As I walked back down the stairs, my heart started to pound, and my hands were shaking badly. It only then dawned on me that I hadn't put my thong back on. When I walked towards Eric, he was smiling at me with the biggest smile that really touched my heart. It touched something else, too. I think I returned his smile, but I don't remember. He stepped away from the table and leaned against the wall waiting for me to take the lead.

I looked at Susie, who had the most perfect body I had ever seen. I was right. I would have clawed her eyes out for having that killer body. I stared for I don't know how long when I heard Eric whisper into my ear from behind me, his body pressed against my back slightly. "You like?" I nodded. "Touch her." His voice was so soft and velvety that I briefly closed my eyes.

Stepping to the table I took another deep breath and tentatively put my hand on her stomach, which felt surprisingly hot. But then I noticed the marks and figured it was from the flogger. I slowly rubbed my hand over her stomach, legs, arms, shoulders, everything except for the parts I was afraid of. Her skin was so soft that I surprised myself how much I liked it. Something got a firm hold of my wrist temporarily and placed my hand over her breast, her nipples hard and erect. Knowing Eric was beside me gave me some small comfort. I began to massage it and mold it, circling my palm over her nipples. Susie didn't move or moan. I thought for sure Eric had killed her.

"Here," Eric said and nodded to a smaller table with the inevitable toys of affection. Among other things were a wooden paddle, a leather fly-swatter shaped wand, a gag, a smaller flogger with thinner strips of leather, a pizza cutter. "Use whatever suits your mood. But just to let you know, she doesn't like pain, either."

What I was feeling surprised me. It wasn't the Domme issue that caught me off guard but the reaction of my body. So I sucked up my pride, gained as much courage as I could and dove right in—figuratively speaking. My thought at that moment was I wanted to wake Susie up. I wanted to hear her moan and cry out. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything. I assumed Eric told her how to address me, and I'd go with that.

I began to explore her body again, sometimes with both hands. I knew I was doing something right when she began to gurgle from the back of her throat. I have an oral fixation that I just had to curb. After bending down, I placed my lips around a swollen nipple and just barely brushed my tongue across the top of it. I felt it pulse, resulting in my clit pulsing in response. Gaining confidence, I lapped and licked and sucked, taking the entire nob into my mouth. Then little Ms. Susie the sub moaned. I looked up into her face. Her teeth were clenched and her head was back.

Continuing to suckle her breast, I slid my hand down her stomach to her pussy, letting my fingers run up and around her clit and entrance but never touching them. I switched breasts and worked on that for a moment, my hand then covering her crotch completely. My mind had instantly switched over to a world I never thought existed. I felt my pussy getting just as moist as the sub's was. Leaving her nipple, I licked between her breasts and she moaned once more—no, that time it was me.

I felt Eric beside me again, to my left, right beside her hips. He leaned over and whispered, "Do you want to taste her sweet juices?" His voice was deeper this time and it was sexy as hell.

Looking up at him I nodded. His hand moved to her pussy, beside my hand which hadn't moved, and I watched as he roughly, I thought, ran his fingers all over her entrance. Subbie cried out and tried to buck her hips as his fingers moved in all sorts of directions. But with the restraints, she couldn't move an inch.

I looked into Eric's eyes hungrily, as if he was offering his blood to revive my lifeless body. Had he glamoured me? I had every bit of control of my mind and my body. All I knew was that I was doing this. It was me. Not Eric. Me. I didn't know what the hell had gotten into me.

"Open your mouth," Eric said. His tone was not an order, yet I obeyed. He brought his middle finger to my bottom lip and traced it one way then the other. Her scent flooded my nose. Did I smell that sweet? Opening my mouth wider, I slid my tongue out and lapped at his moist finger quickly, as if it were acid that was going to burn my tongue. It didn't. Keeping eye contact with Eric, he put his finger in my mouth, and I wrapped my lips around it, sucking in our sub's juice. "Hmm, leave some for me," Eric warned.

But before I could stop, he pressed his lips against mine, his finger still in my mouth. I completely lost my mind at that moment but regained it rather quickly. I pulled back and shook my head. "She's mine," I barked, surprised at the tone of my voice.

Eric laughed wickedly before stepping back to the wall. I looked back at the sub's face and knew I wanted more. I wanted more of her. I wanted more control. I wanted more—power. And I knew how to get it—well, one way to get it. I removed my hand from her pussy and stepped to the table with the toys, trying to imagine how each one would feel the best.

"The leather swatter," Eric said, not moving.

Without looking at him I grabbed the thin handle and smacked it against my palm with a certain degree of weight. Then I know why those stupid German interrogators would threaten the victim by smacking their palm: They had to figure out how hard to hit them.

I turned to the girl, looked over her body first to determine where I wanted to start. Picking a spot on her stomach, I smacked at her skin once. She moaned softly, enough to tell me she could take more. So that's what I did. I started hitting her stomach as fast as I could and with varying degrees of hardness, depending on her reactions. When we established a bit of understanding, I gradually moved the swatter down to the inside of her thighs and worked that area for a while. She moaned and whined and whimpered and made every sound a woman in ecstasy could muster. When she'd move her hips just a little to avoid a smack, I'd hit an area near it but not on it. That got her crying out every time.

