“Then I guess you can pick up your files from me later, and take the rest of the week off – provided my microwave is in sparkling condition.”
It was my turn to grin. “You could eat your dinner from it.”
“I think that’s kind of the idea, Lois, she said, rolling her eyes as her left hand ushered me from the room.
I did not need to be told twice.
My files were delivered in due course. I was expected to have a medical, which was no great surprise, and then I had to fill out about a dozen questionnaires regarding my sexual history and experiences. If that weren’t bad enough, finally I would have to fill out the ridiculous limits form that I denied James the pleasure of receiving. He’d have the last laugh, if only he knew. At the back of the file there were some brief instructions for my stay, mostly regarding what I could and could not bring. By the looks of things, I would be travelling light, but I hadn’t really expected anything else.
The actual location of the training camp had yet to be disclosed to me, and worryingly, I wouldn’t know where I was going until I got there. The destination was to be kept secret, and I would be picked up and dropped off by a driver. The cogs in my head began to turn. Why wasn’t I expected to drive there? Maybe they thought three weeks was a long time to have a parked car sitting about. Perhaps, but something didn’t sit right with me. I’d have to figure that one out later.
Shoving my handbag over my shoulder, I said goodbye to my temporary office and added the term ‘good riddance.’ With any luck I wouldn’t be asked to do any further paperwork in my long (hopefully!) and industrious career. Oh wait, I had half a ton of the stuff to do as soon as I got home. Maybe I could finish some on the train journey back. Having been about to walk out of the door, I swept back in, stole a black biro, and then made good my exit.
Over a cup of freeze dried, chemically enhanced, hot muddy water that almost smelled like coffee, I examined the contents of my file more closely. I was allowed to bring one change of clothes, a toothbrush, and any medication I would need for a three-week trip. That was it. Mobile phones and any cellular or wifi equipment were expressly prohibited, and it stated that anything I brought inside the camp over my allowance would be immediately confiscated, and I would be punished for ‘disobeying the rules.’ There was a good chance that I might be entering Nazi Germany in a few days’ time, I thought.
It then went on to note that I would need to make sure that contraception details were taken care of - they recommended the injection. On assignment, it presented less risk, and there would be one less thing to worry about. It also mentioned the change of clothes would be for the return journey only. I wouldn’t be expected to wear clothes for most of the duration of my stay, and if any were needed, they would be provided. My stomach took a nose dive, but if I was honest, what had I really expected? They were training me up as a submissive sex slave, and I’m guessing clothes weren’t going to be a big thing in my world for the next few weeks. On the plus side, sex was, and if it was anything of the likes James had demonstrated, it wasn’t all bad news. My vibrator and I had been having some intense workouts lately, but anyone who tells you sex toys are better than the real thing is lying. It is an almost sufficient substitute, but that’s as far as it goes. Besides, my ass wanted a good paddling, and it wasn’t going to spank itself, was it?
I nearly choked on my coffee. Had I seriously been fantasising about being spanked? Yes, I had. Did that make me evil and perverted? Who cared? I was already going straight to hell, so I might as well take the fast track route. God, James, what have you done to me? I put my head in my hands. Never had I needed the distraction of work so badly. Maybe three weeks of kinky stuff would wear me out so I could put James out of my mind for good. One could only hope. Monday could not come quick enough, and it was days away. All I had to look forward to in the days in-between were a medical, several injections, and a three-minute packing spree. Oh, and a wonderful three page tick the box limits form. I was looking forward to that. Maybe I’d do it after a few glasses of wine for kicks. Then again, maybe not. I’d trusted James for some unknown reason. He’d shown me the error of my ways. If I got some completely crazy sadist and had to come home with my tail between my legs, I’d never live it down in the office. I planned to have one up on Janice, and whoever was in that training camp waiting for me had better be prepared to go to war, because I was not coming home after two days. Put it this way, they’d have to be at least twice as bad as James, and that wasn’t likely, was it? I grinned. It wouldn’t be after I’d crossed nearly every damn item off the limits list. Damned if I was going to make it easy for them.
