"See if you can get the stain out." He held his hand out for the dry cleaning bag. She handed it to him and turned to the sink, feeling cold. Using soap on her hands to wash the rest of the wet henna away, leaving a ghostly pattern, she then started on the pants.

"You know a great deal about fashion." He stood and hung the bag over the hook on the door.

"Fashion design major." She scrubbed the stain, feeling that flush creeping up her cheeks. "Syracuse. I graduated last year."

"And you came to work for Kaiser?" He slipped off his suit jacket. "Probably thinking you could get your foot in the door?"

She nodded, blinking back tears, and rinsed the spot. It had barely faded. What was that henna stuff made of? "Something like that."

"And now you're basically the go-to girl?" He shook out his suit coat carefully, leaving on his shirt and tie, while Heidi watched him in the mirror.

"Basically." She turned off the water, drying her hands on a paper towel. They were trembling, too. "Sir, I...I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to get this clean."

He nodded. "I was afraid of that."

"I'm glad you had this suit in your car." Heidi turned toward the dry-cleaning bag and unzipped it. "It's-oh my G.o.d. Is that a Liana Lee?"

He smiled, that sardonic twist of his mouth. "I thought you might appreciate that."

"She's my idol!" Heidi ran her fingers over the lapel.

"You want to design men's suits?" He reached around her and slipped the jacket off the hanger and handed her his other suit jacket. "Hang this one up."

"Among other things." She obediently hung his other suit jacket up.

He straightened his collar, his tie, glancing at her in the mirror. "So, Miss Heidi, what are we going to do about these pants?"

She bit her lip, meeting his gaze in the mirror. His face was serious, his eyes hard. What could she do, what could she possibly say?

"I don't know..." She swallowed hard. "With what I make, it would take me forever to pay you back five thousand dollars."

"I understand that." His gaze moved over her, taking in her tousled blonde hair, her t-shirt and shorts, the body beneath them lush and fully feminine-much more so, to Heidi's lament, than the tall, slender models she worked around all day. "Still, something like this... there is the matter of personal responsibility."

"It was an accident," she pleaded, turning to face him. He raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed, relenting, hanging her head. "What do you want from me? I'll do it. Whatever you want. I'll do it."

"I believe you would." His voice softened and she felt a shiver run through her when he lifted her chin, making her look at him. She blinked back more tears, trying to retain some semblance of dignity, trying hard not to just melt into a puddle of shame and embarra.s.sment on the floor. Kaiser's gaze never wavered, but he seemed to be thinking, deciding something. Finally, he gave a slow nod and took a step back, folding his arms over his chest. "Perhaps...just a simple punishment is in order."

Heidi blinked, frowning. "What do you mean?"

"Turn around."

She had said the words-whatever you want-and meant them. Now she did as he asked, heart hammering, facing the sink and the mirror once again.

"Bend over."

Her eyes widened, meeting his as he moved behind her, standing a full head taller.

When she spoke, she couldn't keep the tremble from her voice. "Mr. Kaiser?"

He nodded. "Yes. Bend over."

"I'm sorry." She shook her head, her stomach clenching, her breath catching. "I don't... what..." She could feel his presence, the shadow of his body behind her like a weight, even though no part of them was touching.

"Bend over for your punishment, Heidi." Just the hard, insistent sound of his voice made her do it. It wasn't a request, it wasn't even quite a demand, it was more of a direction, a simple instruction she was meant to follow-and so she did. Bent over the counter of the sink, she met her own wide eyes in the full wall mirror and then looked to him. He was leaning back, his head tilted, his gaze falling somewhere behind her. Her heart was beating very fast.

"Shorts down."

She heard herself whimper, but it was his tone that seemed to prompt her response, making her fingers hook the elastic band, sliding the white material over her bottom, down to mid-thigh.

"Panties, too."

Her eyes pleaded with him, but he wasn't looking at her face. There seemed nothing to do but comply. Her face burned and her chest constricted as she slid her plain white cotton panties down to mid-thigh as well.

"Mr. Kaiser-" she started, thinking she might reason with him, say something to end this craziness, but she couldn't think what to follow it with.

That's when his hand came down, a jarring sting that made her gasp out loud with the force of it. The flush of her humiliation was immediate and two rosy patches appeared on her face in the mirror. His hand came down again, this time across her other cheek, the sound of it loudly shocking in the small, cramped s.p.a.ce of the bathroom.

Her a.s.s cheeks smarted and she started to feel a heat as the spanking went on, his slaps coming faster, harder. She couldn't stop the silent tears, her lower lip trembling, her breath coming in soft hitches.

He was thundering behind her, his face stoic in the mirror. The only indication of emotion was in his eyes, the way they seemed to caress the red, burning skin he was kindling. She started to squirm, making soft noises, her breath fogging the mirror more with every blow.

