by Rachel Nixx
But this was Brooklyn. Hipsters were used to coming across shows in all parts of the borough. It was their job to set them up, to run them, and to play audience. The girl smiled in anticipation and tugged on her boyfriend’s jacket. They both took a step forward.
Behind Anna, Zee moved closer. She felt him somehow, even though she still couldn’t hear him. She jumped as his arms went around her, his hands going to her thighs. He dragged his huge fingers up her legs, bringing with it the skirt of her dress. Slowly, so slowly, the dress rose until it was draped around her hips, putting her purple lace panties on display. Anna cursed her choice of underwear now, knowing they were practically DayGlo. They were, however, her only pair of G-string panties, and she’d thought them appropriate that morning as she dressed.
Outside, the girl smiled. They were so close Anna could see she had a bit of lipstick on her teeth. Anna owned the same blue Pan-Am bag the girl was carrying. They probably had more than a few acquaintances in common. Only the glass separated them.
Zee reached around Anna’s waist, unclasping her wide red belt in one practiced move. He dropped it to the floor next to him. Then he reached up (what must it look like from outside? Anna’s body, with his arms coming out at her sides) and undid the top button of her shirtdress. Then the one below it, and the one below that. Little by little, the dress separated, exposing her matching purple bra and panties.
Instead of taking her hands from the glass and removing the dress entirely, Zee left it hanging open, which had the unexpected effect of making Anna feel even more vulnerable. Clothed, and yet not clothed.
The girl poked her boyfriend in the arm, and they grinned at each other. They spoke to each other, and Anna could almost hear their words. The girl lifted her green T-shirt, flashing her black bra at Anna, who was so startled she almost raised her palms from the window. On another wave of laughter, the couple moved down the sidewalk.
Zee said, “Now the dress comes off.”
Anna hesitated. Did he mean her to remove it? That would take lifting her hands. But he said nothing more, gave no instruction. He just stood, a broad hulk, behind her and waited.
Fine. She had to, she supposed. She lowered her arms and shrugged out of the dress, letting in hit the ground behind her. Putting her palms flat against the glass again, she quailed inside. Was she doing it right?
In her ear, Zee’s voice growled, “You dumb slut. Did I tell you to take your hands from the window?”
“But there was no other way...”
Even closer now. She could feel his heated breath against her ear. He smelled of salt and creosote, like a beach after a storm. “You talk back? To me?”
“I’m sorry.” Anna bit her lip and hunched her shoulders. She waited for the blow.
She was ready.
It didn’t come.
Instead, she heard his heavy tread leave the platform. She didn’t dare turn her head to see where he was going. Was he going to tell Corinne he was out? That she wasn’t worth training? Not worth his time and energy?
Instead, she heard the back door open and slam closed. She blinked hard but didn’t move. She’d stay here till dawn tomorrow if she had to.
A long panicked moment later, Zee was in front of her on the sidewalk, on the other side of the cold glass.
Good lord, the man really was a giant, wasn’t he? But everything was in proportion. His large ears matched his enormous gray eyes. The generous mouth, still in that perma-sneer, matched his rocky jawline. He’d taken off his leather jacket, and the black t-shirt he wore strained at his pecs. If she’d passed him in a dark alley, she would have held her breath and clutched her pepper spray. His well-worn black boots looked like they were used to crushing things under his heel.
He was absolutely not her type. At all. She usually went for men she met through the architecture firm, men who fought passive-aggressively with well-worded reports and dirty looks when necessary. This man, though, knew how to have a real fight, she could tell. A lover’s quarrel would involve broken dishes, furious tears, and slammed doors. And white hot make-up sex.
Probably.
Anna fought herself to meet his gaze, which he obviously wanted her to do. When she did, she took in one quick, sharp breath. The intensity in his eyes matched the tension that radiated from his body. He was a coiled spring, the energy pulsing from him. It was everything she could do to keep her eyes on his. How could he affect her like this? From out there?
