Yours, Thankfully

  Yours, Thankfully

  by

  Roz Lee

  eBooks are not transferable. Please do not sell, share or reproduce in any way as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental and the product of the authors imagination or have been used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2015 by Roz Lee

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the copyright holder.

  http://www.rozlee.net

  ISBN: 978-0-9863999-5-4

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Then there was light.

  Taste the forbidden fruit.

  Yours, Thankfully

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Other Titles by Roz Lee

  Then there was light.

  Knowing it would be the last decent breath she’d take until she reached the lobby, Nicole inhaled deep before stepping inside the elevator car, her assistant, Kayla, close on her heels. Ever since she was a child and had accidently locked herself in a closet at her grandparent’s house, she’d had a fear of enclosed spaces. She’d learned to tolerate elevators, finding that it helped to focus on the numerical display, counting the floors as they sped by like an insomniac counted sheep. It worked, to a degree, allowing her to keep her offices in the posh high-rise building that signaled success to investors.

  Visualizing the car waiting below to take her to the airport, she counted the passing floors. Each one brought her closer to safety, and a few days at Saphros where she could shed the persona she donned for the world and be herself. It had been months since she’d submitted to anyone, and the strain of being a dominatrix in the business world was taking its toll.

  Ever since Kayla had come to work for her, she’d fantasized about her personal assistant. She’d been reluctant to hire her, fearing she’d become bored with the job. Kayla was over qualified in the extreme, but she’d proven Nicole’s fears to be unfounded. The woman had taken on the task of keeping Nicole, and her entire staff in line as if she’d been born to command. Quietly observant, she seemed to know exactly what to say to spur someone to action. Nicole’s office had never run so efficiently or her libido run so amok.

  Each measured breath she took brought with it the knowledge that she shared the compartment with the single most desirable woman she’d ever met. Nicole held that information close. Kayla had never given any indication the attraction might be mutual, and Nicole wasn’t in the habit of hitting on employees. Both those issues aside, she’d decided long ago she wasn’t interested in a relationship again unless it was with a Domme, and who had time for that? Nevertheless, she hadn’t lost hope. The envelope zipped into a separate compartment inside her purse was testament to that.

  The trip to Maui this holiday weekend would have to do. It had been too long since she’d been on her knees for another woman. Too long since she’d experienced the freedom of submission. If she was going to work with Kayla every day, the fantasies had to stop. She’d replace them with memories of real events, recent enough to remain fresh in her mind. It was the only hope she had of remaining sane.

  “Did you email a copy of the Anderson file to Trinidad? He promised to read it over and get back to me after the holiday.”

  “I’ll take care of it.” She knew without looking her efficient assistant was busy setting a reminder on her tablet to perform the assigned task. The office would be in good hands while she was gone. “If anyone needs you over the holiday—where can I reach you? Home?”

  “No. I’m going to Maui.” She tapped the toe of one shoe as she watched the digital floor display tick off the floor numbers. “If I’m not at JFK in an hour, there will be hell to pay.” Her week at Saphros began the moment she set foot on the private plane. The Domme she belonged to for the next week would make sure to punish her tardiness. She’d prefer a pleasurable trip to the island, but either way, she’d leave the stress of being Nicole Halstead behind soon.

  “Sounds wonderful. Have a good time.” The wistfulness in Kayla’s voice was unmistakable. Once again, visions of her assistant dressed provocatively in a corset and stilettos, riding crop in hand, flitted through her mind. Fuck, she seriously needed to get away. Wishing the woman was a Domme wasn’t going to make her one.

  “What about you? Do you have plans?”

  “Uh. No. No plans.”

  She was torturing herself with this line of questioning, but she couldn’t stop. She knew so little about Kayla, it seemed important to know more about the woman who occupied her daydreams and most of her night ones, too. “Are you seeing anyone?”

  The elevator jerked to a stop midsentence. “What the?” Nicole took a step back from the door. The overhead lights blinked once, twice, then petered out completely. It was her worst nightmare come to life. “Oh. My. God.”

  “It’s okay.” Kayla’s calm voice did nothing to stem the panic rising to the surface. “The power will be back on soon, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Do something,” Nicole half screeched, half whimpered. She willed her hands to stop shaking and forced air in and out of her lungs. A blue-tinged light split the darkness, wavered then landed on the control panel.

  “Thank god for flashlight apps,” Kayla said, examining the array of buttons and such. She sounded calm. Too calm for someone stuck in a box with nothing but air below it for fifty-some stories. “There’s an emergency phone in these things, right?” She bent to get a closer look then pulled a small door open. “Bingo!”

  Nicole was losing the battle. Fear and panic were jackhammering the veneer of her control away as she listened to the one-sided conversation.

  “Hello? Yes, we need help. The elevator just stopped. No. No power at all.” Kayla punched a few buttons just to make sure. “There are two of us. No, no medical problems. Really? Okay. Yeah. We’ll be fine.”

  “What did they say? Are they going to get us out of here?” Every breath she took was harder than the one before. They were going to die in here, all because she’d kept them late in order to finish up the monthly reports.

