"Ohhh, I see. I'd be taking one for the team."

"And science!" he said, chuckling. "Don't forget science!"

"Well, I have to admit," she said, dropping her own tone of voice. "I give a pretty good b.l.o.w.j.o.b."

He groaned. "Now you're just teasing me."

"Maybe." She grinned. "But it's true."

"I bet it is," he agreed, his voice rich and warm and full of longing.

"Heidi!" The harsh reprimand in Kaiser's voice made her freeze and she blinked at the wall, knowing he was standing behind her, wondering just how much he had heard and cringing at the subject of her conversation.

"Thanks for calling! I'll let Kaiser know," she said, covering as quickly as she could manage and hanging up on Lenny without a second thought. Standing, she turned to face her boss, waiting. She didn't have to wait long.

His jaw worked as he looked from her to the phone now sitting in its cradle. "Come into my office and close the door."

Of course she did as she was told, standing next to his desk as he took a seat behind it. She expected a lecture-not only had she been on a personal call, but the subject of their conversation had been nothing short of...lewd. The lecture, she was sure, would be followed by some sort of punishment...

"Carvel's up to something." Kaiser drummed his long fingers on the desk, glaring at the phone. He wasn't even looking at her. Had he heard anything she'd said? Oh what a relief, if he really hadn't...

"Up to...something...sir?" she inquired.

Kaiser stopped drumming and looked up at her, leaning back in his chair and tenting his fingers over his tie. "I want you to find out what."

Heidi blinked. "How-?"

Kaiser held up his hand and she quickly closed her mouth. "I know Carvel. He's a scammer. He makes Bernie Madoff look like a pickpocket."

"But..." Heidi frowned, remembering the two men talking, arranging dinner. "I thought you were friends?"

"In this business, there's no such thing as a 'friend.'" Kaiser's look was almost kind as he shook his head at her in disbelief. "I need you to find out what he's up to. I've made you a dinner date with him. Tonight. His limo will pick you up at seven."

Heidi snapped her gaping jaw shut.

"I want you to do whatever it takes to find out, Heidi." Kaiser's cool gaze met hers, and the meaning in his eyes was unmistakable. "Do you understand me? Whatever it takes."

He couldn't mean... but she knew he did. He was really asking her to trade s.e.xual favors for information.

"Is that clear?" He c.o.c.ked his head, frowning, waiting.

Heidi nodded, clearing her throat. "I think so, yes, sir."

"Just in case, I'll make it crystal clear." Kaiser stood, towering over her, his mouth drawn tight. "If you need to put your apparently legendary b.l.o.w.j.o.b skills to the test, you will do so. Understand?"

She paled, feeling her knees go weak, surprised that both her legs and voice held up as she whispered her reply. "Yes, sir."

"Good." He gave short nod, a dismissal of the subject. "Bend over my desk and pull up your skirt."

a.s.sume the position, she thought. It was a phrase he never uttered but it often crossed her mind when he made that request. Was it a request? Kaiser never asked...he directed. And she complied. Just as she did now, turning and pulling up her skirt, waiting for his attention.

She expected his hand-perhaps even the crop-but as always, he surprised her, pressing against her from behind, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling her head back, making her gasp.

"Why stop at a b.l.o.w.j.o.b?" he asked against her ear, his voice low, and she heard him pressing the b.u.t.ton under the desk, locking the door. "Why not just let him f.u.c.k you?"

Heidi shook her head, whimpering. "It was a joke. It wasn't-I wouldn't-"

"Yes, you would." Kaiser's hand fisted, turning her head, his mouth murmuring the words against her cheek now. "If I told you to, you would." He let go of her hair, his hand moving around her front, dipping into her blouse to cup the swell of her breast. "Wouldn't you, Heidi?"

"Yes, sir," she admitted, feeling both proud and ashamed of her admission.

He chuckled, sliding his hand under her bra, fingering her nipple. "You may get the opportunity to prove it." She hated the thought of another man touching her-but somehow even that paled next to Kaiser's insistence. If he wanted her to, if he told her to, how could she refuse? "But you won't do it unless I tell you to, will you?"

