Billionaire Erotic Romance Boxed Set: 7 Steamy Full-Length Novels (161 page)

“What am I going to be expected to do at this conference?” I asked.

“The other attendees of the conference will not expect much, if anything, of you.”

He drank from a glass of water that had two ice cubes in it. It had been waiting in the cup holder for him when we sat down.

“What will you be expecting of me?”

“I expect you to trust me,” he said simply.

I breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure was taken off of me, and I could now relax a little. I still felt the anxiety at being at a press conference after believing that I would not even have a job by the day’s end, but I at least could rest in the knowledge that Alexander Strauss was in control. I liked him being in control.

“What is the conference going to be about?” I asked, my voice having regained a smooth composure.

He smiled. “Just follow my lead. Remember,” he said, looking at me now. “Trust me. That is all you need to know for now.”

“Yes, Mr. Strauss,” I said.

We rode in silence for the rest of the way. I felt more nervous than I had before I had asked him questions. I scolded myself for asking him that final question. If I hadn’t asked, I would have felt off the hook. Now, I felt that something major was about to happen. There were events brewing that I had no knowledge of, yet I was to be a part of.

Chapter Five

The limo stopped and the driver opened the door. The bright sunny day blinded me momentarily. I followed Strauss blindly through a building until we reached a large conference room with a stage. My vision cleared, I could see a lot of reporters, many more than I had anticipated.

My heart began pumping rapidly in my chest, but everything seemed far away. I was watching myself walk through the room to the stage, eyes turned towards Alexander Strauss as he took the stage. I wondered how many of those eyes burned into me.

Alexander stood before a podium and addressed the audience. His confidence dominated the room and silence washed over the reporters. I could feel his energy pulsating through me. Memories of him inside me, of his eyes drinking me up as I undressed before him, sliding lingerie back over my naked skin, flashed inside my mind with every explosion of light from the cameras. I came in and out of the speech, alarmed now that I had practically missed his entire introduction. I had to pay attention, this could be important. What if he called on me and I answered like a dumb schoolgirl who had been writing notes in class?

“As you may or may not know, many new and exciting changes are on the horizon for Strauss Engines.” He paused, letting the tension in the room rise with every breath the reporters took. He’s completely in control. I thought.

The image of Alexander Strauss holding my arms behind my back flashed through my mind. I could feel the cold desk pressed against my face, his cock sliding in me, slowly, powerfully. I was immediately aware of the lace lingerie hugging my breasts and wrapped around my ass. A crazy fantasy of Alexander Strauss stepping back from the podium and grabbing me enveloped the scene. He would tear off my wonderfully tailored dress and I would stand almost naked before the cameras. Then he would push me down and I would let his hard dick slide down my throat slowly. The cameras would flash wildly and the reporters would howl us on. I would lay down on the ground and he would push into my dripping wet pussy and ride into me. All eyes would be on us, his muscles rippling with every stroke.

Alexander Strauss would stand up, his cock glistening in the lights of the cameras, and I would stroke out every drop of his cum into my mouth. I would drink his sweetness and let the warmth of the moment wash over me. My pussy would be so wet that it would be dripping off of him. We’d be covered in sweat and looking perfect under the bright fluorescent lights. With every drop of my boss swallowed, he would raise me up and hold me out to the reporters who would scream and cheer in approval and envy. Everyone would want me. Everyone would want to be Alexander Strauss.

God, the thoughts were so hot. I wanted to drop to my knees and suck him as I rubbed myself feverishly.

“Strauss Engines will be partnering with the MIT Aqua team, an undergraduate team dedicated to creating a cheap water filter for villages in India,” he said. A slight smile crossed his face. I snapped out of my fantasy when I saw the reaction in the room.

Reporters were on the edge of their seats. I watched their faces as his words reached their ears. Disbelief seemed to wash over the entire crowd of reporters. Cameramen were aiming their cameras and firing off shots and rolling video in a frenzy. Questions started from the back of the room like a wave of noise and soon reporters were thrusting microphones into the air and begging for their questions to be answered.

