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DIAMOND STUDS Anthology
with Diamond Assets by Ruth D. Kerce
copyright © 2005, all rights reserved
Published by EllorasCave.com
Artwork by Syneca
REVIEWS (12)
VIDEO
AWARDS (0)
Chapter One
Headquarters of Everlasting Love, Inc.
Chicago, Illinois
“Get between my legs already!” Ronni grunted. Mounting frustration shot her blood pressure to sweat level. With her luck, she’d have pits under her arms by the time she got out of here. She tugged on her twisted pantyhose, trying to get them crotch-height, an almost impossibility with the new pair. Her elbow banged against the large, round toilet-paper dispenser, and pain vibrated up her arm. “Ow. Shoot!” She hated cramped spaces.
She pulled again and punched her thumbnail right through the nylon. “Dang it!” At that moment, she heard the bathroom door swish open, and voices filtered inside. She froze in the stall, hoping nobody had heard her outburst.
“I saw Hunter Dunlap in the company sauna yesterday with only a skimpy towel on and nothing else. That man is a major hunk. If he even once glanced in my direction, with a modicum of interest, I’d jump his bones and stay strapped on like a bronc rider at a rodeo.”
“Ooo, baby! Yee-ha!”
“You can bet the ranch I’d be screaming more than that. I wonder if he talks dirty when he fucks. I’d sure love to say a few dirty things to him. Hell, I’d love to do a few dirty things to him.”
“You always wonder that about guys. And you’d better watch what you say. You’ve already been reprimanded twice this week for language.”
“Like I’m scared. My cousin is head of personnel. He’ll just put me in another department if need be. Maybe the erotic toy division. The people working over there probably aren’t so lame.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on it. How did you get into the sauna anyway? Only keyholders can get in.”
Ronni recognized the voices as belonging to two clerks in the lingerie sales division—Jess and whatever-the-other-was-named—she couldn’t remember.
“An important call came in for Mr. Elroy during lunch. I went to get him, and he was standing right outside the sauna area. The door opened, and there Hunter was. I swear, I thought I was going to cream my panties when he strolled into view, all hot and sweaty.”
“Jess! Good grief!” The woman’s laughter echoed off the tiled walls. “The way you put things…”
“Well, it’s true. You’d react the same, so don’t act all innocent. Besides, I’d bet his cock could use a good workout. From what I hear, no one’s seen him with a woman in months. He’s probably ready to spew.”
“I can’t believe his wife ran off with his personal assistant. She had to be nuts to give up that man’s body, not to mention all his money.”
“I’m sure she got a wad of a settlement. Can you imagine how much he must be worth as co-owner of Everlasting Love?”
The sound of a faucet turning on and water rushing into a basin drowned out their suddenly lowered voices. Ronni adjusted her hose one last time and lowered her skirt. It sure hadn’t taken them long to find out Hunter’s marital history. They’d worked for the company less time than she had. Gossip traveled fast.
The faucet shut off. “Maybe he’s not as hunky in bed as he is out of bed, and that’s why she left,” Jess whispered, as if afraid to criticize Hunter in a normal tone. Even so, now without the rushing water, the words filtered into the stall.
The women’s ensuing giggles grated on Ronni’s nerves worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. She tugged on her skirt to get it straight and prepared to interrupt their fun. She’d heard enough. She reached for the door latch, but the mention of her name by motormouth Jess stopped her.
“If Ronni had worked for Hunter back then, it never would have happened.”
“You said it. Who picks out her wardrobe anyway? She dresses like my spinster aunt. And those glasses…”
“Oh, they’re the worst! She looks like an owl.”
Tears misted Ronni’s eyes, and her chest tightened.
Well, it’s not as if she hadn’t heard similar comments before. Always from catty women. She felt like calling them worse, but refrained. Still, it hurt.
So what, if she dressed conservatively? This was a place of business, not the Ho to Go club. She took a deep breath, felt her cheeks to make sure no tears had escaped, and buried her feelings as best she could. Before she heard any more trash about herself or her boss, she pushed her way out of the stall.
