Bounce Down: 1st Quarter: Start of Play (4 page)

“
Are you
hungry?”

“
I’m a little
thirsty.”

“
Another
wine?”

“
No, water
will be fine thanks.”

He raised an eyebrow at my
comment. “I’m not trying to get you drunk.”

“
Oh I know,
I’m just thirsty and wine won’t help.”

“
Okay, one
glass of water coming up.” He winked and gave me a cheeky, boyish
grin. “What would you like to eat?”

Describing him as boyish had me
guessing his age; I believed he looked to be in his late
twenties.

“
Well?”

Oops, I’d become side tracked
again. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

While preparing lunch, he asked
me to tell him something about myself.

“
What would
you like to know, my star sign?”

He smiled as he confessed,
“Already know it, Fone Corp remember?”

“
Of course
you do.” I was still smarting over his background check.

“
Hey, my life
is public knowledge. I only know some basic details about
yours.”

Granted, a lot of his
background and personal details would be public but I knew at least
one secret no-one else did.

“
Okay, so
what don’t you know?”

He passed me my plate, before
answering. “Where you work and what you do there?”

I was
expecting this one, how should I reply?
I
delayed my response as I swallowed a mouthful of my chicken and
avocado wrap. “This is delicious.”

“
Thank you.”
He hadn’t touched his wrap; instead he was looking intently at me
waiting for my answer.

“
I work for
the Police Department in a support role.”

“
You’re not
giving much away.”

I conceded he wanted
clarification. “My duties are similar to a secretary, except I work
for an entire section.”

“
I see, and
this section would be?”

After swallowing another bite,
I again met his gaze. “Homicide Squad.”

His eyes widened at this.
Breaking eye contact he finally tasted his food, followed by a sip
of his energy drink.

“
Really? It
must be an interesting place to work?”

“
It has its
moments. Sometimes it’s really full on with a lot of after-hours
work. But generally it’s not too different from the average
nine-to-five office job.”

“
I don’t
believe that for a moment.”

To my relief, we finished
eating our lunch in silence. Due to the confidential nature of my
job, I wasn’t able to divulge information to anyone outside the
squad.

As we returned to the lounge I
noticed my handbag was where I had left it. Once seated side by
side, he seemed serious as he turned to me. “Firstly, you need to
respect me at all times, do you understand?”

Respect, did he mean I had to
bow and scrape to him?

“
Will you
also respect me?”

He nodded his confirmation. “Of
course.”

He reached over and picked up
my completed assignment sheets. I noticed him studying the
submissive/control page in silence. He then glanced up and
demanded, “Did you go on the internet? Tell me the truth.”

“
No, I used
the Thesaurus on Word. I hope that was allowed. I also did an
additional word, so do I get extra credit?” I gave him a playful
grin.

I held my breath as he glanced
at the chastise page. He raised his eyes and he stared at me
closely. “I think you have potential, Suzanna.”

I smiled. Finally glad I had
done something right. For some reason, pleasing him was important
to me.

“
Now, how did
you go with the questionnaire? I had meant to discuss this with you
on the phone, but you seemed nervous and I didn’t want to scare you
off.”

Embarrassed, I blushed at his
words. “I knew we were going to have to talk about the details
sooner or later, but I thought....”

“
What did you
think? You need to be honest with me.”

“
When you
said you wanted to take me to your place, I didn’t think I would be
compiling lists and filling out questionnaires.”

“
What did you
picture happening?”

Correctly interpreting my
guilty expression, along with my flushed face, he laughed loudly.
“You thought I was going to ravish you?”

Lowering my head, I whispered,
“Something like that.”

With his index finger under my
chin, he raised it so we were eye to eye. “It’s still a
possibility; remember I have you until five o’clock.”

My eyes widened in surprise at
his words. Given the nature of his advert, I shouldn’t have been
shocked.

He smiled at my reaction as if
he could read my thoughts. He then turned his attention to my
written answers. Every so often he glanced at me as he read through
the pages, until finally he placed them on the table.

What was
going to happen next?
Both my mind and
heart were racing thinking about the possibilities.

“
Suzanna, I
was going to go through these with you, but I’ve got a better idea.
Wait here.”

He walked into the laundry area
and reappeared a few moments later. I noticed he had removed his
sneakers. What I didn’t notice was that he was carrying a length of
rope in his right hand. My eyes pulsed and widened.

“
Trust
me.”

He took hold of my hands and
bringing my wrists together, tied them with the rope. He leaned
towards me and with one finger, tucked a loose strand of hair
behind my ear. I shivered inwardly at his gentle touch, followed so
soon after his dominating actions.

“
Stay!” He
turned his back on me and walked to the kitchen, then poured
himself a glass of water. He drank it slowly as he leaned against
the breakfast bar. Our eyes met, yet neither of us spoke. His
movements were relaxed and unhurried. Once finished, he placed it
on the sink and then slowly sauntered his way across the room. The
image of a panther stalking its prey came to mind.

“
How do you
feel right now, one word answer?”

That was easy, in a word,
“Vulnerable.”

“
Better, it’s
a step up from nervous. Are you feeling aroused, yes or
no?”

It was hard to admit,
especially with him standing over me like he was. “I don’t
know....”

“
Yes or
no?”

After a brief pause, I
confessed in a small voice, “Yes.”

“
Good, come
with me.” In a controlled movement he brought me to my feet. He
held my bound hands in one of his and grabbed the paperwork with
the other. He headed for the stairs, pulling me along behind him.
He was forceful yet took the steps at a slow pace so I didn’t
stumble. It was an overwhelming experience, heightened by the fact
he didn’t speak nor once look back at me.

