Blissful Awakenings Read online

  Damn. This guy is experienced.

  She jerked her hands against the silk ties and found them quite solid. The feeling of being utterly at his mercy was…exhilarating. What would he do next?

  “Open your eyes,” he demanded.

  She complied and watched him run his hands deliciously from her arms down her sides, over the side swell of her breasts, and down to her waist. Here he pulled her down the desk a little as he pushed himself harder against her. She gasped and lifted toward him in an automatic reaction.

  Did he know he’d found a sweet spot there?

  His grin told her yes.

  His hands left her waist, traveled down her thighs, first smoothing down the skirt, then moved back up underneath the flimsy material. He pulled her thong off and dropped it to the floor.

  Then he yanked up her skirt and, while keeping his eyes glued to hers, lowered his head to put his tongue on that sweet spot as if claiming it for himself. Slowly, achingly slowly, he moved his tongue up and down.

  “Yes,” she moaned, not wanting him to stop.

  He then took her entirely in his mouth and sucked.

  Electricity zapped through her and her whole body went rigid, her mind focused solely on the sensation between her legs. When he stopped sucking, his tongue slid inside her. She gasped in pleasure and snapped her eyes closed in surprise.

  He suddenly stopped and pulled back. “Open your eyes, Courtney. I want you to watch.”

  The command was almost enough to snap her out of the scene. But this was a part of it, right? This was why she’d left her kink level at a two in the system.

  And, truth be told, she kind of liked the whole being dominated thing.

  “Your message said you wanted me to make you beg for more. I can do that,” Raife practically purred. He darted his tongue forward against that sweet spot again, and she sucked in air at the feeling and lifted her hips, splaying her legs wider.

  “Open. Your. Eyes,” he demanded again.

  She felt him shift his body and followed his command—mostly to see what he was doing. She found him looking down at her, his mouth set in a stern line.

  “Good. Very good, Courtney.” His stern countenance was replaced with a look of devilish mischief that sent a little thrill of anticipation through her.

  What would he do next?

  His fingers dipped under her skirt and touched that sweet spot, very gently rubbing. Almost teasing. His eyes stayed locked on hers, and she couldn’t help but wiggle and move her hips along with his fingers, hoping for more. She began to ache with need, wanting him to keep going while at the same time, hoping he’d fill her with himself again.

  Still keeping his eyes on her, he yanked his leather pants down just enough to clear his erect penis. He stopped pleasuring her just long enough to grip her hips and jerk her closer to him, moving her bottom right to the edge of the desk and stretching her arms taunt against the silk bonds.

  In one swift move he thrust into her, filling her up and making her moan. At the same time, he found his way back to gently stimulating her with his fingers as he pulled back and slowly pushed into her again. She struggled to keep her eyes open as his own bore into hers and he slowly pulled out of her.

  “Do you like this, Courtney. Do you want more?”

  When she didn’t answer right away, he stopped moving his fingers against her.

  A part of her cried out not to stop.

  “Yes! Yes. I do,” she panted. “I want more.”

  His fingers found her again and this time he slipped his other hand under her butt, tipping her hips at a slightly different angle. Then, unexpectedly, he shoved himself hard inside her. She gasped and wrapped her legs around his waist. Even with her eyes open, it was easy to imagine that the masked Raife was really Bo, taking her body however he wanted to.

  She moaned to the gentle working of his fingers and the rhythmic thrust of him sliding in and out of her. Pressure began to build within her, threatening to explode.

  Just when she thought she would burst, he reached up and pinched her nipple between his fingers, not hard, but enough to cause a sweet note of pain to slip through the pleasure. She cried out in surprise, but what sent her over the edge was the look of total domination in Raife’s eyes as he pushed himself inside her. Hard.

  It was the crack in the dam that she’d needed. The pressure spilled over, and she tipped her head back as waves of pleasure racked her body and carried her mind away for a few seconds. Raife came a few seconds after that, silently shuddering on top of her.

  When she found herself again, she was still breathing heavy. Her hands had been untied. She sat up just in time to see Raife disappear through the door leaving her alone once again.

  How did Raife escape so efficiently with her barely even noticing? She was hardly mad at him. It was kind of a relief to not feel obligated to continue having sex after already orgasming once. She’d never been a woman who could have more than one orgasm a night.

  Then again, here at the Temple, she was learning all kinds of new things about herself.

  Namely, that she didn’t know that much about what she liked in the first place.

  It’s time to be bold and make some new self-discoveries, she thought as she made her way back up to her room. It was the same thought she had as she fell asleep that night, wondering what pushing her kink up to a level three would be like.

  Time to be bold.

  Chapter 9

  Courtney didn’t see Bo again for two weeks though she continued to have regular encounters with Raife. Her days took on a rhythm filled with personal interests and activities that she hadn’t been able to do while working in New York. She fell into a routine of working out with the Temple’s personal trainer, eating breakfast by herself after showering, then finding something to do in the apartment like read or binge TV before having lunch in the staff area with Olivia or one of the other staff members she’d gotten to know.

