BOOK 1: THE BABY BARGAIN
CHAPTER 1: HARKER
Harker glanced at his watch. Alison was late. Again. She was the most brilliant woman he’d ever met but she needed to work on her punctuality. “Alison!” he yelled.
“Don’t bellow at her. She’s not your dog.” Merri sat across from him at the table in his office looking as perfectly put together as always.
They’d been friends since junior high and she never had a hair out of place. She looked like a blonde cover girl model, but it’d always been her kindness and intelligence that’d attracted him. She’d fallen for his college roommate, Tobias, and that’d been the end of Harker’s infatuation with Merri. Even back then he’d known that it wasn’t worth losing the only two friends he had over a onesided crush.
“I know she’s not my dog, but she’s late.” He’d like her to be his sub, but he had more important plans for her. “Alison, get in here now!”
“She’s getting your lunch.” Merri sent him a disgusted look. “Stop yelling. She’ll be here when she’s done.”
“Did he yell? I thought that was his normal tone.” Alison swooped into his office like a refreshing breeze.
the offer. It may require a little persuading at first, but he’d convince her. He always figured out a way to get what he wanted.
Alison opened her bag of chips. “Speaking of having fun. I’m going on a—”
“Where are my chips? And why do I have water? I want a soda.”
“Because you need to start eating better.” Alison chomped on a chip. “You’re not a young man anymore. You have to watch your cholesterol and blood pressure.”
“I’m not old.” That was so insulting. “I’m in great shape.” He worked out every day and saw women, young women, checking him out all the time.
“You said your blood pressure was high. Chips are loaded with salt and that’s not good for high blood pressure.”
“My blood pressure is high because you drive me crazy.”
“Me?” She pointed at herself. “What do I do?”
“Do you really want me to start? It’s a long list.” He unwrapped his sandwich. “What’s this? It’s not what I ordered.” It was full of vegetables.
“It is what you ordered. Roast beef.”
He stared at the sandwich and opened it slowly not wanting to see what vegetables she’d had them add.
“It’s not going to bite you,” said Alison.
“I’m well aware of that.”
“Then why are you opening it like it’s going to attack you?” She tried and failed to keep the laughter out of her voice.
Normally, he loved her sense of humor. She could find fun in anything but not when she was torturing him. “Why did you do this to me?” He looked at her. “I’m a good guy. I pay you well.”
“They’re vegetables, not poison.” She rolled her eyes at him.
“I hate tomatoes.”
“There are no tomatoes on there even though I can’t understand how anyone can hate tomatoes.” She sighed pulling one from her sandwich and biting into it. “They are so yummy and good for you.”
“I’m not the one complaining about my blood pressure and my heart.” She threw the apples across the desk, smacking him in the chest. “Give me back my chips.”
“No”—he leaned forward and dumped them in the middle of the table—"but I’ll share.”
“They’re my chips,” she huffed as she took one. “You have apples.”
“I’ll share those too.” He opened the bag and dropped them in the middle of the table next to the chips. “And I’ll forgive you for the shitty sandwich.” He closed it and took a bite.
“I’m not apologizing.” She sent him a challenging look. “You should be thanking me. Vegetables are good for you.”
“So is squashing impertinence.” He frowned at her. “But we can talk about that later. Now, let’s hear how the facial recognition enhancement is going with my software.” He stressed the word “my” because it annoyed the shit out of her. He loved watching her bristle and struggle to keep from arguing with him. He was pretty sure that one day she was going to go off like a hot tea kettle.
She’d spent countless hours writing this code. It was more hers than his, except he owned it. He’d leverage that possessiveness of hers to get what he wanted.
She was young, in good health, extremely intelligent and for some reason his cock wanted her like it hadn’t wanted anyone since he’d been a horny teenager. He’d weighed all the pros and cons and had decided that she was the perfect woman to bear his child.
CHAPTER 2: ALISON
Alison finished giving Merri and Harker the update on her progress. She was proud of this. This program was hers. She’d taken the shell from a previous programmer and had expanded on it, making it unique.
“That’s amazing. No, you’re amazing.” Merri smiled at Alison. “You’re way ahead of schedule.”
“Thank you.” Alison glanced at Harker.
