All characters are fictional and over 18 years old.
Margot stretched her stiff neck and looked at the clock on her desktop. It was 2 p.m. and the caffeine from her morning coffee had left her system an hour ago. She put her elbows on her desk and shut her eyes for a second, holding her head in her hands. Her mind floated away from the grant she was editing to other, warmer things.
Double espresso latte. Sweatshirt fresh from the dryer. Soft lips on her collarbone and firm hands on her...
"Hey Margot, you ok?" Linda, her boss, materialized at her desk. Margot snapped out of her daydream and shot up, rubbing her eyes.
"Yes, of course. Sorry, I was trying to remember something..." Margot shuffled around some papers on her desk with pink cheeks. Linda watched her struggle for a moment before sliding a folder next to her keyboard.
"I know you're still working on the Maynard Foundation grant, but I'm going to need a proofread on this before tomorrow morning," Linda said.
"What is it?" Margot asked and opened the folder. There was a typed and printed document at least 50 pages long with various pages of notes and citations.
"It's an application for additional funding to our computer vision team. Can you mark it up for style and grammar?" Linda asked in a tone that implied Margot didn't have a choice.
"Yeah... yeah. Tomorrow morning?" Margot asked, flipping through pages.
"9 a.m. Thanks for this," Linda smiled and returned to her office. Margot felt her dull headache return. She wasn't going to leave anytime soon, especially not with the Maynard grant. She sighed, put her headphones on, and got back to work. Margot's fingers flew across her keyboard for a couple hours, but eventually slowed as wonderful, distracting thoughts leaked back in.
Oven-fresh sourdough. Peach iced tea on a hot day. Empty roads on a commute. Red wine and laughter. Fingertips tracing hips and thighs. The scent of sweat and arousal and candle smoke. Fire-illuminated curves. Wrists bound with soft rope. Anticipation...
"Fuck," Margot whispered to herself. She leaned back in her chair and blinked a few times to snap herself back to her writing. The office was starting to empty, but Margot still had work to do. She looked down at the funding grant her boss gave her, but the words were spiraling into each other. Margot reached to her wrist and snapped her hair tie against her wrist to startle her back into focus.
"Good girl. That wasn't too bad, was it?"
Margot looked around her cubicle. She was alone, but a voice from her past echoed across her imagination. Why could she not clear her mind? Margot squeezed her legs together and grit her teeth. Her brain was scrambled with stress and exhaustion. Margot knew she needed a day off and a full night's sleep, but neither were likely to come soon. Worse still, she couldn't stop the flashbacks.
Margot got up from her desk and went to the bathroom, where she saw Linda on her way out.
"Margot! Did you finish those edits?" Linda asked with a too-sweet smile.
"I'm getting there," Margot smiled weakly.
"Alright, well don't take too long!" Linda said and left the office. Margot looked back over her shoulder to see that the office was completely empty. Just Margot, her writing, and her quickly deteriorating focus. She walked into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Margot could see it in her eyes: she was about to explode. Stress, exhaustion, and for some reason, arousal, all shaken together in a dangerously strong cocktail.
"Look at you, all wound up. Stretched out so tight. I could loosen you up, you know."
Margot closed her eyes and gripped the bathroom counter. The memory pulsed in her core. She wasn't even trying to fight the distraction at this point. The flashbacks felt so tangible. Margot was floating, but not like a leaf in the wind or a duck in a pond. She was suspended in a dark place lit only by flame. She could not move or speak or see. Whispers of temptation echoed around her. It was heaven.
"I hope you'll come back sometime. I needed this too."
Margot opened her eyes, her breath heavy. She called a number on her phone and felt her stomach knot with anxiety as the phone rang. After what felt like an eternity, she heard the voice in her memory speak to her.
"Hey, Margot. Been a minute," Ellie said. It had been two years to be exact. Margot felt a chill run down her spine.
"Can I come over?" Margot spoke without thinking. Her heart pounded, filling her chest with anticipation.
"To do what, exactly?"
"What we used to do. Before everything," Margot said. She winced at her own bad answer.
"To do what?" Ellie repeated.
"What do you mean, what? Isn't it obvious?" Margot asked. She felt herself start to sweat and get flustered.
"We used to do a lot, Margot," Ellie spoke with a bit of an edge. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific for me."
"You're toying with me," Margot said. Even in her state of delirium, she knew when she was being played with.
"Maybe. But you called me and if you remember how we left things..."
"Alright, ok," Margot conceded. She gathered her courage and swallowed her anxiety.
"I want no control. None. Less than before, if possible," Margot spoke quickly as if to get her vulnerability over with.