by Anna Stone
It was as if Mel’s body had been waiting for Vanessa’s permission. She came hard and fast, a wordless cry on her lips.
Mel leaned against the wall behind her, her arms still around Vanessa’s shoulders. Vanessa’s satin dress was cool against her skin.
Vanessa brought her hand up to Mel’s face, drew Mel’s bottom lip down, and gently pushed her fingers into the other woman’s mouth. Mel sucked on them lazily. She could taste herself on Vanessa’s skin.
“So eager,” Vanessa said. “So obedient. Do you like following my orders? Do you like pleasing me?”
“Yes,” Mel said softly.
“Then show me.”
Vanessa spun them both around until her back was against the wall. Mel’s breath caught in her chest. She desperately wanted to touch Vanessa, to taste her. Instead, she stood and waited, gazing up at Vanessa with a silent plea in her eyes.
Vanessa answered it with a single word. “Kneel.”
Mel’s knees crumbled beneath her.
A faint smile crossed Vanessa’s lips. “Go on.”
Mel slid her hands up the sides of Vanessa’s legs and under her dress until her fingers reached the soft black lace of Vanessa’s panties. She drew them down Vanessa’s hips, all the way to the floor, and pushed her slippery silk dress up to her stomach. Vanessa’s scent was dizzying. Anchoring herself on Vanessa’s hips, she traced her tongue up the soft skin of Vanessa’s inner thighs. Vanessa was as wet as Mel had been, and Mel had barely even touched her.
Mel kissed the peak where Vanessa’s lips met, then slid her tongue between them. She ran it up and down in long, languid strokes, savoring Vanessa’s taste. Mel probed with the tip of her tongue until she found Vanessa’s tiny, hidden peak. She stroked and sucked it thirstily.
“Don’t stop.” Vanessa threaded her fingers through Mel’s hair and pulled Mel harder into her, bucking and rolling her hips against Mel’s mouth.
Mel redoubled her efforts, relishing the satisfaction she was giving Vanessa. Vanessa didn’t make a single sound, but Mel could feel Vanessa’s thighs quiver around her. Mel ignored the ache in her knees from the hard floor.
Vanessa gripped tighter at Mel’s hair and her movements became more and more frantic. At last, Vanessa’s entire body shuddered, and her mouth opened in silent ecstasy. Mel lapped away, drawing every last drop of pleasure out of her. When Vanessa’s body stilled, Mel released her hips and let her silky dress slide back down her legs.
Vanessa let out a deep breath. She reached down toward Mel and cupped Mel’s face in her hands, drawing her up onto her feet. Vanessa tucked a stray lock of Mel’s hair behind her ear and whispered into it. “I believe you have a shift to finish.”
Instantly, the spell was broken. Mel cursed. How long had she been in here? Their frenzied encounter had both felt like it had stretched out into eternity and had been over in a heartbeat.
Mel gathered her clothes and began to pull them on. The club would be getting busy now. Had James and the others noticed Mel’s absence?
“Here.” Vanessa handed Mel’s skirt to her, a hint of amusement in her eyes.
Mel finished dressing, then smoothed down her hair in a nearby mirror. As she turned to leave, Vanessa pulled Mel back to her in a ravenous kiss. Mel had to tear her body away when she felt herself sinking into Vanessa again.
Mel dashed from the room. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs to catch her breath.
What the hell just happened?
Chapter Six
Another night at The Lounge. Another night, and no sign of Vanessa. Their late-night tryst in Vanessa’s room had left Mel more confused than ever. She had no idea what it meant. Was it a one-time moment of passion? Or the start of something more? Did Vanessa even want to see her again? Mel had no way to contact her. All she could do was wait for Vanessa to turn up again.
Mel sighed. This all seemed so unreal. Mel didn’t normally have sex with women she barely knew, let alone women like Vanessa. She was far too disciplined to allow herself to be controlled by lust. Yet she couldn’t stop thinking about how Vanessa’s lips made her melt, or how Vanessa’s touch made her quiver. How when Vanessa had ordered Mel to get on her knees, her body had obeyed before her conscious mind even registered the command. This simple act of submission had felt completely natural to her. But there was still a part of her that resisted it all.
