Chapter 53-This is Free
"J. Edgar's Ghost"
Once again, Lee found himself partially irked and partially aroused by the gloating smirk on his partner's face as she leaned across his desk nose to nose with him, her flirting come-hither look making him crazy. She was close enough to kiss and she knew it, knew that he knew it and damn it, knew that he'd like nothing better than to take the bait. He felt himself leaning closer without conscious thought until a voice in his head goaded him, Are you really going to let her win again, and he abruptly pulled back, snatched the offending photo from the desk, held it up and said, "So, this is free, huh?"
"Uh-huh," Amanda answered as she sauntered around the desk with a sway of her hips. "Absolutely one-hundred percent free."
"But just so we're clear, I have to pay for the negative," He questioned with a dimpled smirk as he dropped the photo, leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head and propping his long legs up on the desk.
"That's how it works," Amanda responded with a firm nod and a flirtatious smile.
"Tsk, I don't know, you want dinner at Spencer's, that's doable, but..." Lee replied with a shake of his head, "...Spencer's is an awfully pricey joint. You're gonna' have to sweeten the pot a bit. I think I'm gonna' have to insist you throw in something else for free...like say..." He shot her a mischievous grin, "..dessert?"
"Dessert?" she questioned innocently as she perched on the edge of his desk, her thigh brushing against his calf. "What kind of...dessert?" She flicked her tongue against her lips her voice coming out as a low purr on the last word.
Lee yanked his legs back from the desk and sat up again and leaned toward her, wiggling his eyebrows at her and saying in a low, husky voice, "You know what kind of dessert."
Bracing one hand on the arm of Lee's chair, she leaned in and purred, "Do I?"
"Don't play dumb now, there's a reason your name was never in my black books," Lee retorted. "Besides, weren't you the one who called me a jerk just last week for calling you stupid over a decade ago?"
"Like you said, maybe you were right," she cooed as she leaned closer and was just about to make her move when they were both startled by the door opening behind them.
Amanda quickly jumped to her feet while Lee snatched the photo with one hand while opening the top drawer of the desk with the other and smoothly slid it inside, while Amanda tried to look as if she'd just been innocently looking over his shoulder at a file on his desk the whole time, just as Francine fully entered the room with a file in hand and said, "Hey, Billy wants to know how far along you are with your report on Hoover's secret files." At seeing the guilty looks on both of their faces and Amanda trying to stifle a giggle, she raised her eyebrows and asked pointedly, "Am I interrupting something?" Gotcha' she thought smugly.
"No," Lee answered with a noncommittal shrug. "What would you have been interrupting? And what do you mean, Billy wants our report? I put it in your inbox an hour ago..." He then gave her a malicious grin and added, "Or are you still too busy playing catch-up from the mess you made trying to play boss last week to notice?"
"Okay, fine, I admit it! I didn't come up here for the Hoover report," Francine snapped and slammed her file in front of him. "I came up here for this!"
"What is it?" Amanda questioned as she looked over Lee's shoulder just as he opened the file and still trying to stifle the laughter that threatened to spill out at the image of the perfectly coiffed, composed Francine standing before her compared with the not-so-composed, definitely un-coiffed and obviously drunk Francine in the photo still visible to her in Lee's partially open drawer.
"That is proof-positive that your little elevator caper is one mess that I did NOT make," Francine crowed gleefully. "It's the report from maintenance after they fixed the mess YOU two made of the elevator. Now, as you told everyone who would listen last week, I may be no expert on maintenance, but I do know how to read and it says very clearly that there was NO malfunction that caused the elevator to stop...The emergency button was pushed manually...not once...but twice. So...being the highly skilled agent that I am...I took it upon myself to have that button checked for fingerprints and security found exactly two sets. You two wanna' take a guess whose they were?"
Lee and Amanda looked at one another and Amanda no longer able to control herself, finally let loose in a fit of the giggles, much to Lee's consternation who hissed at her, "Would you stop that?' He then rose to meet Francine's cool gaze as he leaned across the desk to glower at her menacingly and growled, "What do you want?"
"I want a public apology and an admission that you intentionally disabled the elevator for the sole purpose of-"
"For the sole purpose of what, Francine?" Amanda questioned in a more serious tone, her laughter ceasing instantly once it hit her what they were up against.
"Don't play dumb, Amanda, I'm better at it than you are," Francine retorted.
Lee chortled at that. "She's got you there. When she has to, she can play the dumb blond card better than anyone I've ever seen."
"Was she ever in your black books?" Amanda teased.
Lee cleared his throat loudly, looked down at his desk and muttered, "Pleading the fifth here." At seeing his partially-opened desk drawer, inspiration struck... "As for your little attempt at blackmail, Francine..." He slid the photo from its hiding place and lightly fingered its edges as he looked up at her with a grin... "Forget it."
"Well, then..." She snatched her file from the desk and threatened, "I'll just make this..." she waved it at him menacingly, "...public."
He whipped the photo around, "Then I'll do the same with this."
