Locked In Amber Ch 10

It was late Wednesday morning and Amber had already completed her daily duties. Other than Cindy, everyone else in the small office was away at a training conference. Cindy had spent a good portion of the morning preparing quarterly reports and was much less chatty than usual. Given the scowl that appeared on her face when her cell phone rang and the subdued hissing that could be heard after she retreated to her desk, Amber suspected something was up with her ex.

To give Cindy some privacy and take the rare opportunity to listen to music, she put her earbuds in, turned on some classic Enigma, and loaded up Excel. She had some ideas for how to improve the team's data processing and wanted to surprise them when they came back from the conference. As Gregorian chants and breathy French vocals interwove amidst a backdrop of Euro-electronica, the spreadsheet began to fall into place. The sensual nature of the song also got her reminiscing about Katelyn's visit the night before.

******

"Okay, girl, any ideas on what you'd like to get?" Kat asked as she opened the laptop and slid closer to Amber so they could share the screen. The electronic glow lit her up as she opened a browser and typed in a website. A classy storefront greeted them with white, black, and accents of strong pink. An elegant font proclaimed 'Aphrodite's Bow' across the top while pictures of models posing in various forms of lingerie were displayed below. "This is that new place over on 16th street. It's really nice."

Amber sat back on the couch and curled her feet up next to her as she leaned against Kat and looked down at the screen on her friend's lap. "God, I don't know. Hmm... I mean, I was thinking of some more panty and bra sets. He liked the ones I had on the other day."

"Well, that's a good start. But I was wondering if you wanted to get anything else. Maybe expand your horizons?"

"Maybe," Amber said hesitantly. "Though I don't really know where to start. Sorry. I guess I'm too much of a nerd." A look of disappointment crossed her face. "I'm a lingerie virgin."

Katelyn looked over, concern in her eyes. "Amber... you've always been brainy and I know we often throw around the term 'nerd' for fun, but I'm going to pull the Caring Best Friend card and nix the negative self-talk. Just because you haven't really thought about it for yourself doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. Everybody starts somewhere and you're starting here."

Amber looked up from the screen and sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, this is supposed to be fun." She closed her eyes for a second and collected her thoughts. When she opened them, she smiled and explained, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, while I obviously know what lingerie is, I've never actually contemplated it that much in terms of purchasing it for myself. I mean, with the dearth of boyfriends, I've never really needed to. It's always just been one of those things that couples like you and Aaron look at. When I've gone out with you before, I've just been mentally focused on helping you determine what looked good on you."

"Well, getting something sexy for yourself can be all the need you need, no special 'other person' required. But that's a conversation for another day. Let's see if we can narrow it down a bit." Kat turned the computer away from Amber, opened up a new tab, and typed some parameters. When she finished, she turned the screen back so Amber could see. "How about these?" she asked with a devious smile.

The page was filled with women in black leather. A fair number included chains and spiked collars. Riding crops were also a very popular accessory. Amber grimaced. "Yeeeeaaaah," Amber said drawing the word out. "That's a hard 'no' for me."

Kat laughed. "I figured. But with all the boundaries you've been pushing of late, I thought maybe you've completely derailed from the Amber I know. She smiled over at Amber and gave her a nudge with her elbow. "Okay, so no Biker Bitch or Dungeon Dom." She closed the browser tab.

"I think I'm more of a 'satin and lace' kind of girl," Amber explained with a grin. "More like 'sex in front of the fireplace' rather than 'boot on the neck of my Sub'."

"There's the Amber I know." Kat opened a new tab and began typing as she spoke. "I can picture you in a cabin somewhere, stone fireplace, goin' to town on a nice blanket on the floor."

"Yeah, that sounds pretty awesome," Amber said, glancing over at the gas fireplace in the corner of the room. It wasn't nearly as exciting as the one in the fantasy. She paused for a moment in reflection. "Oh, and Elise said I could totally pull off 'Sexy Librarian'," Amber noted, adding air quotes for emphasis.

Kat paused, her finger stopping on the trackpad, and glanced over again. "Oh?" She looked Amber up and down. "Yeah, she's right.