  Kayla hung the receiver back on its hook. She switched off the flashlight app and darkness descended on them. Nicole gulped back a plea for her to turn the light back on. “There’s a major power outage affecting the entire city. They sort of have their hands full, so it’s going to be a while.”

  “Define a while.” Even she could hear the hint of panic in her voice.

  “They said it might be a couple of hours.”

  She sucked in a harsh breath, but for the life of her, she couldn’t force it out of her lungs. One hand on her chest, she stumbled back, feeling for the wall with the other. Her heels hit before her hand. She lost her balance, her back met the wall with a jarring thud that knocked the breath from her.

  “Nicole!” Kayla fumbled in her bag for her phone. She never should have turned off the light in the first place. She’d heard the fear in her boss’s voice, but never in her wildest dreams, and she’d had plenty of those, did she think the indomitable Nicole Halstead would be afraid of anything, much less something as harmless as being stuck in a dark elevator. The woman was a Titan of commerce. A ball-buster. Kayla had fantasized about reducing her to a quivering mass, but not like this.

  She was no stranger to a woman’s fear, but it was usually something planned and meted out in small increments—as she chose. Not to mention, the person experiencing the fear did so willingly. This was completely different. Reminding herself that having a panic attack herself would do neither of them any good, Kayla took a dee
p breath to steady her hands. In no time, her fingers closed around her phone then light flooded the small compartment.

  Her boss stood in the far corner, hands fisted and trembling beneath her chin, her eyes wide and her face pale.

  “Are you okay?” Under the right circumstances, Kayla loved to see a woman’s fear, knew how to handle it, but this?

  “I’ve got to get out of here.”

  The panicked woman cowering in the corner was not the same person Kayla had grown to respect over the last few months. “We’ll be out of here soon. Relax.” She checked the battery life on her phone. They had a half hour, maybe a little more, she judged, depending on how much juice the flashlight app used. Turning it off wasn’t an option. Using her foot, she scooted her purse into a corner then bent and placed the phone on top so the light illuminated as much of the car as possible.

  “Can’t… Out… Let me out.”

  Her boss’s breathless demand did nothing to ease Kayla’s concern. She had to get Nicole’s mind off their confinement—get her thinking about something else—something more pleasant. “It’s okay. We’ll be out soon. While we wait, why don’t you tell about your vacation? Where did you say you were going?”

  Nicole’s gaze remained fixed on the door. Her lips vibrated as she struggled to get a grip on her fear. “Mau—Maui. Saphros.”

  Kayla froze. Surely she’d misheard. Saphros on Maui was one of the most exclusive lesbian only resorts in the world, known not only for their women only policy, but it was rumored that they catered to all levels of kink as well. It was high on her bucket list of places to go if she ever won the lottery.

  “I’ve got to get out of here.” Nicole lunged forward. Wedging her fingers into the seam between the doors, a sound ushered from her lips more like a wild animal caught in a trap than a human. Kayla reached for her. Grabbing her arms from behind, she tried to pull her away from the door. Nicole wrenched out of her grasp and spun around. Eyes wide with terror, she clawed at her blouse, managing to tear the neckline before Kayla could stop her.

  Shit. She had to do something before Nicole hurt herself. She’d seen panic attacks before. Subs, eager to please, would refuse to use their safeword and end up in over their heads. Confidence and a clear head were called for. Could this circumstance be much different?

  You can do this. Put on your big girl panties and take control. Forget she’s your boss, and put an end to this shit.

  Squaring her shoulders, Kayla let go of the tight leash holding her dominant side in check. “Stop it right now, bitch!”

  Nicole’s hands stilled. Her eyes focused on Kayla. And there it was—that flash of recognition. The woman knew a thing or two about submitting. Wasn’t her boss just full of surprises today? “On your knees, sub.”

  Unable to believe her eyes, Kayla took a step back as her boss braced herself against the wall with one hand and inched her way down to the floor. Her sleek pencil skirt made it impossible to spread her knees, but she managed a reasonable facsimile of a submissive pose—trembling hands resting on her thighs, palm up, back straight, eyes downcast. Who would have thought?

  Now what? She was used to playing by a script she’d predetermined to fit the needs of her sub. Not only did she know bupkus about Nicole’s experience as a submissive, she knew next to nothing about claustrophobia. Never mind that the woman kneeling at her feet was her boss. If she’d misjudged the situation she’d be filling out papers at the unemployment office on Friday. Just freakin’ great.

  Kayla closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose, held the breath for as long as she could then let it out in a rush through parted lips. It wouldn’t do for both of them to panic—albeit for completely different reasons.

  Fuck it. She had her boss right where she wanted her. The Domme in her refused to let the opportunity to get to know Nicole better pass. If it cost her her job, then so be it. She’d find another, but how many times did a person get to live out their fantasy?

  Resolved to seize the unexpected windfall with both hands, she opened her eyes. Nicole shook like a leaf in the wind, and it certainly wasn’t from the cold. Without ventilation, the temperature in the car was rising right along with the tension. She had to get Nicole’s mind off her present circumstances. She had a sub once who had a knack for detaching herself from unpleasant scenes by imagining she was somewhere else. It had worked for her. Perhaps it would work with Nicole.