The two young women jumped in surprise. Under different circumstances, Ronni would have laughed at the comical look on their faces.
“O-Oh! Ms. Strickland,” whatever-the-other-was-named stuttered. “We didn’t know you were in here. Umm…we didn’t mean anything. We just—”
“Get back to work, ladies, and I’ll forget everything I heard. This time.” She put on her best business face, and said nothing further, though she really wanted to dole out some medieval-type discipline. Maybe make them walk around with a toilet seat cover hanging out over their asses.
Her nose twitched. Sheesh. One of them had bathed in exceptionally cheap perfume today. She’d love to dunk the offender in the toilet. A commode smell had to be better than the sharp odor presently attacking her sinuses.
Hopefully, the fact that she’d caught them gossiping would be enough to make the two think twice before letting their tongues wag so freely in the future. She didn’t actually have the power to do much else. The women worked in Dextor Elroy’s area—the co-owner of the company—not Hunter’s area, where she held at least some authority. She gave them her fiercest scowl, hoping to intimidate them into compliance.
With flushed faces, and lips at least temporarily sealed, they rushed out the door.
Ronni examined her still moist eyes in the mirror. They were right. She did look like an owl. She lowered her utilitarian glasses and perched them on the tip of her nose. Squinting into the mirror, she tried to remember what she used to look like with contacts. It didn’t matter, she supposed. Contacts irritated her eyes now, and she hadn’t been able to wear a pair in years. She pushed the glasses back into position. Maybe she should check into getting something more fashionable. Or redo her makeup. She had good skin. She could play that up. She needed to lose about ten pounds to show off her cheekbones better, but overall she was happy with who she was. She’d never be a ravishing beauty, but that was okay. She liked herself.
And no matter how she looked, she had a secure position at Everlasting Love as the personal assistant to one of the co-owners, Hunter Dunlap. That’s what really mattered. She’d worked hard, gaining experience at smaller companies until she acquired the skills and experience to get a position here. Her next goal was to attain a leadership role in the research area, and eventually run the whole division. She doubted the Board of Directors would appoint some “eye candy” for that particular responsibility, so she’d always concentrated her efforts on growing her knowledge base rather than tweaking her appearance. She wanted to gain respect and know that the respect was due to her brain size, not her bra size. Her looks certainly wouldn’t crack any mirrors, but that’s not how she wanted to define her success.
Switching her gaze from the mirror to the sink, she turned on the faucet to wash her hands.
As she thought about her position in the company and her boss, she acknowledged that the two women had been right about something else. Hunter was a major hunk with a major body. Tall, fit, with just enough muscle to make any woman weak in the knees.
His eyes were what really drew her though. Deep brown like rich, thick chocolate. They showed a hint of mischief when he smiled, as if he held a wealth of sexual secrets that he’d love to share. Or maybe that was just wishful on her part.
She’d had many a fantasy about the man. She turned off the water and tore a paper towel from the dispenser.
Even though she knew Hunter must have been devastated and embarrassed by his wife’s betrayal, she would have thought a man partially responsible for forming one of the largest romance-related companies in the country would be more interested in having romance in his personal life. Since she’d been with him six months now, he’d never given a woman a second look that she’d noticed. Such a waste.
She tossed the towel in the trash and took one last look in the mirror, wondering what Hunter thought of her as a woman, not simply an employee.
Despite what the giggle-twins had speculated, Ronni was certain that Hunter would be just as hunky in bed. Her female intuition told her so. Something about the way he moved, and the confidence he exuded, convinced her that those abilities would transfer to the bedroom. She doubted he’d be the type to trip out of his underwear or try to fold her into some impossible sexual position he’d seen in a book, like her last lover. She rubbed her lower back and cringed, the memory still vivid, though almost two years had passed since the uncomfortable incident. She should have sent the jerk her chiropractic bills.
