Substitute

by Isobel Rey

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

It took all of Alexia's courage to leave her abusive boyfriend. When old school-friend Romy offers her a temp job at the glamorous London sports agency where she works, Alexia thinks she is saved. But shy, blonde and beautiful, she is totally unprepared for the fast sexual politics of rich sports men, big money and ambitious women. After witnessing junior agent Tony having sex on the boss's table, her dormant sexuality is awakened with a violence that frightens her. Tony's sees her need and Alexia finds herself almost giving in to his desire to dominate her. But despite his devastating sexual charisma, she only has eyes for the boss. Nathan Fallon is the ex army officer, dazzling but damaged, who has risen to the top of the cut-throat world of sports agents. But he thinks she's Tony's latest conquest. Desperate to win his respect, Alexia agrees to become his substitute PA for a week. But Alexia finds herself trapped between one man bent on bending her to his sexual will, and another she cannot read. Can she navigate this whirlpool of fame, money, and sex to fend off Tony long enough to win Nathan?

Release date: May 2, 2013

Publisher: Accent Press

Print pages: 281

Sample

Chapter One

Running into Romy had been unexpected. The kookiest girl in school, Alexia always knew she’d end up doing something crazy or glamorous. It turned out to be both. Gone was the pink hair, punky jewellery, and drop dead attitude; here was her old friend smartly dressed, working as a PA at a sports agency. Not just any agency, but the hottest one in London. Fallon Sports Agency had the biggest and sexiest client list. A-listers of track and field, footballers and tennis stars were represented by Nathan Fallon and his team of agents. Romy had landed on her feet all right, in her brand new red-soled Louboutins. What happened to the Doc Martens? Alexia thought. If the old Romy could see the new one, she’d laugh herself hoarse.

Over a coffee and then too many glasses of wine, Alexia had poured out all her troubles to the new-look Romy. It was a night that was to change her life for ever. Romy’s flatmate and former work colleague had just upped and left for Australia, leaving an empty room at the flat, and an empty chair in the office at Fallon’s. In less than a week, Alexia had moved in and started work as a temp at the agency. She had found a friend’s sofa after her flit from Carter’s house, but she couldn’t stay there much longer. So this was perfect, and it came with the prospect of a lasting job.

‘If I make a good impression maybe they’ll keep me,’ she told Romy.

‘Yeah, just one thing though, Alex; they’re quite a fast lot. You know, work hard, play hard. And you’re – well –not really used to that, are you?’

Romy was concerned her shy, beautiful blonde friend would be eaten alive at the agency. Alexia was petite and unassuming, completely unaware of her attractiveness. She had a cool air about her that made men think she wasn’t interested. But she was just a little shy and very naïve.

‘Seriously, Alex, it’s great I’ve got you a job, but it’s not an ordinary office!’

But Alexia was determined. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Romy, what’s the worst that can happen?’

That was a week ago. Now, as she pressed herself against the tiles in the tiny bathroom off the boardroom, Alexia remembered the conversation all too clearly.

She pushed herself further into the darkness in the cramped room as she tried to stay hidden from the couple who very definitely thought they were alone.

She’d crept upstairs at the company offices to use the boardroom en suite as the downstairs loo was full of people intent on snorting cocaine. It was a party after the first press event for a huge new client. Romy was right. Romy told her they worked hard and played hard, but Alexia really hadn’t been prepared for this.

Alexia peered out through the crack between the door and the frame. She’d seen the couple before, the two people who were now in the boardroom; she’d seen them in the office, but had never met either of them.

Phillipa Greenwood was walking backwards towards the board table. She was the commercial director, a very confident and attractive 40-something bottle blonde with a taste for tight silk blouses, fuck-me heels, and younger men. In her hand was a tie, still attached to the young man she was pulling into the room with her. Tony was the kind of man every girl noticed. In his mid-20s, he was a young would-be agent, with rock-hard abs and tousled dirty blond hair. Alexia watched his face. She didn’t recognise the expression in it. He was young, but he looked very calm and in control, despite the fact that he was being led like a dog on a leash.