“Everything okay?” James asked. “You look distracted.”
“Just thinking about school,” Mel lied.
“I should have guessed. So, Mel, how confident are you working behind the bar? Ben had to leave early and I need someone to take his place.”
“Sure, I can do it.”
“Great. I’ll be in the back. Come find me if you have any problems. It’s pretty quiet tonight. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Mel nodded and slid behind the bar. Soon, she had a steady flow of customers. She had no trouble keeping up. James had taught her well. Eventually, she got into a rhythm, working on muscle memory alone, allowing her thoughts to wander. How well did James know Vanessa? Mel wanted to ask him about her. Would it be suspicious if she did?
The stream of customers gradually died down. Mel took the time to tidy up the bar. She was returning a few bottles of tequila to their place on the shelf behind her when she heard a familiar voice.
“Hello, Melanie.”
Mel turned. “Vanessa?”
Vanessa stood before her in a sleek red dress. A thin gold necklace with a sapphire pendant hung around her neck. Mel’s eyes fell to Vanessa’s lips. They were the same deep red color as her dress. Mel couldn’t help but recall how those lips had felt on her lips. And on her nipples. And for a brief moment, she imagined how they would feel on certain other parts of her body.
“Make me a drink,” Vanessa said. “Your choice.”
“Sure.” Mel chose one of the club’s signature cocktails, a variation of a whiskey sour. She could practically make it with her eyes closed now. She placed it before Vanessa on the bar.
Vanessa sampled the drink. “Not bad.”
Mel couldn’t contain herself any longer. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back.”
“Have you?” Vanessa leaned down on the bar. “Why?”
“Because the other night was incredible. Because falling to my knees before you made me feel freer than I’ve felt in years. Because it made me realize that there’s this whole side of me that craves this…” Mel trailed off, suddenly self-conscious.
“What exactly is it that you crave, Melanie?” Vanessa asked. “I want to hear it from you.”
Mel looked straight into Vanessa’s eyes. “Submission.”
Vanessa beckoned Mel closer. “If you let me, I can show you what it really means to submit. I can make your darkest desires reality. I can grant you your wildest fantasies. Do you want that?” She slid her hand up Mel’s arm.
“Yes.” Vanessa’s touch sent a shiver along Mel’s skin. “More than anything.”
The door to the back room swung open and James emerged. Mel snapped back upright. Vanessa seemed unfazed.
“Vanessa.” James’s voice was subdued. “Do you have a minute?”
Vanessa nodded. She took another sip of her drink and pushed it toward Mel. “Hold on to this for me. Our conversation isn’t over.”
James looked from Vanessa to Mel and back again, scratching his beard. Mel busied herself behind the bar, hoping that her expression hadn’t given anything away.
Vanessa and James walked off to the side. Mel focused her attention on cleaning up the bar. But her curiosity won out. Vanessa and James were too far away for Mel to hear them. Instead, she watched the conversation out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t tell what they were talking about. After a while, James placed a hand on Vanessa’s arm and spoke into her ear.
Vanessa transformed in an instant. Her expression darkened and her body tensed. Then the two of them started arguing. Vanessa was clearly angry about something, although her anger didn’
t seem to be directed at James. As the conversation died down, James placed a hand on Vanessa’s shoulder as if to try to calm her. Mel was surprised by the intimateness of the gesture. She didn’t know that they were that close. Before Mel could finish her thought, Vanessa turned and stormed off toward the corridor that led to her room.
What was that about?
James returned to the bar, his face scrunched up with concern.
“Is everything okay?” Mel asked.
“Yep. Just business stuff.” He looked at Mel curiously. “What were you and Vanessa talking about before I interrupted you?”
“She was just saying hi,” Mel said quickly.
“Right.”
Mel couldn’t tell if James was convinced or not. She took Vanessa’s drink and placed it behind the bar. As the night went on, the drink sat there, the ice slowly melting. By the time Mel’s shift ended, Vanessa hadn’t emerged from her room. Mel wasn’t bothered by the fact that Vanessa hadn’t returned to finish their conversation. It was clear that Vanessa had more important things on her mind.
