a little taste

Excerpt from A Firm Hand

   Brian stepped into the doorway of his office and was greeted by the loveliest thing he’d had the pleasure of seeing all day. Genevieve was bent over his desk with her backside to him. The curve of her ass peeked out from below the hem of her black shorts. Her tan legs were perfect lines of lean muscle. The boots she always wore—laced up to her knees with clunky platform heels—about killed him on a nightly basis. A worn, formfitting t-shirt completed her standard work attire. She showed just enough skin to make him a bit crazy, but never seemed as though she intended to dress provocatively. On purpose or not, she never failed to provoke certain parts of his anatomy.

   Admittedly, she wasn’t his usual type. Christ, her choppy shoulder-length hair was pale pink. The color made her geeky black-framed glasses stand out in drastic contrast. On anyone else he’d have thought the look ridiculous. Genevieve made it so sexy it hurt to look at her.

   He’d watched this tiny ball of fire strut around his bar with a huge chip on her shoulder for six months now. Keeping his growing need for her under wraps had been difficult, but not impossible, at least until now. He had a hard-on he could bust bottles with. His ironclad control was at the breaking point. The fact that she was snooping through his files made it easier for him to rationalize what he was about to do.

   Damn it.

   He hadn’t wanted to cross this line with her. She was an employee and he’d always practiced a hands-off policy where they were concerned. But the delicious little display before him was far too tempting.

He reared back and slapped her right ass cheek. Hard. It was every bit as firm as he’d imagined.

   She yelped and promptly dumped the contents of the file on the floor in front of the desk, paper scattering everywhere. She turned toward him, face flushed, mouth gaping in shock. But a spark of heat simmered in those beautiful rum-brown eyes of hers. There was more to his little rebel than sarcasm and tardiness.

   They stood, staring at one another for a heated moment. The tension was so thick it was difficult to breathe.

   “What the hell, Brian?”

   “I told you to wait in my office. I don’t remember giving you permission to look through my files.”

   “I— I…fuck. It’s just my file. I wasn’t looking at anything else.” Her voice, although shaky, held the slightest edge of annoyance.

   He wasn’t sure she was aware of it, but she’d pressed a hand over the spot where he’d spanked her, kneading it through her shorts. He hit her hard enough to make his palm tingle. He bet her ass felt the same stinging heat, one that was about to get worse.

   “No. It’s my file, which you so graciously dumped all over my floor. Now get down on your hands and knees and clean it up.” The command in his voice felt good.

   “What?” She looked at him as if he were psychotic.

   “On your hands and knees and clean it up,” he barked.

   Her mouth tightened and her eyes narrowed. He was all too familiar with that fuck-you look. She wore it often. “I don’t know who the—”

   “It’s not a request. Do it. Now.” He raised his voice, drowning her out.

   The poison in her glare would have killed him if things like that were possible. He could almost hear her cursing him in her head as she lowered herself to the ground and snatched up the papers one by one. The sight of her crawling around on the floor, pink hair in her face and glasses sliding down her nose, made his cock twitch. He was in trouble, deep, deep trouble. With each piece she retrieved, her movements slowed. She was almost catlike by the time she stretched across the floor to reach the last sheet in the corner. The little tease.

   She sat back on her heels, in a nearly perfect submissive pose, and straightened the small stack. When she finished, she looked up at him from her position at his feet and handed him the contents of the file. The smile she wore as she pushed her glasses back into place was so full of mischief he had to bite back a groan. He was going to have his hands full with this one.

   He set the file down on the desk. “On your feet.”

   She sighed as she stood.

   “I should fire you.”

   A flash of pure panic registered on her face before she hid it beneath a mask of indifference.

   “But I think I have something better in mind.”

   “And what would that be?”

   He crowded into her space until they were inches apart. She took a step backward, bumping into the desk. Leaning in, he put both hands on the desktop alongside her hips. He had her right where he wanted her, trapped like prey. His intentions were devious and wrong, on more than one level. But at the moment he didn’t care. He wanted her and he would have her any way he could get her.

   “I’m placing you on probation until further notice. From now on, each and every infraction will earn you a punishment. One of my choosing.”