But within minutes I was bored. Blame it on my Scorpio trait. Hmm, what else could I use? The pizza cutter looked interesting. I grinned as I grabbed it and heard Eric chortle through his nose. At least I was keeping his interest, as well. Without thinking, I said, "Sub?"

"Yes, Mistress," my subbie replied, her breathing shallow.

I turned to Eric and grinned pleased. He winked. I smiled then turned back. "Has Eric fucked you?" What? Who the hell said that? Oh, it was me.

"No, Mistress," she said, shaking her head back and forth in a panic, based on the pout on her lips. I knew she wasn't lying.

"No, sub, don't be afraid," I said softly. I put the pizza cutter down by her head and told her, "I'm not going to hurt you. Be honest with me and I won't have to hurt you."

She seemed to relax a little. "Thank you, Mistress."

I grinned. "Susie, let's lay down some ground rules."

There was a swoosh around me and Eric stepped to the other side of the table. I laughed to myself at the expression on his face. It was like a German Shepard begging for bacon.

I continued. "You may cum when you choose—need to, but you must tell me."

She nodded emphatically. "Yes, Mistress."

"Ma'am. You will address me as ma'am."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good girl. What are your limits?"

She turned her head to look at me—well, she was still blindfolded so she couldn't look at me. "No pain, ma'am."

"Your definition of pain I'm sure is different than my definition of pain." It is? Really? When exactly had I come to that conclusion? "What's your safe word?" I asked, softening my voice. That, by the way, was beginning to get annoying—the softening of my voice. It no longer sounded natural.

"Heidelberg, ma'am."

She had tensed again. There was only one thing I could think of to calm her down. I bent down towards her face and licked her bottom lip. Just as I hoped, she opened her mouth and I kissed her, softly at first then with a passion that surprised me. She groaned in the back of her throat as our kiss grew. That was the first time I allowed myself to relax and indulge in my fantasy of having a woman under my power. I wanted to get myself going as much as I was hoping to make the sub. I brought my face to her cheek and swept mine against hers softly. She let out a sigh and tilted her head towards me. With my cheek or nose or lips, I always kept contact with her skin, closing my eyes to concentrate on what I was feeling. I liked the feel of our contact. It stirred something in me that started my embers burning. My lips went in search for hers and I think we both sighed when they met. It was so different from kissing a man. New territory was being explored between us, and a door was opened that I never knew existed. There are no expectation, no rules. Just do what feels right.

She suddenly whimpered as if in pain, so I opened my eyes and saw that Eric had his mouth encased over her nipple and from what I could tell, sucking pretty hard. It turned me on even more when I saw a trickle of blood fall between her breasts, knowing that was Eric's power he had over her.

When he saw me, he pulled back from her breast. His fangs were covered in blood and there was also blood in the corners of his mouth. Just when I thought I couldn't get any more turned on. "May I ... kiss you, Sir?" Once a sub, always a sub!

He smiled, his lips curving up and back over his fangs. He leaned forward just enough to meet my lips, and the first thing I noticed was the metallic taste of Susie's blood. I wondered if it tasted the same to Eric. I didn't remember Eric ever kissing me like this before. Just as I wanted more from him, I knew it wasn't the time or the place.

So, I bent down, kissed Susie a quick goodbye then turned and practically ran up the stairs, seemingly slamming the door behind me. My heart was pounding so fast, my head spinning from what I had done I couldn't even walk straight from my knees being so weak. I headed straight for the single-person bathroom to wash my hands and face.

Five minutes later I opened the door, looking in my purse for my office key when I saw something standing in my way. It wasn't a person, really. It was a crotch, with a thick, huge bulge tucked painfully inside a pair of jeans. The same pair that ... I looked up and saw Eric staring down on me with hunger in his eyes.

Without a word, he grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him gracefully with his foot. "Eric? What are you doing?" I demanded.

By the time I realized what was going on, I was pinned against the tiled wall of the bathroom, my arms straight above my head, Eric holding both of my hands securely with one hand; the other was planted on my hip. I was so shocked by the swift movement I was stunned into silence. "Did you like Susie?" he asked. His voice was menacing, his teeth glared an inch from my face. I knew what he wanted.

Before I could react, his fingers pulled the skirt of my sunflower dress up, and I gasped when his cold hand brushed against the skin of my hip. I struggled to free myself but I could barely breathe, much less move. I'd also forgotten I was wearing no panties. "No, I didn't. Let me go, please," I pleaded, though I didn't mean it.

"Don't lie to me," he growled wickedly. He gathered more material of the skirt and patted my ass cheek before he brought his hand up to my crotch. I sighed with excitement, but I wanted to desperately kick him in the groin and run out, yet my body didn't have any strength whatsoever. It wouldn't hurt him anyway, would it? I wasn't about to ask. His fingers slid easily over my soaked entrance to my clit. His eyebrow rose curiously while he gave me an evil half grin. "You lied to me."