"Oh!" Amanda whimpered, her blackmail leverage now gone while Francine gasped in horror, "You wouldn't?"
"Oh...I would."
"If I go down for that one...so do you," Francine reminded him.
"True, but it would be worth it...because with my reputation...people wouldn't be too shocked seeing this from me." He kicked back into his chair and looked up smugly ad her as he fingered the edges of the photo. "Now you...you on the other hand...The executive assistant to the section chief who's being carefully groomed to take his place one day and who also just spent days stepping into one blunder after another..."
"Fine!" Francine snapped as she turned on her heel and left the room in a huff, Lee laughing heartily while a perturbed Amanda glared at him.
"Why did you do that?" Amanda demanded.
"Oh, come on, Amanda! Did you see the look on her face? It was priceless!" He rose from his seat and clapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, don't tell you me you didn't get just a little bit of enjoyment out of seeing that." When Amanda still frowned at him and folded her arms across her chest, he cajoled her in a sweeter tone, "Amanda...? You know you did. You're just mad that you don't have anything to blackmail me with anymore."
"Oh...all right I did and you're right, I am a little annoyed that you shot a hole in my little scheme...because it was fun." She lowered her arms and gave him a half-smile.
"Well, that doesn't mean I can't still take you to dinner," He suggested. "Followed by..." He winked at her and grinned broadly, "...dessert?"
"What kind of dessert?" Amanda asked innocently as she moved across the room to locked the door and picked up their game where they'd left off before Francine had interrupted. She then sashayed back toward him. "Because you know, depending on the type of dessert...I might just want it first..." She then ran her hands slowly up his chest until they rested on his broad shoulders.
"Oh?" he replied as he slid his hands to her hips.
"Mm-hmm," Amanda replied as she tilted her head toward him invitingly.
"Hmm...I don't know...some desserts are more..." He pulled her hips flush against her own, "...filling than others."
"Those type of desserts always make me work up an appetite," Amanda responded as she licked her lips seductively.
Unable to take the teasing any longer, Lee captured her lips with his own, his hands roughly yanking her blouse from her pants to caress the heated skin beneath. He felt a pleasant shiver go through him as the tongue that had been teasing him darted into his mouth dueling with his own, her moan of pleasure mingling with his own. He turned them both around so that she was backed up against the credenza as he began working loose the buttons of her blouse.
Amanda tugged at Lee's already loosened tie, finishing the job that he'd started on earlier and flung it aside, letting out a gasp as she felt his hands grasping her breasts, his thumbs caressing her nipples through the lace of her bra as he lowered his lips to nip at her earlobe, his hot breath in her ear sending shivers up her spine while she worked furiously on the buttons of his dress shirt feeling a great need to touch him as well. During their last encounter, she hadn't gotten to do much of that due to the frenzied nature of their coupling. When she reached the bottom button and was thwarted by his pants, she yanked on his belt buckle, but was hampered by him reaching for her again to pull her in for another deep, probing kiss.
She pushed on his chest and protested in a throaty whisper, "Lee..."
"What?" He gave her a devilish look. "I thought you wanted dessert,"
"Oh, I do...I definitely do...but on my terms..." she fired back as she tried desperately to catch her breath and slow her pounding heart.
He moved back toward her, hips first brushing his erection against her, his eyes dancing in amusement, "Have you forgotten, you no longer have any leverage?"
"Wanna' bet?" she challenged him as she pushed with all her might on the firm wall of his bare chest, causing him to topple backward on the desk into an awkward half-sitting, half-leaning position. Wasting no time, she used her advantage to park herself in his vacated chair to finished the job she'd begin on his belt and boldly stroked him through the thin material of his dress pants causing him to emit a low groan. "Do you wanna' talk about what kind of leverage I've got now?" She then unbuttoned his pants and slowly eased his zipper down, sliding her hand inside to grip him firmly though his silk boxers. "Or how about now?"
"Oh, God," he cried out throwing his head back as she ran her hand up and down his length.
"No..." she drawled slowly as she rose and hovered over him, her lips a breath away from his bare chest. "...Amanda," she whispered into his skin before running her tongue down his torso and then with both hands firmly yanked his boxers down and clamped her mouth around his shaft causing him to emit a loud groan.
"'Manda!" he cried as he wound his fingers into her dark thick curls, his breathing becoming labored, his heart racing uncontrollably as she worked her mouth up and down, using varying degrees of pressure, taking him deeper with one stroke and the barely holding him at all with the next as she flicked her tongue against just the tip.
Amanda reached to cup his balls and at feeling them tighten her hand, pulled back, stood fully upright, grinned at him and asked sweetly, "Now, what were you saying about me having no leverage."
Gaping at her, a look of utter horror on his face, Lee sat up as he tried to catch his breath and panted, "That...was...dirty."
"Mm-mm," she responded with a wave of her finger as if scolding one of her children. then with a smug smile, added, "Not yet anyway."