Taking a deep breath, Anna willed her racing heart to calm.
Zee reached for his belt.
Holy hell. He wasn’t going to just—
Yep. He was. Anna’s blood pressure spiked, her heart thumping uncomfortably in her chest, as Zee took out his cock.
His cock! Jesus! And what a cock it was. Anna had never seen anything like it. It scared and aroused her at the same time. Proportional to his hugeness, it was so thick he could barely get his own fingers around it.
Right there, on the street in front of her, Zee started stroking his shaft. He still—unbelievably—looked unaffected. His storm-colored eyes stayed steady on hers, and she tried desperately to keep eye contact with him, but her traitorous gaze kept dropping down to what was in his hand.
How could it not? Anna felt the slickness at her pussy start to trail down her inner thigh. She was actually dripping for him. This was ridiculous.
What would happen if someone walked by? If they saw him?
A group of young people did, at that moment, race down the street, all of them half-running. But they were on the other side of the roadway, and didn’t notice the tableau across from them.
Zee didn’t seem to care. He stroked his cock slowly, as if he were in his own house, in his own bed, as if he had every right to.
Jesus. Suddenly covered in a slick sheen of sweat, even in this cold room, Anna pressed her palms harder against the glass as if the action could cool her down. If she’d been walking down this street, if she’d seen a man Zee’s size jacking himself off, she would have called the cops.
Wouldn’t she? For one minute, she imagined seeing him there and positioning her body in front of his, her back to his front. She’d put her hands on the glass on the other side of the window while he lifted her skirt. One push, and he’d be in. That is, if he could get in. She had no idea if she could take his girth.
For one indulgent moment, she imagined trying it. She became dizzy with the thought.
His breath was coming faster now, she could tell by the rise and fall of his chest. Her breath matched it. Would he cream on the glass? Would he aim it at it and splatter the window? What would his face look like? God, she’d never wanted to watch anyone come the way she did now.
But he stopped with one final hard jerk and then put his cock away (somehow—Anna wasn’t sure where he could store something that rigid). He dug in his pocket and pulled out a keyring. The front door next to her opened for the first time, and he reentered the space. So close to her now. Why had he done up his pants and put his cock away? Was there something he wanted her to do with it while it was this hard? Jesus, let that be it.
In the entry interview she’d had with Fantasy Fulfilled, Corinne and Anna had hammered out the stipulations of the assignment. “So,” Corinne had said in the tastefully decorated office. “What flavor do you want of your experience with Fantasy Fulfilled?’
Pain. She wanted pain. Was that okay to say?
“I want it to hurt.” Even the very word was embarrassing.
“We can do that. In terms of pain levels, how far do you want to go?”
Anna raised her eyes to the ceiling as if the answer would be written there. Everything in the office was expensive, right to the classic light fixture overhead. She’d recommended exactly those for a client recently and knew they cost more than a grand, just for that smoke-blackened glass. Corinne used an iPad to make her notes. Four or five other well-dressed employees were visible in the back, bustling around as if on deadline. Obviously, Jake’s business was
doing well.
“Um. What?”
“If you went to the doctor with an injury, they ask you to rate it on a scale of one to ten, one being almost impossible to feel, ten being childbirth.”
“I’ve never had a baby.”
Corinne inclined her head. “Ten being the worst you can imagine. At what point do you want the operator to stop?”
Anna was suddenly terrified. What if she just ran? Had other people ever done that? Decided at the last minute that they couldn’t even go through with the interview?
“It’s okay,” said Corinne, placing a kind hand on Anna’s upper arm. “You have time. You can think about it.”
“Eight. No, seven.”
“Let’s call it seven. If at any time—”
Anna changed her mind and spoke before she could stop herself. “Nine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure. Very sure.” She hadn’t been, but Corinne wrote it down and they went on to talk about safe words and playing responsibly.
