A Covert Conquest Read online

  She giggled, leaned over the desk, and waited. When he caressed her ass cheeks, she gasped because she hadn’t expected that, and also because she hadn’t realized until now how sore they were from earlier.

  “They still sting a bit, don’t they?”

  He slipped his hand underneath to tease her pussy lips, and she moaned softly. “Yes. A bit.”

  “Pity.” He moved his hand well before the next climax had a chance to build, and she sighed in frustration. “Do you remember your safeword?”

  “Yes.”

  “You might need it this time.”

  She shivered as she heard him take a few steps back, then yelled as the paddle came down across both ass cheeks. “Holy fuck!”

  “Hurt?”

  She straightened up and turned around. “How many swats do you intend to give me with that thing?”

  His eyes gleamed with desire and humor. He enjoyed this in a way she hadn’t realized before. She wanted to understand it. The arousal this sent coursing through her body fascinated her. Who knew she had this inside her?

  “Until you tell me you’ve had enough. Are you done already?”

  “When you’re done paddling me, are we going to have sex again?”

  “That depends.” His tone was challenging, cryptic.

  “On what?”

  “On whether or not I think you’ve let me give you enough swats.”

  “Aren’t you turned on by this? I sure am.”

  “Oh yeah. Definitely.”

  “So it’s only my self-control that sucks, then.”

  His soft chuckle made her want to push him to the floor and fuck him silly. “No, mine is barely hanging on, but this is fun, too. Teasing you like this. Making you work for it.” They locked gazes again. “So, are you done?”

  She swallowed hard. “No way.” Rissa turned around, leaned over the desk again, and braced herself.

  He gave her three swats in a row, pausing for a second or two between each one, but it still hurt like fucking crazy. It also made her wetter and more aroused than anything ever had. Her pussy contracted in tiny spasms without her having to do a damn thing. If he didn’t fuck her after this, she’d get on her knees and beg him to.

  Barclay placed the paddle next to her, in her line of vision, and then his hands were on her ass, caressing them again. She heard him unzip his jeans and make soft, sexy noises, but all he did was put on a condom and pick up the lube. They hardly needed that, and she was about to tell him so, but then a warm, wet finger slid into her asshole.

  “Ever have anal sex?” he asked softly.

  “Yes.” She wanted to scream with excitement. He moved his finger in and out, then teased her clit with the other hand.

  “Did you like it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh good.” That voice! It made her crazy with need.

  He pulled his finger out and she tensed, waiting for his dick to slide inside, but instead he picked up the paddle again and stepped back.

  “No!”

  “Is that a safeword?” He was teasing her again, but she absolutely loved it. This was fun and sexy, and she hadn’t expected him to be like this.

  “Not even close.”

  She heard his soft laugh before the paddle smacked her again, three times. She had tears in her eyes now, but her excitement was crazy. Still, she wasn’t sure how much more she could honestly take, but if he decided not to fuck her once she safeworded, she’d lose her damn mind.

  He stepped up to her again and this time slid two lubed fingers into her asshole. When his fingers teased her clit again, she moaned loudly. “I can’t wait any longer. Have I had enough swats?”

  “I don’t know. Do you think you have?”

  “Oh please! You’re such a sadist.”

  “No shit. Have you had enough?”

  “No.”

  He rubbed her ass. “Are you sure? You have bruises coming up.”

  “I can take three more.”

  Barclay turned her around and kissed her, hard, shoving his tongue into her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back like she might never do it again. When he released her, he grinned and turned her around, pushing her torso over the desk.

  “All right. Three more. No, let’s make it four. That way it’s an even ten. I like even numbers.”

  By the time he finished striking her four more times, Rissa was sure she’d give this man anything he wanted for the rest of his life. He slid two fingers into her ass again, then moved them in and out slowly while he teased her clit until she came. His dick was inside her ass before the orgasm finished, and he kept his fingers on her clit, coaxing another climax from her.

  She’d never felt anything so exquisite and decadent at the same time, and she didn’t want it to end. He’d used so much lube that there was no pain, only a peaceful, full feeling that sent her desire to new heights.

  When she came a second time, he came as well. He finished, then bent over her torso and stroked her breasts through her shirt, breathing heavily. “We need a shower now for sure.”

  “Yes, we do.” She needed more sleep. The hell with the shower.

  “But if we get in there together, neither one of us will be walking this week.”

  That made her giggle so much his cock slipped out. He took off his condom and wrapped it the washcloth he’d brought along with the lube and paddle. Then he zipped up his jeans, wincing slightly. “Let me show you where you can get cleaned up. I don’t suppose you brought anything extra to wear, did you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Okay.” He ran a hand through his hair, which she found incredibly sexy. Then again, everything he’d done the entire day had been sexy in her eyes. “Let’s get cleaned up, and then I’ll walk you home to get some things. You might as well plan on staying here for a few days.”

  “You think the project will take that long?”

