by Jamie Knight
“You make it sound like Jack is going to kill me,” I noted.
“Well, after what you told me about the ropes, I got a little worried,” she noted.
“I told you about the rope thing,” I countered. “Trust me. It was way hot. I had never tried anything like that before, but I had never been that turned on.”
“Really? Hmm,” said Isabella playfully. “Look, I can be up there in two hours. I’m willing to share if you are.”
“Settle down,” I retorted. “But he’s gone cold on me. That’s why I called you.”
“Not to share?”
“No. Stop.”
“Fine.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Well, is there any indication why he’s suddenly turned cold?” she asked. “Maybe it’s part of his game? You know, to build up the anticipation.”
“It’s been two days!” I whined.
“Sounds like it’s working if that’s his plan,” she suggested.
“I’m going crazy,” I said. “Help me.”
“Well, did you try talking to him? I mean, just put your cards out on the table,” she suggested. “The next time you have a meal.”
“Thought of that, but he’s been avoiding me,” I revealed. “He made me dinner and left it on the table and ate in his office.”
“Wow, that does sound like he’s avoiding you. Awkward. Did you do something? Say something?”
“Not that I can think of,” I responded. “This all started the morning right after the rope session. Do you think he regrets it?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Probably not. I mean, he did it, right?” she replied. “Maybe he’s worried about what your cousins will think.”
“They are pretty overprotective about me,” I noted. “Plus, I’m sure we’d all get lectured in HR about it. Everything’s sexual harassment these days.”
“Here’s a thought. Walk in on him completely naked!” she suggested.
“Too much,” I countered.
“Why? He’s already tied you up and done stuff to you!”
“He’s a man of nuance, Bella,” I tried to explain. “You can’t project nuance by just walking in naked!”
“Okay, then seduce him,” she concluded. “Wear some sexy stuff, but not too sexy. Make some suggestive advances. You know, play the game, girl.”
“Yeah, that sounds like something he’d respond to,” I agreed. “Thanks. I’ll let you know how it turns out.”
“You sure you don’t want me there?”
“Yes!”
The next day, I pretended like I was having trouble finding a file. Going into Jack’s office, I told him the file I was looking for, and he handed it to me almost without looking up. Guess I had picked the wrong file to misplace.
I didn’t want to try the same kind of excuse again, so this time I told him one of the merger documents was missing.
“The boxes are stacked in my library,” Jack explained. “I’m sure it’s there somewhere.”
“Could you help me?” I asked. “Those boxes are kind of heavy. I’m it wouldn’t take long.”
“Sure.”
We went inside the library. There were bookshelves full of books. It wasn’t a huge room. When he said library, I was picturing at least a public library. Not that it would be a sound decision to have one that big in a house, but that’s what I imagined.
Jack wasn’t spirited at all. I made a few lame attempts at getting him to start flirting, but he wasn’t playing the game. It was like he was sending a signal of “No” over and over again. It was very frustrating.
Finally, I just went for it. I pretended to fall by trying to climb up the pile of boxes. Collapsing back, I fell into Jack’s arms and smiled up at him.
“Thanks,” I cooed. “You’re very strong.”
“You have to stop it, Sandra,” he said.
“Stop what?” I asked impishly.
“Stop acting like you’re looking for a fucking,” he said abruptly.
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe he said it that way. Jesus, thank God this wasn’t in front of my cousins. I could only imagine their reactions!
“Maybe that’s exactly what I’m looking for,” I bantered back. “With all your rope play, I can’t imagine you’d be bad at it.”
“You might not approve of all my tastes in that community,” he worried. “It does take months, sometimes years to figure out all the in’s and out’s of the lifestyle. You’d likely get turned off after a while.”
“How am I supposed to know unless you show me?” I asked. “I certainly liked your rope trick. You intrigued me.”
I took his hand and ran it up my inner thigh. For a second, I thought he was on board, but Jack pulled his hand away.
“No, Sandra,” he said, glancing towards the door. “I can’t. Your cousins, they’d fire me and, well, I’d worry what it would do to your career as well.”
“My career would be fine,” I assured him, “as long as I don’t have any complaints about you.”
“What’s that suppose to mean?”
“What? Nothing. I just—”
“Sandra, you don’t get it,” Jack said, taking my hands. “You’re forbidden to me. and if you keep playing with me, I can’t be held responsible.”
“Now, what’s that mean?”
“There are certain aspects of my lifestyle you haven’t seen yet,” he said worriedly. “It can get a bit dark.”
“That’s what makes it exciting,” I said. “I want to be your pupil. Teach me.”
For a moment, I thought I got through to him. Jack looked like he actually wanted to do it. Then, something behind his eyes told him that it wouldn’t work. He turned and walked out of the library.
“I can’t, Sandra,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
I was left in the library, standing alone. Sighing, I decided to call it a day. I couldn’t see myself getting any work done after an experience like that. The drama had been intense, but at least it was all self-contained in the house.
That night, I called Isabella again.
“Wow, he’s a tough nut to crack,” she commented. “You sure you don’t want to just throw yourself at him.”
