Taurus (The Erotic Zodiac Book 5) (2 page)

H
is chance came
two weeks later.

The advertising campaign for FITnFAB's spring line was in its final stages, and he was spending many long hours in the office. Even when everyone else had long gone home, he still poured over the images picked out for the campaign. Everything had to be perfect, as a billion dollars of merchandise sat in warehouses, ready to be sold.

A few days before the release, he was still hunched over his desk at midnight. A knock at his office door surprised him. Looking up, he found Ivy opening the door timidly.

"Sir? Is there anything else I can help you with? I know you want to get out of here soon," she said, stifling a yawn.

"Still here? Ivy, I thought you would have left with everyone else ages ago."

"You know I don't leave until you tell me to," she said with a small smile.

His heart lurched. The loyalty and patience she showed was unmatched. Who else could he trust except her? In the spur of the moment, he decided to take a wild, unprofessional, and very dirty chance.

"Well, there is something you can help me with," he said smoothly, standing up and straightening his tie. "Why don't you sit on the couch and we can talk?"

She sat down, putting her hands demurely in her lap. She was wearing another one of her A-line skirts that hugged every plush curve of her body. The thing looked painted on, and yet it hit below her knee and followed every one of the company's dress code policies. Ryder could never get over how she was so stunningly sexy and also infuriatingly by-the-book. While other women tried to break every rule possible to let their boobs hang out, or show off their long legs, Ivy never bothered. And yet Ivy was the only one able to catch his eye.

"Do you want a drink? I'm going to make myself a scotch," he asked as he walked over to the bar behind his desk. He hoped the alcohol would give him the liquid courage he needed to claim his mark that night.

"I'm not much of a big drinker, honestly." She shrugged apologetically. "Especially at work."

"Well, we are drinking to the launch of our new campaign. If all goes well, we'll clear a record number of sales in the next two months. I think that is worth celebrating, don't you?"

After a pause, she nodded, giving in. "Well, I guess that is worth letting loose a little bit for. But just a small drink for me."

"Don't forget, I'm the boss. You won't get in trouble with me," he chuckled, beginning to fix the drinks.

He handed her a cranberry and vodka, then settled down next to her. They were so close he could subtly press his leg against hers, feeling the heat of her thigh radiating through his pants. It wasn't the only hot part of her body he wanted pressed up against him, that was for sure.

"You’ve done a great job for the team since coming on board earlier this year. I've really appreciated all your hard work, you know."

She blushed. "I'm just doing my job, sir. I’m nothing special."

"No, I mean it. Staying late like this shows what a team player you are, and that's a rare thing these days. You’re a real asset to the company."

"Thanks," she stuttered, looking down awkwardly. He caught a slight smile on her lips though, and knew she was pleased.

"I've had my eye on you for awhile." He put his hand on her knee. "Although, I'll be the first to admit that it wasn't entirely in a professional capacity."

She looked up at him in confusion, her eyes darting from his hand back to his face. "What do you mean, sir?"

"I mean I've spent a lot of time sitting in this office, fantasizing about you."

His hand began to trail up her thigh. The fabric separating his palm from her warm, soft flesh was maddening, and he had to fight back the urge to just rip off her skirt right then and there.

"Me? Why me?" she asked so softly he almost didn't hear her.

It was a good question. Even he didn't know the answer. All that he knew was that something about her screamed The One to him. Her sweet personality and curvy body were the combination he had been looking for all his life, and every part of his being craved her. He didn't want to say that all at once and freak her out, however. Hell, it sounded crazy even to him. But it was the truth.

"Because you’re an incredibly sexy package, Ivy. The real deal. I bet you don't even realize the effect you have on a man with those big eyes and pouty lips," he answered at last, running his other hand along her lower lip. Her mouth opened slightly, allowing him to slip his digit inside. She was rigid for a second, and he briefly worried he had pushed her too far. But then her tongue ever so lightly flicked his thumb, sending a shiver throughout his body.

"Yeah, suck on it baby," he said huskily, transfixed by the image before him.

She closed her lips tightly, capturing his finger. It was tantalizingly hot and warm, and as he began to move his finger in and out of the tight hole, he imagined how good it'd feel to replace his hand with his rock hard dick. She had a mouth made for oral, that was for sure.

"God damn, Ivy. You've got me so turned on," he whispered, before pulling out his thumb.

“I’ve had a crush on you for so long,” she said throatily. “I never thought you’d like a girl like me, though.”

That was all he needed to hear. He grabbed her face and pulled it to his, kissing her roughly. She allowed him to take control of the kiss, moving her tongue to the pace he set. She was timid at first, but quickly opened up to him; he could feel her loosening up under his touch, her legs spreading slightly.

Breaking their kiss, he stood up and began to undo his belt. He'd waited so long, and had used remarkable control so far, but he feared it wouldn't last. He knew he had to get his dick inside of her soon, before he exploded in his pants.

