From Seduction to Submission (3 page)

His final instruction helped her decide what to wear
, and she decided on jeans instead of a dress. She pulled on a pair of high-waisted denim jeans. A white tailored cotton blouse enhanced her trim figure and ample breasts without sending the wrong message. She finished the outfit with knee high black leather boots with 5-inch heels. As she walked around her apartment, the boots gave her a feeling of confidence and power. She knew that there would be men everywhere who would salivate at the sight of her walking by dressed like this, her hips swaying as she strode along in those heels. Yes– this was a power outfit. Still and all, there was something in the back of her mind that told her she should be prepared for the unexpected. Mr. James was certainly no ordinary date and if anything, she was going to be in the lion’s den.

The rush hour traffic had eased as she made her way towards Hillcrest. She found the apartment without much trouble, parking on the street about fifty yards from the entrance. She was about fifteen minutes early
, and as she alighted from her car, she realized she was quite nervous. She took a number of deep breaths before walking up the street, away from the apartment, to kill some time.

Eventually
, she made her way back to the entrance of the building, arriving there at 7:56pm. Although hesitant, she pushed the intercom button and heard it buzz. There was no response. She gave it a minute or two, trying to decide what to do. Is this some sort of sick joke she wondered. Have I got the right place? She checked her phone again, probably for about the tenth time as she looked around, wondering what to do. She checked her watch and saw that it was now right on 8pm. Trying the intercom once again, there was no verbal acknowledgement, but the entry door clicked open, and after looking around to see if there was anybody about, she entered the building.

Taking the elevator to the fourth level, she glanced around the atrium lobby and identified his apartment.
Quickly checking herself over, she took another deep breath, squared back her shoulders and knocked firmly on the door. The door opened and the sight that greeted her took Natalie’s breath away. Mr. James looked even nicer than she had remembered him as he stood there in a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt with a black leather vest over the top. The vest was open and hung loosely over his lean frame. He wore simple black ankle-high boots to complete the outfit. He was smiling as he held out his hand in greeting. As Natalie offered her own up, he gently took it and bowed to kiss the back of it. “Welcome to my humble abode,” he said simply. “Please come inside.”

Said the spider to the fly, thought Natalie.

Natalie felt like a nervous little school girl, and as she stepped inside she blurted out, “I didn’t think anyone was home. I rang your intercom and there was no answer.”

Speaking without emotion, he said, “What time did I tell you to be here?”

“8pm.”

“
What time was it that I allowed you to enter?”

“
8pm.”

His voice lightened up further as he said
, “I am struggling to see what the problem is. I am confident you are more than capable of following simple instructions.”

Natalie caught herself before she said anything else.

Rubbing a little salt into her wound, he added, “Do you always speak to people so petulantly when you have made an error?”

Natalie thought quickly and realized she had rung the intercom early
. Although he may be a control freak, she had to acquiesce to him on this point. She would be careful not to let it happen again. She wanted to try and salvage whatever she could from this evening, but she knew from experience that she would struggle to let this go.

“I…
I’m sorry James…Mr. James.” Her voice was dripping with anger, and she knew she had not masked it very well at all.

He smiled with that disarming smile that sent butterflies coursing through her stomach. “Don’t worry
, Natalie. You are forgiven…this time. Come in and take a seat.”

They spent some time making small talk o
ver a couple of glasses of wine– Chablis naturally, which helped Natalie relax. She was very conscious of the amount she was drinking, not only because it would affect her ability to drive home, but also because she did not want to allow herself to get into a position where she could be manipulated by her host. Although she knew it would eventually be self-defeating, she found herself trying to stay angry at him, but his disarming mannerisms and conversation skills were rapidly breaking down her defenses.

Just as she was warming to him once again
, and during a pause in the conversation, he looked her in the eye and said simply, “Why did you come here tonight, Natalie?”

She was as shocked as she was disarmed at that point. The prick had done it again. “I… er…
I felt… ahh… you told me to.” She could feel the anger rising again.

He continued to gaze into her eyes as he sat impassively, his fingers clasped with his forefingers steepled. “Yes I did. And I am very pleased that you acquiesced to my wishes. But there is more to it than that. Why did you really come here tonight?”

That did it. “You have a cheek. You invite me to your home– actually tell me to come. You play games when I arrive and then smile sweetly before chastising me like a little girl. What is it with you, you smarmy bastard?” She was about to get up and storm out, but she was determined not to let him have the upper hand.

His position did not change and he continued to gaze into her eyes. She was seething
, and tears were welling in her eyes. He said evenly, pleasantly actually, “Smarmy bastard eh? I have been called many things, but I think you have achieved a first this evening. That is not a term I’ve had hurled at me to date. Well done. That calls for a toast. I could see that you are both intelligent and articulate with a sharp tongue. But you still haven’t answered my question.”

Natalie realized she
was no match for him– not yet anyway. She lowered her eyes and stared at the table. “I… I found you fascinating to be with when we met. I could not believe how you treated me but more so, I could not understand why I allowed you to do it. I had to find out more so… here I am, in the belly of the beast, so to speak. I was also fascinated by your business card.” As she mentioned his business card her face softened and a brief smile appeared. She quickly wiped it and then looked up at him, feeling sure that he must have seen it.

“Thank you
, Natalie. You must understand that if we are to have any sort of relationship, we must be totally honest with each other. The sorts of things I enjoy doing with my partners make that essential. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Yes…?”