Mel made her way home. As she walked through her apartment door, her phone buzzed. It was a text message from an unknown number. As soon as Mel read the message, she knew who it was from. It contained no greeting, no explanation. Just a single sentence.
I’ll be in touch.
Mel sat at her table, her laptop open in front of her, half a dozen textbooks stacked up beside it. Her eyes glazed over as she scanned the screen. She took off her headphones in defeat. She should have gone to the library instead of staying in. It was hard to get anything done in her tiny apartment.
She would take a small break and then get back to it. Mel had to work much harder than her classmates to stay on top of everything. Most of them didn’t have to work while they were at law school. They were trust fund kids, or at the very least had parents who helped support them. But Mel didn’t have that luxury.
And for Mel, simply doing well enough to pass wasn’t an option. If she wanted a good job when she graduated, she had to maintain a competitive GPA. She had to remain disciplined. It was what got her this far, and it was the only way she knew how to be.
Ever since Mel was a kid, she’d had no one else in her life to provide her with structure and direction. Her father had left when Mel was young, and her alcoholic mother had never been a reliable parent. She resented Mel for being a constant reminder of the man who had broken her heart and left her with nothing. So she did the bare minimum, keeping Mel fed, clothed, and sheltered from the cold. But otherwise, Mel was on her own.
So Mel took control of her life, to the point where it became an obsession. Eventually, she decided to focus all her energy on making a better life for herself. College was her ticket out of her hometown, and she’d thrown everything into her studies to escape.
Mel stretched out her arms and looked around the room. Her hard work had paid off. She’d left her old life far behind her. But after years and years of fighting her way through the world, she wanted to just give in to temptation and let go of it all.
Mel shut her laptop. She needed to go for a run.
There was a knock on her door. Mel jumped. No one ever came to her apartment unannounced, and she wasn’t expecting a delivery.
Mel opened the door. A woman stood before her, dressed in a crisp black suit and a matching overcoat. Her short, dark hair was parted at the side, and her shoes were immaculate. She looked to be around forty. Did she have the wrong apartment number? Or was she lost?
“Melanie?” the woman asked. She had a thick accent that Mel couldn’t place.
Mel nodded.
The woman pulled a package out from under her arm. It was a black box with a silk ribbon tied around it. “A gift for you. From Ms. Harper.”
“Ms. Harper?”
“Yes. Ms. Vanessa Harper.”
“Oh.” Mel took the package from the woman. “Thanks.”
With a nod, the woman walked off down the hall.
Mel shut the door, her head filled with questions. Vanessa was sending her gifts? And having them hand-delivered to her apartment? She placed the package on the table, eyeing it warily. Mel had always felt uncomfortable receiving gifts. Her mother always saw them as ‘charity.’ She’d said that if Mel accepted handouts, people would think they were poor. If only she’d cared as much about Mel as she cared about what other people thought of her.
Mel’s phone buzzed. It was a message from the same unknown number as the other night after her shift. Mel hadn’t saved the number, but the digits were imprinted on her mind. She opened the text.
Tomorrow. 9 pm. Same place. Wear my gift.
Wear her gift? Immediately, Mel’s reservations about the package were replaced by excitement. She grabbed the box from the table and untied the ribbon. She lifted the lid and was met with layer after layer of black tissue paper, until finally, Mel reached her prize. It was a set of lacy lingerie in a shade of purple so deep that it was almost black. She held the bra up to the light. The thin, delicate lace was almost entirely transparent. There was a clasp at the front between the two cups. The panties were made of the same sheer fabric, and tied up at the sides with little bows. Both pieces left little to the imagination.
Mel ran her fingers over the soft lace. She had never owned anything so luxurious. How much did this cost?
It didn’t matter. If Vanessa wanted to Mel to come to her dressed in pretty things, who was Mel to deny her?
Mel put the bra and panties back in the box and threw herself down onto the bed. She read the text again carefully. She had no idea what Vanessa was planning. But she knew that if she went to Vanessa’s room tomorrow night, there would be no going back.
Chapter Seven
Mel walked into The Lounge the next night with Vanessa’s gift on under her clothes. She gave the bar a narrow berth, hoping to slip by unnoticed by her coworkers, and made her way up to Vanessa’s room. The door at the top of the stairs loomed before her. She took a deep breath and knocked.
