In Service To The Billionaire (11 page)

But, the nurses talked her down. There was nothing she could do but wait—what Elle needed was surgical care, which Sophia had absolutely no expertise in.

So, in the sterile blue waiting room, on a pleather chair, in borrowed clothes, Sophia waited. Elle had a concussion and a piece of wreckage from the accident jammed in her shoulder—which is what the surgery was for. Her prognosis was good.

Finally, a tall nurse built like a linebacker came out to see Sophia. Her hands were large and well-used, no doubt, to administering treatment.

“She's out of the woods now,” the big nurse said with a smile. “Another few hours and you'll be allowed to see her, I should think.”

Sophia shook her head. “That won't do at all. I need to see my friend, now.”

Part of her need, she knew, was that the sooner she could make sure Elle was okay, the sooner she would be able to go back and serve Sand again.

But the more substantial part, truly, was just to see her friend.

The nurse shook her large head. “I’m very sorry, ma’am. I am sure she is your good friend, but that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to see her.”

Sophia, already having been waiting for such a long time, brimmed with the need to see Elle. She stood up, crowding the big nurse.

“Now, you listen to me, lady. My friend is hurt. Her family knows about it, and
might
come tomorrow if it
conveniences
them. My friend is hurt,” she said again, “and she deserves to know that people care about her, and have seen her. I am not
asking
to disturb her or to interfere with your works. I
know
how to step out of the way of someone doing their job. All I want is the ability to look at my friend and tell her honestly, when she is well, that I came to see her.”

For a few moments the nurse just stared at her.

“Please,” Sophia said urgently. “You would be doing me and her both a favor.”

The nurse stepped to a nearby desk and picked up a phone. “Let me see what I can do.”

Minutes later, the nurse guided Sophia through the hallways to Elle’s room. “You’ve only got about two minutes.”

“I understand,” she said. “Thank you.”

The inside of the room smelled like vinegar. There was nothing on the walls, save for an abstract color painting of green and blue squares.

Elle, just out of surgery, was still heavily sedated. She had the whole room to herself, and was buried under white sheets and bandages around her eye and forehead.

“It looks worse than it is,” said the nurse. “We took some extra precautions because of her concussion. Believe it or not, she should be up and on her feet in just a couple of weeks.”

Sophia gripped Elle's hand, holding it tight. There was nothing she could do—and Elle did not seem to notice that she was there, really. The drugs were still too strong in her system.

“Hang in there, buddy,” Sophia said to her softly. “I’ll come and visit every day.”

* * * * *

When she came back home in the late afternoon, waiting on her doorstep was an arrangement of purple and yellow flowers—and a note.

Call me.


M

From someone else, it may have seemed like a request. From him, she knew it was an order.

After stepping upstairs to put the flowers in a vase with some water, she pulled out her phone and called him.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hello...” with all the excitement from the day, she forgot her place for a moment. “Sir.”

“Is everything all right?” His voice was loaded with concern. “Your friend, she's well?”

“Yes,” she said. “I think so. I don’t know.”

She sat down next to the vase, admiring the lovely, healthy glow of the flowers and enjoying their heady scent. Quickly, she ran down the details of the accident for him.

He made a comforting sound. “It will be all right.”

Sophia, no longer moving to a clear goal or waiting to hear news, suddenly realized she was more than a little exhausted by the ordeal. She dropped to the ground in front of her chair and leaned back against the chair.

“Ugh, I hope so. I talked with the nurse after seeing Elle, you know? And I just broached the subject of payment. And god, the bills! Elle’s a dancer, like a stage dancer for a company, and she doesn’t get paid that well.”

“How much are they?”

Sophia tried to remember what the nurse estimated—somewhere in the middle of the five figure range.

“I can take care of that,” he said.

Surprise filled Sophia.  “What? No. I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that—”

“This Elle, she is your person, right?”

“I mean, she’s my best friend, and I love her to death—”

“Then I’ll take care of it. She deserves to be well. I’ll make a few calls.”