He stared at his computer, the glow from the screen making the smattering of gray at his temples shine almost silver in his dark hair. She should be used to his reticence by now but for some reason it hurt her feelings. She didn’t need someone to praise her all the time, but she worked hard for this man—long hours, holidays, weekends— and he barely ever acknowledged her accomplishments.
“We should celebrate.” Merri sent a cautious glance toward Harker.
Alison had noticed the many quiet exchanges between the two tonight. She wondered again if they were having an affair. She had to grind her teeth together to keep her big mouth shut. Tobias adored his wife and didn’t deserve to be treated this way.
“The four of us should go out.” Merri grabbed her phone. “I’ll call Tobias and—”
“Alison, do you think you can have a demo ready next week?” Harker continued to stare at his laptop.
“A canned demo? Sure. I can modify the one we made for the initial funding and prep the screenshots and—”
“No. Live.” He tapped his screen. “I’m sure I can get a meeting arranged—”
“Live? Next week? You mean like we’ll scan someone’s face and watch it work?”
“Exactly.” His dark eyes met hers over his laptop. “Is that a problem? From what you claimed in this meeting it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I said several core components were done but they’ve never been linked together and tested.”
“Then link them and test it.”
“I will.” Now, she remembered why she hated this job as much as she loved it. Him. This man was never satisfied.
“By Wednesday.”
“No. That’s not possible.”
“That’s five days from now. Seems more than possible to me.”
“Five? No.” She shook her head. “I have this weekend off, remember?”
“Plans change.” His lips turned up in a half-smirk.
“Harker,” Merri scolded him. “We agreed that Alison could have this weekend off. We’re not making her work.”
She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from pointing out that she shouldn’t have to get approval to have a weekend off.
“I agreed to that before I had all the data.” Harker leaned back in his chair.
“I’m being punished for getting things done early?” This man was unbelievable. Every freaking time she thought she knew how much of a jerk he could be, he surprised her in a horrible way.
“If you think working here is a punishment”—his eyes darkened and dipped for a moment—“you have no idea what punishment is.”
If she didn’t know better, she would’ve sworn he’d looked at her breasts. Of course, that’d be a joke because first, her breasts had
“Because I have a date.” She grinned like a fool. She was so excited. She probably wouldn’t get laid tonight but if things went well with Randy the possibility of sex was in her future again.
“Where are the two of you going?” asked Merri.
“Nowhere.” He didn’t even flinch as both women fell silent and turned, staring at him. Merri had an amused expression on her face, but Alison was surprised. Too bad. She’d surprised him with the news of this date. He’d thought they’d spent almost every waking moment together for almost a year but apparently, she’d found some time to video chat with some ass-wipe named Randy. “You’re not going on this date.”
“Excuse me?” Alison’s tone held a hint of warning. He ignored it. “You heard me.” He put his hand on his computer. “There’s work to do.”
“Not for me. I have the weekend off.”
“Not any longer.” He wasn’t letting her out of his sight. He wasn’t risking her womb being infiltrated by this other man’s sperm.
“We just discussed this. I have the weekend off. You can’t change your mind.” She glanced at Merri for help, but the other woman remained silent, watching them like they were her favorite TV show.
“I can. I’m the boss.” He was growing tired of her constant resistance to his authority.
“I’ve worked every weekend for the last ten months. I come in early and work late every day. All I do is work.”
“I know. You’ve proven that you’re smart and dedicated. You know that when there’s work to be done sacrifices are made. Which is why I’m confused that you still think you’re going on a date tonight.” He almost snarled at the thought of her sitting and chatting with some stranger. The man touching her. Kissing her. Fuck, that was so not going to happen. She was his. He’d found her and chosen her.
“I’m going because you gave me the weekend off. Which I shouldn’t have had to ask for. It’s the weekend. I’ve already worked over eighty hours this week.”
“As have I.”
“It’s your company.”
“Good. You understand.” He leaned forward. “I’m your boss.”
“You’re an ass.”
He tipped his head in agreement. “When I have to be.”
“Well, Gus—” She leaned toward him.
“Don’t call me that.” His words were soft, a warning.
“Harker.” Merri’s tone was cautious. She knew him well enough to know he was one whisper away from exploding.