Definitely

put that one on your To-Do list. Though that wouldn't work for Thursday, what with the hiking and all." She reverted her gaze back to the computer and began opening links into some new tabs before pausing again and glancing over. "Spencer's sister said that?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm," Katelyn muttered, briefly raising her eyebrows. "Didn't you just meet her? That seems a bit forward for someone you just met."

Not as forward as when I kissed her during my emotional meltdown.

Amber felt herself blush and cleared her throat. "Oh, uh, well, she is pretty forward, but it wasn't like we'd

just

met. It was Sunday night when I went up for dinner. She'd helped me with the swimsuit and we were talking. I was all nervous about the evening and had made a comment about how I wasn't like her—all confident and sultry. Or something like that... Anyway, that's when she said I was cute and could nail it as a sexy librarian."

"Huh." Kat had a somewhat introspective look on her face as she stared across the room, the laptop momentarily forgotten. "Well, that's an odd and unexpected feeling," she murmured to herself.

Amber sat up and twisted slightly so she could look at Kat's face more easily. "What's odd? That I was nervous or that she said I was cute?"

Katelyn snapped out of her inward thoughts and looked back at Amber. "Oh! No, no, that's not what I meant at all! Sorry, I was referring to myself. I was really happy that someone gave you a compliment you deserve and... um... then found it tinged with a hint of jealousy."

Amber tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed. "You? Jealous? Of what?"

Kat abashedly glanced away for a moment before she looked back and exhaled through pursed lips. When she spoke, it was rapid as if she wanted to get it out and move on to something else. "Well, I know it's not right, but I was a bit jealous that someone else was thinking you were sexy too. I know that's utterly wrong of me and I'm rather disappointed in myself for even thinking it. It just caught me off guard is all."

Wait, is she jealous that Elise was there to support me that night?

It was highly unusual and surprising to hear Kat admit jealousy. She was normally quite confident.

Maybe it's just nerves from the test combined with us not hanging out much recently.

"Hey, no worries," she said, reassuringly while giving Katelyn's shoulder a quick squeeze. "You'll always be my Number One Besty. No one's replacing you. She was just trying to help me feel better in the moment."

Katelyn cleared her throat, her fist covering her mouth and hiding a flash of embarrassment. When she removed it, she was smiling again. "So aaaanyway..." she strung out the word to change the conversation. "Shall we get back to our research?"

"Sure," Amber quipped, turning back to the laptop.

Which of these do you like?" Kate turned the screen again and clicked through several tabs, each depicting a different style of lingerie. She sounded back to her normal self. "I want to figure out what kinds of styles we should focus on, not necessarily a specific color or design. That'll be next."

Amber took the laptop and perused the pictures, occasionally clicking between tabs. "Hmm, not really into teddies or the bodysuits. Camisoles are nice, of course. And maybe some of the chemises."

Kat nodded. "Okay, let's go back to Aphrodite's Bow." Now that Amber had the laptop, Kat leaned her head closer to Amber's to better see the screen. Amber could feel the movement of Kat's breath against her neck. It tickled.

Amber switched back to the storefront and clicked on some filter options. "Ooh, that's cute," she said pointing to a burgundy camisole with ribbon weaving back and forth up the front to end in a petite bow.

"Yeah, it is. And I have this one here," Kat chimed in, pointing to another. "It's quite comfortable."

The two women began looking through the variety of clothing and talking about various pieces. Occasionally, Kat would make a suggestion, sometimes in seriousness, other times just for fun. As they progressed, several items were placed in the shopping cart as a holding option. Just as Amber was about to click on the cart icon for a final review of her choices, Kat interjected. "Hold on. Can I see the laptop?"

"Sure." Amber passed it back over, her curiosity piqued.

"So, before we go into the final choices, let me make one more suggestion," Kat said, her eyes on the screen as she typed. "Don't peek."

Amber turned her head away and looked across the room. "Now you've got me wondering. You aren't looking up more hardcore stuff are you?" she asked, her voice teasing. "Not vinyl bodysuits or maybe furries?"

"Ha!" Katelyn responded. "No, this one's serious. I think this would be a good option for you. Hold on, I'm trying to get some quality results... Ahh, here we go. You can look now. What do you think of these?"