“I want him to respect me a bit,” I responded gregariously. “If I send him a bunch of naked pictures of myself, I’m not going to get credit for being a good woman. He’s going to think I’m some kind of sex maniac.”
“He’s certainly way more into sex than most guys.”
“No, I prefer to think of it as having a more sophisticated palette,” I countered. “I mean, if you eat nothing but pizza, eventually, you’d like to try more toppings.”
“Or you just get locked into the same bizarre pizza over and over again,” countered Bella. “Wait a minute? Who are you in this scenario? The pizza or the toppings?”
“That’s not important. I figure as long as we keep our relationship a secret, it doesn’t matter what we do,” I suggested.
“Well, I think you have to get him to go along with that!”
“He’s into bondage,” I reminded her. “People like that are already discreet. I mean, it’s already kind of a secret.”
“It’s not illegal,” she pointed out. “I don’t know why people can’t just, well, no, I guess I do know why they don’t talk about it.”
“We’re lawyers, Bella. Things that we do impact our clients and our clients are mostly about an image,” I reminded her.
“What if he doesn’t want a relationship?” she asked. “He could just be using you for sex.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, suddenly defensive.
“Why does any guy do it? Remember that biker I dated?”
“He wasn’t a biker. He rode a motorcycle or owned one.”
“That’s a biker.”
“No, a biker is in a motorcycle club like the Hell’s Angels or the Mongols or something,” I pointed out. “He’s not some weekend cycle guy.
He had a job, right?”
“Yeah, he was a florist.”
“See? Bikers aren’t florists!”
“My point is,” Isabella said, getting the conversation back under her control. “We dated for a while, and I wanted a relationship. He went along with things for a time and then suddenly revealed he was married when he didn’t want to take it further.”
“He was married, Bella.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t need to tell me that. Plus, he could’ve left his wife.”
“I think that’s a bad example,” I countered. “Although I guess in your story, there is a terrible secret to keep out of the public.”
“You need to corner him. That’s what I failed to do with the biker guy,” she noted. “If I had told him I was pregnant or something, he would’ve made a serious commitment.”
“Jesus, Bella! I’m not going to lie and tell Jack I’m pregnant! That’s awful!”
“Just keep it in mind. If you need the tool, use it.”
“That’s not a tool! Not an option! We haven’t even had intercourse. I’m still a virgin.”
“Oh, yeah. Man, you lawyers think of all the loopholes, don’t you?” she noted.
“Will you please treat this seriously?” I begged. “I’m really into Jack. I’ve never, well, I’ve never felt like this about anyone.”
“Look, I’ve been watching the news, and according to that, this virus might keep us locked down for weeks, even months,” she told me. “That’s more than enough time to slowly worm your way into his heart. Take the long view. Seduce him slowly over time. You’ll wear him down.”
“I don’t know if I like the way you phrased that, but yeah, I see your point.”
“Now that he has broken the ice once, there’s no way he could resist you for that long,” she insisted. “Just keep being your sexy self. Really tempt him, ya know? And at some point, stop wearing underwear.”
“That seems a little unprofessional.”
“You’re in the house of a co-worker who is technically above you, and you had a sexual encounter,” she stated. “The whole thing is unprofessional. If you worked at the office, you’d probably both be getting a lecture from HR right now. Forget about being professional! This is about love. Or lust. Or something.”
“Okay, it’ll be seduction by a thousand cuts,” I proclaimed. “Thanks for talking this out with me.”
“Just make sure I get all the juicy details if this works,” she requested. “I have to live vicariously through you, especially now. Dating in the time of the virus blows.
Chapter Ten - Sandra
I started dressing sexy around the house. On the first day, I wore a short, secretary skirt with vintage nylons with the line up the back. With a pair of vintage red pumps, it greatly accentuated my calves. I did up my hair and makeup. Wearing a white top with a black bra underneath, I looked ready to be on a calendar!
Walking into the kitchen, Jack was having a conference call with one of the clients from Cam Tech. He had just finished breakfast. I took his plate, utensils, and napkins, then turned my back on him and stuck out my butt a little. The skirt help make my butt more defined than usual.
Unfortunately, Jack didn’t turn his head. He was still looking at his phone. I got a clean washcloth, dampened it, and proceeded to wipe down the table where he had just eaten. I leaned way over so he could see my cleavage through the loose white blouse I was wearing. This time, he glanced up but then turned away. He got up and walked out of the kitchen.
The next day, Jack made a supply run to the local supermarket. I asked him to get a bottle of body oil. Then, before he came back, I got out my yoga mat and put on my yoga outfit. If my yoga pants were any more form-fitting and tight, they would’ve been an extra layer of skin.
I waited for about an hour. I figured it would take him that long to shop with all the restrictions from the virus. Setting up the yoga mat in the living room, I was right in front of the door where he entered. When I heard the doorknob turn, I began to pretend as if I was doing yoga.
“Hey,” he greeted.
“Hey,” I said back. “Did you get that bottle of body oil I wanted?”
“Oh, yeah, here it is,” he offered. “What’s that for?”
“This,” I replied.
