With a nod I left the conference room and trudged back to my office. I had at least four more hours of work until I could head home even though the morning was productive. The meeting with Joanne had taken longer than expected.
I went to the coffee machine in the kitchenette and waited while the brewer filled my mug with magic liquid. I watched the drip mindlessly while my thoughts traveled to Ryan again. A route my mind went down often. Heat pricked my skin as I recalled his words. Almost twenty-four hours later, and I was still giddy. It made me anxious as hell, too, but the butterflies in my stomach were ones I hadn’t felt maybe ever.
In my office, I pulled up the accounts I needed to work on, and before I knew it, the light filtering through the windows was dimming. I lost myself to time like usual after putting Ryan out of my mind. Rubbing my bleary eyes, I assumed Joanne and Mia must have left quietly for the weekend without a farewell. They knew once I was in the zone it was best to leave me be, handling all the distractions and closing the office with me being none the wiser. I smiled to myself at the staff I’d been so lucky to find.
I picked up my phone to see a few missed calls that looked like they were spam and a text dated three hours ago. It was from the number Zander texted me from, not Ryan’s. A thrill shot through me as I read the words.
“Tonight, I’m Zander. Best be on alert at all times, baby.”
My head jerked up and I looked around the office. Was he watching me? I pulled up the new security camera feeds and saw no movement since Mia and Joanne had left. I assumed he was the one spooking me in the garage, but it was stillunsettling since I didn’t know the guy at all. I only knew his name, profession, and that he had quite a bit of money. But he could still be a bad person.
Despite my concerns I was still on the fuck-it train. The excitement mixed with fear was intoxicating, and I couldn’t turn it off. I dropped my phone on the desk and shut down my computer with anticipation, the uncertainty of what was to come fluttering in my chest. When I picked up my purse and started to drop my phone in, the power went out.
Chapter Sixteen
Ryan
I droppedmy head in my hands after I tapped the red phone icon to end the call with Craig about the next project. Tonight, I was going to have fun with my girl in person. Finding time to record while playing with my new toy was going to be difficult when I got the script on Monday. The conversation with Raven had gone exactly how I had wanted, and arousal pulsed through my body when I thought about her being on board. This woman was going to be mine if it was the last thing I did. I had a visceral need to possess and claim her, something I’d never felt toward another human.
Running my hand through my wild hair, I recalled my devious plots to give this woman as many orgasms as possible. Some of which she might be begging not to have. Fuck, how I would love to see her beg on the floor with those pouty lips and her usually perfect hair mussed from my hands. With her consent, I was going to fuck her like I didn’t have it, and I think she knew that. I wanted her hesitation almost as much as I wanted her pleasure. Raven was smart and cunning, but I was going to best her.
Sporting a semi the whole day, I couldn’t contain my excitement and was a ball of anticipation since I had nothing else to focus my attention on. Spending all weekend tormenting the fuck out of my little fox before I got my next job was going to be heaven.
I shot off a text earlier in the afternoon, which Raven still hadn’t read. I was banking on her working late as I grabbed my backpack and slinked out the door of my apartment.
Driving downtown in serene silence, a calm settled over me as I channeled the Zander side of myself and pushed reclusive Ryan into a hidden box. Zander was a confident dom who coaxed pleasure from his partners, and tonight I was going to show Raven I was worthy of her submission.
By the time I arrived the light had faded into dusk. I parked my car in the garage connected to Raven’s building and donned my black face mask that covered everything except my eyes. Pulling up my hood, I tucked my hair in and pulled it low over my eyes. Raven wouldn’t see anything except my outline, but she would hear. She would hear everything.
The fluorescent-lit cement structure attached to Raven’s building was ominous. I rode the elevator from the fourth level to the second, the atmosphere adding to the thrill. When I’d scouted the garage while I was out the day before, I thanked my lucky stars there was a concealed door into the building aside from the main entry on the street. Stepping off the garage elevator, I peered around the level as I walked to the entrance and breathed a sigh of relief when the industrial door opened. My lock picking skills were fine for normal locks, but not ones of that caliber.
