Enthrall Read online

  Back at my desk, with half an hour to go before Monsieur Trouville’s next appointment, I opened my pocketbook and spent half an hour or so calculating where I was financially and estimating I’d be able to pay off my step-mom’s medical bills in about two years. That was, of course, if I stayed on track with my spending. Light shimmered at the end of this dark tunnel, though it hardly compared to the blackest years of my life. That award went to losing my real mom after she’d overdosed on cocaine, right after my tenth birthday, and four years later my dad crashed his motorcycle in a fatal accident.

  With a shiver, I buried those thoughts where they belonged, far away from where they could touch me or hurt me anymore. They had no right to infringe on my new life and cast a dark cloud over what promised to be a better future. My hands clutched the edge of the desk.

  The entryway lift pinged.

  I pushed myself to my feet. This time I remained behind the desk. Trourville didn’t want to be touched, according to Lotte.

  “Unless it’s the extremes of pleasure or pain,” she’d told me.

  I wondered what terrible things might have happened to him to make him like that. On the outside he seemed so calm, so normal.

  Monsieur Trourville strolled out carrying a briefcase. A subtle nod let him know he had my empathy. With a glance at the clock, I estimated he was at least ten minutes early and guessed he must be compensating for being late last time.

  “Good morning, sir,” I greeted him.

  He lingered before my desk. “You were kind to me when we first met. I want to thank you for that.”

  “Of course,” I said. “It’s my pleasure.” I hoped my kindness might balance out Lotte’s sternness. “Can I get you anything?”

  He rested his briefcase on the desk and clicked it open. “I have a gift for you.” He presented the hand sized silver and red wrapped box. “I was hoping you’d wear these next time I come in?”

  “I’d love to.” Remembering the blinding diamond he’d given Lotte, I took it from him, careful not to touch his hand. Was he hinting these were earrings?

  “It would mean the world to me.”

  “Then it’ll be my pleasure.” I wondered how long I could keep the gift before re-selling it. If these diamonds were half as big as Lotte’s I’d pay off my debt in a heartbeat.

  He lowered his gaze. “If you really do wear them I’ll see you get a bonus.”

  “Of course I’ll wear them,” I said, amazed at his generosity.

  Lotte burst through the staff door.

  Where I’d expected to see her pleased that Monsieur Trourville had arrived early, instead she looked annoyed. Her gaze shifted to the box. I clutched it to my chest.

  “You may keep it,” said Lotte, pointing her whip at Trourville. “Are you expecting leniency for this?”

  “Never, Mistress,” he said.

  I pounced for the key.

  “Ms. Lauren, we’ll open your gift together,” she said sternly.

  “Yes, Mistress Lotte,” I said, beaming a smile at Monsieur Trourville.

  I set the box next to the computer.

  They disappeared into the forbidden zone and I closed the gate behind them.

  There was still time to continue my research on the kind of things they did here. I opened the browser, typed in S & M, and disappeared into cyberspace...

  I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be bound and gagged like that. Not to mention where they were shoving those sex toys. And what the hell was that expression on their faces? Bliss? It didn’t fit.

  This fleeting escape left me baffled.

  I rested back, not quite sure what I’d been looking at and wondering if they did any of those things here. Perhaps I’d gone to the wrong websites. Hardcore images of men dressed in leather using all kind of accruements on naked women left me stunned and yet strangely aroused. Richard didn’t seem the type to dabble in anything like this. He always had his head in a book, like something by Chaucer last week and more recently Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure.

  Squeezing my legs together, I tried to shake off these feelings stirring between my thighs. My imagination ran wild with thoughts of Richard doing those things to me in their dungeon. The one I was banned from. Which made it all the more mysterious. All the more forbidden.

  My thoughts raced...

  Richard spanking me. Richard kissing me. Richard’s hands trailing over my breasts and tweaking my nipples. Did he ever use nipple clamps like the ones in the photos? Didn’t they hurt? After a session, could you snuggle into him for a hug? I’d breathe him in, that delicious scent of ocean and something else, something expensive.

