Managing Risk - Research View

** This story is the third part of my Dealing Floor Risk series. If you want them in order, start with "Analysing Risk Like a Good Trader", then "Managing Risk - From a Sales View". The "It's Not Cheating If We Just Look" series is set on the same floor.

The storyline contains cheating. As is almost always the way in my fantasy world, no consequences occur - well not any consequences that the characters don't already want in some way!

Please do search for other stories on Literotica if that is not for you, but if it is for you, then please stay. You're most welcome. Enjoy my world!

A big thank you also to @JBedwards for reminding me just how useful diaphragms can be!

Constructive Feedback is always welcome. **

It was just after 10pm on the Stratton dealing floor when the two junior salespeople, Jen and Rich, met up for a coffee at the end of their shift. Rich was in venting mode. "I mean I just don't get it, Jen. Ross brought Deborah in to run trading and promoted Penelope as our boss in Sales. They both wielded the machete and let's face it, that needed doing. The new team members are a big upgrade. Meanwhile Allen still runs research? The guy is such a fucking dinosaur that he probably wrote his last research report on a fucking typewriter!"

Jen thought a bit then said, "There has to be a reason Ross hasn't binned him yet. He was pretty fucking brutal to our old boss Ashley and they were meant to be friends too."

Rich carried on, "I tell you, Jen, I am not taking fucking Allen to another client meeting. It's insane!"

Jen said, "It's going to be interesting when they get rid. Claire and Dominic will kill each other to get that top spot. Come on Rich, let's get home."

Rich wasn't wrong. There was an issue with letting Allen go, but finally, the next morning, the board bought Allen out. By 1pm it seemed the whole floor knew.

At 5pm, Dominic walked up to Claire's pod and said, "So I hear that they finally got the old fucker to take a package. I am looking forward to having you in my team, Claire. I can see how I can help push your work to the next level."

"In your dreams maybe, Dominic. Clients love me a lot more than they do you. Plus you have no fucking idea how to manage anyone. Oh and remind me how many men are getting promoted around here nowadays? Don't worry, I'll still keep you in my team. Clients love a bit of eye candy, pretty boy."

An hour later they had both had a call from Ross. No anointing. He wanted a pitch from each of them for how the new research team would look. Tight deadline, as he needed to announce succession. They would have until lunchtime the next day. He would pick his Head of Research based on what they wrote. He didn't say who else was in the running. They both knew no one else in research was a competitor.

They made the calls home. Claire's husband Bill was used to the drill, though his voice was tight. She had been too tired the night before and had promised to "ravish him", as she put it, when she got home. Research was always deadlines and working late. No way to get home by the time she finished the pitch, and this one was more important than all the others had ever been. She would stay over at the hotel by the office.

Dominic's wife Celia sounded bored. She was used to an absent husband who was married to his work. "See you when I see you then, Dominic," was all she said before she hung up on him.

By midnight their pods were two islands of light on a floor of darkness, keyboard clicks the only sound. Dominic stood up and stretched, locked his computer and walked over to Claire's pod, the floor lights flickering on from his movement across the department.

"I can't see straight. My masterpiece will be finished in the morning. You staying at the Marriott too?" Dominic asked.

Claire nodded.

"Okay. Truce for tonight. Shall we walk over together then?"

Claire chuckled. "Aw, pretty boy needs his beauty sleep then!" Then she added, "Okay. Now we can have the truce. Let's go." She locked her computer and they walked off the floor.

For once they talked about the personal side as they walked. Dominic was pretty sure his marriage was in trouble. He and Celia had lost their spark along the way. He hadn't been the best husband for sure and he wondered if she was seeing someone else.

Claire turned to him. "I can't imagine she would want to cheat. I know I joke about your looks, but you must see how the women on the floor look at you. How you have that physique in our business is inexplicable to me."

"Thanks, Claire. To be fair, I have watched the way they look at you too. That tall slim figure, the bright red curly hair, the nails, the dress. Front and centre."

Claire laughed. "Don't start trying to charm your new boss now, Dominic!"

They checked into the Marriott. Two rooms. Dominic said, "Nightcap?"

Claire pointed at the closed bar. "Sure, but where?"

"Well, I'm sure our rooms have minibars."

She looked at him. "You know what? Fuck it. Lead the way, pretty boy." She linked arms with him as they walked to the lifts. They were both quiet in the lift and the corridor. Dominic unlocked his door and they went in. He poured them red and white wines from the minibar. He finished the red wine and she finished the white. By the time he opened the little vodka miniatures, both of them were more than a little drunk.

