NoEasyWayOut (4 page)

She nodded again, finding her voice. “Yes. He just needed
something done so I did what he wanted and he was fine.”

“Thank goodness. I can’t tell you how much his account means
to us—well to you, mainly. It’s what’s paying your wages and about three other
peoples’. When I thought we were going to lose him, before he picked you, I was
already making a list of who I was going to let go. Without his contract,
three, maybe four of you wouldn’t be here anymore.” He shook his head. “Tough
times. We have to keep Daniel happy, however difficult he can be.” He stood.

She wondered how much he knew about Daniel’s demands and
what it took to keep him happy.

“Great. Well as long as he’s satisfied, that’s the main
thing. Thanks, Ruthanne, you are doing a great job. I’m relying on you. We all
are.”

She managed to smile at him as he left. It looked like she
might be seeing Daniel again after all.

It was six-thirty on Valentine’s night. She still hadn’t
made up her mind. She could tell him he was busy. It was so rude of him to just
assume she would be free when he wanted to see her. She would text him now,
tell him not to come here.

She hesitated. But what if that meant she lost him as a
client, lost her big office, her intern, her status? What if she lost her job?
What if Katie or Daphne or Dermott or any of the others lost their jobs?

But she couldn’t put up with him walking in and demanding
sexual favors—in her office of all places—whenever he liked. It was outrageous.
It was insulting, it was…

She remembered the feeling of the carpet on her legs as she
knelt in front of him, the sensation of leaning forward and taking him in her
mouth. The way he’d talked to her, the thrill of arousal as she gave in to him
as she did what he told her.

She felt that familiar flutter between her legs just
remembering it. She shook her head, angry with herself. What was wrong with
her? It was demeaning and unpleasant. So why did she find it so arousing? How
could she get so turned on when she knew it was wrong?

The doorbell rang and her heart leapt into her mouth. He
couldn’t be here already. It was way too early and she hadn’t even showered
yet. Not that she was going out of course.

She peeped through the spyhole. A man in uniform was
standing there holding a big bunch of red roses.

“Special delivery,” he shouted.

She opened the door.

“Ruthanne Ellis?”

She nodded.

“I need to see some ID.”

“Really? For a bunch of flowers?”

“Not for the flowers. For this.” He showed her a little box.
“High-value gift. I’ll need ID and a signature. Company policy.”

She closed the door, her heart still racing. Flowers? An
expensive gift? It could only be one person. She could refuse them. But the
flowers were beautiful and then she’d never know what was in the “high-value”
box. She grabbed her handbag and found an ID and opened the door again.

He checked it carefully and she signed the electronic
device. He passed her the big bunch of flowers and the gift box.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, miss.” He left.

Inside, she dropped the flowers, dying to look in the box.
She read the name on the packaging. It was from Tiffany & Co, one of the
most expensive jewelers there was. She pulled the ribbon and opened the box.

Inside the tissue paper was a pair of earrings with
sparkling drops. Were they diamonds? Real diamonds? They had to be. And if they
were they must have cost a fortune. Her hand was shaking as she tried to get
them out of the box and put them on. She looked at herself in the mirror. Diamond
earrings. They looked wonderful.

There was a card with the flowers. She opened it and in
Daniel’s elegant flowing handwriting it read,
“Thank you for a most
satisfactory meeting this week. Please enjoy this little token of my esteem. I
look forward to giving you the rest of the set later. Yours, Daniel.”

The rest of the set? There was more? More diamonds? Her
heart caught in her throat. She touched the earrings. She’d have to give them
back. She had to. She glanced in the mirror again. But they looked so pretty.
And they suited her so well. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt just to see him again once
or twice and then she could tell him it was over. Where was the harm in that?

She looked at the flowers and saw the promise of romance in
the dark tight petals of the red rosebuds. There were at least four dozen red
roses there. She didn’t have a vase big enough so she sat the whole bunch in
the sink and ran some water in to keep them going until later. She was suddenly
anxious to get ready to meet Daniel. Daniel who it seemed had a very generous
and a very romantic side to him.

The car came for her on time. Daniel sat in the back looking
elegant as ever, his blue eyes the color of the sea on a cold, bright day. He
complimented her dress and her hair and admired the earrings. “Diamonds suit
you. But you need more of them, don’t you think?”

