Parking around the Power Exchange club was tighter than usual even though this was a Saturday night party.  The club had been running full tilt for at least an hour and Victoria was late.  
 

Members kept their eyes on the big blue neon sign "MEMBERS ONLY".  It was time for the scheduled release of the gates and Victoria was always the one to open the playroom.  Techno music filled the air and lights reflected off the chrome studs and shining vinyl of Seattle’s spank-me crowd.  Near the front of the bar middle-aged players furtively checked their diamond watches under leather bands.  They stressed and ordered another anesthetic and soda and waited. The serious lifestyle crowd gravitated toward the back rooms in nervous anticipation.  Boys with girls, girls with girls, boys with boys and those in between, circulated.
 

Victoria shook off the feeling of being pissed at finding her parking spot taken and strolled in like the goddess of the world.  The word spread quickly.  She strode to the microphone and spoke the magic words, “Open the dungeons.”  Silently she thanked God that she didn’t have any clients tonight.  The neon lights flickered and flashed almost lewdly and the electric locks initiated with her pushing the open button by the mic.  She gave her best Dominatrix smile and the pulse of every member jumped.  The crowd was in a wanting frame of mind.  “Buzz click” went the detector as the back rooms filled.

Robert White furtively searched Victoria’s face, “Everything ok boss?”  Victoria frowned.  She didn’t look the least bit okay and his protective instincts went into over drive.  He was a big guy.  Not just tall, his body was as massive as his face was handsome.  Over the months he had fended off the attentions of hundreds of women and a few men in the club.  Everyone knew Robert was here to protect and not play.  Those who paid attention could easily guess his reticence was more than dedication to work.  Robert was fully and completely smitten with the most ineligible woman in the building.  He knew that Victoria didn’t mix work and pleasure and Robert dutifully obeyed that edict.  But the rules didn’t preclude him from keeping an extra watchful eye on his object of desire.  Love did that to a man, and Robert was drowning in love.  Like a devoted pet, he followed Victoria with his eyes.  He was the club’s two legged Mastiff guard dog; two hundred and twenty five pounds of fierce devotion tempered by suffering unrequited puppy love.
 

Victoria’s stiff walk belied her endurance of the attention of her guests as she worked her way back to her office.   Robert drifted after her, a one-man secret service team.  He was elated to be near her.  He didn’t seem to have been trapped by love at first sight, it was more, a feeling of completeness; an energy in her space that drew him in a moth to flame sort of way.  Disappointed female staff had watched him take months to learn how to deal with the burnt wing tips he suffered every moment he was in her presence.   She finally made it back to her office and tossed a bag on the desk.

Victoria would have been hugely disappointed if Robert hadn’t stuck his head in the door as she sat down.  Victoria easily read the concern on his face and was touched.  
 

Robert usually started his concern with the same question, “What’s up boss?”
 

She smiled as much as she could manage after her encounter with her ex-husband, “I could use some help.”
 

Robert moved his massive frame to her and hovered, “At your service.”  It drove her crazy when people said that in the office, but somehow she liked it from Robert.  So, she didn’t ever mention it for fear she would make him stop saying it.
 

She put on a theatrical grimace, “Aren’t all the men here that way?  Keep saying that and I’ll have to start charging you.”
 

She sensed his presence, as it loomed over her shoulder.  She felt Robert immerse himself in her perfume.  It never occurred to Victoria that she tended to pick this perfume on nights she knew he would be close. Her fragrance choice was definitely unconsciously biased by her broad shouldered bartender.
 

She settled back in her leather chair and granted him subtle access to be near.  Seconds passed and both noted the lingering nature of the moment.
 

Robert was the first to react.  He leaned back and said, “Charge me?  Hmmm, I think I need a raise then.”  Victoria arched an eyebrow and couldn’t help but blush before his voice caught nervously, “So, what do you need help with, Boss?
 

Victoria gathered her senses, “Did you know you are the only one who calls me that?”
 

Robert blushed, “Nope, didn’t notice at all.”  Victoria realized he was the only one that she allowed to call her that.  She wondered if he knew.
 

Victoria could feel herself whirl-pooling back into the moment, “Don’t stop, I like it.”
Robert’s grin was goofy and he seemed dangerously close to kissing her, but he couldn’t do it, “Yes Mistress.”  He ducked an imaginary punch and his voice mimicked hers, “Don’t call me that.” And back to his voice, “As you wish Madame.”  And back to her voice, “Arggh, don’t make me fire you.”
 

Victoria burst out laughing, a full-throated sound of real appreciation, before she caught her breath and said, “You are so out of here, someday.”
 

Robert sighed and put on an obvious pretense of worry, “Ok, boss, before you fire me, what do you need help with?”
 

Victoria allowed herself to be dragged back to as much reality as one could find in a domination and submission club, “I’m working on a business plan for launching online services for the club.”  

Robert couldn’t hide his surprise, “What the hell happened to change your mind on that?  I thought you ruled that out for safety reasons.”
 

Real anger flared in her eyes, “John ruled it back in this morning.”
 

Robert painted his doubt on his sleeve along with all his other emotions, “John, huh.  This isn’t going to be good is it?”  He watched her resolve solidify.
 

Victoria announced her intention, “Muscle up Bouncer Boy, this might get rough.”
 

She knew Robert wouldn’t cave, he wasn’t the caving type, he accepted his role in the up coming battle, he just informed her of his limits, “I didn’t take business classes; just computer stuff.  If your portable needs updated, I can help.”
Victoria savored the devotion for a moment, “Actually, I need your computer skills.  I want to make an Internet presence for the club and I want it huge and bullet proof, security wise.”
 

Robert leapt in without reservation, “We need information to do this right.”
 

Victoria tossed a pile of books on the desk.  One book was a copy of the same internet sex book that Eddie had picked from Barnes and Nobel.  Robert reached for the book until he saw the title.
Victoria saw him hesitate, “It’ll be fun.”
 

Robert gamely picked up the sex book and tried to look casual but instead broke into a full face and chest blush.
 

Victoria took the book and handed him a “business on the internet” book, “You are just too cute for words.”