Career Moves

"Are you just about ready?" called Todd from the bedroom.

"Almost," shouted Hanna from the adjoining bathroom, the frustration apparent in her voice. "Can you please come in here and help me with this dress!"

"Sure babe," said Todd calmly as he came through the door from the bedroom. "WOW!"

"Wow's right!" replied Hanna, grimacing as she struggled to tie the thin strands of fabric behind her neck in a bow; trying not to let the dress sag too low. The plunging back already exposed more of her ass than she wanted. As it was, the thin straps on the front barely covered her nipples, much less her lush, full breasts. "I'm hanging out all over the place."

"You look great babe. That nipple jewelry makes you look extra hot" said Todd, referring to the gold nipple shield rings that covered her petite areolas. Todd leaned forward and kissed Hanna's neck. "Your breasts look smoking hot with the jewelry on them. Really sexy!"

"Too sexy," muttered Hanna under her breath, "if you ask me."

"You saw the other 'senior executive's' wives at the Christmas party," said Todd, emphasizing the words senior and executive. "They all dress like sexy trophy wives, so I guess that's your new uniform. You better get used to it..."

"Now that you are about to be the newest 'senior executive' in the company," interrupted Hanna mockingly as she also emphasized the words senior and executive. "If we weren't celebrating your big promotion tonight and it wasn't with your boss and his wife; you couldn't pay me to wear this dress out in public. And what's that crack about 'trophy wife' supposed to mean?"

"Well, just remember, I don't have the promotion yet," replied Todd seriously. "So, a lot is riding on this dinner. Think of this as the final interview...and we're BOTH being interviewed. And yes, you are as beautiful as any trophy wife!"

"Thank you, baby," replied Hanna. "I know, I know, baby. I'll be on my best behavior."

"I wouldn't worry too much babe. I'll probably do most of the talking," said Todd as he ran his index finger down Hanna's bare back. "As for you, what's not to like? You look absolutely beautiful. And since they are the ones who picked out the dress, they'll definitely like how you fill it. I've never seen you more beautiful!"

"Thank you, baby," sighed Hanna, quietly resentful at being treated like an ornament. "It's just that I don't particularly like showing this much of me to anyone other than you. Even if the dress did cost two month's wages."

"It will be fine babe," reassured Todd. "We'll be traveling in different circles now. All the exec's wives dress like this for formal occasions. It is a more worldly and sophisticated group of people than we're used to. Besides, it's just dinner with the boss and his wife. It's not like anyone else will be there to ogle you."

"I suppose you're right," replied Hanna, before adding sarcastically, "besides, Rod would mentally undress me, even if I wore a nun's habit."

"Yeah," laughed Todd. "You're probably right about that. But so, would most men. I know I did, when I originally saw you."

"With Rod it's different," said Hanna turning serious suddenly. "Rod is like a wolf looking at a lamb chop. It's unnerving. He kind of frightens me."

"Oh, you're overreacting," said Todd dismissively, not picking up on Hanna's concerned tone. "Besides, I was kind of wondering how you would taste with mint jelly all over you when I met you too."

Indignant at her husband's dismissive remark, Hanna turned to respond, and then thought better of it, and let it go. Maybe she 'was' overreacting.

Once again, Hanna vainly tried to hide her nipples inside the skimpy strands of fabric that formed the bodice of her dress as she fidgeted with the fabric in front of the mirror. Stepping back and taking one last look in the mirror, Hanna gave up. The fabric was so sheer you could clearly see her nipples and the sexy jewelry anyway. It was pointless, she decided, since the rest of her breasts were already completely visible as well. And besides her back was exposed all the way down to the middle of the crack on her shapely ass. From behind, Hanna looked almost completely naked.

The sheer lacy black material hung loosely from her body and as she moved, her breasts came close to popping out and being fully exposed as they swayed back and forth. The skimpy dress didn't hide much else either. From the sides and the back, you could clearly see the rest of Hanna's body as the delicate fabric swung to and fro. The dress had come with a matching G-string that barely covered her narrow patch of pubic hair. So, for all intents and purposes, Hanna was all but naked.

Grudgingly, she had to admit, the dress was stunningly sexy, and she was stunningly sexy in it.