She stared up at him, panting. Her eyes were full of desire, but she seemed to be wrestling with her inner thoughts. As he threw his belt on the floor and began to slide down his slacks, she looked around fitfully.

"Mr. Blake! What if someone sees us? I don't know if we should keep going."

"We're the only ones here, Ivy. It's just you and me, locked into this room together. There is no chance that someone will walk in. So, it's just a question of if you want this." He pulled out his cock, which stuck out directly into her face. "Do you want this? I want you so bad it hurts, but I need to hear you say that you feel the same."

Her breathing was ragged as she stared at the pink, glistening tip of his cock. For a terrible second he thought she might say no. But then she looked him deep in the eyes and nodded once. She didn't know it yet, but that signed her fate for good. He never planned to let her go.

With trembling hands she reached up and grasped his cock at the base. She ran her hand up and down the shaft slowly, getting accustomed to his girth. He stroked her hair, letting her set the pace.

"You like how it feels in your little hand?"

"Yes, sir," she whispered, her blue eyes boring into his.

The way she said 'sir' almost made him explode right there in her face, and he had to grit his teeth to hold himself in check. She looked at him like he was the fucking king of her world.

"Have you thought about this before?" he grunted.

She began to pick up the pace with her hand. She bit her lip and dropped her eyes. The shyness told him all he wanted to know, but he wanted to hear the words.

"Tell me, Ivy," he commanded firmly.

"I've thought about it." She was trying different speeds and pressures as she worked his dick. It made him think she didn't have much experience, but she was going at it so enthusiastically he wasn't going to complain. It honestly made him happy to know she hadn't had many partners – he was the one she’d been waiting for, too.

"When you were home alone?" he prompted, before moaning as she ran her thumb over his cockhead.

"Mostly. Sometimes at work too, if you are especially demanding." She blushed crimson. “I like when you act like a hard-ass around me.”

His mind flashed through images of her sitting at her desk, secretly rubbing herself to dirty thoughts. Then he thought of her hiding in the bathroom, fingering herself after he had bossed her around.

"Good god, Ivy. Please suck me. I don't think I can get more turned on."

She leaned forward, her mouth open wide. He cupped her face, then guided his dick into her waiting, hot hole. As she wrapped her lips tightly around him, he groaned loudly. It was even better than he had imagined.

Threading his hands through her hair, he pulled gently. She moaned, taking him in deeper. As he felt himself bottoming out in her mouth, his mind went blank. There were no thoughts - no worries, no fears, no concerns. The only thing in his world was Ivy and her tongue.

"Harder," he panted, increasing his grip on her hair.

Obediently, she sucked harder, making his eyes roll back. The tension in his balls increased, and he knew he wouldn't last long at the current rate. He was going to pour his cum down her hungry little throat until she sucked him dry.

She reached up and gently cupped his balls with one hand. The unexpected touch shocked him, sending him over the edge. He clenched his legs and thrust wildly into her mouth as he came with the power of a freight train. Thick ropes of cum covered her tongue as he emptied himself completely.

It felt so good he thought he might be dying.

When he at last pulled out, the room swam a little. "Holy shit, Ivy. That was fucking amazing."

He sank down onto the sofa again, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Her face was red and sweaty, and she looked like she couldn't believe what had just happened. Ryder honestly couldn't believe it either - it had been too perfect.

"Mr. Blake," she started to say, still sounding breathless.

However, before she could say more the phone rang. Grumbling, he stormed over to hit the speaker button. Being interrupted when he finally had Ivy where he wanted infuriated him.

"What do you want?"

"There's an issue in one of the factories," came the voice of Ricky, his regional manager of China. “We’ve just realized they made some mistakes when packing the shipments. Instead of making next season’s laces red, they packed some of the shoes with these terrible puke green laces. The shoes are already in the US warehouses. What do we do?”

Ryder rubbed his face in frustration. That was the problem with having his factories overseas - whenever they had a problem it was late at night in Chicago, and he'd have to rearrange his entire night to help fix the issue.

He mouthed 'sorry' to Ivy. She stood up, smoothing her skirt.

"I know you need to work with Ricky. I'll get going," she whispered softly.

"Okay, but we'll talk tomorrow, alright?"

She nodded, looking at him shyly. "Sure. I'll see you in the morning."

As she walked out, Ryder sunk into his chair. Ricky continued talking to him, but he barely heard his employee. All Ryder could think about was the sensation of Ivy’s lips on his dick. If he died right that moment, he had no doubt he'd die the happiest man in the world.

R
yder strode
into his office with a cocky grin on his face. After setting his briefcase down, he grabbed the morning's newspaper off of his desk and eased into his large leather chair. Even the headlines seemed to be going his way - stocks were way up, the weather was supposed to be great all week, and the Cubs had won another game.