“S-San...” she stopped. “Master. That’s just so...I couldn’t ask for that.”

“You’re not asking. You told me about something that needed fixing, and I’m fixing it,” he said matter-of-factly. “Not everything is so simple. I can at least do that for you.”

It felt like a large,  warm cloud surrounded her—lifting her up and spreading her thoughts out. Comforting, and yet eerie and unfamiliar at the same time. Was this what it was like to have someone take care of you?

Sand changed the subject. “Are you okay? I know that must have been stressful.”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s just...it’s all so fragile, you know?” she said, trying to search out her feelings. “A whole life could be...destroyed. Just like that. It’s scary.”

“That’s understandable.”

She laughed a little—everything about him was so understated.

“That doesn’t scare you?” she asked.

With her eyes closed, she could visualize his broad shoulders shrugging as he said, “I feel like that’s the truth anyway—that it could all be taken away. And I think that when I consider it, it can be scary. But it’s the truth whether I’m scared by it or not. I choose not to be scared.”

Sophia didn’t say anything to that, in wonder at his strength.

“Are you still there?” he asked after a minute.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m just really overwhelmed.”

“Do you need anything from me?”

Feeling cold on the floor of her apartment, she felt naked and totally alone. There was so much to be afraid of in the world.

She sighed. “I just need you to hold me, right now. But I know you’re so busy, and I don’t want to ask you to come over, and—”

“Ten minutes,” he said, and hung up.

She didn't believe him, of course. Or rather—she absolutely believed he was on his way, but to say he would be there in ten minutes, after coming from downtown, was a bit of an exaggeration.

And yet, ten minutes later, on the dot, she heard a helicopter outside. She looked out her window when she heard it approaching more and more, the sound of the chopping blades growing louder and louder. It landed briefly at the cul-de-sac at the end of her street, and Sand stepped out of it—and then it flew off again.

Amazement rushed through her. A helicopter—to this neighborhood—for her! It was such an extravagant gesture.

She ran out of her apartment to meet him, the cool air of the early afternoon sweeping over her. From across the street, neighbors leaned out of their houses to see what the racket was. A long, steady blush swept up through Sophia's neck and face, imagining all those people knowing what she was up to.

He approached her duplex, dressed casually in a blue button-up shirt and a pair of khakis. A gold watch adorned his wrist. She grabbed his hands and then his shirt, finding it hard to believe he was actually there all of a sudden.

“You-you—you rode a helicopter to get to me?”

He shrugged. “I said ten minutes. It was a thirty minute drive. So...helicopter.”

“It’s just...rather extravagant.”

She found herself using that word a lot when it came to him. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, she thought.

“You needed me,” he pushed closer to her. “And here I am.”

Right there in the street, with all her neighbors watching, he embraced her. His lips crushed against hers, the cool wind blowing against them both.

For several moments, Sophia just enjoyed that feeling. Knowing everyone who lived around her was watching, and her absolutely and completely not caring what they thought. All she had to do was be her Master's.

Soon, she led him inside, smiling in-turns shyly and seductively at him, and they tumbled down into her big, floral napping couch.

She expected him to kiss her again, but he did not. Instead, he gripped her and pulled her into his lap tight, holding her so securely. She sat entirely in his lap, legs wrapped around him, her head trapped under his chin. She dotted little kisses along his chest and neck.

Suddenly, he stood up, holding her still, and came down on the couch with her underneath him. He held her down like that. His weight on her, so reassuring, so complete. His fingertips dug securely into her back, riding along her spine, eliciting purrs from her happily-compliant frame.

“Oh, Master,” she moaned into his ear, her grip tightening around him. “Oh, my Master.”

And she knew, for certain, that “Master” could have been replaced with any number of words. Darling. Lover. Love.

Husband?

Chapter 14

Saturday morning, she woke in her own bed with Sand's arms around her. For several seconds—as she had the day before—she simply let herself enjoy the feeling. Today, she prayed silently, there would be no phone calls to tear her away from his perfect grip around her body.