“I’m not working this weekend, Gus.” Alison glared at him.
She should know better than to push him, but he’d never had to show her this side of him. She’d always obeyed—with a snarky attitude many times but she’d bowed to his demands like a good sub. No, she wasn’t his sub and she’d never be his sub. She was a good employee and soon she’d be a good mother, but that was it. “You are working this weekend and if you call me Gus one more time, I’ll—”
“Harker don’t.” Merri stood. “Let’s everyone take a deep breath and we can talk about this like adults.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.” He was the boss. He’d made his decision and Alison would just have to deal with it.
“On that we agree.” Alison picked up her laptop. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“If you leave, you’re fired.”
“Harker.” Merri turned to Alison. “Please give me a minute with him.”
Alison nodded and strode out of the room.
that’d soon be in her womb would be his.
“Please. You’re always watching her, and you make her work every day, even holidays. You keep her here until all hours of the night. You make her come into work instead of telecommuting like almost every other employee.”
“She needs to be here. We can’t risk the program getting stolen.” He was glad when Merri ignored him because they both knew that he had enough funds to minimize that risk to almost nothing.
“You even gave her a room in your house. Not in the business side of your mansion but in your home. A room right down the hallway from yours.”
“And would I do that if I had feelingsfor her?” He’d considered asking her to join him in his bedroom on several occasions, especially the ones where he’d heard her moving about in her bed, soft little sighs and a low hum coming from the room. It’d taken every bit of willpower he had not to barge in there and let her use his cock instead of that stupid toy, but no matter how much he’d wanted that, she was too important for a heated fling.
“I’m not sure why you haven’t slept with her when it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that you want her.”
“It’s not sexual between us.” Yes, they’d be having sex, but not for pleasure. Of course, there was no reason not to make it pleasurable. Some studies suggested that pleasure assisted in the likelihood of conceiving. Plus, pregnancy didn’t usually occur the first time. Even if it did, it’d take several weeks to know for sure and he planned on using those weeks and Alison quite thoroughly.
“Really?” Her eyebrow raised. “This power thing has always been your aphrodisiac.”
“Not with Alison. Like I said. She’d make an awful sub.”
“Then why are you doing this?” She studied him. “It’s clear you’re attracted to her.”
“I suppose I am. To her mind.”
“Her mind?”
“Me either. You’ve known me for over twenty-five years. You should know I’m never swayed by emotions.”
“That’s right.” Merri smiled and Harker’s instincts screamed a warning. “Let me speak to your logical side. You can’t fire her because without her, your application won’t get finished and you’ll have no product for all those investors.”
“I’ll hire someone else.”
“That didn’t work before.”
“You were in the meeting. She’s solved most of the issues with performance. The facial recognition is the next big hurdle and she’s having some problems getting that to work. I already have a few candidates in mind.”
“You’d fire her and hand this over to someone else? After all the work she’s done?” Merri stared at him with disbelief. “I know you can be ruthless, but until now you’ve always been fair.”
“And I’ll be fair to her too.” He was going to be more than fair. He was going to offer her the one thing she wanted most in the world and all it’d cost her was the use of her womb.
“You can’t keep her as your slave. Consent is always the rule. You know that.”
“That’s with sex.”
“That’s with everything.”
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of forcing her to do anything.” He grinned. “Alison will consent. She’ll stay and work.”
“I don’t know, Harker. I think you may have pushed her too far.”
“Trust me. I know Alison and I know what I’m doing.” He was an expert at recognizing what a person wanted and what they’d do to get it. It’d been the only way he’d survived in foster care. Alison may not be a true sub, but she liked her job and she liked to please. She’d give in to his demands like always.
CHAPTER 5: ALISON
Alison paced in her office. She wasn’t working tonight. She’d done everything Harker had asked her to do—late nights, weekends, holidays—but that stopped now. She hadn’t had a date in over a year, and it’d been longer since she’d had sex. Harker could get as mad as he wanted. She was meeting Randy for dinner tonight.
She glanced at her watch. It was six o’clock. She’d been here since six that morning. She was done. She closed her laptop and slid it into the bag.
“I’d reconsider if I were you.”
