"Now was that so difficult?" she asked in a hushed voice as I sipped my drink and let my eyes roam over her body.
Two thin straps of black velvet over her tits constituted the entirety of the top of her dress, which then continued on to sculpt her hips and ass. I paid for the dress. And for the tits, as a matter of fact.
Caroline took my empty champagne glass with her blood-red nails. I smirked when I realised the colour was a perfect match for the lipstick on my cock. I was losing myself in a daydream about a threesome with Caroline and the other woman when Caroline's voice broke through their high-pitched moans.
"Michael?"
I stopped a waiter to grab another glass of champagne. "What?"
"There're some important city officials here," she said, turning my chin with those dagger-like nails toward a table near the front. "You should go shake hands. Kiss babies. All that."
I scoffed. "Nobody in here is stupid enough to have a child."
Caroline grinned and led the way toward the table, leaving me with a rather nice view of her exposed back and swaying hips.
"Gentlemen," she said, tucking her tablet against her side and gesturing toward me, "the man of the hour."
I went around the table, shook hands, smiled, laughed, played the game. I then took my seat next to Caroline.
The president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, who I knew particularly liked red-headed prostitutes, smiled drunkenly across the table at me. I was sure Caroline had one waiting up in his hotel room to thank him for his support of the firm.
"You know, it feels like yesterday that you were making junior partner at PLA Harper, Mr O'Sullivan," he said. "If I'm not mistaken, it was in this very same ballroom."
I shook my head to immediately disagree with the fucker, who was obviously just wasted and needed to be getting on to his ginger piece of ass, but paused when others around the table seemed to be nodding their assent.
"I'm sure it's not the same…" I started to say as my eyes drifted to the ballroom and the rest of my sentence drifted along with them.
Little flickers of familiarity hit me, and I winced away from each as if from the sun after a night of drinking and drugs. The tassel of a particular drape, the swirl of some section of marble, the carving on this column or that, all these little details were like strings attached to something hidden, buried, pushed away to the back of my mind. A wave of sudden fear unlike anything I'd felt in years made me shiver and I knew, I knew not to pull on those strings.
"Gentlemen," I said, interrupting one of them who was still talking about the party nine years ago, "any suggestions on what I should buy with my new senior partner bonus?"
Without even a glance toward her, I moved my hand beneath the fine linen tablecloth and pushed the skirt of Caroline's dress high up her thigh. Other than a quick inhale and a tightening of her long manicured fingers around her champagne glass, she gave no indication to the others of what was happening.
"Well, what do you think, boys?" I pressed.
"I guess that depends on how much of a bonus we're talking about here," one of the crotchety old men said with a slightly nervous laugh as his eyes searched the others for help.
Keeping money talks private was one of those unspoken rules I no longer played by. Plus, I liked to see people squirm uncomfortably.
"How big, eh?" I said as beneath the table I urged aside Caroline's lace thong. "That's what you want to know?"
More nervous laughter circulated around the table.
"Boys, I'm not gonna lie," I said with an easy laugh, "it's pretty big."
I thrust a finger deep into Caroline's tight, hot pussy, not even missing a beat as I smiled devilishly at the group.
"It might even be the biggest bonus in Dublin."
Caroline's fingers twisted a handful of the linen tablecloth when I added a second finger, pushing in even deeper, the way I knew she liked it.
"If I thought there was any value whatsoever in being modest, I wouldn't tell you that it's so massive, I'm not even sure there are bank vaults that can hold it all."
The table laughed and Caroline bit her dark maroon lip as I fucked her beneath the cloth with a third finger. I played along and laughed too, even as I heard Caroline struggling to keep her breath from coming in harsh little gasps. I teased her with a fourth finger and caught out of the corner of my eye her eyes squeeze momentarily shut, her lips parted in a silent pant. My thumb found her clit and her hips bucked in her chair as she nearly spilled her glass of champagne.
"Caroline, do you want to tell everyone just how painfully big my bonus is?"
Beneath the table Caroline quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand from between her legs before straightening her skirt.
"Gentlemen," she said, pushing herself hastily back from the table with a clang of glasses, "I'm sure you'll excuse Mr O'Sullivan. As you can imagine he has a lot of people to thank tonight."
"Oh, we have to go so soon?" I grinned up at her wickedly as she stood.
She glared at me as I licked the tips of my fingers, tasting her like a red wine reduction on a juicy duck confit. There was a glisten of sweat across her brow and her nipples were already straining against the barely there material of her top.
"Yes, I'm afraid we have to go," she snapped at me. "Now."
I took my leave of the table with long, exaggerated goodbyes to each and every person, secretly enjoying watching Caroline's fingers
