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.”
