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  I tapped her ass with the leather of the belt, but she didn't flinch. This wasn't her first time. I took a step back and snapped the belt against one cheek. A faint pink stained her skin. I swung again, harder this time. Still, no sound. As I continued, her skin turned from pink to red, but I didn't get a gasp or a moan. Nothing to indicate if she was enjoying herself or if she bore this because she had to.

  I scowled, tossing the belt onto the bed. This wasn't doing anything for me. I wanted a response, to know what she was feeling. I understood her instructions from her Master, but she didn't even appear to be struggling against the command. That was the problem with dealing with a Sub who'd been trained by a singular Dom. They knew what their Master liked, not necessarily how to please others.

  I wrapped my hand around my cock and stroked it, the feel of familiar flesh under my palm. “Bend over the bed.”

  She walked over to the bed and did as I asked. No complaint, no attitude at all. I preferred a woman with some fire, even in a Sub. I walked up behind her and put one hand on her hip. I reached between her legs and found her wet. I guess that answered whether or not she was enjoying herself. That was something, at least, I supposed.

  I rolled a condom over my cock and positioned myself at her entrance. I thought about going slow, but decided against it. I snapped my hips forward and finally felt a response. Her body jerked and she sucked in a breath. I wasn't sure it counted as a sound, but it was something.

  I slammed into her, gripping her hips hard enough to bruise. Her breasts swayed with every thrust and her ass burned against my skin. I slid a hand beneath her. Her master hadn't said she couldn't come, only that she couldn't make a sound. I intended to find out if she could come silently.

  My fingers found her clit easily enough, swollen and throbbing. She hissed as I brushed my finger across the sensitive flesh. I rubbed it harder, not quite rough, but hard enough that whatever she was experiencing was doubled in intensity. Fast enough to hurt. Judging by the way her body started to push back against me, that was what she liked.

  I drove deep into her as I pinched her clit and she came with a moan. It wasn't a loud sound, but it was a sound nonetheless.

  “Your master isn't going to be happy with you.” I fisted her hair, twisting her head back to look at me.

  “Since I'm to be punished already.” Her voice was thick with desire. “May I ask a request?”

  “Ask.”

  She writhed back against me. “Fuck my ass.”

  Not what I was expecting.

  “Please,” she asked.

  “Don’t you want to come again?”

  “If you fuck my ass, I will.”

  I pulled out of her and took my hand from between her legs. My fingers were slick with her arousal. I pressed my finger against her asshole, working it in much easier than I'd expected.

  Lita moaned. “More.”

  I slapped her ass with my hand, hard enough to make my palm hurt.

  “Sir, please. Sir. More.”

  Better. I rewarded her with a second finger. She threw back her head and moaned deep in her throat.

  “Sir, I'm ready, Sir.” She pushed back against my hand, shoving my fingers deeper. Harder. Faster.

  I knew I hadn't stretched her enough, but I withdrew my fingers and placed my cock against her. I moved slowly, finding less resistance than I normally would. She made a practice of this, I was sure. She clearly loved the pleasure pain it gave her.

  “Does your master fuck you like this?” I asked as my balls rested against her hot cheeks. Her muscles gripped me, squeezed me, sucked me in.

  “Only when I've been good, Sir.”

  “So you figured I'd give you your reward since your master's going to punish you?” I pulled back and eased forward again. Lita didn't say anything, but it didn't matter. I knew the answer anyway.

  Suddenly, I just wanted this to be done. I didn't want to be here, not really. My cock was throbbing painfully, begging me to finish, so I moved faster. There was no real desire, nothing but the basic primal need for release. Lita was making all sorts of sounds of pleasure now, leaning on one arm as her fingers were busy beneath her. I could feel her body starting to tense and knew she was close again.

  “Just come, already, dammit!” I growled from between gritted teeth.

  As if she'd been waiting for permission or a command, she came. Her body stiffened, muscles tightening around me until I exploded. The pleasure was there, racing across my nerves, but it was a mere release of pressure, the same I'd feel if I'd had a headache go away or relieved an overly full bladder. There was no connection, nothing to make me lose myself. Nothing that made me want to do it again.

  I pulled out of her ass and climbed off the bed, heading to the bathroom without a word. I climbed into the shower without waiting for it to heat up. The cold drops were like ice against my skin at first and I began to shiver. I closed my eyes as I leaned against the back wall, the tile cool against my palms. What was I doing?

  Lara had broken my heart and I'd vowed to never risk that hurt again unless I found someone who was worth it. But was I really looking? Not that I thought I should be out there searching for a woman, but the places I went to find women, the women I took to bed, these weren’t the kind of woman I'd ever fall for. They were distractions, one night stands. I made sure it was never anything else.

  I'd always told myself that I was protecting myself, but had that been an excuse? A lie I'd told myself so I wouldn't have to face the truth? The truth was… I was absolutely petrified, but not of being hurt again. Not really. The fear was there, but it wasn't forefront in my mind. No, I was afraid that I would never fall in love for real. That I'd never find the kind of woman who I could see myself spending the rest of my life with. The kind of woman who would challenge me emotionally and intellectually. Someone I could talk to and enjoy being with. Whose body would respond to mine. The sort of woman I would be willing to give up everything for, but who would never ask it of me.

