In the Zone (3 page)

He waited until she finally said, “I want it to be more serious than it is. I don’t want to be the chambermaid who didn’t polish the silver correctly or the vanilla girlfriend who flirted with another man at a party.” She played with her hair.

“If you want to take a leave of absence, I have no objection,” Master Marcus said. “Zones only employs the best, the most dedicated.”

She winced. That used to be her.

“I want to make a couple of things clear. You would be welcome to return, with stipulations. You’d go through an abbreviated version of the training process.”

Despite her best intentions, her shoulders slumped. Except for participating in scenes with one of the club’s trainers, she’d hated the training process. For weeks, someone had followed her around constantly, making sure she followed the club’s decorum.

“If you choose to return, you’ll start as a regular employee, not a manager.” He took a breath. “You’re a valuable resource to us, Alani, and not just as a sub. Your financial acuity and the way you interact with other employees is a bonus. If you complete your sixty-day probation successfully, you’ll be added to the management team again.”

More than anything she loved being on the management team. During the day, she worked from home as a bookkeeper. Zones was a big part of her social life. She appreciated that her opinions were sought and listened to. She loved being part of the strategic planning. Knowing the team would be talking about her stung.

“The thing is, Alani,” he said, his voice gentle and reassuring, “this isn’t about the club or our clients. In the right mindset, you would have been able to get into a scene. A true sub, which I had thought you were, would have focused on pleasing her dom.”

The words stung.

“Think about this situation from Master Richard’s point of view. He specifically requested you. Because of his position in the media, he’s not comfortable having a BDSM relationship made public, so he comes here. We respect his privacy; we give him a safe place to escape the pressures of being on camera. He pays his membership fee, and he’s a generous tipper.” He raised his brows, as if in question.

She nodded and shifted.

Master Marcus was right. She was making this all about herself.

“You’re behaving as an employee, not a submissive.”

“Is it possible to be a sub
and
want more?”

“Of course it is,” he said. “Relationships and jobs end in the BDSM world just like they do everywhere else. What’s at issue here is your mindset. You’re not surrendering.”

She’d screwed up by not talking to Master Marcus. She exhaled. She kept her hands folded in her lap so she didn’t betray her nerves. “What next?”

“It’s your choice. Time away from here for you to evaluate what you want is good. We can do it as a leave of absence. Or we can do it a more formal way. We can document your behavior, give you a verbal warning. You can take some vacation time if you want, clear your mind, see if it helps.”

She’d had jobs all the way through high school and college. Never once had she received a reprimand of any sort. All of a sudden, the idea of being away from Zones terrified her. “So those are my only choices?” she asked. “I take a leave of absence and get retrained, or I get a verbal warning?”

“You’ll be monitored and retrained, either way.”

She wrung her hands together. Master Marcus had never been this inflexible before.

There was a knock at the door. Master Marcus called out, “Come in.”

She resisted the impulse to turn around to see who’d entered.

“Ah, Master Nathaniel.”

She squeezed her eyes closed.
Bastard. Tattletale.
She’d rather have a meeting with the devil.

“Since Master Nathaniel is home, he’ll be running the club while Karyn and I are on vacation. I invited him to participate in this meeting.”

The evening had gone from bad to disastrous. She could hardly think. “You’re going on vacation, Sir?”

“I’m surprising Karyn with a trip to celebrate the two-year anniversary of her collaring. I wasn’t sure it would work out until Master Nathaniel came home.”

Master Marcus nodded purposefully, indicating she should greet Master Nathaniel.

Having no other choice, she turned to acknowledge him.

He regarded her before closing the door. He crossed the room to stand just behind Master Marcus. “Bring me up to speed.”

She waited for Master Marcus to respond, but then saw both men were waiting on her. She swallowed. “You know what happened during my scene with Master Richard.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Explain it in your words.”

Master Nathaniel went from nemesis to asshole. “I was having a scene with Master Richard. I wasn’t into it, and you caught me yawning.”