I was
surprised to see he was leading me towards the end of the corridor,
towards his bedroom. The room was huge, almost making the
king-sized bed appear small. The first thought that struck me was
how dark it was compared with the rest of the neutral tones of the
other rooms I had seen so far.
Was this an
insight into his hidden personality?

He placed the pages on one of
the matching black bedside cabinets and then, stopping next to the
bed, turned to me. “What is your favourite fantasy?”

My mouth dropped open and I
mentally shook my head. I was definitely not prepared to reveal
something so intimate, so personal. But once again he gave me a
hard stare, compelling me to tell the truth. “I don’t think I’m
ready for that yet.”

He nodded as though he
understood. “Then tell me something you would like me to do.” He
gave me a wicked grin.

How could I
put into words what I wanted, what I had always wanted to
try?
I recalled my few past experiences
with the guys who had not been able to deliver the goods. Of course
there was one who had been into it, but I hadn’t been up for the
challenge at that stage.

“
I want you
to decide.”

“
Fair enough,
but first you need to....”

“
Not more
paperwork, I suppose it’s a contract this time?”

“
No, no
contracts, they’re not legally binding anyway. Our arrangement will
be based on trust alone.”

“
And the
signed NDA.”

“
That too.
But what I was about to say before you rudely interrupted me, is
you need to know your safe words. You need to have control and know
how to bring any situation to a halt.”

I took a moment to digest this.
“Why not just one word, won’t it be confusing with more than
one?”

“
Not it won’t
because they’re the traffic light colours. Green for keep going,
yellow for wait or slow down and of course red for stop. Are they
clear to you?”

“
Yes, but
what if I can’t speak?”

“
Good
question. You will use your fingers; one for green, two for yellow,
three for red.” He demonstrated as he spoke.

My mind
wandered back to our first conversation. I asked how I would know
if I would be safe; well now I knew. All I had to do was trust him
and given my current situation, I had no other choice except, of
course, to use my safe words.
But was I
brave enough to use them? If was to say red for instance, would it
mean the end of everything and I would have to leave?

“
Suzanna,
what are you thinking? Are you having second thoughts?”

Of course I
was.
Even though I had fantasized about
this, the reality may be more than I could handle.

“
I’ve never
done anything like this before and don’t tell me you haven’t
either, because you seemed quite the expert at tying me
up.”

He reached over to grasp both
my hands in his. “Let me give you what you came here for, what you
want, okay?”

All I could do was nod. I was
scared yet excited at the same time. It was an unnerving
feeling.

His voice became serious as he
instructed, “Lay on the bed with your hands above your head.”

My first thought was for my
high heels. “What about my shoes?”

His tone became sterner. “Leave
them. Don’t speak unless I ask you a direct question or you use a
safe word, understood?”

“
Yes,” came
my prompt response. Surprisingly, the change in his tone made me
feel more comfortable.

After I laid on the bed he
leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. It was such a brief
yet sweet kiss and quite unexpected. Next he reached up and secured
my hands to the base of the headboard. Once he was done he walked
to the end of the bed and with arms folded, stood for a minute or
so staring, looking me up and down. I knew I was blushing from his
intense gaze.

“
You will
finish every sentence with Sir. If you forget, I will discipline
you. But I will never discipline you without a reason, is this
clear?”

“
Yes… Sir.”
It felt strange saying the word, almost like I was back in school.
In a way I was, having to obey the rules or be punished. But I was
sure Brendon’s type of punishment would be far different than
writing lines in detention.

“
Do you know
what I love about your dress?” His deep voice sounded so
sexy.

“
The colour,
Sir?”

“
Yes the
colour, but also because it’s strapless. I can undress you without
untying you.”

He smiled wolfishly down at me
as he kneeled on the bed and, crawling his way above me, reached
behind my back and undid the zip he seemed to know was there.

He pushed the silky material
lower, revealing my black strapless bra. My breath hitched as he
continued to undress me, slowly pulling the garment off inch by
inch until I was bare except for my underwear.

His eyes
never left my face as he stripped me, but now I was fully exposed
he was openly admiring my body.
At least I
hoped he was admiring it!
It certainly
didn’t look like the perfect model bodies he would have been used
to. I was self-conscious of my body shape; not entirely happy with
it because of my height. I knew I needed to lose a little weight
and tone up in certain areas, like my tummy and upper
thighs.

“
Firstly, I
want to see how responsive you are. Don’t move.”

I closed my eyes, mentally
preparing for whatever he had planned. I hoped I could keep still
for him.

“
Open your
eyes! I want you to see what I’m doing to you. If I don’t want you
to watch then I will blindfold you.”

Mesmerised, I watched him lower
his head to my stomach where he began to lick then kiss my navel. I
held my breath while he continued up the length of my torso. When
he reached my breast bone he raised his head.

“
Breathe.”

I did as instructed and took a
much needed gulp of air as he drew down my bra, just enough to
expose my hardened nipples.

He grinned and murmured, “Very
nice.”

He gave my breasts his full
attention, gently licking them before kissing, then sucking them.
He glanced up again and smiled, then bent down to nip at the flesh
surrounding my nipples. His bites became firmer, almost bordering
on painful.

As he took one of my aching
nipples in his mouth I closed my eyes briefly, savouring the
intense feeling pulsing through my body. Then all too soon his
mouth was gone.