“An undergraduate team?!” a reporter yelled.

Cameras exploded everywhere. They blinded me and I struggled against raising a hand to shield my eyes. Questions were coming from everywhere now.

“Who is on this team Mr. Strauss?”

“Exactly how much of the shareholder’s money will be funding this new enterprise?”

“When will the program go into effect?”

“Why water filtration systems?”

Strauss raised a hand to silence them all. My eyes were darting from mouth to mouth as questions fell to silence. I was still trying to grasp exactly what was going on when he began speaking again. My hands were crossed, hanging against the front of me. I tried to maintain the best poker face I could, letting nothing give me away that I knew nothing of the company’s plans. Hell, I knew nothing except typing up memos that came down to me in the temp agency. How had I come to stand in front of a press conference with the CEO of a billion dollar company? Furthermore, a CEO who I had fucked not only a day before! I felt dizzy and tried to suppress a smile that dared to cross my face.

“It’s a bold new direction for the company that my father built. The MIT Aqua team will serve as the cornerstone of the company’s new direction. Ladies and gentlemen, there are great things to come.” He raised his hands in a clear sign that he was finished. “Thank you.”

More questions than before exploded into a dull roar from the crowd. Reporters were standing up and shouting over each other. I struggled to make any sense out of the words coming from the white noise of the reporters’ demands for answers. Strauss, however, seemed not to notice. Cameras were going off like machine gun fire as he quietly walked off the stage. He answered no questions, not even giving the indication that he was aware questions were being screamed at him. He was the picture of calm.

I followed him backstage, still dazed from the crowd of reporters and cameras. How many people would see the press conference that I had been a small part of? How had I looked? I didn’t know any of the answers to my own questions. I had fought to look my best up there. I was still stunned, silent, and totally without a thought as to how to proceed. I prayed that I didn’t look as confused in front of the cameras as I felt. Well at least my outfit looked great.

“What in the fuck was that?” a voice sneered. I jumped visibly at the sound of a man’s voice filled with rage.

An older man walked up to Alex, peering into him with a look of twisted anger on his face. His hair was without a single strand of color, grey and slicked back against his head like a mobster’s. A sharp nose hung below eyes that looked black. His brow was furrowed with scars of wrinkles cutting across his forehead, pushing his eyebrows down to cast shadows over his eyes. Thin lips parted to show perfectly white, sharp teeth. His hand was raised towards Alexander Strauss with his long index finger pointed at him. Everything about this man was long and gaunt. Yet despite his skinny frame, came off as physically intimidating somehow.

The man stood before Strauss, face to face.

“Alex,” he said. “You do know that we need a united front, don’t you?”

I balked at his tone. This man must be someone extremely important to be able to talk to Alexander Strauss with such condescension.

“Especially,” he hissed, pausing to give Strauss an even harsher look, “with all the sharks in the water.”

“William, this is the company’s direction now. It’s better that they hear it from me in order to reassure their faith in our course of action,” Strauss said, unfazed.

“Our competitors will be able to see a weakness, Alex! Not only that, but everyone will see that the company lacks a clear focus and direction. Your father’s company will be on its way to destruction at the hands of these fucking sharks. Are you trying to destroy it?”

Strauss only smiled. He motioned towards me and my eyes grew large. Was I supposed to do something important now? Come to his rescue? Was I supposed to back him up? What the hell did I know about any of this?

“William, I’d like you to meet my new assistant, Samantha Dubois.” His arm slid behind me cordially as he brought me forward. I smiled politely and bent over in a slight bow.

“Samantha, this is William Henderson.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Henderson,” I said, hoping my nervousness didn’t come off as strongly in my voice as I feared it had.

William Henderson’s eyes flashed over me in an instant, hardly longer than a blink. Yet in that brief moment I could see them wash over me entirely. They judged and analyzed me—the way I dressed, the way I stood, my physical appearance, the cut of my hair, everything. In a single second, he had made his assessment. From his lack of interest, I could see it wasn’t good. He gave a single quick nod at me and turned back to Alex.

