The Billionaire's Pet (6 page)

Chapter Four

Good pets might have gotten the best sex of their lives, but in the cold light of yet another business day, playing by Daniel’s rules mostly meant watching what seemed like an endless stream of memos pass over her desk on increasingly scratchy paper. Not precisely the hot, sex-laden proposition she had envisioned when writhing in ecstasy.

Three days had passed since they last saw one another. Ellie paced her office, wondering where he was, if he had just been toying with her from the outset. Was all that pet talk just his way of seeing how far down a depraved road he could lead her? Was Daniel Treville all about kinky sex games and nothing more?

A scowl claimed her face and it did not move as her assistant entered the office. “What is that?” She snapped the question, noting that the paper was almost brown in tone.

“These are the internal memos you had me print out,” her assistant replied in hesitant tones.

“I mean what are they printed on? It looks like bark.”

“This is the new paper. It’s companywide.”

“Of course it is,” Ellie growled. “Might as well just carve everything on wax tablets,” she sighed as she took the documents, printed on what she was informed by a fairly smug watermark was 120% recycled content. “A hundred and twenty percent? They’re recycling things that haven’t even been created yet,” she sighed, tossing the papers down on her desk.

“Hello, pet.”

Daniel strolled in with casually commanding demeanor and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into a tight embrace, which momentarily quelled her irritation at the paper. Ellie’s assistant took the opportunity to hastily withdraw as he dropped a kiss on Ellie’s lips then gazed down at her.

“Why the scowl?”

“Because of this nonsense,” she said, waving the documents under his nose. “It looks like a flea market for upcycled household goods in here.”

A brow raised at her. “Because of the paper?”

“Oh, but it won’t be the paper for long, will it? You’re going to replace all the in-trays with woven baskets, and…”

He cocked his head as if thinking. “Actually that’s not a bad idea.”

“Daniel!” She snapped his name in irritation.

“That’s not what you call me, is it, pet?” he reminded her gently.

“I am not calling you sir or master in this office,” Ellie replied with an even more pronounced scowl. “This is my office.”

“Getting territorial, pet?”

“Oh, go start a drum circle,” she sniped.

Both brows rose as his hands slid down over her rear. “Are you trying to pick a fight with me, Ellie?”

“Can I even pick a fight with you? Is that something I’d be allowed to do? I haven’t made a decision all day.”

“That’s because you agreed to let me take the lead, Miss CEO.”

“I didn’t realize doing things your way meant being cut out of my own job.”

Daniel smiled and continued to slide his palms up and down her back and over her rear. “It’s hard for you to let go of any control for any length of time. A day must seem like an eternity, but it’s not, and everything has gone across your desk, so it’s not as if you’re unaware of what’s happening.”

“Yes, but none of these decisions were mine,” she pouted, tossing the papers on the floor.

“What decisions were actually made, Ellie?”

“Well, we changed paper stock.”

“Paper stock, that’s what this is about? You think the company is going to collapse because we now use recycled content for internal memos?”

“You’ve probably been changing light bulbs too,” she pouted. “I’m sure the halls are dimmer.”

“Admit it,” he said with one of his relentless smiles. “None of these changes have had any negative impact and your life has been easier for not micromanaging every aspect of the company.”

“Easier isn’t better,” she scowled.

“You’re insisting on being in a bad mood,” he said, tapping her bottom lightly. “You’re looking for a problem where none exists, just to have something to do. So let’s give you something to do.”

“Like my job?”

“Oh, no,” he chuckled. “Nothing as pedestrian as that. You don’t need to learn to snatch control back, you need to learn to give and take gracefully.”

“Not in the office, Daniel,” she said, pulling away before he started spanking her again. He was getting that look in his eye, that purposeful gleam that indicated he had something in store for her.

“We agreed you wouldn’t do this in the office,” she reminded him.

“We agreed to no such thing,” Daniel replied. “Do you want me to take you home and spank you?”

“I want you to get out of my way and let me do my job,” she repeated, her voice reaching a high whining pitch.

