Wiped Clean

3. The truth, darling

Annika's office was an undecorated room with black walls. It was simple, clean, and free of clutter. She sat in the chair behind her desk, her eyes never really leaving Caia.

"Tell me about yourself," Annika said.

Caia shrugged. "There's not much to tell."

"Why don't you start with why you agreed to this?"

"Dan owes you, I owe Dan..."

"I see."

Silence seemed to be Annika's weapon. Instead of speaking, she stared into Caia's eyes as if peering into her soul. As if undressing her, leaving her bare. Tension built between them, until Caia averted her gaze. When she dared look up again, she was greeted with a wolfish grin.

"Come here," Annika said.

Goosebumps rose from Caia's flesh. She was covered in them. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. When she reached Annika, she froze. Again, Annika smirked. She reached out and gripped Caia's wrist, pulling her closer, before she wrapped her arm around her waist and pulled her onto her lap.

She was warm. Soft. Had they met in any other capacity, Caia would be desperate for her. Annika was beautiful. She radiated charisma, despite how utterly terrifying and sadistic she was. Against her better judgement, Caia leant against her.

"Do I scare you?" Annika asked.

All Caia could do was move her lips in silence. What should she say? Admit to being afraid, or act brave, and hope to earn Annika's respect?

"The truth, darling."

Every single cell in Caia's body responded to Annika's tone. She wanted to run, and melt closer into her all at once. She had never felt so conflicted. Logically, she knew Annika was evil. She had seen it with her own eyes. And yet she was soft, she smelled amazing, and her arms were wrapped around Caia with such tenderness and care.

"Yes," Caia whispered.

"Well," Annika said, placing a kiss on Caia's shoulder. "We can work on that."

Caia fought the urge to wipe away the kiss. "You mean you don't want me to be scared of you?" she asked, knowing she was pushing it.

"No. I want Dan to be scared of me. I want people who owe me money to be scared of me. But you? No. Not you."

"Why?"

Annika placed her hand on Caia's check. "You've done nothing to deserve it."

"Oh..."

In contrast to her gentle touch, Annika slid her hand down to grip Caia's jaw, gently angling her face closer. "I can't do the things I want to do with you if you fear me. I want you to enjoy this month as much as I will."

"As your slave..."

Annika smiled. "It won't be as bad as it sounds, I promise."

"Right," Caia said, before her eyes widened. She needed to be careful. Needed to remember who she was talking to.

"It's okay," Annika said gently. "You're allowed to speak your mind. Just never do it in front of my associates." She turned to her computer and opened two files, before pressing print. When the first was done, she handed it to Caia. "I need you to sign a confidentiality agreement. That anything you see or hear while you are with me will not be shared with anyone."

"So you'll send your lawyers after me if I break your contract? Not your goons to stick nails in my hand?"

A wide smile shone on Annika's face. "It's a bit of both, depending on the situation. But for you, my dear, this is mostly to rule out any potential ambiguity between us about what you may or may not share with others. As I said before, I'm a very private person. There will be things you will learn about me over the course of the next month that you must not share with anyone else. Things that have the potential to put both of us in a dangerous position."

"Sure," Caia said, reading through the agreement. It all looked above board. She was to keep any private information of Annika's to herself. Easy. It's not like she had anyone to talk to anyway. She signed on the dotted line.

"Thank you," Annika said, reaching for the other documents in the printer on her desk. "Now these."

"What's..." Caia's eyes narrowed in on the three page list. "Are these..." Her brow lifted.

"If we're going to be playing together for the next few weeks, I need to know what your experience is, and what your limits are. You won't be any fun if I accidentally break you by going too far too soon."

"Right..." Caia's eyes scanned the page. The first section seemed to be mostly vanilla sexual acts, but the further she read, the more advanced they became.

"The first column is for you to tick if you've done it. The others are for whether you're willing to do it, or if it's a limit for you."

"So I have a choice?"

"Of course," Annika said.

Most of the questions on the first page were easy; she had done them, and was willing to do them again. Kind of. If it meant keeping Annika happy and away from Dan. But then she paused, her pen hovering over the page.

"No lies," Annika said. "It's better for both of us if you tell the truth."

With hesitation, Caia ticked the next two pages of items, most of them as being something she had never done before. She ticked those she had never heard of as limits, but tried to keep her mind open for the rest, keeping Dan's warning in the back of her mind.

"Why is spanking on here twice?"

Annika's finger travelled the page, coming to a stop. "One for pleasure." She moved to the next page. "One for punishment."

"Punishment?"

Annika pulled Caia closer, shifting her as though she weighed nothing. "For the most part, you will have a large amount of freedom. Despite what you've seen, I'm not a sadist. I don't gain pleasure from causing pain. However, I need my subordinates to believe the opposite. I need them to fear me. Which means whenever you are around any of my associates, you must follow the rules, which are simple: treat me with respect, and do as I say, when I say it. You'll do nothing without my permission, and speak only to me unless I say otherwise. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Caia said.

A low laugh left Annika's chest. "You don't need to call me ma'am." She smiled in amusement. "Although, I didn't dislike it, so perhaps keep that in mind."

Caia couldn't help but smile, before clamping her lips shut. Once she was done, she placed the forms and the pen back on the desk.

Annika picked up the pages and read through them, her eyes narrowed. "So," she said, placing them on the desk. "For the most part, you have very limited sexual experience."

"Well..." Caia frowned. "I mean, I've had a lot of sex." Unfulfilling sex, she felt like adding.

Annika lifted a brow. "Incredibly dull, vanilla sex."

Heat rose to Caia's cheeks. "I've had a lot of one-night stands. I haven't really been with anyone long enough to try anything."

"That's okay," Annika said with a gentle smile. "You seem to be willing to try, and I will very much enjoy teaching you."

One month with a terrifying drug lord seemed far scarier now that Caia was sitting in Annika's lap. Of course, she had had sex for money before, but that was only with Dan, who she had already slept with many times. It was easy for her to slip into it. But this was different. Annika owned her for the next month, and if Dan didn't find the money they would both incur her wrath.

"Alright, beautiful," Annika said. "Let's get going."

Caia tried not to flinch at the compliment as she followed Annika outside.