Starting an Affair?

Luke checked his phone and gently let the anticipation build. If his command for Melanie had worked as well as he knew it should, she would arrive at his place at 7 pm in on the dot. It was currently 6:55.

He had been watching the reports about the curse on TV, as well as reading about some of the horror stories that were coming out around it online. He felt a great sense of relief at having claimed Mel as quickly as he did. Apart from the obvious perks of becoming her master, Luke had a genuine liking for his colleague and wouldn't want her to come to any harm. He could guarantee nothing bad was going to happen to Mel on his watch. In fact, he could make it so she was safer and healthier than ever.

Her name was on the dreaded list that was circulating online, so if he hadn't acted fast someone else would have claimed Melanie by now for sure, and who knows what might have happened to her then? Even telling her partner might not have been an entirely safe option, as many other Petersen cursed women were now discovering, if the reports were to be believed.

So Luke felt only excitement and no guilt when, sure enough, at the requested time the doorbell rang. He walked over casually and opened it to find Melanie on his doorstep.

"Holy shit Mel, you look incredible" Luke gushed as she stepped into his place.

"You really don't need to compliment me" his guest told him a little sulkily "You can just command me to do whatever you want, remember?"

"I mean it, though. I never realised you were quite this beautiful"

And he really did mean it. Luke was used to seeing Melanie in the office where she invariably dressed casually. It was actually quite rare for her to do herself up like this, but when she did she was a knockout.

"So what happens now?"Mel asked, showing her nerves a little for the first time.

"I think we need to start by setting some ground rules. There are only two of them. but they are really important to me"

"Oh God" Melanie fretted, wondering just what kind of weird fetishes were about to be unveiled.

"So for the first - Melanie, at no point do you have to do anything physically intimate with me unless you want to. And the other one I am not even going to give you as a command, I am just asking nicely - I want you to keep an open mind to this experience"

"Really? Am I supposed to be impressed by that?" she asked as she sat herself down in an armchair rather than on the couch where Luke could have sidled up next to her "You tricked me into coming to your place after work so you could claim me, **** me to come here like this when I have a fiance and you are married, but because you aren't going to **** me, I'm supposed to think you are a nice guy and fuck you anyway out of gratitude"

"You're angry, I get that" Luke answered calmly, as if that had been exactly the kind of response he was anticipating "But we're going to be spending a lot of time in each others company privately now, whether you like it or not, and we work together as well, so it's probably best if we go back to being friendly with each other. Now, can I get you a glass of wine"

"I suppose so"

Melanie shuffled uncomfortably in her seat as her host temporarily left the room. She was trying to control all the many conflicting emotions she was currently experiencing at once - guilt, anger, curiosity, excitement, fear, outrage - they were all there, leaving her quite uncertain as to how she actually felt about all of this. If she had been at home with Mike her overriding sensations would probably have been safety and boredom. At least this felt like she was living.

"Can I ask you a question, Mel" Luke spoke as he reentered the room with two generous sized servings of red wine, one of which he handed to her.

"I guess"

"Why did you dress like that?"

"Like what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, you are absolutely breathtaking tonight. If you wanted to put me off I would have thought you would have dressed down, not up. And I didn't command you what to wear"

"Don't flatter yourself" Melanie hissed "You commanded me to have an affair with you. I assumed that if I was doing that with anyone I would aim to look my best, so I felt compelled to follow that imperative"

Luke wasn't sure if that was how things worked or if Melanie was lying to him. He decided to change the subject in the hope that her current hostile attitude towards him might thaw a little.

"Do you have any questions for me, Mel?"

She tapped her foot nervously as she debated whether to play into that potential trap or not. In the end she decided it couldn't make things much worse, and she did want a better idea of what the plan for her was.

"So what am I supposed to be to you? A bit of fun while your wife is away on business?"

"More likely a route out of my marriage. I'm not happy Mel, I don't think you are either"

"I'm fine in my relationship" Melanie answered, quickly but not convincingly "So what, you want us to get caught? So I can take the blame, no doubt"

"No, I didn't mean it like that..." Luke sighed "Look, maybe the way I went about things was a bit shitty. But I wouldn't have made this move on anyone else, curse or no curse. I really do like you. A lot"

Melanie swirled the wine in her glass and stared ahead of her, poker faced. She took another temperature check for her current emotions - angry, intrigued, cautious, excited, flattered, aroused. The night was still young, and she had no idea where it was headed. This might actually have been easier for her to navigate emotionally if she had been under control and had matters taken out of her own hands. She really hoped that if she did something immoral, it wouldn't be of her own volition.