Engineering Her Surrender [Novum Energy 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 4

  * * * *

  Ethan pulled the covers snugly around Penny’s body and turned off the light before quietly closing her bedroom door and going to sit down on the couch in the living room.

  Penny was out cold. She had drunk way too much to try and drown out her feelings for him, and then she had gone walking the streets alone at one o’clock in the morning. He should paddle her ass.

  He looked around at her apartment. It was very small and sparsely furnished. The building was a bit worn down, and he wasn’t too happy about the neighborhood she lived in. There was a lot of crime in that area of the city, and as much as Penny would insist that she could take care of herself, Ethan didn’t like it one bit.

  He would stay with her overnight in case she got sick to her stomach and then dart out in the morning before she woke up. God, he could only imagine how worked up she would get if she stumbled out of her bedroom to find him asleep on her couch. He smiled, picturing a tiny little Penny storming toward him like a whirling dervish. She would throw one hell of a tantrum. There was no doubt about that.

  Chapter 5

  Penny nervously opened her bedroom door and peeked out at the living room, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that it was empty. She had feared that Ethan would have stayed with her overnight out of some misguided assumption that she might have needed him. But thank God he had had the sense not to.

  Her head hurt, although not as badly as she had expected, considering how much she had had to drink at Nick’s house last night. She padded to the kitchen and poured herself a big glass of water, gulping the contents down thirstily and pausing to grab a couple of stomach-friendly crackers.

  She had about fifteen minutes to pick herself up before she had to head in to work. She dropped down onto her couch, grabbing a box of tissues from the coffee table as she descended into a fit of sneezes. With a groan, she leaned back into the cushions, hoping that she wouldn’t have to deal with a cold on top of her hangover. Her colds had been hitting her hard lately, and she really didn’t want to get sick and give less than one hundred percent on the job so soon after being hired.

  A soreness started to build up in her lower back, and she frowned when she realized that she wasn’t resting against the big fluffy pillow that always sat in the center of the sofa. A quick glance to her right revealed that the pillow was leaning against the arm of the couch. And it wasn’t hard to tell that someone’s head had been resting on it. Ethan’s head.

  Crap. So Ethan had stayed there overnight, and had probably left before she’d woken up. Why would he do that? He was acting like…like he really cared for her or something. He needed to get it through his head that there was nothing between them. Except for those unfortunate events of last night…but surely that didn’t mean anything. It was just sex.

  Penny cringed when she thought about how she had acted. It was like all of her principles had just flown out the window the second he had touched her. She was ashamed to admit it, but she had found herself wanting to please him…wanting to do what he told her. Even now, heat started pooling between her legs when she thought about the way he had touched her and talked to her…

  She shot up from the couch and stormed toward the bathroom. She had just been a little bit drunk last night, that’s all. That submissive, sexually-charged woman—that wasn’t who she was. She just needed to take a long shower and wash Ethan White off her body and put the whole thing behind her. For good.

  * * * *

  Penny knocked on Ethan’s open door before stepping inside with a stack of papers in her hands.

  “Good morning, Ethan,” she said, making sure to keep her tone perfunctory and her eyes glued to the documents she was holding. “I just wanted to give you the revised designs for the wind turbines. They need your stamp of approval. Also, I have the report that you wanted on—”

  “Penny,” Ethan said, folding his hands on his desk and giving her a hard stare, “are you going to look at me?”

  Penny bit the inside of her cheek and kept her eyes down. She wouldn’t, couldn’t look at him.

  “Penny,” Ethan said again, his voice calm and assertive, “put the papers down on the desk and look at me.”

  For some reason that she couldn’t quite comprehend, she found herself doing as she was told, and it pissed her off to no end. She handed him the stack of papers, sat down in the chair before his desk and, after another moment or two of hesitation, finally flicked her eyes up to look at him.

  “Still fighting yourself, I see,” he said with that smug expression on his face that she hated so much.

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m not fighting anything. Last night—that was just two people who had too much to drink.”

  He smiled. “You mean one person who had too much to drink.”

  Penny gritted her teeth. “Fine. Whatever. I had too much to drink. And that was all it was.”

  Penny jumped in her chair when Ethan suddenly stood up and walked forward to close his office door. She had to work to control her breathing and keep her eyes focused straight ahead of her when he came up and kneeled down behind her chair.

  “I’ll wait for you to be ready,” he said quietly, his voice low and rough, “but I’m not waiting forever. And you can lie to yourself all you want, but you’re not fooling anybody, Penny.”

  Penny squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her thighs together. He was so close to her, his face hovering just above her ear, but he wasn’t touching her. She could smell him—smell the deep, masculine scent that had intoxicated her the night before—and it was making her bottom lip tremble.

  Ethan let out a deep, throaty laugh. “You don’t think I can see the way your nipples are hardening into tight buds at the sound of my voice? I bet you want me to suck on them. I bet you want me to bite and tug at them until you’re ready and begging for my cock.”

  Penny wanted to die when she heard a whimper tear from her throat. She could feel her pussy start to cream, feel a deep, achy pressure start to build up in her lower belly.

