Revealed (3 page)

Rex feigned interest in some paperwork.

“So, you want a job with benefits,” Athena concluded. Her tone was harder. She didn’t like to be cornered, and didn’t like feeling that she had no room to negotiate.

She also didn’t like that Rex was leaving her to manage the interview alone.

Rex loved Amy’s suggestion so instinctively that he fought against it. Anything that appeared too good to be true had to be, and the luscious Amy certainly counted. “Impossible,” he said. “We’re not hiring, even if you are as good as you say you are.”

Her gaze hardened as she—incredibly—stepped forward to defy him. “All passwords can be broken with the newest deciphering utilities. It just takes time. You’re completely vulnerable.”

“Only if someone is trying to hack us,” Athena countered mildly. She was moving like a cat again, convinced that the balance of power had shifted.

Rex wasn’t so sure of that.

“That’s just it,” Amy asserted. “Someone is.”

Rex glanced up and found her staring at him. Their gazes locked with an electricity he’d almost forgotten and he couldn’t look away.

“Other than you?” Athena challenged.

Amy nodded with a confidence Rex trusted.

“Who?” Athena demanded.

Amy shook her head, that defiance clear again. “I’m not telling you until you agree to listen to me.”

Athena’s eyes flashed, but she turned away to pace. “This could all be a load of shit,” she said.

“It could be, but it’s not.” Amy held Rex’s gaze. “I know what I’m talking about. I know that you need me.”

Rex knew he was too fond of control to accept Amy’s attempt to dictate anything to him. He smiled as he rose slowly to his feet. He strolled toward her, his gaze boring into hers. “You’re quite defiant for a submissive,” he mused, and watched her swallow. He paused only inches away from her and she had to tip her head back to hold his gaze. Her breath was coming quickly, her breasts rising and falling with a speed that tempted his touch. She didn’t back away and didn’t avert her gaze.

But she was nervous.

“I’m not a submissive anymore,” she said in a rush.

Rex fought the urge to laugh. “Really? How do you know?”

“I know.”

He watched her steadily, unblinking, letting her feel the weight of his will. “Of course you are,” he said quietly. “That’s why you’re going to tell us more.”

Amy licked her lips, averted her gaze, and said nothing.

Rex let the silence grow and didn’t look away.

She held out longer than he’d expected, then swore softly and surrendered more detail. Rex wondered if she even realized she was trying so hard to win his approval.

The words fell in jumbled haste from her lips. “I think it’s a vice squad, following up from the closure of The Plume. I think there’s international cooperation. They’re slick, but they move through cyberspace like cops.”

“But why? Everything that happens here is consensual,” Athena protested.

“That’s just it.” Amy admitted, then her lips tightened.

It was too late for her to hold out on him now.

Rex bent toward her, heard her quick intake of breath, and restrained his own urge to spank the truth out of her. He knew she’d like it, but reminded himself that he knew little more about her.

It could be a trap. Nothing said she wasn’t allied with whoever was trying to gain access to their data.

“Tell me,” he urged.

Amy visibly fought the inclination to obey him.

A submissive to the bone.

Rex turned away from her, denying her the luxury of his attention. “I think she’s lying,” he said to Athena, his tone dismissive. “I think this is all a ruse to get inside. Maybe she’s working with whoever is trying to compromise our launch. Call Rick and get her out of here.”

“No!” Amy protested, the word breaking from her lips with such force that Rex knew it was true. “Someone tipped them off that you traffic in human slaves for prostitution rings.”

“What?” Athena demanded.

Rex was just as shocked. “Everything is consensual,” he repeated.

“Who would
lie
like that?” Athena asked.

Amy answered Rex instead of Athena, a challenge in her eyes. “Can’t you guess?”

“Why should I when you can tell me?” he responded, keeping his tone level. He dropped his voice a bit lower and deliberately used her name. “Tell me, Amy.”

She lifted her chin, but Rex didn’t even blink. If she wanted to play a battle of wills, he knew he’d win. He held her gaze, willing her to surrender all she knew, and slowly a blush began to rise from her throat. He’d guess it had started at her nipples, which was a distracting thought, and he felt his body respond as the rosy color swept over her cheeks. He would have liked to have seen those ripe breasts, the nipples hard, the flush touching her skin. Amy licked her lips, still hesitating, and he got harder. He was starting to think about showing her how a true submissive should respond to him, starting to think a little punishment was just what she needed most, and his heart pounded as he imagined how she’d best be disciplined.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Repeatedly.

Amy gave all the signs of a woman who liked the submissive role, but there was that veneer of defiance. He understood that she liked a fight. Maybe what Amy needed to learn was how sweet compliance could be.

Rex was ready to provide instruction.

Amy’s eyes had darkened. She was breathing quickly, and seemed unable to tear her gaze from his. When he smiled, she swallowed and abruptly turned to Athena. “I think
you
know.”

With those four words, Rex guessed the truth as well.

“That bastard!” Athena said, all the color draining from her face. She crossed the room with furious steps, her eyes flashing in a way that could only indicate the involvement of her first lover and master, a man she called the Count. Rex had known nothing good would come of the trick she’d played on the man.

He’d also known Athena was a fool to consider the Count gone forever. He was smitten with Athena and would never forget her.

Rex suspected Athena would never forget her first master either, much less loosen his hold upon her.

“How dare he?” Athena paced furiously, then glared at Amy. “How do you know this? Can you prove it?”

