Marcus smiled at Carla and Mark sitting on his sofa. It was pretty easy to guess they were newly married, they seemed unable to take their eyes off each other or to resist touching for more than a few seconds. They were just what he was looking for he thought.
"Its really very simple," he said. "You need somewhere to live. I have a spare house and I would love to help you get a good start in your married lives. You seem a pretty special couple."
"That's very nice of you, but let me get this straight," said Mark. "You will rent the house to us for 500 a month, if Carla comes and helps you out with some cooking, cleaning and general housework each Thursday?"
"Yes," said Marcus, "we have talked about it, haven't we Carla? You are happy to with that idea, right?"
"If it gets us a house on this wonderful estate, sure I am" she said.
Marcus held out his hand and Mark hesitated, then shrugged, and shook it.
"Thank you. You have found an expensive way to hire help, but for us it's a great deal," he said. It was a fantastic offer, but he still felt uneasy about it, although he could not say why.
"Well I feel I can trust Carla and that is the most important thing. Congratulations you two, you have a house. Now how about some champagne, new neighbours?" Said Mark, and after disappearing into the kitchen, he returned with three glasses. They all drank to the newly weds and happiness in their new home. The conversation pretty soon ran dry; small talk wasn't Marcus's strongpoint, but they partied happy with the arrangement they had made.
Mark and Carla were laughing and being rude about their landlord long before they returned to Carla's mother's house where they were living. He is such a geek they said and so awkward with people, still we have a bargain for a house and he seems harmless. Carla's three-day job at the school meant she was free on a Thursday anyway. So it was no problem to be paying some of the rent through working. The best thing was a nice place of their own and an escape from staying with Carla's mother. The house and the area was better than they could ever of imagined affording.
It was half an hour later when Carla was in the bathroom that she began to feel a growing sense of liking Marcus. When the clock reached eleven, and it was bedtime, she realised Marcus was all she had been thinking about that evening. It was that same night that the newly weds had their first row. Mark found to his shock his amorous advances were rejected. Carla telling him she had a headache, which he didn't believe, and so he became angry. She became angry with him and it all got very fraught. They had been married three weeks and had made love every night. He turned his back on her, cross at the rejection and eventually fell asleep. Carla shut her eyes, praying Mark would leave her alone, and accept her refusal for sex. Carla wanted to be left alone to explore her growing fantasy about being with Marcus. She wished she was in bed with Marcus not Mark, and telling herself that was ridiculous only seemed to make it worse.
Meanwhile Marcus was worrying about how it was going with Carla. He was also thinking it had been a very smart plan to invest the fortune he had made from his scientific work in property. He now lived at the centre of the estate his money had built. He wondered if in his subconscious he had thought of his gated community as being central to his future plans, but not even he could take credit for being that bright. It had not been his idea. The investment company he used had dreamt the whole thing up for him. The fact they had accidentally built him his own "people" laboratory to work in had occurred to him only recently.
Apart from his large house at the centre, the twelve other houses were equally split into two, three and four bedroom ones, they now earned him enough that work wise he could do what ever he wanted. He picked and choose the research projects he wanted to work on. Increasingly he worked on his own ideas and most of the time even those made him a lot of money. A two-bed house had been vacant a little while and so had become another piece in the jigsaw, as he planned this new project. It was without doubt the biggest and most dangerous project of his life.
It took a couple of weeks for Carla and Mark to move in and he waited anxiously for that first Thursday when she would come to work. She turned up on time, wearing jeans and a tee shirt. He couldn't blame her for that; he had suggested she would be cleaning. When asked, Carla claimed she was fine, but she appeared anxious and nervous. She sat on the sofa and looked at him, her hands were shaking as she waited for Marcus to tell her what to do.
"Carla," he said sitting down beside her, "I have some instructions for you." He was pressing a button on the face of a watch-like device he wore on his arm.
"When you come here for work you will always wear a dress or skirt, no trousers. It must be knee length or shorter. I also want you to wear nice underwear, heels and to have bare legs. No tights or stockings. Do you understand?"
She nodded and flushed red as she replied.
