Domina

When Loki Laufeyson was angry the entire office trembled. He was a source of fear all by himself and never more so than when some idiot had upset him. He was tall, imperious and imposing; a man to be hastily obeyed at the best of times and to hide from when something or someone had displeased him. 

Darcy Lewis, his unfortunate assistant, faced his current wrath bravely, sitting up straight and attentive behind her desk as he approached. 

“I have an important call to take,” he told her, “I am not to be interrupted under any circumstances. If the building goes on fire then you switch the fucking alarms off until I'm done. Understood?” 

“Yes, Mr Laufeyson,” she assured him obediently. 

He pointed towards his own office. “If anyone comes within six feet of that door, you're fired.” 

Darcy nodded, instinctively cowering under his angry glare like an animal showing submission to a larger and more dangerous animal. Her boss nodded, pleased by her failure to stand up for herself or her coworkers, and stalked back to his own territory, slamming the door shut behind him.

Once alone in the office, his shoulders slumped and he reached up to tug loose the knot of his tie. It had been a hell of a day. The worst for some time. But at least he had a phone call to look forward to, unscheduled but far from unwanted. 

He held his phone in his hand as he sat behind his desk. The seconds and the minutes ticked past, the progression promising relief of one kind or another. Natasha was never late, not with anything. Punctuality mattered to her, and so his thumb was in place to answer her call on the first ring.

She spoke first, as was her right; “Hey Loki, how's work?”

He exhaled slowly, feeling most of the day’s tension melt away all at once. “Horrible,” he told her, and she laughed. 

“Taking a call like this at work is very unprofessional,” she scolded. “You really are a bad boy, aren't you?” Her voice was so soft, so warm, so comforting to him.

He swallowed, heart beating faster at her words. “Yes, Mistress.” 

She made a pleased little humming sound at that; he knew his place, and her place, and when he was safely behind a locked door he was willing to affirm that aloud.

“You won't like this next part,” she warned, and his gut twisted at that. “I'm going to have to cancel our next appointment. I have a scheduling conflict.”

Loki never gave up without a fight; “Whatever your other client has offered, I'll double it,” he said quickly. 

Her laugh this time was soft, almost gentle. “It's not that kind of conflict, kitten, but it was sweet of you to offer.”

It had been desperation more than anything else, and he felt his cheeks redden with the shame of that. “I'm sorry, mistress, I shouldn't have assumed.”

“You're forgiven this time.” 

She was so good to him. He closed his eyes, picturing her in his mind, smiling and benevolent until she decided not to be.

She continued; “But I knew you'd be upset so I asked around and found a colleague who said she could fit you in on Friday, if you’d like?”

How could she think she was so easy to replace! Or was this a test of his loyalty and devotion to her? 

He said, “It's you that I want to see, Mistress. Only you. No one else could ever take your place.”

‘Cute, but I don't mind this time, since I'm the one who had to cancel. Do you want to see her or not? Though I can understand that you might be scared; she’s very strict…”

“How strict?’ he asked at once, making a mockery of his earlier claims of being faithful to Natasha alone. He felt like an idiot for being so careless, but she really didn't seem to mind, this time.

“You'll find out on Friday, won't you?” 

“I will,” he agreed, accepting the generous offer of a substitute. 

She gave him an address and a time to be there, and he made careful note of them, making sure to slip the piece of paper into his pocket right away so there was no chance of it being read by unwelcome eyes. 

“What’s her name?” he asked. 

“To me she’s Sylvie, but you'll address her as ‘Lady S’ if you want her to like you.”

“Of course.”

Natasha’s voice became harsher with her next words. “And Loki? I’ll be asking her for a report on your behaviour, so do not let her get offended or I’ll cancel our next appointment as well. Understood?”

God, he loved this woman so much. She would never let her standards slip and she would never allow him to disappoint her. “Yes, Mistress,” he answered, as obedient as ever. 

When she hung up he sat back in his chair, sighing. The change of plan wasn’t ideal, but Lady S would take care of him on Friday. It would all be okay, he’d be fine. He was still in good hands, even if those hands were new and as yet untried. 

Mistress Natasha would never let anyone hurt him who wasn’t going to be good at it.