  “I want you to close your eyes, Nicole, and imagine the place you’d most like to be right now. See it in your mind. Pay attention to the details, the colors, the sounds, the smells.” Her boss lowered her eyelids, and after a few heartbeats, inhaled deeply then let the breath out. Though her posture remained perfect, she seemed to relax a fraction. Kayla pressed on. “Tell me what you see. Where are you?”

  “Saphros.”

  Well, fuck. Why couldn’t it be say, an amusement park? Talk about hell on earth. “Describe what you see.”

  “Green everywhere except the sky and the ocean. They’re so blue, they hurt my eyes.”

  “Are you alone?” Please say, yes.

  “No.” She shook her head. “Mistress Mary is with me.”

  Fuckety fuck. Did her boss belong to someone else? If she did, Kayla was stepping way out of line. “Is she your Mistress, Nicole? Did she bring you to Saphros?”

  “No, but she’s my favorite of all the Domme’s there.”

  Kayla mentally fist-pumped. “Why is that?”

  “She’s relentless. I can’t lapse into my public persona when I’m with her.”

  “Who are you when you’re with Mistress Mary?”

  “I’m Nikki. Just, Nikki.”

  She sounded so wistful when she said the name, Kayla had to know more about her boss’s alter-ego. “Who is Nikki?”

  “She’s a slut. A whore. A cunt. Nikki likes to be fucked—used.”

  The exact opposite of her boss. No one fucked with Nicole Halstead. Kayla tugged at the turtleneck she’d put on that morning. The temperature in their tiny space had spiked from warm to holy-shit-this-is-hell. She was having a hard enough time digesting the fact that her boss was not only a lesbian, but a submissive as well. Knowing she liked to be used by her mistresses was a mind-fuck like no other. How many times had she fantasized about making Nicole her personal slut? More than she could count.

  Nicole gasped and opened her eyes. Her gaze darted to the dark corners, passing over Kayla as if she weren’t there. Before Kayla could react, the woman stood and began ripping at her clothes again. “Can’t. Breathe. Got to get out.”

  Much more of this and when they did get rescued, the woman would have to walk out naked. You could bet cellphone video of that would hit the internet before they exited the building. She was out of options. Kayla summoned her Dominatrix voice. “Nikki.”

  Her charge stopped in the middle of tearing at the cuffs on her silk blouse. “Yes, Mistress?”

  Nicole had a strong will, it was going to take every bit of Kayla’s expertise to keep her mind from dwelling on their captivity. She was up to the challenge. Nicole still had that deer in the headlights look going on. That wouldn’t do.

  “Undress, Nikki. Slow. I want to see you.”

  The blouse came off first. Nicole extended her arm, the garment hanging from her fingertips. “Uh uh. Fold it and put it in the corner.”

  “Yes, Mistress. I’m sorry, Mistress.” She hurried to comply with the order. Her folding lacked definition, but it was better than piling the clothes in a heap.

  “Now your skirt.” As she bent to place the folded skirt atop her blouse in the corner beneath the call panel, it was all Kayla could do to keep from drooling. Clad in bra, panties and thigh high stockings held up with a garter belt, all the woman needed was a pair of angel wings to complete her runway outfit. No doubt, she’d fit right in with the real lingerie models.

  She reached for the back closure on her bra. “Stop. That’s far enough, Nikki.” In for a penny. In for a pound. She was probably going
to be fired anyway, might as well make the most of the time she had left with this woman. “Eyes closed. Hands behind your head, slut. Spread your legs.”

  Oh, how she loved a sub who could follow orders. She took a moment to admire the way the new position thrust Nikki’s perfect, lace-covered tits out. In the shadowy light, it was difficult to tell how much hair she did or did not have on her mound. She’d know the answer to that soon enough, because now that she’d seen her, there was no way she was going to keep her hands to herself. Nikki was hers to do with as she pleased for the next little bit.

  She approached slowly, afraid any sudden movement would jolt Nikki back to Nicole, and that was the last thing she wanted. Reaching her side, she stood for a moment, inhaling the sweet musk of arousal mingled with unladylike sweat and the subtle perfume she equated with the powerful businesswoman. She took in her flat abs, gently rounded stomach and flaring hips. A perfect hourglass figure she managed to camouflage, more with her attitude than her clothing. Most people didn’t see past the cloak of power and confidence to see the soft woman beneath it all. Kayla did, and had been in awe of the woman’s ability to shift people’s perceptions with nothing but her iron will.

  She was a woman of many layers, and Kayla desperately wanted to see what lay at her core. Steel, she suspected. A woman made of lesser stuff would never admit to being anyone’s slut.

  Kayla placed her palm on Nikki’s stomach. She must have been expecting the touch. She didn’t even flinch. Despite the rising heat, her skin was cold and damp. Taking slow steps, Kayla circled her, dragging her hand across the pale skin as she went. When she stood directly in front of her charge, she pointed her fingers south. Sliding her hand lower so her fingers skimmed just beneath the band of her lace thong, she kept her gaze on the woman’s face. Only when she delved lower to discover her bare mound, did she get a reaction from her. Her stomach muscles quivered and a quiet whimper left her lips.