  He laughed and pulled her close. “It will take longer than that, but I didn’t want to freak you out and ask if we could get enough things for you to move in here for a couple of months.”

  She smiled and took his hand. “Lead the way.”

  He showed her to one of the spare bedrooms and made sure she had everything she needed, then kissed her tenderly before he left the room. She took a quick shower, wishing he was with her but knowing if he was, they’d never get any work done. She put her clothes back on, including the shoes and socks he’d brought from his room, and then she went looking for him.

  He was in his office again, and the sight of his damp hair, plus the fresh smell of clean clothes and shampoo made her wish she lived here with him. That might become a possibility, unless he’d been teasing her before about moving in for a couple of months.

  He glanced up and smiled. “Ready?”

  “Yes, but you know, you don’t have to walk me home. I don’t live that far away.”

  He rose from the desk, frowning. “Nonsense. What kind of a gentleman would I be if I let you go home alone this late at night?”

  Barclay held her hand the entire time they walked, and Rissa couldn’t stop smiling. Once inside her apartment, she tossed things into a duffle bag, remembering her birth control pills and hair products, although the latter wouldn’t matter. He had a supply at his place of everything she’d ever need. Did he keep it that well stocked for all his women?

  Stop that.

  He said he’d changed, and she said she believed him, so that was that. This would never work if she didn’t forget his past and focus on the future, whatever that would bring. They had important work to do, and she was part of it. It was exciting and invigorating, and she didn’t want to fuck this up by acting like a jealous girlfriend.

  They walked back to his apartment, hand-in-hand again, while Barclay told her all the things they’d found out about Rob Marin so far.

  “Sure sounds like he’s one of the original hackers. Why do you all think he’s not?”

  “Too obvious, and he’s been too careless
. He hasn’t tried hard enough to hide himself.”

  “Maybe he’s just that cocky?”

  “We’ve considered that.”

  “He obviously has the skills, or Ace never would have hired him for the hacker team, right?”

  “That’s true.”

  “What careless things has he done?”

  “Well, he used the same moniker on both hacker message boards and message boards within Ace’s company. That’s not the mark of someone who wanted to hide.”

  “Any theories on that?”

  “We can only speculate he’s like you said. That sure of himself. You know, there are people out there who do this sort of thing and want to be seen. They want to be discovered because they’re so narcissistic.”

  She nodded. “True. We’ve all run across people like that, especially online. What else did he do?”

  “He told Rafael information that only an insider would have, and while we suspect based on Rafael’s reactions that none of the things Rob said were new to him, it still makes no sense.”

  “Unless Rob simply wanted to brag. Like you said, he might be that narcissistic.”

  “But that’s exactly the point. If Rafael has nothing to do with the original hack, but Rob does, why brag to an outsider? It’s an odd thing to do. And there’s the whole issue of what he had stored on his laptop. If I was part of the group who had done this, the last place I’d store information would be on my laptop or an external drive.”

  “I wouldn’t store it anywhere.”

  “Exactly. Neither would I. But that’s also why we’re convinced whatever we intercepted on the satellite was an attempt by the group to hide information or talk to each other without the chance of having it found online. Whether they realized we had intercepted the conversation they’d accidentally encrypted, or if they merely decided the satellite wasn’t reliable, we may never know. Bottom line, we know they’re out there still, and we know Rob is involved somehow. There’s no way he would know what he knows without having spoken to at least one of them in depth.”

  “Which brings up back to the fact that he might be one of them.”

  “He might be, but my gut tells me he’s not. He’s on the periphery but knows at least one of them well, and wants to play with the big boys and girls.”

  She grinned. “I’m glad you acknowledged there might be a woman involved in this.”

  “Of course. More than half my IT team are women.”

  “Good to know you’re so progressive, Mr. Hampton.”

  He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Watch it, Miss Kerry. I have more toys.”

  She giggled. “I’m sure you do.”

  He stopped walking and cupped her face gently. “Rissa, thank you for this. Not only for helping me with the project, but for the company. Thank you for the sex, and for being so much fun. You’re easy to be with and talk to.”

  “I’m so glad I made that phone call.”

  “I am, too.”

  “I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had. The sex is incredible. Thank you.”

  “How do you feel about that?”

  “You mean am I feeling guilty about doing this because of Harry?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not. He’d want me to be happy. I’m ready to move on now.”

  The relief on his face tugged at her heart. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. Let’s get back and see how much work we can get done tonight. Do you mind working a bit more?”

  “Not at all. Let’s do it. Let’s find those bastards.”

  Once Rissa had put on clean clothes and she and Barclay were back in his office, he continued transferring data to the document on his laptop, while Rissa took care of printing the pages. It was well after midnight when he told her he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. They glanced through all the folders they still wanted to take a closer look at, and made a quick inventory of their names and locations.

  “This is going to take weeks,” he said.

  “Yes, but at the end of those weeks, think of what we’ll have.”

  “I sure hope so.”

