2 A Punishment

"A promotion?" I spluttered after inhaling sharply and nearly choking on my own saliva.

She laughed at me as I tried to stop myself from coughing, my face turning the same colour as a cherry tomato.

"Yes, a promotion." She said after I managed to stifle my urge to cough and calmed down enough to properly speak. "You'll be my personal assistant."

"And what would that entail?" I asked cautiously.

"Awww do you think that your 'beautiful and warm' boss would try and trap you with a promotion?" She pouted cutely, slumping her shoulders forward gracefully and looking slightly up at me through her dark lashes.

"Forgive me." I bowed my head respectfully in apology.

"It's fine." Her pout vanished like the morning dew and her attitude flipped once more, turning into a dynamite boss who knew she was hot. "Shall I tell you what being my assistant would mean for you?"

"Please." I nodded.

"So, you'd assist me in paperwork, primarily." She bent over to pull a file from her desk, granting me a view of her glorious cleavage.

I was briefly enthralled by her large chest, but hurriedly looked away for fear of retaliation.

She sat forward in her chair, pushing her chest forward and leaning towards me, smiling seductively.

"You can have a little look~" She said in a quiet sing-song voice.

I gulped and looked into her eyes instead.

"Aw, you're no fun." She pouted again, sliding the paper across her desk so I could read it.

The promotion would make it so I no longer worked on the floor, instead working odd jobs and paperwork for the owner.

The pay was an entire ten percent more than my previous salary, which was enticing on its own. I still read the contract, cautious of any sort of clause that might be used to enslave me.

"Aw, you think that little of me?" She giggled.

'Wait. How can she respond to me if I haven't spoken?' The thought struck me and I rapidly reached a conclusion. 'She's a telepathist.'

"Spot on, Neo." She laughed easily, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her desk and hold her chin with both hands. "And it only took you sixty seconds and a million hints."

I had no response to that.

"Back to your promotion." She laughed at me, leaning back in her chair. "Basically all there is to it is a pay raise and a change in duties. No training is needed except that which you'll do on the clock and your lunch break will be spent with me."

I went ahead and signed the contract, passing it back to her, who then placed it in a folder.

She got up and turned around to place it in another drawer, giving me the fantastic sight of her shapely behind.

I looked away when she began standing, however her telepathy wouldn't let me off scot-free.

"Now, if you were my boyfriend, I wouldn't mind your thoughts." She walked over to me, her high heels clicking authoritatively on the hardwood floor. "However, you haven't the courage to confess to me as of yet. So, I'll give you a punishment for staring."

She traced a finger around my throat, traced my collarbone, and along my shoulders, giving me chills wherever she touched.

'I really should confess.' I thought as I enjoyed her touch, entirely unsuspecting of what was to come.

Abruptly, the gentle touch turned into an aggressive choke hold which caught me entirely off-guard.

I gasped for air, however I couldn't draw breath, and the world around me faded.

....

I woke up in the night with my boss cuddled up against my chest and my arms around her shoulders.

I nearly gasped in surprise, but I forcibly stopped myself for fear of awakening her.

Instead, I tried to figure out where I was.

Above me was a black veil that covered the top of the four-poster bed we lay upon. Above the veil was a black ceiling with white-bordered red lines striking through it like beautiful crests of waves.

The bed itself was covered in maroon sheets and when I spared the mindspace to think about it, incredibly comfortable.

In the direction of the foot of the bed was a pure white door outlined by red and set into a pitch black wall.

The door was detailed with beautiful etchings of the sea that could only be discerned by the slight shadows cast by the glowing white magic stones hovering in the air at regular intervals throughout the room.

As for my boss, she was wearing a nightgown that was little more than a black piece of cloth that covered her front. It had very little fabric in the back and was nearly transparent, leaving none of her perfect figure to the imagination.

Before I tore my gaze away, I seriously considered placing a hand upon her exposed and plump rear, but instantly disregarded the notion, deciding I must be going insane for me even entertain the idea.

I instead turned my head to the only window. Pale white moonlight streamed through the semitransparent curtains, giving the window an ethereal glow.

Through the window I saw what a bright and bustling city would look like from the countryside.

It was difficult to see detail through the curtains, but I knew for certain that was not the city of Yytria that I lived in.

Yytria didn't have skyscrapers as large as what I saw through the curtains. It was a mid-sized city, and the skyscrapers were merely a few tens of floors tall. Despite the size of the skyscrapers, however, it was a city of a considerable population, surpassing a few larger cities in population alone.

The skyscrapers I saw in the window were at least a thousand floors in height, and there were even several masses of land that appeared to be floating.

'Is that...Barbour?' I wondered to myself. I wasn't familiar with many large cities, and I had never visited this country's capital, Barbour.

Still, I thought it was a fair guess, considering that very few cities were built where mana was dense enough to suspend islands in midair.

Beside me, my boss suddenly stirred, shifting her weight onto me and moving as if to stretch.

I instinctively placed my hand on her head and stroked her hair.

To my abject shock, she released a sound I could only describe as a purr and cuddled up to me the same way a house cat would.

I continued stroking her hair, marveling at its soft and silky texture.

'Now that I think of it, I don't even know her name...' I thought to myself, slightly ashamed. 'I think I should ask her when she wakes up.'

I resolved myself to ask a question that might offend her. It had to be done.

I then lay there, perfectly still, and acutely aware I was not alone in my thoughts for the rest of the night.