The phone went off in the quiet apartment like an air raid siren. It froze Rob for a moment, like it always did now, froze him like a rabbit under an eagle's merciless glare. He broke cover on the second ring and snatched it up, heart pounding. It might not be Nicole after all, and if it were, she wouldn't like it if the phone rang more than twice.
"Hello?"
"Rob! I'm beginning to think you're avoiding me."
He cursed himself, knowing that she would hear the fear in his voice, but he couldn't keep it out.
"Nicole, of course I'm avoiding you. You're bad for me. We've talked about that. Leave me alone."
"Silly man. I need you tonight. Come on over. I'll see you in ten minutes. Bye."
He stood looking at the phone for a few seconds, then hung it up. That didn't give him a lot of time, and as bad as this sounded, making her wait would only make it worse.
She lived in the woods, in an old house west of town. His heart sank further when he pulled up and saw an old Nissan he didn't recognize. She had visitors. That could be bad.
She threw the door open as he stepped hesitantly up on the porch. His penis stirred, shifted involuntarily in his pants as he looked at her. Nicole was older than he; thirty, maybe. Tonight she wore only bikini panties and a bra in electric blue satin; her hips wide and her full breasts seemingly ready to burst out of their constraining harness. Her glossy black hair was tied back, and there was a sheen of perspiration on the bulging curves of her breasts.
It wasn't him, then. She was already at work. Disappointment and relief warred briefly in his heart, in his balls.
"Come on, Rob. We're in the Green Room." She turned and walked briskly off, slapping a crop against her thigh as she led the way.
The back bedroom, the Green Room, had exposed beams running the length of the ceiling, and the woman hung suspended from one. Straps ran from eyebolts to padded cuffs around her wrists and to a tight leather belt around her waist. The belt was good, Rob thought as he unbuttoned his shirt. It supported your weight. It was hard when all you had was your hands, when twenty minutes stretched into an hour, when your legs grew weak and trembled from what was happening to you. A board lay across the floor with leg cuffs bolted to it. They were adjustable; the woman's legs were forced wide apart. She was utterly helpless, utterly exposed. He dropped his pants to the floor. He knew well how that felt.