Chapter 3
I dropped the keys twice before I could stop shaking long enough to unlock my apartment door. Clasping my hands together, I tried to will the trembling away, but I couldn’t figure out which of the several clashing emotions to rein in. Just when I thought I was going to be angry about everything, I got turned on. When I decided the whole incident was the kinkiest thing that’s ever happened to me, I felt guilty and excited at the same time. All of it stressed me out. But what could I expect? I had just bent over a desk in my boss’s office and let him spank my ass—all on my second day at my new job.
Slamming the front door shut, I tossed the keys on the table and shouldered my bedroom door open. I dropped my tote on the bed and fell next to it, rolling over and burying my face in the bedspread. The bag smelled of coffee and Trevor’s aftershave. Before I boarded the bus for home, I had dropped his soiled shirt and vest off at the dry cleaner on the corner across from the office. I vaguely remembered staggering in, my butt still stinging from the slaps, pulling the clothes from my tote, and handing them to the attendant. I hoped I could remember which dry cleaner it was tomorrow—there were several conveniently located in the area, as if they made a booming business from clumsy personal assistants making their bosses spill coffee on themselves.
I flushed, embarrassed and upset. If only I had paid attention to where I was going, I wouldn’t even be in this mess. Or maybe if Trevor wasn’t so cruelly sexy. Visions of his bare torso danced in my head, the sword tattoo glinting surreally. Maybe I should’ve just rubbed the shirt’s coffee stains out using those washboard abs of his. The thought of touching the sculpture of his stomach made me shudder.
I shook my head vigorously, as if I could dislodge the images of him gloriously shirtless.
I felt backed into a corner. Probing my feelings, I realized that I desperately needed someone’s advice on this. But who could I tell? Certainly not Susan. She was too close to the situation. I could practically imagine her face if I ever let slip that Trevor bent me across his desk and spanked me. Her eyebrows would probably disappear into her hairline.
And God forbid my mother find out.
If the shocking sexuality didn’t kill her, she’d only say “I told you so” before driving into the city to scoop me up and take me back to Binghamton. My mother was forever warning me that I’d get taken advantage of in New York City. Had it just happened?
I would have said yes—if I hadn’t enjoyed it so thoroughly.
Despite myself, I lifted my head and smelled the interior of my tote again. Closing my eyes closed, I was transported back to the office. I envisioned Trevor standing entirely too close to me, his delicious muscles near enough to touch, to rub, to kiss, to lick the length of the sword on his chest and hope I didn’t get cut…
A sudden ache between my thighs had me squeezing my legs together to stifle the sensation. For a moment, I considered relieving my stress with a quick, self-indulgent session. But I was troubled that the most erotic scene on my mind was Trevor spanking me. It had been, without a doubt, the most humiliating experience I’d ever experienced—even worse than that time my mother walked in on Eric and me in my bedroom. So why was my body reacting this way?
My fingers began creeping beneath my skirt but before I could get started, a knock against the door pulled my attention.
“Lori? Are you okay?” I groaned softly, pressing my face deep into my soft mattress. I’d forgotten that my roommate had the day off. I’d probably scared her the way I banged into the apartment. “Can I come in?” she asked. “You sound upset.”
“Come in,” I replied, not bothering to sit up or otherwise move from my position of despair, facedown on the bed.
The door opened and I heard Sam cluck lightly. “Rough day?” She moved my tote to
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