Unlocked (10 page)

"Oh, you have a call," I said. "I'll let you go, then. Just wanted to share the news. Have a nice day."

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to turn around and leave without letting out a cheer, although internally I was giving myself a million high fives. Even Jennifer herself would have been proud of that performance. It had been as chirpy and fake as any act of hers.

I could have been the bigger woman and let that be the end of it, but after years of torture, the moral high ground was the last thing on my mind. This was my moment and I was going to enjoy the hell out of it.
After a brief visit to see what had become of my office, I hunted Elle down and dragged her out into the main foyer to wait with me.

"Oh. My. God," she said, when I relayed what had happened.
"
You're my fucking hero. What did she say when you told her?"

"Nothing. She just sat there growing redder and redder, like someone was pumping her full of hot air."

She laughed. "Christ, I wish I'd been there to see it. That must have been the most satisfying thing in the world."

"It was pretty amazing," I replied.

"How the hell did you get access to her email, anyway?"

I shrugged. "I didn't. Some mysterious little bird forwarded them to me."

"You're kidding, right?"

I shook my head. It was a pretty flimsy lie, but ironically it was more believable than the truth.
Oh, yeah, my boyfriend is part of a secret society that hacked Jennifer's email.
That would go down a treat. "They just showed up in my inbox the other day."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Well, apparently you have a fairy godmother looking out for you."

I couldn't help but grin at the Cinderella reference. "You know, maybe I do."

At that moment, Jennifer appeared around the corner, escorted by building security. She was the picture of a sudden firing; eyes blank, skin deathly white, possessions clutched listlessly in a cardboard box against her chest. There had been no dancing around the issue with her, no feints involving temporary leave to ease the blow. She'd been summarily let go, and company policy dictated that she had to leave immediately. There was too much sensitive information at stake to allow ex-employees to linger.

She did her best to maintain the veneer of superiority, although the smeared mascara running below her eyes certainly detracted from the effect, and the moment she saw me her expression crumpled. I'd positioned myself perfectly, exactly where she'd stood during my walk of shame. There was nothing sweet about my smile this time. I let loose with everything I had. I even threw in my most sarcastic wave for good measure.

Elle was a little more direct. "Seeya, bitch," she said, as they swept past and into the lift. Jennifer flinched as if struck.

As the doors closed, Elle drew a deep breath and smiled. "Is it just me, or does the air smell a little sweeter in here all of a sudden?"

I sniffed pointedly. "You know, I think it does. Must be the lack of bullshit."

She laughed. "So, please tell me this means you're coming back? This place is a bore without you."

"It will likely be a bore either way. But yeah, I'm back. Apparently they were getting ready to make my leave more permanent this week, so the timing is perfect. I'm still on the books, so we don't even have to do any paperwork."

Elle clapped. "Awesome. Surely this calls for a celebration?"

I winced, remembering Sebastian's rules. As appealing as an old-school office bender sounded, it wasn't safe. "Let me settle back in and then we'll talk. Okay?"

She looked a little disappointed, but didn't question. "Sure. Well, thanks for inviting me to the show, but I should get back to it. Wrights won't prosecute itself."

"No problem. Seeya round."

Once she'd disappeared around the corner, I took a moment just soaking in my surroundings. That might seem like a strange thing to do — I mean, for all its prestige, it was really just an office — but after having given the bulk of the last six years to Little Bell, sometimes it felt more like home than my own house. When Sebastian had handed me those pages, I'd been fairly confident it would be enough to get me back in the door, but I hadn't been certain until now. I was back. At least one part of the nightmare was over.

It didn't take me long to find my feet again. After letting everyone know I was available again, work quickly began to flow in. In just a few hours, I was once again neck deep in case files. Ordinarily that might have had me slightly frazzled, but today, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

Surprisingly, Sebastian was waiting for me when we got back. Most days he didn't return until well after dinner.

