"Bye, then. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
I ended the call, and looked around the hotel room. A bed, four walls, bathroom. I couldn't stay here for the rest of the day. A walk would do me good.
I pulled my jacket back on and made my way back to the reception area, nodding to the young man behind the desk. "I'll be back for dinner."
He nodded, and I walked out through the sliding doors to the road. I vaguely recalled a row of shops, then a park, so I turned left, in no hurry.
When I reached the shops, the area was more run-down than I'd remembered, Victorian villas converted into cheap flats. But I could see the park railings ahead, so I carried on. I paused just before the park gates to read the sign, not really noticing the young woman standing by a nearby lamppost.
"Looking for anything in particular?"
Her voice was quiet, with only a trace of the distinctive local accent, and I noticed that even though the day had been dry, she wore a raincoat perhaps a size too large for her.
"Not really," I replied to her question. "I've got a few hours to kill, I thought I'd get some fresh air."
She took a couple of steps towards me. "Maybe you'd like some company? I'm Laura, by the way."
She loosened the belt of her coat slightly, her smile suggestive, and I felt a strange thrill run through me as I suddenly realised. "Oh, um, hi, Laura. I'm Tim."
Laura tilted her head slightly. "I guess maybe you're not used to this. Don't worry, I'll help you, if it's what you want."
My vision blurred for a second, scenes from the last few days flashing through my mind, and something rose inside me, a mixture of freedom, defiance, anticipation. Why not? I asked myself.
"I'm tempted," I admitted aloud. "But I'm assuming there's a quid pro quo?"
I wondered if I'd have to explain my obscure words, but she smiled, raising then lowering her eyebrows. "It's two fifty to start with, then a hundred an hour if you want more."
She seemed to assess my business suit, perhaps the shine of my shoes. "Or if you want all night, that's a thousand."
I blinked, but my decision was made. "Let's see how things go, shall we."
I looked around. "Um, do you want to come back to the hotel?"
Laura shook her head slightly. "My place isn't far, and there are some things there we might need."
She paused, again seeming to assess me. "This is vanilla only, right - if you want anything unusual, I'll tell you if I'm OK with it, and how much."
I swallowed, wondering what 'unusual' might consist of. "Sure. I think I'm a vanilla kind of guy."
She flashed one eyebrow. "Well, maybe you'll surprise yourself. Come on."
We walked side by side up the road for a few hundred yards, then she turned in to one of the better-kept properties, using her key to open the front door. "Top floor at the end - nobody minds so much if there's any noise."
Another key for the door of her flat, then we were in the tiny hallway. "Bedroom's here," she indicated.
I stepped through the doorway, glancing around. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting, but everything looked pretty ordinary. The bed was probably king-size, and the sheets were crisply ironed, matching pillowcases. No ornaments, but a couple of soft toys on one side of the bed.
I heard a rustle, Laura unfastening her coat and slipping it off, dropping it over the back of a chair. Underneath her garments were less provocative than I'd expected - thigh-length skirt over stockings, a satiny blouse through which I could make out breasts a little more generous than her slim figure might suggest.
"Want me to strip for you?" she queried. "Or do you prefer to do the undressing?"
"A bit of a show would be nice," I admitted.
Laura grinned, running her hands briefly over breasts, thighs. "I like it too."
She used fingertips to pull her blouse loose from the waist of her skirt, lifting the hem to briefly reveal a red lacy bra before letting the blouse fall back into place. "Of course, a little teasing is always a thing."
She turned her back, this time crossing her arms and lifting the blouse off over her head. Her back was smooth, white, and I watched fascinated as she lowered the zip of her skirt, slipping it down to the floor, stepping out of it. She turned back to face me, arms by her sides, and watched my face. "I think you like what you see."
I nodded. "Laura, you're... gorgeous."
She gave a tiny shrug. "Anyway, your turn."
I felt more than a little self-conscious as I shed shirt, trousers, socks, straightening to stand in my boxer shorts. "Not bad," Laura conceded. "Do you keep yourself in shape?"
"Not as much as I should," I admitted. "I used to run a bit, not often these days."
"Well," she grinned, "there are ways we can help you keep up."
My eyes flared open as she suddenly stepped closer, putting a hand on the front of my shorts. "Getting a reaction, anyway."
I'd not been paying much attention, but I realised that she was right; my body had reacted in the predictable way to having an almost-naked young woman in front of me.
"Let's see," she murmured, hooking fingers through my shorts and carefully drawing them down as she sank to her knees. "Oh, yes, you'll do fine."
She wrapped her fingers around my erection, then just for a moment enveloped me between her lips. "You like that?"
I nodded dumbly, and she straightened. "Let's take this over to the bed, shall we?"
She stretched out in the middle of the bed, giving an inviting wriggle. "Come here."
I joined her, moving as though to put my lips on hers, but she turned aside. "Maybe later," her voice held no anger, leaving things open. "But you can put your mouth in some other places if you want."
Her nipples showed clearly through the lace of her bra, and I ventured to kiss the nearest. "Mm," she nodded. "Like that."
I moved from one nipple to the other, gently pressing with my lips, then dabbing with a tonguetip. "You want them bare to you?" Laura queried.
Without waiting for my response, she arched her back, reaching behind to unclasp her bra, slipping the cups off her breasts but not completely discarding the garment. I bent to her nipples again, this time suckling softly, feeling them harden. She breathed in, her chest rising, and I paused for a second. "You like this too?"
Laura nodded wordlessly and I returned to suckling, tonguing. I felt her fingers again wrapped around me, then her other hand took mine, guiding it between her now-parted thighs, where I found unmistakeable dampness through the cotton of her panties. "Press harder," she whispered, and I obeyed, feeling warmth and more dampness. I dared to move my hand, sliding fingers inside her panties, fingertips crossing only smooth skin before moving lower again, slipperiness, and a gasp from Laura as my finger brushed a hard nub. "You're not bad at this," she chuckled softly. "Take them off, they're in the way."
I moved to kneel below her feet, and she raised her hips, letting me slide her panties down, off. Again I felt a thrill at her next words. "There - completely naked."
She looked up at me. "Are you ready? Or would you like some more help?"
I quirked an eyebrow. "I'd like it, but I think if you gave me any more help, there wouldn't be anything after that."