Phillipa tugged Tony’s tie and pulled him to her. He was only a few inches taller than her as she stood in her towering heels. He eyed her coolly.

‘Ever fucked a cougar, Tony?’

He lifted one eyebrow and a small, crooked smile curled his lip. His fingers found their way to her breasts, hitched up by a very tight Wonderbra. She always wore her blouses with one button straining to stay shut, so every man she dealt with would be distracted enough to give her what she wanted. And she always got what she wanted. Tony was going to be no exception.

He walked forward purposefully but slowly, forcing Phillipa to move backwards. They were face to face, chest to chest, groin to groin, stepping slowly across the room. It was like watching a tango, a very slow, deliberate, sexy tango.

As Phillipa’s backside hit the edge of the board table they stopped. They stood staring at each other for a moment, as if each was waiting for the other to make the first move. The air was heavy with electricity and Alexia was terrified they would hear her breathing.

Then suddenly Tony jammed Phillipa against the table. Alexia felt a jolt in her groin. She clutched her hand to her stomach. The couple’s faces were centimetres apart, like two fighters eyeing each other in the ring before a fight. They didn’t kiss but their mouths hovered close together, breathing each other in, daring each other not to kiss.

Alexia’s heart hammered in her chest; she was terrified she’d be discovered. But then, they were in a far more compromising situation than her. Perhaps she wasn’t scared, perhaps she was something else. Excited?

She realised she was squirming slightly, watching as Tony ran his hands down Phillipa’s arched body. She felt a tugging lurch in her panties as he reached down and grabbed the bottom of Phillipa’s pencil skirt, hiking it up so the pink flesh above her stocking tops was exposed.

Alexia bit her lip to stifle a moan. She noticed his hands; long, elegant fingers, with silver Celtic rings that betrayed him as a surfer masquerading as a suit.

‘Well, well, it seems like young Tony is more of a tiger than I thought,’ Phillipa teased, twisting her exposed hips against his groin.

But Tony was still dancing, and he was going to make sure she knew he was still leading. He lifted Phillipa up and sat her on the edge of the table. Alexia felt a squirt of dampness hit her panties. She had to force herself to stop squirming. They’d hear her!

But Phillipa wasn’t about to relinquish control. She grabbed Tony’s belt, and pulled it hard to let the little metal pin unhook itself. The leather strap started to slide through the buckle, as if she was slowly unbridling a horse. He put his hands on her knees and held her there for a moment, looking into her eyes, eyeing her like a fighter again. His strong fingers curled around her knees, locking her to the table. The air between them was heavy with desire and power play. They stayed there, breathing hard, looking into each other’s eyes. No words. No fucking. Just watching … Waiting.

Alexia wanted to moan again; she’d entirely forgotten her fear of discovery. All she could think about was how she didn’t want them to stop.

Slowly, achingly slowly, Tony inched Phillipa’s knees further apart, never taking his eyes off hers, daring her to stop him. Holding his gaze, Phillipa reached out for his fly and slowly unzipped him, rolling his trousers over his hips. It wasn’t easy, his bulging erection made it difficult, but she was clearly practised.

Alexia could see his cock, so hard and stiff it looked almost painful. As he breathed heavily it bobbed slightly, moving gently up and down as he breathed in and out. The small muscles in his flank and buttocks were taut and twitching. He reminded Alexia of a racehorse, standing straining in the stalls, waiting for the race to begin, waiting for the chance to explode forward.

Phillipa curled her long, scarlet-tipped fingers around his cock, wrapping her hand around it one finger at a time. She was looking deep into his eyes, looking for the smallest sign that he was losing his grip on his self-control. This was a battle, to see who would yield to their passion first. Tony stayed impassive. As Phillipa worked her fingers around his length, their eyes stayed locked together.