She jumped at Harker’s deep, raspy voice. The man sounded like he’d swallowed sandpaper. She hated that his voice made her think of cool sheets and hot naked bodies. She pushed the image aside and stood. She’d step in front of a bus before she’d let him know how his voice affected her. “Well, you’re not me.” She slipped her laptop bag over her shoulder. “And I need time off. For the last ten months I’ve worked every holiday, weekend and late every night. I’m here almost as much as you are.” That was saying a lot because his office was inside his home.
“You’re really willing to give up this job, all this money for a date?” He leaned against the door frame. “This guy must be something pretty special.”
“He is.” She jutted out her chin. At least she hoped he was. She was tired of having no one in her life. During the day she was too
busy to notice but at night, alone in her bed with her vibrator, it was pathetically obvious.
“How do you know? Didn’t you say this was a first date?”
“Yes, but we’ve been talking for weeks now.”
“When did you find the time? From what you claim, I’ve been working you every waking moment.”
“I haven’t been doing that on your time if that’s what you’re worried about. I can’t believe you’d even think that.” It hurt that he’d accuse her of cheating him. She worked her ass off for this man. “I thought you knew me better than that. I thought we were friends.”
“Friends?” He smiled his lopsided smile that made him look like a mischievous boy. “Hardly. We’ve never been friends.”
“Oh.” That hurt more than she’d ever admit. This had happened to her all her life. People pretended to like her, so she’d help them with a project or their grades. She’d thought it’d end when she’d finished school, but work had been about the same. She was always the one people came to for help but never the one they invited to go out for lunch or drinks. She’d thought it was different here with Harker. The second day working here she’d forgotten her lunch and had realized that Harker hadn’t eaten either. She’d ordered a pizza and had taken it to his office. They’d eaten lunch together almost every day after that and more dinners than she could count. But apparently, he was no different than everyone else. “Silly me. I have no idea why I thought that.”
“Me either.”
Oh, he was worse than the others. He wasn’t even ashamed of using her. “Oh, we’re being honest?”
“Of course.”
“Then let me tell you why I thought you were my friend. We eat lunch and dinner together almost every day.”
“We do.”
“You got me tickets to the hottest night club around for New Year’s Eve.”
“A bonus for working Christmas Eve.”
“You insisted on going with me.”
“I had business to attend.” He stepped into the office. “Plus, I assumed you’d need someone to look out for you and I was right.”
“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“You could barely walk by the end of the night.”
“I was having fun.”
“Oh. Right. That car ride home was a great time. You drunkenly mumbling about all your failed relationships and”—his dark eyes seemed to almost glow—"your lack of recent sexual activity.”
“I apologized for that.” Her face still warmed. The fact that she hadn’t had sex in months was embarrassing enough but telling him had been the worst thing she’d ever done when drunk and that was saying something. “I never would’ve opened up to you if I’d realized you were using me.”
“Using is an interesting term.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Come to my office and we can talk.” He moved aside to allow her to proceed him.
She took one step and stopped. She hated that her body obeyed this man without hesitation. “I can’t. I have a date.”
“Cancel it.”
“No.”
“Alison.” He shook his head. “Don’t push me on this. You won’t be happy with the outcome.”
“Don’t push me, Gus.” She didn’t do well with ultimatums.
“Do not call me that.” His jaw tightened.
She tried to stop herself, but her lips lifted in a smirk.
“I will fire you.”
“Then do it because I’m going on this date.” She pushed past him. He wouldn’t really fire her. He needed her to meet his deadlines. Sure, he could find other application developers, but it’d take time for them to come up to speed and that’d put him way behind schedule. No, she was making her stand against his tyranny
tonight. Life was too short. If he did fire her, she’d find another job. She’d done it before; she’d do it again.
“This time you’re wrong. I’m not working tonight. I haven’t been on a date since—”
“Yes, I’m quite aware of how long it’s been since you’ve dated.” It made him harder than a stone, thinking of how long it’d been for her. Would she come at his slightest touch or would he have to reteach her the path to orgasm?
“How do you—”
“New Year’s Eve, remember?”
“Oh. Right.” She took a sip of her gin and tonic, her face heating slightly. “Then you understand why I’m so serious about this. And I’m done working ninety plus hour weeks.”
