I closed my eyes. She continued to speak to me, her words so quiet I could barely hear them, her fingers working their magic inside me.
Eventually I arched my back and screamed into the gag. Her fingers stayed inside me, teasing me, as the spasms rocked through me for an eternity.
She loosened the gag and removed it from my mouth, then made me lick her fingers. She rolled over and released my hand, then my legs, then my other hand. She pulled the covers up around us, cuddling me again.
"Mine, Shane."
"Yours, Roni. All yours."
I started to drift off but heard her words in my ear. "I love you, too, Shane."
"That's lust, Roni," I said half asleep.
She chuckled. "It's both." She squeezed me and I fell asleep in her arms.
Chapter 9: The Truth
Veronica and I settled into a routine that fit well with school. Depending on mutual schedules, she drove to Knightly once or twice mid-week to take me to dinner, sometimes inviting Molly and a couple of times Janice and Kelly joined us. Molly warmed up to Veronica and the two of them became friends, which pleased me. Unless there was a school event, I tended to spend the weekends at Veronica's, but she insisted I not neglect my friendship with Molly, so we found a balance that worked.
For the last Saturday in March, Victoria and Wendy invited us to dinner. It was just they, we, and Jeremy and Lawrence. Veronica bought me a green leather skirt and vest, surprising me with it when we were about to get dressed. She'd already picked out an LBD for herself.
"I thought I'd wear my red dress," I told her, eying the leather skeptically. "We aren't going to match this way."
"You don't like it?" she asked me, sounding hurt.
I picked up the skirt. The leather was supple and felt wonderful. I held it up, then held the vest up. "Do I wear a blouse under it or over it?"
"No blouse," she said. "Those plus stockings." Then I noticed there was a pair of fishnet stockings in the box. "And heels."
"It's really sexy," I decided. "But we won't match."
She pursed her lips. I was missing something, and I don't think it was that I was being ungracious in accepting her gift. I was uncomfortable accepting any gifts from her, but she'd been buying me things anyway, and she was used to me not being gracious about it. She understood it was my guilt coming through at not being able to buy her things in return. We'd barely been dating a month but I already had a half a wardrobe at her apartment, and I looked hot in all of them.
"They're symbolic," she said finally.
"Of what?"
"Of the leather collar I'm not making you wear. But if you prefer, you may wear your red dress and the collar."
"Eek!" I blushed. She'd introduced me to the collar the previous weekend. She put it on me the minute I'd entered the apartment on Friday evening, then took all my clothes away. She had clipped a leash to the collar and then attached the other end of the leash to a hook on her belt. I'd spent the entire weekend naked except for the collar, tethered to her the entire time except while I was studying or one of us was using the bathroom. I'd blushed furiously every time she looked at me, but by the end of the weekend, I was completely aquiver for her touch.
She told me the entire weekend was payback for my own behavior. It had started with emails I'd been sending to her during the day. At first, it had been innocent. Just sweet little emails about my day, and that was fine. But then during one of them I'd gotten playful and I told her I'd been thinking about her, which had gotten me all worked up, so I was taking care of it while emailing her. Then I'd gone into details what I was doing, telling her exactly how it felt, and how I was imagining her doing all this to me instead.
I was doing no such thing of course. I was sitting in the library at the time, looking quite chaste and proper. But she didn't know that.
She'd gotten the email during a staff meeting. I got a response that said, "Cheeky girl!" On the phone that night, she told me her staff noticed she wasn't paying attention but was looking very distracted and asked her, "What's her name, she's got this reaction on you?"
Of course, I was pleased I could affect her that way, so I started sending her more emails and text messages. I kept hoping to catch her during more staff meetings. Then I started including photos. Some of them were innocent. I got Molly to take a picture of my bare shoulder then sent the photo to Veronica saying, "You kissed this spot last Saturday and it's still quivering." I did a lot like that. I took one of my bed, freshly made, and said, "This would be more fun if you helped me rumple it."
Some of the photos were quite racy. Never any full body shots or anything like that. But I would take a photo then crop it down to just a small part. I blushed furiously when I did a self portrait of my lady bits, but then I cropped it down so that you could barely tell what it was and then probably only if you knew how naughty I was trying to be. The caption for that one was, "This part is lonely. Do you know anyone who will kiss it for me?"
I sent her that one three times.
So she made me pay for teasing her so badly, but Tuesday night when we talked on the phone, she said, "No emails?" So I knew she was enjoying the teasing. So on Thursday when I knew she was in a meeting with a client, I sent a photo of my crossed wrists with the caption, "Something is missing." It was Thursday night that she'd bought the leather outfit for me.
Of course, I wore the leather to the dinner party. Veronica looked very professional and stunning, as she always did, in her little black dress. I looked hot, and probably a little bit skanky, in the leather, but Victoria and Wendy smiled when they saw how I was dressed.
Jeremy chastised Veronica for the outfit. He actually sniffed in a superior fashion. "Good color," he admitted, "but she looks much better in my creations than this... this..."
"I think I look good," I told him defensively.
