His Absolute Domination: The Billionaire's Paradigm (#5) (A BDSM Erotic Romance) (The Billionaire's Ultimatum, Book Two) (6 page)

"No," I said. "I don't hate
you."

"You should."

"I don't."

"Please go home, Miss Tanner. I don't
want to make this more difficult than it is."

Why was he doing this? I didn't
understand and it hurt, but I was here now and I wouldn't. I wasn't
going to leave.

"I came for an appointment for an
interview," I said, hoping to sound stronger than I felt. "I'd like
you to give me an opportunity."

He favored me with a sad smile. "I
don't have the time. I apologize."

"I'll wait." My tongue nearly tripped
on the words, that's how fast I said them.

"My schedule is very intensive. I have
a lot to do."

"I don't mind waiting."

"I doubt I can fit you in
today."

If I left, I knew this was it. I had
nothing, no other chance, and I refused to accept that.

"That's fine," I said. "I don't mind.
I'd prefer to wait."

Lucent watched me. What did he see, I
wondered? What was he thinking? Sighing, he brought his hand to his
face, covering his eyes and squeezing his forehead.

"I wish you weren't so difficult," he
said. "I wish you understood how impossible this is. If you must
continue this, you may wait, but I assure you it is highly unlikely
I'll find the time today to interview you. You may sit on my
couch."

He pointed to the side in one swift,
fluid motion, indicating a leather couch against the far wall of
his office with a shaded lamp looming over it and a window
alongside it.

"Thanks, Lucent," I said.

He grumbled at me.

"Sorry," I stammered. "Thank you, Mr.
Storme."

"Better," he said, but he still
grumbled.

I wanted to run up and sneak behind
his desk and kiss him on the cheek, but I thought maybe that was
office sexual harassment or something. If I wanted him to consider
hiring me, I couldn't sexually harass him during business hours. I
needed to wait until after his work day ended before hopefully
doing that.

...

I waited. Lucent worked.

I started my wait patiently, thinking
he should give up eventually and accept my resolution. I was
determined and I refused to leave and he'd notice that, wouldn't
he? Would he like it and appreciate it? That didn't really matter,
because I had no other options.

Sitting there quietly, my hands folded
in my lap, I waited. I stared down, keeping myself from glancing at
him for fear I'd look too eager for attention, but it didn't
matter. Lucent never said anything to me.

After maybe an hour or so, I glanced
up and saw him toiling away at some paper or other. He had a laptop
off to his side and every now and again he'd look over at it,
scroll through some things, type a bit, something or other. He
wrote some things down on paper, while others he typed onto the
computer. Back and forth, this that, scrolling, up, down, click,
tap, write, repeat.

I watched him, curious. I didn't know
what he was doing, nor what he was working at, but I wanted to
know. I considered asking him, but then I thought better of
it.

Still, he ignored me.

At one point, he did look over at me,
but with no real, discernible intent. I had no idea what he was
thinking, nor did I know if he wanted me to do something. If he
did, he should say it, though.

He had said it, I thought. He told me
to leave. I told him no. Was that a test? If I left, would he
accept me? If I stood up right now and told him that I disagreed
with him, but I trusted him, and then I walked out of his office,
what then?

I couldn't. I didn't want
to risk it. Now, even if this was it, I could see him. I could
watch him working and see him next to me and we weren't speaking or
interacting on any level, but this, for now, was enough. It was at
least
something
compared to the nothing he intended to offer me
otherwise.

I waited. Lucent worked.

The sky grew darker and I watched the
sun set. The fluorescent lights overhead glimmered, keeping us lit
and enlightened inside Landseer Tower. Lucent had told me he worked
late into the night because he wanted to watch me and make sure I
left the library alright, but he didn't need to do that now. He
could make sure I was alright just by looking to the side. He
didn't, though. I supposed he didn't really need to, since I didn't
intend to go anywhere.

Scooting to the side, I switched on
the lamp next to the couch. Not that I needed to, but I wanted to.
Lucent glanced over upon hearing the click of the switch, and I
smiled at him. He didn't smile back, though. He continued his
work.

A few times during the day he left his
desk and went to do something or other. Once or twice he left his
office and walked somewhere. I didn't leave to go after him,
because I was scared that this would somehow ruin
everything.

I needed to use the bathroom, but I
didn't want to go because I was afraid he'd lock me out. Would he
do that? Resort to childish measures to keep me away? I'd sit
outside his door, I thought. I'd sit and pout and wait. I didn't
leave to use the bathroom, though. I would have liked to get
something to drink afterwards, if I had left, but I couldn't
leave.

The sun fully set and Lucent continued
working and I waited. Then he turned off his laptop, put away his
papers, set his desk into order, and stood up.

"I'm leaving," he said.

I stared at him, my mouth dropping.
"What?"

"It's after eight in the evening, Miss
Tanner. I'm going home to eat dinner, I shall perhaps read for
awhile, and then I plan to sleep. I shall return tomorrow to
commence working once more. For now, though, I am leaving. My
business here is finished."

"My..." I choked on the word, on
myself, my confidence and need. "What about my
interview?"

"Unfortunately, as I informed you, I
haven't the time for it."

"Can't you do it now? Before you
leave?"

"No," he said. "I can't."

"Why are you doing this?" I
asked.

"Why are
you
doing this?" he
countered. "I informed you that I doubted I had the time to
entertain you in this little game of yours, and yet you ignore me
and wait for hours on end on my couch in my office doing nothing.
What do you think you've accomplished here?"