“I pay you well for your time and you need the money.”
“I do but not that badly.”
“Are all the issues at your mother’s house fixed already? Plumbing. Electric. Termites.”
“I really wish I’d never thought of you as a friend.”
“I’m glad you did.” He smiled. “It made things easier.”
“Things? Like what? Blackmailing me to work long hours because you know how bad my financial situation is.”
“Your financial situation is fine but for some reason you’ve taken on your mother’s problems.” He didn’t understand that, but it fascinated him. He had no obligations to anyone. Growing up unwanted and unloved made life so much easier.
“Because she’s my mom.” She said that like it made sense.
“Many wouldn’t care.”
“Many people are assholes.” Her brow raised. “Present company not excluded.”
“I’m a businessman. I make no apologies for that.”
“Most businessmen are human first.”
“I’m exceptional.”
“Yeah, an exceptional jerk.”
“Yet, you considered me your friend. Are you always friends with jerks?” He grinned. He loved winning these little arguments. He loved winning period but especially against a worthy opponent.
“I’m…” Her mouth opened and then shut, her lips turning downward in a frown. “Either tell me your offer or I’m leaving.” She glanced at her phone. “I have to go home, shower, do my hair, makeup, find an outfit and it has to be the right one. Randy and I have video chatted, but this will be the first time we see each other in person, and I need to look—”
He had to shut her up. If she didn’t stop talking about Randy and getting laid, he’d lean over and kiss her. Once his mouth touched hers there’d be no stopping him from tearing her clothes off and fucking her. It was time to dangle the bait and when she took it there’d be no wriggling loose. “I want to offer you co-ownership of Angel Face.”
She stopped in mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open for one second and Harker’s dick hardened. He wasn’t a small man, but that wide mouth could swallow him whole.
CHAPTER 7: ALISON
“What did you say?” Alison couldn’t have heard Harker correctly. He wouldn’t just give her co-ownership of Angel Face.
“You heard me.” He took a sip of his drink. “I want to offer you partial ownership of Angel Face.”
“I’d be part owner of my program?” Her heart raced. Angel Face was her baby, her creation. She’d never even dreamed this would happen. She’d just been happy being able to create something that might save women from being abducted and raped.
“Yes. You’ve done an excellent job and I believe in rewarding excellence.”
“You do?” She had done an excellent job, but a tingle of suspicion danced in her head. Harker didn’t praise; he barked orders and expected results.
“Yes.” He sipped his drink. He wore his usual uniform—a white business shirt, and black slacks that matched his short, dark hair. He looked exactly like the rich urban businessman that he was. “I never praise anyone for a job well done. That’s what I hire them to do and if they don’t, I fire them. But you”—his dark eyes roamed up and down her body, making her insides tingle and sending that little suspicion in her head to a full-blown alarm—“have done much more than a good job and that calls for exceptional rewards.”
“It does?” For one second, she was speechless but that didn’t last. She could talk while puking. She’d done it many times in college. “Thank you. I didn’t think you noticed or cared or…I’m just
“You don’t accept reality how it is.”
“I do too.” That was offensive. She took pride in that quality. “You change everything the second you walk into a room or open your mouth.”
“I don’t talk that much.” She knew she rambled. It annoyed almost everyone, but she couldn’t keep the words inside her mouth. Her mother joked that her daughter didn’t have a first word; she’d had a first soliloquy.
“Not that much?” He clamped his mouth shut and Alison was pretty sure she heard his teeth clank together at the force.
She should shut up. She shouldn’t say a word. She should wait for him to speak but the words slipped out like always. “So, what’s the catch. There has to be one. I can’t believe you’d give me coownership because I did good…no excellent work. With you there has to be more than just a reward.” She cringed as his eyes narrowed and his hand tightened around his drink. “Ah…you might want to be careful. I’ve never seen a glass shatter in someone’s hand, but I think that’d hurt. All those shards of glass and—”
He put his drink on the table next to him before leaning forward and covering her mouth with one of his large hands. The other grabbed the back of her neck, keeping her in place. “There is no catch but there is more to the offer.”
“Like what?” she mumbled against his hand as she pulled at his wrist.
He frowned again but let go of her and leaned back against his seat.
