“Yes,” she breathes, my mind thinking she’s answering a completely different question than the one posed.
I force myself to look at the whiteboard and draw an arrow from a box near the bottom to be at the top, just after the introduction.
“This here,” I start. “This is your pain point. Right now, you’re framing the pain point as the cost of advertising, but that’s not it. The pain point is the year of diminished sales due to the mall renovation. Those sales lead to problems with cost, and that’s what makes an advertising campaign right now their best solution. They need to let customers, both existing and potential, know that the mall is beautiful and that they won’t have to deal with the hassles of construction any longer.”
“Okay.”
“Every client, every time, is going to worry about costs and ROI. So you can never focus on those as your pain points. There’s always an underlying cause. Identify that first, address it, and costs become a function of overcoming it. Treat money as the cure to the problem instead of the problem itself, and it becomes a lot easier to get somebody to say yes.”
“Get them to say yes,” she echoes.
I turn to her and smile. “Exactly.”
“After that…” I continue, eyes locked with hers. “Make it easier. You’ve already done what you can to keep costs down. You’ve designed materials, and they just have to choose. They’re going to be busy enough prepping for grand re-opening celebrations. By selecting a package deal, they know it’s being handled so they can focus on other needs.”
She nods, the blue of her eyes almost entirely swallowed by the black of her pupils.
I drop the marker, hand coming to cup her face. “Present things in such a way…” I tilt her chin up, angling her lips, “so that the only option…” I get closer, and her eyes start to flutter shut, “is yes.”
Her lips are firm and soft against mine, and she’s so pliant, allowing my tongue into the sweetness of her mouth as soon as mine part. Her breath is sweet like honey as she turns into me, allowing me to deepen the kiss, holding her right where I want her. The blush is a deeper color when we part, and I notice sparks of pleasure shooting through me from where my cock is pressed against her.
“What’s your answer, Harper?” I ask, kissing along the side of her face to drag my teeth over the shell of her ear.
“Yes,” she murmurs, slumping against the wall.
I stand straight, releasing her. She’s even more stunning, hair mussed where I held it, lips starting to swell from the kissing. Her breasts heave as she tries to catch her breath. I cross to the door, locking it and hitting the control for the blinds so that nobody can see into the room from outside. The room is suffused in an amber glow as the afternoon sun shines through the plastic strips.
Harper’s eyes are on me as I return, lips still parted.
“Yes?” I ask.
She nods.
I take her wrists in my hands and draw them above her head as I’d imagined only a few minutes before, holding them in one hand while the other returns to her face.
“I need to hear you say it.”
“Yes.”
I lean in to claim her lips again, my free hand dropping to caress one of her breasts.
Harper moans into my mouth, and I need more. I pop a few more buttons on her blouse and slide my hand inside it and her bra until the soft skin of her breast fills my palm. I squeeze it, pinching the quickly-hardening nipple between two fingers.
“I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you,” I say, voice low as I nibble her ear. “All I could think about that first night was getting you like this, moaning my name as I bring you pleasure.”
“Yes,” she moans. “Yes, Axel.”
“God, that word.” I drag my teeth down the shell of her ear to her neck. “You have no idea what that single word does to me.”
She whimpers as I take her nipple between thumb and forefinger and pinch hard. But her body’s response is all I need to know how much she likes it, her hips pushing forward against my cock.
I shift, keeping her hands above her head while I drop enough to push her blouse aside and the cup of her bra down. I take the pink bud between my lips, sucking and nibbling on it, which earns me a gasp and a pleasured whimper. My free hand drops to the hem of her skirt while my mouth is occupied with her nipple, fingers playing with the edge of the fabric before slipping beneath to dance up the inside of her thighs.
I moan as I touch bare skin and realize her stockings are thigh-highs. Then I feel the heat of her arousal against the side of my hand, and I cup the mound of her pussy, caressing it slightly over the silky texture of her panties.
“Axel,” she moans.
“Shh,” I reply, releasing her nipple to claim her lips again. “Don’t want the entire floor to know what we’re doing.”
She makes a noise of assent into my mouth as I kiss her, but the taste of her lips is only part of what I want. My other goal is to muffle the sounds of pleasure as I push aside the edge of her panties, dragging one finger through her heated folds. I tease, drawing one finger through her wetness to either side of where she wants it. Soon she’s writhing against my hand, body trying to get me to touch where she needs it most.
She cries into my mouth as I press the pad of my finger against the nub of her clit, rubbing it in small circles.
“You’re so wet for me,” I murmur, moving my hand from the sensitive bundle of nerves to tease around it again.
“Axel.”
“Do you want more?” I ask, voice dropping to the tone I use with my submissives.
“Yes, please,” she begs, hips grinding against my hand.
I use my grip and stance to turn her, dropping my hold on her wrists and wrapping her in my embrace, one arm across her chest, pinning her arms to her side while the other hand returns to playing with her clit.
“Do you feel what you do to me?” I demand as I grind my erection against her ass. “Does this tell you how much I want you?”
“Yes,” she whimpers, writhing in the most delicious way as I continue to massage the bundle of nerves hidden in her wet folds.
“I’m going to make you come, just like this,” I growl into her ear. “Unable to do anything except take the pleasure I give you.”
“Yes, please,” she begs.
I slide a second finger alongside the first, pinching her clit slightly as I press it in tight circles.
She’s writhing against my cock, sending pleasure racing along my spine. Her breathing becomes shorter, and she’s desperate to catch her breath as I drive her relentlessly to the edge. I’m about to come in my pants, and I need her to come with me. I furiously massage her clit while grinding against her.
“Come for me, Harper,” I command.
Her entire body shakes as the order washes over her, and she comes. My own release comes seconds later.
I hold her tight, feeling the strength from her legs fading as she recovers from her orgasm. It’s only when I’m confident that she’ll be able to stand on her own that I finally release her, turning to look at her.
I press a soft kiss to Harper’s lips. “You’re incredible.”
She smiles shyly. “That…that was…”