"Honey, you would look good no matter what you wear," he said. "You would even look good in one of those hideous sweatshirts." He paused, looking at me for a moment. "Please tell me you never wear sweatshirts."
I think I offered a guilty look. He turned to Veronica. "You let her wear sweatshirts?"
"Not around me," she told him. "If she shows up on my doorstep wearing a sweatshirt, I whisk her inside before anyone can see her, then I make her take off every stitch."
I blushed ferociously while everyone else laughed.
Over dinner, the topic came up again. "Roni, what did she do that you made her dress like this?"
"Cheeky girl," Veronica said fiercely.
"She certainly is," Wendy said. "Please tell me you spank her frequently."
"She can be hard to catch," Veronica said. "As for what she did, well."
And then she told them, sparing no details. I hid my face during the telling, but then she offered to pull out her phone and show them some of the photos.
"No!" I screeched. "You show them even one single innocent photo, and I'll stop sending them to you."
Veronica looked at me and put her phone away. Victoria actually cackled. "She's got your number, Roni. How did you let that happen?"
"Cheeky girl," was all Veronica said, but she winked at me.
The topic came up again after dinner. Jeremy finally made a disgusted sound and said, "I can't look at her dressed like that anymore." He stormed off to the front door and opened the closet door. I couldn't believe he would leave just because he didn't like how I was dressed, but instead he retrieved a garment bag from the closet. He walked over to me and ordered me to stand up. I did and he looked me up and down. "Take it off," he ordered.
"What? Jeremy, I'm not wearing anything underneath. I think that's rather obvious, don't you think?"
Wendy tittered.
"It's just us girls here," he muttered, but he didn't push it. Then he unzipped the garment bag and withdrew a long, green dress. I stared at it.
"I had to guess at some of the sizes," he said. "But it should be close." He held it up in front of me. "Take that crap off and put this on."
<
br /> He shoved the dress into my hands then turned around, standing between me and everyone else. He was so big, I couldn't see past him. And thus no one could see me, although Veronica leaned way to the side to look around him and watch me.
She nodded and blew me a kiss.
I bent down and took off my shoes, then took off the skirt and vest, setting them aside. Then I climbed into the dress.
It was green. The top was made of a soft leather. There was a leather collar that wrapped around my neck and rested comfortably while helping to support the dress. It was backless and sleeveless and wouldn't have stayed up without the collar offering a little bit of extra support. There were laces at the lower part of the back that could be used to tighten the waist while still leaving my back exposed almost but not quite to the point of indecency. I left them loose. The skirt was green brocade, and there were touches of the brocade used as a sort of pin striping through the bodice as well. It was stunning.
"You can turn around, Jeremy."
He did and looked at me. He turned me around and tightened the laces, then he began fussing at me. He actually adjusted my boobs, and I blushed, but Veronica just laughed quietly. It felt better when he was done though.
"It needs to come in a little here," he said. He produced some safety pins from a pocket and began tucking things in a little. "And maybe here." Finally he was satisfied and stepped back.
Lawrence was beaming not at me, but at Jeremy. I realized then he was proud of his partner.
"You've been naughty, Jeremy," said Wendy. "You were supposed to do the shoes first. But oh my god, it's brilliant."
"Mirror," I said. "Mirror."
Jeremy knew his way around the apartment and pulled me to the full length mirror in Victoria and Wendy's room. He used his hands on my shoulders to position me in front of the mirror, fussed with my hair for a moment, then stepped back. I stared at my reflection.
"You made this for me?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"Do you like it?" he asked. It actually sounded like he wasn't sure.
I turned around and hugged him, practically throwing myself into his arms. He held me gently.
"I've never felt so beautiful."
When we got back to the room, I heard Veronica asking, "Can he make more?"
Jeremy started to explain his decisions. "I wanted a balance," he said, "of innocence and playfulness. And she must be able to tango in it." He gave me a stern look. "No swing!"
This was definitely not a swing dress.
"So that meant backless, so you can caress her skin while you dance." He said that looking at Veronica.
"Sleeveless to show off her truly fine arms," he said, caressing my biceps for a moment.
"I couldn't help but use the brocade in memory of what she wore the first time I saw her," he said, "But I'm not sure if another material wouldn't have been better."
"It's lovely, Jeremy," said Victoria. "Perfect."
"Maybe," he admitted. "I wanted red, but I need samples of her hair to match that color." He started playing with my hair. "It's not just one shade of red, and we mustn't clash."
Then he looked at Veronica while his hands rested on the leather collar built into the dress. She began to blush. It was the first time I saw her blush. "I did it this way for you," he told her. She didn't say anything, but later I saw her kiss his cheek.
He turned me around again then turned me back.
"I'm sorry I didn't make the shoes first," he told Wendy and Victoria while looking contrite.
"It's brilliant, Jeremy," said Wendy. "Simply brilliant."
"I'll cherish it forever," I told him.
"Honey, you can't keep it," said Veronica softly. "It's a prototype. He's making a new clothing line from it, and he'll need it."
"She certainly will keep it," he said fiercely. "I made it for her." He grinned then looked contrite again. "I made two, but the other one is a little different. This is a one-of-a-kind and we won't ever make any more like it."
