like I’m about to explode,” she confessed. Her fingers slipped inside his suit jacket to massage over one taut nipple. His eyes closed, his breath leaving him, and she knew he was just as on edge. A heady plan formed in her mind.

  Slowly, she let her hand glide down his firm six-pack to his hard belly, then lower to his rigid cock. She palmed him, squeezing gently.

  “Let me say I’m sorry?”

  Mutely, he nodded and sank backward into a chair. She dropped to her knees. He opened his belt while she worked at the closure of his dark pants. She pulled them open and yanked down his underwear enough that his cock sprang free. Without hesitation, she lunged forward and engulfed him with her mouth. She cradled the smooth head with her tongue, lapping at the salty cum that escaped him, circling the wide surface. Slowly, she drew him deeper. And deeper. She traced the hard ridges of his length, loving the musky smell of him as she got closer to his root. His short curls tickled her upper lip and she pulled back, sucking hard, causing him to groan and drive his fingers into her hair as she exerted pressure on his tip and pressed her tongue to the spot just below his ridge.

  Showing mercy, she plunged down him again, taking as much as she could while his hips left the seat. Pleasuring him so much pleasured her as well. She parted her legs as she knelt there. Each movement down him, each bend, pulled at her folds, causing her to moan around him.

  He writhed as she sucked hard o
n his cock again. “Nat…you’re gonna make me come,” he gasped. She fought back a smile, unwilling to relinquish the pressure she had on him. Moving more quickly, she worked up and down his shaft while her fingers gripped his tensed, corded thighs. Then with a strangled cry, he thrust upward and hot cum spewed into her throat. She swallowed as quickly as she could, unwilling to give any up.

  Taking him completely, taking all of him was her full apology.

  She’d barely had a chance to lick her way back up his length when he pulled her up and planted her on the table before him. Shoving apart her thighs, he pushed up her skirt and dove on her pussy. She leaned back on her hands and let her head drop backward as she gloried in the wet lap of his relentless tongue along her overheated flesh. The slight prickle of the stubble that had grown since morning abraded her tender folds. She loved it. She loved the feel of him licking and biting and thrusting. His teeth caught her clit, and she bit back a squeak that might give them away. She shook as he sucked hard on the nub. Three fingers jammed into her passage, and she fell apart. Her back slammed onto the table as she pressed her hands over her mouth to suppress her screams of delight. A flood rushed to his mouth, and he kept at her until another wave of ecstasy threatened to rip her apart with its intensity. She writhed like a wild savage on the conference table altar of his carnal pleasure.

  She trembled as forks of weak lightning continued to tingle through her as she fell from the peak of the release he’d given her. He stepped between her thighs and pulled her upright, kissing her with such tender, needy intensity that she thought she’d come again. Her heady taste burst over her tongue, full of the bliss he’d just given her. Hungrily, she savored it until they pulled apart, panting.

  “If we don’t stop, I’m going to fuck you,” he ground out.

  “I don’t care.”

  “I only have the room for forty more minutes. Not enough time. Not enough padding on the walls to muffle the screams I’m gonna get from you, either.”

  She bit her lip.

  “Oh God, don’t do that,” he moaned. “I barely have control as it is.”

  She licked her lip instead, and he groaned.

  “I brought you one of those veggie burgers you like,” he said. Obviously desperate for control, he shoved himself back inside his pants then turned to their lunch. She took a moment longer to regain herself before she straightened her clothes and climbed off the table.

  “And a Coke?” she asked weakly. “There’s no use being healthy without being totally unhealthy.”

  “Of course. I know how you are.” He shoved a straw into one of the cups then pulled a foil-wrapped sandwich from the bag.

  Natalia settled herself into one of the chairs. “Do we have actual work to do while were in here?”

  He shook his head. “No, and I don’t feel bad about it either. I have a late meeting with Klingman tonight.”

  She frowned. Klingman was his boss. Meetings with him always stressed Ethan out. The man just didn’t have a clue, and it frustrated the hell out of Ethan. “Do you want to come by my apartment afterward?”

  “Yeah. I think he’s going to send me out of town for the Barker account.”

  “Australia…” she murmured. That would mean a long trip. Last time they’d sent Ethan, he’d been gone for nearly two months. She pressed her lips together and fiddled with her straw to hide her emotions. This thing between them was so new. She didn’t want him flying off to the other side of the world.

  Ethan caught her chin and turned her to look at him. “It won’t change me wanting you.”

  “Me neither.” It would just be difficult.

  “C’mere,” he said, sitting down in the chair beside hers and pulling her onto his lap. She curled into his chest and pressed her face into his neck. He rubbed her back. Somehow, between last night and today, she’d gotten to belong to him, and the time before that, all the tension and work camaraderie was foreplay for this climax.

  “I don’t want you to go,” she told him.

  “I don’t want to go… Don’t worry, honey. It’ll be okay. And who knows? Maybe he just wants to meet about something else.” But Ethan didn’t think that. She could hear it in his voice, and that sound settled dread where her arousal had been roiling all day.