My week dragged by impossibly slowly, and even my twenty-kilometre run and kick-boxing class on Friday appeared to stretch into slow motion. My heart rate might have been thumping, and my breathing was hard, but the world around me had turned into thick-set honey, and it barely moved. The wait was driving me mad. I couldn’t watch TV, couldn’t read, couldn’t listen to music, couldn’t eat… basically I couldn’t do anything. Sitting numbly on my couch, I ran through a thousand and one possibilities in my head. Would I get through training? Would I enjoy it? Why couldn’t I take my own car? Would I be allowed outside? What would the future assignment entail? Was there any chance my millionaire might be attractive? Would this be the one where I took a bullet?
Some of my thoughts were ridiculous. Take the ‘attractive’ one for instance. If they wanted me in there for wet work, what did it matter how attractive he was if I’d been sent there to kill him. Dammit. I always got like this before going on assignment. I just needed to calm myself down. Moving numbly towards the kettle, I made myself a cup of my favourite camomile tea. It wasn’t going to help me get through the weekend - nothing would - but it was a familiar smell and taste, it was comforting, and it wouldn’t affect my roiling stomach.
I desperately wanted to call James. I wanted to grill him on everything BDSM and ask him what I could expect to endure over three weeks of intense training. I clutched my cell tightly, and kept flicking through my contacts, my finger hovering over ‘Elite Encounters’ several times, but I never let myself dial. As much as I wanted to hear his voice and talk to him, I didn’t want the entanglements that might ensue. Christ. Who was I kidding? The man had women throwing themselves at him on a daily basis. Why would he be interested in me? He was a God in a realm of black, intense sexuality that I could barely comprehend, so he wasn’t going to look twice at me. He’d have a woman stashed somewhere that was experienced in such matters. There was no way he’d want a novice. My cell clattered to the floor, and I didn’t even bother to pick it up to see if it still worked. It had three weeks where it could sit in a repair shop if necessary, so it hardly mattered. James Leverett was out of my league, and I had no room for a relationship. The matter would end there.
When Monday eventually rolled around, it was not a moment too soon. When a sleek grey Volvo pulled up alongside my door, I virtually sprinted from the house in order to get inside it. The driver took my exceptionally light case without comment and placed it in the rear. He then got back in and handed me a black sleeping mask through the partition.
“Oh, thank you, but there’s no way I can sleep right now,” I said nervously.
He turned round to give me a hard look. “Then you can go straight back inside,” he replied. “If you want to continue with your training course, you need to take the white tablet inside the mask, and then put it on. It’s your choice.”
And there it was. The reason they would not let me take my car became abundantly clear. They wanted me in the dark. If I should escape, I would be in the middle of God knows where, completely disorientated, and most likely naked.
Wondering what the hell I was letting myself in for, I sighed and placed the single white tablet in my mouth. Taking a large gulp of water from the bottle that had been placed in the seat pocket in front of me, I then put the large black rubber mask over my eyes. My world was without colour once again. Not that it had been any other w
ay since Kiel’s death.
Ten minutes later, I felt wonderfully calm and relaxed, and that confirmed what I had already guessed. I’d been given a sedative. Soon, blissful oblivion would consume me, and for that I could be grateful. Several days without sleep had begun to take its toll, and at least I would arrive well rested.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this is what had rattled Janice. She was a control freak of the grandest order, and she wouldn’t have thought much about being drugged and dumped into the middle of nowhere. Still, she’d made it through the first two days, so that couldn’t have been it. As she was one of our top operatives, I couldn’t help but wonder what they’d done to her. She was a tough one to crack, so it must have been something good.