  I knew she didn’t exist.

  I rubbed my hands over my face and reached back for the hotel shampoo. I'd thought I hadn't really known what I'd wanted, which was why I'd been on a mission to keep looking. That wasn't the case. I knew what I wanted, I just didn't think I'd ever find it.

  One thing was for sure, though, what I was doing had to stop. I couldn't keep living like this. I didn't know what that would mean for the future, but I had a feeling it would mean throwing myself into work until nothing else registered.

  I'd call Zeke, I decided. Talk it over with him. He'd help me figure out where I wanted to go next.

  Chapter 6

  “Shit!” I slammed my hand down on the desk.

  “Rylan?”

  I looked up as Emmaline walked into my office. I encouraged my employees to see me whenever they needed something and since the elevator door led right into my office, I rarely got a warning before someone came in. It definitely kept me honest, but sometimes it could be a real pain in the ass.

  “What can I do for you, Emmaline?” I gave her a genuine, albeit tired, smile.

  “I had an idea for a program,” she said. “And I was wondering, since the beta testing finishes up tomorrow, if I could work on my idea.”

  I held out a hand and she gave me the papers she'd been carrying. Everyone at Archer Enterprises had it written into their contracts that they were allowed to come up with their own programs, as long as they followed procedure. They needed to provide a clear proposal of what they wanted to accomplish and it couldn't take precedence over any contracted jobs the company received. Once the basic coding was finished, they'd submit it to me and I'd either make an offer for them to sell their program to Archer Enterprises and continue working on it with the team, or I'd tell them I wasn't interested and they'd have to cease all work on company time. I always offered more than fair compensation if I bought out the program and I'd never had anyone whose work I accepted complain. The ones I turned down, well, that was a different stor
y, but nothing I really worried about.

  I glanced over her proposal, surprised that she'd actually come up with something this sophisticated. It wasn’t that I thought Emmaline wasn't intelligent, but there was a reason I had her in beta testing rather than development. Still, her proposal was decent and there was definite potential there.

  “Go ahead and run with it once you're finished with your beta testing reports.” I put the proposal into a folder and wrote her name on it. When she didn't make a move to leave, I looked up. “Is there anything else?”

  “Oh, no, sorry.” She smiled at me. “Thank you.”

  I gave her a nod and waited until she left before turning my attention back to the screen. I'd done a lot of the work on this particular program, writing and re-writing code until I knew it like the back of my hand. The people who'd had their hands on it last should've only been doing a basic touch-up, but there was an entirely new section I hadn't seen before.

  I checked the log-in sheets against the time the code had been written and it was Ned's name that popped up again. My gut said it wasn't him, but I had to be sure and the best way to do that was to just ask. Ned was the kind of guy who couldn't lie. His ears would turn red and he wasn’t able to maintain eye contact.

  I picked up the phone and dialed the extension. He answered almost immediately. “Ned, it's Rylan. Could you come to my office?”

  While I waited, I studied the code more carefully. I knew Ned's work. I'd been seeing it almost from day one. Every programmer had their own unique style, though to a lay-person, there'd seem to be no difference. Whoever had done this hadn't been subtle. Aside from being one of my best programmers, Ned was smart. If he'd really written this code, he would've made it much harder for me to find.

  “Rylan,” Ned said as he stepped off of the elevator. “Is something wrong?”

  “Have a seat.” I gestured to one of the chairs on the other side of my desk. “I have a couple questions I need you to answer, but I can't tell you why.”

  Ned looked confused, but not guilty, which I took to be a positive sign. “All right.”

  “Where were you last Tuesday night?” I went with the first time I'd seen his name more than average.

  I watched Ned access his mental calendar, then look back at me with certainty on his face. “I was here for a while. I stayed late that night.” His forehead wrinkled in concentration. “I was having a problem with my log-ins. Truman and I stayed until about six-thirty. Then I went to a talent show at my niece's high school.”

  “Did Truman leave with you?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I was in a hurry. The show started at seven and I didn't want to be late. He said he'd finish up for me.”

  “And Thursday night?”

  His eyes stared at the wall in thought, then zoned in and returned to mine. “Home,” he said. “I left work on time, went straight home and stayed there.”

  I knew he was divorced and didn't have any kids, so I doubted anyone had seen him. Knowing Ned, he'd probably spent the night reading.

  “Is everything all right?” His concern was evident in his voice, but it seemed totally focused on me and not on himself. Either Ned had vastly improved his acting skills or he had nothing to do with my little programming problem. I was inclined to believe the latter.

  “Nothing you need to worry about,” I said with a smile. “Go ahead back to your work.”

  He nodded. I could tell he was still confused about what was going on, but he didn't press matters. Yet another reason why I genuinely liked Ned. I waited until he left and turned back to the program on my screen.

  I was glad I'd decided to check things completely this time. On a lot of programs over the last year, I'd trusted my employees and just given things a once over. That was how the stupid obscene easter egg had gotten into that game. With a security system I planned to sell to the Justice Department, however, I'd felt it necessary to go over every line myself before running a trial.

