“Hello?” her overly sweet voice carried over the line after only one ring.

“Mariah? It’s John.” I didn’t want to beat around the bush.

“Well, hello John. How are you?” A smile evident in her voice.

“Very well. I’m calling about your application for my receptionist position. I’d like to hire you, if you are still interested.” It wasn’t a social call and I didn’t want her to mistake it as one. I knew I’d have to make sure she knew this wasn’t a sign that we were going to, or even could, get back together, but simply the fact that I needed a reliable receptionist.

“When would you like for me to start?” she asked after a moment of quiet.

“As soon as you are available.”

“I can be there tomorrow morning, if that works.” Her voice had turned to her business tone. Her sickly sweet, over affectionate tone was gone and the unease in my gut settled. Everything would be fine.

“Perfect. You remember where my office is?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll see you at eight sharp,” I said, then hung up the phone.

I wasn’t sure it was a good idea hiring an ex, but I didn’t have much of a choice if I wanted to spend as much time as I could with Alix. I needed the help and she was the only applicant who I thought would work out. Hopefully letting her know where I stood from the get go would make sure she stayed professional. Things had ended amicably so I was sure I had nothing to worry about.

The rest of the day was spent meeting with clients and talking about their problems. In-office hours were normally pretty tame. It was my out-of-office appointments that were more exciting and provided the challenge I loved.

As much as I wanted to run over to Alix’s place as soon as I was done with work, I didn’t. I wanted to make her wait, allow her time to really let everything sink in. Okay, I did go over, but I didn’t knock on the door; I simply checked on her to make sure she was okay before returning home.

I managed to stay away for a whole week, making excuses about work keeping me busy. While I was busy getting Mariah brought up to date, it normally wouldn’t have kept me from Alix. I’d get glimpses and flirty eye contact when she was at work and I used that to carry me through. I needed to make sure she understood what she was getting into with me and accepted it as her own decision, not something I forced on her.

Through our many text and phone conversations, she more than reassured me she wanted to move forward with everything we could become. She even went so far as to tell me she was scared because she hadn’t been in a relationship in a long time, but she wasn’t going to let it stop her from exploring what it was we had between us.

On her next day off, I asked to pick her up once I was done working for the day and she said she’d be waiting. I took a shower, then stood in my closet with nothing on looking at all the suits hanging there. Finally I decided on my favorite one. I could’ve picked jeans, but I liked the way it felt to have a impeccably-tailored pair of trousers with a coat that emphasized my hard-earned body. Plus, I knew Alix couldn’t help but drool when I wore them and I loved to tease her every possible way I could.

When I knocked on her door, I wasn’t left waiting. She immediately opened it to reveal her beautiful hair was left down, like I preferred. The tight, white dress had to have been something she bought just for me because I didn’t think she’d wear it to work. I could see the faint outlines of black lace under it which had my cock throbbing before I’d even said a single word to her.

“John,” she said on a breathless sigh.

“Alix.” I clasped one of her hands, bringing it up to my lips to leave a soft kiss on her knuckles. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir.” She held up a ring with her house keys on it, showing me she had been waiting, exactly like she’d said she would be.

We passed the drive to dinner with idle chatter. The meal was filled with the same. It was nice to have someone to talk to about mundane things. I still hadn’t told her Mariah was my ex, but I didn’t think it was an issue since on her first day I had made it as clear as I could that she was only there to do a job and that was it. She’d been professional ever since.

I loved hearing about Alix’s day even though it was filled with cleaning and chores around the house. She told me stories about Jennifer, the girl that worked the receptionist desk at the hotel, and had us both laughing at her theatrics.

By the time I pulled up at the club I was more than ready to get her out of the slinky dress that’d kept me half hard all night and hear her moans that I’d missed all week.

Once we walked into the club, I hooked a finger through her pearl necklace and led her to my room. I shut and locked the exterior door before closing the one to the dressing area just outside the room. There were to be no interruptions.

Taking her in my arms, I unzipped her dress while my lips met hers. Our tongues tangled as I pushed her dress off, letting it pool around her feet.

“May I undress you, Master?” she asked, removing her lips from mine.

“You may,” I said, stepping back.

Her hands slid up my chest to shove my coat over my shoulders. It slid down my arms to fall to the floor.

“I remembered this time,” she murmured, reaching for my cufflinks next. She hastily undid them and they joined my coat. Ever so slowly, her hands glided up my arms and over my shoulders to the top button on my shirt. One at a time, she released each button until she got to where the shirt              was tucked into my slacks. Instead of yanking it out of them, she simply moved to the clasp on my trousers and had them falling around my shoes before continuing with the shirt.

Dropping to her knees, she untied my shoes and I helped her remove them and my socks as I stepped from my trousers at the same time. I shrugged out of my shirt as she returned to her feet with a shy smile on her face.

“I would’ve helped you with that, sir.” Her hands ran over my shoulders and down my arms as if she were removing the shirt that was no longer there. Once she got to my hands, she pulled them to her waist and released them. “All done, sir. Thank you for letting me assist you in undressing. It brings me great pleasure to do so.”

I loved when she admitted she liked submitting to me, doing things to help me that I could have easily done on my own, but I especially liked having her hands and attention on me. Tugging her against my chest, I unbuckled her bra and let her shrug the straps off her shoulders.

“Well done, Precious. Now go to your square and wait for me.” I watched as she dropped her bra and moved to kneel on the padded square that wouldn’t hurt her knees as badly as the hard floor. She spread her knees, her hands resting on her thighs, her head down as her hair fell around her beautiful body.

I went to the dresser and removed the blindfold I’d used on her numerous times along with a pair of handcuffs she hadn’t seen before. Stepping in front of her, I dangled the cloth where she could see it and I heard her draw in a sharp breath.

“While I absolutely love seeing your eyes, I need you to wear the blindfold for a bit tonight. Do you understand?” I trailed the edge of the satin cloth over her shoulder as I moved behind her.

“Yes, sir,” she said, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Are you afraid of the blindfold?” I asked, hearing uncertainty in her voice.

“No, sir. I’ve gotten used to not wearing it,” she answered as she straightened her back.

“You will enjoy it. Trust me,” I whispered in her ear as I wrapped the cloth around her face, covering her eyes. “Stand.”

She pushed to her feet and moved her hands behind her back to clasp them together.

Using the edge of one cuff, I trailed it from her shoulder down her arm before linking it around one wrist, pulling it around to her front as I pressed my chest to her back. Grabbing her other wrist, I moved it to join the first one and cuffed it as well. The cuffs were real ones, not the play kind you could buy at novelty stores. They were heavy and inescapable without a key. This wasn’t a game I played with her; it was real and the cuffs were a symbol of that.