  In the afternoons, Courtney found that the best thing to do was to schedule official tours in the city or guided hikes out in the desert.

  During her outings, she liked to take pictures and post them to her social media which she kept under a fake name. It was a holdover from not wanting to accidentally post something inappropriate that would get her fired from her job. She’d never really had the time to post stuff before, and it was fun to try different things with camera filters, stickers, and short video clips. Before long, she began to start attracting more followers.

  She tried to make it a point to leave the Temple at least three or four times a week if she could help it, just to remind herself of the real world. And on the days that she wasn’t out sightseeing, she was learning how to be better at poker, blackjack, and craps. Blackjack was her favorite out of the three, but she hadn’t yet tried it in a real casino by herself. She wasn’t sure she wanted a repeat of the ugly interaction she and Olivia had experienced at the food court.

  Unless Courtney had something else scheduled, lunch was the only time she and Olivia connected in person during the day. True to his word, Bo found other projects for Olivia to work on rather than just babysitting Courtney all the time. She and Olivia had agreed to have lunch each day, though, so that Courtney could catch Olivia up on how things were going since Olivia was still technically assigned to assist Courtney.

  Today, the two decided to sit out on the balcony reserved for staff while they ate a lunch of roast chicken and vegetables drizzled with truffle oil. Courtney was already starting to see a difference in her figure from working out and eating healthy. She still indulged in the occasional dessert and sugary mixed drink but was still losing weight and gaining muscle. She thought part of it was due to being so happy lately.

  Not to mention her extra workouts in the evening with Raife.

  She’d left her kink at a level two and so far, she didn’t feel like things were too far out of her comfort zone. In all honesty, she’d been toying with going up another level…but that wasn’t a conversatio
n for today.

  “So, I’ve been thinking about how to fill some of my time in the afternoons while I’m here,” Courtney said, running a piece of broccoli around her plate to soak up more truffle oil.

  “Oh? Bored of the sights already?”

  Olivia had started feeling more and more like a friend than a staff member. It wasn’t just because Courtney couldn’t talk to anyone else because of the nondisclosure agreement. Part of their budding friendship was due to the fact that they’d both been assistants to some pretty narcissistic people. It was fun swapping stories.

  “No,” Courtney smiled across the table, “but I bet the tour guides will get sick of me after a while. I’m already on a first-name basis with most of them.”

  “You could always schedule some more sessions with Raife.” A wicked grin lit up Olivia's face.

  “I think I like keeping that kind of thing relegated to the evenings. Actually, I was thinking of taking some classes. I mean, I have some money to use, and what better time to knock out online classes than while I have free room and board?”

  “That’s...not a bad idea.” Olivia said and placed her fork thoughtfully down on her plate. “Any particular areas of study in mind yet?”

  “I thought about a master’s degree but that would take at least two years, and I’m only here for three months, so I was thinking about pursuing certifications in social media management. I mean, I’ve built up quite a few followers on my own social media and have learned a ton about when to post and how to use schedulers and other tools like that. It’s been kind of fun, to be honest, and I think it would be interesting to learn how to apply that kind of stuff to marketing for businesses.”

  Olivia nodded. She’d been following Courtney’s social media account, not just to ensure she didn’t break the NDA, but also because Courtney had a knack for seeing things that other people didn’t and posting them.

  “I think that’s a great idea, Courtney! There’s always a demand for social media managers for large and small businesses. You could do it from anywhere you wanted, too.”

  “That’s what I was thinking, too.” Courtney looked down at her plate. “I’m not sure I want to go back to New York after my time here is up.”

  Olivia waited for Courtney to elaborate and when she didn’t, Olivia decided to push a little. “Because you’re bored of New York, or because you don’t want to deal with Daniel?”

  Courtney’s head jerked up. Was she really so transparent?

  Olivia put down her fork and sighed. “Look, I know this has been a weird experience for you—a good experience,” she amended, “but still weird. I know it’s annoying not to be able to really talk to anyone about your experiences here because of the NDA, and it’s nice that you feel comfortable talking to me—”

  Here she paused and Courtney wondered if this was when Olivia would finally come out and say that this was strictly business and that they weren’t friends.

  “—and honestly, I know I started out as your assistant, so this was more of a business relationship, but I hope you know that I consider you a friend now.”

  Courtney couldn’t help the smile that lit up her face. “Really? I mean, I kind of felt like we were becoming friends, too, but I didn’t want you to feel like you had to be my friend for your job, you know?”

  “I do, but I do feel like we’re friends. And that’s how I’m telling you this—as a friend: Don’t go back to New York unless you have to. Three months might seem like a long time to be away, but when you go back to a place where you were miserable, it’s too easy to fall back into old habits and find yourself back down that hole of misery. You know?”

  Courtney nodded.

  “Good. Now, talk to Olivia the assistant. Tell me more about this social media thing. Do you need anything for it? Like a laptop or help getting into a program?

  Courtney couldn’t help but grin as she saw Olivia slip into her assistant persona.