  He shut down both machines, Rissa picked up her duffle, and they went upstairs. She wasn’t sure where she was sleeping, and smiled when he led her straight to his room. “Unless you’d rather sleep in a room of your own. I’ll understand if you do.”

  “What you do want?”

  “That’s a silly question.” He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “I’d make love to you all over again if I wasn’t so tired.”

  “Then let’s both get some sleep so we can start the morning with sex.”

  He laughed softly and kissed the top of her head. “A woman after my own heart.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Monday morning, Rissa woke to Barclay kissing her body in various places, and she moaned in delight when she realized he’d already donned a condom and was hard as a brick. She wrapped her arms around him and lay back as he slid his cock gently into her pussy.

  He brushed a finger along her face. “If you’re not as sore as I am, I’d be surprised.”

  “I’m sore but please don’t let that stop you.”

  He held her face with one hand and braced himself against her hips with the other as he fucked her, slowly and tenderly. In so many ways, this was even more erotic than the impact play and teasing last night, and it was no less arousing. Her orgasm was swift and easy, prolonged by the way he continued thrusting in and out with deliberate, drawn-out strokes.

  Once her contractions began to subside, he increased the strength and speed of his thrusts, and when he came he groaned softly and kissed her afterward. “I wish we didn’t have to get out of this bed.”

  “Me, too.”

  They both nearly fell asleep again before Barclay pulled back the covers and stood, muttering under his breath about early mornings and real work. It made Rissa chuckle because she did that every single day.

  Once they had both dressed, they went back to work in Barclay’s office. He was interrupted several times an hour with phone calls or emails, and it felt odd to Rissa not to be in her cubicle, working with the others.

  What would they think when she didn’t show up this morning? What had Ed told the rest of the team? Would they surmise she had a relationship with their CEO outside of work and that’s why she’d been selected to work on this project with him?

  Did it matter what they thought? They didn’t sign her paycheck. Barclay did. She was proud that he’d chosen her for this. Even if they hadn’t made love, she’d still be working on the recovery with him, wouldn’t she?

  Of course you would.

  She took over moving the data from Rob’s laptop to the one Barclay was using for the recovery, so Barclay could use his work machine to attend to the rest of his company’s work. She watched him from under her lashes, bare feet up on his desk, leaning back in his chair as he laughed and talked with Oliver and Viggo in a video chat. They’d both called him this morning, so he was updating them on what they’d found so far on Rob’s laptop, and laughing about how they imagined Rob was reacting by now.

  They had confirmation that Rob and Olivia were back in NorthCentral, and Barclay was thrilled that Rob apparently did not have a way to access his laptop or the external drives remotely. Everything about this operation had gone according to plan so far.

  She couldn’t see the screen, but she could hear both Viggo’s and Oliver’s voices. It was obvious from the way the three men spoke that they’d been friends a long time and were comfortable saying anything to each other. Barclay exuded self-assurance as he chatted with the two.

  The doubt began to creep back in when Viggo launched into a detailed description of the date he’d had Friday night. Barclay took his feet off the desk and leaned forward, cutting his gaze toward her with a guarded look. She merely smiled as she caught his eye. If the guys were going to talk shop, she’d use the time as an excuse to get something to eat and drink, so she rose and pointed t
oward the hallway.

  He nodded, and she caught the look of relief that passed across his face. Rissa didn’t know if that was due to her leaving the room so he could listen to details of Viggo’s sex life, and she began to wonder once again whether she’d still be here, working in his apartment with him, if they hadn’t had sex.

  “What does it matter?” she whispered. They’d be doing the same work here or in the office building that housed his company, regardless.

  So, what’s really bothering you, then?

  Good question. Was it the fact she’d almost overheard old friends talking about sex, or was this moving too fast for her?

  Rissa stopped short when she walked into the kitchen. Barclay’s cook and one half of the housekeeping staff, Sandra Thomas, gave her a curious look. “Need something?”

  “Um, I thought we could use a snack and something to drink.”

  “Like what?”

  Rissa shrugged. “I don’t know. Is it all right if I look around and make a decision in a minute?”

  “Sure. I have plenty to do. Holler if you need anything.”

  The woman was disconcerting. Barclay had introduced her to both Sandra and her husband, Fred, this morning. They’d each barely reacted when they realized that Rissa was staying for a few days. Was that because Barclay had women stay here often, or was there something about her the couple didn’t like?

  She’d only just met them. How could she have offended them or put them off in such a short time? Likely their response to her was indifference because Barclay had women here all the time.

  Correction. He used to have women here all the time.

  Yes, that’s what he had told her. That part of his life was over. She had no reason to believe he’d lied to her. What would be the point in doing so? She worked for him, and as far as she knew, he didn’t date employees. At least, she’d never heard of him doing so. So what the fuck was she doing here with him?

  Rissa opened the fridge. He had enough food in there to feed a small army. Was he expecting the entire town to drop by? She pulled out two small containers of what looked like chicken and rice, then opened one and took a sniff. Orange sauce and ginger. Yum!