"OK, lamb to the slaughter," sighed Hanna as she moved from the bathroom into the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" asked Todd as he fidgeted with the handkerchief in the pocket of his beige evening jacket.

"Nothing," sighed Hanna. "Are you ready to go?"

As Todd made his way down the surface streets to the 101 freeway from their home in the west valley, he told Hanna that the ride to Rod and Sam's estate would take about an hour. They would take the freeway east to Coldwater Canyon and then over the top of the Hollywood Hills to Beverly Hills where the Cienfuegos' estate overlooked the Franklin Canyon reservoir.

They preferred being called Rod and Sam rather than Rodrigo and Samantha, Todd reminded Hanna as they crawled along the 101 in the early evening traffic. They would be on a first name basis now, Todd proudly told Hanna.

"But make no mistake about it, Rodrigo Cienfuego is old money Cuban, through and through," said Todd emphatically. "We need to be deferential."

As they sat stalled in traffic, Todd decided to give Hanna the 'cliff notes' version of the Cienfuegos family history, hoping it would give her some insight into the couple they were about to have dinner with, especially his boss Rod.

Rod's ancestor had shown up in Cuba on one of Cortez's ships. And his ancestor had watched that ship burn in Veracruz harbor, after setting it and all the other ships afire on Cortez's personal order. He survived to tell about it...and get rich from it.

Fortunately for Rod, his family had long ago invested their fortune abroad, in the U.S. and Mexico, principally, continued Todd in his narration. So, when they saw the Castro revolution on the horizon, they were in better shape than some of the other old families. They moved their cigar and rum making equipment to Mexico and Nicaragua and set up shop there. Hanna quietly listened to Todd drone on and pretended to listen.

Rod's branch of the family had moved to the U.S. after the Spanish American War and invested widely in real estate. And that is how Rod ended up in Beverly Hills as a high-end property developer, with holdings all over the U.S. and the world. If all went as planned, Todd would be managing the portion of Rod's portfolio that included California, Nevada and Arizona, a lucrative and growing market.

"There is virtually no limit to how much money we can make," continued Todd enthusiastically. "If this promotion goes through, we'll be set for life."

Hanna sort of half listened to her husband as he droned on about the Cienfuegos family, their wealth, and their company for another twenty minutes as they slowly made their way across the valley. Hanna was brooding about her own concerns, her own future, as Todd continued to talk. What she and her husband shared in common was the one man who was the key to both their futures, Rodrigo Cienfuegos. Suddenly, Hanna recognized that Todd was talking directly to her and she listened more carefully.

"That's why it is important to make a good impression tonight," said Todd as he looked over at Hanna, who was looking out the window. "At least it's important to me."

"It's important to me too, baby," said Hanna as she turned to look at her husband, smiling as she patted his arm. "I'm so proud of you. You've worked so hard for this opportunity. I promise, I'll do my part. Witness the fact that I'm riding through the San Fernando valley virtually naked."

"Are the men gawking at my beautiful wife?" teased Todd.

"Only every car that is driven by a man," deadpanned Hanna. "Especially if they are in a truck or van...then they get to look down at the whole package. That's why I'm looking out the window. I'm trying to stare them off."

"Is it doing any good?" asked Todd.

"No," replied Hanna.

"Then you may as well ignore them," replied Todd. "Let them eat their hearts out."

"I hope they all go home with a case of blue balls," protested Hanna. "Bastards!"

"Babe! You can hardly blame them," said Todd. "You are drop dead gorgeous. Most of those men will never see anyone as beautiful as you are tonight ever again in their lives."

"Thank you!" said Hanna as she turned to smile at her husband. "I actually think you mean that."

"I do," said Todd. "And you can believe it, because it is true."

"How much longer, baby?" asked Hanna.

"We're coming up on Coldwater Canyon now," said Todd. "Maybe another half hour."

"OK if I rest for a while?" asked Hanna as she tilted her seat back and looked out the window.

"That's fine, baby," replied Todd. "It's going to be a long night for both of us."

Just how long a night, Hanna wondered. And what kind of night, Hanna asked herself as she stared out the window at nothing in particular. Hanna couldn't shake her original impression of Rodrigo Cienfuegos. Rod frightened her. He was a big, powerful, aggressive man. It was easy imagining him in the armor of a conquistador, sword in hand, laying waste to those in his path and laying claim to anything or anyone he wanted.

