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The next week passed by in a blur as if my life were being recorded through a poorly focussed camera lens. Each day we rose early, ran, then breakfasted with my new extended family, which included Tiffany. After that, I drove us to the GD campus.
The mood at Granger’s Hall was subdued for most of the week. How the house ran, changed in small ways as Catherine came to terms with her husband’s death. She sought Kate’s opinion on most things, but my girlfriend was so heavily burdened with work the pair often bickered.
One morning, while languishing on our bed I broached the subject, hoping to help.
“Your mother is formidable.”
I didn’t get any further before Kate spun around with a quizzical expression. She had her hair wrapped up in one towel, wearing another, halfway through getting ready for work and I realised my timing might have been better.
“Where are you going with this, Jacob? Just spit it out. We don’t have a lot of time.”
“I think you and mom need to sit down and have a good talk about the challenges she has here.”
“She’s coping fine.”
“She isn’t, Kate.”
“How so?”
“She’s clearing out a lifetime of memories from this house, changing systems of running the estate that Richard put in place, and it’s hurting her that you have no time.”
Kate sat down heavily next to me on the bed with a furrowed brow. She glanced at me, then looked away in thoughtful contemplation.
“I have to fix problems at GD, they are more important than Granger’s Hall.”
“Is GD more important than your mother?”
“No.”
“Then why not find time to help your mother in the planning and decision making here? I’ll help too. If the plan for how the stables are run in the future is important to Catherine it might help if she felt you cared too.”
I got a few more glances, mostly loving but some questioning. Kate was nothing if not introspective and honest if she got something wrong.
“You’re right, Jacob, and thank you. I’ll make sure mom feels supported.”
She brought up the subject in the most simple way at breakfast, suggesting to her mom they meet after dinner to discuss a long-term plan for the Granger family estate. I noticed Catherine’s mood lift immediately and felt proud to have helped.
Kate met with her father’s car rental company directors and agreed on a short-term plan that included introducing her as the new company owner and CEO.
Kate’s first period with us as a couple was an education for me and, although I’d prepared, I would do better next time. My initial success with camomile tea was backed up with massages on her shoulders and feet. I prepared hot water bottles for night time stomach cramps and extra painkillers in case she ran out.
She’d denied all orgasms for me during her period, so we both abstained, which I thought was fair enough.
The initial sales meeting at GD’s campus on Monday morning went well. Many exhausted faces around the boardroom table had put together a plan that satisfied Kate and they accepted collective responsibility to present and implement it. They had a consensus, and an invigorated spirit that was absent before my girlfriend had landed on them, with her talons drawn.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kate seemed tired and withdrawn, but I needed to brief her on the progress that I’d made, so I entered her lair, cautious of the mood she wore heavily.
“I had a look around research and development as you asked. They don’t do field testing until a late stage of production, by which time, if the product fails, it’s already cost a fortune.”
“What do you recommend?”
“The recommendation didn’t come from me, but I think it’s worth pursuing. We’ve got an intern in a department full of busy people. She has an idea to use rapid prototyping to allow user testing at an early stage. Nobody listens to her, but I can’t blame them.”
“Why? Is she a pain in the ass?”
“Not at all, quite the opposite, actually. They all like her immensely. The department head isn’t being briefed properly by management, company priorities change every week, and the research philosophy isn’t road mapped. They just don’t have time to listen to her.”
“What should be done, then?”
“Implement her ideas on the body armour program. We make armour plates using ceramic silicon carbide and deliver unique designs to sixteen countries. She can make the prototype plates on 3D Printers and send ten pairs to each customer for them to trial their specific design of shape, weight and bulk for a few weeks. They can keep trying different specifications until they are happy and then we can make the bullet proof versions later to test shoot.”
“What’s the difference?”
“3D printed armour plates cost four thousand dollars for ten pairs, the designs take a week and printer production is overnight.”
“And the ceramic ones?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars for each design mould, multiplied per country and for each iteration. Then it takes three months for each design to be prepared.”
Kate slumped backwards into her chair.
“How did this happen?”
“Richard did it the old-fashioned way, and there’s nothing wrong with that, because 3D printing technology was just beginning when he became sick. If he’d stayed for the past five years, he would have done it the way this intern suggests. I’m sure of that.”
“What should I do?”
“Call the intern and her boss up here and ask them what they need to change things. We did a quick calculation and you’ll save at least eight million dollars this quarter if you move quickly enough across multiple programs.”
“You do it Jacob, please.”
“I, er.. I-“
“Don’t question me, just get it done.”
“Understood, consider it done.”
“Now give me a kiss.”