  A flutter of excitement. The nicest tingle below...

  Richard’s kiss lowering, settling between my thighs, his tongue tracing between that delicate cleft, circling there, flicking—

  A ping of the lift.

  I went for the mouse and shrank the browser, feigning being busy.

  Richard strolled out. “How’s your morning going?”

  Averting my eyes from his, I said, “Good, thank you.”

  “Any calls?”

  “No calls. Monsieur Trourville’s just arrived. Lotte’s with him.” I glanced back at the gate.

  “Everything okay, Mia?”

  “Yes,” I said, suppressing a blush.

  The way he said my name caused a shiver and I found it hard to look at him. Not after the trip my imagination had just taken with him in that room of pain. His narrowed gaze locked on mine.

  “How is your day going?” I said.

  “Just got here.” His stare was on my unwrapped gift. “Did Monsieur Trouville give you that?”

  “Yes. Haven’t opened it yet,” I stated the obvious. “Lotte wants me to wait for her.” I swallowed hard. “Mistress Lotte.”

  “Ah.”

  “Coffee’s brewing.”

  “Perfect. Go put one on my desk, please.”

  A shiver ran up my spine and I froze, feeling guilty over my cyber-probing.

  Richard leaned over to peer at my computer screen. “You need a new background.”

  “Huh?”

  “For your desktop.” He came round my side and gestured for me to get up.

  He sat in my chair and grabbed the mouse, shaking it to awaken the screen. Mentally, I backtracked over whether I’d closed the browser from the last website. Richard’s hand was poised on the mouse and his stare was still on mine.

  “I’ll get your coffee.” I headed off.

  The fear of him catching my internet search with one click made my cheeks burn. Leaning against the kitchen counter, I buried my face in my hands. I could only imagine how useless I’d be if he really touched me down there. Trying to re-focus on something else, I worked on making Richard’s coffee, adding sugar and milk to his beverage and making my way to his office as I tried to calm my still thundering heart.

  I placed a mug of hot coffee on his desk. Everything on it had been perfectly organized. Even the pencils were aligned and set apart with precision, as was the collection of luxury pens. His iMac computer looked expensive with its sleek design and the elegant arched mouse resting before it.

  Richard startled me when he came in.

  “I heard you like the carp pond?” he said, throwing his satchel on the leather sofa. From his unfazed expression, it seemed he’d not caught my web browsing. Or the effect he had on me.

  “It’s relaxing.” I shrugged. “You should go down there during your break too.”

  “I do. I use the fire escape.”

  I wondered what kind of exit they had in the dungeon, though didn’t feel ready to discuss that with him yet in case the conversation veered off to what he did down there.

  “Do you need something?” he said.

  “Um, no.”

  He raised his eyebrows in amusement.

  On my way out I felt his stare.

  Back at my desk, I was grateful for the distance between my work station and his office. He’d set my background
to the image of a Japanese garden with a carp pond. The vision of the soothing photo made my shoulders relax and it made me smile that he’d taken the time to do this for me. Maybe he liked me after all. I reassured myself I’d clicked away all evidence of my viewing long before Richard had a chance to catch sight of it. I’d worried myself over nothing.

  My gift wrapped box was gone.

  Checking each drawer, I wondered if Richard had tucked it away safely.

  The phone buzzed. “Can you come in here please, Mia,” Richard’s voice rose out of the speakerphone.

  Unhappy to leave my search unfinished, I hopped out of my chair and grabbed my note pad and pen.

  Waiting for him to look up from scribbling something, I lingered before his desk. My gift sat next to his phone.

  “I’m low on ink.” He passed me a post-it note. “Usually we order this in but my last secretary was a little distracted.” He smiled. “She had exams and it addled her brain. Can you pick this up for me at Office Depot?”

  “Sure.”

  Richard rested his hand on the gift. “Hope you don’t mind. I thought it best to return this.”

  “Why?”

