Chapter 1

Vicki struggled as an interior decorator already and now knew that she would likely lose her business. That thought really saddened her, because she had risked her savings and spent her time and energy on success in this business. Vicki desperately wanted to prove that she was not the failure of the family. Her self-esteem was at stake, so this would really hurt.

Vicki went through several jobs over the years. Being a single mom made it that much harder. Plenty of people probably thought of her as a loser already and she hated that reputation. How could she win their respect if she failed at her first business?

The worst part of it was the thought of how her son viewed Vicki. Would she ever live up to his expectation that his mom was a person worthy of his trust and admiration? She loved her son, Trevor, with all of her heart. His opinion of her counted most. What would Vicki do if he lost respect for her? She couldn't do anything to make him think poorly of her.

Vicki couldn't make her payment on the small business loan to the bank if she didn't win this new client. The past difficulties made her a hard sell to these potential clients. It became a vicious cycle and it began to catch up with her. What would she do?

"Daddy, I need to go out to the neighborhood bar. Can you watch Trevor for me?" Vicki asked her father, with whom she lived since her divorce.

"Sure, dear. Trouble with work?" Claude Blois naturally worried about his daughter.

"The trouble may be no work soon, Daddy. I'm facing failure," she answered with a sad look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. That's the hardest thing about a business: the risk of failure. You had to try, though. I understand that. It was your dream," Daddy hugged his little girl, who was now a grown woman.

"I'm sorry to have failed you again, Daddy," Vicki apologized.

"You're not a failure, Vicki. You're a dreamer, and sometimes dreams just don't come true. You took a chance and I respect that," Claude reassured her.

"Thank you, Daddy. I just hope that Trevor understands. It will be hard on him."

"Don't worry, dear. Just stay here until you're back on your feet. You're my daughter and I'll always love you."

"Thank you, Daddy. That's the best thing I've heard all day."

"Run along now. Go have some fun. Clear out the stress. You need a break. Just don't drive," Claude told his daughter as he kissed her forehead.

"I won't, Daddy. I won't get drunk either. I'll just have a couple glasses of beer."

"Alright. Have some fun. You need it."

Vicki headed out after kissing her son goodnight in case she didn't return in time. She made it to the local bar in minutes on foot. She hadn't been there in a while, due to her responsibilities, so the bartender didn't really recognize her. He'd seen her a couple of times, but no more than that.

"What'll it be, darling?" he asked, ogling Vicki while trying to make it obvious. The girl would give a dead man a hard-on.

"Just a lite beer, please."

"Tab?"

"Yes, I suppose. Not a large one, though. I have work tomorrow."

"That's cool. Any appetizers?"

"Yes, I'll have some nachos. Haven't had any in ages."

While eating her nachos and drinking her beer, Vicki suddenly noticed the presence of a stranger with a goatee and well-combed hair. His dark brown eyes affected her rather instinctively. Vicki felt as if she could sense that he was somehow good news for her. For one thing, he looked at her with a certain degree of empathy. Strangers were sometimes kind in bars, but rarely that nice. She had to speak to him.

"Hi. I'm Vicki. You are?" Vicki introduced herself to the man, pushing back any fears that she might have about approaching a stranger.

"Dan. You seem a little sad, Vicki. What's wrong?" Dan replied as his eyes seemed to change to a much darker shade that was almost coal-black.

"I shouldn't telling you this, since you don't deserve my stress, but here it goes. I'm going to have to sell my business if things don't pick up very soon. I'm not the driven, hard-nosed kind of person it takes to push ahead, I guess," she responded, now at the point of tears.

"What kind of person are you?" Dan asked her, his eyes now examining her soul with rigorous attention to detail.

"A well-meaning, but rather silly one, I think. I just want people to like me, so it's hard to do what it takes to succeed."

"You want to please people?" Dan summarized her attitude well.

"Yes," Vicki admitted.

"You seek their approval."

"True. I can't help it. I want to be liked."

"If I don't seem too forward, maybe you need someone to take control of your life," Dan declared as his eyes now became hazel.

"Meaning?" Vicki asked him to clarify, her hands trembling by this point.

"Meaning, you need a man who will protect and provide for you. However, you've got to be willing to follow him, even against social customs," Dan elaborated.

"This is not a cult thing, is it?" she asked, mostly to eliminate that possibility.

"No, no. I'm not selling 'salvation'. That's bullshit, always was, and always will be. I'm talking about a benevolent master," Dan assured Vicki.

"You mean like bondage, S and M, whips, chains, and leather?" Vicki probed.

Vicki felt her pussy get moist at the thought. This was a surprise to her, since she hadn't been involved in more than light bondage play with her ex. It had been exciting at the time, but she never considered the fact that it had been her idea and Tyler hadn't cared as much for it as she did. She had thought of it as fun and games, but now she reflected that she never wanted to tie him up. Vicki had always been the submissive party in those experiments, which hadn't lasted. It had been right before he left her, as a matter of fact.

"Yes. Bondage. Look, this idea probably shocks you, but feelings and desires choose you, not vice versa. They just happen and you have to just accept them. If you're interested, come with me," Dan punned.

Vicki thought that Dan was an eccentric, but he seemed to possess a frightening and hypnotic quality as well as psychic powers. He was right on about her nature. Vicki always let people tell her what to do, including her dad. It just came easily to her. She even let her best friend, Michelle, call the shots in their friendship.

Even now, Vicki didn't do what she expected to do: run like Hell. She found herself wanting to at least explore the possibilities. She couldn't help but go with Dan and see where she ended up. All of her normal caution went out the window as she was drawn magnetically to this dominant stranger.

"Alright, I'll do it. It's risky, but I'm overwhelmed with curiosity. Somehow, I trust you," Vicki decided.

"That's because your intuition tells you to. Follow me, dear. I'll have you home before you know it," Dan commanded Vicki, paying her tab as well as his as if it was perfectly normal.

When they arrived at Dan's place, it was no mere apartment or even suburban house. The mysterious stranger lived in a Georgian-style plantation house just outside of the city. Between that and the limo ride that took them there, it became apparent that this guy had some wealth. Vicki's jaw dropped when she saw the foyer, let alone the various rooms of this mansion. She was mesmerized into paralysis when they reached the master bedroom.

Dan took full advantage of Vicki's nearly catatonic state to kiss her mouth with an intensity that amazed her. Vicki returned the kiss without even thinking about it first. Dan then began kissing down her neck until he reached her cleavage. He started to open her blouse and kiss his way to her navel as he went. Turning Vicki around suddenly, he kissed from the back of her neck to right above her bra. Dan unclasped it and continued to move his lips along her back to the edge of her slacks.

Completely unprepared for this kind of attention, Vicki felt her senses overload and her juices soak her panties. Smelling her arousal, Dan pulled down her pants and undies. He continued the kisses until he reached the crack of her ass and parted her cheeks to smooch her there. Reversing her again, Dan completed his path back up to her belly. Vicki was helpless in his hands. Naturally, he used that vulnerability to guide her to a bent position over the foot of his bed and enter her pussy from behind.