Chapter 45: Total Power Exchange, Part 3
Tues., March 19, 2019
"Maverick, I was surprised to hear from you," Anastasia said after their initial greetings. "How's Baltimore?"
"Terrible," he responded. "I hate it. I'm so sorry, Ana. For everything. Quitting was a big mistake. Moving back to Baltimore was an even bigger mistake. There was a reason why I left this place and swore I'd never return. Basically, every decision I've made in the past two months has been dead wrong. And on top of it all, I left you in a bind, which was extremely unprofessional. I apologize with all my heart."
Anastasia was surprised at his heart-felt apology. "You gave me two weeks notice, which was all your contract required. In hindsight, a month would have been more ideal, but you didn't breach your contract, so I can't complain. It hasn't been easy without you, Mav, I'm not going to lie."
"Thank you for saying that. Look, Ana, I'll get to the point of this conversation. First, let me just say that I know this is a long shot after the way I left you. But… I know you haven't replaced me. I also know that Mandy left without any notice."
"That only happened yesterday, Mav," Ana said in surprise. "How do you know about it?"
"I'll answer that if you promise nobody gets in trouble for telling me," he answered.
He didn't have to tell her who'd told him. Ana had just been reviewing Penelope Laurence's personnel file before Maverick's call, which reminded her of the relationship the two of them had. It was the very reason Ana had interviewed and hired Penny herself, which normally would have been Maverick's job. Ana knew that they were more than friends; they were cousins. There was no doubt that Penny had told Maverick about everything that was going on at work. Reaching that conclusion quickly, Anastasia said, "It was unprofessional of Penny to tell you."
"Yes, I agree, but I hope you won't hold that against her," Maverick responded without hesitation. "She's a damn good children's editor, and I'm not just saying that because she's family. You know I didn't hire her myself because I didn't want to look like I was showing any favoritism. That's why I insisted on being upfront about our kinship and on you conducting her interview and hiring her, which you did without hesitation. Anyway, yes, Penny told me, and she also encouraged me to call you and give this my best attempt. So here goes nothing. I am willing to take a 20% reduced salary if you'll rehire me for my old job."
"What? Why would you take a job that paid so much less?" Anastasia asked in astonishment. "Surely the job you took in Baltimore pays better than that."
"The job I took in Baltimore was a joke," Maverick responded. "I was hired to be a commissioning editor, which was a step down that I was willing to make at the time because they promised good benefits. But the benefits package turned out to be shitty, and the job itself was… painful. They treated me like shit. I should have known not to take a job with one of Scott's associates."
"Scott?" Anastasia asked blankly.
"Oh, sorry, yeah, Scott is my former… umm, we broke up. And like I said, I am willing to take a significant reduction in salary if you'll take me back."
Anastasia replied, "I get that you want to come back, but why insist on a decrease in pay?"
"Because I'm desperate to have my old job back. I loved it, Ana. I loved working for you and everything that Bennington Steele was becoming. I didn't realize how good I had it until I lost the best job I ever had. I was a part of the success story of Bennington Steele, and I'm so proud of that. I never should have left."
"Then why did you?" she asked.
Maverick sighed. "We've known each other how long… two years? And in all that time, we didn't know any personal shit about each other. You only just learned the name of my significant other of two years. I was with him the entire time we've known each other, and you didn't know that because we never shared intimate details. But I'm about to tell you some personal shit, Ana, if you're willing to listen. If you rehire me, I won't make a habit of being this familiar, but I think you deserve to know why I quit the way I did."
"Go on then," she encouraged him.
Maverick explained, "I left Seattle and moved all the way back across the country because… OK, I'm not telling you this because of any of the shit in the media about you. I don't want to know if it's true because it's none of my business. This has nothing to do with that. But if any of it is true, I can relate. I'm a sexual submissive. I quit my job because it's what my Dom of two years wanted. And I did whatever he wanted without blinking an eye, even when he made all those plans and didn't tell me until it was done. He accepted a job in Baltimore without even asking me what I thought about moving back. He even arranged a job for me with somebody he knew from the lifestyle without even asking me if it's what I wanted. He just expected me to drop my entire life and follow him. And I did. I'm an idiot. But… we're over. I ended our contract, and I'm moving back to Seattle, whether you agree to rehire me or not. But I would give you my left kidney if you'd consider rehiring me. Or the right one, if you prefer. Anything, Ana."
Well, damn, of course she wanted him back. He was right that he was part of the success story of Bennington Steele, and none of the people she'd been considering offering the job came anywhere close to his caliber when it came to the quality of his work. Until he quit on her with only two weeks' notice, Maverick had been a stellar employee. She really liked him as a person, too, not just as an employee who was really good at his job.
