Isidora’s eyes narrowed at the sass. “So it’s just okay to stare?” She shook her head. “That’s rude, chica.”
“I wasn’t staring at you,” she protested in a louder voice. “I was looking at your jacket. There’s no law that says I need to wander around staring at the ground all day.”
“Charlotte,” Kassandra acknowledge with a small smile. “Of course. I simply did not expect anyone else to be in this section. I must have become really engrossed in my research,” she replied as walked back to her own table with her books. Passing by the aforementioned book, Kassandra picked it up and brought it over to the submissive. “Is this the one you dropped?”
Lottie put the pile of books down, rubbing her forearms for a moment and was about to turn to go get her other book when Kassandra was next to her. “Erm, yeah it was…..thank you,” she said in surprise as she took the book and placed it on the desk. “You look like you’ll be here for a while,” she added with a gesture towards the pile of books on Kassandra’s own desk.
“Did you need something? No matter how many times you blink, I’m not going to disappear.”
“No you’re not, the laws of physics tell me that,” Lottie replied with a groan at the ridiculous words. “I was just admiring the pattern on your jacket, it reminded me of something.”
Kassandra had camped out in the library, studying and working on her research paper for her PhD courses. Her books and notes were arranged neatly despite the sheer amount of materials she had laid out. Discovering that she needed an additional book, she headed towards the shelves when she heard a sudden noise.
“Excuse me? Is someone there?”
Lottie sighed loudly as she dropped one of the books she had piled in her arms. She couldn’t bend to get it so was just going to drop the rest at her table and come back for it when she heard the voice. “It’s a library, there’s generally people here,” she replied rolling her eyes as she made her way out of the row. “But I dropped a book if that’s what you mean,” she added as she headed towards her table which was thankfully quite close.
Something ate at his chest when Charlotte’s gaze shifted up finding his – wide eyes, stubborn with unshed tears. Guilt was not a feeling that crept easily in Valentine. Too much time spent in the Watch can make a man numb and he’s had his fair share of seeing reality for the ugly bitch that it was, to be soft now.
He felt pity. Pity for how small she seemed and helpless and guilt that he’d chosen to send her to do his bidding with threats to keep her on a chain. Valentine’s grip tightened around her wrist and only now did it occur to him to pay attention to how delicate that too felt in his grip. How easy his fingers lapped over one another.
He pulled her over, “You need to submit, Charlotte. Come on. I’ll get you home. I’m with my personal car.”
Lottie’s chest felt tight the longer he kept her there. The strong grip, the tall figure, her automatic responses – it would all be too easy to close her eyes and imagine the scene was elsewhere and for an entirely different purpose but then her eyes glanced around and she recalled instantly where she was and why and an entirely different feeling gripped her, one of fear.
She began to pull again but his fingers didn’t yield, if anything they tightened more and a fleeting thought of was she going to have a bruise to remember the event from crossed her mind. Totally trapped she was beginning to fear he was going to go back on his word and issue her another task as he tugged her but what he actually said made her jaw drop and she began to stutter. “What? ….No…..no I’m….. fine.” Her mind was whirling as he marched her along, with no option but to go with him. Was he going to drop her at the brothel? But then he had said he would drop her home so was this another of his tricks to just get into her home without a warrant. The petite girl just didn’t know what to think but that firm grip that didn’t seem to ease up continued to excite and calm her in a way she knew it shouldn’t.
Valentine’s grip tightened, same as any other bondage when you tested it – it bit into the skin. His gaze turned sharp on her when she answered.
“My office is always exhausted.” The Commander stated – overworked and thin stretched as well. The air from his word tufted white balls in the cool air. He could tell she was nervous, anxious that someone might see, someone might ruin all the sneaking she’d done for his sake and tattle on her. A part of him wanted to point out that this was her own doing. But he looked at her and saw a mirror, sights that Valentine was a little too familiar with – the shaking fingers, sleepless nights and: “Headache?” He stated, more than asked.
There was something about the way his grip tightened that excited her. The feeling she knew and enjoyed but the battle inside her to push those thoughts and feelings away. She squirmed a little more, almost testing his grip rather than truly pull away although given the difference in size and strength she was on a losing battle anyway.