Amber turned back to her friend and looked at the screen. The search results filled the screen with women wearing bustiers and corsets. Amber flashed back to the memory of Elise coming down the stairs the first afternoon she'd met her. Her heart gave a slight twinge. "Yeah, some of these are really great. I like these here," she said, pointing to some elegant black and white artistic pictures.

"You want to look for one?" Kat asked hopefully, the cursor hovering over one of the links.

Amber thought about it a bit. "Hmm, well, maybe someday. But not right now. I think that might be a bit much for me at the moment."

"Oh. Okay." Kat sounded a bit crestfallen.

Amber looked up at her friend and saw the expression. "But I'll tell you what, let me build up my confidence a bit and we can look for one soon. I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Kat said, her disappointment rising back into a smile. Just as she switched the tab back to Aphrodite's Bow, something caught Amber's eye.

"Hold on, go back."

"Change your mind?" Katelyn returned to the search window.

"Yeah. I mean, no. I mean... I thought I saw..." Sure enough, about three-quarters of the way down the page of search result images, a familiar sapphire eye gazed out from the screen. "Wow, what are the odds of that!"

Kat tilted her head with a raised eyebrow. "Of... what?"

Amber pointed to the stamp-sized picture. "I think that's Elise."

Kat dropped her gaze back to the screen and clicked on the picture to bring up the source. A photo spread from a cosplay site filled the screen. The high-definition image depicted Elise casually laid back against a scarlet Victorian divan. One shapely leg, ringed by a black garter, extended from the high-cut, brown velvet brocade skirt, the knee bent so the leather calf-high boot rested on an adjacent ottoman. The other leg, open just enough to draw the eye inward yet not reveal a hidden treasure, extended from the front of the couch with the boot on the floor. A strapped burgundy corset hugged her torso and enhanced her cleavage while a black choker necklace with a gear motif beckoned the observer to steal a glance downward.

White linen sleeves ended at the top of the corset leaving the shoulders bare. One arm lay along the back of the couch with the wrist resting on her upward knee, while the other hung lazily over the front corner, a pair of brass binoculars dangling by their strap from one finger. A brushed leather top hat banded in matching burgundy capped the ensemble, sitting slightly askew the waterfall of dark auburn hair cascading over the side of her head and partially covering the left side of her face. Her left eye was partially obscured amidst the tresses, but the sapphire blue of her uncovered right eye stared directly at the camera while a sly smirk played across her burgundy lips. The entire pose was utterly nonchalant and yet there was no question about who was in complete control.

Kat let out a low whistle. "Shit!

That's

Spencer's sister?"

"Yeah. She'd mentioned she'd done some cosplay work. Guess we found some."

"She's fucking gorgeous," Kat growled while staring at the screen, her eyes flickering around the image and taking in all the details.

Amber chuckled. "Yeah. I was kind of intimidated by her at first. Well, okay, I still am a bit, but she's really cool and friendly. Hopefully, you'll get to meet her one of these days; I think you'd really hit it off. Let's look at some of the other pictures."

They began clicking on other photos in the spread. They all depicted Elise in various poses in the same clothing. The majority were in the same room, but some were outside near an ornate fountain. Kat opened some of the other albums, but they depicted different models.

"Well that was cool," Amber said after they had spent some time perusing the photos. "Bookmark that site. I'll have to ask her about that."

Kat clicked on the keyboard. "Yeah, I'd like to hear about that too. I love that clothing. It's so high-class and sexy at the same time."

"I know, right?" Amber replied. "She went to a steampunk-themed party the other night. She was dressed all in blue. Maybe we could ask her if there's another one and all go sometime."

Kat turned her head with a surprised look on her face. "Is this the same woman I had to practically beg to go to Steve's party the other night? And five minutes ago said that a bustier might be too much?"

Amber shrugged. "Okay, yes, I never said I always made sense. But after looking at that... I don't know. It could be a lot of fun if we all went as a group. I'm guessing we wouldn't have to worry about drunken chicks Jell-o fighting in the kitchen. Plus, it would be fun to all go together and look at clothes. I bet she'd be good at it."