Having already decided that I had to make it through at least a week, I knew that I was in for a rough time of it, especially if this journey was anything to go by. My pride wouldn’t let me go home before the week was out, though, and I fully intended to take everything they threw at me. The alternative was going back to Cellular Operations with my tail between my legs. Miss Sharkey would probably punish me for failure by giving me another six weeks of filing duties. I shuddered through eyelids that were so heavy they dragged themselves down my face and begged to be closed. I didn’t see the point in fighting it. Let’s face it - how bad could kinky sex be? The last thing I remembered was my head lolling to the side as I surrendered to the darkness.
The next thing I knew I was being roughly shaken awake. The driver had already removed my mask and unfastened my seat belt, but opening my eyes through the mire of sludge that the sedative had left proved difficult.
“Wakey, wakey, rise and shine,” he said unhelpfully.
Stumbling from the car, it was to find my little red carryall had already been dumped on the gravel. I was in a circular driveway of what must have been a ten or eleven bedroom Elizabethan manor house. It was covered from top to bottom with intricate woodwork patterns, forming squares and stars for the most part. The dark timber created a startling effect against the white paintwork, and the leaded windows reflected the light in dazzling diamonds. For a moment I felt like I had been catapulted through time several hundred years. My attention was diverted from the house for a moment, distracted by the roar of an engine and the squeal of tires as my taxi driver sped down the tree-lined drive behind me. I shook my head. What was with the cloak and dagger stuff? Weren’t we the good guys? Rolling my eyes, I picked up my holdall and headed up the stone steps towards the massive front door. Made of solid dark timber, there was a big, circular, cast-iron knocker to the right, and I banged upon it as loud as I could. Then I waited. Standing there like a moron, shielding my eyes against the sun as I looked around for signs of life, it was beginning to look like there was nobody home. Great. Here I was, stranded in the middle of nowhere, no cell phone, no money, no water or food, and no ride home. This was not a particularly great start. Pressing my nose up to one of the windows, I tried to peer in, but they were darkly tinted and gave me only shapes and lines of what promised to be lurking inside. Swearing, I grabbed hold of the knocker again and tried to punch a hole through the damn door. That received just as much attention as my first attempt. Letting out the gigantic huff of breath I’d been holding, I flung my bag down and took a seat on the steps. I would just have to wait. There wasn’t really another option. It was unlikely the idiots would have dropped me off at the wrong house.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t been allowed to wear a watch, else I’d have set myself a certain amount of time to wait before trying to hitch hike my way back home. So my best bet was just to wait until I got bored, and then take it from there. I wasn’t worried about my ability to get myself home, but the effort involved would put a damper on the proceedings.
Letting my thoughts drift to James, which is where they always went when I had some free time these days, I imagined myself back on his spanking bench with my wrists and ankles back in leather cuffs. That was one of the reasons I wasn’t walking right now. I wanted to feel the bite of those cuffs restraining me once again and the thrill of being helpless and at the mercy of my tormentor. I found the role reversal it provided was refreshingly liberating. Oh, and I got off on a little bit of pain. There had been nothing James had done that I hadn’t enjoyed. Yes, he’d pushed me to my limit, but everything had been a unique mixture of pain and pleasure that messed with my head.
I was going to wait here a long time, I finally admitted to myself, because I desperately wanted to complete this assignment. The fleeting glance of submission I had been given at Elite Encounters had not been enough. I wanted more, and more was a beast that usually took a lot of slaking in my world.
“Are you Lois Reeves?”
The metallic voice that came out of nowhere made me jump. Score one for them. I hadn’t noticed any loudspeakers on my cursory evaluation. Turning around to stare at the door, which was still closed, I frowned, but then offered up a loud, “Yes.”
“Then you’ll need to get naked. After that, you can approach the door on all fours and wait.” There was a distinct click.
“Are you kidding? Anyone can see me out here. There is no way I’m getting naked in public.” I waited a minute or two for a response but the house was eerily silent. It appeared they wanted to play hardball.
“Can we compromise?” I yelled. “How about I get naked the moment I enter the house?” I’d decided to speak to the door in lieu of a face, and he wasn’t very talkative. He, if doors were male, held his silence for far longer than I could hold mine. “This is a joke, right? Someone please tell me this is a joke.” Alas, no one did. Sitting stubbornly on the steps, quietly fuming, I wondered just how much I wanted this gig, because I had a decision to make. It was either go home or get naked, and if this was the first hurdle that was facing me, the chances were it wouldn’t get any easier when I crawled through that door.
