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“Absolutely not,” he replied and I huffed in annoyance. This conversation had been a complete waste of time.
I followed Elliot through the sprawling manor house to a room in the far reaches of the west wing. He knocked on a heavy wooden door, the dull thud echoing eerily along the corridor. Outside, the sun was quickly setting and here in the deep recesses of this gargantuan house, it felt almost ghostly. I was glad I wasn’t wandering around this place by myself.
Alfie called for us to enter and Elliot opened the door, allowing me through first.
The makeshift office was sparse and not yet fully decorated, but thick cream drapes hung from the bay window behind Alfie and to my left was a deep brown leather couch with a low oak coffee table before it. I found Alfie sitting at a bespoke oak desk and frowning at his laptop. He looked up, his gaze immediately dropping to my feet.
“Where are your shoes?” he asked and I followed his gaze to my bare feet. I’d forgotten about the ridiculous heels.
“I just took them off to explore and I guess I left them in the garden…Sorry.” I left out the part where I’d flipped off his instructions not to go out of sight of the house.
“You left a pair of Louboutins in the garden?” I just shrugged, not really knowing what else to do, and his steely gaze shifted to Elliot who was standing beside me, holding the box of take out. “You didn’t think to ask her why she was bare footed?”
“With all due respect, Sir, it didn’t seem to be that out of character.”
Alfie paused for a moment before nodding. “Fair point.” I knew I should have been insulted, but I was just glad I’d dodged that bullet. After today, I didn’t need Alfie finding out I’d broken another rule. Elliot placed the box on the coffee table and began unpacking the food but Alfie waved a dismissive hand at him, hiseyes still fixed firmly on me. “We can manage it, Elliot. Thank you.”
“Sir.” Elliot nodded and left us.
“Come here, O’Connell,” Alfie ordered, his voice like silk. My insides did a little flip of excitement and I wasted no time crossing the room to get to him. He didn’t get up from his chair, merely manoeuvred me until I was standing between his legs.
“Turn around, baby.” I bit my lip and turned. Again there was a long, delicious pause where he kept me poised on the edge of seduction.
“Lift your dress.” My hands went to the skirt of my dress and I raised it until it bunched around my waist, baring me to him completely as he still had my underwear in his pocket.
“Bend over the desk.” My breath hitched in my throat but I did as he asked, laying myself out over a plethora of papers, leaving myself open to him. I waited...and waited.
“Did you have fun exploring the grounds?”
My stomach dropped.Oh crap.I heard his chair squeak behind me as he stood. His hands wrapped around my waist as he pressed himself up against me.
“Did you know that the tracker in your phone can tell me how far away you are, right down to the metre?” I shook my head and gasped as his hand found its way to my core, moaning as he slipped his thumb inside and pressed down, the angle hitting my G-Spot in an entirely new way. The sensation sent shock waves through me, causing my legs to tremble. “I told you not to go out of sight of the house because it’s getting dark and I didn’t want you wandering in the woods alone.”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted?—”
“You gave me your word,” he said, all the while working me with his thumb, “and you broke it.” I bit my lip, writhing on his desk, my mind a whirring mass of contradictions. I shouldn’t like this and yet…
His thumb still inside me, he curled his fingers to work my aching clitoris. I was so ready, so poised, that I groaned aloud. My hands fisted, screwing up contracts and blueprints. I gasped as my orgasm approached. I raised up on my toes, grinding back on him, ready to fall, when he suddenly stilled his hand, maintaining the pressure but refusing to elevate it.
“Alfie, please.” I begged, grinding back on him, desperate to find some sort of relief, but he held my hips firm and immovable.
“You lied to me, Lola. Do you really think you deserve pleasure?” He moved again, picking up where he left off, and I cried out in relief. But his words echoed in my head. I had lied to him. Guilt began to sour the pleasure, starting a war in my head. But his fingers didn’t let up, merely continued their work of pushing me closer to oblivion. “It’s your choice, Lola. Do you deserve pleasure or not?” His voice was deathly calm and I whimpered in despair. I knew what I had to do.
“No,” I gasped, the word fighting me as I forced it from my lips.
“Then what should I do?”
“Stop. You should stop.” Immediately his hand fell away and I sagged with defeat. He held my hips, steadying me as I caught my breath. I felt light-headed but I pushed up off the table and turned to face him. “I’m sorry. I was being a brat. I’m sorry.” He cupped my face, eyeing me closely.
“I know that you find it difficult to do as I ask, since you think I’m demanding and unreasonable, but you can’t break your word to me. Ever.” His words hung in the air. It had seemed like such a small, insignificant thing. Step onto the grass, bend the rules just a little. But he was right. I’d given him my word and I’d broken it. With anyone else such a small infraction could be shrugged off, but with Alfie Tell’s fragile faith in human decency, I couldn’t afford to fuck up like this.
“I will endeavour to do better,” I said, echoing his earlier promise to me. His eyes softened and he nodded.
His gaze trailed to the lower half of my body that was still bare and with apparent reluctance he pulled my dress back into place, making me decent again. “Do you have any idea what I wanted to do to you? The ways I wanted to punish you for this?”
I shook my head, unsure how else to respond or what kinds of punishments he could be talking about. “Whatever you want to do, Alfie, I can take it.” The corner of his mouth lifted, his eyes taking on a wicked glint.
“I’d like to test that certainty.”