I struggle against his arms, his words piercing holes into me.
“If anyone is to blame here, it’s you, Julia. I told you to stop going after Ladies World. I begged you to let your feud with Valerie go. I sent you memos and messages and warnings that we would always take the side of the big magazine over the upstart small one. But you wouldn’t listen. You had to pursue it. You had to fight. You had to win. Julia, you walked into something way over your head, and you refused to listen to any advice!”
Overcome with emotion, my wrists still bound in his hands, I bring my foot up and kick him squarely in the shin.
“Bastard!” I scream at him and kick him a second time as he grimaces in pain.
His eyes turn to ice as he towers above me, locking me in his stare. I hear my heartbeat throbbing in my ears, wondering if I’d gone too far, wondering if he was right and I had just lost my only hope of figuring this mess out because I was too stubborn, too emotional, pushing away the only ally I’ve had since the buyout in a fit of rage. A silent flash passes between our eyes, and he grabs my shoulders with strong hands, holding me in place. The thought of escape flees my mind as he leans down and crashes his lips into mine.
I open my mouth to him, crushing my lips up against his for a moment, his rough tongue searching inside me, opening me in a way I never expected. How many times had I fantasized about the feel of those lips on mine? We find harmony for a second, and then my brain kicks back in. I bite his lip, and he jumps back.
He glares at me. Wrapping me up in his strong arms, he kisses me a second time. My body alternates between struggling and inviting. I slap at his back and arms, but then my lips follow his, pulling him closer and closer into me as all strength to resist dissipates into where our tongues entwine. He reaches down and pushes the papers off his desk, backing me into it. Still holding and kissing me, his hand shoots to my breast. My hand lifts to hit him once more but weakens into grabbing at his shirt. Then I start shaking him back and forth.
“I needed a fighter! I needed someone as strong as I was! I needed someone with the balls to stand up for me!” I cough up mountains of anger and frustration on him as he continues to hold and press against me, kissing any part of me that isn’t fighting back. He leans in my ear.
“I know exactly what you need,” he says and turns me quickly, bending me over the desk. His hand holding my back and his kiss still warm on my lips, he folds me like paper. I feel the pressure of his body behind me. He lifts my skirt and pushes it up on my back, pushing me harder against the desk. “This is what you need.”
“Mark…” I say as I stretch my arms forward to grab the front of his desk. His briefcase falls with a crash as I feel him pushing against me again.
“This is what you need,” he leans over whispering, his hot breath in my ear, his body pressing against me as he pulls down my panties and reaches between my trembling legs. The wetness of my desire is unmistakable. Still in my ear, he says, “This is what you want.”
“Yes,” I whisper softly, almost hoping he doesn’t hear me, but I feel his fingers probing me, finding their way inside.
“Is this what you want?” he asks. I hear his zipper going down with one hand as the weight of him still firmly presses me against the hard wood. His hips are already starting a motion against me. I am lost to the moment.
“Yes!” I scream. “God help me, yes!”
He enters me quickly, his c**k splitting my opening and pushing its way through my body. My head drops down on the desk as his rough thrusts begin pushing deep into me, smacking me with his power, his strength. My narrow long-neglected passage comes alive around his shaft, gripping and pulsing as he thrusts over and over. I can’t tell if he’s taking me or punishing me or just loving me but the rough sensations sweep me along the surge of his lust.
Grabbing my hips, he thrusts into me like a man possessed, each thrust pushing my breath out in loud bursts as he growls through gritted teeth.
The buildup of energy, the sensation of my clit being pushed and rubbed by his thrusts against the hard desk, his c**k pounding me again and again to the rhythm of his control—filling my body and soul—is too much. My back arches and I buck underneath him. I clamp my mouth shut, unwilling to allow him to hear the pleasure I’m getting from his merciless cock, but the spasms of my body surge against his shaft. He slams into me with several halting hard jerks then moans loudly as his se**n floods my raw insides.
Mark pauses long enough to catch his breath, then withdraws, leaving me sore, filled and stunned. The moment passes in silence with only our ragged breaths providing a clue to our presence. He pats me on the rear gently and pushes a Kleenex box toward me as I hear his zipper go back up. Propelling myself up on weak arms, I return to an upright position. He looks out the window as I lean down to pull my panties back in place.
I stand before his desk like a paddled schoolgirl. The glorious feelings of afterglow fill me with such peace and ground me into the reality of the moment. I am content just to stare at him and feel his phantom presence in my core.
“I…um…I…” I can’t talk. I don’t know how to respond, and the endorphin rush in my head is making any decision impossible.
Finally, he looks up and speaks in a clear, crisp detached tone.
“Listen to me Julia. There are things at stake here that you don’t understand. I don’t even understand all of it yet. I can’t promise you that I’ll be able to help you, but I’ll promise to try. What I need from you is trust. You can’t just operate like a lone wolf if you want me to help you.” He continued through his panting. “I will look into the files to see what Blake has planned for Lynx, and if there’s anything that can be done about it.”
Stunned, speechless, I turn to walk toward the door. With each step, my raw and stretched body reminds me of what just took place. I’m amazed that I can walk at all.
“And Julia,” Mark calls sternly from his desk.
“Yes?” I turn and force myself to look at his face.
“I did fight for you. Otherwise we would’ve had this conversation six months ago.”
I look at his eyes, creased with lines of fatigue. For the first time, I notice a streak of grey in his hair that I had never seen before.
“One more thing. Don’t try to contact me here again, if I’m to help you, we can’t be seen together. I can’t tell you more than that for now, but the answers will come soon. Understand?”