  “I’m already ahead of you. I ordered a laptop last night when I finally decided to apply for an online academy.”

  Right after coming back from having mind-blowing sex with Raife in a faux wood cabin on a bear skin rug in front of a roaring fire. It sounded romantic, but Raife’s mask had made it seem somehow dangerous. That, and he’d taken her from behind while she was on all fours after forcing her to the ground.

  Courtney had to suppress a shiver at the memory. There was something about having zero control in the bedroom that she found really turned her on. And yet, during the day, it made her want to take more control over her life and start making decisions on what she wanted to do next.

  “I’ll get a certificate that I can put on my resume at the end of the training,” she added.

  “When do you start the program?”

  “As soon as I get the laptop. It’s online and self-paced, so I can really do it anytime.”

  “Better leave your nights open, though,” Olivia joked. As they laughed, Courtney realized that if Olivia had made that joke only a week ago, Courtney would have blushed. Now she was kind of proud of her sexual encounters.

  When their laughter died down, Olivia added, “Actually, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about while I have my assistant hat on. Bo wanted to know if you’d like to accompany him to a sort of gambling charity event at one of the local casinos. He said to let you know that he’d pay for the cover charge and not to argue about it.”

  “What?” Courtney asked, her surprise and confusion plainly showing. She hadn’t shared any of the details about her and Bo’s date with Olivia because she hadn’t been sure Olivia would want to hear about her boss’s personal life like that.

  “Actually, um, I kind of thought Bo wasn’t interested in seeing me anymore.”

  Olivia’s eyebrows shot to her forehead. “What made you think that?”

  “I know you probably don’t need to hear this since Bo is your boss and no one needs that kind of drama, but…” and then Courtney gave the cliff notes version of her conversation with Bo in the elevator. When she finished, she couldn’t help but add, “So, I’m not really sure why he’d want to see me again.”

  Olivia stayed quiet while Courtney relayed the conversation, then sat in thought for a moment afterwards before saying, “I don’t think Bo was as put off by what you talked about in the elevator as you think. I hadn’t really thought about it, but when I do connect with him for other projects, he almost always asks how you’re doing and if you’re enjoying yourself. It’s nothing invasive,” she quickly added. “What you tell me about your experiences here as a friend stays between us, but I do let him know, in general, how you’re doing.”

  If he didn’t want to have a relationship that was nonexclusive, and she’d told him she wasn’t ready for that, why was he pushing for another date-like outing and asking after her?

  “Maybe I’m reading too much into the invite?”

  Olivia opened her mouth, then clamped it shut again, clearly holding something back.

  “What? Spill it, Olivia. What am I missing here? Does he just need someone to go to the event with him?”

  After a brief hesitation during which Olivia weighed whether or not she should be giving her boss’s personal information away, she decided that Courtney deserved to be prepared.

  “Usually, Bo goes to these things by himself. The last time he really dated anyone was Kitty Summers, and I’m sure you know how that turned out.”

  Courtney shook her head. “I don’t keep up with that kind of tabloid stuff. What happened?”

  Olivia blew out a sigh and leaned in while keeping her voice somewhat lowered. “Kitty Summers was a walking disaster in the disguise of a devoted and loving girlfriend. She pulled the wool over all our eyes, but most of all Bo’s. Hell, we’re pretty sure he would have proposed just to make her happy, then the shit hit the fan and Kitty showed us her real face. But Diana—"

  “Dragon-lady Diana?” Courtney interrupted in an equally low voice.

  “Yes, that Dia
na, but don’t say that where others can hear you. Anyway, Diana never liked her. She was the one who discovered that Kitty was just cozying up to Bo so she could get secrets about Pleasure Temple and sell them to the highest bidder, which turned out to be Ace Lockhart. Of course, by then, it was too late to do anything about it.”

  “Wait, isn’t that the guy who started Carnal Temptations? Oh!” Though Courtney kept up in general with national and world news, she’d never been one for news based around business or entertainment figures.

  However, there was one story that had hit the national news about Lockhart Industries getting sued by Bo Ryans. It had been a big deal but then died out when the lawsuit didn’t go anywhere, and honestly, it probably would have been just a blip on the radar—except for the sex tape.

  “Wait, is Kitty the woman in the sex tape with Bo?”

  Olivia nodded. “That’s her.”

  The video had been of a somewhat grainy quality, but it had clearly been Bo in the video having very energetic and slightly kinky sex with a woman who was mostly blocked by Bo’s body. The woman had been blindfolded with her hands tied to something in the ceiling. Bo had taken her almost violently from behind and the only sound in the tape was Bo saying, “Is this want you want?” While he repeatedly thrust into her.

  When Courtney had first seen the video, it had definitely felt a little disturbing, but she also remembered reading that the woman in the video had said it was consensual. Courtney had written it off after that. What other people did in the bedroom was not her business as long as both parties were okay with it, but others hadn’t seen things that way. It had become kind of a smear campaign against Bo and Pleasure Temple.

  Now, after experiencing several encounters at the Temple, Courtney thought it might be fun to be in Kitty’s place.