“Yes… Mr. James. Oh why do you make me do that?”

“I don’t make you do anything, Natalie, and I never will. You will only do things with me that you choose to do. I will try to make clear what I expect. You will then decide whether you wish to obey– or acquiesce– or not. It is up to you.”

“Well
, what about the handcuffs and the riding crop?” she blurted out without thinking.

“Ahhhhh. They are simple little examples of the things that I enjoy playing with when I am in the company of special friends.”

“And do you see me as a special friend?” She immediately regretted asking that question as she was not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“No. Not yet. But I am sure you can be
, should you choose to be. I would like it if you were a very special friend.” He smiled at her, and she could not help but return the smile as she felt herself blush. She immediately lowered her eyes as she absorbed his words.

“Do you have handcuffs and a riding crop here?
”

“I have a variety of them, along with a multitude of other items that I use to play with my special friends.” There was a sharp intake of breath from Natalie at that news. “You may see them if you wish.” She hesitated. She did not like the idea of being in a room with handcuffs or any other sorts of restraints with a man she hardly knew.

“I have taken the liberty to lay a few of my favorite toys out on my spare bed. I intend to sit here and finish my wine. Feel free to go and have a look at them if you wish. Take the passageway, and it is the first door on the right past the bathroom. I will be awaiting your return.”

Again she hesitated. She looked up and met his gaze. Slowly she arose from her chair and hesitantly turned and headed off towards the bathroom, heading past it and pausing at the door to the spare bedroom. Turning on the light, she gasped at what she saw.

The first thing that caught her eye was the riding crop carefully placed along the edge of the bed. Directly above it was what she thought was an eye mask. Actually, when she looked closely, she could see that it had no eye holes in it, making it a blindfold. That sent a little shiver through her but it was not of fear but rather, excitement. Beside it was a pair of handcuffs, just like she had seen on the business card. Above that there was a leather collar, not dissimilar to a dog collar, she thought. Beside that, although not attached, was a chain leash.

There were all sorts of other items placed carefully around the bed, some of which she had no trouble identifying and many others about which she had no idea.
There was a coil of colored rope lying at one end, and next to that there were some leather bands that looked like they might fit around one’s limbs. They were padded and were tightened by a roller buckle and they had ‘D’ rings attached to them. There was a range of clothes pins, electrical clips and a pair of shiny metal clamps that were joined by a chain. The other things faded into the background as she initially focused on the handcuffs.

Her body was covered with goose bumps as she turned around to see if Mr. James was standing behind her. Timidly
, she reached out and picked the hand cuffs up, surprised at the weight of them. They were polished metal, and she ran her fingers over the surface. There were no sharp edges on them. As she ran her fingers over them, she wondered what they would feel like on her wrists. She pulled at the chain that joined them and realized these things were not toys, and if she was wearing them, there would be no escape. She rested one of her wrists in one of the cuffs, being especially careful not to close the top half. Another shudder went through her, and she could feel herself getting wet with arousal.

She removed the cuff from her wrist and then pushed one of them closed. As she heard the first click of the ratchet, she tried to pull it back open to no avail. She then kept pushing it closed, each click sending yet another shiver through her as she imagined her wrist inside the cold hard steel. She kept pushing and was relieved to see that eventually the locking arm simply went all the way around and the cuffs were open once again.

Replacing them on the bed, she picked up the mask. It was leather, and it was padded with two elastic straps that also had buckles to pull them tight. The leather was soft and buttery, and there were raised pads inside the mask and a cutout for the wearer’s, or was that the victim’s nose? She held it up against her face without putting the straps over her head. As she gently pushed against her eyes she realized that the raised padding actually pushed against her eye lids and held them closed. Her fingers were trembling as she returned the mask to the bed.

She startled to realize that Mr. James was behind her. She had not even heard him approach. As she spun around, ready to… she didn’t know what she was ready to do, he was holding her phone out to her.

“It rang and I did not feel it was my business to answer it. It is probably your safe call so I thought I’d better bring it to you. I would hate to have the police breaking down my door. I have no doubt they would ask a range of embarrassing questions and there would be humiliation all round.” He paused before adding, “Some people are into humiliation but it is not something that grabs me. I wonder if it might excite you, Natalie.”

She took the phone. “I don’t think so,” she snapped.

He looked at her. “I wouldn’t be so hasty to pass judgment. You might be surprised. You might find it exciting to be on your knees, wearing my collar and being led around my apartment on a leash.” He then turned and returned to the living room without giving her a second glance.

“In your dreams,” she said loudly. Natalie then quickly called Jo-Anne. When the phone picked up, she whispered, “Jo, this is one strange place but amazingly strange at the same time.
Everything is apples. I’ll tell you all about it soon.”

As she hung up s
he looked around to make sure Mr. James was not there before returning her attention to the items on the bed. Finally, she picked up the crop. Running her fingers over the shaft, she then felt the soft leather tip. She wondered how much that could actually hurt. She held it and flicked it back and forth a few times to see how it moved before carefully replacing it on the bed.

Turning to return to the living room
, she felt weak at the knees. Taking a few deep breaths, she straightened herself up and strode confidently back to face Mr. James once again. She was relieved to see that he had not moved. He was still holding his wine glass, swirling the liquid around, seemingly lost in its motion. As she approached the table, and without even looking up, he said, “Stop right there, Natalie.” Shocked, she froze on the spot.