It was only a few months ago that his eyes had devoured her at the company's Christmas party, leaving her self-consciously staring at the floor as he mentally undressed her. He had made no effort to conceal what he was doing. His eyes burned into her, forcing her to submit to him as she cast her eyes down submissively. And she sensed that this conquistador wasn't done making conquests yet and that she was on his list of targets. How could she say no to him, if it might cost her husband the promotion he had been working for so long and so hard?

Hanna continued to quietly stare out the window as she thought about the last few weeks. Rod and Sam had joined them at their table after dinner at the Christmas party and they talked for a couple of hours. While the men talked business and got to know each other, Rod hardly ever let his gaze waver from Hanna. It was obvious to everyone except Todd, it seemed. He was too busy trying to impress the boss.

Rod's wife Samantha certainly noticed. At one point she leaned over and quietly whispered to Hanna, "My husband seems to be really taken with you."

When Hanna turned to look directly at Samantha, Rod's wife smiled knowingly back and looked Hanna directly in the eye before whispering again. "And Rodrigo takes what he wants."

That episode at the Christmas party had been haunting Hanna ever since it happened. Within a matter of a couple of weeks, Todd unexpectedly found himself on the short list of finalists for the regional sales executive position that had opened up and he sailed right through the process becoming one of the two remaining finalists before finally beating out the guy who had been considered the lock down favorite for the next promotion just a few months previously.

When Todd phoned Hanna excitedly from work a week ago, letting her know that for all intents and purposes the coveted position was his, she felt an emptiness in the pit of her stomach. When he told her that the promotion was contingent on the two of them passing muster at a private dinner at the Cienfuegos' estate in Beverly Hills, Hanna felt a sense of dread and foreboding, even as she profusely congratulated her husband.

Hanna had a nagging suspicion that the promotion would come with a price and she would be the currency tendered. A few days later, when a glossy red box wrapped with a fancy gold ribbon showed up at her door via courier bearing the script letters TVEH stamped on the box in gold leaf it only served to confirm Hanna's worst suspicions.

When Hanna opened the box, she took out the gift card from a boutique in Beverly Hills,'Tienda de Vestidos Escaso de la Habana' and there was a personal note written on the back. As she read the note, her hands began to shake.

"Hanna, Rodrigo and I are looking forward to entertaining you and Todd a few evenings from now. Please accept these gifts in honor of your husband's pending promotion and wear them to our private dinner. Rodrigo is very particular about how the special women in his life adorn their bodies and you are no exception. Rodrigo looks forward to seeing much more of you very soon. --- Sam"

Hanna continued to look out the window as the car climbed through Coldwater Canyon and she remembered how she had sat completely still, almost paralyzed, as she took the contents of the shiny red box out, one at a time. On top was the expensive gold necklace, studded with small rubies, that she was supposed to wear, and then the all too revealing dress that made her hands shake as she held it up in front of her. Finally, there was the G-string that left no doubt in her mind that Rod wanted to get a good look at what he was buying, before he closed the deal.

They continued to ride in silence as the car began its descent toward the reservoir above Beverly Hills where Rod and Sam's mansion was located. Hanna was still trying to come to grips with the reality of her situation. By accepting Rod's gift, and by wearing the provocative dress to dinner, Hanna knew she was tacitly agreeing to whatever followed that evening. She was, in effect, gift wrapping herself for Rod.

There was no other way to interpret it, Hanna frankly admitted to herself as she fidgeted in her car seat. Even if there had been any doubt, it disappeared two days later when Samantha phoned her directly at home. Ostensibly, the call was to confirm their dinner plans and to verify the dress was the correct size.

But before the conversation was over, Samantha had invited, ordered really, Hanna to go to her salon in Beverly Hills in preparation for the dinner. When Hanna inquired further, Samantha was dismissive and told her that Rod had made all the arrangements. Hanna could tell from Samantha's tone there would be no further discussion of the matter.

Hanna's heart raced now as she realized there was no longer any turning back and she anguished over her decision to submit to Rod's will at each step of the way. Sam had forthrightly told her when they originally met that Rod "took what he wanted" and later Samantha's note pointedly proclaimed that she was one of Rodrigo's "special women" and that she would be "no exception" to the others whose bodies he had "adorned" in what Hanna imagined were Rod's previous conquests of the flesh. And that he would be "seeing much more of her very soon."