Let’s go home to Miss Sharkey, my subconscious snorted. Shall we tell her we didn’t even make it as far as Janice did?
Fine. I let out a huge huff of annoyed nitrogen and carbon dioxide. So they wanted me to get used to being naked, huh? I began twisting my pumps off, one by one, and then threw them down the drive. No way was I going to make it easy for these guys. Wriggling out of my jeans, I threw them into the rose bushes alongside the stone steps. My white shirt quickly followed suit. I then walked back up to the front door, figuring I’d get as close to the entrance as possible, before removing my bra and panties. The utilitarian cotton garments got to rest on the hemp rug, which had black block letters, featuring the slogan, ‘You are now a doormat. The people inside this house will walk all over you.’ Bloody marvellous. At least these guys had a sense of humor, I thought. Getting down on all fours, against my better judgement, I waited. Then I waited a bit more. It wasn’t long before I felt my temper begin to rise.
Whoever the assholes were in this house, they’d better make damn sure I was restrained by the time they let me inside, else they’d be lucky if they retained the use of some of their more important limbs and organs. Still I waited. When my knees finally began to scream at the painful and unforgiving contact that they were getting from the stone slabs beneath me, I debated leaving. I thought long and hard about getting to my feet, turning around, putting my clothes back on, and getting the hell out of here, but I didn’t. Call it a stubborn streak. I refused to be bested by whoever was in that damn house, and now that I’d been made to suffer, I needed to see who was responsible for it. If need be, I’d wait here two damn days until someone let me in. That gave me pause for thought. Had Janice been left like this for two days? Is that why she gave up so quickly? Could I endure two days of this? My face fell. If this was my first taste of submission, it was going to hurt.
Ten
When night began to fall, the air cooled considerably. I once again considered walking. It would probably take an hour or so to get some feeling back in my limbs, but after that I could disappear into the wilderness. With any luck, I wouldn’t be to
o far away from civilisation. The UK was a pretty crowded place, so unless they’d shipped me off to the Scottish highlands, I’d probably be okay. If not, I’d get to eat berries and nuts, and be at one with nature for a while. Grimacing, I thought waiting out another day was preferable to that risk. So was the promise of kinky sex at some point in the future, although this kind of treatment didn’t bode well.
My legs had long since gone numb underneath me. Goosebumps covered me from head to toe, and my naked body protested vehemently against the cold. I ignored it. I also ignored my stomach, which had begun rumbling in earnest. Typical. I’d barely eaten a thing all week, and now, when I couldn’t, I was hungry. Figured. On the plus side, I was no longer worried about anyone seeing me naked. If anyone wanted to come and rescue me from this ridiculous predicament, they were more than welcome to get an eyeful. It was never going to be that easy, though. This would be a test of endurance, mind over matter, and my ability to battle exhaustion. It was the last one that would get me. How long would it be before I succumbed to sleep? Would that count against me? There were so many variables, and so much was unknown.
Gently shaking my knees out from underneath me, I squirmed a little, trying to get some circulation going, whilst imagining someone had cocooned me in a large, warm blanket. What I wouldn’t give for a sleeping bag right now…
Dusk turned to darkness. The passage of time was recorded in varying shades of grey and black. Everything moved impossibly slowly, except my eyelashes. They began fluttering shut with alarming frequency. Wondering how much sleep I’d had on the drive down, I figured it hadn’t been that much. If I’d had a good eight hours, I would have made it through the night fairly easily. Working with the assumption I’d had maybe three or four, that would explain why I now felt as if my eyelids were made of lead. I was going to collapse with exhaustion sooner rather than later, I suspected, but I’d put up as much of a fight as I could.
Sparks (A Special Agent Novel Book 1) Page 11
