Free Tears for My Master: Cat's First Punishment by Lara Simon Page A

of feeling, a
feeling that she absolutely, unconditionally needed him. It went
beyond attraction-- although he was devastatingly handsome, his
perfect athletic build, the carefully chosen and expensive suit,
the sleek black Italian leather shoes and his face, that face that
Cat saw every night in her dreams. Knox’s strong, square jaw led up
to full, sensuous lips, which he pursed in anger when he got bad
news on a business deal or was frustrated with a client. His
mesmerizing eyes were a metallic grey color, something Cat had
never seen before, and the way the color played off the constant
grey of the Seattle sky that made most people look tired and wane,
made Knox’s eyes gleam with an alluring and constant energy and
intensity. This new feeling was obsession, addiction, a compulsive
drive to be near to him, to please him, to possess him. The sheer
power of the emotion made Cat nervous, but excited. For the first
time in her life, she really felt alive.
    He walked into the room wordlessly and sat
down at the executive desk in front of her, studying her. She
remembered not being able to raise her eyes to meet his, regardless
of how much interview training she’d had at the University career
center that eye contact was vital to making a that ever-important
personal connection with a potential employer. She felt her
delicate pale cheeks flushing with pink, as they always did, giving
away her nervousness, and waited for him to speak first. It took
several minutes, as he was perusing her resume silently, but Cat
had a feeling that he wasn’t really interested in its contents. It
was more like somehow he was looking straight through the paper and
directly into her consciousness. She’d blushed further, feeling her
cheeks glowing hot and red, and begged her body not to give away
the turmoil of emotions she was feeling. Cat reached up and tucked
a strand of her palest strawberry-blonde hair behind her ears.
    “How old are you, Catherine?” was the first
thing he’d asked her. She gulped.
    “Twenty-two,” she said, beginning to babble,
“and everyone just calls me Cat. I just graduated from school in
the spring—my birthday is in August.” Realizing that she was
prattling on, further revealing her nerves, Cat bit her lip hard,
causing a jolt of pain to rush through her body, but successfully
stopping herself. She finally looked up at Knox, watching her, and
took another deep breath. When she finally met his eyes, she seemed
to physically shrink in his glare, and realized that she would
happily do whatever this man asked of her.
    “Good,” he said distracted. He tilted his jaw
slightly, thinking. “You seem qualified for the position. I’d like
you to start on Monday,” he hit a button on his desk and spoke to
someone unseen. “Maggie,” he said, “please take Ms. Harper down to
HR and get her set up for a Monday start-date.”
    “Certainly, Mr. Stowe,” came the responding
voice from some unseen speaker. Knox got up and walked around the
desk until he was standing a foot away from Cat. Her body tingled
with his closeness, and she breathed his masculine scent in deeply
before she realized that he was waiting for her to get up. When he
escorted her to the door, Cat remembered her manners and tried to
put out her hand to shake his, thanking him for the opportunity,
but wouldn’t take it. He’d avoided touching her, instead opening
the door for her and ushering her out into the hall, then
unceremoniously slamming it behind her. She’d stood there blinking
for a second in disbelief at what had transpired, before an older,
gentle-looking woman named Maggie approached her and took her down
to HR to fill out stacks of IRS paperwork and a very thick
non-disclosure agreement binding her to secrecy lest she leave the
company and take a position at a competitor. Finally after
seemingly endless mounds of paperwork, Cat had been dismissed. When
she walked out of the building onto 5 th Avenue, Cat
leaned up against the