The Spice of Life (The Transformation #1) (7 page)

Nina shrugged. “Someone that hot? Oh, you’d remember. You probably just saw him in your dreams!” She giggled, then paused. “You know, now that you mention it…I feel like he seemed familiar to me too. Do you think he’s famous? Maybe he’s a reality TV star or B-list celeb and we just can’t place it.”

Kelli thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe. It’s so odd, though. I can’t figure it out.”

“Well, you’re the one who is going to have him sitting in your office. My god! I know exactly what I would do if I got him alone,” Nina said, as she made a lewd slurping noise.

Kelli hardly noticed Nina’s coarse joke. She was transfixed, staring at the door where she’d seen Jake exit the building. The whole room felt empty without him. Suddenly, she realized something, and started to laugh softly. The whole time she had been talking to Jake, she hadn’t thought of her online mishaps. Not even once. Jake’s charm and attentiveness had pushed the thought right out of her mind.

“What’s so funny, Kelli? Why the hell are you laughing?” Nina slurred.

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Come on. Let’s get you home.”

{ 3 }

Monday. Monday. Monday.
It was a mantra echoing through her brain. Seeing Jake again was all that Kelli could think about. The few days that passed between meeting Jake on Thursday night and his therapy appointment on Monday afternoon seemed like an eternity. Kelli found herself adding up the hours and moments until their first session.
What was it about him?
There was something so mysterious and appealing. She kept reminding herself that therapists weren’t allowed to get involved with clients, but time and time again, she found herself replaying the events in the bar, over and over again. Kelli re-ran each and every detail of their conversation, trying to find clues as to who he was, and what their interaction on Monday might be like. She was incredibly excited, but was trying not to admit it to herself.

Nina wasn’t much help, either. “My GOD,” she said over lunch the next day, “I cannot believe the chemistry that was there between the two of you. You do realize that it was completely electric, right? I kept thinking that the bar was going to burst into flames.  Do you seriously think that you are going to be able to keep him as a client without jumping him?” She nibbled on the very tip of a breadstick, suggestively, and looked at Kelli, while batting her eyelashes.

Kelli had wondered the same thing herself, several times, but she acted mildly offended, “Nina! What do you think I am? Yes, of course I can take him as a client. I’m a professional. This is what I do. I can separate my own personal feelings from my work.” Inside, she was anything but certain of this fact. She couldn’t stop thinking of him, after all.

She obviously didn’t sound convincing. Nina wrinkled up her nose slightly, “Hmmmm. Well, whatever. I give it two months, tops, before you’re banging him.” Her friend grinned wickedly and popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. Kelli just rolled her eyes and ignored her, but felt the familiar pang of butterflies inside her stomach.

When it finally rolled around, Monday morning itself was the worst. Kelli had a day packed full of clients, and could barely focus on what they were saying to her. She sat through some of her regulars, listening half-heartedly to freckle-faced Sarah droning on about her latest one-night stand and how it related to her parents’ relationship, and then to crazy-eyed Vincent’s dissection of his ongoing obsession with his boss. Part of her felt guilty that she was not giving her full attention to her patients, but another part of her felt exactly like a teenage girl going to the prom. She wasn’t really admitting it fully, but the fact of the matter was that she simply could not wait to see Jake again.

In preparation for her session with him, she had dressed in the exact clothes that he had specified: the short black skirt and thin, white muslin blouse with buttons from her chin to her waist. She felt a thrill of anticipation at the idea of him being pleased and satisfied with her outfit. “It’s for his therapy,” she told herself. “All for his therapy.”

At 3:50, her last client left, and Kelli felt completely frazzled. An iced vanilla chai…now that was just the thing to calm her down and make her feel a little better before Jake arrived. She let her secretary know where she was headed and walked briskly down to her favorite street-side coffee stand.

Unfortunately, there was a line at the stand, and by the time Kelli had her drink it was already 4pm.
He’s probably there right now
, she thought,
waiting for me
. The thought made her stomach twist into knots, and she felt almost nauseous.  She walked back as briskly as she could, without breaking a sweat, and came into the office ten minutes late.

“Your four o’clock is here and waiting in the therapy room,” her secretary told her, sounding bored.

Kelli suddenly realized that she was sweating a little. “Let him know that I’ll be right in,” she instructed, and went straight to the ladies room. She got out her compact and dabbed on a little face powder along with some nude lipstick and brown eye shadow. The makeup made her feel much better, more secure, armored.

She stepped back into the foyer.
Here we go
, Kelli thought, as she opened the door.

The afternoon light was fading and it took Kelli a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. When they did, she was slightly shocked to realize that Jake was not sitting in any of the usual spots that clients generally chose. Instead, he was in the dead center of the room, in Kelli’s usual therapist’s chair, gazing directly at her as she entered. One of his ankles was resting on his other knee, and his arms were open and spread out across the back of the chair. The therapist in Kelli recognized his body language and posture immediately.
Confident. Assertive. Secure.

She took in the rest of his appearance. He looked noticeably tanner, and she thought of what he had told her about going to Vegas. She couldn’t help but imagine him on the Strip, sipping a drink in the lounge of one of the higher-end casinos, and she felt a twinge of desire at the thought. She also noticed he was wearing a gray, pin-striped suit that was obviously from a top designer; she suspected it was Armani. Even from the doorway, she could tell that the material was heavy and of the highest quality. His shirt was a crisp white and looked like a silk/cotton blend. It was impeccably ironed, and the cuffs of the shirt were pinned with solid, square-shaped cuff links with an embossed pattern on them.  The patina of the cuffs was that of a dull, antique silver. His tie was also obviously designer and a deep, brick red color that complimented the suit and conveyed a strong sense of power and control. His shoes were expensive black leather, and were void of any scratches or scuffs.

