Chapter 5 — Whitney
Was it supposed to feel like this? I’d always heard that sex was one of the most beautiful, natural feelings you could have. Why did this feel so wrong? Was I really this inhibited?
In an act of defiance, I knew the only way I could open myself up to the world was to take a deep breath, cast aside my insecurities about purity, and go for it. I knew Tiffany would be laughing at me, were she standing with me at that moment.
I put on a robe and walked into the pool area. What I found stunned me.
The entire pool area had been transformed. The overhead lights had been extinguished and wall-mounted gas torch lights blazed, giving the area the appearance of a castle. The muted lights reflected off the pool surface. One end of the pool wall was a panel that had been slid aside, exposing a Tudor-decorated room with a variety of leather-covered seating in high-backed chairs and fires that burned in stone fireplaces. What happened?
Dagger stepped out of the shadows, his arms crossed over his chest. “Welcome,” he said. “This is Huntington Castle.”
“It’s beautiful, but not what I expected at all.”
“No, I don’t suppose you did. In fact, many of our clients have difficulty with even the most preliminary yoga moves, so we often start them in the pool where they can be buoyant.” He walked toward me, totally dressed. I was confused. “In your case, however,” he continued, “I’m going to leave you here totally alone. No one will bother you. I’d like you to go into the water after I’ve left and spend all the time you need swimming gently to the music I’ll turn on. I want you to get acquainted with your body; how it moves through the water, how the music inspires you, and most especially to not be embarrassed about being in the nude. Remember that our clients will also be nervous, as well as nude, and they’ll take their cues from you. It’s important that you make them feel at ease.
“When you’re done, get dressed and you’ll find me somewhere here in the studio.”
The door opened at that moment, and Katrina walked in. “Dagger? I’ve got the reception area all done. We’ve got our first walk-in potential client. Want to come up and say hello?”
I felt self-conscious, and Katrina seemed to notice. “You okay?” she asked me, and I smiled and nodded. “I told Dagger this wasn’t for everyone, but he can be pretty persuasive when he wants something.”
Her words hung in the air between the three of us. I drew in my breath at what they revealed. I hadn’t dreamed he might be attracted to me. He was everything I’d ever wanted. It wasn’t just my imagination. Every female part of my body was responding to him. I was doing this to stay close to him, and now I’d heard that maybe it was his preference?
Dagger looked at me sidelong and then at the pool. “Is there anything else, Kat?” he asked her without looking up.
“Nope, that’s it. You going swimming?” she wanted to know.
I picked up on the energy in the room. Katrina was obviously infatuated with Dagger. I couldn’t blame her. I was feeling pretty much the same thing. I realized I was actually experiencing jealousy!
Dagger looked up at her then, a glaring stare as her answer.
“Ohhhhkay,” she blustered in an embarrassed tone. “I guess that’s none of my business,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and turning to leave. She closed the door a little harder than necessary.
I felt like I needed to come to her defense. “I think she meant well,” I said softly. He looked at me, and I think his first thought was to bite my head off. He must have re-thought it, because he simply shrugged. I took it one step further. “She’s got a crush on you, you know.”
“What are you talking about?” His voice was gruff and his posture stiff. I took it that he’d been completely ignorant of her body language when she was near him.
“Never mind. It’s not my business,” I filled in. I wanted this job, and although I had a degree in psychology, neither of them was my patient, nor had they asked my opinion. That was a cardinal rule: never to interfere unless invited to share an opinion. Lord knows, that was hard for me to do.
He was done with the conversation. “Do your swimming and then come find me,” he ordered, then left the room, pulling the outside door hard to indicate that no one would be entering.
I stood at the water’s edge and looked at the torchlight reflected there. It was certainly inviting. I untied the belt, slid the robe to the floor, and did a full dive directly into the water. The really odd thing was that I never tested the water before diving in. It could have been thirty-four degrees, or a hundred and eighty. I had simply trusted Dagger. I knew he wouldn’t put me in harm’s way.
I swam a few laps, contemplating the drastic change in my attitude over the previous hour. I’d been a stuck-up, highly-moraled neophyte and there I was, swimming naked in a pool and hopefully taking a job teaching people how to bend provocatively with a nude partner. It was sort of scary, actually.
From somewhere overhead, music began to play. It was a mixture of classical and baroque; languid, repetitive melodies that encouraged me to attempt a sort of water choreography. I felt the warm water enter my vagina and flow out again. My breasts weren’t strapped to my chest, but allowed to flow freely in the water, moving with my body as I executed dolphin-like turns and somersaults. I spread my legs in the shallow end, bending deeply from the waist and forming a triangle base from which I rose into a handstand.