"I'm sorry I didn't know those were your rules, I can nip back home and change for you. If you would like me to?" She asked. "I'd like to dress the way you want me to."
He had not considered sending her back, but found himself turned on by getting her to dress up for him before he seduced her, so he told her to go home and change.
However, when she returned, looking perfect in a plain blue sleeveless dress and cream heels she was even more nervous. She had stood with her back to him, ever since he had let her back in. Marcus watched her fidgeting with her hands as she clenched them behind her back. He looked her up and down admiring her bare legs and perfect ass. A voice in his head said focus, concentrate; do not get ahead of yourself.
"What is the matter Carla?" He said, trying to use as gentle a voice as possible. There was a need to manage her carefully so he was trying hard to keep a lid on his eagerness to succeed.
"I don't really know why I'm here. It was inappropriate of you to ask me to change. Why did I allow you to talk to me like that?" she said very deliberately, as if realising for the first time how confused she was. Marcus wished she would turn round, but she remained where she was, staring out of the window. Hopefully Carla would carry on if he just listened, so he stayed quiet and waited.
"I co-operated... I co-operated because... Oh god," she wailed. "This sounds so stupid. I knew I should not of come."
"You co-operated because?" He asked quizzically, wanting her to continue.
"The truth is... The truth is I did what you wanted because I think about you all the time," she said, "God this is embarrassing and so wrong. I can't believe I am saying this." He could see her body gently shaking as she sobbed into her hands. "We have only just met," she sobbed, "and you are all I think about."
He spoke before really thinking; "From now on Carla you will always do what I want you too and you will find it confusing sometimes, but remember you must do what I say. Remember you want me more than you have wanted anyone in your whole life." He again pressed the button on his wrist. "Well I want you too. I want you to be my mistress and you want that too don't you Carla?"
"Yes... No!...I am married, newly married." she wailed, "I love Mark not you. I shouldn't be thinking of another man."
Slow down, he told himself, you know you won't get this right on her first visit. The program will need tweaking. Touch was important too in creating control, so he decided to see if she would allow him to move nearer her. Maybe even touch her. He moved cautiously, knowing she would probably see his reflection in the window, it was important not to spook her. First Marcus placed his left hand on her left shoulder and when there was no reaction he put his right hand on her other shoulder. He lowered his hands to touch the top of her bare arms, her skin felt so good against the flat of his hand. His palms slowly make circles as he enjoyed the sensation of touching her.
Very gently he turned her round so she faced him.
One of the things that attracted him to Carla was her oversized blue eyes and she looked at him now, more wide-eyed than ever. She stared at him unblinking, her look saying to him, "I don't know what to do."
He slowly led her to a seat. Carla allowed herself to be led to the sofa. She was neither willingly or resisting his direction. Marcus sat down and pulled her down beside him.
"You are so beautiful," he said.
"Thank you Marcus, she replied quietly. "It means a lot you saying that. I need to know you like me."
He began to stroke her hair with his hand, when she did not react; he ran his index finger down her cheek. Her cheek pushed against his hand and she smiled.
"Is that nice?" he asked and she nodded in response. "You are so soft and so lovely. Would you like a kiss?" When she nodded again, he slid his finger under her chin, and lifting it slightly, kissed her gently on the lips. Her lips hesitated and then responded, kissing him enthusiastically back.
"Lets go upstairs and make love," Marcus said, immediately realising he had over stepped the mark, as this only seemed to snap her out of the daze she was in.
"No!" She said in shock. "You are joking right?" Shaking her head and putting her hands up to try and push him away. "Please, please don't touch me again."
"Its ok, darling," he said, his heart sinking as he tried to find a way to calm her down. "Talk to me." He pleaded. "Tell me some more about how you feel." She moved her head away from him, as he tried to stroke her face. He realised the moment was gone and knew he had messed it up. Marcus was left unable to think of anything to do other than try to control his frustration.
"Don't do that and don't call me darling, Marcus," she snapped. "I shouldn't be here, let alone dressing up for you or kissing you, or telling you about my feelings." She paused, took a deep breath and then seemed to decide what to do. "I am so sorry! Its all my fault," she cried and ducking out of his reach she fled his apartment.