No, Hunter would be different. She warmed at the thought of his strong, thick fingers exploring her body…inside and out. Suddenly her pantyhose felt exceedingly hot and scratchy against her skin.
* * * * *
From across the extra-large oak desk, Hunter Dunlap pushed a financial report toward his business partner. “Here’s the first spreadsheet, Dex. The numbers look good for next quarter. I’ll have the other projections for you in the morning.”
“Great.” Dextor Elroy slid his hip onto the desk and sat on the edge, his leg dangling off the side. He picked up the report and studied the figures. “It’s almost Valentine’s Day. Do you have any decadent plans with some company babe?”
“Hardly.” Maybe if his wife hadn’t run off with his personal assistant—another woman, no less—three years ago on Valentine’s, he’d have a different attitude. His life had fallen apart, and as far as he was concerned, Valentine’s Day sucked.
Dex looked up as if surprised. “No?” His eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
“Why not?” The man had to be kidding.
Barely a beat passed before Dex cleared his throat, and a coat of red crept up his neck. “Oh, yeah.” He plucked at some invisible piece of lint on his pant leg. “Sorry, man. I keep forgetting.”
“I wish I could.”
Dex looked over at him. “You can’t avoid Valentine’s Day forever, you know. Eventually, you’re going to have to get past what happened.”
“Eventually is in the future. I’m not interested yet.”
“You’re just rusty about asking out chicks.”
“Chicks? What are you? Fourteen? Besides, I’ve had a few relationships.” Dex was a sharp businessman, but Hunter wasn’t about to take love advice from his partner. The man had never quite outgrown his adolescence where women were concerned.
“Yeah, I can count your ‘relationships’ on one hand. And say what you will about me—I’ve got a woman.” A conspiratorial smile eased across his face, and he leaned forward. “Why don’t you ask out Ronni? She has the hots for you.”
The hots? Ronni? His new personal assistant. Well, not so new. She’d been with him almost six months now. He’d gone through eight assistants before her. He liked Ronni and really hoped she’d be around for a long time. “That’s ridiculous, Dex. Where do you get these crazy ideas? Besides, mixing business with pleasure is not good.”
“Worked for me. Or did you forget that my lovely wife used to be one of my personal, research assistants?”
“You lucked out with Jill. She’s the only woman I know with enough patience to put up with you.” Generally, he trusted Dex’s opinion, at least in business, but he was way off base on this one. Ronni was efficient, dependable, and a good listener. That was all. Yeah, maybe he’d had a sexual fantasy or two about her, but he’d never seriously considered her an option as a bed partner. And she’d never flirted or shown an interest in him. He wasn’t so dense as to not know when a female was attracted to him.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe so. However, we’re talking about you now. I know Ronni’s no great beauty, but hey, you have to start somewhere. You haven’t laid anyone in months. She’d do you in a hot second and be grateful for the attention. If it doesn’t work out, you can arrange a transfer or fire her.”
“Geez.” Hunter scrubbed a hand down his face. “Don’t let the women in the office hear you say stuff like that. They’ll string you up by your balls, then sue the pants off you and me both. And how would you know the last time I got laid?”
“Word gets around.”
Hunter frowned, and anger built up inside him at Dex’s comments. So what if it had been several months since he’d had sex? And sure, maybe Ronni wasn’t model material. She sported large, black-framed glasses instead of something more fashionable, kept her brownish hair in a bun so tight that he couldn’t tell whether she had naturally straight or wavy strands, and she wore clothing that was always professional, but hid her figure. What did it matter? She was extremely skilled in office procedures and protocol, and had been his best assistant. He didn’t like anyone, even his partner, saying bad things about her. “Don’t you and Jill have a dinner reservation or something?” he snapped, hoping to get Dex out of there before he said something he’d regret.
“Okay, okay. I can take a hint. I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll look over the complete set of reports, after you get the other projections together.” Dex dropped the spreadsheet on the desk and strolled from the office, whistling a familiar tune.
“A love song,” Hunter muttered in disgust. “I hate freakin’ love songs.”