Amy pulled out her laptop and booted it up, balancing it on the corner of Rex’s desk. He found himself assessing her legs. They were muscled but slim, and he guessed that she worked out regularly but not excessively. Her hands were small and delicate, and her fingers nimble. He eyed the narrowness of her waist and—bad luck for his restraint—the generous curve of her breasts. Like Joanna, she was more endowed than might have been expected for her frame, and the effect was lusciously feminine. He admired the view with more enthusiasm than he knew was wise. She flicked back that her hair, impatient with it while Rex wanted to lock his fingers in it.

She’d wear a ponytail when she was his, that hair tugged up high and tight, leaving her neck and shoulders bare to his touch.

“I breached your firewall three months ago,” Amy said, interrupting his thoughts. She gestured to the display of a staggering array of files.

Rex scanned the file names in growing horror. These files existed only on his computer. The experts had given him grief for not backing up to a drive or the cloud, but Rex had thought this more secure.

Amy had just proven him wrong.

“You’re a hacker!” he said.

“And you don’t know a thing about computer security,” she retorted. Her words were bold, but her eyes were wide, her breath rapid as he moved to stand behind her. She wasn’t as tough as she liked to sound.

Rex liked that more than he should have.

“You can only defend against something you understand,” she said, speaking nervously. She flicked a wary glance at him, then tapped a key.

Rex watched in horror as his private collection of erotic photography appeared in a slide show in one window. “But how…”

“I like that one,” she whispered mischievously as a shot of a woman hog-tied with jute rope and gagged with tape appeared. The woman’s back was arched as she squirmed, the shot perfectly capturing her gesture. Rex remembered the scene all too well, and so did his cock. Amy’s impish expression surprised and enticed him.

He was both horrified Amy had lifted it, and intrigued that she liked this particular shot.

Was this one of her fantasies?

He was more than ready to fulfill it. With her figure, Amy would look great bound like this. He’d use more rope, though, and a rougher gag. A woman like Amy would have to be bound so thoroughly that she could barely shiver in order to recognize her captivity. She’d have to be kept captive longer, and gagged thoroughly. He’d have to lock her down for a long period in a dungeon to ensure she learned her lessons.

Then she’s crawl to him, begging for more.

Rex was ready to begin.

“Where is he?” Athena demanded, her terse question saving Rex from himself.

“I don’t know yet.” Amy frowned, then tapped up windows with invoices and contracts and pictures of properties. The display seemed endless, his entire hard drive of files flicking past his gaze—but on her hard drive. Rex’s heart stopped at the baby pictures of Trevor appeared, as well as a few shots of Michelle.

Trussed tight in pink ribbon.

A familiar pulse pounded at the root of his cock.

“She’s pretty,” Amy said lightly. She had to be aware of Rex’s dismay and was deliberately provoking him.

He turned to look at her, wondering if he’d underestimated her audacity.

Maybe she wanted to be punished.

Amy blushed crimson and kept her gaze fixed on the screen. But she tapped up a recent picture of his son, pushing him a little more.

Rex itched to discipline her. Hard.

Athena half-laughed under her breath. “At least I’m not the only one getting us into deep shit.”

“That’s personal,” Rex said through his teeth.

“My point exactly,” Amy replied, then glanced up.

Again, there was that jolt of connection between them, one Rex appreciated because he knew it was so rare. He thought of reviewing his entire collection of images with Amy and picking favorites, then systematically posing her to match each one. And photographing her. He’d build an album of her in the poses she liked best.

And he’d fuck her senseless after each shoot.

Oh, he’d train her to be the best submissive he’d ever had. She’d thank him for the privilege. And maybe he’d never let her go.

She must have guessed something of his thoughts because she caught her breath and took a step back, her color high. She gestured to her laptop and the display of every detail of Rex’s life, her tone turning businesslike. “There’s more, of course. All the applications, all the contracts, all the arrangements. I’ve harvested every piece of correspondence for the past year.” Athena and Rex exchanged a quick look of terror. “You want someone else to get all of this or do you want to add me to your team?”

There was a beat of silence in the office, one in which Rex was sure he could hear himself and Athena sweat.

But Rex was ready to push back. He didn’t like being cornered, and he wasn’t going to be cornered by a submissive.

“I’m not convinced,” he said softly. He perched on the side of the desk near the corner where Amy had put her laptop. “What else do you have to offer?”

She stared at him, clearly surprised, then hastened on. “Don’t worry, I intend to be part of the team. I have more to contribute than just improving your security.” Even though she spoke quickly, as if to appease him, Rex was impatient. He wanted her to offer exactly what he wanted, then they’d make a deal. “You see, I’ve been looking at your applications for fantasy fulfillment…”

“Of course you have,” Athena interjected drily. For the first time in years, at least in Rex’s presence, she lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

Amy faltered for a beat. “And I had an idea.” She took a quick breath. “What if you mix and mingle fantasies, so that there’s an element of surprise?”

That wasn’t what Rex had expected her to say.

“What do you mean?” Athena asked. She drawled the words, looking and sounding disinterested, but the gleam in her eyes gave her away.

“They come together in groups, almost naturally,” Amy said, her excitement clear. “It’s like you can see their secrets, their real desires.”

At that, she had Rex completely intrigued. He loved secrets and considered the fulfillment of sexual fantasies for all clients, no matter how secret those fantasies might be, to be his best trick.

“See? Right here, you have a couple who both want to go to Windswept. Theoretically, they both want to be human ponies, but there’s something wrong with her answers on the questionnaire.”

“How so?” Rex asked. He’d had the sense about the woman’s application, but hadn’t been able to put his finger on it.

He’d smelled a secret, though, and wanted to know what it was.