He whistled happily to himself, throwing the paper aside. Everything in the world seemed perfect, and he knew exactly why. Ivy. Sinking into her hot little mouth, giving in to the passion and obsession that had ruled him for weeks, had changed everything. Just knowing she was probably arriving at work right that very moment, a new tight skirt on her curvy ass, was enough to make his whole day. He could find absolutely nothing wrong with a world where Ivy was going to be on her knees, licking his cum off her lips.

In fact, he wanted to see her again, right away. He hit the buzzer on his intercom, waiting impatiently to hear her morning greeting. A silence followed. He hit the intercom again, grumbling.

"She's probably stopped to grab a doughnut in the break room. I'm sure she'll be at her desk soon."

He waited five minutes, then tried again. The silence that followed made him begin to sweat. It wasn't like her to ignore him, or to be late to work. He checked the clock - it was nine fifteen, well past her normal arrival time.

Frustration finally overcame him, and he flung open his office door. Her desk sat completely empty, the computer still dark. His heart skipped a beat at the sight, and for the first time in his life he felt fear.

"Ivy?" he bellowed, looking around the floor.

Several employees tentatively poked their heads out of their office doors, before retreating again at the look on his face. He agreed that they should be afraid. A beast was unfurling in his chest at the terrible idea that something could have happened to sweet Ivy on her way to work.

"Shit, or on the way home. She always insists she take a cab at night. I should have had my driver drop her off," he mumbled under his breath.

He stormed towards the HR office, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. Shirley Chou, the stern woman who ran the office, looked up in surprise as he swept in like a hurricane. Putting down her cup of tea, she pursed her lips at him.

"Is everything okay, sir?"

"Do you know where the fuck Ivy White is? She should be here by now." He put his fists on the edge of Shirley's desk and glowered at her.

Ryder's head was a mess. Images of Ivy flashed by and they made him sick. He imagined her hurt in a car accident, lying beside the road. He thought of her being attacked by a mugger on her way into her house the night before. His blood boiled. If anything had happened to her, he swore he'd tear apart the entire world with his bare hands in order to make things right.

"She called in sick. I'll have one of the other girls take over her duties for the day," Shirley replied calmly.

"Sick? She was fine yesterday."

Shirley shrugged, picking her tea back up again and sniffing it daintily. "Maybe she got food poisoning or something. I don't know, Mr. Blake. All I know is that she had plenty of sick days left, and she called in exactly according to our protocol. Ivy didn't do anything wrong."

"Of course she didn't," he snapped. "She's the best damn worker I have. I just don't understand how she could be sick. Last night she seemed perfectly okay."

He cut himself off from continuing when he saw Shirley's mouth twist into a knowing smile. Internally cursing, he clamped his mouth shut. The last thing he needed was for the office busybody to go running through the halls letting everyone know he had a thing for his secretary.

"Well, sir, maybe she needed time off for another reason," Shirley said slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes people will call in sick if they have an interview at another company."

"Like fucking hell she does." He pounded his fist against the desk. "Call my driver and have him waiting outside immediately. I'm going to find Ivy and bring her back here, kicking or screaming."

Not caring to see Shirley's reaction to his outburst, Ryder flew from the room. He had every intention of staying true to his words. Ivy White wasn't going to disappear from his life in a haze of excuses. He wasn't going to allow it.

R
yder pounded
on Ivy's door so hard the frame shook. Her apartment building, a small brick structure in the cheapest part of town, was absolutely quiet. Most of her neighbors were no doubt already at work, which was a bonus as far as Ryder was concerned. If he had to haul her out of there over his shoulder – which he wouldn't even hesitate to do – the fewer people who saw the better.

"Ivy, you need to open up. Now." He pounded again, in time with his beating heart.

He heard a muffled sound through the door, followed by a short silence. Just when he was about to start pounding again, however, there was a click of the lock. The door was opened, and Ivy's face peeked out nervously.

"What do you want, Mr. Blake?" she asked, looking around the hallway in confusion. "How do you know where I live?"

"I just got it from the employee files," he answered shortly. Ryder put his hand on the door, pushing it open wider. Light poured in to the entryway, and he could see Ivy clearly for the first time. Her face looked abnormally pale, and her hazel eyes were rimmed in red. She had clearly been crying all morning, if not all night. "Jesus, Ivy. What happened to you?"

"It's fine," she said, rubbing a hand along her face. "I just don't feel well. I'll be at the office tomorrow. Thanks for checking on me though." She made a move to close the door, but his hand stopped her.

"No, you aren't getting off that easy. I don't want to hear any lies. Let me in and we'll talk about what is really going on."

She stared at him for several long seconds. Finally, she sighed and stepped back from the doorway. He noticed she was still wearing her pajamas. The silk nightie hit just above her knee, and clung to her every curve. "Fine," she said quietly.