  “Tell me I’m wrong,” he whispered. “Tell me you don’t want me to bend you over this desk and smack your ass for being a bad girl.”

  Her chest started heaving, her mouth went dry, and the throbbing between her legs became so intense that before she knew what she was doing, she was snaking her hand up her thigh to touch her pussy. She caught herself just before her fingers slipped beneath her skirt and froze, her hand quivering slightly.

  “That’s it,” Ethan praised. “I want you to touch yourself. I want you to rub your clit while you bend over the desk for your punishment.”

  Penny moaned, losing herself in desire. She didn’t understand it in the slightest, but she wanted to obey him so badly that she almost wept in frustration. He seemed to have total control over her body, and her arousal was so overwhelming that she was on the verge of begging him to fuck her.

  “Don’t make me ask you again, Penny,” Ethan said as he moved to stand by the desk. “Do it now.”

  She couldn’t resist anymore. She wanted it, needed it, and there was nothing she could do to convince herself otherwise. Penny slipped her hand beneath her skirt and panties and tentatively touched the tip of her forefinger against her clit. She threw her head back and gasped as pleasure shot through her pussy.

  Ethan lifted her out of her chair and placed her over the desk, stretching one of her arms out in front of her and letting her keep the other between her legs.

  “Wh–what are you gonna do?” she asked nervously.

  “I’m going to punish you, Penny. You’ve been fighting me and you’ve been lying to yourself. And it ends now.”

  Penny knew that she would hate herself for it later, but she wanted to let herself go, wanted to give herself over to him. She bit down on her lip as Ethan pulled her skirt and panties down to her knees and shivered in anticipation as she heard him take off his belt.

  “I need you to keep quiet for me. Can you do that, Penny?” Ethan whispered.

  Penny swall
owed. The hot coil of pleasure in her pussy was winding up tighter and tighter, and she slipped a finger into her opening to try and ease the ache. “Y-yes,” she moaned. “Yes, I’ll be quiet.”

  “That’s a good girl,” Ethan said as he smoothed his hand over her ass and squeezed her buttocks. “You’re going to be good from now on, aren’t you?”

  Her cunt was soaked, and all the delicious nerve endings inside her were on high alert. “Yesss…” she breathed. “I’ll be good.”

  Ethan bunched the belt in his hand and smacked it hard against her ass. Penny choked out a sob, digging the fingers of one of her hands into the surface of the desk, and the fingers of the other harder against her pussy. The flesh on her ass felt red hot and tender, but at the same time she felt her pussy throb all the more strongly, drip all the more earnestly.

  Ethan grabbed the back of her neck with one hand and forced her head down against the desk. He struck her with the belt again, this time hitting the backs of her thighs. She let out a little cry, although she wasn’t sure if it was from the sting of pain or from being so close to coming.

  Penny’s legs almost failed her when she felt Ethan rub the belt along the seam of her pussy. The rough, hard texture of the leather against the oversensitive folds of her cunt was so overwhelming that Penny couldn’t help but writhe in Ethan’s hold.

  He tightened his grip around her neck. “Don’t struggle, Penny,” he ordered. “When you’ve been bad, you’re going to be disciplined. And you’re not going to fight me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Penny whimpered, shoving a second finger inside her pussy. “I won’t, please…”

  Ethan struck her with the belt once more, this time targeting the wet, swollen folds of her sex. Penny buried her head in the crook of her arm and cried out as her orgasm descended upon her. The walls of her pussy convulsed wildly against her fingers, and she had to bite down on her arm to keep herself from screaming when Ethan struck her pussy with the belt again and again through the waves of her climax.

  After a few more sharp, quick slaps to her cunt, Ethan finally relented, leaving Penny panting, eyes squeezed closed, draped over the desk. She could hear that Ethan’s breaths were heavy and ragged as well, and he seemed to stand still and watch her for a moment before gently wiping off her pussy and pulling her panties and skirt back up to her waist. Penny was floating—drifting away in the hazy pleasure of her orgasm and the tender care of the man who was now scooping her up into his arms and cradling her against his chest.

  “My Penny,” he whispered, caressing her jaw. “Such a good little sub.”

  Chapter 6

  My Penny.

  That was what he had called her. And it was making her a little uncomfortable.

  Penny closed her eyes. Who was she kidding? It was making her completely freak out.

  God, this man did nothing but push her buttons. She was finally coming to terms with the fact that she possessed some pretty extreme sexual kinks, and then he had to go and address her as my Penny. Like he owned her, or something. Like what was going on between them was more than just sex.

  Penny flung herself onto her couch with a sigh. She didn’t want to be in a relationship. She didn’t want to belong to anybody or depend on anybody, and that was where relationships always ended up leading. She would never, ever, put herself in a position where she needed someone. She had learned her lesson at a very young age, and she had resolved to take charge of her life and be fiercely independent ever since.

  But now she felt herself getting more and more caught up with Ethan. As much as she hated to admit it, she almost felt like she was falling for him. And that could not happen—she would not allow it. And she was a little irked that it was starting to happen in the first place, because she had thought she had built up an impressively impenetrable system of firewalls against such malignant emotions.