She'd met Maverick at SIP, but he'd only been there for a few weeks at the beginning of her job as Jack Hyde's assistant. During those few weeks, they'd often had lunch and discussed their dreams of starting a publishing house, or of fixing everything they saw wrong with SIP. Maverick had taken a job with a larger publisher, but he'd left that job (with ample notice) when Anastasia started Bennington Steele, and he came on first as a commissioning editor. She'd promoted him to editor-in-chief after a year, when they'd grown enough for that position to be essential. And he had been an excellent leader, one she didn't think she could do without. It had been a very challenging past few weeks, even before everything with Christian began. She would love to have Maverick back.
As Anastasia was quietly thinking over Maverick's proposal, suddenly the vibrator inside her came to life. She was able to catch herself, so she didn't moan into the phone or give any signs to Maverick of what was happening. Thankfully, Christian kept it on a low setting for the moment. Oh, shit, it felt good. But she needed to concentrate on this conversation!
Getting ahold of herself, trying to ignore her pulsing pussy, Anastasia replied with a professional tone, "You have really good timing, Mav. I've been putting out feelers over the past couple of weeks, but I didn't want to advertise. I wanted to headhunt, find the person I wanted, and then offer them the job. I'm very glad I don't have to keep looking for someone who would measure up to you, which seemed pretty damned impossible. You're rehired, Maverick. When can you start?"
"Oh my God, thank you, Ana! This is… the best news I've heard in a long time. Thank you. Umm… I'm flying back to Seattle tomorrow, but I need to move some of my stuff out of storage. I'll be staying with Penny until I rent a new place, but her spare room is empty, so I need to move some furniture and get resettled. Is Friday OK?"
"You know what, Mav, why don't you take the weekend to get settled and start on Monday," she suggested. "Hopefully, I'll be back in the office by then. I'm working from home this week because of the paparazzi. While we're sharing personal details, I'll say this much: yes, I am in a relationship with Christian Grey, and it is very public right now. I'm not going to confirm or deny any of the rumors, and I'll respect your private life just as much as I expect you to respect mine. Nothing you've told me about your personal life today will be repeated. Anyway, yes, Monday is perfect."
"Thank you, Ana, and yes, I will respect your privacy like always. I only felt I had to share the personal shit today so you'd understand why I did what I did. But I promise I will never again leave you like I did."
Anastasia warned, "Your new employment contract will require a 30-day notice if you decide to move on. And I'm not reducing your pay by 20%. That's ridiculous. I will reduce it by 10% for the probationary period. Six months, as usual. And we'll consider the past three weeks your vacation time, so you won't qualify for paid time off for a year. After the probationary period, as long as you keep doing the same quality of work you did before, you'll earn what you earned before, with all the same benefits you had before. After a year, if you keep that up, you'll get the raise I was planning to give you before you quit."
"Wow, Ana… yes, I agree to all of that, and I think you're being very generous. Thank you so much."
"I'm happy you're coming back, Mav. And I look forward to seeing you Monday morning."
"Yes, me too! Thanks again, Ana!"
"You're welcome, Mav."
They ended the call just as Christian increased the speed of the vibrator. Holy shit! Anastasia had multiple reasons now for feeling good! She was confident that Penny was a good replacement for Mandy, she had her editor-in-chief back, and she had time for a twenty-minute break, which she was sure would be plenty of time for her sexy-as-hell Dom to take care of the fire he'd lit in her pussy.
Due to the magic that the vibrator was working inside her, she glided rather than walked to Christian's office, where he was in the middle of a phone call. Without pausing in what he was saying to the person on the call, he motioned for Anastasia to close the door and take off her clothes, which she did obediently. She even gave him a show by stripping slowly and seductively.
Christian's eyes didn't leave Ana's perfect body as he spoke into the phone. "Yes, Ros, I agree, you and Henry should leave first thing Monday morning for New Jersey. Yes, I'm sure that gives plenty of time for Legal to finalize everything before you leave. Once you get all the paperwork signed in Newark, stop in Detroit on your return trip and see if McMichaels Tech is more amenable in person. Then get your ass back to Seattle by Wednesday's closing with Olympia Farms."
He listened a moment while Ros was saying something, but he barely heard her because he was paying more attention to his naked submissive, who was standing in a perfect submissive pose, waiting patiently. He smirked proudly, knowing what that vibrator was doing to her. Her nipples were hard as rocks and begging for his touch.
"OK, Ros, I've got to go. Something's come up. We'll talk again this afternoon once you've confirmed it all with Legal." Christian hung up without waiting for Ros to reply.
Standing up and walking towards his perfect girl, Christian spoke in his Dominant voice. "Kneel and unzip me. Remove my pants." Yeah, his erection was the thing that had come up. He'd purposefully left off his shoes and underwear today, looking forward to this scene. He knew they didn't have much time, but he was going to make the most of the break they had.
"Follow me, on your knees," Christian ordered. He lay down on the sofa. Anastasia crawled behind him. "Now climb up here and sit on my face. I want your mouth on my cock."
