Under His Influence (Love Under Lockdown Book 27) by Jamie Knight (best books to read for young adults txt) 📕

As far as I knew, Seth still ran things at Suspicious Activity, but the label had gotten big enough that it had HR, as well as a legal department. I’d seen them listed next to the elevator. We could get in a lot of trouble if we indulged in any forbidden flings.

“This is you, and I’m just across the hall,” Seth said, and I put my bag down on the four-poster bed.

“It’s lovely; thank you.”

“No trouble. Are you hungry?”

I was, come to think of it, and so I nodded. Breakfast was the last meal I could remember eating, with everything involving the pending lockdown becoming so hectic all of a sudden.

I was glad Seth wanted me here even if it was just about the job, even though I was hoping it was also about sex. I really felt like Seth needed me at the studio, or at least that I was genuinely useful. Not just shadowing him as he did his work.

“I’ll go start dinner,” Seth announced.

After changing my clothes to something more comfortable, the evening cooling considerably from earlier in the day, I headed downstairs to see what might happen.

I could hear it even before I reached the bottom. The unmistakable bass tones of Joy Division’s “Shadowplay.”

So, he didn’t just like Metal after all.

It shouldn’t have surprised me that much.

I’d always figured Seth to be a man of depth and taste. If I went through his record collection in earnest, I’d more than likely find some Classical, particularly Baroque, probably, and even some Blues and Jazz.

“What’s cookin’?” I asked him.

“Crêpes. I wasn’t sure if you were veggie, so I did some with chicken.”

“Aren’t crêpes more of a dessert?”

“Not the way I make ‘em.”

Time seemed to move differently. I could fall out of my chair and not hit the floor, at least not for a while, or at least so it seemed. That was how good Seth’s crêpes were.

They made me never want dinner to end. To stay right there, in that moment for the rest of my life, if not the rest of time.

“These are truly delicious,” I told him.

“Glad you like them,” Seth said. “I aim to please.”

I could have sworn he winked at me when he said that, but I wasn’t sure.

He probably didn’t mean anything by, it but what if he had?

The question plagued me, pulling and tugging, even as things got really nice and relaxing. Seth suggested we go to bed early. He said he had a lot planned for the next day. Reluctantly, I agreed, wishing we could stay up and flirt but knowing that that wasn’t the brightest idea.

Morning almost came too soon. Rested but confused, I did light exercises to get the adrenaline going and looked for something to wear. I would have to do it eventually, but taking a shower right then seemed too presumptuous, since it seemed so intimate of a thing to do in someone else’s house and I still wasn’t sure where we stood.

As I walked into the kitchen, a delicious scent wafted my way. Mushrooms never smelled so good. Seth was a wizard with cooking, to a level that bespoke a culinary education. Though where he would have come by such training was anybody’s guess.

“Smells great,” I said.

“We shall soon see.”

His humility was misplaced, because the omelets he placed on the table were surely among the best ever cooked. It was a nearly orgasmic experience to consume, filling me with an unspeakable happiness.

“Can I ask you something?” Seth said, after a long moment.

“Yes.”

Putting down his cutlery, Seth conjured a long, thin jeweler’s box, seemingly from nowhere. Without a word, he put it in the space between our plates.

He didn’t say another word.

Apparently, whatever it was would speak for itself.

It wasn’t a ring; I knew that much by the shape. The most obvious object for it to be was a necklace, but there was only one way to know for sure.

The hinged lid creaked open like the door of a haunted house, eventually revealing a black vinyl choker on the white silk interior of the box.

At least it looked like a choker.

It also could have been a collar.

“You have no doubt heard the rumors. It isn’t exactly a secret. It is also entirely true, or at least mostly true. Some things have been exaggerated. I don’t have a dungeon in the basement, for example. The fact is, I am very attracted to you and, with your consent, I would like to train you. Not just in the business, but as my pet.”

I looked at him, incredulous that this was all happening so fast.

There I had been, less than half an hour ago, wondering if I could shower in his house and now, he was asking me to let him perform BDSM on me.

I knew it was crazy, but I couldn’t help being turned on. I was dripping wet.

“If you accept, you will wear that collar as a sign of our arrangement,” Seth continued. “Basically, you will be mine, and you’ll have to do anything I tell you. Within reason, of course, and we’ll set boundaries in place to ensure your comfort as well as my own. If you don’t accept, we go back to how things were before. Don’t worry. Nothing about your internship will change unless you want it to by accepting this collar.”

“Yes,” I whispered, my eyes down. “I will wear it.”

“Good girl.”

His words made me tingle all over.

It felt so good to know I had pleased him.

“Do I put it on, or do you?” I asked him.

“I do, but I need you to take your clothes off first.”

The authoritative tone was back in his voice and I loved it.

My whole body tingled with nerves and anticipation.

“Yes, sir.”

Slowly, I stood from my chair and started undressing. Outside a locker room, no one had seen me naked in years. And I had never been with a guy. I hadn’t wanted to give my virginity away to just anyone.

With Seth, it felt different. It