CHAPTER 8: Harker
1355 Words
CHAPTER 8: Harker
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“You’re not my slave.” But the idea intrigued Harker. Alison at his beck and call, doing everything he told her to do, submitting to his every command, eager to please him in any way he wanted. He’d make it good for her. His subs only complained when he left them.
“I may as well be.”
“You have no idea how far you are from that position.”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m here all the time. I do whatever you want.”
“Not whatever I want.” If she did, she’d be on her knees with his d**k in her mouth.
“Name one thing that you wanted me to do that I didn’t.” She gave him a superior look.
He had to bite his tongue. Answering that question would be like tossing a rock in the water when the fish was nibbling on his bait. “We can talk about that later. Right now, we should discuss the details of your co-ownership.”
“Oh. Yeah. Right.” She smiled, a bit sheepishly. “I got sidetracked.”
“You always do.” It kept him awake at night wondering if she also got sidetracked in bed. He was mission oriented, but she’d be all over the place—first one spot and then another. It’d be unpredictable and exciting.
“Not always.” She made a face at him and he almost smiled. She was the only one who ever made him smile from joy, not triumph. “But yeah, please tell me the details. I’m warning you though, I’m done working all hours seven days a week.”
“Even for five percent ownership?” Merri and Tobias each owned fifteen percent, so that’d leave him sixty-five percent. Well over the fifty-one percent needed for control.
“Five percent?” She seemed less than thrilled.
“It’ll be worth millions, maybe hundreds of millions.”
“Oh.” Her eyes grew distant.
He’d give her a few minutes to spend that money in her dreams, make her want it, see it. Let her envision what a life with that kind of money could mean. Then he’d reel her in. “Imagine what you could do with that money? You could start your own business.”
“I could buy my mom a new house or fix that one.” Her eyes almost glowed. “We could tear it down if she wanted and start from scratch.”
“You could. Numerous times.”
“I could buy a place nearby for Aunt Tiff too.”
“Yes.” He was astounded by her generosity. Most people thought of what they could do for themselves, but not her. He’d chosen well and it was time to feed her dreams. “You could start that program that you’ve talked about—the one to teach impoverished children how to use computers.”
“I could give even the poorest kids access to computers.” She smiled. “I could do so much.”
“Yes, and the money will keep coming in. The software will have to be updated and maintained. We’ll make it more marketable. We’ll improve it and enhance it.”
“Like a living thing.” She smiled softly. “Sometimes I feel like it’s my baby.”
“Funny you should say that.”
“Why?” She focused on him for the first time since he’d said millions. “I created Angel Face. I know it’s not a real person, but it is part of me.”
“Because that’s what I want to discuss with you.”
Her nose wrinkled, she did this when she puzzled something out and he found it adorable. “I don’t understand.”
“The other part of the deal. The part that you must agree to if you want co-ownership.”
“The other part?” Her nose wrinkled more and then the confusion on her face cleared. “Oh, the catch.”
“I wouldn’t—”
“Just tell me. What is it? What do you want me to do now? I’m not working more. I can’t. I don’t think it’s physically possible to work more than you already make me work.”
“I agree.” He had to force himself not to lean toward her and pounce on his prey.
“You do? To which part?”
“You work too much and that also stops with this deal.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes. Once you agree and we sign the contract, I don’t want you working more than sixty hours per week.”
“Sixty?”
“I don’t think we can cut back to forty, at least not until we staff up. I’m thinking another senior programmer, maybe two, and a few more at a junior level.”
“You want to replace me?”
“No. I want you to be the lead. Train them. Let them take over the more tedious tasks.”
“Oh.” Her eyes got that distant glow again. “I’d be a good...” Her gaze sharpened as they met his. “I’d be their boss, right? Because I’m not going to spend time training people to have you work them until they quit or yell at them until they leave.”
“I don’t yell.”
“Your nickname is Barker.”
“My nickname? No one calls me that.” His eyes narrowed as she tried not to laugh. “You made that up, didn’t you?” His hand itched to put her over his knee and paddle that backside of hers but that was off limits. He wasn’t bringing any of his kink into their bed. She’d be the mother of his child, not his sub or his lover. Okay, she’d be his lover but only for procreation, nothing else.
“I didn’t make it up. You bark at me all day long and it just kind of...happened.”
“That’s the same thing as making it up and don’t call me that. Even behind my back.”
“You won’t know.”
“I’ll know.”
“How will you know? I’m not stupid enough to say it in front of anyone who’d tell you.”
“I’ll know by the look on your face.”
“Fine but I’ll think it.” One side of her mouth slid upward in a half-smile. “All the time.”
“I don’t believe you will.” Not after he’d f****d her and made her come over and over. She’d be putty in his hands, his to mold and transform.
“Okay. You’re right, Gus. You’re always right.”
“Don’t call me that either.”
“Right. Sorry. Gu...Harker.” This time she smiled like she’d won.
He couldn’t wait to show her that she’d never had a chance to win this game.
“So, will I be their boss? It’s the only way I’m going to train someone.”
“You can be their boss and you’ll need to train them well enough to fill in for you fulltime for a few months.”
“Fill in for me for a few months? Why? Will I be going on a trip or something? I’ve always wanted to go on a business trip. Most people think it’s boring, but I’ve always thought—”
“It’s not a business trip, but in about nine or ten months you’ll need some time off.”
“I don’t see why.” Her nose wrinkled again and then her eyes brightened. “Unless you’re giving me a vacation?”
“It’s not a vacation.”
“Then why will I need time off.”
“To give birth. I’ve chosen you to have my baby.”
“Your baby?” Her eyes almost popped out of her head and then she laughed. “Oh my god, Harker. You got me with that one.” She laughed harder. “For one second I thought you were serious. Oh, I can’t wait to tell Ellie. Did she put you up to this? She told me on New Year’s Eve that you were attracted to me. I told her no way. Barker...I mean Harker isn’t attracted to anyone. All the man does is work and yell orders.” She rambled on, laughing the entire time.
It wasn’t that funny. Actually, it wasn’t f*****g funny at all. Why did she think it was funny? He was rich, attractive and they got along well. She was semi-attractive, intelligent and within her childbearing years. This was insulting and her insults kept coming.
“I told Ellie that as far as I knew you didn’t even date.” She sobered for a moment. “Not that I have lately either. Neither of us have had the time but you’re the boss. You could date if you wanted to which means you must not want to. Ellie said that you were a man so of course you wanted sex...had s*x with someone. She thinks men’s libidos are stronger than women’s, but I say that’s only true until they reach a certain age. When they get old, they don’t want s*x as much as—"
Good god, he had to stop her before she insulted him more. “I wasn’t joking. I want you to have my child.”
- Writer