Claire went to freshen up. In the bathroom she opened her purse, saw the case and checked that her diaphragm was still seated properly inside her from the afternoon. She had put it in for Bill, for when she got home. She closed her purse and looked at herself in the mirror for a second. Then she went back out.

She sat down next to Dominic and said, "You know I fucking hate you, right?" before she leaned in and kissed him hard on the mouth.

"I fucking hate you too," he said, and pulled off her suit jacket and undid her blouse. He slipped her bra off her shoulder. "But I love these pert tits." He started sucking on her nipples.

Claire stood. Paused for a second as she thought, "Am I really fucking doing this? Fuck it. I guess I am! First time for everything." She unzipped her skirt and it fell to the floor. Tights and knickers followed. She stood naked watching him strip. "You really are a pretty boy," she said, looking down at his six-pack and hard cock.

Dominic tried to pull her head down towards his cock. Claire laughed. "I am not kneeling all submissively for you, pretty boy!" She pushed him onto the bed, crawled over him and took his cock into her mouth, tasting the precum at the tip, then taking him in and out with her hand on his balls.

"Enough now," he said, and pushed her off him onto the bed. He went between her legs. She was neatly trimmed. The red pubes were new to him. He licked between her lips and flicked her clit.

"Ah fuck that feels good, you fucker. You are more than a pretty face then, I guess."

When he pushed two fingers inside her and kept licking at her clit she twisted under him. He started to say something about how her juices felt different and she pushed his face back.

"They always are when I'm ovulating. Now I need to fuck you. On your back, pretty boy."

He lay back. She slid down onto him in one go and started to ride.

He rolled her into missionary and got in three hard strokes before she shoved him back again.

"Hey, pretty boy. You're not in charge here. I am."

"Make you a deal," he said. "Whoever makes the other one come first is in charge. Three strokes each on top. Then switch."

She smiled. "You're on."

She took her three, rolling her hips, watching his face. He lasted. He took his three, driving up into her, and she bit her lip and didn't give him the sound of her coming that he really wanted. Back to her. On the second switch she pulled his hands onto her tits as she rode him and that was almost a mistake.

"Oh you fucker, pull my fucking nipples. Fuck! Annnnnd that's my three done. Your turn, pretty boy!"

She flipped over onto her back. His hands went back to her nipples as his cock slid in deep inside her pussy.

"Ah fuck, Claire, your pussy is too tight. These fucking tits. I'm going to fucking fill you up. Ah yes!"

She grabbed his bum as he came, pulling him tight inside her pussy. As she felt him spurt deep inside her, she came with him. "Ah fuck, Dom, fill me. I can feel it. Ah fuck. Yes. Yes!"

She rolled off him and they lay there breathing.

"You're on the pill, right?"

"Nope." She smiled, looked at his worried face and paused. It occurred to her that he looked worried but also just a bit victorious. She added, "You don't get to be Head of Research because I go on maternity leave. Nice try, motherfucker. I put my diaphragm in before. But thanks for checking in advance, pretty boy."

She went to the bathroom to clean up. When she came back she looked at the door, then at the clock. There were barely five hours left before they needed to be up, and she got back into his bed without dressing or going to her unused room.

At three she woke needing to pee. The room was dark. He was dead to the world. In the bathroom, on autopilot, she took her cap out, rinsed it, put it in the case and put the case in her purse. She always did that at home with Bill. She got back into bed. She was asleep again in a minute.

When the alarm went off she silenced it and looked over. Pretty boy, fast asleep. She decided to wake him the fun way. He was already half hard. She straddled him, rubbed him through her lips a few times and slid down onto him.

Dom woke smiling. His hands went to her nipples, her small pert tits, and he pulled her down to kiss him as he fucked up into her. For a minute the power was almost level between them as she met his strokes. Then he started to come.

"Ah yes. Take it. In your ovulating pussy. Ah fuck. Fuck!"

That pulled her orgasm along. "Fill me, pretty boy. Just there. Fuck. Yes."

She pulled off him. "Pitch to finish. Got to shower. You can go after me."

She left him in the bathroom and went down for a takeaway coffee. In the lobby she opened her purse for her credit card and saw the case. Her diaphragm sat in it, clean, unused since she took it out at three am. The night came back in order: afternoon, in for Bill. Checked before the first time. Out at three. That morning with no protection.

