Page 21 of Indecent Demands

But listening to her talk about why she’d stolen and her beliefs… I couldn’t bring myself to turn her in. I also couldn’t just let her go, either. I had to figure out what to do. And in the meantime I couldn’t let her just slip away. I had to keep an eye on her and the only reliable way to do that was to have herwithme.

Her mention of Damien’s notice of the theft told me that I wasn’t the only one worrying about that interesting fact. I was glad that my gut instinct was being backed up by someone else.

But whatever Damien was or wasn’t doing, it still remained that Ariana had stolen from the company. I had to turn her in—or give Damien another answer about the misappropriated funds. He wasn’t going to just accept ‘they’re very sorry and won’t do it again’ for an answer. That wasn’t how things worked.

While I figured out what to do, I figured… why not get something out of it? Why not keep an eye on Ariana and give us both some pleasure along the way considering our attraction was mutual.

It had been way too long since I’d been able to have the kind of filthy sex, the way that I liked it.

To have someone as gorgeous as Ariana in my bed, and at my mercy…

I wanted her to say yes. I wanted her to want me the way that I desired her. I wanted to be able to let loose and indulge my darker instincts. The idea of having her tied up and captive in my bed, having her completely under my control…

My cock thickened in my slacks just thinking about it.

I had been flirting with her a little before, pressing my leg against hers, testing her. And I’d seen how her breath hitched, how her legs spread, the way her face got a bit flushed.

She responded beautifully. If only we weren’t in a crowded restaurant… some people were into public sex, but I wasn’t one of them. I didn’t share and I wasn’t an exhibitionist.

There was another angle to this situation, one that I didn’t want to voice to Ariana just yet. If I had figured out that she was the thief, it was only a matter of time until Damien or someone else suspected her as well. How she’d managed to get away with this for years at various companies without anyone noticing was impressive, but everyone’s luck ran out eventually.

If Damien found out, she could be in danger. I didn’t know Damien Harcourt well, and I had no reason to suspect he was a total asshole, but I did know that generally rich men tended to get a skewed idea of what justice was. They would take the law into their own hands when it suited them, using their wealth, no matter how ethically unfair (or illegal) it might be.

I couldn’t take the risk of her being in trouble that way. And at least Ariana would be safe with me.

Not that I could pretend that my proposition was entirely altruistic. I wanted her, and I was pretty sure she wanted me. This would let us have each other. And I could show her exactly what I liked to do in the bedroom.

If she really didn’t want to do the same things I did in the bedroom, obviously I wouldn’t force her. I wasn’t into non-consensual sex, thanks, and I didn’t respect anyone who was. Even if I sometimes like the illusion—an illusion, a fantasy, was all that it really was. Just because something was fun to role play in the privacy of your bedroom didn’t mean that it was something you wanted to actually be true out in the real world.

However—the feeling of having her at my mercy? The fantasy of her being my captive? Of tying her up and being able to do whatever I wanted to her, watching her beg and cry and eventually go slack in pleasure?

The very thought drove me insane.

Ariana stared at me after I gave her the choice. She had to know what danger she was in now. But I had the feeling if she really didn’t want to accept my offer, she’d had no issues telling me I could stuff it and she’d take her chances on her own.

“All right,” she said, her face flushing pink again. “I’ll do it.”

I inhaled shakily, my body lighting on fire. I wanted to bend her over the goddamn table and fuck her right there and then, claim her so that she knew she belonged to me now.

Ariana leaned in. “Just for the record, you don’t actually own me,” she hissed.

I nearly burst into laughter. I nudged her leg again with mine, and then put my foot back on her chair between her legs, watching with delight as her eyes went wide. “Oh, trust me, I don’t think I’m going to do anything that you don’t want me to.”

Ariana shivered. “I thought you were a good guy, but you’re blackmailing me into being your sex captive. What makes you think that I’ll want anything you do to me?”

I leaned in. “So you’re telling me that if I told you, right now, to grind down on my shoe, and be a good girl and come on my foot, nice and quiet, that you wouldn’t be into it?”

Ariana’s skin darkened further with her blush. Her pupils got wide and dark. I felt her hips scoot forward on the chair, like she was already prepping herself to do as I’d suggested.

“Answer the question, Ariana,” I murmured. “Would you be into it? Or not?”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I would . . . be into it,” she whispered.

I couldn’t hold in the grin that spread across my face. I had her. She was mine, and the elation that pumped through me was dizzying.

“Well, unfortunately for you, I’m not into public sex. Too high of a risk of getting caught, and getting caught isn’t my kink. Especially when it’s at the restaurant where I eat fairly regularly.”

I took my foot down off her chair and straightened up in my seat. Ariana swallowed again, and I saw her face fall a little. “Disappointed?” I asked.

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