Pursing his lips, Lee gave her a menacing look and replied, "You do know that you're gonna' pay for that, right?"
A look of mock fear in her eyes, Amanda darted away from the desk and to the other side of it with, "Oh, no! What am I going to do now?"
Lee attempted to catch her, but as soon as he rose from the desk, his pants dropped to his knees, causing him to falter and Amanda to burst into another fit of the giggles. "You think this is hilarious, don't you?" This only caused her to laugh harder as Lee yanked his pants up just enough to get around to her side of the desk and pin her against it with his hips while he used his free arm to sweep its contents into the floor, her laughter dying at the scorching look in his eyes. No longer caring if his pants fell down again, her braced one hand against the desk on either side of her, ground his hips against hers and said in a hoarse whisper, "So, what ARE you going to do?"
Amanda's answer was to step out of her heels, slide her hands up his chest to his shoulders and nod her head toward him in open invitation. Shaking his head at the realization that he'd still lost, Lee had no other option but to comply with her wishes, leaned in and kissed her firmly while his hands moved from the desk and expertly opened the button on her pants, followed by her zipper, then dragged them down along with her satiny panties. Pulling back from their heated kiss, he then cupped her bottom to ease her up onto the desk to pull them the rest of the way down her legs and discard them.
"You know, this would be a whole lot easier if you'd start wearing skirts again like you used to," he grumbled.
Amanda laughed softly, "Look who's talking, vest guy."
"Hey, I quit wearing those a long time ago, " he reminded her. "For you, I might add...because you complained about them, so the least you can do for me is wear a damn skir-."
"Lee?" Amanda cut him off.
"What?"
"Do you really want to talk about this...wardrobe choices...now?" She then shimmied out of her blouse, unhooked her bra and slipped it down her shoulders, now fully naked before him. "I mean, wouldn't you prefer no wardrobe at all?" She then pushed his dress shirt from his shoulders. "I know that I would." She lightly ran he hands over the smooth taut muscles of his chest, grazed his nipples with her fingernails before trailing her hands lower, down his stomach then even lower...
"Ohhh," he groaned as she held him in her long slender fingers, exerting just enough force to drive him crazy, but not enough to drive him over the edge. Finally having enough of her teasing, he took charge, removed her hand from his member, gripped her hips tightly, pulled her against him and pushed into her as hard as he could an arrogant grin crossing his face at the look of surprise and wonder in her eyes at that move.
"YES!' She hissed at the feeling of his hardness inside her as she hooked one leg behind him to encourage him to continue and let out a frustrated whimper when he only stood there staring at her. "Lee," she pleaded.
"Yes?"
"Lee, please," her voice became more desperate.
"Please what?" he asked her, his passion-glazed eyes boring into hers. when she didn't answer, he demanded, "Tell me, Amanda. Tell me what you want me to do you."
"I-I-I need y-y-you inside me," she stammered.
Lee pushed against her just once, leaned in and growled low in her ear, "I AM inside you. What else?"
"Please, Lee, just do it," Amanda begged him as she grasped his shoulders tightly in an attempt to pull him closer. "Please make love to me."
Lee pulled back just to grin at her smugly. "Now, was that so hard?"
Amanda unable to resist the open initiation he'd left laying there fired back, "no, but I know something else that is," as she leaned back just enough to push her hips against him.
Lee couldn't help laughing at her ability to turn the tables on him, but he had to admit that he needed her just as much as she needed him. Their fore-word-play making him hotter for her than their physical interactions. He skimmed his fingers down the soft skin of her back an then pulled her to him, finally giving them what they both wanted, pushing himself deeper into her, letting out a long slow sigh as he did so, rewarded by hearing hers echoed back at him.
They locked eyes as they moved together alternately pushing and pulling against one another, the old wood of the desk creaking as their motion became more frenzied and the urgent need from completion overtook them, culminating in a loud cries of relapse from both of them and a louder crack from the desk as Lee unable to stand upright any longer with the sheer force of his orgasm, collapsed atop Amanda.
Amanda through her heavy breathing rasped, "I...think...we...broke...something."
Heaving as he too tried to catch his breath, Lee replied as he lifted his head, "Yeah...my back."
Amanda chuckled. "Mine too. After all, I'm the one lying on mine and had a big lug land on me," she pointed out.
"Oh...right." Lee reluctantly pulled away from her, reached for her hand, helped her to her feet and then glowered at the now crack on the desk's surface. "So...you have any more stuff from the Francine Desmond file to use as leverage? I don't know how the hell we're going to explain this one."
"No, but maybe we don't have to. We can just get one of those big desk mat things to cover it up. You know, the kind they make for those big desk calendars?"
Straightening his pants and re-fastening them, he exclaimed, "Amanda, you're brilliant!' He then looked around at the pile of stuff that he'd flung to the floor. "I had one already on the desk." He plucked it from the floor and held it up for her to see.
"Well, then I'd say I've earned that dinner after all, leverage or not," she grinned broadly at him. "After all, that's now two things you've gotten for free."