  * * * *

  Hours later, Natalia paced her apartment, needing Ethan, needing to know where he was. At seven, she didn’t worry much. Meeting with Kingman could take this long. At eight, she started staring at the clock. He should show at any time. By nine, she was getting seriously concerned, and by ten, she was frantic.

  Had something happened to him? If she hadn’t known him better, she would have thought he’d just decided he was tired of her. Done. But that wasn’t Ethan’s MO and that wasn’t the man who’d held her so tightly for almost twenty minutes at lunch today.

  At eleven, she resigned herself to the fact he wasn’t coming over. Somewhat morose and confused about what had happened, she wandered around her apartment and turned off lights.

  The night was fitful, and when she arrived to work the next day, she knew she looked like hell. With narrowed eyes, she glared at Ethan’s office and saw he wasn’t in yet. What kind of game was he playing with her? She’d bet he’d slept just fine.

  A pitiful beep drew her from her ire. Great. And her cell phone was going dead too. She hadn’t charged it last night in all her worry. Thank goodness she kept a spare cord here.

  She was digging through her purse, trying to find it, when another beep sounded, and she realized the phone wasn’t in her purse at all. The sound was coming from under her desk. On hands and knees, she groped around for it. After several tries, she finally found it. The damn thing must have slipped out of her purse and tumbled under the drawer portion of her desk when Ethan had startled her yesterday. And—

  Oh no! She’d missed ten calls, all from Ethan.

  After plugging in the phone, she dialed up her voicemail.

  “Hey, Natalia, Kingman’s an asshole. I’m leaving tonight. The jerk had the travel department make all the arrangements and never bothered to tell me until tonight. I swear he’s trying to get me pissed off enough to quit. I have to be to the airport in an hour and I barely have time to throw some things in a bag and go. Look, uh, I’ll call you from the airport after I check in.”

  She closed her eyes, devastated that she’d missed all his calls.

  “Hey, it’s me. I’m sitting in the airport. I’m so sorry I’m not gonna make it over there tonight. God, I miss you already. I’ll try in a little while before I board. I wish I could get hold of you. Okay, bye.”

  “Me again. Okay, looks like I’m not gonna be able to talk to you while we’re in the same state. I have a layover in Indianapolis. I’ll call you from there.”

  “Where are you? I don’t have your home number with me. I need to talk to you and know you’re okay. I’m in Indy for a couple hours, so call me when you get in.”

  Several more calls with hang-ups followed. Then:

  “Damn it, Nat! Where are you? God, I hope you’re okay. Call me. I don’t care what time it is with the time change. Just call me. I need to hear from you.”

  “Hey, Nat,” he said in the final message. “I’m in Los Angeles. I’ll be getting on the plane in a few minutes and I’ll be in the air for seventeen hours. Just leave me message. Just… Nat, leave me a message.”

  Tears pricked her eyes at the frustration in his voice. She put her elbows on the desk and settled her face in her hands. Blindly, she closed her phone and set it on the cabinet near her outlet. He was in the air and thinking she was upset with him. In light of that, the duration of his trip didn’t even seem an issue. She had to talk to him—well, at least leave a message. He wouldn’t get it until she left work today.

  Her heart heavy, she took her cell into his office where she could shut the door. Plugging into the socket near is desk, she sat in his chair and inhaled his scent. Taking a few calming breaths, she dialed his number, thankful that he’d swi
tched to an international plan the last time he’d had to travel out of country. She swallowed as she went directly into his voicemail, just as she’d expected. His deep voice wrapped around her as she listened to him identify himself and invite the caller to leave a message.

  “Ethan,” she started. “I’m sorry. Sorry we couldn’t talk before you went, and sorry I missed you and so, so sorry I was an idiot and lost my cell under my desk yesterday. I miss you already. I hope you can hurry back.” She paused when it hit her that they wouldn’t send him to Australia without expecting him to be there for at least a few weeks. “I’ll, um, hold down the fort here,” she told him. “Um, I guess, call me or text me when you have a chance.” She rattled off her home number and said goodbye.

  Returning to her desk, she logged into her computer. Kingman’s secretary had finally sent over Ethan’s itinerary. Two months. He was going to be gone for two months. Okay, well, she was a big girl. She could handle this. It wasn’t as if he’d be away for a year.

  * * * *

  The day seemed interminable. With Ethan on his trip, his boss came to her for answers on Ethan’s projects. Thankfully, she was up on the status of any work in question and was able to easily shunt Kingman away. He gave her the creeps so she didn’t want him anywhere near her.

  She was just entering her apartment that evening when her cell phone—her fully charged cell phone—rang. Hopeful that it was the man who consumed her thoughts, she snatched it from the side pocket of her purse and flipped it open.

  “Hello?” she asked anxiously.

  “Hey, baby. I miss you,” Ethan said.

  She slid down the wall next to the door at the sound of his voice. “I miss you too. I’m so sorry—”

  “No worries,” he interrupted. “I’m just glad you called me.” He must have just gotten off the plane because she heard airport noises in the background. “I got your message as soon as I landed. Did you lose your phone yesterday when I startled you?”