“Right now, your job is doing as I tell you,” he reminded her evenly as he reached out and took her by the hand. “And I’m telling you to come with me.”

He marched her out of her office and to the stairwell, where he ascended the stairs to the roof. Ellie was not entirely surprised to see his helicopter waiting there. Of course he had planned this all along. Daniel always had a plan, he always kept the upper hand, the element of surprise. A jet black helicopter and a pilot standing by was just another part of that.

“Before we leave, I want you to wear this.”

He reached into his pocket and drew out what looked like a necklace case. When he opened it, she saw that it was not a necklace, but a silver collar complete with small silver lock.

“What…”

He plucked the slim silver from the case and returned the case to his pocket. “When you wear this, you’ll remember that you’re my little pet and you don’t need to worry about anything besides what I want for you to do.”

“Oh, is there something I can get you to wear that reminds you that you’re not the master of the universe?”

“Ellie…” he tutted, his voice deepening with warning. “You agreed to this, young lady.”

“That was when I thought it was going to be hot.”

Daniel’s expression became sterner and harsher, the lines of his face growing harder as he gave her a look that was nothing short of imperious. “Is this how you usually react when someone gives you a present?”

“That’s not a present. That’s your way of marking me.”

“Would you say the same about an engagement ring?”

“Yes. Well, no, but… this isn’t that…”

“It’s not,” he agreed. “An engagement ring is what a man gives a woman when he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. A collar is what a man puts on a spoiled little hellion who needs a damn good thrashing.”

“Well, thank you for clarifying that!” Ellie was blushing hot with humiliation. The way he was speaking to her made her feel small and ungrateful, but why should she be grateful for his little trinket that did nothing but make it even more difficult for her to deny the embarrassing arrangement she was fast regretting having agreed to?

“You know what? You haven’t earned this yet,” he said, pocketing the collar again. He took her by the upper arm and hauled her over to a large square metal air vent. Before Ellie could really cotton on to what was about to happen, he had pressed her over it, pulled up her skirt, and was smacking her bottom right there at the very top of the city skyline without any care for the fact that the helicopter pilot was watching.

He tugged her panties up into the crack of her bottom, giving her some semblance of modesty, but making sure her rear was bare for the spanking. It should have seemed more merciful than just baring her bottom, but somehow having her privates covered simply made Ellie feel like she were being simply disciplined. This wasn’t about sex. It wasn’t foreplay. It wasn’t to make her wet. Daniel Treville was just smacking her bottom because he thought she was an ungrateful spoiled little brat.

“Ow! Daniel! That really hurts!”

“Good,” he said firmly. “I thought you understood what was happening between us, but apparently as soon as the spanking wears off you go right back to being a brat. Well, Ms. Jones, I have no problem whatsoever giving you a good thrashing whenever you need it.”

“Daniel!” She squealed his name again as her heel-clad feet began dancing a little jig against the roof. His palm was blazing mercilessly across her rear and she was entirely exposed to the city while he was doing it. Her cries were caught up in the wind, which gusted across the rooftop and took her increasingly contrite wails to other buildings.

“Have you learned your lesson, Ellie?”

“Yes!” she answered quickly, not wanting to extend her public exposure.

Smack!
His hand came down hard enough to make her squeal. “Yes, what?” He growled the question in her ear.

“Yes, sir,” she whimpered, finally remembering her manners.

“Good girl.” He released his grip and let her stand, her panties remaining wedged between her cheeks as she pulled her skirt down, her face flaming with outraged embarrassment.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she muttered, hiding her face from the helicopter’s pilot. “I’m going back to the office.”

“No, you’re not going to pout and run away,” Daniel said firmly. “You’re going to get on that helicopter.”

She put her hands back to rub her bottom, a motion made out of instinct tempered only when she realized how it must look to anyone observing. Standing on the rooftop, her hair whipping around her face, her bottom stinging hot, Ellie did not know what to do with herself.

