Slowly, Jilly relaxed. She smiled, just the tiniest bit. Matthew reached up and gently wiped away her tears with his fingers. Then he pulled her in close, hugging her tightly, kissing the top of her head tenderly. “You’re mine, little girl. Daddy’s not going anywhere,” he murmured. “I promise.”
He seemed to know just what to say to make her feel better and his strong arms around her backed up his words. He’s not like Cameron at all, she informed her inner voice as she snuggled into him, enveloped in love.
He held her tight for a few moments more then he pressed her upright. “Are you okay now, little girl? I won’t have time for a lunch break today, I’m busy preparing for trial, but I wanted you to know what was going on.”
Jilly nodded. It would be weird in the office without him. “Yes, Daddy.”
He reached around and patted her bottom, reminding her that it was bare under her skirt. She felt her face flush; having no knickers on made her feel both naughty and vulnerable. And completely, totally claimed by him.
“Back to work then, little girl.”
“But I have...”
“No knickers?” he asked, grinning. “I know. I like it that way. I will very much enjoy knowing that my little girl is sitting at her desk wearing only a skirt and no underwear. In fact, I shall enjoy it so much no doubt I will find it very hard to concentrate on my work.”
“Perhaps I should take an early lunch break and buy some more knickers then?” she suggested cheekily. “After all, you can’t afford to be side-tracked right before such an important trial.”
“Absolutely not, little girl,” he insisted. “I tore those knickers off you with my teeth, and you’re going to stay that way.” He slid his hand up under her skirt and pinched her bottom teasingly, possessively. “If you do buy knickers on your lunchbreak, it will be Daddy’s ruler for you. And I will make it sting, so you remember to obey Daddy.”
The laughter in his eyes told her that he knew she was only playing, but his stern tone still sent tingles through her. “I will be good, Daddy,” she assured him. “I promise.”
“Good girl.” He winked at her. “Back to work.”
Walking back to her desk sans underwear, Jilly felt really self-conscious. Would her work colleagues know? Of course they won’t! her inner mind told her, as if she was stupid. It wasn’t like it was obvious by looking at her that she wasn’t wearing any knickers. Her skirt was a black, lined, heavy fabric business A-line that clung to her hips and went down to just past her knees. It wasn’t likely to just fly up, nor was it transparent or tight enough to reveal anything. Her face might be a bit flushed, but that could be put down to the too-hot thermostatically controlled office building, surely. Not sex. Who would suspect one of the partners to be having sex with one of the secretaries during office hours? Surely not at Hutchings & Associates where they were sticklers for the rules.
She straightened her skirt as she walked, smoothing it down over her legs, holding her head up, doing her best to walk back to her desk normally. Trying to convince herself she didn’t have a lingering ache in between her legs or slight sting still on her left bottom cheek from where Matthew had smacked her. She was just innocently walking back to her desk. This wasn’t a walk of shame at all.
All the secretaries were busy in their work when she sat down; none of them even looked at her. Except Janice. As self-styled queen of the office, she took it upon herself to know what every single one of the secretaries was doing, at all times. That must be so exhausting! Jilly’s inner voice snarked. Janice only glanced up briefly though; the second Jilly pulled out her chair to sink into it, Janice turned back to her work.
And of course Vanessa noticed. She was grinning, winked, did a sneaky thumbs-up from behind her computer screen. Vanessa knew! Jilly felt her face heat up.
“Lunch,” Vanessa mouthed, and Jilly nodded. She may well get the inquisition over and done with. Vanessa wouldn’t let up until she did, otherwise.
True to his word, Matthew didn’t venture out of his office so she went for lunch with Vanessa. She hadn’t spent much time with her friend at all since Matthew had commandeered all her lunchtimes—only the odd morning tea break—and the female company was nice.
“He’s smoking hot!” Vanessa commented over the wobbly square table in the mall food hall. “You’re a lucky girl!”
You don’t know the half of it! Jilly thought, but she just smiled and nodded. “I know.”
Vanessa didn’t even notice when Jilly drank an entire bottle of energy drink with lunch. Matthew would have—he would have insisted she drink juice or water instead. Capping the now empty bottle, Jilly was torn inside. On the one hand it was liberating, drinking the entire bottle of beverage of her choice but on the other hand, she missed the proof that he cared. It was sweet, the way he insisted she fuel her body with more nourishing food and limited her consumption of unhealthy energy drinks. Some women might have hated it, called him controlling, and rebelled, but Jilly liked it. Except for when she was at primary school, nobody had cared what she had eaten, or whether or not it was healthy. Being reined in now, even when a small part of her tried to convince her she should be fighting against it, was nice. It was just one more way Matthew made her feel cherished, protected, his.
They were still giggling as they entered the lift on the ground floor with exactly a minute to spare. By the time her lunchbreak was officially over, Jilly was back at her desk, with Janice nodding in approval.
“Miss Watson, my office, please.”
His voice coming