She could still feel him deep inside. The barrier to her womb was in her hand.

"Oh fuck! Well, there's no way I can let that fucker know!"

She presented to Ross at midday. Dominic's turn came at 1pm.

At 3pm, Ross called them both in. "You guys wrote two very convincing presentations. You're both highly ranked Extel analysts so I knew you both would, even with my deliberately tight deadline."

He continued, "Dominic, your strategy reads cleaner and more likely to sell but your staffing ideas don't really fit with my thoughts. Claire, you are spot on with staffing and who we keep versus who we bin, but your strategy is slightly weaker than Dominic's. There is only one obvious answer. I am pleased to tell you that I am appointing you both as Co-Heads of Research."

They knew the game. Both thanked Ross and spoke of the amazing opportunity and how pleased they were that he trusted them. Inside, both were seething. They hadn't both won. They had both lost. The competition was on. In most banks, co-heads almost always ended with one being pushed out by the other. Both were certain they would be the survivor.

Just over two weeks later, Dominic and Claire had their usual meeting with the team. As the researchers filed out, Claire put her hand on his arm to stop him leaving. When they were alone, she closed the door. "I just thought I should let you know that my period is a few days late."

"Oh fuck, what are we going to do?" Dominic asked.

"'We' will do nothing. I will decide what I want to do and will probably tell you afterwards." She walked out without looking back.

His Jabber pinged the next morning at 9am.

Claire Townsend: "False alarm. All on schedule now."

Dominic McArthur: "I wondered how I could have penetrated that barrier?"

Claire smiled. If only he knew. She was relieved, but somehow also strangely angry to have got her period. She put it to one side and started reading the HR scripts. Pretty boy had decided that she should do the firings since she had done the selection. Angie Summers was first name on the list. She knew he liked her looks and gave her way too much slack as a result. Her technical skills didn't make the cut and Claire enjoyed telling Dominic that she was going.

The firings took place a week later and they were three very hard days in the end. Claire was emotionally exhausted by the end of it. It was far easier to plan on paper than deal with Angie's tears at being let go or silver-haired Robert's glassy eyes as he realised that his old mate Allen couldn't save him this time.

She walked over to Dominic's desk at 9:30pm after writing up the last of the reports for HR. Dominic was fine-tuning that month's global strategy piece. "You owe me for the last three days, pretty boy. Let's go. I need a drink and you are buying!"

He bit back the comment about her not coping in the job when he saw the strain on her face, and instead he just nodded, locked his computer and picked up his jacket. "Let's go. The Hung, Drawn and Quartered is just the place we need. No Stratton lot there and should be quiet by now. Leaving drinks at Corney's will be over too."

They headed over to the pub and he ordered two bottles of wine. A red for him and a white for her. He made sure it was the Sauvignon Blanc that he knew she liked. They sat in the corner, sipping their wine and staring at the glasses as they drained them.

As they worked through their bottles, Claire was more chatty. "So pretty boy, admit it. You fucked Angie. Didn't you?"

Dom laughed and shook his head, "Well I tried for sure. Long-term boyfriend. Never cheated on him."

"Good for her. Principles matter."

He chuckled, "That is true. She gave amazing head though!"

Claire laughed and punched his arm, then said, "So I guess wifey hasn't left you yet then?"

Dominic laughed. "Not yet. Think she figured she can either spend half my money after a divorce without ever seeing me or stay married and spend all my money and still never see me." The alcohol had loosened his tongue and he added, "Seriously though, we are just two strangers who share a bedroom without even fucking."

Claire looked at his eyes and said, "Then she's a fucking idiot, Dom. You're a great fuck, even if I was too pissed to remember it properly." Claire had also drunk too much of her wine to be subtle.

Claire sat back and drained the last of her wine as she watched Dominic tap on his phone. The room at the Marriott was theirs and was just a two-minute walk away. Both sent texts home explaining they had a deadline. They couldn't call. The Stratton dealing floor had a very different sound to a bar and this deadline had nothing to do with research.

They walked into the room in silence and Claire made a beeline for the loo. She slipped in her diaphragm, flushed a loo she hadn't used and stepped into the hotel room fully naked. Dominic pulled his clothes off quickly and she stood arms crossed watching the show. She sighed and said, "Fuck! I could look at that body all day!"