“And rolling your eyes. Twice.”

She flushed.

“The yawn would have been forgivable if you were tired. It’s the combination of behaviors that has me concerned.”

She wasn’t willing to concede anything to him. “At the moment, I’m deciding between a leave of absence or signing a verbal reprimand,” she said in conclusion, noting the pieces of paper in the middle of the desk.

“And retraining,” Master Marcus clarified. “Overseen by Master Nathaniel.”

Even from halfway across the room, the man radiated leashed energy.

“I want to back up,” Master Nathaniel said. “I want to know why, little sub, you allowed your attention to wander.”

“Master Marcus and I have already discussed that.”

He set his jaw.

Clearly she’d just made another error.

She remembered the powerful way he’d captured her chin and forced her attention back to the scene. He was tall, intense, commanding. Unaccountably, she was becoming aroused.

“I’d like a few minutes alone with Alani, if you don’t mind,” Master Nathaniel said.

Master Marcus turned to look at his partner.

“Now.”

“Certainly.”

What the hell?
Alani cleared her throat. “Uhm…”

Both men ignored her.

Master Marcus stood.

Her heart thundered. She didn’t want to be alone with Master Nathaniel. Not for one moment.

The door closed quietly behind Master Marcus. Suddenly it was just her and this terrifying man.

She told herself to run, hard, far, and fast. Her traitorous body refused to obey her brain’s command. Part of her wanted this, wanted it with a hunger that bordered on desperation.

“When I ask a question, Alani, I expect an honest and quick answer. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Now tell me why you were behaving so disrespectfully.”

Even if she weren’t a sub, even if he wasn’t her boss, she would have responded with that respect. The man commanded it. “It wasn’t so much that I allowed my mind to wander. I was bored with Master Richard. With most clients, honestly. There’s never anything new.” She searched for the words. “It’s mainly acting. It’s not real.”

Standing next to the desk, he looked at her; his eyes were unreadable.

“You want real?” he asked. “I’ll give you real. Get your ass over here and beg me to punish you.”

Nathaniel hooked a thumb in his belt loop and silently regarded her, waiting for her reaction.

Would she fight him before her inevitable surrender? Or would she capitulate instantly to his authority, dropping her skirt and baring her ass?

She played with her hair. Was it from nerves or indecision?

Regardless, it was interesting. He’d thought she was too well trained to behave so thoughtlessly. “You will lean over this desk, Alani, and when you do, I’ll add two stripes for your hesitation.”

“This isn’t how an employer/employee relationship works.”

“Is that what you are?” He paused. “An employee? Nothing more?”

“Nothing more,” she said.

Apparently aware of what she was doing, she dropped her hand to grip the arms of the chair.

“So you show up every day to ensure you collect a paycheck at the end of the week? Or are you a sub, Alani, a true, on-your-knees, desperate-to-surrender submissive who craves the touch of a dom?”

“I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

She stared at him through impossibly long lashes. In the time he’d been away, he’d forgotten how rich her brown eyes were and how he’d like to drown in their depths. She’d accented her startling features with an artful feathering of kohl on her lids and several dark layers of mascara.

He had a sudden, cock-stirring urge to see her face streaked with real tears.

He’d been part of her initial hiring process. Although his partners sent him weekly status reports, keeping him up-to-date with club operations, he didn’t spend a lot of time at Zones, even when he was in Denver.

He knew Alani had been promoted to the management team and that she offered insightful comments and recommendations. Until tonight, he’d never wanted to play with any of the club’s personnel.

Things had changed when he’d witnessed Alani with Master Richard.

First, he was pissed that an employee would behave that way. Second, he wondered if he could make her behave.

When he’d joined the scene between her and Master Richard, Nathaniel had watched her transformation, from bored to aroused. He wasn’t a fool. He knew her reaction came from the fact he fully engaged her…from the way he held her face captive to the way he spoke to the way he looked at her. Submissives were complex little devils—which was part of the reason he didn’t play often. It took a hell of a lot of work. “Do you want to take some time for yourself? Maybe it will be refreshing and enjoyable. Maybe you’ll return just as lost, just as desperate.”