I proceeded to douse myself with the oil. I wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath the yoga pants, and soaking the ensemble with the oil made it pretty see-through. I made sexy faces as I rubbed it all over my body. Then I looked up to make eye contact and smile at him. Unfortunately, he just avoided my gaze and rushed out of the room.
The entire episode left me with an oil yoga mat and an oily yoga outfit that I had to clean in the laundry. Jack then texted me from his bedroom to get the rest of the groceries out of his trunk. I sighed and did as he requested. He was making this seduction very difficult.
The next day, I put on a sundress sans any underwear. Jack was actively trying to avoid me now, so I had to get up early, hide near the kitchen, and wait until I heard him walking toward it. Then I would get in front of him and stand in the sunlight as it poured through the kitchen window. It made the sundress practically see-through.
“Dance with me, Jack,” I offered.
“We have work to do,” he said a bit nervously.
“C’mon, just a minute,” I offered, taking his hand.
He looked down at the hand and then at me. Something was going on in his head. For a moment, it seemed like he would stay. But then, behind the eyes, the decision was made. His face dropped, and he rushed out of the room. He locked himself in his bedroom for the rest of the day.
I called Isabella and updated her.
“Wow, he is really playing hard to get,” she said with some concern. “What do you think is stopping him?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed in frustration. “Maybe one of my cousins warned him off of me?”
“Well, couldn’t you find that out by calling them?”
“I guess I could, but if that’s not the case, then I’d be inviting more scrutiny over our situation, which is the last thing I want to do if Jack actually starts up with me again,” I complained. “Maybe I did something wrong. Turned him off somehow.”
“I don’t see how that could be,” said Mandy. “You’re perfect. If he’s not into you, it must be him.”
“You’re too nice sometimes,” I complimented.
“I try. Listen, you just have to keep at it,” she assured me. “Everything I see on the news says this virus thing is going to keep us in lockdown. Cuomo has locked down the state, and DeBlasio has locked down the city.”
“I know, I know. Flatten the curve.”
“Yeah, but already people are starting to get antsy,” she revealed. “The Orthodox Jews wanted to have a funeral, but DeBlasio wouldn’t let them. They are furious.”
“Whoa, weird. Seems like such a small request.”
“Right? Plus, they’re all super religious. You can’t do stuff like that to super religious people. They vote!”
“Did you get yourself a mask?” I asked.
“No! They said that was bad,” said Mandy.
“What? That can’t be right,” I responded. “I’ve seen tons of videos coming out of China. They’re all wearing masks. They do it every year during flu season.”
“Well, that’s what the news is saying here,” countered Mandy. “I don’t know. I think no one knows what they’re doing with this virus. Just be happy you’re trapped in some hunk’s mansion, even if he won’t fuck you, yet.”
“I tried a bunch of things, but it’s not working,” I said despondently. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing. He’s the messed up one that likes to tie up girls,” she pointed out. “Maybe that’s what you should do! Tie yourself up!”
“Really? That sounds more like I’d be insulting his hobby,” I countered.
“Maybe or maybe he’d find it endearing.”
“
I’ve still got outfits.”
“Why did you bring so many outfits to his place?” she asked.
“I panicked when I was packing,” I admitted. “I just threw a bunch of things in my bag. You know, in case we went out or something.”
“Sandra! There’s a pandemic! You can’t go out!”
“I didn’t know that at the beginning,” I said in my defense. “Who knew that all the bars would be closed. I think that’s a mistake, by the way, people need their booze, especially during times like this.”
“There’s an idea! Get him drunk!” Bella suggested.
“A sound idea, but first I have to get him talking to me again,” I noted. “The word exchange has really gone downhill. Maybe I insulted him.”
“Wear him down. Stick with the plan,” insisted my roommate.
The next day, I wore just an insanely tight pair of shorts and a bikini top. Then I decided that was too far since we might be having a Zoom meeting later. Instead, I put on one of my designer dresses. It was a beige thing with ruffles. That, along with jewelry and makeup, made me look like I was going to the opera or a fancy dinner. Maybe this would give him the hint. I didn’t want to have sex in the dress and ruin it, but it would be worth it if it broke the ice with Jack again.
But looking in the mirror, I decided that the entire enterprise was just silly. I should just sit Jack down and talk with him. Maybe if I put all my cards on the table, he’d do the same thing, and we could come to an understanding. I went up to his bedroom and knocked.
No answer. Putting my ear to the door, I could hear Jack say my name. I thought it was odd because it didn’t sound like he was calling for me. It just sounded like he was saying my name. Plus, it seemed far away. I opened the door, but he wasn’t in his bedroom. I heard my name again and walked in. Part of the room looked a little odd to me.
When I walked over, I realized that there was a secret passage in the house, and the secret door was left ajar. I heard Jack repeat my name, only it sounded a little louder. He was clearly somewhere in the secret passage. I crept inside.
Pushing through a curtain, I emerged in a room with dark walls, a few lights, and no windows. Various straps and handcuffs were hanging on the wall as well as a large “X” with restraints. This was some kind of BSDM dungeon, and Jack was sitting in the middle of it.