I contemplated taking the stairs up to Raven’s office, but I needed all my stamina for her so I chanced the elevators. Hopefully no one would be around since it was so late. Inside the building, the doors slid open and I pressed the button forthirteen as a hint of unease ran through my gut. I hadn’t done anything like this before. Only in the books I narrated, and I wouldn’t have done it then without Raven’s consent and limits. Since she listened to the same books I narrated, I was taking a small risk that she would like this.
My dick stiffened at the thought of what was going to happen, and I wondered what her reaction to the surprise would be. She would know it was me from the conversation yesterday, but a part of me still hoped she would be at least a bit frightened. Time would tell. I glanced at the blue digital counter as it ticked upward and the doors opened to show Raven’s dark and empty office in front of me. Good, her staff was gone.
I hurried to the side where the glass facade became a solid wall, and scouted the office suite. Unsure, I assumed Raven was still in there. If not, I would just pay a visit to her house sooner than intended, which was fine by me. My eyes snagged on the security camera above the office doors. So she wasn’t lying about that. I assumed she had them at her apartment too. An idea flitted through my head, but I tucked it away for later.
Walking down the hall in search of the utility room for the floor, I found it nestled just past the stairwell. I tried the handle, and wasn’t surprised that it was locked unlike the building door. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the lock pick and made quick work of the mechanism. After all, I doubted many people cared about breaking into a utility closet so the security was minimal.
Inside the small room I spotted the electrical panel on the wall to my left and lifted the lid. “Fuck,” I groaned. Of course, there was no label for the lights so I had to pull out my phone to search how to read a commercial breaker box. After I was satisfied that I had found the correct switch, I tapped out of theincognito tab and drew in a breath. Squinting my eyes shut in hopes that I didn’t set off some kind of alarm or had the wrong switch, I flipped it. The floor went dark out in the hallway and an emergency light came on above my head.
Thank fuck. I left the breaker room and slipped inside Raven’s unlocked office suite, making a note to tell her to keep it locked when she was in the office alone, especially after hours. Walking to the left of the reception desk in the middle of the room, I pressed against the wall beside the opening that led down a hallway. With my hood down as far as it would go, I listened for any movement or noise. When nothing came except silence, I peeked around the corner to find everything motionless. Maybe I had missed her.
Tiptoeing down the hall, I muffled the sound of my boots as best I could, in case she hadn’t left. The first door on the right was a break room with a kitchen area and a table with a conference room directly across the hall on the left. There was a large area after the break room that had numerous empty desks. I kept moving and passed two more offices on the left and one closed door at the end of the hall on the right. All the other doors were open so my senses heightened. That had to be Raven’s office. The offices across the hall didn’t make sense as one was empty and the other had a desk adorned in pink decorations. Raven wouldn’t have pink in her office.
Flattening myself against the wall, I listened with my ear to the door for at least ten minutes. After hearing nothing, I gently placed my gloved hand on the handle and attempted to turn it. Locked. Rolling my eyes, I pulled my pick out of my pocket and took off my right glove. After a few minutes, I had the door unlocked. My heart leapt in my chest as I turned the handle and the door swung open.
The office was empty. “Fuck,” I mumbled under my breath as I stepped inside. I looked around the room for a momentand took in the sleek glass desk and black accents. I smiled to myself at my goth girl’s furniture choices. When I went to leave, a voice slithered down my spine from behind me and my blood ran cold.
“Well, who do we have here?” Raven’s icy voice asked.
Chapter Seventeen
Raven
The intruder turnedrigid at my words. With his back to me, his fists clenched, and I smiled at catching him at his own game. As soon as the power was cut, a hint of fear had sliced my chest, but it quickly turned to arousal. I’d been on edge since the call the night before. Creeping from my office like a mouse, I locked it on my way out to see how serious he was and hid behind the door in the empty office across the hall.
I listened as he snuck down the hallway, his body barely making a sound. Part of me was nervous that he might be a real trespasser instead of Ryan, but the uncertainty added to the pleasure. I was addicted to the wrongness of being turned on by these circumstances, and when I slipped from behind the door and came up behind him as he breached my office, desire pulsed at the sight of him in front of me.