Daniel made the decision easy by taking her by the hand and marching her to the helicopter. He pulled the door open and helped her inside with another firm whack to her bottom, which sent her scrabbling across the back seat to the far window. Daniel followed after her, his bulk making her feel small all over again.

“Hi, Bob,” he said, addressing the pilot. “We ready to go?”

“Yessir,” the man replied, making no reference to what he had seen.

“He calls you sir too, huh,” Ellie muttered under her breath. “When did you spank him?”

“Not everyone has to be punished to behave respectfully,” Daniel replied as the rotors began to spin up. “And you’re being a little smart ass already, so obviously that didn’t take.”

She shot him a rebellious look. Her butt might be sore, but her pride was not so easily dented. So he’d spanked her atop a building. So what.

“You’re like the Dr. Seuss of corporal punishment,” she grumbled. “You can spank me on a plane, you can spank me on a train, you can spank me on a bus, you can…”

“Ellie,” he growled. “Mouthing off to me right now is not a good idea. I’m not pleased with your behavior, and I’m not at all convinced that you’re taking our arrangement seriously.”

“My ass is taking it seriously,” she shot back. “So you can stop talking out of yours.”

Both his brows shot up as the helicopter rose from the roof. He looked at her with elegant distaste, very much displeased with the way she was behaving. The look made her hot bottom tingle against the seat, but did not make her regret her words.

“You really are asking for it,” he noted. “Well, Ellie, you’re going to get it.”

She was safe enough while they were still in the air. There wasn’t enough room to spank her again, and frankly, being churlish was making her feel better. She could claw back a little in the way of control if she showed him he couldn’t break her rebellious spirit with a little public humiliation.

With Daniel sitting beside her emitting waves of disciplinary intent, Ellie looked out the window, watching the city dwindle to a web of concrete and asphalt beneath them.

“So where are we going?”

“Somewhere you’re going to be spanked very long and very hard,” he growled at her. “I am not pleased with you, young lady.”

“You’re not that much older than me,” she replied. “I know it must be absolutely shocking to you to not be able to buy my submission.”

“You’re a brat,” he said calmly, “and right now you’re in breach of our agreement.”

“How!? I’m doing what you want me to do. I’m just not kissing your ass while I do it.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I suppose you have a point there,” he said. “It’s more pushing the boundaries than breaching them. But tell me, Ellie, do you really want to play the technicality game with me?”

“Do you think I do things I don’t want to do?”

“So you won’t complain or whine or beg for mercy when you get what’s coming to you?”

“I’m not saying that.”

“Ellie, you are the biggest brat I’ve ever met in my life,” he said, half-growling, half-smiling. “I’m going to spank your little ass until you can’t sit, and that’s only the beginning of it.”

He was not quite angry and neither was she anymore. Though her butt was sore, and she was absolutely certain that he was going to more than make good on his promise, she was enjoying the back and forth. Ellie enjoyed business in large part because of the conflict. Never over, but always there, inherent in almost every interaction she had. Now that Daniel had cut her out of her job, she had nothing to do but take it out on him.

She leaned against the window and looked across at him, ignoring the view in favor of the profile of his face. He was incredibly handsome. Painfully so. Looking at him gave her little pangs in her stomach, a yearning and excited nervousness that only increased with every passing moment.

Daniel glanced over at her and she averted her eyes, finding it hard to meet his gaze. His expression was difficult to read. There was a certain air of anticipation about him that seemed to indicate that this trip was not some spur of the moment getaway, but a planned excursion to which she had not been made privy.

* * *

The helicopter touched down on a neatly manicured lawn outside a very large house. House was the wrong word. It was a mansion, after the fashion of an English estate, a building large enough to no doubt house a hundred or more people. Window after window ranged the length of the building, which was three stories high, graced with turrets and gargoyles, a building out of an Austen novel.

Daniel ushered her out of the helicopter and sheltered her with his body as the rotors spun up and the pilot left them alone on what seemed to be a very large and very empty estate.