“I already work so much that I practically live here. I do want to be co-owner and I appreciate your offer, but I need some time off. I need a life. I’m done being your slave.”
CHAPTER 8: HARKER
“You’re not my slave.” But the idea intrigued Harker. Alison at his beck and call, doing everything he told her to do, submitting to his every command, eager to please him in any way he wanted. He’d make it good for her. His subs only complained when he left them.
“I may as well be.”
“You have no idea how far you are from that position.”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m here all the time. I do whatever you want.”
“Not whatever I want.” If she did, she’d be on her knees with his dick in her mouth.
“Name one thing that you wanted me to do that I didn’t.” She gave him a superior look.
He had to bite his tongue. Answering that question would be like tossing a rock in the water when the fish was nibbling on his bait. “We can talk about that later. Right now, we should discuss the details of your co-ownership.”
“Oh. Yeah. Right.” She smiled, a bit sheepishly. “I got sidetracked.”
“You always do.” It kept him awake at night wondering if she also got sidetracked in bed. He was mission oriented, but she’d be all over the place—first one spot and then another. It’d be unpredictable and exciting.
“Not always.” She made a face at him and he almost smiled. She was the only one who ever made him smile from joy, not triumph.
“But yeah, please tell me the details. I’m warning you though, I’m done working all hours seven days a week.”
“Even for five percent ownership?” Merri and Tobias each owned fifteen percent, so that’d leave him sixty-five percent. Well over the fifty-one percent needed for control.
“Five percent?” She seemed less than thrilled.
“It’ll be worth millions, maybe hundreds of millions.”
“Oh.” Her eyes grew distant.
He’d give her a few minutes to spend that money in her dreams, make her want it, see it. Let her envision what a life with that kind of money could mean. Then he’d reel her in. “Imagine what you could do with that money? You could start your own business.”
“I could buy my mom a new house or fix that one.” Her eyes almost glowed. “We could tear it down if she wanted and start from scratch.”
“You could. Numerous times.”
“I could buy a place nearby for Aunt Tiff too.”
“Yes.” He was astounded by her generosity. Most people thought of what they could do for themselves, but not her. He’d chosen well and it was time to feed her dreams. “You could start that program that you’ve talked about—the one to teach impoverished children how to use computers.”
“I could give even the poorest kids access to computers.” She smiled. “I could do so much.”
“Yes, and the money will keep coming in. The software will have to be updated and maintained. We’ll make it more marketable. We’ll improve it and enhance it.”
“Like a living thing.” She smiled softly. “Sometimes I feel like it’s my baby.”
“Funny you should say that.”
“Why?” She focused on him for the first time since he’d said millions. “I created Angel Face. I know it’s not a real person, but it is part of me.”
“Because that’s what I want to discuss with you.”
She’d be the mother of his child, not his sub or his lover. Okay, she’d be his lover but only for procreation, nothing else.
“I didn’t make it up. You bark at me all day long and it just kind of…happened.”
“That’s the same thing as making it up and don’t call me that. Even behind my back.”
“You won’t know.”
“I’ll know.”
“How will you know? I’m not stupid enough to say it in front of anyone who’d tell you.”
“I’ll know by the look on your face.”
“Fine but I’ll think it.” One side of her mouth slid upward in a half-smile. “All the time.”
“I don’t believe you will.” Not after he’d fucked her and made her come over and over. She’d be putty in his hands, his to mold and transform.
“Okay. You’re right, Gus. You’re always right.”
“Don’t call me that either.”
“Right. Sorry. Gu…Harker.” This time she smiled like she’d won.
He couldn’t wait to show her that she’d never had a chance to win this game.
“So, will I be their boss? It’s the only way I’m going to train someone.”
“You can be their boss and you’ll need to train them well enough to fill in for you fulltime for a few months.”
“Fill in for me for a few months? Why? Will I be going on a trip or something? I’ve always wanted to go on a business trip. Most people think it’s boring, but I’ve always thought—”
“It’s not a business trip, but in about nine or ten months you’ll need some time off.”
“I don’t see why.” Her nose wrinkled again and then her eyes brightened. “Unless you’re giving me a vacation?”
“It’s not a vacation.”
“Then why will I need time off.”