Now, as Anna felt Zee move behind her again, she waited for it. It was going to happen now. Would the first blow be a one or a two? Or would he perhaps move right to seven or eight? What if she screamed? Would people outside hear her?
Zee placed both hands on her waist. Anna kept her hands on the glass, and her gaze fixed outside. A woman pushing a baby carriage which held a dog went past the window. She glanced inside and looked startled by Anna’s purple underwear before she kept walking.
Anna barely noticed her. She could only think about the heat generated by Zee’s hands on her hips. Would he pull one arm back and hit her ass?
Instead, Zee leaned against her. Through his jeans, she felt the enormity of his cock in the small of her back. Jesus lord, the man was huge. He used her hips as handles, pulling her backward against him. Anna’s insides turned to jelly, and she felt her G-string get even wetter.
Zee lowered his head, and using his chin, he pushed aside her fall of hair. Stubble scraped her cheek, then her neck. Zee nuzzled her, biting her skin gently.
What the fuck was this? Anna’s sides trembled as she tried to catch her breath. Waiting for the blow was exhausting work, and a nuzzle was the absolute opposite of what she’d expected.
“Step back,” he said in her ear, and moved backward himself to give her room.
Anna kept her hands in position on the window and moved her feet backward.
“Now bring your hands off the glass and down. Bend over.”
This was more like it. He’d probably cane her or something now, right? With more eagerness than she would have expected, she leaned forward.
“Hold your ankles. Yes, like that. Now, close your eyes.”
Anna heard a rustle behind her. What would it be? A whip? Nipple clamps? She could take it.
A low buzz filled the air. What?
A vibrator.
A massive vibrator. Zee pressed it first against Anna’s pussy, exposed as it was to him. The G-string’s thread provided little protection from the assault. Then he moved it forward, running it along her panties until it was directly over her clit.
Anna screamed. This, no. Not this. This was the last thing she’d expected—her world shattered, she couldn’t even keep her eyes on her own feet. The world went black behind her eyelids and everything became sensation. If Zee’s free hand hadn’t been holding her at the waist, she would have collapsed forward. If anyone looked in the window, if anyone walked by, they’d see her back, her hair falling forward, her hands holding her wrists, while she shattered...
The orgasm was almost instantaneous, rocking her like nothing, perhaps, ever had. Her Magic Wand at home was strong. Nice. But the machine Zee was now pressing against her pussy? It was probably illegal in seventeen countries. As the orgasm finished rolling through her body, Zee pulled the toy away.
“Good,” he said, sounding satisfied.
“No...” she started.
“No?”
Oh, that might have been a mistake. Anna concentrated on catching her breath and keeping her hands tightly wrapped around her ankles.
“Stand,” he ordered.
She did.
“Turn. Face me.”
His face was even darker than it had been when they met. It was as if he were looking at a cardboard woman—maybe she wasn’t real to him at all. The only slight hint of expression was that of displeasure, and his eyes narrowed. “No, what?”
“I didn’t mean...”
“No, what, whore?”
The word filled her, going to her head like wine. Whore.
“You will tell me what you meant by that.”
Anna hung her head and hunched her shoulders. “I just meant...”
He waited, a muscle working in the side of his jaw.
“I want you to hurt me.”
Still, he said nothing.
“If you don’t mind, I mean. Do whatever you want, but it’s okay... I mean, I don’t mind if you hurt me.”
“So,” he said, stepping forward. One step, then another step. Only a foot separated them now. Anna smelled leather on his skin and something darker, like old, polished wood. “You’re telling me how to do my job.”
“Of course not—that’s not what I meant.”
“So you’re calling me a liar?”
“No,” Anna gasped. “I just—”
Zee shook his head in what looked like disgust. “You couldn’t handle it.”
Was he calling her weak? She was many things—confused, nervous, anxious—but she’d hoped that weak wasn’t one of them. That was why she was here, right? To prove that she could be hurt and still be fine.