“Yes,” she blurted out at the question. “But I have exams coming up. My stress levels are sky high.” She looked at him with wide eyes tinged with red. Why did she keep feeling the need to justify her answers she wondered but with no conclusive answer.
He was still in the office, working when Charlotte’s message lit up the screen of his phone. A time and place, nothing more. Valentine stared for a long while at the one sentence before he deleted it and went back to work. His office – the only window on the whole floor still alight, and it remained that way until morning. Until there was no need for the light.
Valentine rubbed cold fingers into his eyes, changed his shirt and tossed on a jacket before walking out of the building. The park wasn’t close, but the walk and the fresh coffee woke him up enough that by the time he sat on a bench waiting for the girl to show, the usual soreness was gone.
When Charlotte walked over, Valentine’s attention fixed on the paper fist. Taking the slip of paper, the Commander didn’t miss the shake of Charlotte’s fingers. He grabbed her wrist to keep her in place while he unfolded the note, checking the name. Valentine gave a single unsurprised nod.
“Your name won’t come up in the reports.” He assured Lottie, tucking the written note in his pocket. A pause chopped the Commander’s words as he took the girl’s looks: “Tired?”
She turned to go, huffing softly as his grip held her in place. Surprised that she could feel herself on the verge of tears at the action Lottie had to work hard to keep them at bay her gaze stuck firm on the solitary piece of paper. As he tucked the paper away she was ready to bolt, not entirely sure that she trusted his word. His question however surprised her enough that she answered immediately, “Yes.” Annoyed with her admittance she shrugged, “It’s a busy time of year, I’m sure half your office are exhausted too.” Lottie tried to pull her hand away. She really couldn’t be seen here with him, tongues would wag far too much.
Lottie’s visit to the lab which Morena arranged had gone well and while she had got what she needed she learned a lot too. It was never an area she had been interested in but seeing the potential made her question both her own choices and her original reason for going. However she was quite sure the commander was not going to let up on her until he got what he wanted and after several agonising days she decided just to get it over with. Sending him a message with only a time and place she prepared a piece of paper carefully, no trace of her own handwriting and bearing a single name.
After a sleepless night and with her nerves jangling all through her classes Lottie made her way to the park after her final lecture. She saw him waiting and walked over. Her gloved hands were shaking as she handed him the slip of paper, pausing only long enough to tell him, “I’ve kept my side, you keep yours.”
Morena tapped her nail at the silver of her holder, ready to
deny the request. The young woman made her case, but a simple curiosity was not
a reason enough to let someone in the labs. It wasn’t until Lottie mentioned
the possibility of further interest in recreating that Morena reconsidered. “I
can respect ambition.” A cook, already loyal to the family, with ambition –
those were not qualities that often resided in the same person. She opened her
purse, to pull a pen Morena wrote an address and a date with a set hour. “I’ll
have one of my boys pick you from here. Be prepared, if you fail to acquire
yourself a second invitation I can not help. ”
Lottie stood, barely breathing as she had finished her piece and waiting for the verdict. She wouldn’t get another chance like this she knew so if she blew it then she was really stuck. “Thank you Miss,” she said trying to keep her voice even. A small smile crept over her lips as the domme began to write and Lottie quickly put the piece of paper safe in her purse. It didn’t matter what she was doing she needed to make that meeting. “Yes Miss, I understand. Thank you.” With that she quickly excused herself happy that at least something had gone right for her.
“No. He doesn’t have the power to have you thrown from the University and even if he did, it wouldn’t stick. I would fight it.” Spencer said with a sigh. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose Lottie but you have to use your head. You are smart. Stay away from anywhere the commander might be especially crime scenes, got it?” Spencer stood and moved around his desk to lean on it. “Lottie, I am upset because I care. You know I am not a fan of most of what the family does. I don’t want to see you end up in a position where I can’t get you out of it. Do I need to speak to the commander?”
Lottie felt immense relief at the notion the commander couldn’t get her throw off her course. She had worked too long and hard to get to this point for him to do that, especially when she actually hadn’t done anything to deserve it that time. Her head rose to look at Spencer as he moved position, her eyes widening as he asked about speaking to the commander, “Oh no, no, no it’s fine. There is no need for you to do that. I will stay far away and it will all go away. He’ll get bored of me soon enough.”
Lottie's wild adventure 