"Mr. Kaiser!" she gasped, her hands curling, one of them clutching his stained trousers in her fist.

The sound of her voice stopped him and she could see his chest heaving, his gaze still moving over her behind. He lifted his hand, the one he had used to spank her, rubbing his fingers together as he met her eyes in the mirror. Heidi trembled at the dark look in them.

He moved in behind her and she could feel his erection through his boxers, nestled between her cheeks. The soft satiny feel of the fabric was heaven against her hot, p.r.i.c.kling skin. His eyes never left hers as he grabbed her hips, squeezing, holding her there against him. She watched his eyes close for a moment as he drew a deep belly breath.

"Mr. Kaiser?" she whispered, her a.s.s clenching, his c.o.c.k twitching. He let go, leaning back and moving his hand over her behind, a soft caress. She swallowed, watching him, finding it hard to breathe.

"Your debt is paid." He turned toward the door and took the clean trousers out of the dry cleaning bag. Heidi struggled with her panties and shorts, pulling them back up over her tingling bottom as he b.u.t.toned his pants.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, holding out the damp, stained pair of trousers.

"They're useless to me." He ran a hand through his hair. Heidi noticed his palm was red, realizing with a jolt that it was the hand he had used to spank her. He reached past her and opened the door, grabbing the dry cleaning bag.

"My keys." He held out his hand. Heidi dug into her pocket and fumbled as she gave them over. He moved around her, heading out the door.

"Mr. Kaiser?" She leaned against counter, her bottom still burning, her breath coming too fast, her heart beating in her ears.

"Yes, Heidi?"

She didn't know what she was going to say, what she wanted to say, and what came out surprised them both. "Thank you." He gave her a brief nod and was gone.

Heidi shut the door and locked it, slipping her shorts and panties down and turning to inspect her red, raw bottom in the mirror. She stayed that way, looking over her own shoulder, as she slid her hand down between her legs.

Her fingers found their way through her swollen, wet slit, parting her lips and rubbing, remembering his eyes, the force and weight of him behind her. The heat in her bottom spread between her legs as she touched herself, still seeing him, the red flash of his palm, the square set of his jaw, the thick press of his c.o.c.k between her cheeks.

She rubbed herself until she was panting with the effort, still hearing his voice telling her to "bend over," remembering the sharpness of each blow, how accurate and precise, and the delicious, thrilling way he closed his eyes and breathed her in at the end.

Her fingers probed deeper, slipping in and out of her wetness as she worked her c.l.i.t, her other hand squeezing the red, tingling flesh of her a.s.s. Her p.u.s.s.y was slick with her built-up excitement and it squelched as she fingered herself, the rhythmic sound loud in the little bathroom.

She whispered his name, over and over, her fingers digging deep, rubbing hard, her p.u.s.s.y throbbing and aching for release. She didn't stop, she couldn't stop, even when Lenny pounded on the door, not until she made herself come, fingers plunging, her other hand sliding over her a.s.s where he had given her his final, parting caress.

Her climax was so intense she had to bite her lip to keep from making any noise as it shook her. The red heat flooded her entire body as she quivered and rocked against the counter.

"Heidi!" Lenny knocked again. "Hey! Are you okay?"

She yanked up her shorts and panties, breathing a shaky sigh as she turned on the water to wash her hands. "I'm fine! Be out in a minute."

Bending over again and pressing her forehead to the mirror, she whispered, "Perhaps a simple punishment is in order." Just the sound of the words made her tremble. She stood, swallowing, still shaky, her cheeks red with her secret shame as she finally opened the door to Lenny's insistent knocking.

Chapter Two.

Heidi's bottom stung for an hour after Mr. Kaiser left, but the tingling feeling in her body remained all through the night. When her alarm went off at four in the morning, she could still feel it, like a low-amp current buzzing through her.

Mr. Kaiser had been gone when she went back out onto the set, and she wasn't brave enough to ask Ty or Lenny when or if he might be back-but she did take his pants. She folded them carefully and put them into her backpack.

It was strange-disturbing, even-her response to the events of the day before, but it was larger than life, much bigger than she was and beyond her somehow. Her body was craving something she didn't understand, and no matter how much her head insisted she was crazy, it wanted what it wanted.

She floated until she found herself back on the set, like a blissful deja-vu, delivering coffee and holding Ty's camera. It was only when the lunches were delivered again and the girls began picking through them that she came back to earth, realizing...he wasn't coming back.

All morning she had watched the parking lot, looking for a red Porsche, her bottom tingling and clenching. She imagined him striding back onto the beach, swinging his cane, his dark eyes finding her.