Love was for fools, and Valentine’s Day was strictly for saps. He sighed, knowing that was a crappy attitude to have, considering he dealt with romance all day long—romantic gifts, cards, books, novelties, lingerie, and soon fantasy vacations, if Dex could get the numbers to jive, as needed. But romance was just work, and that’s how he’d viewed it since his wife decided she preferred a woman’s tongue stroking her pussy, instead of his.
Romance in his personal life was just too painful, so he’d officially taken himself off the serious relationship market. And lately, he hadn’t even looked at a set of boobs. Well, maybe he’d looked, but that’s as far as it went.
Turning his attention back to work, he faced the computer and began pounding the keys, taking out his frustration on the electronic equipment and repeating his mantra—work is good.
* * * * *
Ronni stepped into the doorway and watched Hunter typing furiously on the keyboard. Only his profile was in view, but his face showed a mask of concentration. Power and barely leashed passion seemed to emanate off him in waves. He was so different from most of the other executives. More like a man who worked with his hands, instead of behind a desk all day.
“Hunter?”
He stopped immediately, almost as if he’d been waiting for the sound of her voice. That’s silly, Ronni. But a tantalizing thought.
Hunter swiveled his chair toward her, and a lock of wavy brown hair fell across his forehead. Her fingers itched to caress the soft-looking strands and push them back into place. He didn’t say anything, just stared at her with a look on his face that she couldn’t discern.
“I found those figures you wanted.” His eyes dipped to the papers in her hand. At least, that’s where she thought he was staring.
Even so, her nipples hardened—almost painfully. Thank goodness the blouse she wore was loose enough to hide her body’s reaction.
He cleared his throat and adjusted his gaze to meet hers. “Thanks. Set them on the conference table with the other reports. I’ll go over them later.”
She nodded and walked across the room, hoping she wouldn’t trip over her own feet and embarrass herself. She could feel his eyes watching her. It was unnerving. Something about him was different today. She had the strangest sensation that he was checking out her butt, which was ridiculous. Even so, a sexual thrill raced down her spine at the thought.
After she placed the papers on the table, she turned, and her gaze locked with his incredible, chocolate-brown eyes. “Do you need coffee or…anything?”
The side of his mouth hitched up. He rolled a pen between his palms. “I’m satisfied with what I have. For now.”
“I’ll go then.” She chewed at the corner of her lip and rushed out to her cubicle, feeling as if he’d just assessed her in some manner that she couldn’t quite figure out.
Her just-below-the-knee, business-suit skirt hid her legs and ass…as usual. Too bad, because now he was really curious to know what she looked like under all those clothes.
Hunter stared at the empty doorway, and Dex’s words returned to haunt him. She’s no great beauty. It brought back the truth to hit him squarely in the face. If he were honest with himself, he’d have to admit that was the main reason he’d hired Ronni.
Most of his assistants before her had been wet T-shirt type, contest-winning beauties. Like some hormone-challenged adolescent jerk, he’d wanted a trophy to display to the other executives. Then after his wife left him for long-legged, 38DD Shannon, he’d done a total one-eighty.
Okay, so it was kind of late after that.
But he hadn’t been thinking clearly for a long time when it came to women. Whenever he’d let an assistant go, he’d hired a less attractive woman, not wanting to be reminded of the hell Kara had put him through when she moved out of their condo and in with Shannon. Smart, beautiful women, in positions of power, meant trouble. Or so was his thinking.
He felt bad, like a lowly slug, for judging Ronni mostly on looks, not ability, at the time. He’d criticized Dex for his words and attitude, but he wasn’t much better when it came to women.
With Ronni, he’d lucked out. She had proven her worth time and again by flawlessly organizing his busy schedule, fielding problems for him, and finding all the statistics and handwritten notes to himself that he was always misplacing, like she knew his mind and actions better than he did. He glanced over at the conference table where she’d placed the figures.