  “It has nothing to do with what your role is.” He sat back. “I’ll explain it to Monsieur Trouville.” Richard thinned his lips in a thank you that’ll be all kind of way.

  “Mistress Lotte kept her gift from him.”

  “She’s his Domina.” He took a sip of coffee. “Anyway, different kind of gift.” He shooed me out. “Thank you, Mia.”

  “Can I see what it is?”

  He leaned back and caressed his forehead. “Later.”

  Unwilling to give it up so easily, I stood my ground.

  “Something tells me you won’t like it,” he said.

  “You know what it is?”

  “I can guess.”

  “How can I not like it?”

  He threw his hands up in defeat.

  Suppressing my excitement, I reached for the box.

  “Come on. Let’s open it in the coffee room.” He rose and led the way. “It’s best we do this with women present.”

  Was that an indication this really was a diamond?

  Mistress Scarlet smiled at us when we entered. Her gaze fell on the gift.

  Lady Penny raised the coffee pot. “Want a top up?”

  “Sure,” said Richard, offering his half empty mug to be filled.

  Penny poured coffee into it. “Want one, Mia?”

  “No thank you.” I tore off the wrapping. The black box within had two hinges and I eased them open. Inside were two delicate silver balls attached with a thin thread.

  “Who gave you that?” said Penny, glaring at Richard.

  “As if.” He rolled his eyes. “Monsieur Trourville.”

  “What is it?” I tried to hide my disappointment.

  Richard took a sip. “What do you think it is?”

  I twisted my mouth thoughtfully. “Paperweight?”

  He coughed and suppressed a grin. Penny and Scarlet shared a wary glance with each other.

  “You sure you don’t know?” said Penny.

  I blushed wildly, wondering if it represented some part of the male anatomy. “This is so not going on my desk.”

  Richard offered a sympathetic gesture. “I did try to save you from this.”

  “They’re Venus balls,” said Scarlet.

  I frowned down at the box.

  “Mia, they’re sex balls,” said Penny.

  My jaw dropped. “You mean you put it in your...?”

  “Yes,” said Scarlet.

  I placed the box on the table. “It’s bad enough having to put a tampon up there let alone something like this.”

  Silence reined and I read nothing but surprise on their faces.

  “Okay then,” said Richard and he headed out with his coffee.

  I waited for him to leave. “Monsieur Trourville asked me to put this in each time he visited. I thought they were earrings.”

  Penny laughed. “You crack me up, Mia.”

  My cheeks burned. “Oh no, I told him I’d be happy to.”

  “What did he promise you?” said Penny.

  “A bonus.”

  “Tell Monsieur Trourville you’ve got them in,” said Scarlet.

  “He’ll know.” Penny took the seat beside her. “He’ll look at her pupils.”

  I sat beside Penny and rested my head on my hands. “To see if I’m lying?”

  She shook her head. “Aroused.”

  “Don’t they hurt?”

  “They vibrate,” said Scarlet. “It’s a pleasant tease, actually.”

  I stared at the box, hating my big mouth for talking Richard into letting me open it and wondering how I’d ever face him again. I wished I’d waited for Lotte.

  The door opened.

  In strolled a dashing, thirty-something man dressed in a snappy suit and waistcoat. His short, neatly styled dark-brown hair looked ruffled to perfection and he oozed class. The kind of man who was not only out of my league but everyone else’s too. Even a supermodel would have to work extra hard at nabbing this one, with his perfect bone structure and that ridiculous well-toned body which even his expensive suit didn’t hide. It was the way he moved, demure and yet masculine. He reminded me of one of those photo-journalists you see on TV reporting from the middle-east, with bullets flying over their heads and yet the person gives not so much as a blink. Sophisticated and earthy all at the same time.

  His chestnut gaze settled on me with an unnerving scrutiny. There was something sensually alluring about him too. Dangerous. As though he knew of his effect and could turn it up a notch just to amuse himself.

  Penny and Scarlet rose and I followed their lead.

  “Sit,” he said, and it kind of sounded like an order.