Anastasia loved to 69. It had surprised her at first, on their car ride home from the gala that first night, that Christian wanted it, since he had insisted at the time that she couldn't touch him. Now, they'd done it so often she knew exactly how he liked it. She didn't hesitate to get into the position she knew he wanted.
When Anastasia's cunt was right there in front of his face, Christian pulled out the vibrator and used it to play with her asshole. Before he devoured her dripping pussy, he told her, "You have permission to come as many times as you have to. Just don't stop sucking me when you do, and keep counting them in your head. I'll ask you afterwards."
Ten minutes later, Anastasia had come twice, and Christian was holding out but quickly losing the game. He was determined to give her one more before he emptied his seed down her throat. With the hand that held the vibrator, he moved to her nipples and played with them, while the middle and index fingers of his other hand pumped her ass. He tonged her clit the way he knew drove her wild. That did it. She moaned around his dick as she came, and that was it for him as his cum exploded down her throat. She swallowed every drop and then licked his flaccid cock clean.
Then, before either of them had a chance to recover, there was a knock at the door, and then it opened. Without waiting for a response, Welch walked in.
"Well, hell, if I'd known I was walking in on a scene, I'd have arrived earlier," he commented dryly.
Anastasia was embarrassed and quickly got off Christian and tried to cover herself. But her clothing was across the room.
"Stop," Christian commanded Anastasia. "Kneel. Welch runs security at Down Under. You know that. He's seen you naked already, and he's going to see you naked again, if not at Down Under then right here like he is right now. Are you going to be a good girl and kneel quietly while he ogles your perfect body, or do you need to safe word?"
Oh, OK. Anastasia took a keep breath, and then she realized that once she got past the awkwardness, this was the life she wanted. She felt so naughty, kneeling there while she knew Welch's eyes were roaming her body, even though she didn't see him because her eyes were downcast. If this had been Taylor or Barney, she might have felt differently, but she knew that Welch was also a Dominant. He'd never played at Down Under because he was always running security, but she knew that both Bambi and Tink had gone home with him on different occasions and joined him and his wife in a threesome. Alex Welch and his wife Alexa were both into kink, but they kept it in the privacy of their home, except for his voyeurism, which he was enjoying very much at the moment. Being the exhibitionist that she was, Anastasia was getting turned on again even though she'd just had three massive orgasms.
"No, Master, I'm OK, Sir," Anastasia assured Christian.
"How many was that?" he asked her.
"Twelve, Sir," she replied. Since their TPE had started last night, she had had twelve orgasms.
"Good girl," Christian praised her. He got up and pulled on his pants, then turned to Welch. "I know you didn't come in here just to gawk at my girl. What do you want?"
"Just wanted to keep you abreast of all the security threats," Welch commented as he shamelessly ogled Anastasia's tits. "I have news on Jack Hyde."
"He's a personal threat, so why isn't Taylor reporting on him?" Christian asked.
"Taylor didn't want to interrupt your… coffee break. I didn't give a fuck about interrupting."
"Oh course you didn't," Christian commented dryly.
Welch smirked. "You know me, Grey. I never pass up an opportunity to look at a beautiful naked girl, especially one who wants to be seen as much as your girl does, and you enjoy showing her off. I'm not ashamed to look but not touch. I never touch unless my wife is with me. That's the real reason I've never played at Down Under. Not because of work. I could take an evening off. But there's no need. Alexa doesn't do public scenes, and I don't do scenes without Alexa. I enjoy watching, though. It's a shame I missed the show here. A dozen orgasms, all within what? Twelve hours?"
Christian sounded impatient as he asked, "What about Jack Hyde?"
"He's got plans to break into this penthouse and kidnap Anastasia. He'd already tried to bribe the doorman. He has blueprints of the building on his personal laptop, and he's working on getting access to the service elevator. We're moving the security threat level to orange. We were already at yellow because of Leila Williams and Elena Lincoln. Now we're orange. The good news is that Hyde doesn't know we're onto him. You can thank Barney for that."
Christian sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I want to brief with all three of you. Princess, stand up and get dressed. Start with your skirt, then your top."
Christian and Welch stopped talking and unashamedly watched Anastasia put her clothes back on, which only took her a minute.
"Nice sweater," Welch commented as he continued to ogle Anastasia's clearly-displayed tits through the thin sweater.
"Do you need to get back to work, Princess, or can you stay for the security briefing?" Christian asked her.
Anastasia considered. She did have work to do, but she also wanted to know about the threat against her. "I have a few minutes," she replied. "I have a feeling Jack Hyde wants more from me than just a ridiculous amount of money for ransom. Those text messages were super creepy."
"Don't worry, Princess. You're safe here," Christian assured her. There was no way in hell he would ever allow Jack Hyde to come anywhere near her.