"I wanted to be here when you got back from your first day," he said when I asked. He held a bottle of champagne in his hands, and there were two glasses laid out on the bench in front of him.

"Aww, that's very sweet of you," I said, leaning in for a lingering kiss. "But you didn't have to go to all this trouble. It's not like I got a new job. It's the same one I always had."

"That doesn't make it any less worth celebrating." He gave a wolfish grin. "Besides, I felt like champagne."

I laughed. "Ah, now the truth comes out."

He poured and then we settled into the couch.

"So, how was it? Everything went well?"

"You could say that. Evil was vanquished, order restored and all that good stuff."

"I'm glad to hear it. It must feel nice to be back."

I nodded. "Hell yes it does. I can honestly say, I don't think I've ever been so happy to be so busy in my life."

"I'm glad."

"Ernest also dropped a few not so subtle hints about 'recently vacated positions' that might need to be filled."

His face lit up and he pulled me in for a hug. "Congratulations! That's wonderful."

"It is, isn't it?"

"I bet you'd have been promoted years ago if not for those two," he said. "You'll be running that place one day, mark my words."

"Yeah, then maybe I'll have the credentials to join Alpha myself."

He gave a wry shake of his head. "You'd seriously want to do that, having seen what you've seen?"

"I don't know. It's not like it hasn't entered my mind. If you ignore all the guns and kidnappings and such, it is pretty cool." I took a sip of champagne. "Besides, it would certainly solve one of our current predicaments."

"I suppose it would."

"How exactly does one join anyway? Joe said he kind of just plucked you out of the army."

His smile gained a hint of nostalgia. "He told you about that, hey? Yeah, I'm not sure what I would have done if he hadn't found me. I was pretty lost, up until that point. Now I've actually got a purpose.

"As for recruitment, there's no one way. You get people like Thomas, who just work ridiculously hard in their chosen field until we can't help but notice them. He made an absolute killing working for one of the big oil companies, before we found him. And then you've got the guys like Trey, who just get in on their family name."

"Ooh, trust fund baby, is he? I had no idea. He doesn't seem like
that
much of a dick."

Sebastian laughed. "He's fine, most of the time, although to be honest, a bunch of us didn't want to accept his application. We like to recruit people on their merits, not their bloodline, but his dad was a member before him, and he desperately wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. I think it was one of those old money tradition things. Anyway, he pulled some strings and had enough friends that eventually he got his way. Keep that to yourself, though."

"Yeah, sure. I guess since my family has all the eminence of a McNugget Happy Meal, I'll have to go the hard working route."

His expression lost a little of its playfulness. "Let's cross that bridge if we get there, hey?"

I wasn't really sure if I was being serious, but the idea seemed to distress him, so I decided to drop it.

The next few days took on a strangely comfortable quality. If you ignored the nightmarish backdrop, Sebastian and I almost looked like an ordinary, wholesome, professional couple. Each day we'd race through a quick breakfast together before heading to our respective offices. We'd slave away for ten hours or so, occasionally calling each other to whisper sweet nothings, before returning home and spending a few hours in front of the TV or making love, and then collapsing into bed and doing it all again. I'd never really pictured myself being in a long term relationship, but if I had, that was basically how it would have gone. Only the occasional harried expression on Sebastian's face and the presence of our little security team managed to shatter the illusion of normality.

Of course, things were far from fixed. Work was a welcome distraction, but it didn't quite temper the edginess that I seemed to carry around with me permanently, now. In fact, if anything, it made it worse. Logically, I knew that nothing was likely to happen. My building was swarming with people until well past dinner time every night, and my bodyguards met me just feet from the front door. Someone would have to be incredibly bold or incredibly stupid to try anything there. But, nonetheless, I couldn't shake the sensation that I was constantly being watched. It made me jumpy and agitated.

Sebastian seemed to recognise that I was struggling, because he was really putting in a ton of effort. Between the sexy texts and cute little gifts he had delivered to my office — I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a sucker for a bunch of red roses — I was actually feeling rather spoilt. And then he delivered the coup de grace.