She walked over to him and pushed him hard so that he landed on his back on the bed. She crawled up between his legs and pulled his rapidly hardening cock into her mouth. She gave him a few hard sucks, then flipped onto her back and said, "Your turn, pretty boy. See if you can make me come by your tongue alone."

Dom smiled. "You know I always win my challenges, right?" He bent down and started kissing up and down the sides of her labia slowly. After a minute, he took his tongue and licked up her clit, pressing hard, then went back to the labia kisses.

"Oh you fucker," Claire groaned in frustration.

Dom chuckled from between her legs, saying, "Patience, Claire. You don't win by going straight in hard always, you know?" Except as he said that, he pushed his tongue hard into her pussy, making her gasp. Two hard pushes later he went back to the labia kisses with a chuckle as Claire squirmed.

He switched it up. Using two fingers, he pulled her inner lips apart and began licking her slit with a flat tongue and hard pressure, especially on her clit. When he used the same fingers to reach inside for her G-spot with his tongue on her clit, Claire started to come. "Ah fuck, Dom. That feels too fucking good! You're going to, going to, ah fuck I am coming. Ah yes! Ah yes, ah you fucker!"

She pulled him up to her face and kissed him, tasting her juices on his tongue as his cock slid into her now very wet pussy, pulling back to say, "Okay but I let you win that one, pretty boy."

He pumped hard into her body, the headboard tapping on the wall as he did. Just as she started to come, he pulled his cock out of her and flipped her onto her front, pulling her onto her knees. He slammed in deep into her pussy, reaching around to pull and drag at her nipples. He whispered in her ear, "I swear I can feel your cap on the end of my cock. Want to challenge me to move it out of the way with my tip?"

They both knew he physically couldn't but the thought was enough to send both of them over the edge. "You want to win, Dom? Then fucking move it and paint my womb with your spunk, you fucker! Ah yes, fucking yes, yes!"

Dom was right there with her. "Ah fuck. Your pussy is too good. Fucking hell. Going to spray it off there with my spunk. Fuck yes! Yes!"

He slapped her bum as he pulled out. The slap hurt her pride a lot more than her bum, but she said nothing. She was too tired and high on endorphins to argue. He could have that small win.

Dom collapsed next to her and both fell asleep on top of the sheets within minutes. Claire woke up early, dressed and left him sleeping. She needed to get home to shower and change. Their team might notice if they both came in looking dishevelled.

It briefly occurred to her that she had slept through her 3am routine when she kissed Bill as she walked in. While she was in the shower at home, Bill took a quick look in her purse. Her diaphragm case was empty. He thought about the fact that she was clearly hoping to make love to him last night and that Stratton-Oakmont had fucking cock-blocked him again. He put it back in her purse and said nothing to Claire.

At 9am on Jabber,

Dominic McArthur: "Someone disappeared early."

Claire Townsend: "We are management now, pretty boy. Our staff can't see us both looking like you do this morning."

The day dragged on with start-of-the-year client calls on their market predictions, making it even more monotonous as they repeated the same things each hour. They split the client list, but it was still after seven when they were done, and both needed to edit the new corporate credit monthly piece. Allen's old office remained empty. It wasn't big enough for the two of them to work in together so they had kept their pods.

The floor was empty by this time. They walked into Allen's office. Dominic closed the door. "We have some unfinished business, Claire."

"You mean like this?" Claire said as she took her blouse and bra off.

"Exactly." Dom leaned down and started licking and kissing her nipples. She pulled his face up to hers and kissed him hard, her hands raking up and down his back before she pulled his suit trousers down. His cock was as hard as she had hoped.

Dom spun her around, and sweeping Allen's reports off the desk bent her over it and pulled her skirt over her bum. He pulled her knickers to one side and pushed in deep.

"Oh you fucker, pretty boy. This is just what I need. Fucking keep that pressure and make me fucking come!" Claire could feel her nipples slide on the old leather of Allen's desk. Her cap was in its case, not her pussy. She knew it and just didn't care for now.

He didn't last long. "Ah fuck. That's it. Going to fill your pretty pussy up. Ah fuck. Ah fuck. Yes! Take it all! Yes!"

She was right there with him. "Oh fuck this is too good. Just there. Just there. All that spunk! So warm and so much deeper. Ah fuck. Yes! Yes! Yes!"

