Rick glanced at the caller ID and smiled apologetically to the group seated around his desk. "I need to take this," he informed them. "Hi," he said warmly. "Do you mind hanging on a minute?" Eyes traveling over his people he announced, "I think we were about done. If you have any pressing questions, catch me later or shoot me an email." He heard someone mutter on his way out the door, "That must be some phone call, this is a big contract." He smiled to himself, if they only knew. But this was one of the perks of being the boss.
He picked up the phone, "Sorry about the wait. I'm glad you called." He had some idea of the courage it had required for her to dial his number and he planned to make it easy for her -- after all, she'd work later. "How do you feel? Any tenderness after last night? Are you sore?"
"Um, no." She said quietly, "I'm OK."
"Good," he continued. "Listen, I know you have questions. But let me start with one, what did you like best?"
Her laugh was husky and self-derisive. "It's so embarrassing, I don't know how to talk about it. I felt so...so ...much...so overwhelmed."
"I understand. It's all pretty overwhelming at first. But what's been on your mind this morning. Don't think," he commanded, "Just say it -- first thing that comes to mind."
"Well...um...I guess..." He heard her take a deep breath, "OK, it was the whip. It was amazing." Suddenly the damn broke and words seemed to pour out, almost beyond her control. "I just wanted it, you know, more and more. I wanted it to go on forever -- never stopping. Something happened in my head. I don't know how to describe it...it was like my thoughts just shut off. There was nothing but you and me and the whip. I wanted to just stay there...to rest there. But that doesn't make any sense because I sure wasn't resting. My body was constantly moving -- what little bit I could move. But still somehow it was calming, soothing. Oh I don't know. It's so weird.
And when you whipped my pussy...oh my GOD! That hurt, I mean it really hurt. But it was so ...I don't know... HOT. I wanted it more. I wanted you to hurt me more and more...never to stop."
This was even more than Rick had hoped. He knew her submission was genuine and deep. He was very pleased that she had called this morning, thinking it might take days for her to screw up enough courage to contact him. But these words that were pouring out -- he was thrilled that she could and would tell him. She was describing sub-space. He was sure that she had experienced it, but never dreamed she would be able to tell him about it so soon.
"You wanted the pain even though it made you scream?" he pressed.
"Yes, Oh God yes. What's a gag like?"
Chuckling he replied, "Well, it's a little like the cuffs. When you're bound, you can pull and fight and struggle as hard as you want, but you can't get away."
"And I'm safe," she interjected.
"Yes," he replied. God...she was born for this. Did she see it yet?
"And the gag?"
"Well, with the gag you can scream as loud and as long as you want. You don't have to make any effort to control yourself. You can let it all go -- you can give it all to me."
"I give you," she said slowly "...what am I giving you? My power? My control? Myself?" I'm scared, she whispered. "I can't talk to anyone about this. What would I say, 'Hey, I met a guy last night. He's really hunky and I think he likes me. Thing is, he ties me up and beats me while I beg him to do it more. Oh and did I mention, it's sex. I guess it's sex, I didn't even see his penis. He never actually touched my va jj and I still came like a whore.' Can you imagine what my roommate would say? What have you done to me?" she cried.
"That's why you had to be mad at the end of the evening, he explained. This isn't abuse, you are totally free to choose. And Patty I promise, I will never hurt you. Listen, why don't we have a normal date? I'll pick you up, you wear a nice dress, I'll meet the roommate and we'll go to dinner. And we'll talk."
"Just talk?" She sounded appalled.
He laughed, "Ok, we'll mostly talk. I'll think up a surprise or two just to keep you on your toes.
They agreed on a time and he made her laugh a little about mundane everyday things. What kind of food did she like? What was her favorite restaurant?
He saved it until the very end, wanting to leave her with a taste of domination. "Oh and Patty, shave your pubic hair," he said. Suddenly his voice was low and commanding. "I want you smooth as a baby's butt. I'll inspect thoroughly so do a good job."
Then his voice was light and normal, almost like someone else had been speaking. "Bye honey, I'll see you at 7." He hung up without waiting for reply.
***********
The young woman answered the door with a bit of a scowl on her face. Rick tried his most charming smile, "Hi I'm Rick. You must be Karen."
"She'll be out in a minute," Karen said. "Have a seat. You want a glass of wine or something?" Her eyes were appraising -- not missing a detail.
"No thanks, I'm good," he smiled again, still trying to work a little charm.
"What are you, 40?" Her tone clearly said that she was appalled -- he was definitely WAY too old for her friend. "You know she's just 18. I know she's got that ID and everything, but GOD, you could be her Dad."
Ouch, he thought. "Actually," he said gently, "I'm 34, so I guess technically I could have been her Dad, if I'd been very precocious." Which I was, he thought, but I'm sure not telling her that.
"And is that an Armani suit? GOD! How much money do you have?"
Huh, he thought. She says that like it's a bad thing. "Enough," he said quietly. It wasn't an answer to her question, but a signal that her behavior would not be tolerated any longer. "There isn't anything I can say to you at this point that will convince you, but you'll see, over time, that I'll make Patty very happy. Here is my card. It has all my numbers on it. You can even do a Google search of my company, if you want. This number," he said writing something on the back of the card, "is my personal cell. I don't give that to very many people. But you can call it anytime you want." The little watchdog didn't look very appeased, but it was the best he could do.
"Karen?" Patty's voice spoke from just out of sight. Karen didn't answer, so Patty came cautiously into the room. Her eyes lingered on Karen's bent head. Karen didn't look up from the card, so Patty looked at Rick. He stood immediately reaching for her hands. He drew her close. "Hi," he said and gently kissed her cheek. Her hands were cold and trembling. No wonder her friend was concerned.
He drew her to sit close to him on the couch, holding one of her hands on his knee. They both looked expectantly at Karen, who was still gazing intently at his business card. Interesting power shift, Rick noted. Apparently Patty already has a Dom in her life and he wondered about the depth of the relationship between the 2 girls. "Well, sweetheart, we have a reservation, so we should probably get going."
Karen looked up with a start and said, "Oh, yeah, you two have a great time."
Rick kept hold of Patty's hand and swept her out the door with a sigh of relief. He was happy that she had someone looking out for her, but that was just a little too much like "meet the parents" for his comfort.
"I'm sorry," Patty said. "She worries,"
"It's OK, I'm glad you have such a good friend," he said as he opened the car door for her.
"Hey, this isn't your car," she said in surprise.