It was the most liberating thing I’d ever done. Not only did I love how it felt, I was anxious to introduce others and let them recognize the liberating properties that water presented to the body.
I’d finally had enough and emerged to put on the robe. I dressed in the locker room, dried my hair, and then set off to find Dagger. He was in his office, going over some legal-looking documents. He looked up as I tapped lightly on the opened door.
“So? What did you think?” His tone was a little challenging. He wanted me to prove him right. I could do that. I wanted the job—okay, I wanted him.
“I have to admit, you were right. You seemed to know what would set me at ease. It felt wonderful, and I think I could get used to it and be comfortable.” I was trying to be optimistic, even though I knew only time would really tell.
“Good.” He slid the papers he was working on into a folder and deposited them in his desk drawer. I watched his long, powerful fingers manipulating the paper and the metal. It sent chills of longing down my spine, and suddenly I wanted to feel those fingers tap down my back in the warm water of that pool. I was so pre-occupied with my thoughts that I missed his next question.
He’d noticed. “I was asking if you’re interested in the job?”
I nodded, more enthusiastic than I’d been the first time he’d asked.
“Good. I think you’ll work out just fine. You know, there’s an apartment upstairs that goes with the position, right? I like you to be on hand for more than just nine to five. The salary is ninety thousand plus benefits and you will earn commission on any new clients you sign up. It will take a few weeks to get you up to speed before you can start training, but you look pretty flexible, so I think you’ll get it quickly.”
Lord! Did he know all the ways I was interpreting his words?
“Where are you staying currently?” he asked, and I felt embarrassed to tell him.
“With my sister. I’m new in town and didn’t want to look for my own place until I knew where I’d be working,” I fibbed, only slightly.
“Leave your address with Kat and I’ll send over movers this afternoon. Why don’t you go home and sort through your things? They’ll pack and bring them here and I’ll help you get settled.”
“That’s wonderful. Thank you!” I turned to go.
“One more thing,” he called to me.
“Yes?”
He tossed something at me and I caught it. It was a keying with two keys. “I noticed you came in a cab. You’ll need transportation for the job. I may need you to run errands, take new clients to lunch and so forth. And you’ll need to get a few outfits so you can deal with clients until the nude sessions start. The car is out the back door,” he pointed.
“You’re serious? That seems awfully generous.” I was poking holes in what appeared to be the perfect job for me. He knew it, too.
“I take care of my people,” he told me, and I wanted to interpret that one a dozen different ways, too. “I stay on the premises, too. I have an apartment at the back of the building. You’ll see me around.”
I nodded, feeling a little thrill go through me. “Well, uh, thank you.”
He looked up. “You’ll earn it,” he said in measured words, and I felt the thrill again. What had I signed up for? One thing I knew… I couldn’t wait to find out!
The movers arrived while I was trying to explain to Tiff what my new job was all about without really explaining what it was all about. I knew I’d never hear the end of it. For the time being, I’d have to keep in touch with her by meeting her for lunch, or bringing over pizza to her apartment. I didn’t want to let her into my make-believe world quite yet—if ever. I wanted to learn who the man, Dagger Braun, really was and why he had such an effect on me. In fact, I felt compelled to do so.
The movers took the few pitiful boxes of my stuff, and I followed them back to the studio, driving the baby-blue Mercedes convertible I’d found behind the building. It had leather seats that nestled me and a quick engine that let me weave in and out of traffic. The sound system was outrageously good, so I left the top up and turned the volume to full. Anyone looking at me from another vehicle would have testified that I was having a seizure or fit—I was that into the music.
When we arrived, Dagger met me at the door. He almost seemed afraid that I had backed out. Now that he had my possessions in his building, I was unlikely to leave. I’d learned to read people pretty well in my almost profession. I wanted to learn to read him even better.
I put away the few things I had and went to bed early. The bed was lusciously soft and had been covered with designer linens that matched the towels in my white marble bath with Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. The entire apartment was designed in a very trendy fashion. The furnishings matched, and they were upholstered with expensive fabric—most likely custom made just for the room. There was a small kitchen, a sitting area, an alcove by the window for a desk, and then the bedroom and bath. It was first class. Dagger had good taste. I hoped I was included in that. In fact, I stayed awake another two hours exploring just that perspective.