"No, sir," she agreed, swallowing as he unbuckled his belt with his other hand, his fingers still toying with her nipple. The sensation was too much distracting pleasure as she antic.i.p.ated the coming pain of his belt on her behind.

"You're mine, Heidi."

And she was. There was no argument, never had been."Yes, sir."

His c.o.c.k was steel heat against her thigh, slipping up the already-slick slit of her p.u.s.s.y, seeking entrance. Heidi stiffened in surprise, her eyes wide as he shoved in hard, making her moan out loud.

"Mine," he said through gritted teeth, giving up on her breast and grabbing her hips for more purchase, driving her forward on the desk.

"Yessss," she cried, biting her lip as he thrust deep again.

The force of his f.u.c.k was tremendous and she gave herself over to him, barely hanging onto the edge of the desk as he took her, making his point with every plunge. She was going to have bruises on her thighs and hips for weeks where his fingers were digging in and she didn't care in the least.

"Mine," he growled again into her ear, his voice and c.o.c.k a driving staccato. "Mine. Mine. Mine."

"Oh G.o.d..." Her body said nothing but yes, her thighs trembling, her p.u.s.s.y lips swollen and wetting his way nicely, her flesh insisting his words weren't just true, they were Truth with a capital T, that she never before and never again would belong to another man the way she belonged to this one.

"It's mine to take." Kaiser never paused, the friction a steady impetus, using her p.u.s.s.y to make his point, using her p.u.s.s.y, using her. And she wanted him to use her-more than he did maybe, she admitted shamefully to herself, as he splayed and f.u.c.ked her to oblivion. "And it's mine to give."

"Yes... yes, sir, yes..." she gasped, never wanting it to end, wanting to take him and take him, wanting him to empty himself completely into her until there was nothing left of him and she was completely full-up. It would happen, it could-she felt it in the way their bodies trembled and rode slick and hard together, converging at a single, delicious point, their energies so concentrated they were nothing more or less than that.

"Ahhhhh Heidi!" He called her name, grabbing her hips hard, and for the first time she thought she might be hearing Kaiser at the edge of his self-control, pushed past the brink of reason and into the realm of hungry, helpless madness. Like an animal sensing fear, she realized a triumphant victory and shifted her bottom, squeezing his slick, impaled c.o.c.k with her muscles, making him groan and tighten his grip even more, holding her steady.

"Stop," he growled and she bit her lip, closing her eyes tight, fighting against the urge to disobey, to drive him over the brink with reckless abandon. He slid his length almost all the way out and she whimpered in dismay, his sudden absence leaving a vacuum of feeling, a sharp, horrible yearning. Then he was gone altogether out of her and she was desperate for him inside again.

"Turn over," he directed, using the leverage of her hips to shift her weight as she rolled and lifted, spreading her thighs again for him, hopeful, expectant. She wanted to beg him, f.u.c.k me, please, f.u.c.k me hard, but was too afraid to voice her wants lest he decide she was looking to gain a sense of power, a modic.u.m of control, and of course, she was.

"This is my p.u.s.s.y, Heidi." He used his c.o.c.k against her, rubbing the aching bud of her c.l.i.t, working the spongy head, teasing her beyond reason. "Say it."

"Yes," she whispered, looking up at him through half-closed eyes. "It's yours. It's your p.u.s.s.y, Kaiser, always, I promise, all yours..."

G.o.d, she'd never said anything more humiliating or true.

"You aren't to touch it or share it without my permission," he insisted, using his thumb to direct the glossy mushroom-tip over her sensitive bud. "Do you understand?

She nodded, her fingers finding her nipples, squeezing gently, sending sweet pulses of pleasure down to her p.u.s.s.y until he smartly smacked each hand away, grabbing one breast and squeezing hard.

"Mine," he growled, his eyes dark with force and l.u.s.t. "I decide when you receive pleasure..." Her nipple was caught between his thumb and forefinger and he rolled it gently. "Or pain." Heidi yelped in surprise when he pinched and twisted, her back arching in response.