Alexia realised her own hand had crept to her crotch. She was holding herself in her palm and pressing down. The tension between the couple was almost unbearable for her to watch. The tension of the last months seemed to have been building in her, and now, it seemed it would be contained no longer. The tension had a will of its own and it wanted attention, it wanted passion, it wanted …

Without warning, Tony let go of Phillipa’s knees and grabbed her arse, a strong hand covering each butt cheek as he yanked her towards him. She slid the few inches across the desk towards him in an instant; her pussy, covered only by a thin sliver of damp, blood-red satin, slammed against his naked, hot erection.

Alexia’s gasp was masked by Phillipa’s own. She wanted to feel him, the way Phillipa was. She rubbed the hard heel of her hand against her clit. She was not in control. And neither was Phillipa.

Victory was Tony’s; she’d lost control first. It might only have been a small gasp and a widening of the eyes, but he knew it and he felt her increasing wetness as her pussy pressed up against the underside of his cock.

She needed to get her composure back.

‘Well, this is a party, I hope you brought a party hat,’ Phillipa purred.

He looked at her intently.

‘Oh well, a good girl guide is always prepared.’ She reached into one of the cups of her overflowing bra and pulled out a purple foil packet.

She slowly and very deliberately put the corner of the packet between her beautiful, straight white teeth and started to slowly tear it open, millimetre by millimetre, watching the anticipation on Tony’s face.

The foil opened achingly slowly, and Alexia found she had to move her hand inside her panties to feel skin on skin, and stifle the ache. She was soaking. Her middle finger slid through her wetness to find what she was looking for. As she rubbed the engorged nub, her knees started to weaken with the delicious feeling.

The foil was off and Phillipa was expertly covering Tony’s erection with the condom. Alexia marvelled that anyone could do that so quickly. But she didn’t have time to dwell on Phillipa’s hidden talents as Tony grabbed his partner’s hands and pinned them to the table.

His cock was aimed at Phillipa’s pussy, like a missile. It looked even bigger in the condom, like the rubber was straining against his size.

There was a moment, a hiatus when nothing happened. The two stared at each other again. Who was going to start?

Alexia was rubbing now, desperate to feed the starving need in her groin. She could hear her own wetness as her fingers moved and curled around her pussy. But she was past caring if anyone heard her. She leant against the wall with her other hand, steadying herself as she rocked. There was music floating up from downstairs; she could only hear the beat, and it chimed with her heartbeat and the throb inside her.

‘Come on, come on, please,’ she silently urged Tony. She needed him to start; she needed to watch the last, explosive movements of this dance, so she could find her own release.

Tony pushed Phillipa down and aimed his cock right at the crack of her pussy. With one hand he tugged her panties to one side and exposed the yawning, raw wetness that waited to accept him. Then he expertly manoeuvred himself to thrust into her. He waited, teasing the tip of his cock against her. Phillipa panted. He plunged. Phillipa and Alexia both gasped at once. Alexia was pressing her clit so hard now, desperate to feel what Phillipa was feeling. Phillipa’s legs hung open, dangling from the edge of the table as Tony pumped into her. He was really driving; Alexia could see his cock, glistening and hard, as he pulled back and plunged again, over and over.

Alexia watched as every muscle on his flanks and his hard arse compressed and relaxed with each thrust, all working together like a piston engine. Compressing then relaxing, compressing then relaxing, thrusting over and over, he rammed into her as he gripped her hips to keep her on the edge … On the edge of the table and on the edge of coming.

At the end of each thrust he pressed against her clit, in up to the hilt. But each time Phillipa’s moans sounded as if she was close to coming, he would lean his body back away from her, leaving that quivering nub of flesh exposed and needy. She clawed at him to make him come closer and press against her. But then he would stop. He would stand there motionless, his long, muscular legs taut with the tension of staying still as he watched her exquisite agony. She was desperate, desperate for him to keep thrusting, to keep hammering her clit into submission and explosion. But he was in control and he would decide when she came.

Each time he stopped, Alexia thought her heart would leap into her mouth as she had to stop too. She was so wet, her entire hand was smeared with her own juices; she was wetter than she had ever been in her life, and she could hear her juices squelching as she rubbed.