I went to her, and Kate hugged me tightly. We kissed, and she searched earnestly for my tongue, connecting and confirming her love. I knew my girlfriend was under pressure and hoped to ease that.
“Thank you for looking after daddy’s company.”
“I’m looking after my girlfriend.”
“I love you, Jacob.”
“I love you too.”
By Friday evening, we were exhausted. Until then, Kate had held non stop meetings with directors, department heads, union chiefs and anyone who held a key that might open a doorway, unlocking GD’s success.
Her ability to assimilate knowledge, turn it into strategy, develop objectives and coach others, intimidated and worried me, and she noticed my withdrawal.
I detected her irritation when we got home that evening. Kate was quiet at dinner, shoving her food around the plate noisily to signal her ire without eating, and she didn’t engage with me at all.
I opened up once we were alone in her bedroom, desperate to understand what I might have done wrong.
“Is something wrong, darling?”
“I’m afraid there is, yes, Jacob. You’ve been getting more distant these past couple of days and I’m vexed about it.”
She looked annoyed, and I knew Kate was close to chastising me.
“I’m really sorry, babe.”
“You’ll have to do better than that. I deserve an explanation.”
“I’m still figuring out how to fit in properly at GD.”
“Why should I suffer because you lack confidence and don’t enjoy working there?”
Kate seemed furious, and I was making a mess of explaining myself to her. I paused and collected my thoughts, trying desperately to home in on what bothered my girlfriend.
“I don’t understand, Kate. I’m really sorry, but I don’t know what I’ve done wrong. Please explain it to me.”
Her eyes welled up with tears and I darted over quickly, holding her where she sat on the bed.
“It’s not fair to me when you distance yourself, and it’s not what I asked of you.”
“I don’t want to get in your way, sweetheart.”
“That’s stupid Jacob, you’ll have to explain yourself properly, and don’t mess with me because I’m really annoyed with you.”
A raging fire burned in her eyes and I realised my insecurity at her company had a much greater impact than I’d considered possible.
“I’m in awe of you, Kate, honestly.”
She turned her head slowly, viewing me a little cynically, narrowing both eyes. I was treading on thin ice.
“Really? You can do better than that, Jacob.”
She used the tissue I passed, drying tears away from her eyes and cheeks. Her gentle sniffs were endearing, conveying a genuine vulnerability that I’d somehow contributed to. I was keen to assuage her heartbreak and move on.
“I’ve seen nothing like you, not anywhere, and certainly not in business. I want to help and, of course, I shall, because I’d gladly follow you to the end of time, but I can’t impede the great work you’re doing.”
“You never do. I enjoy having you close by.”
Kate smiled lovingly, somewhat reassured but shrugged her shoulders not really understanding what I was trying to say. She held my hand, tracing a finger on the back of mine.
“I love being close to you, too, Kate. I’m being careful to make sure I compliment rather than obstruct your progress. If we’re not careful, the other executives will use any gap between us to drive a wedge.”
“Okay, that’s true, but you are essential to GD, look at how you saved money just by visiting the research and development department? I spoke to accounts, they met with the head of R&D and that intern, she’s Jessica by the way. They have a few planned initiatives to save at least fifty million dollars over the next eighteen months. Thats a vast improvement in performance and a massive chance to invest more money and build out of this rut.”
“Nobody knows that I made it happen, Kate.”
Her expression changed immediately, and I saw a flare up coming.
“Oh, you want credit for it? Sorry, I didn’t realise that.”
Kate snapped at me sarcastically, then stared in disgust as though I were no better than the directors who’d abandoned her first board meeting. Her calming hand was withdrawn and a hardened exterior prepared for battle.
“No, babe, it’s the total opposite.”
“Explain, quickly, Jacob.”
“Jessica doesn’t know who I am, because I deliberately didn’t ask for her or the department heads name. I discovered a problem, came to you, got a solution, applied it, then disappeared and haven’t been back since. They don’t know who I am. Nobody at GD can see me as a power-base or influencer in the company.”
I watched the cogs whir in my girlfriend’s head while she snuggled into my arms. Kate glanced at me a few times, checking my body language, analysing what I’d said and then, realising her mistake, she looked guilty.
“I’ve been cruel to you.”
“Not at all, I fully accept that I’ve been distant, but that’s only because I’m making sure I don’t get in your way. I want to compliment you, and can’t do that if anyone sees me as a route to influence their outcomes.”
She launched herself at me, flipped me on my back, and straddled my chest. Her hair cascaded into my face and Kate beamed at me. Her glorious smile lit up my world, and I raised my hands to dry her eyes.
“I’m sorry if I upset you, Kate.”