Hanna had no doubt that Rod planned on "seeing" all of her and, more worrisome, using all of her, however he wanted. The thought of this rich and powerful man controlling her, bending her to his will, frightened Hanna. But what frightened Hanna even more was how much the idea excited her and how thinking about it had come to preoccupy her every waking moment, and then fill her dreams at night.

Hanna knew that she was at what should be her "fight or flight" moment as her anxiety exploded inside her. But she also knew that neither was really an option unless she wanted to ruin her husband's career. Taking a deep breath as she stared out the car window, all Hanna could do was hope that she had let her imagination run wild and was reading too much into things and would look back tomorrow and feel silly. But in her heart, she knew that wasn't true. If not tonight, then very soon, she would be sharing Rodrigo Cienfuegos' bed and he would use her as he wished.

Suddenly a calm overcame Hanna as she took another deep breath. As she thought back over the last several days, she realized that her moment of truth had already come and gone at the salon three days earlier. She had let the stylist cut her hair shorted and style it "just like Senor Rod likes it." Hanna had sat for the manicure and pedicure and only halfheartedly protested when the stylist informed her that "Senor Rod likes his ladies shaved clean down below."

As she sat in the chair with her legs spread wide, letting the stylist shave her pubic hair and wax the remaining hair away, Hanna felt humiliated, defeated. At that point, Hanna had actually resigned herself to her fate. She didn't even bother to protest when it was two male technicians who applied the spray tan to her naked body, nor object later when it was time to have her nipples pierced and the gold bars secured over the intricate ruby studded gold circles that now masked her areolas as her rigid nipples peaked through the centers.

When she got home from the salon that afternoon, she had worried about how Todd would react to her "new look." And even now, she still could not figure out whether she was relieved or perturbed about how easily he acquiesced to the transformation.

"You look really sexy babe!" was all Todd had to say, then he complemented Sam on her "impeccable taste." Hanna had been too embarrassed to tell her husband that it was Rod's idea, not Sam's, to makeover her entire body to his liking. Now, as she rode in the car next to her husband, she was coming to resent the fact that he was oblivious to the way another man, his boss, was transforming her into his personal sex toy.

"I think it is the next street," said Todd, breaking the silence and jolting Hanna back to the present as he slowed the car and made a turn on the street ahead.

"Jesus!" exclaimed Todd when he saw there was only one house on the street with ivy covered eight-foot walls lining either side of the long street. The street was at least a hundred yards long and at the end was the wrought iron gate to the estate with its name emblazoned high above it in gold painted iron lettering: "La Guarida del Maestro."

"Good God!" said Hanna in astonishment. "The Conquistadors must really have made bank."

"Yeah, them and every subsequent generation," added Todd. "I've never seen anything like this, at least not in the U.S. This looks like something from Europe, or maybe South America."

"Or Cuba, before the revolution, maybe," offered Hanna.

"Yeah, right," agreed Todd as he pulled up to the gate and rolled down the window to press the button on the intercom. But before he could do so, the gate began to open, and he heard Rod's gravelly voice coming from the intercom.

"Come on up and park right in front and we'll meet you," said Rod. "One of the servants will park your car."

"Right," replied Todd as he slowly drove the car up the long brick driveway.

"Can you believe this?" gasped Hanna as the palatial mansion came into full view.

"This just reeks of old money," said Todd admiringly.

"Old money and power," replied Hanna softly, almost to herself. The kind of money that gets what it wants, Hanna thought, grimacing to herself.

There was a circle at the end of the driveway in front of the massive Spanish Estancia style home with a three-tiered fountain in the center. Todd swung around and pulled right up to the walkway in front of the imposing house. The path to the house was built of red tiles and extended from the driveway to the two huge roughhewn doors at the front of the house.

As Todd stepped out of the car, he tried to take it all in. The front of the house was a single story and must have been at least 150 feet across and visible behind it was the back of the house, which was two stories. The building was of adobe style construction with brown storm shutters on the rows of paned windows on either side of the entrance and on the second floor that was visible from where Todd stood. The roof was red Spanish tile.