Yes, I liked playing with Susie. Yes, I was drenching wet. Yes, my clit wanted some attention. Yes, I needed to be fucked. But I'd be damned if I was going to get it like this. "Eric, drop your pants."

He pulled his head back and smiled before he unbuttoned the waist and pushed them down to his ankles. I allowed myself a split second glance of his engorged cock, and I swallowed hard. Then I ran for it.

As quick as I knew Eric was I couldn't believe I made it out the bathroom door. But I was thrilled. I headed for the back door and ran out to the end of the parking lot. By the time I turned around to catch my breath, Eric was leaning against a car with his arms crossed. The thing was he actually looked … scared. Eric scared?

I stepped to him angrier than I'd ever been in my life. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" I spat, pointing my finger right in his face. If he wanted to bite it off I wouldn't have cared.

He put his hand on my shoulder, his mouth open to say something but I pulled away, taking a few steps back. "You're shaking," he stated.

"No shit! Do you have any idea …" He was gone before I even finished speaking. I blinked a few times wondering if it was just a dream.

He returned two seconds later with a full shot glass in his hand. "Drink this."

My anger built up inside of me again. I struck his hand that held the glass and it flew to the ground, the liquid darkening the graveled lot. I put my hands on my hips and glared at him.

"I'm sorry." The tone of his voice and the expression on his face told me he really was sorry. Probably for only two seconds, though.

We stared at the other for a moment before I finally caught my breath and was able to get my thoughts together. "This isn't working," I heard myself say.

"I shouldn't have pushed you. It won't happen again."

"You didn't push me. I chose to do that. And that's not what I meant, jack ass." I could feel tears build up in my eyes. I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to show him any weakness. "You have my two week notice."

Walking away, I held my shoulders high and proud of myself at standing up to him. But I could feel his eyes beaming into my back. I could also see the grin he probably had on his face. A single tear fell from my eye as I headed back inside to my office. I could hardly concentrate on what work I had left to do. I wasn't sure if I meant what I said—about giving my notice. I was pissed, that was a sure thing. So pissed, I decided to leave an hour early. If he fired me, oh well! Two week notice—a day's notice. It didn't matter.

I only stopped shaking when I'd gone back to the hotel room after half an hour and changed into a tank and shorts. It felt like I'd had twenty cups of coffee and my mind was all over the place. I was far from sleepy. Soon enough I felt claustrophobic and needed some air. It was 3:30 a.m. but I didn't care. I threw myself in the chair outside the room and buried my face in my hands. How could I have been so stupid letting Eric do that to me? Then the tears came in sheets.

A second later I heard a scuffle near me, and I looked at the shoes in front of me. Eric's shoes. The last thing I needed was to talk to him. "Go away, Eric," I whined behind my fingers.

"Connee?" I ignored him. He knelt down and put his hands on my knees. "Connee, look at me." The command in his voice got my attention. I slowly tilted my head up and took a deep breath but still found it hard to look him in the face. "Was that your first time with a woman … like that?" I nodded. "You did an excellent job. Why were you shaking?" His voice was soft then, but I was still cautious of his intention.

"Be … because I—" I wasn't really sure why I was shaking.

"I am truly sorry." He reached his hands up and pulled my hands from my face.

"No, no," I muttered, shaking my head. "Don't do this. You are who you are and … this whole nice, compassionate Eric then is not really you." I finally found the courage to look him in the face. And believe it or not, he was serious.

"I want you to stay."

"Why? So you can use me again?"

Laughing, he stood and leaned against the post, crossing his legs. "You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. You intrigue me like no other."

"Why?"

"I don't quite know, to be honest."

"You, honest?" I asked with a chuckle. He was starting to bring my barrier down.

"True. But what I want to know is do you think you can find it in your heart to forgive me? Don't you trust me?"

I laughed long and hard. Wiping the remaining tears on my cheeks I leaned back. "I trust that you are a fair boss. Outside that arena, no. Trust is earned, Mr. Northman."

"Mr. Northman?" He laughed. "Ah, I almost forgot." Reaching inside his back pocket he pulled out a single key on a key ring. Taking a step closer he handed it to me. I didn't take it. "This is the front door key to apartment 307 on Sycamore. The apartment is yours as long as you want it."

I couldn't believe it. I was floored. "Why?"

He shook his head. "You really need to stop using that word. Stay and the apartment is yours."

"Oh, so you're gonna buy me—"

The air was sucked out of my lungs when he lifted me and pushed me against the door. "I do not have to buy anything, little one. If I want something I'll take it."

My stomach churned. I didn't know what to say.

Eric took the key, pulled the tank back a little and let it fall down into the bra of the tank. "It's yours if you want it."

"Why are you doing this?" I choked.

"Because I want you to trust me. I need you to trust me." He looked over my face quickly before he turned and was gone in a flash.

I started to shake again. What the hell was he doing?