CHAPTER 4

"What happened today… It was wrong of me. For a moment, I forgot myself. You make me do that, you know."

He paused, looking me over, taking in his oversized shirt falling low over my pencil skirt.

"Do what?" I asked, allowing myself a small smile.

"Forget myself."

He leaned down, and I heard him inhale, milimeters away. Was he smelling my hair? Then, he straightened again, his back stiff. Formal. Like nothing had passed between us.

"It won't happen again. It... can't. I won't lose my temper again. Not with you."

He moved away, and I jumped out of my seat, following like a lost puppy.

"But, why not? I don't mind!"

He stopped by the elevators, hesitating before pushing the button.

"I… I liked it," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

A moment hung suspended before he finally moved, pushing the down button with a black, gloved hand.

"I won't punish you again, Isabeau. Not like that. This was the first and last time. Please understand."

The doors slid open, and just like that, he was gone, sliding away from me into the night. And I could do nothing to stop him.

I looked down at the ramen cup sticking out of my trashcan, and a thought struck me, lifting the cloud of confusion and despair threatening to settle over me. Maybe there was a way.

Maybe I was a very bad, lazy, forgetful assistant after all. Maybe I just couldn't help myself. Maybe I'd just have to break his rules…

Maybe then he wouldn't be able to help it, and would forget himself all over again.

I bit my lip and leaned back in the office chair, imaging him bending me over his desk, remembering his sweet punishment.

I knew one thing for certain—this wasn't over between us. Not by a longshot.

I was his, after all, at his beck and call.

Ready and eager for whatever he had to give me.

~ ~ ~

[When dashing billionaire, Chase Drake, tells his assistant he won't lose control again and punish her, she's determined to prove him wrong. But he remains true to his word, frustrating her and making her wonder if the connection they had was all in her head.

After she misses the bus home, he offers to drive her, but a simple ride soon turns into an evening of wining and dining that culminates on her spending the night in his guest room.

When she hears him up in the middle of the night, her curiosity gets the best of her and she spies on him. Mr. Drake is hiding something, and discovering what it is may just result in the night of her life.]

"Isabeau! Get in here this instant!"

A shiver of anticipation raced down my spine and I allowed myself time for a smile before jumping up from my desk. This was the second time Mr. Drake called me into his office today, and from his tone, he sounded like he was about to lose it. Just as I'd planned.

I eased open the mahogany door and slipped inside, checking my hair to make sure it hadn't escaped its chignon. Mr. Drake sat on the edge of his desk facing the doorway, perched like a bird of prey. His wavy hair was perfectly in place, but his green eyes had a wild look behind them, like I was trying his last nerve.

And maybe I was.

"Come here." His voice was dangerously low.

I walked toward him slowly, suddenly feeling nervous. What if my plan backfired? What if instead of punishing me like last time, he just fired me instead? I swallowed, my mouth suddenly drier than a cotton ball.

I stopped a couple of feet away from him, but he crooked his finger, beckoning me closer. I gulped and complied, moving forward until we were eye to eye, his gaze boring into me. He was so close now that I could smell the fresh scent of his aftershave just inches from my nose.

"What," he said, "Is this?"

He thrust a piece of paper in front of me, and I suppressed a smirk. The copy I'd made of the boardroom minutes was off center, the edge cut off in a way I knew was making him crazy. Mr. Drake was nothing if not a control freak.

"It's the copy you asked for," I said, innocently.

He grimaced before crumpling the copy into a tight ball.

"This is not the standard of work I require, Isabeau, and I think you know that. Where the hell is your head today?"

He grabbed my hand, making me jump, and shoved the wad of paper into it.

"Get this out of my sight and do it again. RIGHT, this time!"

I waited another moment, hoping he'd say something else, but he just stared at me like I was an idiot.

"Don't make me repeat myself," he growled, and stood, towering over me.

"Yes, Sir," I said, and high tailed it out of there.

I sighed as I recopied the minutes, feeling the sting of embarassment coloring my cheeks as I thought about my gorgeous boss. I'd hoped if I provoked him, he'd lose control again and ask me to bend over his desk, like he had just one week ago. It had been one of the hottest experiences of my life, being totally at his mercy as he spanked my ass red and brought me to orgasm… All because I was naughty and needed to be punished.

But where was my punishment now?

He said it would never happen again, but I couldn't accept it, not after what had passed between us. I bit my lip anxiously, replaying our interactions over the past few days in my head. He had been nothing but purely professional, if a little gruff at times.

He was still Chase Drake, demanding billionaire CEO, after all, even if he did have one indiscretion with his lowly assistant. Maybe that's all I was to him. A replaceable toy that he would never stoop to sleep with, much less date. Now that he'd had his fun, he'd cast me aside.

~ ~ ~