After several hours of quiet, affectionate cuddling on the couch the night before, they had retired to her small twin-sized bed, where Sand had made gentle, passionate love to her. It had not been as intense as their first time, but it still was intensely pleasurable and he had made her cum. Again.

God. Just thinking about that gave her a little chill.

The only way she had cum with Todd was if he had fallen asleep next to her and she still needed to get off. She would snuggle up under his arm and pretend he was holding her while she fingered her clit.

But with Sand...with Sand, she had been able to stare up into his eyes and know just when he was going to cum—and know that he had been saving his most furious strokes for when he saw her own bliss overtake her body.

For several minutes, she kissed his forehead and eyebrows, and then the bridge of his nose, and then back up to his forehead again.

Finally, his eyes fluttered open. Smiling, he kissed the nape of her neck and then started trailing down to her bare chest. She giggled and hugged him closer.

“Thank you again for showing up last night how you did,” she said. “And for taking care of the bills for Elle. I mean, that’s all so...so really, really wonderful of you.”

He gripped her tight. “Of course. I was happy to.”

“It’s just...” she bit her lip. “...with all of this being so new for the two of us, I wasn’t really expecting anything like that.”

“I know,” he said. “But you should. You have to understand, Sophia. For me, this isn’t...” his strong face squirmed for a moment. “I don’t want a temporary fling with you. I want to take care of you, and who and what you care about. This isn’t me experimenting with my sexuality. This is how I am.”

Suddenly, she realized he was looking for reassurances. That all this effort on his part wasn’t for nothing. Of course.

She held him tight, burying her head into that perfect spot between his neck and shoulders. It was so safe there, so warm.

“Oh, yes,” she nodded. “Me too. I mean, me definitely. I’m...I want...”

He waited. She took a breath, and pulled back to look into his dark eyes.

“I love having you as my Master. I want to be your good slave. I want to be yours.”

And nagging at every word—tell him, tell him, tell him! Tell him about your engagement, you silly person! You tell him or you will ruin all of this! He deserves to know that you're leaving a kind of complicated situation to be with him. Because if you're his slave, that means your situation is now his situation.

And yet, she couldn't say it.

Part of her didn't even know why. It was fear, she supposed. And maybe just dismissiveness? Todd was out of her life—he
really
was. She hadn't even put on the engagement ring for over a month!

He caressed her chin. “That’s good. As hot as the sex is—and man, it's hot—I care about more than that. You are worth more to me than that, and I am worth more to me than that. You're going to be my slave...but you're not disposable, all right? This isn't about abuse.”

She nodded eagerly. “Oh, yes. I never got that idea at all.”

“Good. I just...wanted to make sure. I've had some encounters in the past with girls who...were very bright flames. But they wanted a light I couldn't provide.”

It hadn't even begun to occur to Sophia that there was something that her Master couldn't provide.

“I understand, I think,” she said. “But no, I
like
it when you use me. How you did the other night, for example.”

She smiled, licking and nibbling his chin a bit. He laughed small and turned away.

“You used me quite well, Sir. The spanking, I liked that too. But I don't want anything too...extreme. Like what it seems you're describing.”

He nodded. “Good, then. This isn't about blowing off fumes, for either of us.”

“Right,” she said.

Even if she was mad at Todd, the sex and the attraction had never been about him. He wasn't around for her to make him jealous, after all.

“So for you, and for me, this is a lifestyle,” he confirmed. “When we're alone, I am your Master, you are my slave.”

A hot thrill ran through her body when he just announced it like that. “Yes, Master.”

He smiled. “At work, you and I can be colleagues. I’m your boss there, still.”

“Of course.”

He gripped her chin. She melted again—god, he was so fucking strong!

“But when it is only you and I...” his voice became husky and dark. “I expect you to behave like a good slave.”

“Yes, Sir,” she purred.

Tell him, her mind screamed at her again. Tell him now! Tell him you have a fiancé you idiot! You have to tell him! He deserves to know about your life!