Then Tony would start again, slamming into Phillipa. She’d given up her fight for supremacy and was now arching back, getting the ride of her life. Tony’s cock must have been hitting all the right spots as her lower legs were hanging limply like a rag doll over the table, and she moaned with every burning thrust of Tony’s hips. Harder and harder, until she threw her head back.

As Phillipa came, Alexia pressed and rubbed herself with furious pressure, desperate, desperate to come and end this excruciating torture. Tony kept thrusting, his eyes now fixed on Phillipa but glazed and unseeing as he climbed and climbed to finally hit the target.

Alexia leant on the wall with her elbow, stuffing her fist in her mouth to disguise her stifled moan as she came with him. She came so hard she thought her legs would buckle. A sudden warmth she’d not felt before rushed from her groin to her stomach and down her legs to her toes. This was not an orgasm like she had ever known before. She had very little experience of sex; one pale and earnest college boyfriend, and then Carter.

She breathed heavily and watched the couple on the table. Phillipa was lying back, her eyes closed, her mouth open, her lungs clutching for air. Tony stood over her, his cock still deep inside her, as if he was leaning against her and into her, to steady his legs.

Alexia straightened up and slowly pulled her hand from her panties. She realised it was soaking wet, and looked round desperately for something to wipe her juices away. There was a towel on a rail. Silently, she wiped her hand and tried to smooth down her clothing.

When she looked through the crack in the door again, Tony was zipping himself up, and Phillipa was trying to compose herself. The sassy, in control woman Alexia had seen in the office was gone. She saw Phillipa flushed and breathing hard. She did up her clothing and smoothed her hair. Slowly the calm and powerful professional returned, on the outside at least. But there was no mistaking that she looked like she’d been fucked, hard.

She put a hand on Tony’s chest as he buttoned his shirt.

‘Give it a few minutes before you leave,’ she told him, back in control.

‘Sure thing … boss!’ Tony smiled sarcastically.

Phillipa made for the door. The red soles of her killer Louboutins showed a very small unsteadiness in her walk. She opened the door and the music from downstairs flooded the room. She paused, then went out, closing the door behind her.

Alexia was leaning against the wall, still slightly out of breath. The throb that had spread through her limbs and her stomach was subsiding now, and she was left with the warm afterglow of pleasure lying languidly in her veins. I’ll wait here a couple of minutes until Tony leaves too, she thought. She closed her eyes, waiting for her breathing to return to normal. The room was quiet again, save for the dull thud of the bass line.

‘What the hell …?’

Alexia’s eyes burst open to see Tony standing in the small bathroom, staring at her with disbelief.

‘Were you watching us?’ Tony demanded

‘What! No … No … I … I mean …’

‘You were watching us … Get a kick out of it?’

Alexia stammered, ‘You don’t understand. I was already in here, and when you came in … I …’ Her voice trailed away.

Tony studied her for a moment. Those same wicked eyes that had fixed Phillipa now rested on her. He might have only been around 25, but Alexia could see why it had been such a battle for the strong and controlling Phillipa. He was no boy; he knew he was attractive, with his dirty blond, surfy hair and fit body. He loved himself and he loved to see himself reflected in the eyes of others.

‘Maybe you’d like a turn? Give me a couple of minutes to get my breath back!’

‘No!’ cried Alexia. ‘No!’

She caught a panicky note in her voice. He regarded her coolly for a moment.

‘You’re the Ice Queen, aren’t you?’

‘The what …?’ Alexia was confused now.

‘That’s what they call you, the boys downstairs. Cool as anything, with that “look but don’t touch” thing going on.’

Alexia was dumbstruck.

‘Hey, that doesn’t matter, ice can – melt.’ He said the last word as if the breath of his voice alone could accomplish the task.

‘Alexia isn’t it?’ His full lips formed her name as if he were sucking her in as he said it.

She flushed, unsure what to say or do. Then Tony stood straighter and finished buttoning his shirt.

‘Don’t worry, little ice maiden, plenty of time for that. Though spring is coming. Thawing season might be just around the corner.’

