His Absolute Arrangement: A Scandalous Billionaire Love Story (Jessika, #1) (11 page)

"Did you?" he asked, still with that dark, ominous gaze and that fake, happy smile.

"Uh... yes.  Did you want one, too?  I didn't think of it, because I knew you wouldn't be home until later, but I could go back and—"  I paused when I saw a flicker of something dangerous in Asher's eyes.  "I mean, I could text him!  I can text him to see if he'll get you something and..."

No more.  Enough!  Asher hauled me inside our home, lifted me across his shoulder, and carried me away.

"Oh!" I said, because I didn't know what else to say.  "Um, Asher?"

"What?" he asked.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."  His tone was playfully malicious.  "I believe we have some important arrangements to discuss, do we not?"

"Yes, but you aren't going to the stairs.  This isn't anywhere near the bedroom."

"Too far," Asher said, curt and to the point.  "We don't have time."

Slightly disoriented because I was facing one way and moving another, I couldn't tell exactly where we were headed, but it looked like... "Um, are we going to the ballroom?"

"Yes," he said.

"For our important business?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Asher!  We can't go there!  It's... it's open.  There's windows."

"You realize there's windows in every room in the house?"

"That's not what I meant.  What if someone comes in, too?  Aren't there people in there setting up for tonight, anyways?"

"They're about to take a break.  A long break.  I think they deserve it, don't you?"

I didn't know what to think.  Or say.  My mouth hung open, useless, and my tongue felt much the same.  My mind whirred with a million little thoughts, none of which was appropriate for casual conversation.  The ballroom?  There was a piano.  On the piano?  And they were decorating.  Bringing in tables.  Chairs.  The carpet off to the side was nice, but there was smooth floor throughout most of the room which could also maybe be nice.

As much as Asher and I had fooled around in the guest home, teasing and playing with each other in every conceivable room on, perhaps, every possible surface, we'd mainly stuck to our bedroom and bathroom when in the main house.  We'd certainly never done anything explicit in a room as large as the ballroom.  It was the biggest room here!

Suddenly, I heard a sharp slamming sound that distracted me from worrying about where we were going and what we were about to do there.  Jerking my head to the side, I saw the doors to the ballroom flung wide open.  Asher stood in the entryway, surveying his surroundings.

It took me a moment to realize what had happened, but... he'd turned the doorknob to open the doors slightly, and he'd kicked it open!  Really?  What sort of madness was this and what had gotten into him.

I kind of liked it in an embarrassing sort of way.  It felt wrong, yet exciting.  Flung across Asher's back, kidnapped and carried away, forced into a room not meant for anything even remotely illicit.  And then the next part, of course, which was:

"Excuse me," Asher shouted with supreme authority.  "Jessika and I wish to consider some private options in regards to tonight's celebration.  We'll need a moment alone to go over a few things.  You all may take a break for the next hour."

"An hour?" I asked, stunned.

"An hour," Asher repeated, though quieter and just for me.  "Do you have any problems with that?"

"I..."  I thought I must, but I didn't know how to say them.

Men and women from the decoration team in charge of setting up for the celebration began dispersing from the room.  They eyed Asher with peculiar interest before leaving, which struck me as odd at first, until I realized I was still on his back.

"Asher, let me down," I whined, squirming in his grip.

He held me all the tighter.  "No."

One man, the head of the group involved in decorations, approached.  "I hope you and Mrs. Landseer will find everything to your satisfaction," he said.  "We still have some of the trim work to do, but the main stage has been prepared.  Some of the settings along the center wall are removable, so we can maintain the concept of vow renewal beforehand, pull them out before the corporate celebration, and replace them with more a more suitable arrangement afterwards."

"It's great," Asher said.  "Looks nice."

I turned to look at the head decorator man, who appeared to be trying his best to treat us with an outward show of respect instead of awkward concern or disdain.

"I'm sure it's wonderful," I reassured him.  "Asher and I will make sure to inspect it thoroughly, but I bet it's really nice."

"...Thank you," the man said slowly.  "If there's anything wrong, please let me know immediately.  We'll work fast to assure it's all done up before anyone arrives, you have my word."

"Good," Asher said.  He was a caveman now, only capable of speaking in choppy sentences.