She just laughed in reply, not wanting to seem too eager.

They arrived at La Maison and it was even better than
Reynard’s. Every table had a glamorous, beautiful couple seated at it. There
were red roses everywhere. She tried not to stare as she caught a glimpse of
famous face after famous face.

This was better than sitting at home alone eating chocolates.
This was the life she had dreamed of having and if the price she had to pay was
Daniel’s strange and sometimes disturbing demands then perhaps she should just
pay that price.

They took their seats—just one more of the beautiful
couples, she thought—feeling as though she had joined the in-crowd. Daniel was
as attentive as ever, ordering her food for her, feeding her little bits from
his own plate, delighting in her exclamations of pleasure at each delicious
morsel.

Ruthanne relaxed. So Daniel was unconventional. So what?
After five glasses of champagne, she felt sure she could handle it.

After the meal the car was waiting and they drove to a
hotel. “I hope you don’t mind,” said Daniel. “I took the liberty of booking a
room for us. It is a special evening, after all.”

Ruthanne wasn’t sure if she was pleased or not. Spend the
whole night with Daniel? Perhaps he was getting serious about her. But she hadn’t
brought anything, no spare clothes or makeup, not even a toothbrush.

“It’s a lovely hotel,” he said, seeing the concern on her
face, as if her main concern would be the quality of the accommodations.

She agreed to go, not sure if it was the champagne talking
or if she really wanted to send the night with him. But when they arrived at
the hotel and she found out it was the Chelsea she was pleased she had agreed.
It was a famously luxurious hotel—the kind of place people like her never
normally went. She wondered in passing why they didn’t go to his home but
perhaps Daniel thought this was more romantic.

The suite was enormous but what caught her eye immediately were
the blood-red rose petals everywhere—sprinkled over the bed, scattered over the
thick cream carpet, drifting everywhere. Her breath caught in her throat as she
looked around, thinking this was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

There was a huge bed with the white sheets covered with red
rose petals, flowers everywhere and candles already lit around the room, giving
a soft, gentle light. They sat on the sofa and Daniel poured the champagne that
was waiting in the cooler and fed her strawberries from the dish next to it.

She sipped champagne, looking around the room and trying to
commit it to memory, knowing that without Daniel she would never have seen
anything like it.

Daniel had brought a bag with him and he opened it. He took
out two gift-wrapped parcels—one tiny, one more substantial. “You look so
beautiful in those earrings. I thought you might like something to go with
them.”

She started to open the little box, her hands shaking. Could
it be more diamonds? Really?

He put his hand over hers. “But you can only have this one
if you promise to wear what’s in this bag.” He gestured to the other gift bag.

Ruthanne felt sure it contained some kind of lingerie. She
was happy to wear it. Daniel had impeccable taste.

She nodded, smiling at Daniel, wanting to open the box and
see what was inside.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she said, smiling.

She opened the little box and it was a delicate bracelet that
sparkled, the stones catching the light.

“Yes,” he said, guessing what was in her mind. “It’s diamond,
of course. Nothing but the best for you.”

He leaned in and helped her to fix the clasp and she turned
her wrist this way and that, admiring the way it looked. A diamond bracelet. She’d
never had anything as precious as this before. With this and the rose petals,
the candlelight and the champagne, it seemed that Daniel was really showing his
romantic side.

“Take the other bag. Go into the bathroom and don’t come out
until you’re wearing everything.”

She went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
She looked around, running her fingers over the acres of marble and looking at
the enormous shower—surely big enough for three or four people—and a
freestanding bathtub. She examined the toiletries. They looked wonderful. She
wondered whether she’d be able to take them home with her. Surely they’d fit in
her handbag?

She sat on the little sofa—
a sofa in a bathroom
!—and
opened the bag. She had been expecting something lacy and feminine but it was
all black and all made of gleaming black rubber or latex.

She pulled out the items, looking at each one with a sinking
feeling. There was a corset, stockings, panties and some things which looked
like they would buckle around her wrists and ankles. She got dressed slowly,
leaving her own clothes on the sofa. The corset had an impossibly tight waist
and she squeezed herself into it, noticing the way it transformed her figure
into an hourglass. It finished at the top of her thighs and she noticed in
horror it had holes cut out for her breasts.