  I'd been prepared to install the system on my own server to see how it worked and to use as an example to the Justice Department. If a company wasn't willing to use its own products, something was wrong. It was a good thing I hadn't done that first.

  I scowled at the code someone had put into my program. A backdoor. And I wasn't naïve enough to think this was some innocent little prank to allow someone to mess around with the sprinkler system or something silly like that. No, this was the kind of backdoor people wrote to allow unfettered access to a company's systems. It would've been bad enough to allow someone access to Archer Enterprises. I didn't even want to think what would've happened if I'd sold the program to the government without catching the problem. Records wiped or altered. Cases thrown out. Criminals going free.

  Ned, I knew, was innocent, but I had a suspect now. I'd originally thought Truman had simply missed Ned's messed up log-ins, but now the picture was growing clear.

  Ned had said he'd had trouble with his log-ins and that Truman had helped him with its recovery. While Truman might've had access to certain information about the other employees, no one had access to all the log-in information except me. Truman could reset things, but he couldn't steal the encrypted information. If he'd done something to mess up Ned's log-in, then offered to 'help' reset things, he could've easily learned Ned's passwords and other security questions during that time period. That would explain why he hadn't said anything about the overtime put in on the program.

  I was half-tempted to just call the cops and have Truman arrested, but while I was nearly certain he was responsible, I didn’t have one hundred percent proof. There was also always the possibility of extenuating circumstances. Despite what had happened with Lara, I always wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt, see the best in them. Or, honestly, maybe it was because of what had happened. She hadn't, after all, intended to hurt me. There had just been extenuating circumstances. Lara hadn't made me cynical about women or people in general, just about love. In fact, the two of us were friends again.

  I made my decision and picked up the phone. “I'm having a problem with the security software I just installed. I need you to come to my office.”

  Less than fifteen minutes later, Truman was standing on the other side of my desk, his fingers nervously twitching against his leg. His eyes shifted back and forth, never landing on one particular spot for long. If I hadn't already thought him guilty, his behavior definitely would've made me suspicious.

  “Were you here late with Ned Baker last Tuesday night?” I didn't want to dance around the topic, but I also didn't want to come right out and accuse an employee of illegal activity. I figured if I kept it vague, he might think that his misdirect with Ned had worked.

  Truman shrugged. “Maybe. I'd have to check my time card.”

  “What about Thursday?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and trying to appear casual.

  “I wasn't here with him,” he said slowly. “But I saw him here when I was leaving.”

  “And what time was that?”

  “Seven or eight,” he said. “I was going for a beer with my brother. I can give you the number if you want.”

  I stood. Truman wasn't a little guy, but I still had a couple inches on him, not to mention that a lot of his bulk was fat while I was muscle. I walked around the desk, unobtrusively pushing the intercom button. I'd made a call while I was waiting for Truman to come up.

  “Did someone specific approach you, Truman, or did you come up with this idea all by yourself?” I stood a few inches away, looking down at him. “Because, you see, I don't think you're smart enough to have done this alone. You had to have had help. Tell me who it is and maybe things will go easier for you.”

  Truman stood up and moved closer to me. A smile crossed his face. “You think you're so smart,” Truman sneered, surprising me with his contempt. “Looking down at all of us. No one can get one over on you.” His smile grew bigger as he continued. “Well, you’re not as smart as you think. Installing the security softw
are was your biggest mistake. Before coming up here, I called my contact who’s paying me good to use the little backdoor I created. Every code you own, every game, app and software from Archer’s Enterprise has now been compromised and is in the hands of one your competitors. You’ll be ruined.”

  I shook my head. “But I didn't install it, Truman. I just told you that I did.”

  In an instant Truman’s smile vanished. His face turned pink, then red and he clenched his hands into fists.

  “You really don't want to do anything else stupid,” I warned him.

  He growled and swung. I side-stepped easily and cracked him right in the jaw just as the elevator opened and a pair of cops stepped into my office. Truman staggered back, right into their waiting arms.

  “He’s all yours. Get him out of my sight,” I said.

  “Yes, Sir.” The youngest of the officers nodded at me and then read Truman his rights as he cuffed him.

  Once my office was empty again, I sank down in my seat. I'd have to address the company at some point to stifle the rumors I knew would be flying with gossip as juicy as this. But first, I needed a couple minutes. Not only because my hand was starting to hurt and I was still pissed off, but because I needed to figure out how much to tell them and what I planned to do next.

  I had two part-time security techs, but they mostly worked weekends to keep an eye on anyone working overtime. I needed to replace Truman and fast. The thing was, he hadn't been that easy to find in the first place. It would take time to advertise, accept applications, review resumés, conduct interviews, narrow down a pool of candidates, do background checks, hire someone and then see if they were as good in real life as they were on paper.

  I picked up the phone. I hadn't needed to hire anyone new since Curt had left and he'd been the one to handle all those things before. Maybe he'd have a name for me. If he didn't, I supposed I'd just have to deal with it.