"I want it all," he murmured, rolling her nipple again, his stiff c.o.c.k traveling up and down her slit with a slight rock of his hips. "Every part of you is mine."

"Yes," she breathed, her eyes open and on his, the pleasure pushing past sweet agony , but he didn't care about her suffering-instead he gave her more, teasing her into a frantic, mindless misery of ecstasy, her own body lost to her, belonging solely to the man she was squeezing between her trembling thighs. "Oh G.o.d...please...Kaiser..."

"You sound beautiful when you beg." He smiled, a small thing, but oh, so warm. "Do it again."

"Please," she moaned. "Oh my G.o.d, please, please, I want..."

"This?" Kaiser rubbed her faster with the swell of his flesh and she gasped and arched.

"Yes! Yes!"

"This?" He slid his c.o.c.k in deep in one swift motion and she thought she would die. She couldn't possibly endure another moment of this. Her whole body trembled with feeling, slick and flushed with a fine sheen of sweat, the blotter beneath her completely ruined and she knew she would pay for that too, and just the antic.i.p.ation of that nearly sent her flying over the top.

"Rub my p.u.s.s.y, Heidi," he whispered, his gaze lovingly caressing her there and her fingers following. "Rub it until you come."

She groaned, blissfully doing just exactly as she was told as his c.o.c.k moved almost imperceptibly in the tight, wet creva.s.se of her flesh. He watched her, his eyes growing greedy with desire.

"Oh Kaiser, I'm-" she gasped, so close, so very close, and she didn't know how she managed, but she did manage, when his whispered words directed her to stop.

"I'll tell you when," he murmured, using his thumbs to spread her p.u.s.s.y lips, giving him a clear view of his c.o.c.k disappearing into the swollen pink of her flesh. Her finger continued to make an easy, delicious circle around her c.l.i.t. "G.o.d, you're so f.u.c.king beautiful."

Her whole body flushed at his praise.

"When I come all over your p.u.s.s.y," he directed, thrusting in, settling her into the saddle of his hips for a moment with a gratifying grimace, "I want you to come. Do you understand?"

Heidi nodded, breathing hard, antic.i.p.ating her delectable reward as Kaiser pulled himself out of the hot, moist recess of her body and stroked his length against her flesh. She watched him, her finger just trembling over her c.l.i.t, fighting her own o.r.g.a.s.m as she watched his overtake him, his c.o.c.k jerking in his hand, his face a scowl of pleasure as the first blast of his c.u.m bathed her c.l.i.t with perfect aim.

"Ohhhh!" she cried in surprise and delight as he jettisoned another hot fountain of white hot c.u.m against her p.u.s.s.y, this time missing her throbbing c.l.i.t but finding the top of her cleft and her eager fingers. Heidi shuddered as she felt his seed burning its way down her slit and she didn't even have to touch herself to bring her climax to the surface.

"Come for me," he moaned.

His permission was enough, and she came hard, her belly clenching, her p.u.s.s.y tightening again and again, mourning the absence of his c.o.c.k even in the midst of its ecstatic contractions, as if each spasm could draw him in, convince him to stay.

He collapsed against her for a blissful moment, breathing hard, his face buried in the crook of her neck. She even dared to kiss the top of his salt and pepper head, trying to keep him there, thighs trembling, without letting on that she was holding him at all.

Then he stood, taking a deep breath, pulling up his trousers, tucking, arranging. "Clean up and go out to lunch with your friend," he directed, walking toward the window and pulling the curtain aside to gaze out.

She sat up on her elbows, dazed, blinking at him. "But-"

"Go." He glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes softening at the sight of her still sprawled out over the surface of his desk. "I trust you, Heidi. You know the rules. I didn't say you couldn't have friends. I said you couldn't f.u.c.k them."

"Yes, sir." She slid off the desk, straightening her skirt, smoothing her hair.