“No Jacob, I’m sorry for my thoughtlessness and I apologise for offending you.”
Kate was always sincere in her apologies, which came infrequently and only when necessary.
“It’s my period and I’m glad it’s my last day because I’ve felt so irritable this time around.”
“That’s understandable. You’ve transformed GD in a week, everyone is running in the same direction, and there’s a new energy in every workspace. That’s all down to your leadership, and I’m loving every minute. I’m enjoying finding my place in your life, but it’s difficult, so please forgive me and I’ll try harder.”
“You are forgiven, Jacob.”
Kate leaned down and kissed me.
“Am I forgiven, too?”
“Always Kate and I shall forever be your knight to command.”
She moved her lips to my neck, sucking, nibbling and kissing. Then she slid her hand up my thigh, gripping my hardening cock. Kate unhooked the buttons on my shirt and kissed her way down my chest, biting my nipple playfully while undoing my trouser belt.
“You deserve this.”
“I thought your policy was to abstain while you had your period.”
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Jacob.”
She stood up, grabbed my jeans, and whipped them off. Then Kate peeled my green French knickers down and threw those onto a nearby chair. I used my elbows to claw backwards up the bed and she followed me, crawling towards me like a tigress on the hunt.
Kate pushed my raised knees apart and sank straight down onto my upstanding cock, taking it deep inside her throat until she almost bottomed out on my neatly and recently manicured pubic bush.
She slurped and explored me with her tongue, then gripped my shaft at its base with one hand, raised her head, and then lowered, repeating the bobbing action rhythmically and with a squeezing pressure that electrified my heart, melting my soul.
Kate sucked my cock for at least ten minutes, servicing it as though she were paying tribute to me.
She peeled back my foreskin and licked the glans when I seeped pre-cum, swallowing greedily. Her tongue felt incredible when she flattened it, then wrapped it around the underside of my glans before sliding along my urethra to my balls.
When she licked back up my shaft, Kate sucked my cock furiously, slipping a finger under my balls where she fingered the perineum hard, forcing more pre-cum out.
While gently milking my prostate and balls, she licked every drop of semen oozing out from my cock, savouring it on her tongue before swallowing. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer and felt glad when Kate stopped fingering me and reduced the pressure on my glans.
She reached for her handbag, withdrawing a small black leather pouch while slurping the head of my cock, keeping its foreskin peeled back, using her teeth.
When she opened the bag, Kate held two plastic transparent tubes that looked like wide syringes with white plastic screw tops and rubber seals on the end. While sucking the end of my cock, her eyes searched up my body and her hands followed her gaze until she placed a tube over my right nipple. I felt her press down with one hand while turning the thumb screw clockwise with the other.
The effect was a sharp pain followed by intense pleasure when she created a vacuum inside the tube, sucking my nipple hard and upwards. When I jerked, Kate choked on my cock, stifling a laugh at my surprised face, and then screwed the device, increasing its vacuum, sucking my nipple much harder.
I bucked in throes of ecstasy, arching my back as if a paramedic were shocking my heart to save my life. The pain and pleasure combined, tore a hole through my reality. She fixed the second nipple sucker on, deep throated my cock again, then screwed it quickly to apply more pressure.
I blew my fuse and spurted cum in ropes straight down Kate’s throat while she sucked hard. She kept screwing the nipple suckers, and they forced more cum from my prostate, through my balls and down her throat.
I exploded in a series of pulses as wave after wave of pleasure hit me in an orgasm of the like I have never experienced. I bounced uncontrollably on the bed, screaming without a care who heard me. My body vibrated, and every muscle tensed while the vacuum screws bit down on my engorged nipples, that grew to a frightening size.
Kate released the clamps so I could climb down the mountain of pleasure on which she’d launched me. My nipples begged for more but felt sore and were swollen, as if I’d breast fed for a year. My balls spasmed uncontrollably and to a point that they hurt delightfully while my loving girlfriend cleaned cum from my cock and her chin.
I lay back, totally spent, as Kate crawled up my body and into my arms, resting her head on my chest.
She looked at me with unconditional love.
“Thats what a well behaved and valiant Jacob gets for being my perfect boyfriend.”
“I’ll need to keep that up.”
“Seriously though, Jacob. Thank you for helping me, at work and with mom.”
Weirdly, I felt as though I’d found my place in the world. Kate and her family had somehow become mine too and the contribution I made felt fulfilling.
We drifted off to sleep, both content and warmed by each other’s body heat and love.
Next Chapter:
Another superb chapter Kate. Your description of the conflicting emotions in this episode was sublime, and the characters are becoming more and more complex. Thank you.