Having been introduced, I studied William while he spoke to Strauss. The anger that he had first introduced himself with into my life was slightly dissipated. His features seemed less harsh than before. This man was obviously someone very important; the company was his first and foremost concern. While his words were biting with anger and sarcasm, I could sense no malice in them towards Strauss. He was not intimidated by Alexander Strauss in the slightest. I felt a certain respect for the man, although I couldn’t explain why.

“William, I’m glad you’ve had the chance to meet Samantha. She’s going to be working closely with me from now on, so you two should be acquainted. You’ll be seeing more of each other,” Strauss said.

“Jesus Alex, we should have waited to tell them about any new company direction without having it drafted by our PR guys. It should have been completely overhauled. You didn’t answer a single question and now all those questions hang there like a noose over our goddamn heads!”

Strauss nodded and patted William’s shoulder, as if consoling a child who got struck out in a little league game. It wasn’t condescending, but the look on William’s face was that of a man who had accepted his arguments were now falling on deaf ears. Strauss turned and led me away from the backstage area. I could hear William storm off loudly, swearing as he did so.

“I apologize for Mr. Henderson’s less than cordial attitude,” Strauss said. We were walking down a long hallway that I recognized from having come in this way. There were no reporters in sight. “He’s a good man, believe me, but I do understand his anger. He’s always a little angry.” He let out a slight laugh.

“Mr. Strauss,” I said, and he interrupted.

“Samantha, when it’s just the two of us, you can call me Alexander. When we are around others, please continue to refer to me as Mr. Strauss, just so that we can keep up the presence of professionalism, but other than that, Alexander is fine.”

I had moved up to being able to call him Alexander. My mind raced. I must have done well at the press conference. Yet I hadn’t done anything except refrain from making a fool of myself. I supposed the only way I could have done worse was if I passed out on stage or ran away crying.

The bright sun washed over us as we exited the building through the back. The limousine was waiting, door ajar, with the driver standing beside it. He had a poker face worthy of Vegas beneath aviator sunglasses. We sat in the back of the limousine and silence filled the huge space of leather seats and darkened windows.

I looked over to Alexander. He slumped, very slightly, in his seat. I could see that he was a little deflated, as though a weight had been lifted off him. Or maybe a new weight had been put on his back. I studied him carefully. I tried to dig deep in my mind for something to say to him.
You did great!
I could say. It already sounded stupid. He didn’t need my approval.

I imagined you fucking me in front of all those reporters. Drinking your cum while the cameras captured every moment. Letting you dominate me in front of millions, the world would see how powerful you are.

I said nothing. I could do nothing. I was not even sure of what had happened in the press conference before. Strauss Engines was moving in a new direction, that much I was sure of. But what did that even mean? Come to think of it, I didn’t even know the direction Strauss Engines was going in before, let alone now. There was so much I was going to have to learn. I knew practically nothing. Before, I could get away with knowing nothing. Now, I was the assistant to the CEO! I would have to study. Hard.

The tension grew. I wanted to say something to break the silence but I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. I wondered if Alexander felt half as awkward as I did. Did he feel like he had not done well at the press conference? Or did he always act this way after speaking before dozens of reporters, and by proxy millions of viewers at home? I didn’t even know how I felt, let alone how he felt.

Alexander looked out the window. I thought of what he had said at the press conference. Strauss Engines was going to be working with a development team that specialized in water filtration systems for Indian villages. The rumors of Alexander Strauss as a ruthless businessman and womanizer didn’t line up with this new direction of the company. Would a man obsessed with business venture into making water filters for Indian villages? There couldn’t be any money in it. It had to be an altruistic venture. A businessman deemed “ruthless”, who loved women, wouldn’t waste his time trying to help the poor and needy in India. That kind of man would only be concerned with making money and getting his dick wet.