  He came closer, walking with the confidence of a man who could handle anything. Or anyone. From the way Penny and Scarlet reacted they’d picked up on this too. For the first time, they looked nervous. I hoped we hadn’t been caught doing something wrong, like enjoying one too many coffee breaks.

  “You must be Mia,” he said, his tone low, his voice cultured.

  A thrill of excitement shot up my spine. The kind that has no right to happen, the kind that threatens to embarrass me.

  Oh no.

  Those damn balls were still on the table.

  “Mia, this is Cameron Cole,” said Mistress Scarlet.

  He gave a nod of approval and his attention fell on the Venus balls.

  “They’re mine,” Penny told him.

  He looked unfazed and his vivid brown gaze found me again.

  Penny stood. “Sir, let me get you a drink.”

  “Sit,” he said. “I’ll get it.”

  I flushed wildly at the way he’d spoken to her. Penny merely sat back down and twirled her gold pinky ring.

  Cameron poured himself a drink, added a shake of coffee mate and stirred. I wondered about his connection to Enthrall. He couldn’t be a client, could he? They weren’t allowed back here. Penny threw me a wink of encouragement and I returned a gesture of gratitude for her lying about the box. These women really knew how to have your back.

  Cameron turned around. “Mia, sit.”

  I realized Scarlet had also taken her seat again and I dropped into mine.

  “How’s your first week going?” he said.

  “Second week,” I said.

  “It’s her second week,” said Penny at the same time.

  He wasn’t just making me jumpy.

  “It’s going great, thank you.” I wished I’d agreed to a coffee so I could peer into a mug rather than having to hold his fiery gaze. I wondered if it was possible to run out of blushes. This day was turning into an ordeal of epic proportions.

  “FMBs.” He looked down at my feet. “I approve.”

  “He likes your boots,” said Scarlet.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He loosened his tie and a silver cufflink caught the light.

&nb
sp; Licking my dry lips, I tried not to hold his stare. It was severe. As though any minute he’d scold me for something I’d done wrong.

  Not letting up, he blew onto his drink.

  “Can I get you anything?” said Penny.

  “No, thank you. How’s the boss?” he said, thankfully turning away from me and toward Penny and Scarlet.

  “Fine,” said Scarlet. “Busy but good.”

  “Glad to hear it,” he said. “How does he like his new secretary?” His lips curled into a smile.

  Something fluttered inside my chest and I tried to suppress another threatening blush.

  Richard appeared in the doorway. “Hey, buddy, perfect timing.” He seemed to purposefully ignore me. “Cameron, my office please.” Richard disappeared again.

  Cameron snapped his head back toward Penny. “How long has he been like this?”

  Penny twisted her mouth into a frown.

  “Really?” said Cameron, unable to hide his satisfaction, and he flitted a final glance at me before he headed after Richard.

  Penny and Scarlet shared a look, but it was hard to read it.

  “What was that about?” I said.

  “Nothing to concern yourself over, Mia,” said Penny.

  “Who is he?” I whispered.

  “A good friend of Richard’s,” said Scarlet.

  “Are they lovers?” I braved to ask. After all, we’d bonded over these Venus thingies.

  “No,” Scarlet answered pleasantly. “Just good friends. They go way back.”

  “Is Richard okay?” I asked.

  “Never better,” said Scarlet.

  “Try not to engage with Cameron,” said Penny.

  “Oh, all right,” I said. “Why?”

  “He’s... bossy.” Scarlet slid her chair back and went over to top up her coffee.

  Penny gave a nod as though warning me not to push the subject. Was I in trouble for the way I’d spoken to him? It wouldn’t surprise me with all these strange rules.

  “Stay off Cameron’s radar and you’ll do fine,” said Scarlet.

  “I can do that.” I rose and headed toward the door, turning before heading out. “Can you give those back to Richard?” I said. “I’m too embarrassed.”

  “Sure thing, Mia.” Penny smiled. “We’ll re-gift them.”