On Saturday, I arrived at home to find a note on the kitchen counter. Despite the fact that there was nobody else living there, he'd addressed it like all the others.
Sophia.
Unlike his last letter, this one sent a wave of excitement shooting though me. He was back to his old tricks.

With eager fingers, I unfolded it.

Dear Sophia.

I may be a little later than normal tonight. Hopefully you can excuse me. I know things have been a little difficult lately, so I've decided we need a nice romantic night together. I'd like you to set up a few things for me before I get home.

In the freezer you'll find a bag of ice. Take it into the bedroom and fill the bucket that's on the dresser. There's a bottle of champagne next to it which I'd like you to chill.

In the bedroom you'll also find a box of matches and several candles. There's nothing like a little mood lighting. Light them and scatter them around the room.

Finally, on the bed is an item I believe you will remember fondly. After you've removed everything else you're wearing, put it on and then wait for me on the bed lying face down.

I'll see you soon.

-S

I found myself biting my lip as I read, my skin already prickling with heat. The scene he described was basically the epitome of romance, but the heavy, commanding tone with which he wrote was unmistakable. There was more afoot here than was immediately obvious. It had been a while since one of his letters, long enough to make me heady with anticipation.

After ducking quickly to the freezer, I made a beeline for the bedroom, already suspecting that I knew what I'd find. I wasn't let down. If I'd had any doubts that tonight would be more kinky than our recent sessions, they vanished the moment my eyes fell on the bed. Lying on the quilt was the blindfold Sebastian had originally left for me in the hotel several months ago. Just thinking about that night sent something warm surging between my legs. The sting of his hand, the bite of the rope; that had been the night when everything changed. I'd gone in one woman and come out another.

Placing the champagne inside the bucket I buried it in ice, then lit the candles and dimmed the light. I had to admit, the scene did look incredibly romantic. After stripping, I knelt on the bed and wrapped the black silk around my head, knotting it firmly at the back. Last time I'd been hesitant, even a little frightened, but now could barely contain my excitement. Sebastian had taught me well the pleasure of sensory deprivation.

For a while I lay, enjoying the silence as anticipation rose inside me. I knew the wait was part of the experience. My wandering mind was winding me up as effectively as any foreplay. Would it be another spanking? More restraint? Or did he have other tricks up his sleeve?

It could have been fifteen minutes or an hour, I'm not sure, but eventually, I heard the tell-tale click of the front door unlocking. My body tensed. I assumed he'd come straight to me, but everything remained silent. I realised I'd left the bedroom door open and the floors here were carpeted, meaning I'd have no indication when he finally arrived. He could have been in the room at that very moment.

I squirmed a little, as some strange amalgamation of discomfort and desire lodged itself in my stomach. That was one of my favourite parts of discovering my submissive side; the realisation that other emotions besides arousal could be a turn on too. I felt more in tune with myself than ever before.

It doesn't matter if he's here yet or not. He told me to wait, and so wait I will. He'll come when he's ready.

I held my position.

CHAPTER NINE
Sebastian

She flinched a little when I entered, although I hadn't made a sound. Perhaps some subtle shift in the air had given me away. Or perhaps she simply knew me too well. Regardless, she continued to lie still and silent.

I had no idea how she'd become such an amazing sub in such a short time. We hadn't delved into anything too kinky for a while, but seeing her like that made me desperate to do it more. There's something so erotic about coming home to a girl presenting herself for you, exactly as you instructed. She'd followed my directions to the letter: the champagne was chilling, the candles were lit, and the blindfold was in place.

I spent a few moments just taking in the sight of her. She was absolutely stunning; her hair was splayed out across her back like a chestnut river, her creamy skin bathed in candle light. I'd never seen a woman with a more gorgeous figure; perfectly proportioned curves but not an ounce more fat than necessary. Just being near her naked body had my blood rushing in my veins.