“My therapist...” she said.
Zee gave a bark of laughter. “Your therapist.” He put air quotes around it. “You think I give a fuck what your therapist says? Would your therapist do this?” He put both hands on her shoulders and pushed downward. She landed on her knees without ceremony. “This is where I should push my cock in your mouth, whore.”
Anna closed her eyes. Yes. This. She felt as if her brain were directly linked to her groin and every time he said a word to her, she felt it in her cunt.
“But I’m not going to. You’re not ready.”
She wasn’t ready, Zee knew that. If he only had one talent in this life, it was knowing a woman’s limits. Anna had hit hers just by stepping into the room. Giving up her credit card number to Corinne was probably the most terrifying thing she’d done in years.
Something had hurt her. A man, he’d bet his life on it.
Her face was furious, her cheeks suddenly red. “What?”
“You’re too scared.” She was going to hate hearing it.
“Fuck you.”
“I would, if I thought you’d be okay with it.” He lowered his voice. “I’d fuck you so hard you couldn’t breathe. I’d fuck you so deep you’d feel it in your throat. But you, kid, are out of your depth.” Maybe that explained those tights. She was a kid. A little girl. Her application had said she was twenty-seven, but her eyes were years younger.
She opened her mouth as if to argue but nothing came out. In a minute she’d probably stomp her feet.
“A tantrum, now? Attractive.” Why was he baiting her like this? This was his job, for fuck’s sake. And Zee knew how to do his job. He was the best operator in New York City, good enough that Jake flew him around the world for different assignments. And a little girl like this had him all freaked out? Unacceptable.
“I have a contract,” she said.
Shit, that was true. She did. Jake would have his balls if he reneged on a contract. It wasn’t as much about the money as it was the cred. They even had a shell Yelp account (listed under Household Services) and every five-star rating drove up sales. Jake was all about customer service and appearance. For Zee to bail on a client (and a friend of Jake’s, no less) would look worse than anything.
But Jesus. Something about this woman. He couldn’t stop himself from turning into a dick. It was in his blood, as if she
were a disease he’d just caught. “Your father?” he asked, unable to prevent the words.
She stilled, pulling her shoulders back for the first time. He’d hit the nail on the head. Not like it had been difficult. “What?” Her voice was ice.
“Had to be your dad that fucked you up. Walked out on you when you were five? Never got that red wagon you wanted? Hit your mom when he was drinking? Fathered another child?”
Anna’s cheeks went even redder at his last statement, so crimson they matched her hair. He’d never seen anyone more gorgeous. Shit. “You shut up.”
“You can leave now.” Zee tried to make his voice bored, as if this whole scene wasn’t freaking him right the fuck out. “We’ll rework your contract. Get you someone else, someone you’ll like better.”
He thought she’d cry. He thought she pull on her dress and cover her mouth as she ran out of the building.
Instead, she did the exact opposite. She laughed.
Anna laughed. Standing there in her purple panties and bra, her nipples hard through the thin fabric, staring right at him, she laughed.
“What the fuck?” he growled.
“You think I’m scared?”
“I do.” Zee swiveled his head. Wasn’t Corinne going to help him out here? But her chair was empty, the back door open. She’d probably gone to have a cigarette, and was missing all of this. Shit.
“I am.” Still with that grin on her face, laughter in her voice. “I’m scared shitless by this. But what’s funny is that you’re more frightened than I am.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hey, don’t be mad. It takes one to know one.” She leaned over and picked up her dress. She slung it around her shoulders, and then buttoned, starting from the bottom. Her fingers were still shaking. “I’m not sure what your story is, buddy, but whoever she was, I hope she was worth it.”
She was playing the game on him? Was she fucking kidding? She was head-tripping him? “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Her fingers slowed at the buttons at her navel. That damn bra still glowed at him, holding up those perfect breasts. “I think I do. There was a girl...”