Everyone left.  Everyone was leaving.  They went out the door Asher and I arrived through, though.  There was another door to the opposite side leading further into the house that my barbaric husband kept staring at.  I sort of wondered why it held his interest.

Once everyone left, Asher stepped further into the room, closed and locked the door behind us, then carried me to a table.  Rough, yet careful, he lifted me off his shoulder and draped me across the edge of the large banquet table.

"Jessika," he said.  "I'm going to do things to you."

"Oh?" I asked, grinning.  "Like what?"

"First, I'm going to lock the other door.  I expect you to be rid of your panties by the time I get back.  Nothing else.  Just your panties.  Understand?"

I nodded fast.  Oh, yes.  Yes I did.  I understood rather well.

Asher strode away, heading to the presumably unlocked door.  I watched him go at first while I just lay on the table, prone and helpless.  Because, what was I supposed to do?  Where could I escape?

Out the door, of course.  If I really wanted to, at least.  Just get up, run to the door he'd locked, unlock it, and run away.  What fun was that, though?

Asher got to the door and looked over his shoulder.  I still had my panties on.  Quick, lifting my skirt to peel my underwear down my legs, I worked fast.  He grinned at me, salacious, then locked the door and walked back to me.  His return was slow and steady, confident and cocksure.  He walked like a man who knew exactly what he was doing and all of the intricate details of how he was doing it.

I was already aroused by the time he got back.  I didn't mean to be aroused, and I couldn't have said why I was, but it was apparently a good thing given the circumstances.  Asher thrust his hands beneath my skirt and pried my confused legs open, then dipped two fingers into my wet slit.  I gasped aloud and my body clenched against his intrusion, alarmed and pleased all at once.

"Good," he said.  When I looked up at him, he was leering at me, a sly grin upon his lips.  "We've got an hour, but I don't have the patience for foreplay right now.  I want to fuck you."

Perhaps I wasn't even aroused before, because right about now I felt like something inside me had suddenly switched on.  Again.  More.  I glanced at the contours of Asher's pants, spying his obvious erection making a bulge in the cloth near his crotch, and my mind grew frantic with desire.

"Yes," I whispered.  "Fuck me, Asher."

He lorded over me, leaned atop me, and bent his head low, whispering into my ear.  "I promise I won't hurt you," he said.  "You remember our safeword, though, right?"

I nodded and tried to kiss his cheek, but he eluded me with a fast jerk to the side.

"Jessika," he growled.  "Say it."

"I don't want to say it," I said, playful.  "Maybe I want to see how rough you can be."

His eyes glimmered, a counter to my playfulness.  One of his hands grabbed my throat, squeezing, and his other hand dipped harshly between my legs again as he coated his fingers with my slick arousal.  He pulled his fingers out as if he was gathering fresh honey, then brought them to my mouth.  I clenched my lips shut, refusing him, staring him straight in the eyes, but this didn't deter him.

He squeezed my throat again, harder.  Not too hard, though.  I could breathe if I wanted.  I felt his grip, felt the strength and power in his hand, but he didn't hurt me.  I shook my head, keeping my lips pursed and my mouth shut.

He kissed me.  Oh God.  Asher kissed me and my resolve melted in a puddle of befuddled passion.  His tongue licked at my lips and I opened my mouth to accept him, except then we weren't kissing.  He pulled away and drove his fingers into my mouth, smearing my own wetness across my tongue and my lips.  I gasped.  I wanted to laugh.  My thoughts flickered between heady delight and frustration that I'd lost our game so quickly.  It was fun, though.  Sexy.

It was really fucking hot.

Asher took his time toying with me.  He touched my tongue and my lips with his fingertips.  I tried to close my mouth in some faint show of protest, but he pushed his fingers back in when I did and kept my jaw open.  It didn't hurt, but I realized I was drooling; on him and his fingers, but also myself, the table, and my blouse.

He loosened his grip on my throat again, but then squeezed a little more.  Slow, steady, demanding.

"Jessika," he said.  "I want to hear you say our safeword."

He grinned at me, devilishly loving.  I went to speak it, to sate his demands, but he pressed against my tongue with his fingers, stopping me.