Kat nodded. "Yeah, let me know what you find out. I'd be interested in that. And speaking of shopping..." She switched the window back to Aphrodite's Bow and the two women began discussing each item in the cart, slowly narrowing it down to a handful of choices before Amber entered her credit card information. They decided she would go over to Kat's house for dinner the next night before heading out to pick everything up from the boutique.

******

Amber paused her music and popped off her earbuds as she arched her back into a long stretch and quickly blinked her eyes. Rolling her shoulders to try and reduce some of the stiffness, she contemplated the work she'd done. She'd made good progress, but she also wanted some of the older data that wasn't on the network drive just to make sure her calculations were still accurate.

But that means pulling files out of the back room. Ugh... and entering it all by hand! God, what a slog that will be!

She couldn't hear Cindy's harsh whispering anymore and glanced around the corner. She wasn't at her desk, so Amber assumed she was in the bathroom. As Amber made her way back to the file room, she contemplated the idea of scanning the files in, converting them to readable text, and then writing some sort of script to pull the data she needed and populate a text file for an easy copy/paste into the spreadsheet. She hit a roadblock when she realized she wasn't entirely sure how to write the script.

I wonder if Spencer would know.

Halfway through writing up a lengthy text explaining what she wanted to do, she started chuckling.

Wow! Talk about massively overthinking the problem. By the time I figure all of this out, I could have entered everything manually. Twice over.

With a sigh, she deleted the tome and replaced it with something much simpler.

AL: Hey! Just thinking of you. Excited about Thursday.

She waited a moment, but when he didn't reply, she put her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. She glanced around the filing cabinets, her shoulders slumping. "Well, no time like the present," she lamented to the empty room and began the process of pulling out various manilla folders. With the privacy of the enclosing walls and the monotonous nature of the work, it didn't take long for her mind to start wandering again.

******

After Kat had left and Amber was getting ready for bed, she thought about her purchases. She had been shocked at the final price tag and they'd had to move a few to the wishlist just to get it down to a reasonable total. But other than that, she was excited to try something new. She also discovered that the thought of Spencer seeing them on her had excited her more than she'd expected. Even more pleasant was the fact that the nervousness she'd felt Sunday night when contemplating swimming with him was gone.

Well, that's progress!

As she lay her head back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what item Spencer would like the best, the soft sheets pressed against her skin. It wasn't long before she started to feel a familiar tingling between her legs. Normally, she might have just tried to push it out of her mind and fall asleep, but tonight, she didn't have any hesitation.

Fuck it! I just want to feel good.

She sat up and peeled her tank top off her shoulders, tossing it aside. She then reached down and slid her panties off and tossed them in the same general direction. Fully nude, she slid back into the sheets' embrace, sighing at the sensation.

Restraining the urge to drop her fingers to her clit, she instead closed her eyes and focused on the feeling of the linens against her bare skin. They were warm where she lay, but as she slowly moved her legs around, the coolness of other areas of the bed awakened her nerves. She slowly flexed one leg and then the other, the fabric's gentle shifts softly caressing her.

She slowly slid her hands under the sheets, palm up, the threads pressing against the pads of her hands with increasing tension. As the sheets and blanket tented, the edge near her chest receded down to the top of her breasts. When she dropped her hands back down to her hips, the sheets fell back against her body and warm air escaped against her chin, carrying with it an unmistakable odor of sex. She let out a small moan when she realized what it was.

Her hands rubbed against her bare hips, up her waist, and across her belly before crossing and dropping down on the opposite sides. She held her thighs together tightly as she gently flexed each leg, feeling the muscles tense between her fingertips. The pressure in her groin sent an electric wave coursing through her abdomen.

There's no one else in the house; let it all out.

She sucked in her lower lip and let out a louder moan.

Her forearms began to uncross, her fingers splayed along her quads as they returned to their proper sides. But as they reached the inner edges of her legs, she brought them up vertically along her thighs. As they passed over her mons, she let out a small sigh. They desperately wanted to linger, but instead, she kept her hands moving up together, her fingers trailing up across her abdomen, up her sternum, until they parted and caressed her nipples. The flexing of the sheets had made them firm and she decided to enjoy the detour.