She ushered him into her tiny apartment, which was simply decorated in neutral colors, with small pops of flowers. Ryder settled down onto her beige sofa which was covered in rose-patterned pillows, and watched his secretary as she shuffled around the room. Ivy was doing an excellent job of avoiding his eyes as she straightened up the coffee table. Even when she at last sat down in a chair opposite of him, her gaze was still averted.

"Ivy, why did you skip work today?" he said, breaking their tense silence.

She shrugged, biting her thumb nervously. Seeing her so distressed broke his heart, and he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his lap and soothe her gently. However, he was fairly certain if he made any sudden movements she'd bolt out the door like a deer.

"Was it because of what happened between us last night?" he tried again.

"Yes," she whispered.

His chest ached. "I’m sorry to hear, that Ivy. I had a great time last night. Didn't you?"

"It was nice." She shot a furtive look in his direction, then went back to staring at the floor. “Really, really nice.”

"Then why didn't you want to see me this morning? I promise I would have been professional in front of the others. It would be our little secret."

She took a deep breath and gripped the armrests on her chair tightly. She was often quiet, but today it seemed like speaking was taking every ounce of strength she had. At last, she lifted her eyes and look at him shyly.

"I've never... done anything like that," she said. "I mean, at all. I had never touched a man before you. I'd hardly even kissed."

Ryder's cock surged at her words. He had been the first one to slip past her little lips, the first one to feel her hot tongue swirling around his dick. He loved that he had claimed her mouth first, and as far as he was concerned, there would be no one after him.

"I didn't know, Ivy. You blew my mind last night like a pro. I've never had it feel so good before," he said, patting the sofa next to him.

She looked at the space next to him much like someone would stare at a scorpion, but eventually she got to her feet and timidly moved next to him. He reached out and gently held her hand, which he could feel trembling in his palm.

"I liked it too," she said at last. "It's just, I had a really rough childhood and it makes it hard for me to feel confident. After last night, I thought you'd hate me or make fun of me for being inexperienced and I just panicked."

"Oh sweetie," he said softly, his heart breaking. "There is nothing further from the truth. Being with you was amazing and an honor, especially knowing I was your first. I would never break your trust or make you feel bad about sharing part of you with me." He cupped her face and brought her eyes up to his. "What happened when you were a kid? Did someone tell you that you were anything but wonderful?"

She gulped, but held his gaze. "I was put into foster care when I was really little. I was taken care of by a woman who just wanted the check that came with hosting me. She wasn't a mother; in fact, I think she hated me. She used to tell me that I'd never have a family of my own, or that no one would ever love me." Her lip trembled but she soldiered on. "She said no man would ever want a shy, awkward loser like me. And I guess I believed her. I've just kept my head down and tried to work hard, but I never thought I'd catch a man's attention. Especially not someone like you. I’d watch you at work, fantasizing about being with you, but I never dreamed you’d feel the same."

"Ivy, you are so beautiful and kind. There are men falling all over themselves at the office just to see you smile. But you don't notice because you have no idea how gorgeous you are. God, the first time I saw you it was like being struck by lightening."

"Ryder," she protested softly.

"No, really. That foster woman could not be more wrong about you. You deserve all the affection and attention in the world because you are sweet inside and out. And if you let me, I'll show you just how crazy you make me."

She looked into his eyes, her barriers slowly coming down. He could see her heart opening up as she tried to believe him. He vowed right then and there that he would never break her trust. She didn't know it yet, because if he said just how much he loved her she might think he was insane, but she was going to be his for the rest of his life. And he'd make sure she loved every single day she was with him.

"Last night wasn't just a one-off, Ivy. I want to see where this goes," he said, wrapping an arm round her and pulling her close. "Trust me, I don't want that to be the last blow job I get from the most amazing tongue I've ever experienced."

She giggled and leaned into him, her sadness melting away. He leaned in to kiss her, trying to make her feel just how beautiful she really was. He nibbled on her soft bottom lip, waiting until she opened herself up to him. Then he slowly took control of her mouth, his tongue sliding against hers as their breath became one.

When she at last pulled back, her eyes were filled with the stars he loved so much. "Ryder, can I ask you something?"

"Anything in the world."

A blush spread across her cheeks and her voice shook as she spoke. "Would you... would you be my first? As in going all the way? When you kiss me like that, it's the only thing I can think about. You make me feel like I'm beautiful, and I want to share everything with you."

There was nothing Ryder wanted more than to take his lovely Ivy to bed. And now that he knew he'd be her first, the man to take her from innocence to pleasure, he only wanted it that much more. She deserved to be treated like a goddamn goddess, and he was going to make sure she knew it.

"Ivy, you are the only thing I want," he said, scooping her into his arms and standing up. “Where is the bedroom?”