He had made her nervous with his scrutiny. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d affected a woman like that. The women he normally associated with were sexual predators in their aggressiveness for his body…and his money. Nervous wasn’t part of their portfolio. He knew their motivations, and he made sure they knew where he stood. He’d loved his wife. But after she left and sued him for a considerable stash—saying he was always working, so it was his fault that she had to find affection elsewhere—he’d protected his heart and pocketbook by only dating women who wouldn’t be long-termers. After the sex got stale, they parted ways. No muss, no fuss.
Devious thoughts of sexually tempting Ronni, in real life, not just his fantasies, entered his mind, and he wondered how nervous he could actually make her. He shook his head. “What the hell am I thinking?” He wasn’t even attracted to her in that way. Not really. His fantasies were only normal guy stuff, nothing serious. She simply intrigued him now, after his conversation with Dex.
The boss/secretary fantasy was a common one. It was about control—imagining Ronni naked, bent over the conference table, her hair loose, with his hand gripping the brown strands tightly, as he plunged into her wet pussy from behind. Her allowing him to do anything he wanted to her body and enjoying it, begging for it. He shifted uncomfortably, then scrubbed his hands down his face. Damn. Maybe he was attracted to her. At least, a little.
Well, he wasn’t about to analyze his erotic fantasies. It might get him into trouble.
Ronni was a bright light around here, in his opinion. He genuinely liked her as a friend. She was a nice person who didn’t deserve Dex’s unkind words. Or his own suddenly lascivious thoughts. If she knew that he was imagining her on her knees, sucking his dick until he came long and hard in her mouth, she’d run screaming from the building.
He needed to finish going over the company data, not spend time thinking up 101 ways to fuck his assistant. He turned back to the computer and continued working on the projection reports.
Everlasting Love was doing well, and he was pleased with what he and Dex had been able to accomplish. Each year they achieved additional growth. He was careful not to move the company too fast. As one of his old, baseball buddies said at their last reunion, You’ve hit a homerun, Hunter. Don’t screw it up by stumbling over the bases. Sound advice, he’d thought. So he made sure that he always covered all the bases.
“It’s five-fifteen, Hunter.”
His body tightened, and he turned to see Ronni standing inside the door. “Thanks.” She hated to leave the office before he did. Normally, he liked that in case he needed her for something. Tonight it would have been better if she’d simply gone. He might need her for something that she didn’t want to give, and he could end up saying or doing something stupid. Not that he’d ever take advantage of her, but the thought of them locked together, fucking wildly, was an enticing idea that he couldn’t now seem to get out of his head.
He didn’t know what Ronni was like away from the office, but at work, the woman was too nice for her own good. The one exception he’d noticed was when someone tried to get past her to see him without an appointment. Then she turned, like a she-wolf protecting the den. He smiled. He had to admire her dedication to him and the company. A lot of passion existed in the woman, under all her protective layers. “I’ll be working late tonight, Ronni. I need to get these reports done. Go on home and have a nice evening.”
He’d seen flowers delivered to her desk earlier and wondered if she had plans for Valentine’s Day. Ronni spending a romantic Valentine’s with her current guy, whoever the man might be, flashed across his weary brain like a neon sign, causing a throb between his eyebrows. His smile faded, and a muscle in his jaw ticked, as it used to when some sleaze flirted with his wife.
Strange reaction—and all because Dex had said Ronni was hot for him. His partner had to be messing with his mind. Or was he?
Hunter cocked his head, wondering if Dex’s words could possibly be true. He’d been working so hard lately, and his thoughts were in such a jumble that he didn’t know what to believe.
He needed to take some time off and go somewhere exotic and warm, with lots of beautiful, naked, and willing women. No romance, mind you. Just pure monkey sex with no strings attached. One of Dex’s fantasy vacations sounded exceedingly good right now. He could clear the pipes, so to speak. And his thoughts, too.
“Damn.” Without realizing it, he’d totally dismissed Ronni. Disappointment flooded through him. He could be such a bastard sometimes. Whether she’d noticed his rudeness or not, he didn’t know. All he knew was that she was gone.
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