Before she could open her mouth, he spoke. “You’re late, Kelli.”  The tone of his voice was calm but had an undertone of steel.

Kelli was instantly flustered and apologetic. “Oh, yes, I’m sorry about…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Jake was out of the chair and standing in front of her. He reached out and silenced her with a finger across her lips. “Shhhhh.”

His finger pressed hard against her lips produced an immediately sexual effect on Kelli. She felt a jolt of electricity running from his hand down her body and between her legs. She could tell that she had just become instantly wet as she stared motionlessly into his green eyes.

He spoke her name again. “Kelli, you were late. That is not acceptable. You must, and I repeat, MUST be on time for our sessions. With no exceptions.”  He paused, and as he did so, he removed his red tie from around his neck with nimble fingers. Kelli remained wordless.

Jake held up his tie, folding it over itself, and continued, “If you are late again, there will be consequences. I will need to administer discipline to you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Kelli wasn’t sure if she understood him correctly or not, but what she was sure of was that her nipples were completely hard through the thin fabric of her shirt, so hard that they actually hurt. She nodded back to him, mutely.

“I need words from you, Kelli,” Jake said. “Answer me with a yes or a no.”

“Y…yes,” Kelli managed to whisper.

“Good girl. At the end of our session, I will tell you more about my discipline. But for now, we may begin. Take a seat.”

Jake returned to the therapist’s chair in the center of the room, leaving Kelli the choice of several other seats that were arranged in a semi-circle. She sank into the nearest armchair feeling grateful to be off her feet. The tension between them was so palpable that she felt like she might pass out if she kept standing. This dynamic was like no other she had ever experienced. It was clear that Jake had taken control of the situation and his mastery was intoxicating to her. She knew, without even checking, that her G-string was soaked through with her arousal. Just his touch and his firm tone had been enough to produce that physical effect. If this is how the session was starting, she wasn’t sure how she was going to make it all the way through.

He was gazing at her silently, and with a start, she realized that he was waiting for her to speak. Kelli suddenly noticed that when he removed his tie, he had also undone the top couple of buttons on his shirt, giving the slightest hint beneath of a smooth and chiseled chest. Kelli was incredibly turned on by the thought of seeing him shirtless and quickly spoke as a way to hide her instinctual lust and confusion.

“Uh, so, I guess…why don’t we start with you telling me about your weekend. You were going to be quite busy, I remember. What about the charity event? How was it?”

Jake spoke: “The charity event was great. I guess I should start from the beginning and fill you on how I came to be there. I received an invite from a more upscale burger joint that was hosting a charity event in another county. I decided to attend and when I arrived at the place it was extremely busy, packed in fact. The charity event had already begun. It was my first visit to this particular restaurant and I was excited to try their cuisine. When I sat down, I ordered a tuna appetizer and one of their craft beers. Next to me was a couple. He was pretty nondescript, just your average guy. Nothing special. In fact, I noticed that he was wearing jeans that were pretty sloppy, given the nature of the event. His date even seemed a little bit embarrassed to be with him. She was very pretty. Slim, dark hair, and a great set of tits. She was sitting down, so I couldn’t see her ass, but my imagination was already going crazy.”

Kelli smiled. “An ass guy, huh?”

Jake grinned back. “Oh yeah. Ass and legs, all the way. In any case, I happened to notice that the couple had a very unusual clam appetizer. Because food is one of my great loves, I checked it out and stared at it for quite a while. This caught the attention of the brunette, who kept glancing over at me and smiling. Our eyes met at several points, and I could tell that she found me attractive. As the night continued, I had another one of the craft beers, which were putting me in a great mood. My appetizer arrived, and the brunette leaned over and asked, “What is that?”

I had only eaten half of it because I wasn’t enjoying it but I told her, “It’s a peppered tuna appetizer, which I normally order in my favorite sushi restaurant. This one really isn’t doing it for me. In fact, the tuna seems a bit rotten.”

She was appalled. “Are you going to complain? That’s not ok.”

I shrugged. “Hey, I’m here to support the charity, not to make trouble over the food. If I want great sushi, there are plenty of other places I can go.”

She sparked a new part of the conversation when she asked me about my favorite sushi restaurant, and we started talking about sushi restaurants in general. She mentioned another one that was close by that was for a high end crowd, and I told her I had been there a few times. Then I informed her of a place that I go to that was a bit more low key, but was probably the best sushi in New Jersey. “Maybe one day I will take you there.” I threw the line out at her to see if she would bite.

Kelli interrupted, “Wait, wasn’t she with someone?”

“Yes, she was. In fact, I felt a little awkward because the guy I thought was her date was joining in our conversation back and forth. He seemed to cut out sometimes and put himself away from the conversation, so I thought it could have been her brother or perhaps a co-worker. I wasn’t really sure what to make of the guy with her. I really had no intention of meeting or flirting with anybody. I was just going there to support a charity.

As the night wore on I found out that her name was Megan, and at one point she even offered to share her appetizer. “Would you like to have some of my clam?” she asked with a flirtatious smile.

“I prefer my clams to be totally raw and smooth.”

She smiled and said, “Well mine has a small carpet on it. Would that be okay?”

“In my lifestyle, I prefer to have it smooth and bare. I might have to take it off for you,” I dared.

She looked at me curiously, and then asked, “What is your lifestyle?”

“I am into the BDSM lifestyle,” I answered her.

Megan said, “Oh wow. I’ve heard of that. I’m very curious about it, but I don’t know what to do, or how to go about exploring the BDSM lifestyle.” 

“There is plenty of reading to do ahead, and you should definitely research it first before getting into the lifestyle,” I informed her.