"Why are you such an asshole, Lucent?
Why can't you just interview me? That's all I wanted."

He narrowed his eyes at me, glaring at
me. "Did you just call me an asshole, Miss Tanner?"

"Yes, I did, and I'll do it again if
you keep it up."

"This," he said, waving his hands
around, all-encompassing. "This is why. Do you understand now? You
can't accept what I need, nor what I want. You act like this is
some game, Miss Tanner, and you wait here, thinking that I'll treat
you like a poor, homeless kitten and take you in, except I don't
want that. I want a slave. I want you to bow to my every whim and
ignore every possible concept of pleasuring yourself so that you
can perfectly pleasure me. I require submission and you offer me
defiance instead?"

"You've never given me a chance!" I
shouted. "If I'm acting like a homeless kitten, it's because you
treated me like one, Lucent. You saw me in the window and you
walked into the pet store and you gave me attention, but then you
left. You left me and I'm homeless again and..."

My whole body tensed and I wanted to
squeeze him hard in my arms and make him feel how tight and upset I
felt so that finally he might understand.

"Just... screw you!" I screamed. "I
hate you!"

"Good," he said. A smug,
self-satisfied smirk crinkled his annoying lips. "I'm glad we've
come to a conclusion to this farce. Let's go. Leave now,
please."

"No," I said.

"What?"

"I'm not your submissive or your slave
or whatever you want," I said. "I don't have to listen to you and
I'm not going to leave."

He glared at me and looked ready to
heft me up onto his shoulder and carry me out, or spank me, or any
number of things, but he stood his ground and fumed silently. His
entire face burned an angry, aggressive red, unlike anything I'd
ever seen from him before.

"I don't have the time to waste on
you," he said. "I refuse to sit here while security bumbles around
like idiots before coming to remove you from my office and from
this building. I am leaving, though. I trust you enough, just
barely, not to destroy my office. Once you've finalized this
charade in your head, lock the door on your way out."

He snatched his laptop off his desk
and stomped towards the door and out of his office.

Before he shut the door, I screamed at
him. "Asshole!"

He left and I was alone and it hurt.
This was all I had now: my purse, its contents, myself, and some
vague memory of Lucent and I, confined and trapped inside of my
mind like we'd been trapped inside of the library.

I didn't want this. I needed something
else. I had no way of getting it, though.

Unsure what else to do, I returned to
sitting on his couch and waiting.

...

Lucent was correct in that I couldn't
wait in his office forever. I should've left, but I refused to
completely do that, too. I did need to leave, though. I needed to
use the restroom and get something to drink. Unfortunately I had no
idea how to find either of those. Also, I fully expected his office
door to lock me out once I left.

Perhaps that last part was irrational.
I fidgeted with the door, attempting to figure out the lock, and it
seemed simple enough. A button on the knob clicked to lock and
unlock it, like most regular locks on most regular doors, but for
some reason I doubted it. I needed some way to insure I could get
back inside. Just in case.

If I left, got trapped out of the
room, what would Lucent say then? I imagined him returning in the
morning and seeing me huddled outside his office, my back to his
door. In my mind, he smirked at me, and offered some snide,
condescending remark. "Can't even stick to your word, Miss Tanner?
Get out of here, you trash."

Was that it? Was that what I was to
him? Because I wasn't his perfect submissive, I was nothing? He'd
watched me, wanted me to be something I wasn't, and upon meeting me
for the first time, he realized it. He toyed with me, treated me
like a game, tested me to see how I stood up to his ideals. And he
found me lacking. I was nothing to him.

Well, he could just go away then. Not
really go away, but he needed to fix himself, because I didn't want
to go away. I just wanted him to act the same as he had before
because it was nice. We were nice together. I enjoyed all of it. My
memories sustained me.

I really needed to use the
bathroom, though. I slid a chair across the carpet towards the
door. Opening the door, I slipped the chair between it and the door
frame so it
couldn't
shut and lock me out, then I snuck into the
hallways.

The drone of some nighttime cleaning
person and his nighttime cleaning machines echoed down the hallway.
What if he closed the door on me? I mean, if I were a nighttime
cleaning person and I saw a random door propped open with a chair,
I'd likely close it, too. I needed to leave a note.

I snuck back into Lucent's office,
stole a piece of paper and a pen from his desk, then wrote a note.
I had no way of hanging it on the door, so I left it on the seat of
the chair instead, and made my escape once more.

In the middle of the night, stubborn
beyond belief, probably the worst potential slave in the history of
Master/slave relationships ever, I defied everything and searched
for the bathroom. Also, I hoped I found a water bubbler or a
vending machine or anything. I brought my purse along just in
case.

...

I found a bathroom nearby to a
breakroom. This provided some much needed relief.

The breakroom had a sink and a TV and
some comfortable chairs, plus a corporate-style water machine(with
nozzles for hot and cold water). I borrowed a cup from atop the
water machine and filled the tiny paper thing with water. I drank
it, filled it again, drank, filled, drank.

The breakroom had a vending machine,
but it didn't have anything decent in it. Candy, mostly. On a whim,
I opened the refrigerator and found an assortment of leftover food.
I could eat this, I thought. Find something nice, like a sandwich,
and eat it. Except none of these things were mine, and I didn't
want to upset anyone, especially when they didn't know me. If I
were in the library, I'd do it and tell the person later, but this
wasn't the library.

What the heck was I doing in Landseer
Tower? I knew what I was doing, and why I was doing it, but
thinking about it more made me somewhat unsure of how any of this
had happened. I should leave, except I didn't want to
leave.