At that he turned his back on all of them, the conversation finished, and he helped me put my shoes back on. Then he looked at Victoria. "It needs a test drive." He pulled a CD out of a side pocket of the garment bag, crossed to the stereo, and inserted the CD. A few seconds later, Argentine tango music filled the room.
Veronica got up from the couch, walked towards me, then circled me once before taking me into her arms and we began to dance.
* * *
The end of the term was approaching, and I would have just a little over a week free. Veronica assumed I'd spend it with her.
"My parents aren't going to like that," I told her.
In response, Veronica stuffed a stocking into my mouth and tied it in place, then moved down and soon had me screaming her name through the gag.
The next day was Sunday. Veronica was going to drive me back to school early so that I would focus on studies for the last few days of the term. She was quiet over breakfast.
"Tell me about what you want to do for a career," she said.
"I told you. Business."
"That can mean a lot of things," she said. "Do you want to be a mortgage broker like your father?"
"Finance and banking," I said slowly, considering it. "I don't know. What I really need is to get some experience. But it's not like anyone is going to hire me for anything where I'll actually learn something, not just over a summer break."
She smiled. "I would."
"That's just because you love me," I told her. "But no one else will."
"Are you turning down my job offer before you even hear it?"
"Your title would be Personal Assistant. That's a glorified name for Fetch and Carry. You would do whatever I told you to do. Basically your job is to offload as much trivia from me so I can focus on the things that make the company money. That can mean anything from making copies to taking my clothes to the dry cleaner. You would be my shadow. You would attend virtually every meeting I attend unless you're running errands for me. You would be exposed to the creative side of the business, which is very particular to what we do, as well as the pure business side, the sort of things that every company has to do. Accounting, payroll, collections, managing clients, the works. You would work for me over both the spring and summer break. After that, we'll reevaluate."
She looked me over for a moment. "Now, I'm going to give you two reasons why you should consider turning me down. Then I'm going to give you some personal reasons why you should accept. These will be explained to you as your older and possibly wiser lover. Then I'm going to be your professional mentor and explain why you should accept.
"Problem number one. This might be just a little too much together time. If we are having a disagreement, you absolutely can not bring it to the office. Furthermore, you would basically be around me 24 hours a day, and that just might be too much.
"Problem number two. I work long hours, and I'd expect you to match me. That's a professional requirement. If I need you for something, I need you, and just because it's not 8 to 5 doesn't mean I'm not working. That might be a bigger job than you're willing to take at this point, and it might be culture shock for you. On the other hand, you'd get a feel for what sort of hours a high powered job can take."
She paused, taking a sip of her coffee. "Now, the personal reasons to take it, Love." She smiled at me. "Because of the hours you'd be working, you would need a place nearby. You can't drive in from the suburbs and work the hours I'd insist you work. And it just happens I have a spare guest room. The job would pay $12 an hour plus room and board. I would insist you accept." She smiled. "I believe that takes care of the objections your parents would have about you moving in with me.
"Furthermore, I love the idea of you taking my orders at work." She leered. "You might enjoy the opportunity to wave your cute ass at me all the time."
I laughed. "You're right, I would."
"You would get to see me at work. This is an opportunity for me to show off. Shane, I'm very good at what I do, but until you
see it up close, you can't really appreciate it. I want to be able to talk about my work with you and know you understand."
She took another sip of her coffee, then her expression turned less playful. "Now, speaking as an experienced business woman, acting as a mentor and the person introducing you to the business world, the reasons you should accept. First, you may not appreciate it, but this job would expose you to more aspects of business than you could find anywhere else. Even if you found a similar position elsewhere, and you won't, it would be for a bigger company where the executive you'd be assisting only works on a slice of the company business. I work on all of it, so you'll see all of it.
"Next, while the pay isn't great, it's good for someone your age with no experience. As a friend, I'd love to pay you more, but as a business woman, I can't justify it."
"Finally, this is a low-risk opportunity professionally. You're going to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. But if you make them for me, it won't trash your reputation. I'll be there to help you learn from it. If you make them somewhere else, you might shut down a significant opportunity down the road."
She stopped talking and drank her coffee, letting me think about it.
"Is this just an opportunity to make me move in with you?" I asked.
"No. That's a bonus and it solves a personal problem, but I believe that local businesses should invest in the community, and offering opportunities like this is part of that. Summer is a very busy time for me, and bringing you on to help out will be valuable. You will earn your money. It's not a handout."
She thought about it. "Plus. I haven't done anything like this, either, and I'm going to make mistakes, too. I'm hoping you'll be gentle with me when I do."
I thought about it. Actually, I loved the idea from the moment she brought it up, especially the moving in part.
"What if it turns out to be too much time together?"
"Then we'll adjust before it becomes a real problem."
I smiled. "When do I start?"
She reached over and hugged me. "The day after your last class."
"Wednesday then," I said. "I have two final projects due Wednesday. They're both already done. And a take home exam we'll get tomorrow. Some students have classes on Friday but I don't."
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