Lydia Esterhaus desperately needs work, and Gerard Eastham needs a personal secretary to manage his sprawling financial empire. There's only one problem: Lydia's an illegal android... Or was the entire project, interview, job placement, and all, done by his design?
By His Design is a 5,300 word story of need, desire, and unusual acts. For adult readers only, it features strong BDSM themes, explicit sexual situations, and a wealthy man who knows how to please a woman... even when she's a machine.
An excerpt:
He stood up; sliding whatever he had collected into his pocket, where I couldn't see. He lingered near the window for a moment, before saying aloud to his computer, "Wooster, tint level five, please." The world outside faded, the neon lights of the distant skyline turning into a dim tracery.
He turned to me then. He stepped forwards, pausing two paces or so from me, looking at me in silence. I felt my face heat up again.
Then he touched me, his fingers feeling rough despite their gentleness of touch - like thin leather, almost, running over the soft skin of my face. I closed my eyes then, shivering as he brushed a lock of my raven hair back behind my ear.
"You're nervous, aren't you? You're afraid what I'm going to do with you," he stated.
"Yes," I confessed.
He leaned in closer; I could smell his cologne again as he pressed his lips to my forehead. He breathed in deeply, and then straightened. "Stand up," he said, and his tone had grown stronger.
I rose, eyes lowered downwards, only to be met with a fingertip moving under my chin. Gerard pressed me up, and while I could have resisted, I didn't - much, at least. My eyes met his, even as they tried to flick away.
