For His Desire(22)

Elena looked around Michael’s office. It was enormous and immaculate, just as the other rooms in his house. Michel had left her alone in his office while he was dealing with an urgent matter with his staff. She fidgeted in her chair, just not able to sit still. She had too much on her mind and she stood up, deciding to look through Michael’s files.



Elena just wanted to know him better. He was intensely private and she thought perhaps if she could just learn one thing from his office it would be worth all of her searching. She left the door ajar so she could hear Michael’s footsteps when he returned.



All she knew of Michael’s work was that it involved the military; he never gave specifics about the job and he did not encourage questions in that area. She didn’t want to invade his privacy but she still began looking through Michael’s desk. She was frustrated to discover that most of his desk drawers were tightly locked.



Elena listened carefully for Michael’s footsteps as she approached his large credenza. Michael had obviously been inside of it recently as it was unlocked. Elena dug through the files, not even sure what she sought, but knowing she wanted to find something about Michael.



She flipped through the files, not taking the time to read anything in particular. There were so many and Elena was not certain how they were organized, though they were neatly arranged.



In the back of the credenza in a plain, unlabeled file, Elena found pictures. The file was crammed full of photos and seeing the file’s contents made Elena’s heart stop.



Inside were photos and photos of submissive women. Some of the women were wrapped in rope and blindfolded and gagged. Others were restrained with cuffs and chains. It was all beyond anything she and Michael had done and she was upset to see some of the things Michael was capable of doing. They were in a variety of positions, a variety of different bondages, but all quite helpless.



Her heart sank as she looked at them, at all of the restrictive bondage and the marks. Elena saw welts and red marks, scratches and bruises on otherwise unblemished flesh. Had Michael been angry when he did this? Was it play? She was shocked at what she saw, but beneath that was a huge undercurrent of jealousy.



“What the hell are you doing?” Michael demanded and Elena turned, startled. The file fell from her hands and the photos scattered onto the floor. There was no way for her to hide what she had been doing.





Chapter 2

“Michael, I . . .” Elena began but she looked down at the pictures, too ashamed to say anything further. She had found pieces of Michael’s past and now she was regretting that she had looked. The gorgeous man standing before her was also the man who had caused the pain to the girls in the pictures. Part of her thought she should flee the room, but even as the thought came into her mind, she dismissed it. She had wanted to know and now she did.



“Michael, there are so many pictures. All these girls . . .” she whispered and Michael cut her off.



“Are not your concern. This is my past, Elena. If you wanted to know something, you should have just asked.” She heard the reprimand in his tone and she knew he was right. She should have just talked to him, but it had been so hard for her to ever bring up the subject.



“I’m sorry,” Elena said, kneeling down to pick up the pictures. She felt that she had completely violated his privacy and in the process learned something that made her uncomfortable. Why did Michael have these pictures? She felt that she had stumbled upon something incredibly intimate.



“If I can’t trust you, Elena, this will not work.” Michael’s voice was still calm and even, but Elena knew he was angry. Yet he remained in control. Michael was always so in control, so in control of his job, his life, his staff – and his new submissive.



She felt a stab of sudden, irrational jealousy of these women she didn’t even know.



She knew that Michael had been in control of these other women, other submissives from his past and she did not know if she could do the things she saw in the pictures.

But she was also aware that seeing the women in bondage made her excited and aroused. It confused her that she could feel jealous and aroused and afraid all at once and she was afraid that Michael would be able to read all of those emotions on her face. She kept her head down as she put the pictures back into the folder.



“You can trust me, Michael,” Elena said, anxious to reassure him. The experiences she had had with Michael had all been incredible and she wasn’t willing to give that up. She knew she had made a mistake but she would find a way to make it up to him.



“Elena, you have no idea what you’ve done. You cannot spy on me, especially here in my office. I know it sounds dramatic, but in these cabinets are classified files and you could be in danger if you found them. Even if the wrong person discovered that you were looking around in my office, it could be bad for you. I need to keep you safe.”