He didn’t know Alani well. But he knew human nature, and from his years of practice, he definitely knew how to read submissives. Alani might try to hide from him, but she’d never succeed.

Her breathing became more shallow. He’d obviously read her mind, reached in and found one of her deepest fears.

As she waged an internal battle, he took in her loveliness. Her full lips were slightly parted. Her breaths were more even, but her chest was still rising and falling rapidly. And as he’d noticed earlier, her butt was perfectly formed for spanking. “It’s your choice,” he said. “Find out what you’re missing. Discover if it’s possible to experience it. Or walk away.” Deliberately he turned up his cuffs again farther, baring his forearms. He meant business, and he wanted her to see that.

He watched her clench her fingers tighter against the chair’s arms.

He gave her a good thirty seconds, then—very unlike his disciplined nature—he ran out of patience. “You will sign your acknowledgment of your verbal warning or you can write out a leave request.” He moved two pieces of paper toward her. “And then, if you want, we can continue.”

After the barest hint of hesitation, Alani released her grip and leaned forward. “I’ll sign the warning,” she said.

Her fingers were tight on the pen, and her hand shook as she scrawled her name on the bottom of the page. She threw rather than placed the pen back on the desk’s veneered top.

“Now, just so we’re clear, you’re off the clock. This isn’t an employee/employer situation. This is a chance for you to discover what you’re missing.”

“I understand.”

“If you want to, remove your skirt and lean over this desk. But you’ll not get a second chance. Do it now or walk out the door.”

She met his gaze. Slowly she scooted back and stood.

Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how much he’d hoped she’d make this choice. He wanted Alani as much as she seemed to want him. “Where does your gaze belong, sub?”

Almost instantly, she looked at the floor.

He held his breath and waited.

A few moments later, she unzipped her skirt. She wiggled and shimmied, exaggerating the movements. The garment fell to the floor. And then, after glancing at him, maybe to be sure he was watching, she stepped aside, leaving the material in a pile.

She was totally feminine, well trained to entice, as she bent. God, could she be any more lovely? The garters stretched across her ass but slackened in the front. The contrast of the black material against her sun-kissed skin made him very much aware of being a man.

“Remove the thong,” he told her. “Master Richard may not have demanded that of you, but I will. That and much, much more.”

She hesitated but then slowly slid her fingers beneath the waistband.

Oh, yes, Alani was as willing as he was. The thrill of the new, the exciting, the unexpected. “I will take more than you’ve ever offered anyone else, Alani. And you’ll thank me for it. Keep going.”

As if doing a striptease, she took her time removing the scrap of material. She stepped out of the thong and dropped it on top of the skirt.

Her cunt was shaved bare.

He could let her leave her clothing on the floor. Or he could watch her a little longer. “Pick up both things.”

She did as he instructed. As he cleared off the top of the desk, she placed her clothing on a chair, then took a step toward the desk.

“Stop,” he said.

She did.

“I’ve decided I want to look at you for a moment, see what my investment in Zones has returned. Move both of those chairs out of the way and then go stand near that light.” Unaccountably pleased with her, he wanted to wad up her warning document.

She moved one chair to the right of the room. The second, she put against the far wall. She didn’t ask for clarification; instead, she went and stood near the light. She didn’t fidget as she stood there, her shoulders back, her hands at her sides.

“Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Link your hands behind your neck.”

Her movements were slow and elegant, and within moments, she was properly in position. Standing in front of him like this, she hid no secrets. Her waist was nipped in, but her belly had a slight, feminine swell.

And Jesus, he noticed her legs.

She was a petite but powerful package.

Her stockings ended near the tops of her thighs, and the garters laid alluringly against her skin.

He wondered what her legs would feel like wrapped around his as he fucked her ragged?