“Come in, Melanie.”
Mel stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. Vanessa sat in her armchair, a glass of whiskey in her hand. Her raven hair was gathered over one shoulder, and she wore a black satin robe, belted at the waist. Mel couldn’t help but wonder if she was wearing anything underneath it.
“Come here,” Vanessa said.
Mel walked over and stood before her.
“Are you wearing my gift?”
“Yes, Vanessa.”
“Show me.”
Mel slid off her coat and let it fall to the floor. She did the same with her dress, leaving her standing before Vanessa in nothing but the lingerie gifted to her by the other woman. Vanessa stood up and walked around Mel in a slow circle, inspecting her slight figure from every angle. Under Vanessa’s unwavering gaze, Mel felt even more naked than she was.
“You look divine,” Vanessa said.
Mel’s breath quickened. The hungry look on Vanessa’s face made Mel feel like her prey.
“If I’m going to give you what you crave, you will have to give me something in return,” Vanessa said. “Complete and utter surrender. You will submit to me. You will obey me. You will belong to me in every sense of the word. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Vanessa.”
A slight smile played on Vanessa’s lips. “You’re going to need a safe word. Do you know what that is?”
Mel nodded.
“What will yours be?”
Mel closed her eyes and searched her mind. “Velvet,” she said. Like Vanessa’s smooth, low voice.
“Velvet it is.” Vanessa sat back on the arm of the chair. “Go sit on the bed.”
Mel walked over to the bed. Up close, she saw that each of the four bedposts had a black silk scarf tied to it. Anticipation and anxiety warred in Mel’s mind. She sat down. The mattress was firm and springy.
“There’s a blindfold on the pillow next to you,” Vanessa continued. “Put it on and lie down.”
> Mel picked up the blindfold and tied it around her eyes. Darkness flooded her vision. She lay down on the bed and rested her head on the pillow. The silky bedsheets felt cool against her skin. Vanessa’s bare feet padded against the floorboards as she approached Mel on the bed.
“Raise your arms up to the corners of the bed.” With a practiced hand, Vanessa secured Mel’s wrists to the bedposts, then repeated the process on her ankles.
Mel’s heart pounded. She lay spread-eagled on the bed in nothing but the sheerest of lingerie. She tugged at her bonds to test their strength. In the same moment, Mel realized that she could no longer hear or feel Vanessa’s presence. “Vanessa?”
“I’m right here.” Vanessa’s voice came from somewhere beside Mel. She traced her fingers along Mel’s stomach all the way up to her cheek. “Stop thinking. Stop worrying. Just feel.” Vanessa kissed her gently.
Mel cleared her mind and relaxed her body. She stopped straining to hear, and feel, and see. She surrendered to the darkness and focused her mind on what she could sense. The hammering of her heart, the whoosh of her breath. The scent of Vanessa’s perfume, jasmine and rose. The touch of Vanessa’s fingertips on her skin. It was like she and Vanessa were the only two people in the world.
The bed swayed underneath Mel as Vanessa climbed onto it. Her long, silky hair brushed against Mel’s skin. Vanessa ran her hands over Mel’s body, touching every inch of her skin. Silence hung in the air. Mel didn’t dare speak, fearing that a single word would break the spell.
Vanessa slid her hands up to the clasp at the front of Mel’s bra. With one deft motion, it was undone. Mel’s breasts spilled out of the cups as it fell away. Vanessa caressed them with her hands, her fingertips sweeping over Mel’s nipples.
“How does it feel to be at my mercy?” Vanessa asked.
“Good. So good…” A ripple of delight went through Mel’s body. With her senses dampened, Vanessa’s touch was electric.
Vanessa shifted down the bed and straddled Mel. Her weight was heavy on Mel’s small, bound frame. As Vanessa’s body pressed against hers, she realized that Vanessa was naked. She yearned to break free and tear off the blindfold, and touch and kiss Vanessa’s soft skin. But bound as she was, she could do nothing but lay there. Bound as she was, she was powerless to stop Vanessa. But stopping Vanessa was the last thing she wanted.