I tried to say it anyways, but the word came out in a garbled mess.

"What?" he asked.  "Jessika, I can't hear you.  Speak up."

I tried to say it again, but it didn't work.

"Jessika..."  He sighed and shook his head back and forth.  "Am I going to have to leave you here and return to my work?  I don't want to, but..."

"Wethwah," I said, trying to make my tongue work beneath his fingers.  "Wethwah wethwah."

He pulled his fingers from my mouth, letting me speak my mind.  "Yes?"

"Leather!" I practically shouted at him.

We were in the ballroom.  Decorations, yes, but the ceiling was high and the walls were far apart.  My voice echoed throughout the room, bouncing this way and that.  I only said "leather" once, but the sound of my voice filled every inch of empty space around us.

"Good," he said.  Without further ado, he flipped me around, just like that.

My stomach slapped against the table, breasts squished beneath my body.  I stared at the lovely shades of oaken wood beneath me.

Asher peeled my skirt up my body, revealing my bare ass and sex.  I tried to shift away from him, but my feet weren't touching the ground and he had his hand on the small of my back, pinning me in place.  I moved as best I could, trying to find my footing, but soon realized the impossibility of my attempt; even while wearing my modest heels, I could barely touch the floor.  If I angled my foot, just so, I could scrape against the carpet with the tips of my toes, or touch it with the heels of my shoes, but nothing more.

Asher lifted up his hand and spanked me swiftly.  I let out a yelp, surprised, and he spanked me again.

"This," he said, and another thwap, "is for not being in our bedroom when I told you to be there at a certain time."

I wriggled on the table, my ass bouncing and squirming as he spanked me.  It sent a thrilling chill through my body and I liked it.  He didn't spank me too hard, just enough for me to feel it, but the idea that he was spanking me in the ballroom, in the exact place where we'd be holding a business party later...

The sounds of his spanks echoed louder than the sound of my previously shouted safeword.  I nearly forgot about any of this, too wrapped up in the pleasant sting of his punitive hand, but it all came crashing down again as reality set in.

"Leather," I said, fast and in a panic.  "Leather, leather, Asher, Asher stop.  Just... just quick.  For a second."

He stopped spanking me.  "What?  What's wrong?"

I looked over my shoulder, craning my neck.  I didn't want to move too much.  I kind of wanted him to continue, to be honest.  But it was just so loud!

"Someone's going to hear," I said.  "The echoes.  This isn't a very good room for this, I don't think."

He stared at me, knitted brow, scrunched up eyes.  "Was that it?"

"What do you mean was that it?  That's kind of important."

"Jessika, it's a ballroom.  It might sound loud in here, but the walls are specially made to keep sounds in the room.  If you have an orchestra playing, you don't want to annoy the rest of the house, right?  No one should be able to hear us unless they're listening at the door."

"Oh," I said.

He spanked me lightly again, teasing me.  "Can we continue, then?"

"What if someone's at the door, listening?" I asked.

He paused, then he spanked me again.  "I don't know what to say to that."

"Asher!"  I laughed; he spanked me.  "Can you go check, at least?"

"You want me to stop what I'm doing, leave you here, swing open the doors, and see if someone's listening outside of them?" he asked.

"Please?"

"Jessika, I'm not going to do that.  First off, your ass is a beautiful shade of red right now, and I really want to stop spanking you and get to other things.  Second, if I go to the doors like you asked, don't you think it'll be worse if there's a person listening outside and they get a full view of you like this?"

Well... he made sense, I supposed.  I didn't want to admit that.  While considering changing my mind, he spanked me again.  When I went to speak, he silenced me with a spank, making me squeak and yelp instead.  Then another, and I laughed.

"Oh, you're laughing now?" he asked.  "You think this is funny."  His voice was wicked.

"No, no, I'm not, I..."

Thwap.  Thwap.  Thwap.

My ass burned, so sensitive and full.  I felt a throbbing awareness there, heated and sharp, pulling away from my other senses and making me think of nothing but Asher's hand and his spanks.  No more spanks, though.  We were done with that.  Through the light tingling sensation of pleasant pain, the sound of Asher kicking off his shoes and unzipping his pants, letting them rustle to the floor before he stepped out of them, lilted towards my ears.