My cell phone buzzed, making me jump. My first thought was that Megan was calling me, calling me to apologize, calling to ask me to forgive her. Forgive her for screwing me over and kicking me to the curb like a dog.
I'd been dozing in the old, worn recliner in my darkened living room. The TV was on, and the baseball game I'd been watching was over now. Long since over, judging by the late-night used car commercial that was on and the darkness outside. I checked my watch. Twelve-thirty AM. Last time I'd checked, it had been nine.
Shit, I thought, and looked around me at the empty beer cans scattered around my chair. I'd killed off a couple of six packs of Milwaukee's Best, and my mouth tasted like a toxic waste dump. I also had to take a leak. Badly.
I worked the recliner's lever as my phone buzzed again. It was on vibrate, sitting on the metal TV tray next to the chair along with the remains of the Hungry Man microwave dinner I'd eaten while watching the first inning. My feet dropped and the chair back pushed me upright. My head was swimming. I realized I was probably drunk, or damn near.
The thought that it was Megan calling became a near-certainty, through some kind of weird alcohol-induced magic. Shit, I thought, I'm going to rip that bitch a new asshole for what she did. She'll wish she'd never heard of me.
I grabbed for the phone, missed, and grabbed again. Success. It buzzed again in my hand. I looked at the number - a local area code, but not a number I recognized. Not Megan's number. Disappointment flooded through me, but I stabbed at the "answer" button on the screen anyway.
"Yeah, hello?" I said. My voice was raspy. I coughed.
"Hello," said a woman's voice. It made me sit up and pay attention. The voice was low, smooth as silk, and sexy as hell.
"Is this Ryan Fendelman?"
"Yeah, this is Ryan. Who's this?"
"My name is Vivian," the woman replied. "You don't know me, but I hope to change that soon."
That throaty voice penetrated my beer-fogged brain like a bright flashlight beam. For some reason, it made me think of dark chocolate drizzled over rich cappuccino. And damned if it wasn't turning me on a little, too.
"Are you there, Ryan?"
"Yeah," I said. "I'm here. What are you talking about? Who are you?"
"Vivian Vanderbilt," she said, and even in my half-drunken state I thought, Right, sure it is, and mine's Elvis Presley. But I didn't feel like calling her out on it. I was too tired.
"That's a nice name," I heard myself say, and instantly felt like an asshole.
But "Vivian," or whatever her name was, just laughed. It was a husky, chuckling sound. It was the sexiest laugh I'd ever heard. My cock suddenly shifted in my boxer shorts. Fuck me, I thought. Who IS this chick?
"That's sweet, Ryan. YOU'RE sweet. But let me tell you a little more about myself. I'm a professional dominatrix."
I blinked, not sure I'd heard her right.
"Uh, what did you say?"
That laugh again. "I'm a professional dominatrix, Ryan. I abuse men, and sometimes women, for money. Does that shock you?"
"No," I said, lying through my teeth.
"It's okay, I don't bite," she said, as if I'd said yes.
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog. "What are you calling me for, Vivian, or whatever your name is?"
"We have a mutual acquaintance, Ryan, she said. "Megan Lafollette? Does that name ring any bells?"
I almost dropped the phone.
"How the hell do you know Megan?" I said, suddenly angry. "Is this some kind of bullshit joke? You're one of her slutty lesbo friends, aren't you? Don't fuck with me!"
Vivian spoke again, unruffled. Her voice was as silky as when I'd first answered the phone.
"No, Ryan, it's nothing like that. In fact, just the opposite."
I waited for her to go on, still certain that this WAS one of her lesbian pals, maybe the very one she'd been cheating on me with. But there was silence.
"Well?" I snapped. "Are you going to explain what that means?"
"It means that I know Megan very well, and have for a while now, and I know what she did to you. I know about the cheating, Ryan. And I want to help you get even with the slutty little whore."
"What the fuck are you talking about?!"
"Calm down." The iron tone of command in her voice startled me. She had switched from silky smooth to dominating bitch in seconds. Without thinking, I obeyed, taking a deep breath.
"Better," she said. "Did you know Megan is into bondage, Ryan? I'm going to guess that you didn't. BDSM, ropes, whips, handcuffs, all of it. She's quite the naughty little thing." She chuckled again, liquid dark chocolate issuing from my phone. My cock was definitely coming to attention now.
"How do I know you even know her?" I said. "How do I know that?"
"Well, how about this: she has a small tattoo of a pair of lips on one ass cheek, and a Playboy bunny on the other. Does that satisfy you?"
She was right. Megan did have those tattoos, in those exact places. Not only did this woman know Megan, she had seen her naked.
"So, you still might be one of her girlfriends," I said. "Trying to mess with my head."
"That's true, Ryan, and there's no way for me to prove I'm not. But I think you're interested in what I have to say. Interested enough to keep talking, anyway. Am I right?"
I couldn't deny that I was curious now. It didn't hurt that her voice was turning me on so much, either.
"Yeah, I'll listen. But how did you get my number, if you're not one of those sluts she hangs around with?"
"You'll understand, if you hear me out. Now, I said I called you because I want to offer you a chance to get even with the slutty whore who cheated on you. You'll never have a better chance than this, Ryan. I guarantee it."
She paused, and I heard noises in the background. They sounded like muffled thumps, as if someone were moving furniture around.
When she spoke again, it wasn't to me, but to someone there with her. Her voice sounded more distant, as if she were facing away from the phone.
"Stop moving, slut! If you do that again, I'll put the nipple clamps back on!"
What the hell? I thought.
"My apologies, Ryan. Megan is here with me now, and she's...misbehaving." Another chuckle. "Anyway, another thing you probably don't know about your ex is that she is a submissive. That means-"
"I know what it means," I said. "She's there? Prove it. Put her on the phone."
"Of course. She's restrained right now, so I'll bring the phone to her."
I heard the sound of heels clicking on a hard floor. Then Vivian spoke again.
"I'm going to remove your gag for a moment, whore. Your ex-boyfriend is on the phone, and he'd like some kind of proof that you're actually here."
I heard muffled grunts, the sound of a catch being unfastened, and heavy breathing.
Then Megan's voice spoke, and there was no mistaking it: a high-pitched little-girl voice, what I thought of as the Bimbo Barbie voice.
"Mistress, may I speak?" she said.
"Yes, my little pain slut, you may speak," answered Vivian. "Talk to Ryan. Tell him what a filthy little submissive slut you are."
Megan's voice again, much closer to the phone, right in my ear. "I'm a filthy little submissive slut."
Holy shit, I thought. That's my ex-girlfriend on the other end of the line, saying shit about herself.
"Again, louder," said Vivian sharply, in the background.
"I'm a filthy little submissive slut!" said Megan, loud enough to make me hold the phone away from my ear. But damned if I wasn't enjoying this! The bitch that had cheated on me with a woman, had been seeing a dominatrix behind my back, and had dumped me, was degrading herself right here over the phone. I suddenly noticed that my cock was more than shifting in my pants now; it was fucking rock hard. My balls felt swollen, and there was a faint ache starting deep in my groin.
I smiled wickedly to myself, and said "Yeah, that's exactly what you are, you cheating bitch. You fucked me over. I hope that Vivian chick is going to punish you good."