He laughed to himself and disappeared from view. Her stomach lurched with relief and embarrassment. It seemed unreal, but it was real all right. She’d just watched two people fuck and now one of them had caught her. She moved to look out into the boardroom to make sure he was leaving, but as Tony got to the door it flew open, and in strode a tall, dark-haired man in a perfect dark suit, carrying a briefcase. He stopped and eyed Tony, then his eyes flashed to Alexia. She felt her stomach somersault so heavily she thought she’d fall backwards.

The smell of sex hung unmistakably in the air, and Alexia’s flushed appearance made it all too obvious that some serious fucking had just taken place in the room.

‘Finished?’ said the man coolly.

His voice was hard and commanding, without a hint of sarcasm. He was clearly Tony’s superior, in every way. Tony half raised his hands in a “you got me” gesture and walked out, leaving Alexia standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

The man eyed her coolly. She didn’t know who he was but she wouldn’t forget him in a hurry. He was very tall, at least 6 foot 3, with broad, strong shoulders. His hair was very dark brown, almost black, and well cut, but strands escaped and hung down over his dark blue eyes. He had an aquiline nose, slightly French-looking, which gave him a haughty appearance.

‘Don’t let me keep you!’ he said with mock civility. He strode over to a desk and put down the briefcase. Alexia couldn’t help noticing that his legs were long and athletic. He looked tired, as if it had been a very long day and he was eager for it to end.

‘I … It’s not what you think –’ she stammered

He raised an eyebrow in a gesture of tired indifference.

‘As long as people do their jobs in my company, then I will put up with a certain amount of excess, but don’t insult my intelligence, young lady …’ He almost spat out the last word.

His company? Oh my God, thought Alexia, this is Nathan Fallon, the Fallon Sports Agency, my boss!

She had never met him; she’d been at the company only two days and he had been away on business.

‘Please go and find your boyfriend, and do whatever it is you do somewhere else. I have work to finish.’ He walked back towards the door and opened it. The music flooded the room again. Shame and mortification flushed through Alexia’s face.

‘But –’ she protested.

‘Look, it’s been a long day, I’ve had a long flight, now kindly go and find yourself –’ he looked at the table where the fucking had just finished ‘ –find yourself a more comfortable bed.’

He walked behind her and ushered her out before she could protest any further. She could smell his aftershave, soft and warm; it filled her nostrils and its heady effect seemed to find its way into her panties. But she didn’t have time to ponder on it for long, as she found herself propelled into the hallway by a strong hand and the boardroom door shut firmly behind her. She could hardly breathe.

Alexia was dumbstruck. It was like a bad dream. She gasped suddenly and clutched her forehead. She ran down the corridor, straight into the main office where the party was still in full swing.

Romy was sitting on some guy’s lap, and he was clearly intent on getting the kind of action Tony had got. ‘Hey where you going?’ she slurred, a little drunk.

‘Home!’

Alexia grabbed her coat and handbag and ran the gauntlet of the partying staff to get to the door. As the cold night air hit her chest, she sucked in a lungful of it. A taxi was drawing past the office; its yellow roof-light blinked invitingly, signalling her salvation. She waved him down frantically and fell into the back seat.

‘Good night?’ said the taxi driver, regarding her in his rear view mirror.

‘Oh God!’ she whimpered. ‘How the hell am I going to get out of this one?’

‘Don’t worry love, it can’t be that bad. Whatcha do? Kiss the boss over the photocopier?’

Alexia’s mind was swirling. ‘No … I … Look, I’m sorry, I just need to get home.’

She gave him the address and he obliged, moving the cab away from the kerb and away from the scene of her shame. Alexia looked out at the office and saw the boardroom light still on. Nathan Fallon was standing in the window. Was he looking at her? His lone figure in the window grew smaller as the cab drove away; he turned away from the window and was gone, just as the cab turned the corner. Her misery was complete.

Chapter Two

Alexia woke up slowly. She was exhausted; the last few months with Carter had really worn her . . .