She waited, but he didn't come, and around lunch time, she found herself sitting morosely in the chair he had occupied the day before, eating a banana and poking at a hermit crab in the sand with a stick. What had she expected, anyway?

Still, her bottom tingled with the memory.

"Hey." Lenny sat in the sand next to her with his sandwich.

"Hey." Heidi flipped the crab over, watching it squirm and withdraw further into its sh.e.l.l. She knew how it felt. She turned it back again, watching it inch away.

"Ty's better today." Lenny nodded over to where he was laughing with one of the models. "Kaiser freaks him out."

"Mmm." She nodded, sighed, poked her stick into the sand. It was the perfect opportunity to ask-would he be back, did he only come on the first day of the shoot? Still, she couldn't seem to form the words.

"Oh, s.h.i.t." He dug into his jeans pocket. "I forgot, Kaiser gave me this for you yesterday. Between Ty running me ragged and Daniella's..."

Heidi didn't hear any more, although he continued talking. She unfolded a square, thick piece of paper with the initials "WRK" at the top. His scrawl was large and slanted and the message was short. My office. Tomorrow. Noon. Don't be late. Kaiser.

"f.u.c.k!" She looked at her watch. It was 11:12 a.m. She didn't know if she could make it in time.

"What are you doing?" Lenny frowned as she bolted out of her chair, starting for the trailer.

"Gotta go!" She grabbed her backpack from inside the trailer door, ignoring the startled looks on the girls' faces as she slammed it behind her.

"Heidi?" Ty called after her, but she didn't even look back as she headed for the parking lot, walking at first, and then breaking into a run.

Kaiser's office building was downtown, and between traffic and finding parking, it was 11:58 a.m. by the time she burst through the main doors of the skysc.r.a.per to ask where she could find his office at the front desk. It wasn't until that moment, with the security guard staring at her bare legs, that she realized she was still dressed for the beach in shorts and a t-shirt.

"What floor?" the woman in the pinstriped suit with the short dark bob asked as Heidi slipped onto the elevator.

"Forty-eight," she gasped, still out of breath.

The numbers seemed to take forever to tick by, people getting on, getting off, and every time she looked at her watch, another minute had pa.s.sed. By the time the elevator opened at her floor, it was 12:05 p.m. No one got off with her and, as the doors closed behind her, she looked around for a receptionist, but there was no one at the desk.

She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and looked around. To her left was a closed door, and to her right was a hallway. As she stood, shifting from foot to foot and considering, the door to her left opened, revealing Mr. Kaiser looking at his watch.

"Five minutes late." He frowned. "Come in. Take a seat." Her belly did a little flip as she brushed by him, putting her backpack on the floor at her feet as she sat in one of the leather wing-backed chairs facing his desk.

"I'm sorry." She was still a little breathless as he shut the door and sat across from her. "Lenny didn't give me your note until this morning." Digging into her pocket, she pulled out the folded paper and held it out to him-her invitation to be here. He just leaned back, tenting his fingers, looking at the note, and eventually she let it flutter to the desk, clasping her quivering hands in her lap.

"Do you know why I asked you here?"

She shook her head, feeling her a.s.s clenched in the chair, her thighs damp and sticking to the leather.

He frowned. "When you answer me, Heidi, I would appreciate either a spoken 'yes' or 'no,' followed by 'Mr. Kaiser' or 'sir.' Do you think you can comply?"

"Oh." She flushed, nodding, and said, "Yes, sir."

"Now, about the reason I asked you here..." His gaze moved over her face, down to her outfit, very similar to what she had worn the day before. "It is my general impression that you don't enjoy your job."

Heidi opened her mouth to deny it and saw him raise his eyebrows, as if he knew what she meant to say. "Yes... sir. That's true."

He gave a brief nod. "I thought perhaps we might find something better suited to you at Kaiser." She stared at him, all the breath gone from her body. Was he going to offer her a job in design?

"Can you type?" he asked, immediately dashing her hopes.

"Yes, sir." She frowned.

He leaned forward in his chair, folding his hands and resting his arms on the desk. "You may have noticed that I don't have an office a.s.sistant out front? My last secretary was with me for eight years, and I have yet to find a replacement. It's been several months now, and I admit, I'm becoming frustrated and I really do need someone."

Heidi took a deep breath, glancing around the office. "I've never been anyone's secretary."

He shook his head, smiling. "Irrelevant. You have what I need."

"I... do?" She met his eyes, her breath coming a little faster as she squirmed in her seat. His eyes were dark, moving over her, and she couldn't help remembering the incident in the bathroom.

"I need someone who can follow orders." He leaned back in his chair again and she could see the memory of yesterday in his eyes. "Someone who would be willing to do whatever I asked. You showed me yesterday that you are... quite willing."

Heidi swallowed, pressing her damp palms to her shorts. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."