She looked down. She looked so naked, so wrong with her
breasts spilling out pale and soft against the tight black latex. It was
embarrassing, obscene. She finished doing it up, pulling the zipper all the way
to the top so the high neckband with a clip on the back fitted snugly around
her throat. It wasn’t what she had hoped for at all.

Then there was a pair of crotchless panties. Pointless, she
told herself but put them on anyway. And a pair of thigh-high fishnet
stockings, the sort she always associated with prostitutes.

She put that thought out of her mind and concentrated on the
buckled straps, putting one on each wrist and one on each ankle, hoping she’d
gotten it right. Each had a clip on them, like at the neck of her corset. Would
he be tying her up somehow? Restraining her?

She felt the nerves set in—nerves and a flutter of
excitement. What would he do to her? Would she like it? Would she want him to
do it? She put her shoes back on and looked at herself in the mirror.

It wasn’t her. It was a tiny-waisted, big-breasted sex
object staring back at her, the latex gleaming softly, the fishnets finishing
two inches below the bottom of the corset, her pale thighs curving out over the
thigh-highs. Her thighs, her breasts looked so naked, so pale and so soft
against the blackness of everything else.

She couldn’t wear this. She couldn’t let Daniel or anyone
see her like this. She thought about taking it all off but the diamond bracelet
was sparkling on her wrist. She wanted it. She’d never get another one. And
what was so bad about wearing these clothes? Lots of people wore stuff like
this, she told herself. It was really nothing unusual, nothing to get worried
about. But this would be their first time, their first time properly and she
was dressed like a fetishistic hooker.

She glanced in the mirror again. Katie would never believe
it. Suddenly Ruthanne felt determined to go through with it, diamonds or no
diamonds. To do what Daniel wanted, to be the kind of girl who would do
anything and not be boring, sensible Ruthanne anymore. For once she’d do something
even Katie had never done.

She rearranged her hair and put more lipstick on, choosing a
deeper shade of red that seemed to go with the black clothes. She took a deep
breath. Did she look ridiculous? Would Daniel like what he saw? She opened the
door.

Daniel was lounging on the sofa, champagne glass in hand.

He stared at her as she opened the door.

She folded her arms over her naked breasts as she walked toward
him.

“You look amazing. Amazing. I think we’ve finally found your
style.” He chuckled to himself.

She went to sit next to him, anxious for him to stop staring
at her.

“No. Walk around the room. I like watching you. And put your
arms down or I’ll have to tie them down.”

So she walked slowly to the bed, to the window and back,
aware of her breasts jiggling, of her naked thighs and the crotchless panties.

“You really do look good. Have some more champagne. Drink it
standing up.”

She stood in front of him, holding the glass and aware of
his eyes on her.

He reached out and gripped one of her nipples.

“Ouch!” She pulled away.

“Naughty.” He slapped her breast. “Let me touch you. You can’t
dress like that and then not let me touch you.”

Her breast still stinging, she stood still while he gripped
her nipple again between his thumb and finger and rolled it firmly, then pulled
it away from her body, pulling her whole breast away. He let her breast fall
and looked at it. “You see, you squeal but you like it. Look at your nipple.”

She looked down. It was tight and hard.

“Now make the other one the same.”

She hesitated, not sure what to do. He slapped her breast
then grinned at her.

“Just playing. Come on, use this.”

He handed her an ice cube from the bucket. Feeling
self-conscious, she rubbed it over her nipple, watching it tighten and
contract.

“Good. That’s better. We are going to have some fun tonight,
perhaps more fun than you’ve ever had before. But I won’t hurt you. Well, not
much. Red is the color of Valentine’s Day. And that’s the color you’ll be when
I’ve finished with you but don’t worry, you’ll be back to normal in a couple of
days.” He laughed.

She opened her mouth to protest but he carried on. “Did you
like your gift?” he asked, his eyes on her bracelet, which glittered against
the leather wristband.

She nodded.

“And I’ve got a necklace that matches the bracelet if you’re
interested.” He reached out and grazed his knuckles against her erect nipples
as he spoke.

A necklace—more diamonds! She knew she wanted them. And she
knew she wanted to be one of those women who had exciting sex lives, who did
outrageous things, who were showered with diamonds and rose petals. The kind of
woman who men would do anything for and it looked like it might all be coming
true. She smiled and sat down next to him.