"Unless I say you can." His smile tightened as he looked back out the window, his motion a dismissal. She was almost out the door when he said, "Wear the backless Valentino for Carvel tonight. The black one. I have Doreen coming to your apartment to do your hair and makeup at five."

"Thank you, sir."

She wanted to go and put her arms around him, but she didn't. Instead, she did as she was told, cleaning up in the bathroom and then taking the elevator down, calling Lenny on the way and telling him that yes, a hot dog and a walk in Central Park was the perfect way to spend her now-late lunch, and no, nothing was wrong, why did he ask?

"You really don't want to come up...do you?" Heidi tried to dissuade Carvel, even though she hadn't discovered a thing of interest over dinner and the night was about to come to an end. How much humiliation was she willing to take? Could she really go to Kaiser in the morning with nothing? But now after the ride in the limo and a dinner, ironically, at Atelier's, the thought of Carvel seeing her little apartment was just too shameful to imagine.

"Ah, but bella, Kaiser said you'd show me your sketches." Carvel's eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled and then winked at her.

Heidi almost laughed at the cliche but just turned and put her key in the door instead. She seriously doubted the veracity of the statement, of course-Kaiser hadn't even asked to see her sketches himself. "Well you'll have to forgive my modest little apartment, then," she apologized, leading him to the elevator.

"Most of the people in this business started humbly," Carvel noted as the elevator took them up.

"You?" Heidi asked, raising her eyebrows in mock surprise. She knew better.

Carvel grinned and winked at her. "Well...not me."

"Not Andrea Paxton, either," Heidi muttered, fumbling with her keys again as she approached her apartment door. She'd been diligent about cleaning before she left, antic.i.p.ating, although dreading, Carvel's visit as a possibility.

"Ah, Andrea, yes." He followed her in and Heidi winced as he looked around, taking in the little L-shaped s.p.a.ce that const.i.tuted kitchen and living room. There were just two other rooms, a bedroom that barely fit a twin bed and a bathroom that had a shower so small it was hard even for her to turn around in. Carvel didn't seem fazed by her simple and rather spa.r.s.e furniture choices, taking a seat on the futon and spreading his arms comfortably across the back. "Andrea will make quite a name for herself."

"Kaiser thinks so," Heidi agreed, making a face he couldn't see as she turned to put her purse and wrap on a chair.

"Kaiser has good judgment," he remarked, his face then spreading with a smile. "But he doesn't know everything about Andrea Paxton."

"You can say that again," she mumbled, trying to decide if she should sit on the futon beside him-dangerous territory-or pull a kitchen chair over.

"Look at the books!" he exclaimed, nodding toward the floor to ceiling bookshelves. There was no television, but the shelves were stuffed to overflowing with books.

"I've always been a reader," she admitted, flushing. "Little worlds, every one."

Carvel smiled, patting the futon beside him, giving her little choice in the matter. "You are a special one, bella."

Heidi hesitated, going to her book shelves and pulling down an oversized portfolio, deciding to keep up the pretense, if nothing else. "My sketches are in here...if you really wanted to see them."

"Of course!" He smiled, sitting up as she set the book on the coffee table. "How about a cognac? Brandy?"

She smiled. It would be his umpteenth of the night, but of course, she had nothing like it. "I have wine. It's not Dom Perignon, but it's not Thunderbird, either."

He chuckled. "Whatever you have is fine."

Heidi found a brandy snifter sitting on her kitchen counter filled with what she was sure was a very expensive, very aged cognac. Kaiser must have known he would want it. She didn't bother to wonder how he had gotten into her apartment-she was sure he had sent someone, perhaps even paid the super. Somehow, he'd managed to get done what he wanted done-he always did.

"Make yourself one," Carvel called as Heidi poured the cognac into a gla.s.s, which had also been provided.

"Oh, I don't drink much..." She'd already been too gluttonous with the champagne over dinner, at Carvel's insistence, and her head was more than a little fuzzy.

"Make yourself one," he insisted and Heidi sighed, pouring herself a gla.s.s and taking them both over to the futon.