  And the worst part was that Ethan wasn’t just leading her into a relationship. After that little punishment scene between them in his office the other day, it was all too clear that he was leading her into a D/s relationship. The type of relationship where she’d have to give up all of her power to him. And Penny liked power. She liked being in control, and she was really starting to resent that little voice inside her head that was telling her that becoming Ethan’s sub would fulfill her sexually and emotionally unlike ever before. That voice had to be lying. After all, she was a strong, independent woman who had never wanted or needed a man, and who’d never even been in a serious relationship before.

  She’d admit that, for whatever reason, she couldn’t help but be submissive when she was around Ethan. And she’d admit that pleasing him thrilled her more than she could have thought possible. But surely that didn’t mean that she should just throw away all of her principles and become his sub. If everyone gave in to their base instincts like that, the world would fall into chaos.

  She puffed out a breath through her nostrils, her face hardening with a look of determination. She wouldn’t fret about this anymore, it accomplished nothing. Instead, she would take action to get herself out of this exasperating predicament, and she was very good at doing that. If Penny knew anything, it was how to nip a problem in the bud.

  She launched herself off the couch and strode purposefully into her bedroom. She was a woman with a plan. She needed to prove to herself that Ethan didn’t mean anything to her. She needed to prove that she didn’t need him—emotionally, sexually, or any other way.

  She swung open her closet doors and pursed her lips in thought as she looked inside. She had a pretty sparse collection of clothing, but some of these items would work. And for the rest, she’d just go out and buy something cheap to make do.

  * * * *

  Ethan drained the last of his beer from his glass and gestured to the bartender to bring him another. It was crowded at the pub, which was typical of Saturday nights, and Ethan planned on leaving after he finished his next drink, as the loud, chaotic environment really didn’t suit him.

  There was a sudden ruckus at the entrance, and Ethan saw several men get up from their tables and move toward the bar. He rolled his eyes and downed a big gulp of beer. Must be a scantily clad group of girls barely old enough to order a drink.

  When he looked up to see what was causing the commotion, he had to blink to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. Son of a bitch. It was Penny.

  And she was wearing quite the outfit. A skimpy tank top that was straining to contain her breasts and a barely there skirt that would provide full view of her ass if she were to bend over.

  And she was wearing her hair in pigtails. Pigtails. Jesus Christ, she had no idea what she was getting herself into, especially with the type of crowd that frequented the pub at night on a weekend. She looked like a goddamn sex kitten.

  She was a little wobbly on her legs, and Ethan guessed that was due to a combination of the sky-high shoes she was wearing and one too many shots of hard liquor. From the way she was teetering on her feet, Ethan wouldn’t be surprised if this was her first time wearing high heels. Squinting down at her footwear, he noticed that she had left the price sticker on, and he had no doubt that it was because she had just made the purchase that night. He shook his head. The little rascal had definitely done this all on impulse.

  Penny slid onto one of the barstools and ordered a shot, downing it all in one gulp to the chorus of several cheers from the group of drunken, lecherous men standing behind her. When one of the men sidled up to her chair and tugged playfully on her pigtails, Ethan had had enough. He slammed his glass onto the bar and stormed over to Penny, turning around to glare at the men who were standing behind her.

  “Back the fuck off,” he said with a growl. “If anybody touches her again, I swear to God I’ll put you in so much pain you’ll never be able to touch another woman again.”

  The men didn’t hesitate to shrink back to their various corners. Ethan towered over them, and his mood was so palpably violent that each and every single one of them
knew they were in for a beating if they tried to challenge him.

  When he turned around to face Penny, Ethan saw that the blood had drained from her face. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was hanging open. She certainly hadn’t been expecting to run into him.

  “E-Ethan,” she stammered, trying her best to tug at her tank top and skirt to cover herself up. “What are you doing here?”

  Ethan firmed his jaw and drew his eyebrows down menacingly. “You’re not the one that gets to ask the questions right now, Penny. What in the holy fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  Penny swallowed, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her skirt. “I-I…it’s just that…well…”

  Ethan gritted his teeth furiously. He knew that she was trying to pull an excuse out of her pretty little ass, and he would have none of it. He grabbed Penny off the barstool and took hold of her wrists in his hands.

  “Let go of me, Ethan! I’m not a goddamn child,” she spat out, her fear being rapidly displaced by anger and indignation. “Jesus, you’ve got some nerve.”

  Penny tried to wiggle herself out of Ethan’s hold, but she was no match for his strength.

  “Stop it, Penny. Enough,” he said before catching the bartender’s eye and waving him over. “Hey, Billy, you mind if I use your office for a quick second? I need to have a word with this one.”

  “Of course, Ethan,” the bartender replied. “The door’s unlocked. Take your time.”

  Ethan gave Billy a quick nod of thanks. After coming to The Foxhound several days a week for the past seven years, Ethan had grown rather close to Billy, the owner of the pub. And he was very grateful he had the man’s friendship at the moment, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to grab Penny and start scolding her.