He stood for a minute then pulled out and watched his cum slide onto the floor before he pulled her knickers back over her pussy, trapping the rest. They both dressed quietly and called cabs to go home.

When Claire opened her purse to pay her taxi, she spotted her diaphragm there in its case. "Fuck. I didn't even try to be safe."

Claire showered thoroughly once she got home and put in her diaphragm. She woke Bill with a long slow blowjob as she thought that she hadn't taken his cock in her mouth for months. When he was hard enough, she pulled him onto her and they made love with her tongue in his mouth and their eyes gazing into each other as he filled her. She didn't come, but he came hard enough that he didn't notice and was asleep shortly after. At 3am, she got up as usual, washed her cap and put it back in its case. He was asleep when she left the next morning.

The universe wasn't ready for Claire to go on maternity leave just yet. Her period arrived as normal with the same mixed feelings as before. They were both careful to hide their emotions at work. Especially the animosity they felt towards each other.

A couple of weeks later, their roadshow took them to Edinburgh for two days. A load of decent clients for sure, but Stoddard Life was a whale of a client and they needed to impress them especially. Dinner would be their challenge.

The big guns were there too: Ross, Deborah, Penny, Dominic and Claire, along with the salespeople who did the day-to-day coverage. Both of them still seethed inside that they were two Co-Heads travelling with three actual Heads.

No one could guess from the presentations. They were fully in sync as they swapped back and forth through the presentations. At dinner, Dominic was sat next to Stoddard's CIO Edwina McDougal. She asked pointed questions about their piece and was happy with the replies. When she asked Dominic how Celia was, he replied honestly to say he thought he was losing her. Edwina put her hand on his arm and said, "Sorry to hear, Dominic. At university, you two were the perfect couple." Claire couldn't hear their conversation and didn't know that they had been at university together. She found herself feeling something that was a lot like jealousy when she saw Edwina put her hand on Dominic's arm as they spoke.

Dinner broke up by ten, and they headed to the hotel. All went to their rooms to "sleep".

At 10:30, Dominic tapped on Claire's door.

She cracked it open and said, "Yes?"

"Nightcap?"

"Thought you would be in Edwina's bed by now, pretty boy." Claire chuckled as she let him in. She was wearing a see-through nightdress and nothing else. Dom pulled off his clothes and started kissing her. Claire stopped him and said, "Hold that thought. I have a cap to put in!"

As she walked into the bathroom and closed the door, she heard him say, "And what if you don't?" The cap went in all the same.

Claire walked up to him and knelt down in front of him. She planted a quick kiss on the end of his cock and stood back up. "In your dreams, pretty boy. You want someone to kneel and give you a blowjob, I can give you Edwina's address."

She pushed him back onto the bed and went to town licking and sucking his cock. To both of their surprise, he came quickly, filling her mouth with no warning. Claire said nothing but moved up to kiss him and, to his utter shock, pushed his entire load into his mouth before saying, "I'm not swallowing your spunk, pretty boy. You can have it back!"

Dom pushed her onto her back and started pushing his tongue into her pussy, trying to put his cum where he really wanted it to go. She was too tired to come and pulled him off, saying, "Sleep, pretty boy." She did her usual 3am routine: cap out, rinse it, dry it, back in case and purse as she thought that she hadn't really needed it that night. Well not yet anyway.

She woke up to him licking her pussy with long slow licks. She was already quite wet. After a minute, she said, "Not coming from your mouth today, pretty boy. I need to fuck you."

As he looked into her eyes, his cock slid deep into her pussy. Claire pushed down the voice inside her that told her to go put her cap back in and instead grabbed his bum to pull him in even harder. When she started to come, she raked her nails up and down his back. "Ah fuck. Keep fucking me. Keep fucking your cock into my fucking cunt. Ah yes. Ah yes! Yes!"

Dom pulled out of her and pushed her onto her front, pulling her bum up as before while she rested on her elbows. He slammed in hard and said, "Got to dislodge that fucking cap!" as he slammed in hard enough that their skin slapping would be heard outside if anyone was there. Claire was tempted to let him know just where her cap was, but the feeling of his cum shooting deep against her cervix pulled her over too. Their "Yes!" shouts were almost in stereo.

Claire dressed and snuck back to her room for a shower. He was sat at breakfast when she walked into the restaurant.

Across the way, Debs leaned over to Penny and said, "Well, well, well. Someone else has that freshly fucked look. Want a bet on who she has been fucking, Penny?"