Knight Nostalgia: A Knights of the Board Room Anthology(74)
She’d had no worries about being on the parking deck at night, alone except for the few cars that had been there. She recognized Ben’s Mercedes Roadster, Matt’s BMW. Lucas had likely biked into work and would take a company car home. Jon’s vehicle was there, a sporty thing that was a hydrogen fueled prototype. Ironically, it was parked next to Peter’s gas-guzzling Hummer, making her smile.
But more than the reassuring evidence of their presence, she wasn’t worried, because K&A security was top notch. There were eyes on the cameras positioned around the deck. Anyone up to no good was sent on their way with a clear understanding that they would not be returning. A homeless person who took refuge in the parking garage was courteously escorted to the shelter run by members of Dana’s church, and given a bed for the night, as well as access to whatever resources they were willing to accept.
That thought caused an additional smile in her heart. Matt Kensington was known as a hard businessman. There was a ruthlessness to him that could give a girl curled toes, but he and the men who worked with him were generous with the blessings they’d achieved, never hesitating to act for those less fortunate who needed a hand getting back on their feet.
The elevator doors opened. She was looking at Janet’s desk, empty this time of night, but left as neatly ordered as she’d expect from Matt’s terrifyingly efficient admin. Janet was also a Mistress, a popular one, at their local preferred BDSM club, Progeny. But Savannah said Janet wasn’t involved with anyone outside the club, no personal attachments. Rachel wondered who might change that. Yes, she was a hopeless romantic, but she couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to find love, or at least staying open to the possibility, if it presented itself.
She heard male voices drifting down the hall. A husky laugh—Peter’s—came from the board room. She heard Matt respond—she couldn’t make out words, but when Jon and Lucas jumped in with their own input and Ben laughed as well, all of those different timbres ran velvet over her skin. They also set off butterflies in her stomach that fluttered right up into her chest. They were men whose voices carried those elements that would attract a woman’s attention. Masculine, confident, resonating alpha. But also kind and intelligent.
Standing there in the dim light projected by the off hours power saving fixtures, she was listening to men she was here to serve. Masters who would be treating her as a submissive from the second she crossed their threshold tonight. It added another quality to their voices, stripping off some of the top layers to a more primal level that made those butterflies become more manic.
Not in a bad way. It was the type of anxiety that tightened her body, readied it, and called forth the need in her that had stayed unmet so long. It could surge forth so powerfully, take her over, sometimes in bad ways. But that had been before Jon, when she had no compass for it, no way to channel it, so it had been chaotic energy, no control or direction. He’d been the missing piece, providing both of those things. Understanding the depth of her need, he’d engineered this tonight. Another chance to step deeper into this world, leave the debris of the past, the condemnations and judgments, even further behind.
Those condemnations and judgments hadn’t been easy to shake. Cole’s truth, that her desire to be a submissive was wrong and sick, still clung to her at times, dragging her down. Even now, after several years of marriage, every time Jon gave her a new room to visit in this world, she’d find herself hesitating at the threshold just like this. Warring between excitement and dark fear, where a part of her wanted to retreat, curl up and burrow, take cover before she could fail, disappoint.
Yet that was also the moment he’d extend a hand, take hers, the pressure and warmth of his fingers, the look in his dark blue eyes, driving away those fears, reinforcing what he’d told her in so many ways, spoken and unspoken, since they’d met.
Words that she found when she opened his third note, though she kept her ear tuned for Jon’s voice. Rose petals fell out of that one. He’d told her to open it here, when she was standing in the front office area. His intuition was uncanny, and one of the great reassurances of her life.
The only way you can disappoint me, sweet girl, is if you don’t follow your heart. Your own desires. I fucking love watching you get lost in those. It’s my favorite thing, and I love it when you surprise yourself.
He cursed rarely, so when he used it as an emphasis, it had impact. Closing her eyes, she stood with the note clasped in her hands, all her senses reaching out to the voices in the board room, one in particular. She needed to go to the ladies’ room and prepare, but Jon’s own note had to told her to follow her heart and desires, and she wanted to use that sensory input to take her even further from her fears, from anything that would detract from this amazing, possibly once-in-a-lifetime experience he’d prepared for her.
Then a different sound came from the room. A sharp thwack, followed by a woman’s moan. Rachel’s eyes opened, her fingers tightening on the paper. She knew it had to be Dana. Another thwack, another soft cry. Rachel swayed on her feet, eyes half closing again, as she got lost in that music. It took almost no thought to imagine herself in whatever position Dana was in, being paddled, for that was what she was almost sure was making that impact sound.
Her phone made the raindrops sound that told her she had a text. It pulled her out of her reverie and, when she removed it from her pocket to look at it, the words spiked a delicious ball of anticipation into her lower belly.